Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Al-Qaeda shifting to North Africa

I comment below the star line following extracts from Amir Taheri’s op-ed in today’s London Times.

Taheri writes - - -


… [Al-Qaeda jihadists beaten in Iraq and] looking for new places to pursue their holy war against “Zionists and Crusaders”, ended up in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Thailand and helped to reignite the fires of jihad.

However, North Africa appears to have attracted the largest number of returnees.

According to the buzz in jihadist circles, confirmed by officials and analysts, a new arc of terror is taking shape in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania - the five countries of the so-called Arab Maghreb in North Africa. …

By all accounts, Algeria may be facing a new round of the War against Terror as it faces mounting political and economic problems. In the first phase of the war, Algerian jihadists never used suicide tactics. In recent months they have carried out at least four such operations, indicating total adoption of al-Qaeda tactics. They have also tried to kill President Bouteflika on at least four occasions. The latest plot was uncovered last week, 24 hours before a provincial visit.

Last month the President invited Ahmed Ouyahya, the architect of Algeria's victory against the terrorists, to assume the premiership again. His return acknowledges that the policy of cuddling the Islamists, preached by the former Premier, Abdulaziz Belkhadem, has failed.
While Algeria is well prepared to face a resurgence of jihadism, Morocco, long recognised as one of the most moderate and peaceful countries in the Muslim world, may prove more vulnerable.

Visitors returning after three or four years would be struck by changes in the urban scenery. The number of al-Qaeda-style beards has grown along with the number of neo-hijab headscarves designed to identify women as partisans of jihad. Women in jeans or mini-skirts have all but disappeared from public, along with all females who favoured the colourful dress of the Berber.

One sees countless women draped in black that remind one of Hitchcock's The Birds. Jihadist propaganda is sold on the streets in stalls provided by the municipal authorities.

Fewer and fewer places serve alcohol, and parts of the main cities are becoming no-go areas for foreign tourists. Over the past year, almost 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with terrorism after attacks that claimed at least 60 lives.
Few of the jihadists come from the poor and illiterate slum-dwelling masses. Most of those arrested are graduates, often from well-to-do middle-class families.

While Algeria is well prepared to face a resurgence of jihadism, Morocco, long recognised as one of the most moderate and peaceful countries in the Muslim world, may prove more vulnerable.

Visitors returning after three or four years would be struck by changes in the urban scenery. The number of al-Qaeda-style beards has grown along with the number of neo-hijab headscarves designed to identify women as partisans of jihad. Women in jeans or mini-skirts have all but disappeared from public, along with all females who favoured the colourful dress of the Berber. One sees countless women draped in black that remind one of Hitchcock's The Birds. Jihadist propaganda is sold on the streets in stalls provided by the municipal authorities.

Fewer and fewer places serve alcohol, and parts of the main cities are becoming no-go areas for foreign tourists. Over the past year, almost 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with terrorism after attacks that claimed at least 60 lives.
Few of the jihadists come from the poor and illiterate slum-dwelling masses. Most of those arrested are graduates, often from well-to-do middle-class families.

More disturbing is that dozens were army, police and security officers. According to a senior official, the jihadists used the Army to obtain military training and the Government had to abolish the conscription system that obliged all male Moroccans to join the Army for two years. The Government has also banned military personnel from attending mosque congregations. …

Taheri’s entire op-ed is here.

*******************************************************************

Comments:

It’s no surprise al-Qaeda, beaten for now in Iraq, is shifting its attention to North Africa. We should expect many such shifts, which amount to strategic redeployments, to occur until the global war on terror is finally won.

Americans and the rest of the civilized world must remember al-Qaeda lost the battle in Iraq; the global war goes on.

Our military recognizes what Al-Qaeda’s doing as abandoning a position it can’t hold and moving terrorist-fighters into new locations where they’ll be trained and equipped for the next battles.

I didn’t include one of the most informative and worrying parts of Tehari’s op-ed. It deals with a linking of Turkish and Moroccan Muslim extremists who in both countries are putting on their “civil masks” and seeking to advance jihad through political means until such time as they’re strong enough to use force.

I hope you give Tehari’s op-ed a read.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't mind wasting a few electrons on this - but - how does one have a global war on terrorism? How does one have a war on a tactic? I mean really?

Anonymous said...

Do you actually believe these Iraq re-tred lies?

U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 9:00 AM

By: Kenneth R. Timmerman Article Font Size

Iran has carried out missile tests for what could be a plan for a nuclear strike on the United States, the head of a national security panel has warned.

Read the rest:
http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/iran
_nuclear_plan/2008/07/29/117217
.html

Anonymous said...

With none of the fanfare that usually attends a landmark bill becoming law, President Bush signed the huge housing rescue bill just after 7 a.m. Wednesday, shortly after he arrived in the Oval Office.

Read the rest:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories
/0708/12166.html

National debt doubled this morning - now over 9 Trillion.

How about the terrorists in the White House?

JWM said...

To Anon @ 1:38,

The post doesn't reference the Newsmax story or its contents.

I've not read the story.

You have.

What's your point?

John

JWM said...

To Anon @ 1:58,

Bush, along with the Democratic Congress, has let spending get out of hand.

I don't know about terrorists in the WH but you remind me I need to start posting about Obama's relationships with Bill Ayers, his wife and others.

There's lots of information there Obama and his press corps isn't telling us.

John

Anonymous said...

@JWM

The post chases the global war on terror - a war on a tactic - There are only two countries currently threatening a nuclear strike - global terror by any other name - Uncle Scam and Israel.

JWM said...

Anon @ 2:37,

Typically in a war the contending sides have strategies which they implement with tactics.

In 1941 Japan's war strategy included seizing control of the eastern Pacific.

Two tactics of that strategy were attacks on Pearl Harbor and Midway.

In turn we attacked the Japanese tactics and that made for war.

You say, "only two countries currently threatening a nuclear strike - global terror by any other name - Uncle Scam and Israel."

Both nations say they'll only use nuclear weapons for self-defense. They've lived up to that for years.

Iran has said it would use nuclear weapons preemptorally to destroy Israel.

Various terrorists organizations we are fighting in the global war on terror insist they are seeking nuclear weapons for use against a veriaty of nations.

John

Anonymous said...

@JWM

Today we have the most powerful country in the world conducting a global war on terror. There is no defined enemy. It is a war on a tactic. Uncle Scam has escalated this into a global war.

Blowback.

History has shown that the more "involved" Uncle Scam becomes in ruling the world, making little insignificant countries bend to his will, the more people in these little countries rise up against it.

It is a mistake to believe the ravings of Neo-conservatives - they are political. Why not consider it more reasonable to believe the findings of our own career intelligence services?

Anonymous said...

To the 3.53:
"Believe the findings of our own career intelligence services."
You mean the CIA who didn't know the Soviet Union and its client states were folding until it actually happened? You mean the FBI and the CIA who couldn't find spies in their own ranks? And I believe it was the career intelligence services that maintained there were WMDs in Iraq. Politics has oozed into our career intelligence services to the point they can no longer collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence accurately. I really don't have a solution other than a thorough house cleaning.
Tarheel Hawkeye

Anonymous said...

@ Tarheel Hawkeye

If you are not familiar with the work of Karen Kwiatkowski I suggest you google her name, fasten your safety belt, and read. I am interested in your reaction, and I must agree with your excellent idea about cleaning house. Where should we start?


"Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski (ret.), a veteran of the Pentagon with firsthand experience of the administration’s cherry-picking of intelligence. . . "

Anonymous said...

To the 5.23: I don't need to read Karen's opinions. I worked at the highest levels of the Defense Department for over 20 years in both the counterintelligence and antiterrorism fields.
TH

Anonymous said...

John -

Great ripostes, but, please, do follow up on St. Barack's association with the domestic terrorists, William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

Dittos to Tarheel Hawkeye as usual, but to anon at 5:23 PM, I started reading some of what Karen Kwiatkowski wrote (it's on LewRockwell.com) and I think she suffers from Bush derangement syndrome. The facts on Iraq were simple. Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear reactor (until the Israelis took it out), he did use chemical weapons against the Kurds, he did not comply with the United Nations resolutions in allowing weapons inspectors the right to look around, and he was cavorting with Al-Queda. We are talking here about a megalomaniacal individual who should not be given the presumption of innocence, especially after 9/11, even if he was not involved in it.

Jack in Silver Spring

zonga said...

Amir Taheri
* 1 A Faked Report on Iran
o 1.1 Taheri's Reports
* 2 Other Debunked Taheri Claims
* 3 Professional Chronology
* 4 External Links
o 4.1 Profiles
o 4.2 Articles & Commentary
Blogs that mention this article

* Murdoch Goes After Condi, Urges Blockade Against Iran
* The Wall Street Journal Features Op-Ed from Known Fabricator
* Murdoch Goes After Condi, Urges Blockade Against Iran
* the selling of Iraq
* Podhoretz?s Quote Came from Known Fabricator Amir Taheri
* Neo-con media psy-ops and Amir Taheri: Here we go again
* DetainThis

Source: Technorati (view all)

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Amir_Taheri

Anonymous said...

@ Jack in Silver Spring

You might like to google
"Kwiatkowski Pentagon Whistle Blower"