Is Al Qaeda a group we should worry about?

[jimnyc]

Have they been cut down enough? Are they still active? Are they hurt to the point that they aren't a danger to anyone? Have they been reduced in major numbers?


Al Qaeda controls more territory than ever in Middle East(CNN) -- From around Aleppo in western Syria to small areas of Falluja in central Iraq, al Qaeda now controls territory that stretches more than 400 miles across the heart of the Middle East, according to English and Arab language news accounts as well as accounts on jihadist websites.

Indeed, al Qaeda appears to control more territory in the Arab world than it has done at any time in its history.

The focus of al Qaeda's leaders has always been regime change in the Arab world in order to install Taliban-style regimes. Al Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri acknowledged as much in his 2001 autobiography, "Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet," when he explained that the most important strategic goal of al Qaeda was to seize control of a state, or part of a state, somewhere in the Muslim world, explaining that, "without achieving this goal our actions will mean nothing."

Now al-Zawahiri is closer to his goal than he has ever been. On Friday al-Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq seized control of parts of the city of Falluja and parts of the city of Ramadi, both of which are located in Iraq's restive Anbar Province.

Anbar is home to predominantly Sunni Muslims, who feel that that the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki treats the Sunnis as second-class citizens.

Sectarian tensions in Anbar recently burst into several all-out revolts against the government, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as the al-Qaeda affiliate there is known, quickly seized the opportunity to notch some battlefield victories.

Government forces increased their presence around Falluja in response and on Tuesday tribal leaders issued a statement urging people who had fled the city or stopped reporting to work to return.

ISIS is also operating in Syria, where it has established a presence in many areas of the Aleppo and Idlib Governorates in the northwest. In August, ISIS launched a propaganda series on video highlighting their activities in Syria, which includes interviews with fighters; the "graduation" of a group of mujahedin "cubs" (aged about 7 to 10 years old) from training, and sermons at local mosques preaching al Qaeda's interpretation of Islam.

The al-Nusra front has claimed to control parts of at least a dozen Syrian towns. Those include sections of the ancient city of the Aleppo in the northwest, where fighters have been filmed running a community fair and preaching al Qaeda's values to crowds of children.

The group has also released videos on jihadist websites claiming that it is providing services to the people of several towns in the governorate of Idlib, which borders the Aleppo Governorate to the west. Al Nusra claims that it is a quasi-government and service-provider in the towns of Binnish, Taum, and Saraqib.

Al-Nusra fighters allied to al Qaeda function like a government in areas they control in Syria. The group provides daily deliveries of bread, free running water and electricity, a health clinic, and a strict justice system based on Sharia law in the eastern Syrian city of Ash Shaddadi, where it also took control of the city's wheat silos and oil wells.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/opinion/bergen-al-qaeda-terrority-gains/

[jafar00]

Are you asking that now? Why not ask the CIA all about it.

I guess the rise of AQ answers anyone who asks you how that war on terror is coming along? All the war on terror has accomplished is more oppression, and stronger terrorists.

You could say it has had the opposite effect to what was intended?

[jimnyc]

Are you asking that now? Why not ask the CIA all about it.

I guess the rise of AQ answers anyone who asks you how that war on terror is coming along? All the war on terror has accomplished is more oppression, and stronger terrorists.

You could say it has had the opposite effect to what was intended?

Sure, like the CIA has something to do with where they are now and their objectives. But if you would rather point fingers instead of addressing the actual topic - why don't we ask the endless muslims who support these filth, and give them aid? Islam has done WAY more than anyone else in promoting groups like Al Qaeda and supporting them. No matter how and what you say about all of this - the bottom line remains that ALL of these terrorists filth are muslims. And they are infecting nations all over the world, not just the ME.

And the war on terror would be just fine and dandy if it weren't for the PC crowd. Let our soldiers do what they were trained for and we could end the majority of this within a year, and do the job that islam refuses to do, which is reign in the extreme out of control radicals within the group.

Sure, the CIA was there many years ago. But time to own up to the scum within the islamic fold. These people are out there in multiple countries, killing muslims and non muslims, in fights that ain't got shit to do with the CIA. Just turn a blind eye to it though, like about 1.5 billion others I know of.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Have they been cut down enough? Are they still active? Are they hurt to the point that they aren't a danger to anyone? Have they been reduced in major numbers?



http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/opinion/bergen-al-qaeda-terrority-gains/

Obama's term has grown the number of Islamic terrorists we have now ! Strange how this great Leader of Men , guy that can unite us and the world can do that. I smell and see lying ass propaganda behind this tripe praising obama's greatness and magnificence. Which when one thinks about it is typical for dem/liberal behavior.. -Tyr

[Drummond]

Are you asking that now? Why not ask the CIA all about it.

I guess the rise of AQ answers anyone who asks you how that war on terror is coming along? All the war on terror has accomplished is more oppression, and stronger terrorists.

You could say it has had the opposite effect to what was intended?

Anyone criticising the War on Terror need only remember that Al Qaeda's worst ever attack occurred BEFORE that was ever started. So .. would never reacting to Al Qaeda in response to that attack, have been an acceptable outcome ??

And how much stronger, today, would Al Q be if they'd never been carpet-bombed in Afghanistan ??

Jafar, I'm sorry to see you're so negative about tackling terrorists. But as for Jim's starting-point, I don't accept that there is ANY acceptable size for Al Qaeda. Even if they were one tenth their present size, reduced in power ditto, they could always rebuild and recruit over time.

And if they ever get WMD's to deploy ... just how big would Al Qaeda have to be, to successfully deploy any ??

No. The War on Terror is an absolute necessity. The slacker the effort in fighting it, the greater the potential (or actual) success of the terrorist.

[fj1200]

Have they been cut down enough? Are they still active? Are they hurt to the point that they aren't a danger to anyone? Have they been reduced in major numbers?

It depends, are they a danger to the US? And then the answer to that question is what is the best strategy; Whack-a-mole or DEFCON 3?

[aboutime]

It depends, are they a danger to the US? And then the answer to that question is what is the best strategy; Whack-a-mole or DEFCON 3?


Obama, and Hillary still insist THEY are no longer a threat to the U.S.

You can play word games as much as you like. Enemy support is probably very welcome in your sphere of Stupidity.

[jafar00]

Sure, like the CIA has something to do with where they are now and their objectives. But if you would rather point fingers instead of addressing the actual topic - why don't we ask the endless muslims who support these filth, and give them aid? Islam has done WAY more than anyone else in promoting groups like Al Qaeda and supporting them. No matter how and what you say about all of this - the bottom line remains that ALL of these terrorists filth are muslims. And they are infecting nations all over the world, not just the ME.

And the war on terror would be just fine and dandy if it weren't for the PC crowd. Let our soldiers do what they were trained for and we could end the majority of this within a year, and do the job that islam refuses to do, which is reign in the extreme out of control radicals within the group.

Sure, the CIA was there many years ago. But time to own up to the scum within the islamic fold. These people are out there in multiple countries, killing muslims and non muslims, in fights that ain't got shit to do with the CIA. Just turn a blind eye to it though, like about 1.5 billion others I know of.

So you're a poor villager, and these guys come along who say they will defend you and your family against these foreign invaders who keep bombing you from unmanned drones, what do you do?

AQ know how to influence these people and they can garner some support. At least until they show their true colours and start oppressing people and they turn against them as many have.


Anyone criticising the War on Terror need only remember that Al Qaeda's worst ever attack occurred BEFORE that was ever started. So .. would never reacting to Al Qaeda in response to that attack, have been an acceptable outcome ??

And how much stronger, today, would Al Q be if they'd never been carpet-bombed in Afghanistan ??

Jafar, I'm sorry to see you're so negative about tackling terrorists. But as for Jim's starting-point, I don't accept that there is ANY acceptable size for Al Qaeda. Even if they were one tenth their present size, reduced in power ditto, they could always rebuild and recruit over time.

And if they ever get WMD's to deploy ... just how big would Al Qaeda have to be, to successfully deploy any ??

No. The War on Terror is an absolute necessity. The slacker the effort in fighting it, the greater the potential (or actual) success of the terrorist.

Look. I am as against AQ as you but I disagree on they way they have been fought. They are small groups of misfits. Do you really need to bomb and invade whole countries or send in an unmanned drone to drop a bomb on a house that may or may not have an AQ member in it, killing many innocents and creating for yourself more enemies?

A better way would have been to support and increase the program that was run in Yemen where scholars sat down with AQ fighters and got them to renounce their violent ways by using Islam to show them the right path.


"If you can convince us that your ideas are justified by the Koran, then we will join you in your struggle," Judge al-Hitar tells militants. "But if we succeed in convincing you of our ideas, then you must agree to renounce violence." According to the story, Al-Hitar "invites militants to use the Koran to justify attacks on innocent civilians and when they cannot, he shows them numerous passages commanding Muslims not to attack civilians, to respect other religions, and fight only in self-defense." The exchanges may last for weeks. If prisoners renounce their Islamist views, they are released.The judge himself notes that, "Since December 2002, when the first round of the dialogues ended, there have been no terrorist attacks here, even though many people thought that Yemen would become terror's capital. Three hundred and sixty-four young men have been released after going through the dialogues and none of these have left Yemen to fight anywhere else." . . .

http://christopherblosser.blogspot.com.au/2005/02/judge-hamood-al-hitar-dialogue-as.html
Quite a success story. Words can be more powerful than bombs and thousands of troops.

Unfortunately the program was abandoned due to a lack of funding.

[jimnyc]

It depends, are they a danger to the US? And then the answer to that question is what is the best strategy; Whack-a-mole or DEFCON 3?

I think they are somewhat a danger until the very last member is killed. How much of a danger and to whom is going to vary from cell to cell probably. It only takes a small cell to be a major danger to an entire city. I think the answer is good intelligence, good monitoring and taking them out when we can. It would be nice if many other countries felt the same, and we could all eradicate our own fair share - but we can't seem to rely on very many countries for support or the desire to fight back.

[aboutime]

Any known group, anywhere in the world who makes a public announcement that they want to KILL ME, MY FAMILY, and ALL AMERICANS...needs to be searched for, and destroyed.

Does anyone honestly believe our enemies worry about KILLING INNOCENT American children, or women when they intentionally wear a BOMB vest, intent on killing themselves, and anybody else???

WAR is generally a deadly thing. Some people live, and some die. I'd prefer to keep My Friends, and Family ALIVE. No matter how much it takes to do so.

[fj1200]

I think they are somewhat a danger until the very last member is killed. How much of a danger and to whom is going to vary from cell to cell probably. It only takes a small cell to be a major danger to an entire city. I think the answer is good intelligence, good monitoring and taking them out when we can. It would be nice if many other countries felt the same, and we could all eradicate our own fair share - but we can't seem to rely on very many countries for support or the desire to fight back.

That 'tis true.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Any known group, anywhere in the world who makes a public announcement that they want to KILL ME, MY FAMILY, and ALL AMERICANS...needs to be searched for, and destroyed.

Does anyone honestly believe our enemies worry about KILLING INNOCENT American children, or women when they intentionally wear a BOMB vest, intent on killing themselves, and anybody else???

WAR is generally a deadly thing. Some people live, and some die. I'd prefer to keep My Friends, and Family ALIVE. No matter how much it takes to do so. There is no way in hell that I could agree more with that!!! :beer: :clap: :beer: :salute: -Tyr

[Drummond]

Look. I am as against AQ as you but I disagree on they way they have been fought. They are small groups of misfits. Do you really need to bomb and invade whole countries or send in an unmanned drone to drop a bomb on a house that may or may not have an AQ member in it, killing many innocents and creating for yourself more enemies?

Several years ago, Jafar, the BBC broadcast a mini-series called 'The Power of Nightmares'. In it, they sought to peddle the line you're now taking .. that Al Qaeda are far less powerful and numerous than generally thought, and that claiming otherwise was a bunch of US 'neocons' trying to falsely influence policy through fearmongering. Needless to say, various authorities reacted to it with incredulity and outrage. The BBC didn't get quite the interest in buying it for broadcast on other TV stations as they'd expected. Indeed, they ended up having to make another programme, to offer a counterbalancing picture !!

See ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares


The films compare the rise of the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and claiming similarities between the two. More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries—and particularly American Neo-Conservatives—in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies.

That's the BBC for you. Were you by any chance in Britain when it was screened, Jafar ?

Did you see my earlier post, where I referred to the carpet-bombing of Afghanistan ? Do you think that was wrong ? Do you think that all the terrorist camps should've been left alone ?

As for more recently, though ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10551968/US-fears-over-Al-Qaeda-takeover-of-key-Iraqi-cities.html


The White House is under growing pressure to shore up the Iraqi government as al-Qaeda fighters swarmed into the power vacuum left behind by the withdrawal of US forces two years ago.

In the two weeks Mr Obama has been on holiday in Hawaii, Sunni tribesmen and their al-Qaeda allies have seized control of most of the western province of Anbar and driven back Iraqi forces.


By Sunday the militants appeared to be fully in control of the city of Fallujah - the scene of America’s heaviest losses during the eight year war - and Republicans accused the White House of presiding over a “strategic disaster” in the Middle East.


“The thousands of brave Americans who fought, shed their blood, and lost their friends to bring peace to Fallujah and Iraq are now left to wonder whether these sacrifices were in vain,” said Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham.


They criticised Mr Obama’s decision to withdraw all US troops in December 2011 instead of leaving behind a residual force, saying this week’s militants advances were “as tragic as they were predictable”.

This by no means describes ALL that Al Qaeda are getting up to in the world, Jafar. If anything, it's clear that NOT NEARLY ENOUGH is being done to fight them !!!

If you're as against Al Qaeda as you suggest, Jafar, shouldn't you support stronger action ??

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Several years ago, Jafar, the BBC broadcast a mini-series called 'The Power of Nightmares'. In it, they sought to peddle the line you're now taking .. that Al Qaeda are far less powerful and numerous than generally thought, and that claiming otherwise was a bunch of US 'neocons' trying to falsely influence policy through fearmongering. Needless to say, various authorities reacted to it with incredulity and outrage. The BBC didn't get quite the interest in buying it for broadcast on other TV stations as they'd expected. Indeed, they ended up having to make another programme, to offer a counterbalancing picture !!

See ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares



That's the BBC for you. Were you by any chance in Britain when it was screened, Jafar ?

Did you see my earlier post, where I referred to the carpet-bombing of Afghanistan ? Do you think that was wrong ? Do you think that all the terrorist camps should've been left alone ?

As for more recently, though ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10551968/US-fears-over-Al-Qaeda-takeover-of-key-Iraqi-cities.html



This by no means describes ALL that Al Qaeda are getting up to in the world, Jafar. If anything, it's clear that NOT NEARLY ENOUGH is being done to fight them !!!

If you're as against Al Qaeda as you suggest, Jafar, shouldn't you support stronger action ??
WHAT YOU GET FROM JAFAR IS HIS ONLY REPLYING THAT HE IS AGAINST CERTAIN ELEMENTS IN ISLAM IF AND WHEN THEY ARE REPEATEDLY SHOWN TO BE MURDERING THUGS. I've never seen him castigate them unless provoked by our repeated presentations of the TRUTH! One would think if they are so perverting his faith that he would volunteer criticisms but I've not seen any criticisms so volunteered by him. He has to be pushed and pushed hard to get him to do even that little bit. What conclusion should we draw from that I ask?--Tyr

[Drummond]

WHAT YOU GET FROM JAFAR IS HIS ONLY REPLYING THAT HE IS AGAINST CERTAIN ELEMENTS IN ISLAM IF AND WHEN THEY ARE REPEATEDLY SHOWN TO BE MURDERING THUGS. I've never seen him castigate them unless provoked by our repeated presentations of the TRUTH! One would think if they are so perverting his faith that he would volunteer criticisms but I've not seen any criticisms so volunteered by him. He has to be pushed and pushed hard to get him to do even that little bit. What conclusion should we draw from that I ask?--Tyr
:clap::clap::clap::clap:

Well said. I look forward (if we get any) to Jafar's answers to both of our posts.

[Gaffer]

AQ is simply doing what has always been done in the past. Breaking itself into local and regional designations. If you think of AQ as a army headquarters and the others elements as corps, brigades and regiments you can grasp what they have done. AQ in yemen or iraq or syria are just corp HQ's and each local named group are regiments.

So yes, AQ is smaller and doesn't appear to be doing much. When actually they are financing and coordinating all the other seemingly independent groups. Most people don't grasp the term Order of Battle. It's how a large force is broken down into the chain of command.

Army
Corps
Brigade
Battalion
Company
Platoon
Squad

Each has a designation and often a local or personal nick name.The muslims are no different, they just use religious names in their designations. But the chain of command goes up to AQ.

[aboutime]

I dare say. 99 Percent of present day Americans have no interest in, or know about anything connected to war. In fact. It's an easy guess. Those same 99percent, have never heard of, or even read "The Art Of War".

Bet our enemies, like AQ, and the Late OBL did.

In case anyone wonders. Here's a link....


http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html