[Vision2020] Al Qaida

[Sunil Ramalingam]

I can't tell from my quick scan of the news whether we actually killed the 
people we were targeting or more civilians.  If the latter is true, then the 
media will drop the story, as they do each time we kill people who aren't 
worth counting, which apparently is true of all the civilians we kill.  Of 
course their families may think otherwise, but they don't count either, 
right?

It's interesting that we attacked a village in Pakistan.  The other day I 
read this in the Asia Times:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HA12Df01.html

This story suggested that the US is no longer enthusiastic about Musharraf.  
Incidents like this are more likely to destabilize him, whether he agreed to 
allow such attacks or not.

Sunil


>From: Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com>
>To: "g. crabtree" <jampot at adelphia.net>
>CC: vision2020 at moscow.com, Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>,   
>      Matt Decker <mattd2107 at hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Al Qaida
>Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2006 17:09:46 -0800
>
>All:
>
>Bill Maher hosted "Larry King Live" last night on CNN.  He commented that 
>he
>thought the killing of this supposed second in command for "Al-Qaeda," if
>true, would have about as much effect on Al-Qaeda as the death of Ray Kroc
>did on the McDonald's fast food empire.
>
>In other words, not much!
>
>I agree.
>
>In fact, this alleged killing, if true, may have even less effect.  
>Al-Qaeda
>can function as a very decentralized loose knit group of like minded
>individuals, who deliberately avoid a hierarchical or centralized
>structure.  Terror cells thus operate with no direct contact between them,
>and deliberately so, to avoid exposing each other if caught and tortured to
>reveal other terrorist operatives.  Al-Qaeda is thus more of a "big idea"
>that motivates those of an extremist religious ideology, than an
>organization.
>
>http://au.news.yahoo.com/040808/2/q8lp.html
>
>http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0629-08.htm
>
>As the CIA analyst who wrote the book "Imperial Hubris" (see info at links
>above) asserted, the invasion of Iraq was a "Christmas gift to Bin Laden,"
>insofar as this invasion has fueled hatred of the US among Islamic people
>around the world, who see the US engaged in a war against Islam (whether
>this is true or not), swelling the ranks of these independently functioning
>terror cells, who will not be compromised by killing Osama Bin Laden, or 
>his
>so called second in command and personal physician, Ayman Al Zawahiri
>
>Ted Moffett
>
>