Is al-Qaida a figment of someone's imagination?

[NNN0LHI]

I realize the US has many enemies around the globe, and some of those enemies crashed planes into buildings a couple of years ago, but how come I never heard of the group called al-Qaida before Bush came into office? Did you? Has bin Laden and his friends used the phrase al-Qaida in any of their letters or tapes? Who knows the history of the phrase al-Qaida?

Don

[Kolesar]

1. Qaida bombed two US embassies in Africa in 1998

I recall that name from the newspaper accounts from that year. I don't know if that is what you asked.

[radwriter0555]

10. 1998... you mean as referenced in Rumsfeld's commission report

that same year?

I highly suspect that al queda is a cia based org. I copied this article in its entirety last year... there are parts I find liley to be accurate, and other parts not so solid.

FBI: Just 200 hard-core Al-Qaeda

http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/saturday/news_d324f12b6139910500ad.html

By Rebecca Carr, Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
Saturday, July 27, 2002

WASHINGTON -- Senior FBI officials believe there are now no more than 200 hard-core Al-Qaeda members worldwide.

"Al-Qaeda itself, we know, is less than 200," said an FBI official, referring to those who have sworn allegiance to Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

That figure -- far fewer than recent press reports have suggested are in the U. S. alone -- is based on evidence gathered by the FBI and CIA. It includes Al-Qaeda members who are now in custody at Guantanamo Bay.

"Everyone tries to tie everything into 9-11 and Al-Qaeda," said one of the two FBI officials interviewed Friday on condition of anonymity. "There was a recent report suggesting that Al-Qaeda is about 5,000 strong. It is nowhere near 5,000 strong."

Although thousands of Islamic extremists and future terrorists have passed through bin Laden's training camps, it does not mean they are actual Al-Qaeda operatives, the officials said.

The war in Afghanistan has dispersed, killed or captured Al-Qaeda leaders, leaving the terror network fractured and diffused.

As a result, the FBI's counterterrorism division is closely examining Iranian-backed Hezbollah and other radical Shiite Islamic groups. These groups have men, money and safe havens to elude authorities and could strengthen Al-Qaeda.

"Now we are concerned that he (bin Laden) might be reaching out to the Shia side, which we have never seen before," a senior FBI official said. "We are concerned they might start focusing on trying to utilize each other's support networks."

Sunni and Shia Muslims have long been rivals. Historically, an ideological division between the two branches has kept Al-Qaeda and Shiite groups such as Hezbollah from combining resources.

The FBI has launched a new International Terrorism Operations Center within the counterterrorism division in an effort to keep better track of terror groups outside of Al-Qaeda.

"If we don't keep our focus on Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Hamas, the Shia side of the house, we are putting ourselves in a very deep hole because if they decide to join the fray with Al-Qaeda, with the Sunni side, Sunni extremists, this country is in very serious trouble," the senior FBI official said.

Although Al-Qaeda's forces have been reduced, the FBI is concerned that there are still a number of mid-level followers who could strike at the United States.

"There are people out there at mid-level that have come up in previous terrorist acts that we are focusing on that are the operators that could still conduct various terrorist attacks in the United States," one official said.

Some of these mid-level operators concern the FBI more than others. Some planned the 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Some planned the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000. Some planned the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We believe there is a functional arm out there that we're still extremely concerned about that we are aggressively with the agency (CIA) going after," the official said.

Asked about recent comments of another FBI official suggesting that bin Laden might be dead, the officials said there is information that would substantiate that claim.

"There is some information out there that somebody could take a look at and come up with a theory that he might be dead," one official said.

For example, U.S. forces have captured members of bin Laden's senior security detail. If bin Laden were alive, wouldn't his security detail be by his side?

If bin Laden is alive, why has he not made an appearance or produced another videotape, an official asked. The tapes that have been released so far are dated before the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan.

"It's curious that you would think that he would want to demonstrate to us all worldwide that he was still in charge, still alive," the official said.

The FBI officials also said the bureau has created a plan to "substantially enhance our ability to detect, investigate and prevent terrorist attacks."

The plan, which was revealed to members of the House and Senate intelligence committees in a closed-door session on Thursday, calls for dramatically improving the bureau's analytical capabilities.

The goal is to ensure that FBI information on terrorist threats rapidly moves from the bureau's 56 field offices to the counterterrorism division at headquarters in Washington.

A new group of FBI "report officers" will take raw intelligence and information from the field and put it into a format that can be sent to local, state and federal agencies trying to prevent the next terrorist attack.

A senior CIA official is training FBI agents to create these reports.


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[Loonman]

2. They did not exist until about 1995 or so

Probably because of the failed '93 WTC bombing.

Al-Qaida isn't a terror org, per se, but more of a clearinghouse for other terror groups.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Do they ever use the name al-Qaida (or The Base) themselves?

Or is it a designation that our government has given them?

Don

[Aidoneus]

7. I don't think they don't use it themselves

As far as I understand, internally I don't believe they do use the name. The name itself comes from the place in Peshawar that bin Laden and Sheikh Abdallah Azzam used to keep track of the people fighting against the Soviets, to make it easier to keep track of who was with them and for notifying families of casualties. I guess later when Azzam was assassinated and bin Laden's goals changed it became something of an "address book".

It seems that "al-Qai'dah" itself is more of a small cadre of people (bodyguards, in a way) around bin Laden himself and something of a bank for like-minded militants in other places to dip into. In the attempts of western state mythologists to create some new bogeyman to replace the Soviets they have quite overblown the nature of the group, the impetus being more individual and local than from some centralized directing group, but I guess sowing fear and confusion is what state mythologists are paid for.

[Loonman]

8. Yeah

They most likely offer logistics, finance, transport, safe houses, stuff like that to either al-Qaida affiliated groups or stand alone terror groups. Islamic Jihad(Reagan's business partners in the 80s) and Hezbollah are Al-Qaida affilited, but Al-Aqsa(secular group) is not, but Al-Aqsa could probably still be supplied and/or work under al-Qaida auspices. Most likely the only "in-house" terror crew was the crew that did the 9/11 job.

[Aidoneus]

9. the first part is right, but most of that is untrue

What "Islamic Jihad" are you referring to? Al-Aqsa & Hizbullah are not affiliated with al-Qai'dah, they have nothing to do with each other and in the case of al-Qai'dah/Hizbullah have a history of low-level hostile acts against one another. In al-Qai'dah's "Wahhabi"/Deobandi ideology Iran is the "heretics' republic" and Hizbullah no better. al-Aqsa are better described as 'nationalist' than 'secular'..

[htuttle]

3. I found this to be a very interesting website that might help

http://www.thewahhabimyth.com/

Seems to be written from a Muslim perspective. It traces a lot of the philosophical history of these groups, and their evolution from older groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Don't take it as utter truth, but has a very interesting perspective.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Thank you. I will give it a peek. n/t

[wuushew]

6. The U.S.S. Cole bombing predates shrub

but only by a couple of months. I am not sure when that factory in Sudan was bombed.