Some of those posting questions sound worried: Does al-Qaida have a long-term strategy?...Politics is not easy for the terrorists. It's not enough just to blow things up. You have to also explain why you aren't blowing more things up.
Many appear frustrated that al-Qaida is not doing more.
"When we will see the men of al-Qaida waging holy war in Palestine? Because frankly our situation has become very bad," writes one, with the username "Seeking the Path."...
"I think they (al-Qaida's leaders) were aware (that) ... everyone was no longer buying into the propaganda about how great they are," said Jeremy Binnie of Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center. "This was put forward as a propaganda exercise and to make it look like they are responding to these concerns."
"Do you have a body that studies events and reviews them to correct mistakes and assess them?"Let's have some accountability.
ADDED: An emailed comment:
If only the process was more transparent. Then people would feel that they had more of a say in which terrorists were in charge.
The terror netroots are all about wanting to see more things get blown up, but they don't actually do anything but make noise. Chickenvultures, that's all they are. A serious terrorist leader would be able to get them in line, and be generally more supportive of jihad, rather than undermining it.
And really, al Qaeda's entire campaign is built on what they did on 9-11. Nevermind that prior to that, they were considered very polarizing figures. The truth is, they were in the right place, at the right time, and they've been playing that for all it's worth. And what have they done since? Been using that rep to garner big
contributions.
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Proving once again that evil is found in bureaucracy.
It is hard out there for a terrorist.
Dear al Qaeda: Why haven't you attacked the United States again?
Probably cause they're too busy being dead in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If al-Qaeda were a rock band, this would be the Price of Fame segment of their "Behind the Music" profile. Perhaps they could get Tony Handra on screen to explain that "their appeal has become more selective".
How do you cope with rising expectations of falling buildings?
Sounds like the evil doctor is gathering data points to base his next speech on.
Looks like there's a place for pre-emptive war after all, eh? Having Sunni Iraqis turn AQ out with the help of the US military must have damped the enthusiam for new recruits a bit. In fact I can't think of anything more devestating to the credibilty and momentum of the Jihadi movement than to be rejected by Sunni Muslims in favor of the "evil occupiers". At once America is redeemed and the Jihadis are discredited in the one place it counts...the heart of the ME. Such a tipping point is the fulcrum upon which the balance of power and the course of history shifts.
I'd suggest there is a very good possibility that Bush may have prevented the next World War by defeating AQ in Iraq.
The following sums up the mind of a wannabe terrorist:
One man says he is a 23-year-old living with his divorced mother.
"I want to travel to join jihad and I sought my mother's permission, but she would not give it to me," he says. "Can I go without her permission?"
Open source terrorism is a bitch.
Have they contacted Eric S. Raymond for advice?
LOL
I would suggest that AQ's big problem since 9/11 is that they got sucked into Iraq. For several years, OBL, et al., were pushing their budding jihadists to do their duty in Iraq. That was fine as long as they had indigenous Iraqi support. But that dried up a bit over a year ago, and the Iraqi Sunni Arabs turned on AQI, and joined the U.S. and Iraqi military in hunting them down.
I have mentioned before that most of the Surge work in the Spring of 2007 was emplacing blocking troops preparatory to the start of offensive operations in early summer. At that time, it looked like those troops were not really that effective. But this last fall, it became obvious why they had been placed where they had been. As the combined forces including U.S. troops, Iraqi military, and Sunni militias, would clear and hold villages and towns, AQI was pushed into smaller and smaller areas, and that resulted in rapidly increasing casualties, esp. of its senior elements, notably in early fall. While not down and out, AQI was severely hurt during the last half of last year.
So, in the end, Iraq turned into the "Honey Pot" for AQ that had been predicted by some - just not nearly as quickly as predicted. AQ was sucked in, and severely hurt.
Of course, AQ is increasingly active in other Sunni majority countries. But it will likely take years to recover from their decision to devote a significant portion of their resources to Iraq throughout at least 2005 and 2006.
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