Green Energy
I've seen this story at a couple of sites the past few days. Al Qaeda appears to be retreating from Afghanistan. Everyone is counting this as a victory, and perhaps it is. At least one site was tying this story to the story of a few weeks back about Bin Laden being dead.
I don't know, though. Read this story, and tell me if you think this is good news, or not:
Rohan Gunaratna, head of terrorism research at Singapore's Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies, and the author of "Inside Al Qaeda; Global Network of Terror," said "We have seen that several hundred, perhaps five to six hundred al Qaeda members who were located on the Afghan-Pakistan border, have now left."
Gunaratna adds that these al Qaeda members have returned "to their own home countries, particularly to Iraq, and also to other Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen. We have seen a shift in Al Qaeda's thinking, in strategy."
Some of those who returned to their native countries in the Arab world and were caught have told investigators that the orders only specified al Qaeda's decision for the Arabs to depart Afghanistan. The choice of a route was left to al Qaeda's local commanders in Afghanistan, according to information given by arrested suspects to their interrogators.
"The standard answer was: We don't know why we were told to leave. The orders were very specific — leave Afghanistan now without wasting much time." The diplomat spoke on the condition that neither his identity nor that of his country would be revealed.
Leave, and leave fast?
That's peculiar, especially when you consider they could simply melt away into the landscape. Methinks there's something more to this.
There was also a call for Muslims to leave the United States recently.
I don't know. If Al Qaeda had a nuke up their sleeve, it's a bit hard to believe they'd detonate it in Afghanistan.
What do you think is going on?
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New York Daily News: Al Qaeda in Afghanistan: Small in numbers, huge in impact on Taliban By James Gordon Meek Ever since senior Obama administration advisers such as CIA Director Leon Panetta and Vice President Biden admitted that Al Qaeda's presence...
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For all the (correctly so) bitching and complaining we do about our ditherer in chief, it would seem he got this one right. ABCNews: Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Yemen Terrorists Cruise Missiles Launched Thursday Hit Two Suspected al Qaeda Sites;...
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Green Energy
Al Qaeda Retreat? - Hmm, What's Going On Here?
I've seen this story at a couple of sites the past few days. Al Qaeda appears to be retreating from Afghanistan. Everyone is counting this as a victory, and perhaps it is. At least one site was tying this story to the story of a few weeks back about Bin Laden being dead.
I don't know, though. Read this story, and tell me if you think this is good news, or not:
Rohan Gunaratna, head of terrorism research at Singapore's Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies, and the author of "Inside Al Qaeda; Global Network of Terror," said "We have seen that several hundred, perhaps five to six hundred al Qaeda members who were located on the Afghan-Pakistan border, have now left."
Gunaratna adds that these al Qaeda members have returned "to their own home countries, particularly to Iraq, and also to other Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen. We have seen a shift in Al Qaeda's thinking, in strategy."
Some of those who returned to their native countries in the Arab world and were caught have told investigators that the orders only specified al Qaeda's decision for the Arabs to depart Afghanistan. The choice of a route was left to al Qaeda's local commanders in Afghanistan, according to information given by arrested suspects to their interrogators.
"The standard answer was: We don't know why we were told to leave. The orders were very specific — leave Afghanistan now without wasting much time." The diplomat spoke on the condition that neither his identity nor that of his country would be revealed.
Leave, and leave fast?
That's peculiar, especially when you consider they could simply melt away into the landscape. Methinks there's something more to this.
There was also a call for Muslims to leave the United States recently.
I don't know. If Al Qaeda had a nuke up their sleeve, it's a bit hard to believe they'd detonate it in Afghanistan.
What do you think is going on?
- Osama Bin Laden On The Move?
From the Asia Times (hat tip to Weasel Zippers): ISLAMABAD - After a prolonged lull, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has launched a series of covert operations in the rugged Hindu Kush mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan following...
- A Proper Pup For Our British Mate, Ray Boyd
Ray Boyd says, “America is like a dog. It cannot understand actual words. It understands inflection, it understands fear, but you can’t actually explain issues to a dog.” I say, Why don't you try putting us on a leash and taking us out for a...
-
New York Daily News: Al Qaeda in Afghanistan: Small in numbers, huge in impact on Taliban By James Gordon Meek Ever since senior Obama administration advisers such as CIA Director Leon Panetta and Vice President Biden admitted that Al Qaeda's presence...
- Obama Gets Something Right
For all the (correctly so) bitching and complaining we do about our ditherer in chief, it would seem he got this one right. ABCNews: Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Yemen Terrorists Cruise Missiles Launched Thursday Hit Two Suspected al Qaeda Sites;...
- Good News From The Obamanation
I like this idea. It looks like Obama really does intend to take the war to Pakistan to some limited degree. From Reuters: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will deploy 4,000 extra troops to train Afghan security forces in a revamp of its Afghan...