Al-Qaeda influence spreads

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.janes.com/regional_news/europe/news/jid/jid031204_1_n.shtml

A report issued by a United Nations monitoring group earlier this week warns that Al-Qaeda's ideology is spreading, raising fears of further terrorist attacks. It also highlights serious shortcomings in the international sanctions regime imposed in an attempt to cut off funding for the network.

These conclusions are not surprising; since the attacks of 11 September 2001, there have been at least 10 major incidents worldwide that have been attributed to Al-Qaeda or to groups with suspected links to Osama bin Laden's network. What is perhaps more worrying is the fact that, in the face of the US-led campaign against global terrorism, recruitment of militants appears to be increasing, with Iraq named specifically by the UN as a "fertile ground" for the group.

In effect, the UN report makes clear the uncomfortable fact that post-invasion Iraq is currently being used by Al-Qaeda and its supporters to recruit would-be terrorists willing to carry out attacks on the USA and its allies.

However, recruitment by pro-Al-Qaeda groups is not limited to the conflict zones of the Middle East. Intelligence sources point to the activities of various militant groups - many of them little more than small 'study cells' - within Western countries. In the UK, for example, the radical Al-Muhajiroun group makes no secret of its admiration for those responsible for the 11 September attacks against New York and Washington.
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[iam]

1. Mission Accomplished!

Conservatism is the dark black. It is the fear we feel when the lights go off.

[tom_paine]

3. Busheviks are NOT conservatives!

That dark black you correctly see is the shaodw of Totalitarianism once again stretching across the world...

[alfredo]

2. But but our fearless leader said we are winning. eom