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Is Al-Qaeda Self-Destructing? -

[ Independent-UK] Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank - Is al-Qaeda going to dissipate as a result of the criticism from its former mentors and allies? Probably not in the short term. Al-Qaeda, on the verge of defeat in 2002, has regrouped and is now able to launch significant terrorist operations in Europe. However, encoded in the DNA of apocalyptic jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda are the seeds of their own long-term destruction: their victims are often Muslim civilians; they don't offer a positive vision of the future (but rather the prospect of Taliban-style regimes from Morocco to Indonesia); they keep expanding their list of enemies, including any Muslim who doesn't share their precise world view; and they seem incapable of becoming politically successful because their ideology prevents them from making the real-world compromises that would allow them to engage in genuine politics. Which means that the repudiation of al-Qaeda's leaders by its former religious, military and political guides will help hasten the implosion of the jihadist terrorist movement. The writers are research fellows at New York University's Center on Law and Security.
2008-06-23 01:00:00
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