Posted on 05/16/2008 7:43:44 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
A senior American counter-terrorism official has declared that the demise of al-Qa'eda is in sight because its failure to adapt its violent ideology and tactics has provoked growing dissent across the Islamic world.
The uprising by Sunni tribes against al-Qa'eda in Iraq, protests in northern Africa against suicide bombings and dissent from clerics and former terrorists have put the group's leadership on the defensive as never before, said the official.
"If al-Qa'eda maintains its current state of play of attacking civilians and Muslims, and continuing to not change its philosophy, it will start to fizzle." He said the end of the movement as a global threat was "visible" and "foreseeable", in contrast to previous assumptions that it would last for generations. Acknowledging that the threat of a major al-Qa'eda attack remains significant, his remarks reflected a quiet confidence within the George W Bush administration that one of its major goals will be achieved before too long.
Declarations of triumph have been precluded by the mockery that followed the president's "Mission Accomplished" statement in Iraq in 2003. But White House officials are beginning to express confidence that al-Qa'eda will be defeated. Juan Carlos Zarate, the White House's deputy national security adviser on terrorism, said in a recent speech: "There has been a growing rejection of the al-Qa'eda programme and message.
"We know that all of this matters to al-Qa'eda and that its senior leadership is sensitive to the perceived legitimacy of both their actions and their ideology."
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is Osama bin Laden's deputy, held a 90-minute internet conversation with radicals during which he was forced to defend al-Qa'eda's killing of Muslim civilians. Last year Salman Awdah, a prominent Saudi cleric, wrote an open letter to bin Laden condemning the deaths of innocent parties.
The senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "There are indicators all over the world where al-Qa'eda's programme is not being met by the grand acceptance that it assumed.''
America is heartened by al-Qa'eda's failure to create a political wing or to dilute its policy of violence. The official added: "They are not going to stop bombing people and claiming that those who don't think like them are unbelievers. They are almost digging a deeper hole for themselves by finding new enemies.''
However, Peter Bergen, the author and leading terrorism expert, said: "While it is true support for bin Laden, al-Qa'eda and suicide bombing is evaporating it doesn't translate into a long-term embrace of the United States.''
Al Qaeda knows they just have to hold on a little longer for a Barry Hussein Presidency and they can renew their quest for the Caliphate.
But we are “losing” the “unpopular” war on terror.
Even some, here on FR, who ought to know better, seem to accept that propaganda.
Wow. When these guys are saying it publicly, you know the end is near. I wonder if some of the folks here on FR who have been saying the Iraq war wasn’t worth it still want to tow that line in view of this information.
Those on FR who have been saying that the war was not worth it are either ignorants or defeatists.
I’d still like to see Osama’s rotting corpse on display in Central Park.
So, are Iranians in Iraq to be considered Al Qaeda by anti-Americans (Dem leadership)?
yitbos
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