Untested Islamic Militants Emerging, U.S. Official Says

[kskiska]

A new cadre of untested Islamic militants is emerging to take the place of leaders in Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which is now under "catastrophic stress" as a result of international operations over the past 30 months, the senior State Department counterterrorism official told a House International Relations subcommittee yesterday.

At least 70 percent of al Qaeda's senior leadership has been detained or killed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks triggered a worldwide offensive against the network, and the remaining 30 percent is largely on the run, State Department counterterrorism coordinator J. Cofer Black testified. The movement has been "deeply wounded" by the elimination or arrest of more than 3,400 lower-level members and allies, forcing it "to evolve in ways not entirely by its own choosing," he said.

As a result, several newer and smaller groups, made up predominantly of Sunni Muslims, are moving in to take the lead in the jihadist holy war agenda against the United States and its allies, which has complicated the task of stamping out the threat from Islamic militants, said Black, a former CIA counterterrorism official.

"As al Qaeda's known senior leadership, planners, facilitators and operators are brought to justice, a new cadre of leaders is being forced to step up. These individuals are increasingly no longer drawn from the old guard, no longer the seasoned veteran al Qaeda trainers from Afghanistan's camps or close associates of al Qaeda's founding members," Black told the House subcommittee. "These relatively untested terrorists are assuming far greater responsibilities."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43330-2004Apr1.html

[bemildred]

1. I am so tired of these retards. nt

[teryang]

2. We got em on the run now!

:puke:

[bemildred]

4. Yeah.

An attempt to pretend that (at the expense of hundreds of
billions of dollars, tens of thousands of dead, loss of international
credibility, and horrific damage to the combat readiness of
the US military) we have not made the terror threat to US
interests at home and abroad worse.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. Viral

Like a virus, it will mutate. We are treating symptoms, rather than searching for a cure.

[xchrom]

5. bushco has been so good at spreading

terrorist violence aroud, i thought sure it was the plan.
looks like a plan to me.

[lanlady]

6. hey there State Dept

They won't be untested anymore after a few months operating in the mess that is Iraq. Did that ever occur to your boss Colin when he was out there lying his ass off to the UN?

[thebigidea]

7. they seem to love that 70% stat... seems like 100% bullshit to me

I mean, they have... what, that guy that looked like Ron Jeremy?

And who else?

"70%". Such a tidy little number. Seems impressive, yet believable.

[KDLarsen]

8. .. as was said on 60 Minutes...

... Terroism won't go away, just because 100% of the Al Qaeda leaders are dead.

Terroism can't be defined as a country, a place or anything solid, so you can't just say "Once him and him and him are gone, we won't have to deal with Terror anymore".

Only by looking at what is the cause of terrorism, can you apply an effective countermeasure. Which is the exact opposite of what * and his cronies did in Afghanistan. The Talebans were gone, so they considered the problem to be gone, and moved on to Iraq. Which has then become a recruiting nest for Al Qaeda, much unlike earlier.

[Nlighten1]

9. "catastrophic stress" ?

Tell the people of Spain that.