In Testimony of Secretary Janet Napolitano before the House Committee on Homeland Security, “DHS: The Path Forward, ” on Wednesday, February 25, 2009, the new Secretary of Department of Homeland Security never mentioned the words “terrorism” or “Al Qaeda.”
Too many stories are being circulated by uninformed political pundits and unnamed government sources who are claiming that Al Qaeda is on the ropes and in retreat.
I believe that nothing could be further from the truth.
Al Qaeda is alive and well thank you very much.
The news information wing of one of al Qaeda’s Yemeni franchises, al Qaeda in Yemen, released a statement on online jihadist forums on Jan. 20 from the group’s leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi, proclaiming the formation of a single al Qaeda group for the Arabian Peninsula under his command. According to al-Wuhayshi, the new group, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, would consist of his former organization and all in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Saudi Arabian government has issued Information on 85 wanted men – 83 Saudis and two Yemenis. The Saudis stated that many of them either took part in planning attacks targeting oil, security and other installations in the kingdom or in providing al Qaeda members with weapons, safe haven, false documents, money, etc.
These actions indicate the extent of Saudi participation in the extremist networks struggling to rebuild in Saudi Arabia after a series of harsh crackdowns in the past. All the men on the list are reported to be in neighboring Yemen.
Saudi officials say the Yemen’s lawless mountain hinterland provides the militant extremist a place to hide, while close to the kingdom and their source of money and recruits.
There have been some strange reports of potential biological warfare experiments in the Islamic Maghreb of Morocco.
These reports started to surface at the same time some 60 terrorists from Al Qaeda in Morocco, from Tizi Ouzou group, surrendered to the authorities. This is the same region where a suspicious incident killed a large number of reported Moroccan Al Qaeda terrorists. It is strange that a number of Al Qaeda terrorist defect at the same time. This could possibly mean that they were frightened of what took place in their hideout training camp and did not want to die from misguided biological weapon experimentation that could kill them all.
According to the Long War Journal, Al Qaeda has reorganized its paramilitary formations that were devastated during the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. They report that Al Qaeda has reestablished the predominantly Arab and Asian paramilitary formation formerly known as Brigade 055 into a larger, more effective fighting unit known as the Lashkar al Zil, or Shadow Army. This information was according to a “senior US intelligence official” who told it to The Long War Journal and did so on the condition of anonymity (sic) due to the sensitivity of the subject.
The Long War Journal went on to report: “The Shadow Army is active primarily in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the Northwest Frontier Province, and in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
The paramilitary force is well trained and equipped, and has successfully defeated the Pakistani Army in multiple engagements. Inside Pakistan, the Shadow Army has been active in successful Taliban campaigns in North and South Waziristan, Bajaur, Peshawar, Khyber, and Swat.”
Then how can we forget Mumbai and the terrorist group whose ties to al Qaeda have not been fully explained?
Law enforcement officers and the general public need to keep looking for signs of al Qaeda activity whether they are in Iraq, Afghanistan, Washington D.C., Camp Pendleton, or Camp Jejeune.
I find it hard to understand how many use the fact that Al Qaeda has not made a “successful” major attack on the USA since 9/11. This is of course to discount the many reports of interception or neutralization of Al Qaeda plotters in and around the USA and overseas.
