"War On Terror" Has Not Weakened Al Qaeda

Afghan soldiers patrol outside the Pul-i-Charkhi prison (Reuters)

From Swiss Info:

LONDON (Reuters) - People across the world think the U.S.-led "war on terror" has not weakened al Qaeda and many believe it has actually strengthened Osama bin Laden's network, a poll for the BBC World Service said on Monday.

The poll of almost 24,000 citizens found people in 22 out of 23 countries surveyed thought attempts to counter al Qaeda since its September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States had not weakened it.

The predominant view was that neither side was winning, the BBC said.

"Despite its overwhelming military power, America's war against al Qaeda is widely seen as having achieved nothing better than a stalemate and many believe that it has even strengthened al Qaeda," said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, which helped carry out the research.

Kenya -- which experienced deadly al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. embassy in 1998 and on an Israeli-owned hotel in 2002 -- was the only country where a majority thought al Qaeda has been weakened

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My Comment: The sad fact is that even if only 5% of the Muslim community in the world supports Al Qaeda, that would mean almost 65 million supporters. Realistically .... Al Qaeda and its offshoots are going to be with us for a very long time.