Al-Qaeda “may be a mortally wounded tiger that still has some life in it” — John Brennan, CIA director
The wound looks less mortal all the time.
“Al Qaeda group claims responsibility for Beirut bombing,” from the Associated Press, January 4 (thanks to Kenneth):
An Al Qaeda linked group claimed responsibility on Saturday for a suicide car bombing last week in a Shiite-dominated neighborhood in Lebanon, as its fighters clashed with other rebels in neighboring Syria.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s operations, now in both countries, underscore how the ever more complex Syrian war is increasingly spilling over into its smaller neighbor.
At least five people were killed in the Thursday attack that targeted a south Beirut neighborhood that is bastion of support for the Shiite group Hezbollah.
ISIL vowed more attacks.
It was “the first small payment of a heavy account which these criminal hypocrites should wait for,” it said in a statement, referring to Hezbollah. The claim was posted on a website used by Sunni militants. The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks militant websites, also published the news.
The Al Qaeda group sought to punish Hezbollah — and their ordinary Shiite Lebanese backers — for sending fighters to Syria….