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| Terror Networks |
| FBI: Just 200 hard-core Al-Qaeda |
| 2002-07-31 |
| "Al-Qaeda itself, we know, is less than 200," said an FBI official, referring to those who have sworn allegiance to Osama bin Laden. That figure — far fewer than recent press reports have suggested are in the U. S. alone — is based on evidence gathered by the FBI and CIA. It includes Al-Qaeda members who are now in custody at Guantanamo Bay. "Everyone tries to tie everything into 9-11 and Al-Qaeda," said one of the two FBI officials interviewed Friday on condition of anonymity. "There was a recent report suggesting that Al-Qaeda is about 5,000 strong. It is nowhere near 5,000 strong." They're counting as "al-Qaeda" only the "officer corps," I think — the controllers and finance guys, recruiters and logistics network. They're not including the ranks of the cannon fodder in the count... Although thousands of Islamic extremists and future terrorists have passed through bin Laden's training camps, it does not mean they are actual Al-Qaeda operatives, the officials said. But it does mean they've got a pool of men who're willing, even happy, to kill people in the name of al-Qaeda... The war in Afghanistan has dispersed, killed or captured Al-Qaeda leaders, leaving the terror network fractured and diffused. As a result, the FBI's counterterrorism division is closely examining Iranian-backed Hezbollah and other radical Shiite Islamic groups. These groups have men, money and safe havens to elude authorities and could strengthen Al-Qaeda. Easier to find 'em, huh? "Now we are concerned that he (bin Laden) might be reaching out to the Shia side, which we have never seen before," a senior FBI official said. "We are concerned they might start focusing on trying to utilize each other's support networks." There have been indications of cooperation among the two all along... The FBI has launched a new International Terrorism Operations Center within the counterterrorism division in an effort to keep better track of terror groups outside of Al-Qaeda. Doin' one hellofajob, too, as we've seen... "If we don't keep our focus on Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Hamas, the Shia side of the house, we are putting ourselves in a very deep hole because if they decide to join the fray with Al-Qaeda, with the Sunni side, Sunni extremists, this country is in very serious trouble," the senior FBI official said. Obviously we should be working both problems. Reading between the lines here, he's hinting that al-Qaeda isn't much of a threat anymore in and of itself. You can kinda-sorta make that case by considering the cannon fodder — the gunnies, snuffies, boom artists, and other potential shaheeds — as interchangeable parts among the organizations. But anyone casually glancing at Pakistan can see that al-Qaeda is a part of a network of allied organizations and that they're not tied really closely to a chain of command. Pickup teams like al-Qanoon and organizations made up of outright lunatics like Lashkar-i-Jhangvi become tools in the hands of either the al-Qaeda controllers or free-lance supporters. When you go to get on a bus and you're suddenly meatloaf, it doesn't matter if it wasn't really al-Qaeda who did the boom on you, does it? We can see two main lines of control in the terror machine — two machines, working the same targets for the same ends, and occasionally but not always cooperating. The remnants of the old politicals are still around — PFLP, DFLP, and most of Fatah — but they're becoming minor players and their cannon fodder and in some cases upper management is being absorbed into one or the other of the jihadi lines. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is the only one that's really in daily business. That's why Iraq and Libya aren't major terror centers anymore (regardless of how hard Rumsfeld would like to make the case). Abu Nidal is old hat. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |