Al Qaeda.

This is coolbert:

"Al-Qaida does not have the sufficient quantitative or qualitative possibilities to completely shut down the functions of the society or the country."

"At the moment al-Qaida is a terrible annoyance that one has to live with"

"as long as al-Qaida does not manage to get its hands on weapons of mass destruction"

- - Magnus Ranstorp, Research Director for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College.

Here with a somewhat trite but still interesting series of interviews with a variety of seven counter-terrorism experts. As carried by the German Der Spiegel news magazine. This seven years now and counting [2008] since 9/11.

"trite 1. lacking in freshness repetition; . . . rubbed or worn by use."

My comments in BOLD!

"How Dangerous Is Al-Qaida?"

1. "it seems that the original al-Qaida, or Qa’idat al-Jihad, has managed to fulfill a great part of its short-range goals."

"Nevertheless, there was no progress in achieving its main long-term goals"

- - Reuven Paz, Director of the Project for the Research of Islamist Movements in Herzliya, Israel.

2. "Current American strategy is oriented toward lethal and kinetic force. It is not suitable to fight the jihadism. The US-led Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) is focused on operational counterterrorism -- catch, kill, disruption"

- - Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, head of International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore.

3. "1) The organization known as al-Qaida, under the leadership of Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, remains important."

"2) Al-Qaida's biggest success was forging ties with local groups in Iraq in 2004 and Algeria in 2007."

"3) At the same time, in Europe, a trend toward "leaderless jihad" has started"

- - Guido Steinberg, terrorism expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin.

4. "I . . . believe that al-Qaida is stronger today than it was before Sept. 11, 2001."

"the most important change for al-Qaida since 9/11 is that it has achieved a permanent presence on the Internet"

- - Fuad Hussein, is a journalist and author based in Amman, Jordan.

5. "Al-Qaida is on the defensive, but the group has not yet been beaten."

"Everywhere in the world, al-Qaida has lost support. Even radical Islamists are now debating about the logic (or illogic) of attacks against civilians."

- - Peter Neumann, Director of the Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence in London.

6. "Al-Qaida . . . has re-grouped and re-organized in the lawless border area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. It thus once again has a sanctuary in which it can train and operate"

- - Prof. Bruce Hoffman, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University

Comments:

* Senator John Kerry has spoken of Al Qaeda as being a "nuisance". They might very well be - - but! AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT GET THEIR HANDS ON WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. THEN THE ABILITY OF THE VILLAINS HAS CHANGED JUST MAGNITUDES!!

* The U.S. had NO CHOICE but to pursue a military campaign against Al Qaeda. Is would not have been possible to do anything else. It is recognized that military force of itself it not going to end the threat from terrorism, but at least to a degree [force] will mitigate the threat, and is part of a holistic [I hate to use that word] solution to the entire problem of terrorism as it exists now.

* "Leaderless jihad" is perhaps more correctly called "autonomous operations"? NOT centrally controlled and directed. And of course there is always the possibility of "lone wolf" jihad and terrorism also! One person, trained, acting alone, guided by a "when the spirit moves me" type of mentality. One person, still, trained, having a lethal capability, sometimes markedly so!

* Having a sanctuary is very important? Mao stated that one of the three factors for an insurgency/rebellion/guerrilla campaign to be successful is TO HAVE A SANCTUARY FROM WHICH TO OPERATE FROM IN RELATIVE COMFORT! Denial of sanctuary, get the bad guys on the run, keep them on the run, never giving them let is A MUST!

coolbert.