U.S. officials say Al-Qaida 'imploding,' unpopular

Tuesday 16th September, 06:18 AM JST

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Madverts at 03:37 PM JST - 16th September

Extremists will always be able to co-erce impressionable young fanatics to the cause. As ever, dreaming you could take a so-called "war" to an ideology was always the pipe-dream of other fanatics living in La La Land.

Bin-Laden's ideology is sadly working. It has drawn the US into several third world conflicts that are un-winnable and as equally difficult to extract itself from, it is sapping American and NATO resources and is also breeding many a new fanatic in both Afghanistan and Iraq...

..and all that without Oussama even leaving his supposed hiding place.

The biggest error was to give "al-Qaida" the credit for all the mayhem in Iraq, when "al-Qaida" itself is an ideology to which one needs only internet access to be a member, but it is not an uber-organized terra group as the Bush administration would have us believe.
Madverts at 03:38 PM JST - 16th September

"Al Quaida represents simply the purest, most literal form of Sunni islam"

willi, you crack me up nearly as much as the Lourdes thread yesterday. Perhaps you should read up on bin-Laden's bain-child before getting the spade out again.
soldave at 04:16 PM JST - 16th September

WilliB - You mean there's a difference between Islam and Al Queda? Someone needs to let the US president know this before he leaves office!
SezWho2 at 04:38 PM JST - 16th September

SuperLib,

Pray tell, what is the source for your statement that Al-Qaida's "primary demand" is for all Muslims to live under its brand of Islam or face death? That certainly was not the primary demand that bin Laden made on the US. And even if it had been, I can't imagine how predominantly Muslim countries would not be more qualified to handle bin Laden's religious demands than the US is.

And, since you are ever at the ready with you trusty personal aspersions, what does it say about me that I left this off "my" list. And, really, isn't this bin Laden's list for us? And aren't we the ones who are fighting bin Laden and friends?

Is any of this related to your imagination that in the face of this good news--if it is not propaganda--that liberals are sad because it's difficult to criticize the US in this? Conservatives should criticize their country every bit as much as liberals. If not, they are nationalists, not conservatives.
SimondB at 05:10 PM JST - 16th September

Perhaps i haven't been paying close attention but did not some former "defence" secretary talk about the dead enders, no-hopers and the remmanents of Saddamists? Some years ago perhaps? So now we are at the same point? But this time it is the AQ imploding? How I miss the days of Mission Accomplished. The smirks, the downturn in sales of duct tape and plastic, the clour coded alerts. Somehow the "imploding" of AQ does not bouy me up so much. Maybe this time they are calling it right because come on, how many times can you get it so wrong? Did I mention Afghanistan? Freedom for all women there and lots and lots of schools open for girls. Big success story ther. Or so I'm told.
Nippon5 at 06:08 PM JST - 16th September

I think I kind of understand your muddled point, in chich case add "government" to the end of my question.

Sorry I still dont get your point, is it you would like to say that people in general around the world hate the US goverment (which is a goverment elected by the people) more then a Terrorist group who kills woman and children on purpose???

Even though you dont like the present president (one of 537 people in Washinton DC representing America) I hope it doesnt mean you dislike it more then AQ cause it would be silly and pointless to respond to you as your not on level ground in your thinking.

As far as comparing Germanys killing of innocents (in ww1 ww2) to AQ it was suppose to be a ridicules thought just like your original post was..
skipthesong at 06:47 PM JST - 16th September

OBL is the smartest man in the world. He has been able to collect a fortune, create basically his own brand of religion (old adage - create a religion and you will be rich), has been able to get almost the entire Islamic world on his side as well as splitting the West into two - left and right when both were merely a manifestation of each other. He has been able to garner support from Liberals by having Bush and Co, invade Iraq and even has help Islamic causes in Europe (read: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1055764/Islamic-sharia-courts-Britain-legally-binding.html ) And he is still getting richer by the day.
1. I don't believe he is living in a cave, if he isn't in Saudi Arabia under the protection of the ruling family; no, I don't believe they really exiled him. 2. AQ is an ideaology as poster above says and I believe it is growing by the day. Only after 9-11 has Muslim immigration increased..... have we ever seen a war in which the enemy actually moves to its enemies location? 3. I don't believe Obama is going to do a damn thing. He needs something like OBL just as much as the Repubs did. 4. He can fight the infidels without ever having another person killed, and still win.
romulus3 at 08:20 PM JST - 16th September

imploding at the end of the Bush Presidency? What conspiracy?
Betting at 09:52 PM JST - 16th September

I believe this, when we have the world at peace for at least 20 years with no wars, invasions, terrorist incidents etc. etc. The Bush administration has said so much stuff over the last few years concerning this stuff and have rarely been right.
USAFdude at 06:19 AM JST - 17th September

RDT, I do know. Obama would redeploy our troops to Afghanistan, where we're inarguably more needed. Only then will your dream (and mine) of "decimating" Al-Qaeda come to pass.

As for mocking the C-in-C, I know a lot of my military colleagues who do, and we're right to do so. This war would have been over years ago with a strong President. Sadly, we don't have one right now; we will when Barack Obama is inaugurated President of the United States on 20 Jan 09. Then, the US stance against terror will begin to really toughen.

Don't worry; we won't let you down.
Nippon5 at 09:24 AM JST - 17th September

Yea Obama is a strong president, please show me when he served as president and showed us his strenght? Or are we just going off what his campain say he will be... Hes an unknown with no background in military operations or foriegn diplomacy. Bush wasnt good and neither will be obama, its just a pipe dream thinking he would be the golden warrior of justice...

No president is going to effect the other 535 idiots in Washignton enough to do anything outside what they want to do.. But hey you can have a dream right?
USAFdude at 10:55 AM JST - 17th September

No dream, dude. It's Republicans that I hear calling Obama a "messiah" or a "golden warrior of justice", not the Democrats. We already know that it'll take the next five presidents to fix Bush's unholy mess.

But, not that you bring it up, please tell us what McCain's grand master plan is. Last I heard, it was stay indefinitely in Iraq so Al-Qaeda can gather even more strength than when Bush let bin Laden get away.

You see, WE are the warriors, the US military. We'd actually like to win this war, but we need a good C-in-C. We've already seen the Republicans fail to seal the deal after seven years (SEVEN YEARS!); time to elect a president who'll actually listen to his military advisors instead of arguing with them and firing them. That president, in a few short months, will be Barack Hussein Obama.

You're welcome.
Nippon5 at 05:22 PM JST - 17th September

Dude? first of all son I served in the military and did my time in war. Second of all Im not a Bush supporter, but I am a firm believer you cant call a kettle black when your the pot.. He is not going to make magic he isnt going to wave a wand and save the day, and he isnt listening to the Military either as he served in congress and voted against money for the soldiers, voted against the surge, and lastly got confused which of the 61 states the troops came from:)

But hey who ever wins this election is going to do one thing for sure...]

. . . . Not fulfill their campaign promises!!!!
USAFdude at 09:14 AM JST - 18th September

Nippon, first of all, "son", no one but Republicans claim that Obama wants to "perform magic" to correct Bush's wrongs. If you have a problem with him, don't vote for him, but don't post sh*t like "he got confused which of the 61 states the troops came from" and expect to be viewed as something other than a foaming-at-the-mouth NeoCon.

Second, re-read my post; I clearly say that we Democrats already know it'll take the next five presidents to fix Bush's unholy mess. That doesn't equate to either candidate "not fulfilling their promises". I for one will be happy to see President Obama scratch the surface at ending the Bush war.

Lastly, I appreciate your service, particularly in time of war. I hope you feel the same for those of us doing so now.
taikan at 09:36 AM JST - 18th September

Anyone who thinks AQ is failing should remember what Osama Bin Laden said in a tape released in 2004. Speaking about how AQ's actions were affecting the American economy, he said: "We, alongside the mujahedeen, bled Russia for 10 years until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat. . . . We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy."