Bin Laden Is Dead, but Al Qaeda Is Alive

[Wehrwolfen]

Bin Laden Is Dead, but Al Qaeda Is Alive​

Sep 20, 2012

Bin Laden Is Dead, but Al Qaeda Is Alive | The Weekly Standard
By THOMAS JOSCELYN

A central tenet of President Obama’s foreign policy platform is that al Qaeda is “on the path to defeat.” The death of Osama bin Laden, drone strikes in northern Pakistan and elsewhere, the Arab Spring, and Obama’s more conciliatory approach to the Muslim world have all supposedly come together to sound the death knell for al Qaeda.

But what if none of that is actually true and al Qaeda is, in reality, a more durable foe than the administration wants us to believe?

The numbers don’t lie. Al Qaeda, its affiliates, and its allies still kill and wound thousands of people worldwide each year—on a scale that is on par with, if not greater than, years past. But even this only tells part of the story. Al Qaeda’s ideology remains potent. And the organization itself is becoming stronger in some countries, not weaker.

In the wake of this year’s September 11 attack in Benghazi, consider Libya. A report (“Al Qaeda in Libya: A Profile”) released in August that was prepared by the research division of the Library of Congress (LOC) under an agreement with the Defense Department’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office outlines al Qaeda’s strategy for building up its network in post-Qaddafi Libya.

While some administration officials and outside analysts argue that al Qaeda’s senior leadership in Pakistan (AQSL) has been entirely marginalized, the authors of “Al Qaeda in Libya” find otherwise. AQSL “issued strategic guidance to followers in Libya and elsewhere to take advantage of the Libyan rebellion,” the report reads.

AQSL ordered its followers to “gather weapons,” “establish training camps,” “build a network in secret,” “establish an Islamic state,” and “institute sharia” law. This plan is being executed.

“AQSL in Pakistan dispatched trusted senior operatives as emissaries and leaders who could supervise building a network,” the report notes. They have been successful in establishing “a core network in Libya,” but they still hide their efforts and refrain from brandishing the al Qaeda name. The report finds that al Qaeda “will likely continue to mask its presence under the umbrella of the Libyan Salafist movement, with which it shares a radical ideology and a general intent to implement sharia in Libya and elsewhere.”

The al Qaeda operatives do this, the report’s authors contend, to avoid more international scrutiny. And even before the events of this past September 11 their plan was working. Al Qaeda is still moving forward.

“The al Qaeda clandestine network is currently in an expansion phase,” the report reads, “running training camps and media campaigns on social-media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube.” Things are going so well for al Qaeda inside Libya that it is in the final phase of creating a fully operational network.

A stunning graphic prepared by the U.S. military for the report, included below, tells the story. The bracketed triangles on the red arrow show that al Qaeda has already completed much of the groundwork necessary for its long-term survival in Libya.

After the consulate attack in Benghazi, press reports quickly fingered the Ansar al Sharia brigade as one of the prime suspects. One of Ansar al Sharia’s leaders is Sufyan ben Qumu, who is suspected of playing a direct role in the terrorist attack on the consulate.

Ansar al Sharia is not just the name of a brigade; it is the overall brand name being used by al Qaeda to grow its presence inside Libya and elsewhere. In June, Ansar al Sharia held a demonstration at Liberation Square in Benghazi. 15 militias showed up for the demonstration, which was held to support the implementation of sharia law. Some of the militias appear to be under direct al Qaeda control, while others share at least some of al Qaeda’s goals.

The report goes on to detail how al Qaeda is infiltrating and coopting Libya’s militias, which are heavily armed. The weak Libyan government has made little progress in disarming them. Al Qaeda-linked brigades have acquired self-propelled antiaircraft guns, mobile rocket launchers, and other heavy armaments. The al Qaeda-linked militias control security in various parts of the country.

And al Qaeda’s network inside Libya is hooking up with other al Qaeda branches, too. “Al-Qaeda affiliates such as [Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb] are also benefiting from the situation in Libya,” the report reads. “AQIM will likely join hands with the al Qaeda clandestine network in Libya to secure a supply of arms for its areas of operations in northern Mali and Algeria.”

Al Qaeda is growing inside Libya, not dying.​

[excerpt]

 

[blackhawk]

Pretty accurate while the death of Bin Laden was a major blow it was by no means the final death blow to Al-Qaeda many want to make it out to be.

 

[Wehrwolfen]

Pretty accurate while the death of Bin Laden was a major blow it was by no means the final death blow to Al-Qaeda many want to make it out to be.

Roger that, Loud and clear. al Qaeda is located now in more places within the Middle East than ever before. Mali, Yemen, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and more. Do we create a Middle East of glass to solve the problem? I don't think so. But we should protect ourselves in the face of danger.

 

[Dissent]

We have proof Bin Laden is dead? I am still waiting on some...

 

[francoHFW]

I guess you dupes think the confrontational W clone chickenhawk war monger Romney's a better idea LOL. Your Pub heroes have been a foreign policy disaster for 30 years.

 

[Charles_Main]

but Al Qaeda Is Alive

Yep and so is Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, AQ in the AP, AQ in Africa, And on and on and on.

The very Idea that Al Qaeda is the only problem is silly.