Resurgent al Qaeda: new concern about U.S. homeland
By Paul Cruickshank
Intelligence committee leaders in Congress warn that al Qaeda's network has strengthened over the past two years, creating new concern over the terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that the United States was no safer today than in 2011, despite the death of Osama bin Laden and the removal of senior al Qaeda operatives in drone strikes.
Their warning reflects growing concern among Western intelligence agencies about al Qaeda's growing strength in the Arab world.
While al Qaeda and groups that link to it have suffered setbacks in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, Somalia, Mali and other "Jihadist fronts," al Qaeda has taken advantage of the political turmoil caused by the Arab Spring to build its operations across North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.
"People think that, well, we've got this thing beat," Rogers said. "And that's just not the case."
Syria has been crucial to al Qaeda's restored fortunes. The civil war has seen the emergence of two al Qaeda affiliates each with several thousand men under arms. They control swaths of territory across the country.
The conflict has helped al Qaeda repair a brand tarnished in Muslim countries by the previous violent excesses of its affiliate in Iraq, because al Qaeda fighters in Syria have presented themselves as protecting Sunnis from a brutal "Alawite" dictatorship.
Syria has emerged as the new "Jihadist cause célèbre" across the Arab world, energizing that movement and providing a melting pot for foreign fighters from across the region to create personal ties that will underpin future terrorist networks.
By the measures of manpower, weaponry and territory, it can now be argued that the broader al Qaeda network is stronger than at any time since the peak of the Iraq insurgency half a decade ago, and perhaps even than at any time since 9/11.
The shutdown of more than 20 U.S. embassies across the Arab and Muslim world in August dramatically demonstrated the scale of the ongoing threat.
The closures followed a communication intercept suggesting al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen - AQAP - was planning to carry out a major attack.
Despite being forced to retreat from a number of towns in Yemen's tribal areas last year, the group still has significant resources at its disposal, including an unmatched team of bomb-makers adept at building devices which threaten Western aviation.
Groups linked to al Qaeda have also built a significant presence in Algeria, Libya, and the Sinai region of Egypt.
Nearly 1,000 people are now dying in terrorist attacks in Iraq in some months, many at the hands of al Qaeda suicide bombers.
Even Tunisia, previously the poster child for the Arab Spring, has a real and growing problem. In October, a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a hotel popular with Western tourists in the coastal resort of Sousse.
In Egypt, the overthrow of an elected Islamist president and the return of the security state have made a significant number of younger adherents believe al Qaeda was right all along - that only their brand of violence works.
The idea of al Qaeda was forged in part in Egypt's repressive jails and the concern is the same grim facilities will now produce a new generation of embittered zealots.
All this worries intelligence officials on both sides of the Atlantic. But al Qaeda's revived fortunes in the Arab world have not yet resulted in a spike in plots against the United States and other Western countries.
The main reason for this is that al Qaeda and its affiliates simply have bigger priorities. They believe the political turmoil produced by the Arab Spring has given them a historic opportunity to achieve what has always been their central aim: creating Islamic states in the Arab "heartland."
This has been the overriding priority, even for AQAP, the group that has targeted the United States most consistently in recent years. Its leader, Nasir al Wuhayshi - recently appointed al Qaeda's global No. 2 - has until now only assigned a fraction of the group's resources and manpower to "external operations."
There has also been a shift in strategic vision at the top. Whereas Osama bin Laden was determined to find a way to strike inside the United States once again, his successor Ayman al Zawahiri, has prioritized hitting U.S. interests in the Arab and Muslim world.
In recent years, instead of orchestrating major plots against the West, Zawahiri and other al Qaeda leaders have urged sympathizers there to carry out terrorist attacks in their name and posted bomb-making instructions online to help them.
Exhibit A: the Boston Marathon bombing last April.
But the fear is that at some point in the future a strengthened al Qaeda may reprioritize and launch its own terrorist attacks inside the West.
If past history is a guide, al Qaeda and its affiliates will eventually lose ground in Syria and other Jihadist fronts in the Arab world because of the unpopularity of their mediaeval ideology and their harsh treatment of the local population. In fact, a backlash is already underway in Syria.
Once the al Qaeda dream of creating Islamic theocracies starts to fade, it is possible the leaders of the various al Qaeda affiliates will blame the West, and – just like bin Laden on 9/11 – lash out at the powers they believe are blocking their goals.
Al Qaeda's affiliates in Syria poses the greatest potential threat. Well over 1,000 Europeans have travelled to fight in Syria, many with Jihadist groups – an unprecedented number.
This has provided the terrorist network with opportunities, if attacking the West again becomes the priority, to provide recruits with terrorist training and send them home. Because Europeans do not require visas to enter the United States, these recruits could also be used to attack America.
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Can you define a terrorist...
Ok so... here are some of the reasons Dianne Fienstein needs to be ousted.
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oh and she told congress that iraqi war veterans shouldn't be allowed to carry weapons because of a "new" phenomenon called PTSD. its been around in every war its just been called something different. It used to be called "Shellshock" but now we've pussified it down to "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". Oh and she voted for the Iraq war. and she voted to increase the power of the patriot act. Its so obvious they don't give a damn about the fate of the people they are sending over seas its sickening. She is also one of the main proponents of CISPA,PIPA,and FIFA all of the bills that have attempted to censor and control the internet.
Resurgent? Hell, it never was beaten. OBL and his then crew trained thousands of terrorists from all over the world. Most got away long before we invaded Afghanistan. They went underground, stayed low, gathered new recruits, money streams and went into lawless regions - BAM bases to attack from. The solution is to close down all ono national madrasa, track down and kill every AQ trainee, without benefit of trial, declare war on Somalia and any region, including the NW territories that Pakistan claims and destroy them. To do otherwise is to drag out forever this slow motion war.
The only successful destruction of a terrorist network was in the 13th century in Persia. The Mongols destroyed the then Assassin Network of the Mamluk Valley, Iran. They had been terrorizing the Arab world for 500+ years from that haven. Every assassin was killed, after torture, revealing there contacts. It took 700 years before OBL could recreate that network from Afghanistan. I'm all for democracy but the AQ threat is real, multi century terror and we must follow the Mongol template to wipe it out.
Diane Feinstein in cool. Muslims suck. Muslims need to be expelled from the US of A.
Gee Marco, are you trying to be funny? If there's one thing that Diane Feinstein is not, that one thing is "cool". Besides, Obama and his right-wing henchmen including Diane Feinstein are paid to hate Muslims but what's your excuse?
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Oh no! NSA is actively seeking terrorists! Better shut them down.
Watch Out, the TEA Pottie movement will try to destroy you for supporting a government unit.
Kill.
Muslims can not be trusted. They live on the welfare money but they return the favor by bombing the same charitable people who feed them billions of dollars. If there is resurgence of Al Qaeda, it needs to be dealt with a heavy hand. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
TEA/GOP talibangelicals cannot be trusted. Their states take more $ from Fed Govt than they pay in, and then take every opportunity to bite the hand that feeds them. They need to be dealt with with a heavy hand. Flush the TEA pot!
Ya, anybody that disagrees with the far left-wants to pay our bills on time and keep us safe from muslim terrorist with nucs is now the terrorist huh?
Yeah right,
Pure Fantasy, Al Qaida is the name of a CIA database, the so called terrorist group doesn't actually exist.
Its just a tool for the politicians use to frighten the sheeple so they can consolidate their power.
Ugly old Feinstein has tried it one too many times the people are strating to wake up to her tricks.
Good posting, Steve. You're sure right about Diane Feinstein. She's part of the same old right-wing establishment in Washington D.C., trying to scare the general public. People need to wise up to her!!!
Ha Ha. Diane Feinstein is a part of the right wing establishment? Only radical Muslims would think so. She is one of the best. Only Muslims would say that because (a) she is Jewish and (b) she is a woman. Muslims would hate her on both counts. Both Steve Smith and George Patton are total losers (probably the same uneducated Muslim troll using multiple aliases but spewing the same kind of hatred)!!
Muslim Terrorists!
Gee Arnold, what a senseless statement that is. Barack Obama is being paid to hate Muslims, but what's your excuse?
America is the root of all terror. America has invaded sixty countries since world war 2.
In 1953 America overthrow Iran's democratic government Mohammad Mosaddegh and installed a brutal dictator Shah. America helped Shah of Iran to establish secret police and killed thousands of Iranian people.
During Iran-Iraq war evil America supported Suddam Hossain and killed millions of Iranian people. In 1989, America, is the only country ever, shot down Iran's civilian air plane, killing 290 people.
In 2003,America invaded Iraq and killed 1,000,000+ innocent Iraqi people and 4,000,000+ Iraqi people were displaced.
Now America is a failed state with huge debt. Its debt will be 22 trillion by 2015.
Well put, John. Thank you.
You're an idiot.
funny, everyone was agreeing how aq had been decimated the president himself repeated like a broken record how aq was defunct.
Here do the right-wing thugs in Washington again, trying their very best to scare the dickens out of us over Al Qaeda! The truth here is that Al Qaeda has never been strong enough to launch 9/11 on their own back in 2001 and today, they have they can do just to survive! All for an excuse to continue our ridiculously high military spending! Please folks, wise up!
The problem is you are talking about apples and oranges. Right wing in civilized society is still civilized. On the other hand, Muslims are ultra conservative, ultra religious, radical lunatics. Compared to Muslims, the right wingers in Washington look like hippie liberals from California. Muslims are far to the right of any political ideology in the civilized world. If people are taking precaution against these Muslim cave-dwellers, they have good reasons to be concerned. You do not need political ideology to talk to Muslims, you send in the drones to negotiate.
You'll notice how a Democrat, Dianne Feinstein (D), was speaking with Mike Rogers about Al Qaida still being an issue and enemy of the U.S., so its not just a Republican witch hunt any longer.
Muslims countries like Pakistan live on billions in dole out money from the US - so the Republicans do not like them. Muslims throw acid on women and trample on their rights - so the democrats do not like them either. There is bipartisan agreement on rejecting Muslim values (or lack there of). It's not just the US, Muslims are disliked all around the world because of their values and resultant conduct.