Regardless of the War in Iraq, al Qaeda will Return to the US

As the business of war continues, the Pro-Iraq War factions continue to preach that; "If we weren't fighting in Iraq, we would be fighting al Qaeda in the streets of America." I sometimes wonder what thought process drives these big thinkers when all the evidence around them says something quite different. In fact, fighting in Iraq continues to prepare al Qaeda for attacking the US and other countries in the future. Even the new intelligence report from he CIA supports that scenario.

With the loss of many of their leaders (but of course, not Osama), al Qaeda has learned that independent terrorist operations are much safer and allow for their crusades to continue with the least possible chance of discovery. Al Qaeda leaders currently listen to the likes of the President of the United States, Fox News, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich and Bill O'Reilly, saying; "If we cut & run from Iraq, they will come to America". If I were a terrorist organization, I would establish my operation to function in reaction to that type of dogmatic thinking. The pro- Iraq War group seems to think it is all so simple. "There hasn't been an attack on US soil since 9/11, so fighting in Iraq is keeping them off of US soil. Right?" If I were al Qaeda, that's exactly what I would want my enemy to think. Unfortunately, that kind of thinking has kept the focus of the US public on the War in Iraq, while our US Ports are still not properly monitored, the Mexican and Canadian borders are both like sieves and US airport security is laughable when compared to what the Israeli's have learned.

Make no mistake, al Qaeda will be back here and elsewhere. They may first hit some other western countries like they did Spain and Great Britain before they come back to the US, but they will be back. And just why is that? Well, they know that even though they get some media coverage for the US troops that are killed daily in Iraq, those are also the normal cost of any war. Many of those US troop deaths are also attributed to the civil war in Iraq, not necessarily al Qaeda. Al Qaeda knows that to increase their world wide reputation with their true believers (and their financial coffers), nothing works as well as taking on and destroying a well known public location with hundreds of normal, innocent citizens. Look at what 9/11 and the Great Britain transit attacks did for al Qaeda world wide. It will happen again, and those that think that what is going on in Iraq today is keeping this from happening in the US are playing a very dangerous game of Russian Roulette.

A recent US intelligence report has stated that there are now new al Qaeda leaders reporting under Osama's leadership and these operatives are much better trained and many now have experience from the war in Iraq and other territories. "The jihadi returning from Iraq are far more capable than the mujahedeen that fought the Soviets (in Afghanistan) ever were." said Robert Richer, the 2004/5 CIA Director of Operations. "They have been fighting the best military in the world with the best technology and tactics." In other words, al Qaeda has been using the War in Iraq as a training operation for their long-term plans. They now have many explosives experts and a number of young leaders experienced in the latest war technology. They are also knowledgeable in handling the many different munitions that became available after the US invaded Iraq. Along with Iran's help and support, they now can take on the "Great Satan" whenever and wherever they want around the world.

The CIA's new report is also once again putting a new emphasis on Afghanistan and Pakistan. (A focus that was changed when the US went into Iraq,) Many new leaders are now emerging from the al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan. A new Egyptian paramilitary leader, Abu Ubaidah al-Masri, has recently been identified as the operative that was orchestrating the aborted plan to destroy multi-aircraft that were to take off from an international airport in Great Britain. Masri, an Afghani war veteran, has emerged as a senior operative after Abu Hamza Rabia was killed by a missile strike in 2005. This intelligence information came from weeks of interrogation of multiple couriers that were captured in the mountains of Pakistan. Al Qaeda now supports a very complex network of human couriers in order to evade electronic detection of their plans. These couriers travel the world to deliver their information to these new leaders. No courier knows about more than a couple of terrorist cells and these cells operate independently. However they are financed via a complex operation for providing laundered money from the ultimate al Qaeda leaders.

The intelligence community has agreed that the cells in Iraq have grown in prominence due to the on going war and US occupation of Iraq. This came about with the US backing down from focusing on the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The new al Qaeda operators rely very little on direct inputs from Osama and his operations in Pakistan. These new independent leaders are mostly in their mid 30's and already have years of battlefield experience from fighting in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Pakistan and Iraq.

They will eventually bring their religious war here to America. Count on it.