Was it al Qaeda? (Bush's war on terror not going well)

[ProSense]

Was it al Qaeda?

Fri Aug 11, 2006 08:37 PM BST
By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An al Qaeda link to a foiled plot to bomb trans-Atlantic flights could signal that the core militant Islamic group or local spinoffs are stronger than some officials and experts believed, analysts say.

While senior U.S. officials have always stressed that the original al Qaeda leadership was versatile and remained the pre-eminent threat, they have also said the arrest or killing of many of its senior militants had undermined the group.

This year's U.S. State Department annual global terrorism report said al Qaeda's top leaders appeared unable to direct militant activity as fully as in the past. Meanwhile, it said a proliferation of smaller, looser militant groups seemed less capable but also less predictable than the original al Qaeda.

"If indeed al Qaeda central was involved, it suggests that maybe it has not been damaged to the extent we thought and is still able to cobble together a very ambitious plot," said Kenneth Katzman, a terrorism expert at the Congressional Research Service, the in-house think tank of Congress.

"Even if it was not al Qaeda central, though, it's highly unsettling because it shows you don't need that central direction to put together a plot like this," he said.

more...

http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=1401746

So, let's recap the effects of Bush's war on terror:


Exclusive: CIA Commander: U.S. Let bin Laden Slip Away
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8853000/site/newsweek

Army extends cost-cutting, despite emergency funding bill
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37886&archive=true

Calling a Spade a Spade
If it looks, feels and sounds like one, why won't Iraqi or U.S. politicians call what's unfolding in Iraq a 'civil war'?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14096471/site/newsweek

George W. and the Dominoes
Iraq was supposed to trigger a democratic chain reaction in the Middle East. Instead—see the missiles over Haifa—the tumbling is going backward.
http://www.nymag.com/news/politics/powergrid/18858

Anti-U.S. Feeling Leaves Arab Reformers Isolated
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/world/middleeast/09arabs.html?ref=middleeast

19 suspects in British terror plot ID'd
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060811/ap_on_re_eu/britain_terror_plot_80

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. "analysts say" which analyst, Caroline Drees?