Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials

[Captain Obvious]

No reason to worry, everything's safe now.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/27/us-usa-alqaeda-idUSBRE83Q1BX20120427

[Conley]

Well that's a relief. I was under the impression DHS was a joke and that we don't even enforce visa violations. Good to know I was wrong.

[Peter1469]

The al Qaeda prime organization certainly is not capable of a major attack. That does not speak of other organizations.

[MMC]

Nice bit of propaganda.....what's that saying about never saying never?

[Conley]

Yep, it seems a dumb thing to say and rather pointless. Even if AQ is in shambles, which by all accounts it is, we should remain vigilant. If anything we are at more risk now than pre 9/11.

[MMC]

Seems they are still active in Yemen. Plus I think AQ had something up about going after Assad for picking on the Sunni.

[Captain Obvious]

Seems they are still active in Yemen. Plus I think AQ had something up about going after Assad for picking on the Sunni.

Somalia.

[MMC]

Somalia.

Yeah but I thought that was the Bor-horum or something like that. Affiliated but not actual AQ.

[Captain Obvious]

Yeah but I thought that was the Bor-horum or something like that. Affiliated but not actual AQ.

Africa is loaded with those offshoot cells.

[MMC]

Yeah I re-call AQ telling Al-jazerra about going after Assad. They don't take kindly to Sunni Arabs getting their azz handed to them. Or getting picked on. Shame.....their lucky we allow the Saud to walk among humans.

[BlackAsCoal]

The al Qaeda prime organization certainly is not capable of a major attack. That does not speak of other organizations.

Nor are they capable of bending science. There is NO science that supports the fairy-tale of 9/11. It is simply scientifically impossible.

[MMC]

AQ will always be a thorn in our side now. Doesn't matter if their leaders are killed. They are taking a page out of organized crime. Someone will step up and fill the void. Regardless even if they follow thru with the Original Leaders vision and mission statement.

[BlackAsCoal]

AQ will always be a thorn in our side now. Doesn't matter if their leaders are killed. They are taking a page out of organized crime. Someone will step up and fill the void. Regardless even if they follow thru with the Original Leaders vision and mission statement.

Al Queda = Al CIAda

Real obvious.

[MMC]

I think there is a difference of being used by.....as opposed to being part of.

[Peter1469]

Nor are they capable of bending science. There is NO science that supports the fairy-tale of 9/11. It is simply scientifically impossible.

A truther?

It is less likely that "9-11 as an inside job" would have remained a secret.

Yes, the official version has problems, most importantly the cover up of nation state involvement. But no, 9-11 was not a false flag operation.

[Peter1469]

AQ will always be a thorn in our side now. Doesn't matter if their leaders are killed. They are taking a page out of organized crime. Someone will step up and fill the void. Regardless even if they follow thru with the Original Leaders vision and mission statement.

I agree that militant Islam will be a thorn in our side. Al Qaeda prime (not the numerous affiliates) has been effectively rendered combat ineffective.

[Captain Obvious]

BAC a truther?

What a shocker.

[MMC]

I agree that militant Islam will be a thorn in our side. Al Qaeda prime (not the numerous affiliates) has been effectively rendered combat ineffective.


Depends on what they are using to classify as Combative Effective, don't ya think Pete? Can they still blow someone up or something up? Moreover, just how have we stopped them from making money and recruiting? As long as they can put their followers into the game. I don't see how they have lost combat effectiveness.

[Peter1469]

Depends on what they are using to classify as Combative Effective, don't ya think Pete? Can they still blow someone up or something up? Moreover, just how have we stopped them from making money and recruiting? As long as they can put their followers into the game. I don't see how they have lost combat effectiveness.

I am referring to strategic level significance. I should have made that clear. Yes, al Qaeda can likely get a few losers to blow themselves up and kill some civilians.

[Chris]

Why does Obama get credit for what Rebecca and 10 years of intelligence accomplished?

Manhunt: The Ten Year Search for bin Laden From 9/11 to Abbottabad (http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/manhunt-the-ten-year-search-for-bin-laden-from-911-to-abbottabad-by-peter-l-bergen/2012/05/04/gIQAyCYV1T_story.html)
In 2005, a CIA analyst named Rebecca (a pseudonym) wrote a memo laying out a new strategy for the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Given the absence of any real leads, she asked, how could you plausibly find him? She sketched out what she saw as four pillars on which the search needed to be built. Her solution turned out to be prophetic.

“The first pillar was locating al-Qaeda’s leader through his courier network,” Peter L. Bergen writes in his new book, “Manhunt.” “The second was locating him through family members, either those who might be with him or anyone in his family who might try to get in touch with them. The third was communications. . . . The final pillar was tracking bin Laden’s occasional outreach to the media.”

We know now, of course, that finding bin Laden’s personal courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, is what led the United States to the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and, with that, ended the decade-long battle of wits between the terrorist leader and U.S. intelligence agencies.

[Chris]

But back to my earlier theme...

Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and How Government Always Wins The War on Terror (http://reason.com/archives/2012/05/04/bin-laden-al-qaeda-and-the-government-ha)
...No photos because the risk is too great that pictures of Bin Laden's body would incite violence. Even though Al-Qaeda is, according to senior U.S. officials, "essentially gone" and with lesser affiliates capable of doing only minor harm to U.S. interests.

Except that, according to recently-released documents found with Bin Laden in his Pakistan hideaway, Al-Qaeda was trying to make a come-back and had considered such bold schemes as assassinating President Barack Obama. So, which one is it? Have we won yet, or is the risk from terrorism still dire enough to justify more drone strikes in more countries, as well as the potential for the indefinite detainment of Americans?