Experts: No single al-Qaida mastermind

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/base/international-24/1122161371234390.xml&storylist=international

Experts: No single al-Qaida mastermind

LONDON (AP) — Car bombs at an Egyptian luxury hotel. Explosions in London subways. Suicide blasts in Baghdad. With the frequency of terror attacks apparently mounting, experts searching for common threads behind the attacks suggest that the war on terror is being waged against an ever-increasing well of recruits, bound together by motives and cause — rather than a single al-Qaida mastermind.

With havens in Afghanistan under pressure and their finances under scrutiny, militants may take philosophical guidance from the likes of Osama bin Laden but are largely relying on their own resources in carrying operations, experts interviewed by The Associated Press said Saturday.

"They all want to be part of this phenomenon," said Loretta Napoleoni, author of "Terror Incorporated: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks," as she explained the terror wave. "It's not like someone is telling (the militants), `You bomb on the first of July.'"

Anger over the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also seems to be providing some inspiration, despite early arguments from Bush administration officials that fighting insurgents in Iraq would help prevent them from launching attacks on Western targets. The war has instead turned into a recruiting tool, experts said.

<</SNIP>>

[bullimiami]

1. experts? duh. common sense.

[wookie294]

2. We gotta get that Zarqawi fella

Once we get that Zarqawi fella, the Iraqi people will be free.

LOL! (Just kidding)

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

10. Ya mean that guy with the fake leg that keeps dyin'?

Yeah, mon, that's a toughie. Wasn't he seen napping in the Lincoln Bedroom recently? :rofl:

[bassman79]

12. How many times has he been killed?

Like three or four? And yet he's responsible for every car bomb in Iraq? What does this guy own a car dealership!? Took the red pill so long ago it's hard for me to understand how people can listen to this crap about "Zarqawi" and not bust out laughing.

[Solly Mack]

3. No mastermind but gee, there seems to be an awful lot of 2nd in commands

they're constantly being captured...

ho hum....


(if you sense sarcasm, your sar-dar is working)

[daleo]

15. Sure, they are deep at second

But they are really deep at third. I can't even begin to count the number of times I have heard of the "number three man" being captured.

[scarletwoman]

4. Wow. I must be an "expert" too! I could've told them the same thing. nt

[wookie294]

5. I could have told them in 2002 that Saddam was not a threat

Man, I should be president.

[scarletwoman]

6. Yeah, well several million of us "told them" that Saddam was not a threat.

I wish you WERE president! ;-)

sw

[countmyvote4real]

7. duh. All politics/terrorism is local. n/t

[bassman79]

8. Complex propoganda

This is complex propoganda designed specifically for you informed libs. You know Iraq was all lies and is a big corporate blood money cash register. So you're willing to believe that that stupid Bush has made more terrorists and made it more likely there will be more terrorist attacks. This plays right into the Military-Industrial Complex's hands.

The terrorism is staged. Iraq isn't the worst of the lies, it's only the tip of the iceberg. Take the red pilll...

[wookie294]

9. But it's a fact that terrorist attacks tripled in 2004

The invasion of Iraq, and the commensurate rise in global terrorist attacks, plays into the agenda of the military industrial complex. There's a good argument to be made that the military invaded Iraq precisely because they wanted to increase the number of terrorist attacks, which would result in greater American support for kicking ass in profitable areas of the world. The military has succeeded in that regard. After 10 years of becoming nearly meaningless (because the Cold War ended), the military finally has a manufactured "purpose" again (terrorism). But anti-Bushies are not playing into the hands of the military industrial complex by agreeing with Bush that terrorism is more common today than prior to March 2003. Terrorism is still rare, but the war profiteers will continue exaggerating the threat in order to maintain America's global economic power.

[bassman79]

11. Good Points

I think you're right that one of the purposes in Iraq is to create REAL terrorism. In fact there's nothing the MIC would like better than for actual terrorists to target the US instead of their CIArabs for a change. Do a google search for P2OG

[wookie294]

13. Thanks

I'll check out P2OG. If you haven't heard of Operation Northwoods, it fits into what we were talking about. Here's a link on it....

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662&page=1

[shadowknows69]

14. Somebody give me a job in military intelligence

If this is the best we got.

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Well, they're learning what happens when you try to fight the Hydra..

a beast with a thousand heads, all independent yet acting towards a common goal...

[NNN0LHI]

17. 'Iraq has been an absolute gift to al-Qaida'

http://www.suntimes.com/output/terror/cst-nws-ties24s1.html

LONDON -- Car bombs at an Egyptian luxury hotel. Explosions in London subways. Suicide blasts in Baghdad.

With the frequency of terror attacks apparently mounting, experts searching for common threads behind the attacks suggest that the war on terror is being waged against an ever-increasing well of recruits, bound together by motives and cause -- rather than a single al-Qaida mastermind.

With havens in Afghanistan under pressure and their finances under scrutiny, militants may take philosophical guidance from the likes of Osama bin Laden but are largely relying on their own resources in carrying out operations, experts said Saturday.

''They all want to be part of this phenomenon,'' said Loretta Napoleoni, author of Terror Incorporated: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks, as she explained the terror wave. ''It's not like someone is telling {the militants}, 'You bomb on the first of July.'"

Anger over the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also seems to be providing some inspiration, despite early arguments from Bush administration officials that fighting insurgents in Iraq would help prevent them from launching attacks on Western targets. The war has instead turned into a recruiting tool, experts said.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

18. Interesting quote......

>>despite early arguments from Bush administration officials that fighting insurgents in Iraq would help prevent them from launching attacks on Western targets.<<

Fighting "insurgents" in Iraq.... funny, I was told that we were going to seek out terrorists, and not Iraqis who have lost their sons, daughters, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, jobs, future, hope, sanity, savings, homes and what not.

[liberaliraqvet26]

19. every not- fox watching free thinker

knows this is true

[Frederik]

20. What a surprise

This is a new generation, spawned by BushCo's misadventure in Iraq. Sometimes it doesn't feel good to say "I told you so".

I don't know if they really were that clueless or if they predicted and wanted this. Hard to say whether they believed in the "freedom on the march" bullshit or if they wanted to set the Middle East alight and perpetuate the so-called "War on Terror".

Loretta Napoleoni knows more about "al-Qa'ida" than most, I found her book very enlightening. Recommended reading.

[Cocoa]

21. a very expensive gift

$300 billion so far.

[xchrom]

22. duh! this war is MEANT to help the terrorists.

i cannot see it any other way.
bushco/blair and the corporations have profitted in such an extreme fashion from this debacle -- you just can't see it other wise.

that is if you're paying attention.

in america -- unless it interrupts your commute drive -- you don't give a shit.

[CJCRANE]

23. It's possible. Just look at the facts:

a) Lack of armor on Humvees.
b) No border controls.
c) Sabre-rattling against neighbour countries.

Anyone determined to defeat the insurgency would give the troops the tools needed to do it, patrol the borders to stop foreign fighters getting in and negotiate with neighbouring countries to reduce the support for foreign fighters.

Of course, carrying out these actions might mean the return of law and order...and that would mean that the coalition troops would have to leave...

[xchrom]

24. how about working to reduce the poverty

that breeds violence the world over?

a long history of the west 1. exploiting a region of it's resources and not sharing adequately with the people who live there and 2 supporting ruthless dictators to for the capital gains of western powers.

we all love to go on and on about ''personal responsibility'' -- unless we're talking about capital gains for those who already have more than enough.

plus how about treating many of these ''terrorists actions'' as police work?
simply using war -- or brute force has only given ''terrorists'' more ammo through the wholesale slaughter, breeding mistrust of muslims as a whole, greater stress on the already very poor, etc.

sigh -- i'm so sick of idiots believing that there are ''patriotic'' reasons for our current behavior.

[bemildred]

25. LOL. Al Qaeda is a "decentralized networking schema".

:rofl: