Friday, August 9, 2013

The Evolution Of Al Qaeda

The rise in prominence of Nasir al Wuhayshi, shown in this 2009 still from a video, the head of al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, underscores the transformation that has taken place in the al Qaida in the past few year | Jihadist Website/IntelCenter/Zuma Press/MCT

New Vision Of Al Qaida Rises From U.S. Embassy Closings -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — The rise in prominence of Nasir al Wuhayshi, the Yemeni head of al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, underscores the transformation of al Qaida from a relatively small group led by one charismatic man into a diffuse global organization with many branches that pursue local objectives but follow a single ideology, according to counterterrorism analysts and officials.

The change has undermined the Obama administration’s boast that U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have “decimated” what’s been called core al Qaida, according to veteran al Qaida watchers. Instead, the organization, no longer dependent on the leadership of a single personality, is growing, with authority now spread among leaders not just in Yemen but also in Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Egypt’s Sinai. The branches that operate in those regions aren’t affiliates, the experts say, they’re al Qaida.

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My Comment: I concur with this analysis. The next generation of Al Qaeda leaders are now coming to the forefront of the organization, and they are not like Osama Bin Laden or Zawahiri.

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