This was an excellent special report written by the good people at the Economist. Be sure to follow the link I provided and read the entire thing, because this was just the teaser article below. There were lot’s of great ideas in this report, and I highly recommend reading it. What was really motivating to me, was to read about the current state of Al Qaeda and how we have actually accomplished some pretty remarkable things.
For me, Al Qaeda has always symbolized an idea more than anything. And AQ has certainly tarnished the rest of the Islamic world with their war. And like the article pointed out, the one thing that really hurts them in this war, is their killing of other muslims in the name of Allah. And when one of the founders of Al Qaeda named Dr. Ladl even says that Al Qaeda has gone too far, then I think we are starting to make some headway in this war.
And what really gets me, is that in Iraq, Zarqawi and company proclaimed that Iraq will be the main battle ground to fight the infidels at. Soon after this proclamation, we killed Zarqawi and then the surge happened and the rest is what we have today. A Iraq that is significantly better than it was, and Al Qaeda being run out of town by the Iraqis and the Coalition. The turning point with AQ was when Iraqis said enough was enough, and joined forces with us to rid the country of these islamic extremists. My point with this, is that the surge and our new counter-insurgency strategy was certainly a contributing factor, for this victory against AQ. And I say victory, because they are now a shadow of themselves in Iraq.
I also think it is significant what Saudi Arabia has been able to do in this war. I would have certainly expected AQ to have carried out several massive and successful attacks by now. But it seems that Saudi Arabia has done a pretty good job of putting down AQ, and I am sure Bin Laden and company have been biting their lip about that one. Bin Laden has always held a grudge against the Saudi Royal family, and it must kill him that Al Qaeda of Saudi Arabia sucks.
So now they are all running to Afghanistan, to join the fight there I guess. And to me, this is one of the most complex problems we have right now to deal with in this war. In Pakistan, you have the FATA region where AQ and the Taliban have been training and enjoying a safe haven. And then during the fighting season(summer), they make the cross over into Afghanistan and cause trouble. Couple that with the poppy situation(drugs for guns) and a nation ravaged by years of war and terrible infrastructure, and we have a really complex problem to solve there. And I am not even sure if more troops will solve this. We’ll see how it goes, because I think Afghanistan will be a huge deal in the coming months and then next summer with a new US President. I am optimistic, with Petraeus and company at the helm. If anyone could think up the correct strategy, it is the batch of warrior leaders we have right now. –Head Jundi
How to win the war within Islam
Jul 17th 2008
From The Economist print edition
In the long run, al-Qaeda will be defeated by Muslims, not foreigners. But the West can still help
AMERICA’S “global war on terrorism”, now in its seventh year, has gone on longer than the second world war. Will it ever end? Optimists believe some kind of victory is in sight: Iraq is improving; al-Qaeda has been unable to stage a big attack in the West in three years; and terrorists have shown little sign of using weapons of mass destruction. Jihadists face an ideological backlash, even from radical “brothers” who support jihad but disagree with killing Muslims.
Welcome as al-Qaeda’s setbacks may be, the world should not be complacent. As our special report in this issue explains, the threat is likely to last for decades. One reason is that al-Qaeda, though weaker in Iraq, has created a new sanctuary in Pakistan’s tribal belt. Another is that al-Qaeda’s ideology has spread far and wide thanks to the internet and ease of travel. A third is that anti-Americanism remains powerful across the Muslim world. Only a tiny proportion of the world’s billion or so Muslims need to take up jihad to create serious trouble.
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