The Merger of ISIS and al-Qaeda Could Cripple the Civilized World

As ISIS continues to advance on the Syrian town of Kobani and close in on Turkey’s border, experts in Islamic radical movements think the terror group may merge with its al-Qaeda mother organization soon. Together, the group would represent the greatest terror threat to the civilized world.

“I think Britain, Germany and France will witness significant attacks in their territories by the Islamic State. Al-Baghdadi [the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, otherwise known as ISIS] may reconcile with al-Zawhiri [the leader of the al-Qaeda central organization] to fight the crusader enemy. The attacks by the United States and her allies will unite the two groups,” said Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi researcher who just finished writing a book about ISIS based on his unique access to the organization’s documents and years of research and advising Iraqi security forces.

U.S. Drone Strike In Yemen Kills 2 Al Qaeda Militants, Officials Say

SANAA, Yemen — A suspected U.S. drone strike killed two alleged al-Qaida militants in southern Yemen on Saturday, military officials said, making it the ninth such strike in just two weeks.

The strike in Lahj province wounded two other militants, one of them seriously, the officials said. The four had been traveling in a car in the area of el-Askariya. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said it was the first time a U.S. drone fired on this area of Lahj.

Top 10 Things That Don’t Make Sense About NSA Surveillance, Drones and Al-Qaida

In a Reuters Exclusive, John Shiffman and Kristina Cooke reveal that the National Security Agency shares information it gleans from warrantless surveillance of Americans with the Special Operation Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency, which then uses the metadata to develop cases against US citizens.  The DEA then routinely lies to the judge and defense attorneys during discovery about how its agents initially came by their suspicions of wrongdoing.  But you could imagine a situation where a young woman repeatedly called a boyfriend who was secretly known to the DEA to be a drug dealer, but whose crimes were unknown to her.

The Latest Republican Talking Point on Al Qaeda Is Spectacularly Wrong

On Friday, the Obama administration announced the temporary closure of more than 20 embassies and consulates, and the State Department issued a global travel alert warning of potential terrorist attack, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. The closures and warning were prompted by intercepted communications indicating an Al Qaeda threat linked to Yemen.

Global Travel Alert: U.S. Cites Al Qaeda Threat

WASHINGTON — Top U.S. officials met Saturday to review the threat of a terrorist attack that led to the weekend closure of 21 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Muslim world and a global travel warning to Americans. President Barack Obama was briefed following the session, the White House said.

Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, led the meeting and then joined Lisa Monaco, Obama's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, in briefing the president, the White House said in a statement.

Experts puzzled over suggestion train plot linked to al-Qaida in Iran

The RCMP suggests there’s a link between al-Qaida in Iran and a plot to blow up a Via Rail train, but the relationship between Iran and the terrorist network remains murky at best.

Iran has given senior members of al-Qaida safe haven since they fled from U.S.-led forces during the invasion of Afghanistan more than a decade ago. But the Iranians and al-Qaida do not like or trust each other, in large part because al-Qaida is made up of Sunni Muslims while Iran is predominantly Shia.

Al Qaeda merger in Iraq, Syria shows militant group’s rising confidence

BEIRUT—Al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq said it has merged with Syria’s extremist Jabhat al-Nusra, a move that shows the rising confidence of radicals within the Syrian rebel movement and is likely to trigger renewed fears among its international backers.

A website linked to Jabhat al-Nusra confirmed on Tuesday the merger with the Islamic State of Iraq, whose leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, first made the announcement in a 21-minute audio message posted on militant websites late Monday.

Name Calling

In the summer of 1988, in the University Town neighborhood of Peshawar, Pakistan, Osama bin Laden founded Al Qaeda, which means “the Base,” in Arabic. As a calling card for terror or revolution, the name lacked pizzazz. Bases are safe places, not threatening ones. We can infer from the historical record that bin Laden’s comrades either couldn’t come up with a better idea or didn’t want to annoy him by questioning his brainstorm.

A decade later, Al Qaeda announced itself as a global menace by bombing two American Embassies in Africa. The group’s ambitions escalated until the apex of September 11th. That day’s mass murder assured Al Qaeda’s notoriety, but the Bush Administration raised its profile further by embarking on a Global War on Terror, in which Al Qaeda figured centrally. For a time, bin Laden’s brand thrived.

Al-Qaeda affiliates attracting Canadians, CSIS head says

The head of CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, warned Monday that Canadians are involved in every al-Qaeda affiliate group and that these groups have mentioned Canada as a possible target.

Richard Fadden appeared before the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence in Ottawa. He told the committee the threat posed by al-Qaeda is changing and becoming harder for authorities to track.

Al Qaeda like a 'cancer' that will spread if not cut out: MacKay Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/al-qaeda-like-a-cancer-that-will-spread-if-not-cut-out-mackay-1.1128032#ixzz2J0fMiv4J

The federal government is prolonging the mission of a Royal Canadian Air Force cargo plane to fly equipment and supplies into Mali's capital to support French forces as they battle al-Qaeda extremists.

The extension of flights from one week to one month was ordered after a request from the French president and defence minister, said Canada’s Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

War against al-Qaeda in Africa could last decades

The Prime Minister said that countering the rise of al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in the Sahel region will require an “iron resolve” and greater military, diplomatic and economic engagement with the region.

He spoke as it was confirmed that six British citizens had died after extremists took scores of hostages at a gas plant in eastern Algeria.

France on Sunday night called the hostage-taking “an act of war”.

Al Qaeda In Mali: Islamist Fighters Carve Out New Country

MOPTI, Mali — Deep inside caves, in remote desert bases, in the escarpments and cliff faces of northern Mali, Islamic fighters are burrowing into the earth, erecting a formidable set of defenses to protect what has essentially become al-Qaida's new country.

They have used the bulldozers, earth movers and Caterpillar machines left behind by fleeing construction crews to dig what residents and local officials describe as an elaborate network of tunnels, trenches, shafts and ramparts. In just one case, inside a cave large enough to drive trucks into, they have stored up to 100 drums of gasoline, guaranteeing their fuel supply in the face of a foreign intervention, according to experts.

U.S. drone attack kills Al Qaeda’s No. 2: Officials

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN—Pakistan has evidence that Al Qaeda's second in command was in a house hit by a U.S. drone strike in the country's northwest tribal region, intelligence officials said Tuesday.

U.S. officials have said they were targeting Abu Yahya al-Libi in Monday's strike in Khassu Khel village in the North Waziristan tribal area and were “optimistic” he was among those killed. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the drone program.

U.S. officials confirmed al-Libi’s death on Tuesday.

Militants and residents in the area told Pakistani agents that al-Libi was in the house when it was hit, said intelligence officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Nation-Building vs. Al-Qaeda-Crushing in Afghanistan

Matt Steinglass on our decade-long nation-building mission in Afghanistan:

Nothing in my life has made me as pessimistic about development aid as the course of the American intervention in Afghanistan…I think I've seen figures showing that foreign aid was actually greater than the country's entire GDP in 2011. That sounds impossible, but I'd imagine it reflects the fact that foreign aid is often spent on salaries for Western consultants and equipment from donor countries, so it never really enters Afghanistan at all.
…The romantic vision of the transformation of Afghanistan involved passionate Westerners with graduate degrees donning local garb and riding on donkeys to dirt-poor villages to educate their girls and extend their agriculture. But Westerners with graduate degrees don't much want to sit around on donkeys in dirt-poor villages, particularly not when the Taliban will kill them for doing so. They want to ride out to the village in an SUV, train some locals to teach the girls (or better yet, train some local trainers), drive back to the city, hit the gym and turn on the laptop. Besides which, they have to turn on the laptop, because the congressional subcommittee has told USAID to mandate that they report monthly on progress in 37 different categories of target indicators in exchange for their NGO getting the grant.