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Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

U.S. special ops commander warns of al-Qaeda’s next generation

Jul 29, 2011 12:09 am By Marisol Seibold

Al-Qaeda, the Next Generation. Purists will say it could never top The Old Series.

Despite being the number-one brand name in global jihad, al-Qaeda’s ideology is not of its own invention, and that is ultimately the source of its resilience. It is a waste of precious time that even being able to discuss the jihad ideology must be a struggle, and it only hamstrings efforts to understand, engage, and defeat al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups. “Spec ops chief warns of al-Qaida 2.0,” by Kimberly Dozier for the Associated Press, July 28:

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) “” The top commander of U.S. special operations forces said Wednesday that Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida is bloodied and “nearing its end,” but he warned the next generation of militants could keep special operations fighting for a decade to come.

Navy SEAL Adm. Eric T. Olson described the killing of bin Laden by a special operations raid on May 2 as a near-killing blow for what he called “al-Qaida 1.0,” as created by bin Laden and led from his hideout in Pakistan.

Olson said the group had already lost steam because of the revolts of the Arab Spring, which proved the Muslim world did not need al-Qaida to bring down governments, from Tunisia to Egypt.

Actually, both bin Laden and Zawahiri (just yesterday) have expressed support for the uprisings. They fully expect more overtly Islamic regimes that are more likely to impose Sharia law, which is the aim of jihad in all its forms. And they fully expect those regimes will be more openly and demonstratively hostile to Israel.

“I think the death of bin Laden was an uppercut to the jaw,” Olson told a packed crowd, opening the Aspen Security Forum. “It just knocked them on their heels.”

Olson echoed other administration officials who are predicting al-Qaida’s demise if a few more key leaders can be eliminated.

But the four-star admiral warned of the fight to come against what he called al-Qaida 2.0, with new leaders like American-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, who Olson said understands America better than Americans understand him.

“It will morph, it will disperse,” he said of the movement. “It will become in some ways more westernized, (with) dual passport holders” and “fewer cave dwellers,” he said.

Olson said others like al-Awlaki will probably refine their message to appeal to a wider audience, and seek ungoverned spaces to operate from, where they can smuggle in weapons and train their followers. He described how current offshoots like al-Awlaki’s al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen are cooperating with militants in Somalia, describing what he called an “invisible bridge” between the two.

Nor did the admiral write off bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahri. He said al-Zawahri had not yet put his stamp on the original organization, so U.S. counterterrorist forces do not yet know what kind of threat his leadership will present.

Olson agreed with the White House’s newly announced policy to strike terrorists through focused action rather than full-scale invasion, preferably by training and working with the host country’s forces. He cautioned against thinking raids would solve all U.S. foreign policy problems.

“This idea of being able to wait over the horizon and spring over and chop off heads doesn’t really work,” he said, describing the “yin and yang” of special operations as including capture-and-kill raids as well as long-term engagement with host countries’ militaries. The latter involves U.S. troops “developing long-term relationships, learning languages, meeting people, studying histories, learning black markets.”

“If you don’t know that, you won’t be an effective counterterrorism force,” Olson said….

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Filed Under: Al-Qaeda, Jihad doctrine


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