The Associated Press is reporting that an Al-Qaeda supporter on a radical Islamic web site has stated that he’d favor a terrorist attack before the presidential elections because it would help Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, get elected.

The message, which was originally translated by the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors radical Islamic Internet activity, stated that McCain’s commitment to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would help the terrorist organization.

“If al-Qaida carries out a big operation against American interests, this act will be support of McCain because it will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaida. Al-Qaida then will succeed in exhausting America till its last year in it,” one poster named Muhammad Haafid wrote. SITE said that Haafid did not have direct links to Al-Qaeda, but is a respected writer on the web site.

Critics of the U.S. war in Iraq have often argued that the anti-American sentiment caused by military operations in the region helps terrorist organizations find support. In 2004, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London concluded that “It is probable that recruitment generally has accelerated on account of Iraq.”

Supporters of continuing the war in Iraq argue that establishing a secure, democratic government will eliminate a safe haven for terrorists and will promote peace in the region.