December 15, 2009
al-Qaeda Slipping?
The premise of this article being that al-Qaeda as a central player may be fading.
Town Hall: Targeted by drone strikes in Pakistan, al-Qaida is losing ground and financing even as attacks by Islamist groups are on the rise, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press.The article goes on to talk about the increase in violence in Somalia and Afghanistan with the violence there being cause by two major groups. The Taliban and al-Shabaab. Both of which are al-Qaeda allies and subscribe to the same ideology. In fact al-Shabaab in Somalia has even declared their allegiance to al-Qaeda.Attacks by Islamist militant groups on civilian targets in Afghanistan are on track to increase by 15-20 percent this year over last year's totals, said the report by the American Security Project, a bipartisan Washington-based organization.
The group analyzes terrorism trends and the effectiveness of U.S. counterterrorism policies. The statistics do not include attacks against the military.
At the same time, many violence-prone Islamic militant groups are now increasingly focusing on local issues rather than on Osama bin Laden's global struggle.
"There is a larger number of Islamic groups using violence to push their own agenda," said Bernard Finel, a senior fellow with the American Security Project.
Other analysts and government reports have noted that the Taliban in Afghanistan are more focused on their internal fight. Insurgents in Somalia are concentrating on their own tribal battles with the government.
The divide comes as al-Qaida is taking losses in leadership and money.
The fight is against al-Qaeda and their allies. So its six of one half a dozen of the other.
