You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Terror Networks & Islam
Al-Qaeda goes back to base
2005-11-03
KARACHI - Al-Qaeda is in the process of a decisive ideological debate that could see the highly secretive group restructured within a year, with bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, and adopting a more open, centralized, approach.

Two issues lie at the heart of the matter. The first is whether al-Qaeda achieves its aims by "fighting against evil", or whether it "fights against evil and its allies", according to contacts familiar with the group who spoke to Asia Times Online. The second issue involves al-Qaeda's lack of a physical base, a matter of concern to Islamic scholars, following its retreat from Afghanistan and subsequently being forced out of hideouts along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
So al-Qaeda realizes that 1) it's losing its fight against the infidels and 2) it has no safe base of operations.

And the moonbats on the Left think al-Qaeda is winning. O-o-o-o-okay.
Regarding the discourse on al-Qaeda's enemy, on one side a major portion of al-Qaeda wants to remain true to the original goal of ousting foreign forces from the Persian Gulf region and ending the occupation of Muslim territories; on the other, a powerful group led by Egyptian Abu Amro Abdul Hakeem, also known as Sheikh Essa, who has strongly influenced elements in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, believes that the targets should be extended.
"Har! We want to kill infidels everywhere!"
In al-Qaeda jargon, there are dajal (anti-God) forces, and there are pro-God forces. The US and its European allies are dajal forces, and remain the primary target of the majority in al-Qaeda. Sheikh Essa argues that the Muslim leaderships in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Egypt and, not least, Pakistan should not be considered pro-God forces, as they are now.
"And cousin Mahmoud. He's definitely dajal!"
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are central in this debate. Sheikh Essa fervently believes that the Pakistani military is as bad as that of the US, and thus should be categorized as an anti-God force whose leader, President General Pervez Musharraf, sides with the US with full conviction.

The October 8 earthquake in South Asia, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, most of them in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, has added incendiary clout to Sheikh Essa, whose followers now claim that the disaster was God's revenge against Pakistan, especially as it took place exactly on the fourth anniversary of the launch of US air sorties from Pakistani bases to strike against Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda had a strong presence.
And as Fred notes, Allan is going to keep bringing earthquakes, locusts and Brittney Spears videos until you become Presbyterians.
The Sheikh Essa faction has other reasons to hate the Pakistani establishment as it is seen as having betrayed the al-Qaeda cause by handing over hundreds of al-Qaeda members, and even their children and wives, to US authorities; this following Pakistan's reversal of its support for the Taliban and the Pakistani army being sent into the tribal areas to root out foreign fighters and members of the Afghan resistance.

Osama bin Laden has always resisted taking the fight to Muslim countries. According to scholars such as Saad al-Faqih, who is considered very close to al-Qaeda, bin Laden understands that a major blow against Saudi Arabia would bring down the regime, but the ensuing chaos and mayhem would be reason for the US to justify sending its troops into the holy land.
Only to the eastern part, a land known as the Republic of Eastern Arabia, about 50 km wide ...
The senior al-Qaeda leadership believes that only Musharraf is "pro-God" , and not the Pakistani Army; therefore for the time being they want to leave Pakistan alone and keep their focus on the US.

Asia Times Online contacts close to al-Qaeda say that recently the top leadership has become alarmed at the widening split within the organization and has begun consultations with all major Islamic jihadi groups and scholars. Pending the results of these deliberations, expected by the end of this northern winter, a definitive and final word on the real course of the struggle will be reached, after which major decisions are expected on the shape and nature of al-Qaeda.
So even al-Qaeda is bogged down in committee meetings.
Many among Islamic groups, scholars and educated masses in the Islamic world are sympathetic with al-Qaeda's struggle against US imperialism, but they have serious reservations over its shadowy nature and its methods of operation, many of which, they believe, go against the tenets of Islam.

From the days of the Prophet Mohammed it has been established that neither the message of Islam nor its struggle is a secret. Therefore, Muslim scholars are agreed that an Islamic state is a prerequisite before - and from which - jihad can be waged. This places al-Qaeda in something of a spot, as nowadays it has no "home base" from which to wage jihad. In discussions in the past several months with prominent scholars and a top leader of an Islamic group, al-Qaeda leaders argued that they were fighting a defensive jihad as Afghanistan had been attacked and occupied, followed by Iraq. Since they don't have a piece of land in their possession, al-Qaeda has had to conduct irregular and guerrilla warfare.

However, the contacts maintain that the al-Qaeda leadership is optimistic that by the start of summer next year they will be in control of significant "space" in Iraq and in Afghanistan, which would legitimize their jihad in the eyes of scholars.
Or in Somalia.
This would include appointing an ameer (commander) whose name would be announced, and al-Qaeda's irregular fighting would be organized under one command. The existing setup of small, virtually independent cells would be subsumed under the single command, and no one would operate on their own, as has been the trend since al-Qaeda lost their base in Afghanistan following the ouster of the Taliban in late 2001, and the intense pressure of the US-led "war on terror", which saw many communication and financial links severed.

If al-Qaeda prevails over its internal conflicts and adopts the strategy as outlined above, it would be a major turning point not only for the organization, but for the whole of the Muslim world and beyond.

Dawa (Islamic message), hijra (evolution from an enemy state into an Islamic state) and jihad are the three stages based on the life of the Prophet Mohammed to bring about revolution in society.

In essence, al-Qaeda, which means means "the base" in Arabic, is in search of a physical base, like the mujahideen had during the Soviet resistance period in Afghanistan in the 1980s, when they grabbed all rural Afghanistan, or like the one al-Qaeda had two years ago when it moved into the Shawal and Shakai areas near South and North Waziristan on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, before being driven out by combined US and Pakistan efforts.

Once new bases are found - al-Qaeda confidently believes this will be done in Iraq and Afghanistan - the process of dawa, hijra and jihad will begin, and many presently peripheral Islamic groups across the world will pour into these two countries for a reinvigorated campaign against US forces.
Posted by:Steve White

#8  Hey AQ - AYBABTU

(Sorry, but someone had to say it)
Posted by: DMFD   2005-11-03 23:54  

#7  Osama bin Laden has always resisted taking the fight to Muslim countries.

Uh, try telling that to Indonesia, the Phillipines, Iraq, and heck, even Saudi itself! Binny would love nothing more than to overthrow the house of Saud first and establish his caliphate in the majik kingdom itself! Where did this tool come up with this sentence from anyways? Maybe AQ wasn't DIRECTLY linked to attacks in Muslim countries (I'd even argue that), but Binny I'm sure gets a good chuckle at said attacks.
Posted by: BA   2005-11-03 15:11  

#6  Listen to Meeeeeeeeee!
Posted by: Brett   2005-11-03 14:41  

#5  The existing setup of small, virtually independent cells would be subsumed under the single command, and no one would operate on their own, as has been the trend since al-Qaeda lost their base in Afghanistan

It is the disintegration that they are having a problem with.

And no, the Spanish military could not get the job done.
Posted by: DoDo   2005-11-03 13:49  

#4  So even al-Qaeda is bogged down in committee meetings.

Insh'allah baby, insh'allah.
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-11-03 13:47  

#3  I have a difficult time believing the author truly understands Al Q.

Surely even the most Korancentric Moslem must realize that a realtime physical base could be destroyed easily by the USA (hell even the spanish military could probably do that with a little help).

If you talk to Moslems a lot you realize that even if they support a proposition with a tone and bodylanguage of certainty, they may abandon that proposition a few seconds later for a contradictory proposition said with the same tone and bodylanguage of certainty.
Posted by: mhw   2005-11-03 13:08  

#2  So... they are in disarray and having huge debates.... Sound like a good time to ATTACK!
Posted by: 3dc   2005-11-03 12:32  

#1  I think this statement right here pretty much sums up why our campains in Iraq & Afhanistan have won our security at home and no more attacks since 9-11.

In discussions in the past several months with prominent scholars and a top leader of an Islamic group, al-Qaeda leaders argued that they were fighting a defensive jihad as Afghanistan had been attacked and occupied, followed by Iraq

Once new bases are found - al-Qaeda confidently believes this will be done in Iraq and Afghanistan - the process of dawa, hijra and jihad will begin,


Muslim pride demands that they must defend their base or homeland priority one above even jihad on the Big Satan's homefront.
Posted by: C-Low   2005-11-03 11:54  

00:00