American Foriegn Policy

[ptolemez]

We are not talking about a well structured top-down hierarchical organization. Al-Qaeda can be best described as a headless federation of terrorist organizations. When a terrorist organization comes to exist it does so without any predefined links to Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is not one body. These organizations decides then whether to join Al-Qaeda or not in a rather symbiotic fashion. These terrorist organizations can fight and fall without affecting the whole. The common ideology that assembles them is militant and radical Islam and their grievances against the West. This West with its industrialized urban and militaristic societies. These terrorist militants come to know the West up close and are able to assess the impact of these model of societies on theirs. The other unifying call for them is the Palestinian question. Their fight is ideological and requires a minimum of financial resources. It would be dangerous to compare them to thugs and drug lords. There are several undercurrent movement that may sprout and support them. The Taliban after 9/11 were left defeated but now they have resurged and are able to stand on their feet to strike and fight back. Although the Taliban don't espouse Al-Qaeda's ideology they consider Al-Qaeda a close ally. Wars are always played out by the game of alliances. We cant use conventional means and weapon systems to fight Al-Qaeda. To counter Al-Qaeda is to engage in a propaganda fight and convince potential terrorists that their sacrifice is in vain. Although Islamic religious authorities in general are not involved, there is no doubt that mosques and centers for Islamic studies act as incubators for preparing the minds that will become those of the terrorists. How to effectively curb the minds of those potential candidates for terror and how to re channel their energy is the challenge .