They may well be correct that Al Qaeda has no more cells in the US, but while there are still muslims over there, there are still enemies within.
Maybe not all of them (I say maybe because I'm not completely certain that every last muslim would side with the jihadists if it looked as though they are at an advantage over infidels), but while there is a large population of muslims in any country, there is significant camouflage with which the "extremists" can blend in with.

The only safe way to gaurd your country against jihad is the expulsion of all muslims. This may sound extreme, but nowhere near as extreme as the muslim idea of what the world should be like ;is. And is it really that extreme to do whatever it takes to protect your people and your country??? I don't think so. If muslims and their liberal gaurdian angels really think muslims are so unfairly treated and targeted by anti-terrorist groups, then maybe they'd all be more comfortoble and happier living back in the sewers they belong in, before the soft old west granted them asylum from "oppression".

Posted by: Rikki at December 24, 2004 8:47 AM

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

And have a fantastic New Year, and a mental night seeing it in....

All the best!!!

Love Rikki

Posted by: Rikki at December 24, 2004 8:48 AM

Merry Xmas, Rikki and everyone else at Jihadwatch, especially Robert Spencer and Hugh Fitzgerald.

Posted by: Voltaire at December 24, 2004 8:52 AM

Yes, Merry Christmas everyone. Be happy, healthy and safe over the holiday season!

And as to the claim there are no more Al-Q cells in the US, that would be a lovely Christmas present for Americans. But I can't help but be cynical about this. If no more Al-Q, then other groups likely exist. Other groups with the same disgusting agenda. What's in a name anyway? Or maybe Al-Q in Canada? Plotting and planning things from there, feeling very safe and protected? Sorry, can't be so optimistic as to think they're dead and gone.

Take care, world!

Posted by: feralee at December 24, 2004 9:06 AM

I wouldn't bet the farm on this. A sleeper can seem very ordinary and as al Qaeda and others have recruited European and American types, the cells could have that look.

These groups have formed strange alliances with others that wish the destruction of the United States. The person(s) that formulated and promulgates this opinion is either naive or engaged in a little deception of his own.

No one should let down guard. The stated goal of these people is to destroy us, killing as many as possible in the procedure.

Posted by: epg at December 24, 2004 9:07 AM

"Other US security officials are confident that there are no more Al Qaeda secret cells in the country"

That's like saying we've conclusively proved that extraterrestrial life does not exist in the universe. It can't be proven one way or another till such a day the first alien ship shows up....orthe first post-9/11 attack happens.

The same pattern of wrong assertions follows from the saddam-WMD debacle as well. One can never really 'conclusively prove' saddam doesn't have WMD. Until the first such WMD shows up, inside some syrian bunker or some western city.

OT
Merry xhristmas Rikki and others.
Be bold in using the 'christmas' word this season on, don't let the oversecularized elite stealthily discredit the right to proudly say the name of Christ. :D Have a great time!

Posted by: voletti at December 24, 2004 9:14 AM

It appears that two can play the taqiyyah game. And to the mujehadeen spelunkers in Pakistan, President Bush proclaims, "Olie olie in come free!"

Posted by: Hulegu Khan at December 24, 2004 9:30 AM

SELEMAT NATAL SEMUA
X-MAS GREETING TO ALL

Posted by: shiva at December 24, 2004 10:19 AM

The U.S. security officials may feel confident
there are no al qaeda cells
but the poetess tells you this is a lie
and in my town, there are plotters,
schemers (of course allah is the best of all),
arab jihadis, members of the muslim brotherhood
who patiently wait, who teach
their children to hate and have no pity
for the citizens of this friendly southern city.

May the love
of Jesus Christ
light the way
for all those living
in darkness.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, JIHADWATCHERS

Posted by: the poetess at December 24, 2004 10:52 AM

"There is nothing wrong with this car. I have been driving it for years and never had a problem."

What does 'something being wrong' mean here? A mechanical defect. A notion easily defined. And yet the negative cannot be proved. The car might fall apart tomorrow. Even if the car had been inspected, I could still be wrong.

'Al Qaeda sleeper cells do not exist in the US.'

What is an 'al Qaeda sleeper cell'?

If that question cannot be answered unambiguously in a coherent English sentence, then how is one even sure what one is looking for? How can one prove that there does not exist certain kinds of things when one cannot clearly explain what those things are.

But let's say we do know what an 'al Qaeda sleeper cell' is, just as we know what a mechanical defect is; by definition 'sleeper cells' are sleeping, i.e. hiding, not actively engaged in 'things al Qaeda-like'. How does one know that these 'hiding al Qaeda things' do not exist in the US, these 'al Qaeda things' that we cannot even identify clearly if we knew they existed, because we cannot explain exactly what they are?

Finally, we do know a couple of things with certainty: 'Al Qaeda sleeper cells did exist prior to Sept. 11, 2001 and they murdered 3000 and intended to murder many more. 'Having them' in the US would be a like having piles and piles of TNT lost in cities. If there is even a small chance a gun is loaded we presume it is. The burden of proof that the gun is not loaded increases proportionally with the danger of its location. A gun in a drawer in a living room with ammunition remotely accessible, and children in the house should be presumed to be loaded at all times, even if one checks the gun and knows that it is not loaded; the gun could always become loaded and and the stakes are too high. Hence, we do not put guns in drawers in living rooms where children play.

Just as we presume the gun is loaded, we must presume 'al Qaeda sleeper cells' exist. Not only are the stakes too high, proof that such cells do not exist is impossible; there is no way of knowing that the 'al Qaeda gun' is not loaded and ready to go off at any time.

But, of course, 'al Qaeda', the base, is located conceptually in an ideology without which 'al Qaeda' makes no sense at all. What kind of 'base'? For whom? What are the objectives of this base? Are there definable methods? Who are the enemies of 'the base'? The term 'al Qaeda' implies that there exists allies outside 'al Qaeda', other people connected to the base; who are these people supposed to be? Are these people related to one another? How?

The ideology, of course, is Islam. Why talk about 'al Qaeda'? Why not just worry about Islam? The more important question is, of course, not 'Where is al Qaeda'?' but 'Which Muslims groups, individuals, will harms us Infidels (intentionally or unintentionally? Al Qaeda is a vague, undefinable sympton of deeper resons and causes. Why not worry about the reasons and causes of al Qaeda in Islam itself?

Oh, yes, that's right, Islam has nothing to do with 'al Qaeda'...I forgot.

And I will never have to take lemon of a car to mechanics again mechanical defects have nothing to do with a bad machines.

Hey, it runs like crap and is blowing smoke, but there ain't nothing wrong this car. Will ya give me the blue book price for it? Take it off my hands, please. I just don't have the money to pay these damn mechanics to fix this car that don't have nothing wrong with it and don't need no mechanics. Come on. Any takers?

Posted by: JTF at December 24, 2004 11:44 AM

This is the same CIA that would have made a similar claim on September 10, 2001. Their hands are tied long as political correctness and kiss-ass saudi politics govern their policy.

The reason al-qaida hasn't struck the U.S. recently is because they have not tried. I won't believe the government is capable of realistically dealing with the al-qaida threat until I hear it stop toting the 'religion of peace' line.

A spade's a spade, and islam is islam.

Posted by: Belisarius at December 24, 2004 11:45 AM

In the volatile environment we are living into today, I simply find it very hard to except Scheuer`s assessment. Al Qaeda may be unable to pull off a major terror attack at this time but there are thousands of muslims willing to pick up the sword in the name of Allah who subscribe to fundamental Waahibism. Osama`s Ideology is steeped in the Waahabist fundamentalist thinking that was born out of Saudia Arabia . It is estimated that more than 70 percent of the Mosques in America are influenced and financed by the Waahabist thinking. Look how easily Adam Gadansk was influenced by these radical tenets of the Hadith and the Suras`. Michael Scheuer`s assessment wreaks with way to much over confidence. He surely has been around long enough to understand that deception is part of the Quran under Jihad. We must never let our guard down ---never!

Posted by: Mackie at December 24, 2004 11:53 AM

I think the only reason islamists haven't attacked the US again is for their own rightful fear of mass round-ups, detention and/or deportation of all muslims regardless of their citizenship or race. We had to do it here in WWII and we'll do it again if we must. Only the muslims can reform themselves from the inside out. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

Posted by: Just_Linda at December 24, 2004 12:24 PM

Seasonally OT -

Best Wishes for a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! and a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR! to Robert Spencer, Hugh, and all contributors and admirers of JW -

God protect you all in 2005!

Benelux

Posted by: Benelux at December 24, 2004 1:18 PM

Yes, and a very Merry Christmas to all from Elephant.

I went to a carol service this morning and was pleasantly surprised how packed the church was.

Posted by: Elephant at December 24, 2004 1:43 PM

Wishful thinking, but in fact a totally ignorant and IRRESPONSIBLE statement!

When you have Muslims, you have Al Queda!

No Mussies, no Al Queda...

Get real!

Posted by: Terminator at December 24, 2004 2:10 PM

And I would venture to say that FAM(Federal air marshall)do not do not do not have a dress code requiring them to stick out like a sore thumb.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Knowing that my grandchildren will be enjoying Christmas celebrations gives me great reason to be happy:-)

AM YISRAEL CHAI

Posted by: Chuck at December 24, 2004 4:16 PM

"Other US security officials are confident that there are no more Al Qaeda secret cells in the country"

Even if it is true, which I seriously doubt, saying so does nothing but give a sense of false security and sets one up for a great, glaring public failure.

Posted by: Greg at December 24, 2004 6:48 PM

"officials are confident that there are no more Al Qaeda secret cells in the country and Osama bin Laden cannot organise new attacks like 9/11"

Watch out, 'cause kinda talk can come back to bite you in the ass!

Posted by: D' Artist at December 24, 2004 8:57 PM

Merry Christmas to all. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (from John 1).

There has been a concerted effort by the US government to find and eliminate al-Qaeda cells and groups in the USA. And I also hope it has been successful.

Howver, I would not say that all Muslims are necessarily the enemy. The terrorists busted in the Buffalo area a few years back were nabbed with help from their own Yemeni immigrant community. There are other Muslims who have warned the government for years that extremists were taking over American Islam's organizational infrastructure. Not liking to interfere with the internal matters of religious communities (Christian, Jewish, and whatnot as well), these warnings were not heeded until it was too late. Steve Emerson documented such things.

Hence, while I hold no candle for Islam and see mass conversion to Christianity as the solution for the Islamofascist problem, I am not about to throw bricks at Muslims simply for being Muslims.

Posted by: Kepha1 at December 25, 2004 1:34 AM

Which is ultimately more dangerous, the 9/11 style attack that provokes a massive awareness and retaliation, or the relentless assault on Christianity, democracy, and western culture that Muslim advocacy groups and left-wing communist/socialist activists are mounting in our courts, schools, and local governments? The "moderate" Muslims--CAIR, MAS, MAYA--understand that the pen is mightier than the sword, and the radical leftists know that one judicial opinion can accomplish more in the long run than any terrorist attack. When your child can't sing a Christmas carol in his/her public school in America, something evil has won a victory. This is the real threat and one that 90 percent of Americans really know nothing about and are therefore defenseless against. As far as I'm concerned the entire Muslim population in the US is one big sleeper cell determined to destroy our Christian humanist culture and replace it with the totalitarian, repressive Muslim umma. Look at how Christian communities in the Middle East were largely exterminated under Islam, and how European countries are being steadily Islamicized by soaring Muslim immigration and birthrates. When will we wake up and put a stop to this?

Posted by: Stevie at December 25, 2004 1:03 PM

Robert, Fortunately I had the opportunity to hear Michael Scheuer (author of "Imperial Hubris") at the Al-Qaeda 2.0 conference in Washington, DC on C-Span 2. After listening to Mr. Scheuer presentation I can fully understand why the CIA was so dysfunctional 25 years. Remember the Islamists Terrorists (9-11 Commission's name of the enemy)started attacking this country (because of our way of life) in 1979 (just a few years before Mr. Dysfunctionality started with the CIA). It's now taken the country a full quarter century to figure out that we are at war, and who the enemy is. If that's not a tremendous intelligence failure, I don't know what is.

Mr. Scheuer at the conference stated that there were no Terrorists at Guantanamo, only insurgents. At the prison in Afghanistan where John Walker Lindh was captured, all the prisoners were insurgents, not terrorists. Then Scheuer had the audacity to claim "tha Al-Qaeda's strength is not in religion but American policies which are not popluar in the Muslim world". Tell that lie to all the Iraqi policemen and other Iraqis (Muslims) who have died fighting for their country against the Islamist Terrorists like Zarqawi. Without a douby it is a religious battle.

It is an incompatible form of Islam with free world's value of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (some form of Democratic Capitalism). Unfortunately, the demonic form of Islam is widely supported throughout the world. In the United States about 80% of the mosques are controlled by the Militants. Your excellent reporting on the Tribute to Khomeini (Irving, Texas) is an example of the hatred of these Militants rail against the values (way of life) for which we're willing to sacrifice blood and treasure. There are sleeper cells in this country, waiting to get the right signal. Just go to some Islamic fund-raisers and listen to the hatred spewing out of the speaker's mouths. Why do you think that the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) are as active as they are? Why do you think that organizations like CAIR and others despise President Bush so much? Because his policies are having a devastating effect on the Militant lobby in the USA and throughtout the world.

In closing, I understand why Porter Goss is "cleaning house" at the CIA. I doubt if Mr. Scheuer, and others like him, have ever met a Terrorist they didn't like. It's time to get rid of these "blind" agents, and employ those who are willing to open their eyes to the new post 9-11 Reality, The Global War on Islamist Terrorism. RSH

Posted by: rsh at December 25, 2004 3:38 PM

Howver, I would not say that all Muslims are necessarily the enemy. The terrorists busted in the Buffalo area a few years back were nabbed with help from their own Yemeni immigrant community.
(Christian, Jewish, and whatnot as well), these warnings were not heeded until it was too late. Steve Emerson documented such things.

Posted by: Kepha1 at December 25, 2004 01:34 AM

That was bull they helped??

They caught the guys up in Canada spending like 80grand that triped a wire and the ball started rolling??

Then the mussis worked with the FBI??

Just a thing to make People feel good??

Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
GOD BLESS THE USA AND HER FIGHTING FORCES AND ALL WHO FIGHT WITH THEM OPEN THE WORLDS EYES TI ISLAMIC TERRORIST AND GIVE THE WORLD COURAGE TO STAND AND FIGHT AMEN

Posted by: Catherine at December 29, 2004 5:12 PM