A strong analysis of Al-Qaeda. Interesting quote:
Yet even Afghanistan’s “big T” Taliban, the ideologues, cannot simply be equated with Al Qaeda. Last fall, Abu Walid, once an Al Qaeda accomplice and now a Taliban propagandist, ridiculed bin Laden in the Taliban’s official monthly magazine al-Sumud, for, among other things, his do-it-yourself approach to Islamic jurisprudence.”
It is still wise to appeal to the people of Afghanistan, and those fighting a local fight within the Islamic tradition against the over-reach and violence (and what is hopefully ultimately a dead-end) of Al-Qaeda [the guiding ideas].
But the Afghanistan task has always seemed enormous …yet our national security still depends on thwarting radical and violent extremists.
Also On This Site: From Newsweek: ‘Meeting Of The Diplomats’
