Can The U.S. Stop The Spread Of Al Qaeda?

Is The U.S. Powerless To Stop The Spread Of al Qaida? -- James Rosen, McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — There was bipartisan consensus after the 9/11 attacks, in Congress and among Americans, that the United States would never again ignore rising threats in distant lands and allow al Qaida or other terrorist groups to gain sanctuary as it had in Afghanistan.

More than a dozen years ago, nine days after the World Trade Center fell and the Pentagon burned, President George W. Bush told a joint session of Congress: “The only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it and destroy it where it grows.”

Lawmakers leapt to their feet and burst into applause; Bush’s approval rating soared.

Now the black flag of al Qaida flies in Fallujah, the group and its offshoots are spreading across the Middle East and Africa, and their fighters are battling for control of cities not only in Iraq but also in Syria, Lebanon and beyond.

“Harbor no illusions: Al Qaida is not on its heels or even on the run,” Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, told McClatchy.

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My Comment: How can the U.S. fight an enemy when it refuses to even acknowledge the role that radical Islam plays in it's ideology. The following sentence by James Rosen sums up why the u.S. will not be able to stop Al Qaeda.

.... After nearly 6,600 American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, at a cost of more than $2 trillion there and in the broader “war on terror,” the United States may lack the money, the policy knowhow and the political will to respond aggressively to the al Qaida resurgence.

Indeed.

The following report from The Economist provides an excellent analysis on the resilience of Al Qaeda.