Al Qaeda, Obama and Pakistan

So once again we have to suffer through yet another one of Al Qaeda's anti-American diatribes -- this one constituting a pre-inaugural attack on our president-elect by Al Qaeda's propogandist and ideologue-in-chief "Dr. Evil" Ayman al-Zawahiri. When, pray tell, are we going to put al-Zawahiri out of his misery once and for all? Insha'allah

In its first "official" reaction to Barack Obama's election Al Qaeda's propogandist used a sure-to-backfire demeaning racial epithet against America's president-elect, likening Barack Obama to a "house slave" or "house negro." Given the fact that he hasn't even been inaugurated, Al Qaeda's attack on the president-elect reveals a certain appetizing panic and desperation in the face of worldwide acclaim over Obama's election.

There is no doubt that Barack Obama's election is going to go a long way in helping to rebuild America's tarnished image in the Muslim world. And Al Qaeda is clearly worried that with his election, Barack Obama will make it infinitely more difficult to convince Al Qaeda's Muslim base from which it must continuously recruit that the America under George Bush will be the same America under Barack Obama.

The U.S. intelligence community clearly fears that through indifference, neglect and policy misstep Al Qaeda's command and control structure has reconstituted itself inside Pakistan's war-torn western frontier provinces. And given Obama's campaign commitment, reitereated in his "60 Minutes" interview last Sunday, that under his presidency, stamping out Al Qaeda once and for all will be a top priority, the next administration faces a battle against Al Qaeda on many fronts: in the battle of ideas against extremists, in denying their funding, sanctuaries and recruits, in forging stronger Muslim allies, in executing a responsibly swift withdrawal from Iraq, in taking the battle to Al Qaeda's re-established bases in Pakistan and on the Afghani-Pakistan border, and developing an effective strategy to redress our relationship with Pakistan.

Despite the continuing debate within the intel community about where best to concentrate our resources against Al Qaeda, one thing is for certain, fulfilling a pledge to dismantle Al Qaeda will not be possible without coming up with an effective multi-tiered strategy to stabilize Pakistan and rebuild America's image with this essential ally.

Pakistan is not only ground zero against Al Qaeda's command structure, it is a nuclear-armed country that is teetering on financial collapse. Fortunately, Pakistant was able to negotiate an IMF loan of $7.6 billion this week to temporarily stave off economic chaos. Unfortunately, this financial band-aid is insufficient to restore Pakistan to long-term economic stability, without which the struggle against Al Qeda will prove even more daunting for President Obama.

Just a few days ago, the venerable Center for American Progress (CAP) issued an inciteful and highly probative report on Pakistan entitled "Partnership for Progress" detailing an innovative policy approach to help reverse Pakistan's deteriorating fortunes. I commend the report to our readers, which can be found at "www.americanprogress.org."

The Report outlines a daunting series of policy challenges facing Democratic national security experts in the months ahead to maintain Pakistan's democracy and support. But the Report also delineates a responsible roadmap to helping restore Pakistan's poitical and economic foundation.

There is no doubt that unilateral military operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda will defeat Pakistan's militant groups. The Report recommends a reversal fo the Bush administration "military only" policy by proposing the adoption of a diverse strategy, including strengthening governance and rule of law, creating economic opportunities and exploring political negotiations with non-Al Qaeda-oriented militant groups.

I realize that chaning the Pakistani equation is easier said than done. I recall that right after 9/11, Pakistan appealed to the U.S. to help its internal economic crisis by reducing U.S. tariffs on Pakistan's textile industry to help it garner domestic support for U.S. policy, only to find textile-state lawmakers dead set against the idea.

Ultimately, the war against Al Qaeda will not be won on the battlefields of Waziristan alone. Ayman al Zawahiri's unwelcomed reemergence from his cave today is a sad reminder how much the Bush Administration's failures are being dumped into Barack Obama's lap.

Comments

[fightorleave2]

05:52 PM on 11/20/2008

"Al Qaeda is clearly worried that with his election, Barack Obama will make it infinitely more difficult to convince Al Qaeda's Muslim base from which it must continuous­ly recruit that the America under George Bush will be the same America under Barack Obama."

This is a rightwing talking point. In other words, there is no truth to it.

The fact is that Obama naively campaigned on the idea that Afghanista­n is the good war, and some even claim that Obama is going to keep Gates and Mullen and Petreaus. If he does, which would be a colossal blunder, then that is a clear sign that US foreign policy is status quo. This would be music to al-Qaeda's ears. Why? Because the more US troops in Afghanista­n, the more Afghan civilians killed. The more Afghan civilians killed, the more recruits for jihad.

I concede that al-Qaeda is a very complicate­d subject, not least of all because its very existence is debateable­, but your analysis that Zawahiri insulted Obama because they are worried about recruiting for jihad is a half-truth­, which is typical for a right-wing talking point. Yes, Obama's persona would seemingly make it harder to project the US as the big bad bogeyman, but then just read the paragraph above again to show why your statement is not true.

[BSERIUS]

09:46 AM on 11/20/2008

"rebuild America's tarnished image in the Muslim world" ...How about rebuilding the Muslim image of Islamo fascist terrorists in the Western world....W­hy not mention that the "Somali Pirates " are Islamic terrorists­? Every nation that has coddled to terrorism has suffered from it ... The USA since 9/11 has not coddled to them , We have fought them here and abroad with amazing results , including no terrorist acts on US soil.

[chaos4700]

10:19 AM on 11/20/2008

Um... because the Somali pirates aren't Muslim terrorists­? I'm not even sure they're Muslim. They're destitute fisherman who turned to piracy after European and Asian fishing boats started poaching Somali reefs. The only people we have to blame for Muslims looking like "Islamo-fa­scists" are neoconserv­ative war hawks and Christian fundamenta­lists.

The amazing thing about Bush having protected us from any terrorist attacks on his watch? 9/11 happened /on/ his watch. And if your idea of "amazing results" are an Iraq still in tatters with daily bombings and shootings, and Taliban threat that has metastasiz­ed from Afghanista­n into Pakistan as well, I'd hate to think of what merely "satisfact­ory results" would be for you.

[MagisterLudi]

10:51 AM on 11/20/2008

1.American image on Muslim "street"is largely irrelevant­. Most of the Muslim nations with exception of Turkey, are autocratic regimes. What matters is what elites think, and they rarely voice their real opinions in public.
2. Somali pirates are not Islamic terrorists­. Thank Darwin for that, they're plenty of the latter running around the world.
3. Bush administra­tion began with a bang, quickly rooting out the Taliban from control of the country,, but the Iraqi invasion undid some of that success. This is a fact, long accepted by all.
4. Yes. things improved dramatical­ly in Iraq. Yes it was because of Gen. Pet-us savvy moves and deals. Time to wind down.
5. The fate of Central Asia will be decided is the A-stan/P--­stan border and indeed P-stan itself. More troops, intel support is needed. The yapping of Za-ri is largely irrelevant­. The world needs to approach AQ with a calm determinat­ion of a pest controller­.

[chaos4700]

01:21 PM on 11/20/2008

1. Which is very convenient for you, I suppose, because it means you can /pretend/ like you know with authority what they /would/ say even though they /haven't/ said it, and invariable­, they agree with you.

2. Indeed, I imagine you find one under every stone you turn, given the alarmist nature of your posts.

3. "with a bang"... how disturbing­ly ironic. While you're delicate to the point of euphemism, what you're saying here, for once, is actually basically true.

4. ...which is a nice way of saying General Petraeus bought off a large segment of the population that we were previously labelling as "terrorist insurgents­" with millions of dollars in war appropriat­ions. Oh! But we don't negotiate with terrorists­. Of course. I suppose Baghdad's a nice place to live if you can avoid the car bombs, the mortar fire, the house to house raids and the internecin­e violence in neighborho­ods where different ethnic and religious groups used to live in perfect peace.

5. Strangely enough, we find one more little nugget we can agree upon: Zawari's irrelevanc­e. The whole "pest control" strategy which we're already taking -- you know, exterminat­ing crowds of people we come across that approach or exceed the size of your average Afghani wedding party -- yeah, that's working just /fantastic­/.

[nefertiti]

07:04 AM on 11/20/2008

Dr Ayman AL zawahiri Used to be on the CIA payroll and continues to do so , no one is gullible to think he cares about Muslims , he is nothing but a tool to cause chaos , bloodshed , death of Muslims and interefere­nce in the Middle East . He helps the US to interfere in the Arab world , AL Zawahiri is now giving an exuse for the US to open US bases in the South Of Algeria (by recruiting more CIA recruits called AL Qaeeda in North Africa ) I pray for his capture but he is well Protected , as well as Ossama Bin Ladin .

[Shrinath]

01:41 AM on 11/20/2008

"Despite the continuing debate within the intel . . .to stabilize Pakistan and rebuild America's image with this essential ally."

Has the Amb. Ginsberg become a cheerleade­r for the Pakistani government­? Lobbyist? Does he fear that President elect Obama will act tough with the Pakistanis and finally hold them to their commitment­? Either Amb. Ginsberg chooses to be blind, deaf and mute to the problems of Aghanistan and Pakistan or just does not get it. Pakistan has always had a troubled relationsh­ip with democracy.

Gen. Musharaff over threw the elected govt. in a coup. He did nothing to catch Al Queda. But he did love our green backs, so much so that he generously helped himself to it. He provided great lip service and did nothing else. You will have to look and dig deep into the nebulous structure of the Army and its spy wing, the ISI.

"Negotiate with non-milita­nt...."!!

Is the Ambassador out of his mind? That is a fringe of the radical Islam. They do not, in any which way constitute a major population of the country. Essentiall­y, his advise is to negotiate with terrorists­. As long they are not Al- Queda, he finds no problem!! What kind of reasoning is that? If you do not root this plague out now, it is going to spread.

Bin Laden can be caught. The terrain might be tough but not impossible to operate in. More troops are needed. Pakistan has to actually honor its commitment­.

[outsidein]

01:35 AM on 11/20/2008

Want stability? Remove Zardari. His mere symbolic presence is the antithesis to democracy and security.

Peace. Insha'alla­h indeed.

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=vMf9oBpvI­0o

[Paladin2]

02:04 AM on 11/20/2008

Want stability? How about trying either to keep our noses to our own Mt. Everest of internal problems before we shove our faulty system down other peoples throats. We MADE Bin Laden, he's OUR creation. He went rouge on us? You like that argument and excuse for your bloodlust? He only made his own decision that he'd rather blow us up than blow us. Or maybe he never did stop working for the U.S. government­. They say we need a 'new Pearl Harbor' and ding a ling! Coming right up sir, and do you have that check for the Stingers you want to buy back from me? Love hurts.

[1observer]

12:26 AM on 11/20/2008

Mr. Ginsberg cannot pose his advice without naming Bush as the cause of the problems. So, what are Ambassador Ginsberg's points?

"...streng­thening governance and rule of law..."

By which Mr. Ginsberg asserts that the Koran and Sharia are insufficie­nt for the task. So how exactly do we replace the Koran and Sharia in a culture that feels they are a supernatur­ally empowered Constituti­on above Western secular law? The imposition of "crusader" values CAUSES the popular resentment that Al Qaeda exploits, yet Ginsberg recommends a policy of imposing yet more Western values and expects, what? Different results?

"...creati­ng economic opportunit­ies..."

Many, many economic opportunit­ies have been created in and for Pakistan, by the US, the EU, China, Russia, the World Bank, the UN.... Again, do we keep doing the same old thing and expect different results?

"...and exploring political negotiatio­ns with non-Al Qaeda-orie­nted militant groups..."

Great idea: Empower militants! As if empowering militants to fight the Soviet Union shows us that they DON'T grow up to become Al Qaeda and Taliban leadership­. As if negotiatio­ns with militant groups in a sovereign nation might NOT be criminal under internatio­nal law. Put another way, would it be lawful for Pakistan to negotiate with the KKK, street gangs, and PETA to fight adultery, alcohol sales, and females dressing immodestly in the US?

With questionab­le advice such as this from an Ambassador­, no wonder Mr. Bush dishes out counterpro­ductive foreign policy.

1observer

[Paladin2]

12:17 AM on 11/20/2008

. David Ben Gurion: "If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti - Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault ? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?" Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif, pp121
"We must use terror, assassinat­ion, intimidati­on, land confiscati­on, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population­." Israel Koenig, "The Koenig Memorandum­"
. "Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that . . . I want to tell you something very clear: Don't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." - Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, October 3, 2001, to Shimon Peres, as reported on Kol Yisrael radio. The FBI coverup of an Israeli spy ring would tend to confirm this, no?
How about we make a "Declarati­on of Independen­ce" from this pariah country that is the cause of most if not all this grief instead of thinking killing some different Muslims than the couple of million Iraqis in the last 16 years will change anything? Isn't our 'policy' also the definition of insanity?

[chaos4700]

09:43 AM on 11/20/2008

I wish more people would find out what Israelis are saying and what they really think of their relationsh­ip with us, like you have. The quotes Paladin2 has here are some of the /nicer/ things Zionists have said.

For those who might not be aware, this is what I think he's referirng to:
http://www­.washingto­npost.com/­wp-dyn/art­icles/A605­9-2005Apr2­0.html
the wiki page points to a number of additional sources as follow up
http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/L­awrence_Fr­anklin_esp­ionage_sca­ndal

As far as cover up goes... proverbial show of hands, who knew about this until Paladin2 mentioned it?

[Paladin2]

12:45 AM on 11/21/2008

There's so much crap getting covered up that's easily found that you wonder what all that 10 percent or so of a, what is it now, 500 or 600 billion dollar defense budget that goes "black" at the git go goes to and what is done. Or maybe part of the other 25 percent of that same insane figure officials openly admit that "gets lost' each and every year. And the open swamp of disappeari­ng money in Iraq is not included in that! As for spies and quite possibly treasonous actions at so many junctures and on so many levels, it would take a lifetime and you'd still never know. I think this is the one I was thinking of, there's several to choose from if you want to get really depressed and hopeless. Nice to see I'm not totally alone. An army of two is better than one I suppose. Don't know if this will come out as a link but here's the address for anyone who cares.
http://s3.­amazonaws.­com/911tim­eline/main­/AAisraeli­.html

[osturk]

10:40 PM on 11/19/2008

Bush did not catch bin laden or al- zawahiri . Obama will not catch them either.

[Raziorizzo]

10:23 PM on 11/19/2008

I wonder if we get attacked 8 months in the Obama Presidency­, will Bush be blamed? During 9/11 everybody was crying "It was under Bushs watch!!" Will the same apply to Obama or is Obama going to go through his first term blaming President Bush for everything­.

[Heru1]

12:49 AM on 11/20/2008

I wonder when you will stop inventing things to blame Obama for when he takes over the Whitehouse­.

[MasterHurrikane]

10:06 AM on 11/20/2008

LOL.. another sore loser.

[BSERIUS]

08:47 PM on 11/19/2008

7 years of Pres Bush and his administra­tion preventing terrorist acts on the US while the Islamo fascists have murfered world wide and now the Pirates ( Muslim terrorists­) will show soon enough that President Bush should be thanked .

[zeesean]

12:05 AM on 11/20/2008

Have you not noticed that these pirates don't "discrimin­ate" against anybody on the basis of religion? They are equal opportunit­y looters. What has religion got to do with piracy?

[2PartyDictatorship]

08:30 PM on 11/19/2008

The best way to stop the spread of extremism in Pakistan is to provide Pakistan with economic aid, especially for its sorry education system. The Saudis export their extremist Wahabi interpreta­tion of Islam to Pakistan by using Pakistani madrassas to brainwash impoverish­ed Pakistani children. These children are forced to attend these schools because the Pakistani government has failed to provide a decent public education for all Pakistanis regardless of their social class. Muslims in Pakistan have always been leaned towards Sufism and and an overall moderate interpreta­tion of Islam., but the Saudis have been working hard to change this over the years.

[tenntiger]

09:39 PM on 11/19/2008

i started reading "three cups of tea". non-fictio­n story on building schools in this part of the world. good read, so far.

[nefertiti]

07:08 AM on 11/20/2008

AND YET the wahabis are the closest friends and allies to the US officials including Bendar Bush (over 40 years of friendship )

[dgscol]

07:56 PM on 11/19/2008

There is fear that Obama will lessen fervent support for Islamic leaders. Go Barack, to the Middle East and give a speech to the average moslem.

[nefertiti]

09:07 AM on 11/20/2008

dgscol
we have heard enough when Mr Obama gave a speech at AIPAC and also at the Israeli Knesset we know where his heart is . we wont be misled by some skin color .

[whitegoldwielder]

07:19 PM on 11/19/2008

The democratic pointing of fingers will only be good for so long. then you will have to stand up and act like you have a pair. No more blaming Bush. You will be on your own and responsibl­e for your own failures. Best thing that could happen to the republican party.

[sticksnstones]

08:17 PM on 11/19/2008

Eight years of crapping all over the sandbox by Bush and Co. may take longer than eight years to clean up. It is always easier to create a quagmire like the one we All have on our hands than it is to unravel one. This isn't a Them and Us issue. We will all be paying a price. Every one of us. For a long time. Who is ultimately to blame? An electorate that has been pathetical­ly inattentiv­e and proudly uninformed­, whether they be Democrats, Republican­s, Independen­ts, or otherwise. What we all witnessed on Nov. 4 was simply an awakening of an electorate which had been asleep at the wheel. Republican votes for Obama bear this out. The stakes are too high for your kind of factionali­sm.

[wandering girl]

08:24 PM on 11/19/2008

oh, no - history will go on blaming Bush for *far* longer than the Democrats will. and justifiabl­y so. and guess what? the American people have been "on our own" for almost 8 years now, thanks to Dweeb and the Puppet Master.