This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Al Qaeda Now Controls More Territory In The Arab World Than Ever Before

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Remember this?

This was the neo-conservatives' victory lap when they supposedly achieved one of their main stated goals: to discover and neutralize terrorist organizations, primarily al Qaeda.

Well, things have changed.

In what can be described a truly ironic event and a major failure for America's stated mission (because one can't help but wonder at all the support various Al Qaeda cells have received from the US and/or CIA) of eradicating the Al Qaeda scourge from the face of the earth, we learn today that al Qaeda appears to control more territory in the Arab world than it has done at any time in its history. According to a CNN report "from around Aleppo in western Syria to small areas of Falluja in central Iraq, al Qaeda now controls territory that stretches more than 400 miles across the heart of the Middle East, according to English and Arab language news accounts as well as accounts on jihadist websites."

The following recent map from Jane's shows just how extensive Al Qaeda's influence has grown in recent years.

And nowhere is the surge of Al Qaeda more visible than in recent events in Iraq. From CNN:

The focus of al Qaeda's leaders has always been regime change in the Arab world in order to install Taliban-style regimes. Al Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri acknowledged as much in his 2001 autobiography, "Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet," when he explained that the most important strategic goal of al Qaeda was to seize control of a state, or part of a state, somewhere in the Muslim world, explaining that, "without achieving this goal our actions will mean nothing."

 

Now al-Zawahiri is closer to his goal than he has ever been. On Friday al-Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq seized control of parts of the city of Falluja and parts of the city of Ramadi, both of which are located in Iraq's restive Anbar Province.

 

Anbar is home to predominantly Sunni Muslims, who feel that that the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki treats the Sunnis as second-class citizens.

 

Sectarian tensions in Anbar recently burst into several all-out revolts against the government, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as the al-Qaeda affiliate there is known, quickly seized the opportunity to notch some battlefield victories.

 

Government forces increased their presence around Falluja in response and on Tuesday tribal leaders issued a statement urging people who had fled the city or stopped reporting to work to return.

America's escapade in Syria - where it was merely a puppet for Qatari nat gas oligarchs - has also backfired.

ISIS is also operating in Syria, where it has established a presence in many areas of the Aleppo and Idlib Governorates in the northwest. In August, ISIS launched a propaganda series on video highlighting their activities in Syria, which includes interviews with fighters; the "graduation" of a group of mujahedin "cubs" (aged about 7 to 10 years old) from training, and sermons at local mosques preaching al Qaeda's interpretation of Islam.

 

The al-Nusra front has claimed to control parts of at least a dozen Syrian towns. Those include sections of the ancient city of the Aleppo in the northwest, where fighters have been filmed running a community fair and preaching al Qaeda's values to crowds of children. The group has also released videos on jihadist websites claiming that it is providing services to the people of several towns in the governorate of Idlib, which borders the Aleppo Governorate to the west. Al Nusra claims that it is a quasi-government and service-provider in the towns of Binnish, Taum, and Saraqib.

 

Al-Nusra fighters allied to al Qaeda function like a government in areas they control in Syria. The group provides daily deliveries of bread, free running water and electricity, a health clinic, and a strict justice system based on Sharia law in the eastern Syrian city of Ash Shaddadi, where it also took control of the city's wheat silos and oil wells. In September a CNN reporting team concluded, "Al Qaeda has swept to power with the aim of imposing a strict Islamist ideology on Syrians across large swathes of Syria's rebel-held north."

 

In sum, al Qaeda affiliates now control much of northern and northwestern Syria as well as some parts of eastern Syria, as well as much of Anbar province, which is around a third of Iraqi territory.

It wouldn't be a US diplomatic debacle without at least one soundbite from John Kerry. So here it is:

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that the United States will "do everything that is possible to help" the Iraqi government control al Qaeda's expansion in Anbar, but stressed that no American troops would be sent back to the Middle Eastern nation . Last month, the United States quietly sent Hellfire missiles and surveillance drones to the Iraqi government to support their fight against increasing al Qaeda-related violence.

The question of how quickly the US "gift" was intercepted by Al Qaeda is rhetorical. The other rhetorical question is how long until the now much better armed (with US weapons) jihadists will turn those same weapons on the liberating Western powers. The US for now seems safe. Europe is a different matter.

For the United States the widening reach of al Qaeda in the Middle East doesn't necessarily translate into an immediate threat at home. So far only a handful of Americans have fought in the Syrian conflict alongside al Qaeda's affiliates there so concerns about some kind of "blowback" from the Syrian war in the U.S. are, at this point, unfounded.

 

European countries are rightly concerned, however. Many European countries have seen their citizens drawn to the Syrian war; more than a hundred from Britain and many dozens from countries like Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, according to multiple European officials we have spoken to. These countries are concerned that the returning veterans of the Syrian conflict might launch terrorist attacks in Europe.

 

In October for instance, British authorities arrested militants who were allegedly planning a terrorist attack. Two British officials who work on counterterrorism issues told us that that the militants had recently traveled to Syria.

Finally, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone. Ron Paul, for one, has long predicted precisely this chain of events. In this context his latest commentary, posted here over the weekend, bears repeating.

Iraq: The ‘Liberation’ Neocons Would Rather Forget

Remember Fallujah? Shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US military fired on unarmed protestors, killing as many as 20 and wounding dozens. In retaliation, local Iraqis attacked a convoy of US military contractors, killing four. The US then launched a full attack on Fallujah to regain control, which left perhaps 700 Iraqis dead and the city virtually destroyed.

According to press reports last weekend, Fallujah is now under the control of al-Qaeda affiliates. The Anbar province, where Fallujah is located, is under siege by al-Qaeda. During the 2007 “surge,” more than 1,000 US troops were killed “pacifying” the Anbar province.  Although al-Qaeda was not in Iraq before the US invasion, it is now conducting its own surge in Anbar.
 
For Iraq, the US “liberation” is proving far worse than the authoritarianism of Saddam Hussein, and it keeps getting worse. Last year was Iraq’s deadliest in five years. In 2013, fighting and bomb blasts claimed the lives of 7,818 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces. In December alone nearly a thousand people were killed.
 
I remember sitting through many hearings in the House International Relations Committee praising the “surge,” which we were told secured a US victory in Iraq. They also praised the so-called “Awakening,” which was really an agreement by insurgents to stop fighting in exchange for US dollars. I always wondered what would happen when those dollars stopped coming.
 
Where are the surge and awakening cheerleaders now?
 
One of them, Richard Perle, was interviewed last year on NPR and asked whether the Iraq invasion that he pushed was worth it. He replied:

I've got to say I think that is not a reasonable question. What we did at the time was done in the belief that it was necessary to protect this nation. You can't a decade later go back and say, well, we shouldn't have done that.

Many of us were saying all along that we shouldn’t have done that – before we did it. Unfortunately the Bush Administration took the advice of the neocons pushing for war and promising it would be a “cakewalk.” We continue to see the results of that terrible mistake, and it is only getting worse.
 
Last month the US shipped nearly a hundred air-to-ground missiles to the Iraqi air force to help combat the surging al-Qaeda. Ironically, the same al-Qaeda groups the US is helping the Iraqis combat are benefiting from the US covert and overt war to overthrow Assad next door in Syria. Why can’t the US government learn from its mistakes?
 
The neocons may be on the run from their earlier positions on Iraq, but that does not mean they have given up. They were the ones pushing for an attack on Syria this summer. Thankfully they were not successful. They are now making every effort to derail President Obama’s efforts to negotiate with the Iranians. Just last week William Kristol urged Israel to attack Iran with the hope we would then get involved. Neoconservative Senators from both parties recently introduced the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013, which would also bring us back on war-footing with Iran.
 
Next time the neocons tell us we must attack, just think “Iraq.”

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Thu, 01/09/2014 - 23:20 | 4318131 22winmag
22winmag's picture

The Taliban ain't scared.

 

The Taliban kicks Al-CIAda's ass every time.

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 23:30 | 4318155 Constitutional ...
Constitutional Republic's picture

There's an old saying used by the locals: 'You can rent an Afghan. You can't own him.'

The warlords in that place know how to play the game,, and run off with the money and munitions. Russia warned the USA about this, but the banksters profit from war, so it goes on.

Lead bankster family Rothschild matriarch once said:'If my sons didn't want war, there would be no war.' Or words to that effect.

It's difficult to love your sons, and know they are bad.

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 23:26 | 4318151 Fix It Again Timmy
Fix It Again Timmy's picture

Al Capone,  Al  Gore, Al Qaeda... What the hell is it with this "Al" shit? 

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 23:35 | 4318163 joego1
joego1's picture

The first step to understanding this is understanding Islam. I recommend this book;

www.citizenwarrior.com/2008/12/abridged-koran.html

Once you understand the motivation much of this makes sense. If the government really understood that "it is all about the religion stupid" Our foreign policy would be completely different than it is now.

 

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 23:58 | 4318226 Constitutional ...
Constitutional Republic's picture

The extreme form of Islam promoted by the House of Saud (Wahabbism) which was formed by Britain's Rothschild-led Mi6 exists to keep feudalism, primarily for old world banking interests and 'royalty'.

The USA was drawn into that quagmire, foolishly. It perturbs me that some American jews would encourage it, given that the USA is their one, true, loyal homeland.

Jews for Peace say: AIPAC does not represent me.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 00:10 | 4318257 joego1
joego1's picture

Read the Koran and then you will understand why Islam and western culture are like water and oil. They will never sucessfully mix. End of story. Jihad will be fought on all levels until the end.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 00:20 | 4318274 Constitutional ...
Constitutional Republic's picture

I'm aware of the Koran, and its warmongering paedophile prophet. It offends every principle on which my culture is based, however much we may struggle to attain our ideals. 

The only no flight zone we need is a ban on travel between my homeland and any place that threatens us, except for essential trade missions and diplomatic contact - by ours going to them, not them coming to us. That would end the wars pretty damn quick.

However, the Zionists would also find themselves placed in that category, given their unrestrained military build up and genocide against Palestinians, whilst also being named by the U.S. State Department as the biggest 'allied' spies, plundering U.S. property and secrets.

Be careful what you wish for.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 00:02 | 4318231 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

Does the world know of a political antibiotic, effective in fighting the metastasizing ME immune system's red (Muslim/Sunni?) cells(?) and white (Islam/Shiite?) cells(?) from destroying the entire body? 

I'm (?) quite sure everybody in the West knows the solution,... perhaps even the ME has had the antibiotic for decades bottled-up in a, 'buried-well`too-do', empty oil-barrel in `Mecca'... enshrined in malleable proxy`man-made foilble rabid`dogma's... the undercarriage of carnage to a world sworn to sharia`obedience and domicile opulence?

This antibiotic I speak of is a living breathing entity of justice and true comradery of all Islam too live amonst each other as they have for millenniums respecting their brothers religious beliefs and boundaries-- this tangible antibiotic is the, Golden Rule of the, 'Muslim Brotherhood'!

But, the world has defined the MB, Hezbollah, and Hamas as terrorist, and yet... al Qaeda grows by leaps and bounds, so says the reliable CNN? Perhaps the biggest POS of all MSM!

Free Morsi and give back the MB to the MiddleEast!!! 

jmo 

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 00:13 | 4318248 Constitutional ...
Constitutional Republic's picture

In my opinion, it is wrong for the USA to interfere in the affairs of sovereign nations. We would object if a foreign country invaded with its military force, and told us what to do.

President George Washington was right: we should trade with anyone, be a friend to all, and stay out of their internal affairs and wars.

'Humanitarian intervention' is just imperialism with a smiley face, and unprecedented numbers of dead people.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 07:08 | 4318729 negative rates
negative rates's picture

We've already been invaded by the invisible financial military industrial complex. It's during a rebelous event  that they break out the military's hardware.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 07:04 | 4318728 negative rates
negative rates's picture

It had to be born in Africa thru evolution and then simply migrated to the ME and beyond, nasty bugger that rascal. 

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 00:04 | 4318245 samsara
samsara's picture
And thank you Dick "Darth Vader" Cheney,  Richard Perle, Paul Wolf-no-wits, Krystal, Karl Rove, Wolf Blister and all the rest of the supporting cast.

And especially to the Biggest Smuck to "Fly on to a Carrier in a Jumpsuit"   George Bush II

USA USA USA  

 WMDs, Yellow Cake,  Mobile Bio Labs, Aluminum Tubes, abu ghraib-Lynndie England, Powell UN Speech, Jessica Lynch..... 

Gee, all those great memories....


Fri, 01/10/2014 - 00:09 | 4318255 Constitutional ...
Constitutional Republic's picture

War is a racket.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 08:56 | 4318844 samsara
samsara's picture

Thanks Smedley

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 01:16 | 4318407 Joe A
Joe A's picture

You can also interpret this as a CIA control map.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 03:09 | 4318557 Audacity17
Audacity17's picture

Zerohedge commenters....always curve fitting history to fit their theories.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 04:09 | 4318619 Rising Sun
Rising Sun's picture

I hear Huff-Po calling you - you had better toddle off now

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 03:52 | 4318604 Manipuflation
Manipuflation's picture

Chechnya.  Those assholes really ring home for me simply because there is a Russian in the house here.  The hatred is very deep and it is very old.  Americans try to quantify things but you can not quanitfy deep seated hatred.  I tried.  The level of hatred is so deep that I can't even understand it.  You want to talk about hate?  You will find blood hate. 

I have a Russian woman from that region and she hates...she hates a great deal.  Mrs. M would not hesitate to kill a Chechen if she could.  You can't really make an arguement with her because she will not bend.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 04:11 | 4318622 Rising Sun
Rising Sun's picture

Just another card Barry has played - everything else is fucked up thanks to Barry - now it's time to expand the military again - let's do more beta testing on drone technology.

 

Go Barry Go!!!!  Off you go to do some human slaughtering.   But Barry, only start slaughtering when you want that bum rush in the polls.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 04:47 | 4318650 Dre4dwolf
Dre4dwolf's picture

Who would of thought that invading random nations with drones and destroying random targets hitting more civilians than terrorists would actually have back-lash and actually spur on and ecourage radical islamists terrorist cells to grow?

 

Seriously... who expected that?

 

....

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 05:35 | 4318678 Bokkenrijder
Bokkenrijder's picture

"This aggression will not stand...man!"

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 08:59 | 4318855 samsara
samsara's picture

Take all those who voted for George Bush twice, Lets pair them up with those who voted for Obama twice.

(disclaimer, I didn't vote for either of them any of the times)

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 09:29 | 4318921 d edwards
d edwards's picture

This has happened under 0bozo-it's his idea of "leveling the playing field"-you know, one man's terrorist is 0bozo's mooslim brother freedom fighter.

 

That, plus making our troops fight a "PC" war instead of destroying the enemy.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 09:13 | 4318883 Fíréan
Fíréan's picture

 Al-Qaeda , also al-Qaida or al-Qa'ida or al-Qa'idah.

A quick internet search comes up with many and various definitions, including " the organization does not use the name to formally refer to itself."

And for the most part all  references to the name are to "it" and not to "them" or "they" , as in a collective of persons. 

so I have no idea.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 10:31 | 4319221 d edwards
d edwards's picture

I know, the spelling is f-ed up. Try this:

 

FRITs: Fucking Radical Islamic Terrorists

 

Or, FRITz if you prefer.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 09:37 | 4318970 ZH11
ZH11's picture

If only there was someone who could have foreseen such a mess in the foreign policy of the US on Iraq and stated ex ante how it was a joke and a pure act of agression against the best interest of the US and indeed the world...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TZ5cpaPlf4

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 11:30 | 4319419 johngerard
johngerard's picture

From Der Spiegel, 2005. Looks like Al Qaeda is bang on schedule. See phases 1-3 at:

http://tinyurl.com/nje5dqg

 

"The Fourth Phase Between 2010 and 2013, Hussein writes that al-Qaida will aim to bring about the collapse of the hated Arabic governments. The estimate is that "the creeping loss of the regimes' power will lead to a steady growth in strength within al-Qaida." At the same time attacks will be carried out against oil suppliers and the US economy will be targeted using cyber terrorism.

  • The Fifth Phase This will be the point at which an Islamic state, or caliphate, can be declared. The plan is that by this time, between 2013 and 2016, Western influence in the Islamic world will be so reduced and Israel weakened so much, that resistance will not be feared. Al-Qaida hopes that by then the Islamic state will be able to bring about a new world order.
  • The Sixth Phase Hussein believes that from 2016 onwards there will a period of "total confrontation." As soon as the caliphate has been declared the "Islamic army" it will instigate the "fight between the believers and the non-believers" which has so often been predicted by Osama bin Laden.
  • The Seventh Phase This final stage is described as "definitive victory." Hussein writes that in the terrorists' eyes, because the rest of the world will be so beaten down by the "one-and-a-half billion Muslims," the caliphate will undoubtedly succeed. This phase should be completed by 2020, although the war shouldn't last longer than two years."
Fri, 01/10/2014 - 11:57 | 4319531 roadhazard
roadhazard's picture

I think we should invade... oh wait.

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 12:30 | 4319679 esum
esum's picture

the ussa / uk nato allies are the sunni puppeteers.... using the sunni shite power struggle .... playing and paying with 9/11 type incoveniences for the "overall resultant good" .... you know the end justifies the means type mentality... just dont YOU get your nuts crushed in the meantime.. iran's nuclear "capitualtion" will lead to a middle east war and the takedown of the irainian mullahs... just like when Libya gave up its nukes... so goes iran... let's hear the phone intercepts between the white house and al queda/muslim brotherhood if you please .... oh i forgot we cut out via saudi and turkey... 

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 23:56 | 4321911 bilejones
bilejones's picture

AQ Qaeda is the see eye ayes foreign legion, no more, no less.

New franchise opportunities occur  whenever a new crop of resourses to be exploited become apparent

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!