Al Qaeda's core is in Pak, remains big threat: US

In 2009, Al Qaeda's core in Pakistan remained the most formidable terrorist organisation targeting the US homeland and it has proven to be an adaptable and resilient terrorist group, the annual Country Reports on Terrorism released by the US Department of State of Thursday has said.

The report says the outfit's desire to attack the United States and US interests abroad remains strong

The report, which replaced the previous Patterns of Global Terrorism annual reports in 2004, said, "The US intelligence community assessed that Al Qaeda was actively engaged in operational plotting against the United States and continued recruiting, training, and deploying operatives, including individuals from Western Europe and North America. Moreover, Al Qaeda continued to try to expand its operational capabilities by partnering with other terrorist groups, with varying degrees of success."

"Nevertheless," it noted that "Al Qaeda suffered several significant setbacks in 2009," and that the "group remained under pressure in Pakistan due to Pakistani military operations aimed at eliminating militant strongholds in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA.)"

"Although Al Qaeda has collaborated with the Taliban insurgents against the Pakistani government by providing technical know-how and disseminating propaganda, the group continued to suffer leadership losses. As a result, Al Qaeda found it tougher to raise money, train recruits, and plan attacks outside of the region. In addition to these operational setbacks, Al Qaeda continued to fail in its efforts to carry out the attacks that would shake governments in the Muslim world," the report added.

"It also said that "Al Qaeda's core continued to suffer from popular Muslim disaffection due to recent and past indiscriminate targeting of Muslims by its operatives and allies in Algeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and elsewhere. Consequently, the number of conservative clerics and former militants speaking out against the organization increased.

"Al-Qaeda spokesmen responded ineffectively to this criticism by arguing that the organization does not target Muslims, demonstrating both their concern about its resonance and their inability to counter such criticism effectively."

However, the report acknowledged that "despite these setbacks, Al Qaeda threat was more dispersed than in recent years, which partially offset the losses suffered by Al-Qaeda's core. The attempted December 25th bombing of a U.S. commercial airliner demonstrated that at least one Al Qaeda affiliate has developed not just the desire but also the capability to launch a strike against the United States.

It also noted that, "Despite their failure at broad mobilization, another respect in which Al Qaeda and violent Sunni radicals continued to succeed was in persuading people to adopt their cause, even in the United States. Five Americans from Virginia were arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of terrorist ties. Some Americans have traveled to Somalia for one reason or another and ultimately joined al-Shabaab.

Najibullah Zazi, a US lawful permanent resident and airport shuttle driver, trained in Pakistan and now faces charges in federal court for allegedly planning to set off several bombs in the United States.

An American citizen, David Headley, has pleaded guilty in a US court to crimes relating to his role in the November 2008 Lashkar e-Tayyiba attacks in Mumbai, which killed more than 160 people – including six Americans – and to crimes relating to a separate plot to bomb the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. And there is also the case of Nidal Hasan who is facing charges for the Fort Hood attack that killed 13 people and wounded 30 others on November 5, 2009."

The report said that the "The Lashkar e-Tayyiba connection has added a further dimension to the terrorist threat landscape since its activities have made clear its deepening commitment to undertake bold, mass-casualty operations against American and other Western targets."
 
It pointed out that , "Since the 2008 Mumbai attack, analysts have deepening concern that it could evolve into a genuine global threat. Headley and others indicate the diversity, mobility, and versatility of self-selecting recruits whom organizations can pick to meet strategic goals. Organizations may set these goals, but their training resources and recruits are increasingly modular and interchangeable."

Looking ahead, the report said, "There is ample reason to be concerned about demographic and technological trends in countries where terrorism is already endemic. The youth population throughout South Asia and the Middle East is rapidly expanding, bringing the prospect of increasing numbers of at risk young people. Europe may continue to be a fertile recruitment ground for extremists if sizable numbers of recent immigrants and, in particular, second- and third-generation Muslims continue to experience integration problems and feel alienated by governments' domestic and foreign policies. These prospects underscore the need to look beyond the immediate – and genuinely pressing – challenges of tactical counterterrorism toward the longer term developments shaping the threat environment of the future."