The Washington Post February 10, 2014
Christian Taylor, The Conversation: Al-Qaida is stronger today than it was on 9/11
Al-Qaida has recruited an estimated 40,000 fighters since Sept. 11, 2001, when the Osama bin Laden-led extremist group attacked the United States, according to the not-for-profit Council on Foreign Relations.
Despite a United States-led global “war on terror” that has cost US$5.9 trillion, killed an estimated 480,000 to 507,000 people and assassinated bin Laden, al-Qaida has grown and spread since 9/11, expanding from rural Afghanistan into North Africa, East Africa, the Sahel, the Gulf States, the Middle East and Central Asia.
In those places, al-Qaida has developed new political influence – in some areas even supplanting the local government.
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WNU Editor: I am skeptical on reports that it is stronger today, but the organization is definitely different today from what it was on 9/11.
They have over ten thousand soldiers in Syrian Idlib alone. How in the heck would they not be stronger? Right now they're simply trying to maintain a cleaner PR image than ISIS and aren't pulling off attacks abroad, so that ISIS remains the main target of western forces. Regardless, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has numbers of loyal fighters that bin Laden could've only DREAMED of.
ReplyDelete"Al-Qaida has recruited an estimated 40,000 fighters since Sept. 11, 2001,.."
ReplyDeleteAnd?
This is news?
Al Qaeda trained 20,000 fighters during the 1990s when they were left alone. What do you think they were training them for? To hand out daisies?
"Hez-e Tahrir Camp: Recruits were taught how to handle weapons, martial arts, as well as the English and Russian language."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_training_camp
Looks like they wanted to hand out daisies in Moscow and Washington. Move over Hare Krishna
Obama created ISIS in the Mahgreb, when he took out Gadaffi.
ReplyDeleteThanks BamBam
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