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Al Qaeda shows weakness
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I have expressed my opinion that we cannot win a conventional war against terrorism, an ideology and not a nation. The al Qaeda statement of a few days ago is a reflection on how its aims and influence has been weakened by the election of Barack Obama as president. Behind the rhetoric and hateful words, behind the threats of future attacks, lies a tacit acknowledgement that its power has been and will be challenged.
A few days ago, one of the leaders of al Qaeda released a video statement which has been widely published, commented upon and interpreted by the media throughout the world. It was gratuitously insulting to Barack Obama, personally and not just as president-elect. . The video also insulted two prominent black diplomats, the former and current secretaries of state, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.
The video statement compares the president-elect and Secretaries Colin and Powell unfavorable with Malcolm X and others, but between the lines I discern another theme.
Much of the reports the statement as al Qaeda’s first direct challenge to Barack Obama, but I see it as an admission that the organization views the new leaders in the United States to be a serious threat to its existence.
First and foremost, al Qaeda is an organization that thrives on propaganda. It portrays the United States as an evil empire that oppresses its own minorities and has little regard for the rest of the world. Al Qaeda uses these types of narratives to raise funds and recruit. The Bush administration played right into this trap; the "with us or against us" mentality and invasion of Iraq damaged America's image around the world and reinforced al Qaeda's narrative.
That underlying idea is now under siege and it's clearly uncertain about how to react.
The election of the first African American President, one with a Muslim father, flies in the face of this narrative. It shows America as an open and tolerant society - not the oppressive empire Al Qaeda would like to portray. In fact, the overwhelmingly positive international reaction to Barack Obama's election is proof of the threat al Qaeda faces. The Associated Press report quoted a young person in Thailand:
What an inspiration. He is the first truly global US president the world has ever had. He had an Asian childhood, African parentage and has a Middle Eastern name. He is a truly global president.
In addition, the statement emphasized the new American focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan and the bordering area. Al Qaeda’s message about Afghanistan and Pakistan portrays concern over an administration that is actually going to go after the real terrorist haven on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Al Qaeda viewed the invasion of Iraq as a positive creating a recruiting and training ground for terrorists. According to the National Intelligence Report, the Iraq conflict has become the "cause célèbre" for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.
Now, the U.S. is once again focused on the area of the world that the intelligence community considers the most the direct threat to the our nation, an area of the world which was the source of the September 11th attacks and has been the source of just about every other major plot against a Western target over the past few years. This should raise some serious concerns for Al Qaeda's central leadership - especially since most of them are hiding in the Pakistan-Afghanistan borderlands.
So, I am encouraged. It is a new era. Let’s expand on it, working with allies in a united manner, cooperating and seeking cooperation. Terrorism is like a fire; it needs fuel to sustain itself. We have to stop providing that fuel.
We have begun.
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