Feed: Canadian lawmakers quiz American terrorism expert about al-Qaeda - AggScore: 12.9

Canadian lawmakers quiz American terrorism expert about al-Qaeda

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blockquoteemOsama bin Laden, the leader of alQaeda, has mentioned Canada as a designated target for terrorist action because of Canadas role in Afghanistan. Canadian Security Intelligence Service CSISemblockquotecaption id alignalignleft width210 captionThe elusive terror chief Osama bin Laden. Photo DoJimg srchttpcdn2b.examiner.comsitesdefaultfilesstyleslargehasha9e0a9e021602e813ad3e6a9ae374435dc9a.jpg altThe elusive terror chief Osama bin Laden. Photo DoJ width210 height170 captionCounterterrorist and security expert Brian Jenkins, who currently serves asDirector of Transportation Security Research for the MinetaTransportation Institute MTI, testified Monday before the CanadianSenates Special Committee on AntiTerrorism.A former U.S. Green Beret officerand Fox News contributor, Jenkins covered the current state of the campaign against alQaedainspired terrorism around the world. In addition to his role with MTI, Mr. Jenkins, is a senior adviser to the president of the RAND Corporation.Jenkinssaid that, nearly a decade after the September 11 attacks, analysts are still remarkably divided in their assessments of the global campaign against this type of terrorism in part because it is difficult to calibrate the adversarys determination.AlQaeda has become many things and must be assessed from different angles, said Mr. Jenkins. It is heir to a long tradition of jihad, the banner carrier and symbol of a radical expression of faith. It is author of an ideology and strategy of war, the center of a global network of likeminded fanatics, the instigator of a global terrorist campaign, and an active communications system augmented by an online army... It is a source of inspiration and a contributor to ongoing insurgencies, an ally of other extremist groups, a conveyer of societal and individual discontents, a magnet for the most violent jihadists, and a source of legitimacy for their violence.He went on to present an update on the changes in the organization since 2001. In order to survive as the center of this armed jihad, he said, alQaeda had to protect its own leadership relocate to a new secure base reconfigure itself and find a new, more clandestine way of operating develop a command system able to function in a more hostile environment. It had to be able to communicate with its field commanders, operatives, potential volunteers, and constituents maintain its cash flow and, above all, continue its terrorist campaign in order to continue its recruiting. AlQaeda has managed to do most of these things, he said.Rather than continue a centralized operation in the face of opposition, it has become more decentralized, with local affiliates and allies. It appears strongest when it attaches itself to local conflicts in weak states. Al Qaeda also benefits from its relationship with nearby likeminded groups not under its control and that have their own political and military agendas, such as Afghanistans Taliban, the TTP, LeT, and others in Pakistan and India, Mr. Jenkins noted.AlQaedainspired jihadists have not been able to carry out a successful, significant terrorist operation in the West since 2005, although numerous plots have been uncovered and thwarted, he testified. AlQaedas paramount objective remains building an army of believers to take up arms, provoking a worldwide armed movementThe volume and sophistication of alQaedas communications have increased. There are now thousands of web sites devoted to exhortation and instruction in the means of violence.AlQaedas affiliates demonstrate a continuing capacity for violence, he said. The situation in Afghanistan, where a year ago, American and NATO forces were judged to be losing, has not yet convincingly turned around. Analysts now argue about the importance of the struggle in Afghanistan to alQaedas survival. Meanwhile, the growing role played by alQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula gives the global enterprise a new base of operations. AlQaedas campaign may morph, but it will likely continue for many years.Mr. Jenkins also provided insight about how the situation may appear to Osama bin Laden. AlQaeda asserts that Islam is under assault, in mortal danger from the West, he said. Its leaders portray events since 911 as confirmation of their warning that hostile infidels led by America are determined to conquer all of Islam and that this aggression will continue unless it is checked by armed resistance. Apostate and corrupt governments of Muslims, in alQaedas worldview, have ceased to be defenders of the faith. Instead, they have joined the oppressors.Reward comes from participation, not the outcome of battles, he testified. The conflict is processoriented, not progressoriented as in the West. But triumph is inevitable they believe because God is on the side of the jihadists. Strategy does not drive operations. Operations are the strategy. To scatter and exhaust its enemies, alQaeda must launch attacks on all fronts. The battlefield is everywhere. There are no front lines, no home fronts, no distinction between combatants and noncombatants.To someone like bin Laden, the worlds current economic crisis is further evidence that they are on the right path. It is Gods punishment for the infidels materialism and corruption, proof of their decline and eventual defeat.Homegrown terrorism is a growing concern. Mr. Jenkins said, AlQaedas recruiting was always global, but it has become more difficult to get its acolytes to training sites in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Recognizing this reality, the organization now places increased emphasis on doityourself terrorism, urging local wouldbe warriors to do whatever they can, wherever they are.AlQaeda knows that homegrown attacks provoke greater alarm than engagements on distant battlefronts, he said. They can count on the news media, partisan politics, and public anxiety to exaggerate the threat. People in the West have unrealistically come to expect 100 percent security, viewing any terrorist attempt as a failure on the part of those charged with their protection. Even foiled terrorism attempts and deliberate hoaxes have utility. They require little investment, which alQaeda now brags about, but they bring high returns in creating psychological terror.For its recruits, alQaeda promises masculine glory and a sensual afterlife to frustrated young men. But martyrdom is not a political program, and reestablishment of a caliphate offers little to those seeking political freedom, equality under the law, employment, education, a better life on earth for themselves and their children, which may be why most of alQaedas intended audience has ignored its summons. The greatest longterm threat to alQaeda is irrelevance.Nonetheless, alQaeda will continue to be a tenacious and resilient foe, Mr. Jenkins concluded. Its campaign, now in its third decade, will almost certainly go on. Successfully countering it must be viewed as a very longterm effortnot a finite war with a clear beginning and end, or a permanent war without end, but not the peace we would all prefer.Mr. Jenkins was a paratrooper and a captain in the Green Berets, serving in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic. He returned to Vietnam as a member of the Long Range Planning Task Group, receiving the Department of the Armys highest award for his service. He authored several articles, reports and books, including International Terrorism A New Mode of Conflict and Will Terrorists Go NuclearFrom 198998, Mr. Jenkins was deputy chairman of Kroll Associates,a Manhattanbasedinternational investigative and consulting firm. Before that, he was chairman of RANDs Political Science Department, where he also directed research on political violence.