al-Qaida Leaders Losing Control, U.S. Says

[Roland99]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060428/D8H93VGO0.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - Leaders of al-Qaida lost some control of the terror network last year due to the arrests and deaths of top operational planners, but the group remains the most prominent terror threat facing the United States and its allies, the State Department said Friday.

In its annual report on worldwide terrorism, the department singled out Iran as the most active state sponsor of terrorism, saying that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence and Security directly have been involved in the planning and support of terrorist acts.

Overall, the report tallied about 11,000 terror attacks around the world last year, resulting in more than 14,600 deaths. That is almost a fourfold increase in attacks from 2004, though the agency blames the change largely on new ways of tallying the incidents.

About 3,500 of last year's attacks occurred in Iraq and about 8,300 of the deaths occurred there, accounting for a large part of the increase over 2004.

Sounds like Al Qaeda is running out of #2s.


The Ex Lax War on Terror is working!

[Kagemusha]

1. This would be good if Al Qaeda wasn't DECENTRALIZED

You know, because they expect leaders to get killed here and there?

And as long as the US Army is in Iraq, they don't really need much control anyway.

[wryter2000]

2. No wonder

After the number of #2 operatives we've captured, it's a wonder they're not in their last throes.

[cliss]

3. Expect to see more of this, before November.

Just like the other thread on the LBN, "US is amazingly safer now" even though there were 11,000 terror-related attacks in 2005.

Look for Terror Parades in Washington DC in the weeks to come. Bush will lead the parade, cheering that finally we are now safe from those pesky turr-ists.

Don't be surprised to see articles, "studies", Committee findings that Yes Indeed we have succeeded.

Just don't forget to wear your Kevlar Vest.

[oblivious]

4. Guess that bogeyman isn't needed so much now. Got to focus on IRAN!

A threat to the civilised world. Must be stopped. Wipe out Israel. Missiles can reach Europe. Central bankers of terrorism. Two weeks to nukes. Fear. Hate. Blah Blah!

[leesa]

5. A fourfold increase really sounds like they're losing it. Of course, how

many of those were US operations to keep the war going?

[Rose Siding]

6. U.S.: Jihadists Working to Spread Agenda

WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence officials say they are seeing early signs that jihadist fighters who came to Iraq to contest the U.S.-led coalition are looking beyond Iraq's borders to spread a radical, violent agenda.

American analysts are trying to understand a web of complex political, cultural and economic issues contributing to the instability in Iraq, said the senior officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because of the sensitive positions they occupy.

When asked about the extent to which Sunni Muslim jihadists in Iraq are feeding other groups in the region, one official said the primary link between the global jihadist movement and the Iraq insurgency was believed to be rhetorical.

But the official said authorities cannot rule out that some of the foreign fighters -- who came to fight for al-Qaida's leader there, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- will adopt a more regional focus.
....
By a number of measures, the region has become more violent since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. A State Department report on terrorism Friday tallied a dramatic increase in terror attacks in Iraq last year, where about 3,500 of the world's more than 11,000 attacks took place.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-going-beyond-iraq,0,1482535.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[AndrewJacksonFaction]

7. In other news "Titanic hits iceberg"

[Zenlitened]

8. Golly, who could have anticipated that? I mean, you'd have to have...

... some kinda Intelligence School book-larnin' to have guessed that would happen.

:crazy:

[cantstandbush]

9. Ummmm, didn't the US launch an invasion to spread our agenda? n/t