Sharp Decline in Terror Attacks After Bin Laden Death

[ddaydetroit]

I find it amazing when reading the comments on yahoo just how many right wingers can find a way to beat up on the president no matter what he does a very classic case of crying wolf no matter what he does.

http://news.yahoo.com/sharp-decline-...-politics.html

The number of worldwide terror attacks fell to 10,283 last year, down from 11,641 in 2010 and the lowest since 2005, the State Department reported today.
What's made the difference? The State Department cites the May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda members killed last year including Atiyah Abd al-Rahman and Anwar al-Awlaki, who was the head of Yemen's Al Qaeda affiliate and had ties to the underwear bomber plot in 2010.
"The loss of bin Laden and these other key operatives puts the network on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse," the report stated.
But Ambassador Dan Benjamin, the State Department's coordinator for counter-terrorism, warned that for all the good news about the core of al Qaeda being weakened, affiliates of the group, particularly in Yemen and in Africa, continue to pose a real risk.
Nigeria was one of the few countries which actually saw an increase in terror attacks last year because of Boko Haram, and Kenya and Somalia continue to experience attacks by a weakened Al Shabab. Benjamin also noted that the Arab spring and other countries in transition could leave important allies like Egypt and Iraq vulnerable to terror groups.
"Inspiring as the moment may be, we are not blind to the attendant perils. Terrorists could still cause significant disruptions for states undergoing very challenging democratic transitions. Affiliates of the group, and violent extremist ideology and rhetoric continue to spread in some parts of the world," said Benjamin.
Reports of al Qaeda operatives taking advantage of the instability in Syria is also a potential worrying situation, says Benjamin. The U.S. has warned Syria's opposition groups against allowing foreign fighters to join the resistance, and Benjamin says opposition groups have assured U.S. officials that they are being vigilant in keeping extremists out. But he placed the blame for the conflict squarely on Syria's President Bashar al Assad.
"So long as Assad refuses to go and Syria's transition is blocked, the danger grows of more foreign fighters, including extremists of the al Qaeda type, infiltrating Syria, " he said.
Though the report focuses primarily on the threat al Qaeda and its affiliates pose to the United States, the activities of Iran over the last year are also increasingly of concern, specifically Iran's support for Hezbollah and the rogue nation's involvement in the 2011 plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador the United States in Washington, D.C.

[firstandten]

The President is in a no-win situation. If there were terror incidents those same people on yahoo would be calling him a wimp and he's not protecting us. President Obama is not a tough talker like some of his Repub counterparts.

He understands that he's fighting an opponent without a state, this is a new kind of war for us. He seems to like targeted strikes [[drones) rather than all out bombing.

Right now he is keeping Al Qaeda on its heels never knowing when the next drone strike is coming and from where. Its hard for them to plan a strike against us when he's killing the leadership off one by one. You may get a lone wolf attack here and there but hopefully they won't be able to mount a coordinated attack against us ever again.

[Johnnny5]

I find it amazing when reading the comments on yahoo just how many right wingers can find a way to beat up on the president no matter what he does a very classic case of crying wolf no matter what he does.

It kind of reminds me of when those on the far left did the same thing to George W.
Both groups need to quit spouting off the party line and give credit when it's due.

[oladub]

Did anyone notice that the overthrow of Kaddafi sent Al-Queda and Libyan mercenaries into Mali where they have joined Tuaregs and taken over the northern half of Mali with characteristic stonings, killings, and destruction? I wonder if that is included in the statistics. The Obama administration is considering measures in Mali to address the problem it helped create citing Somalia as a "success" story. Glad that Bin Laden was taken out all the same. Why are we still in Afghanistan? Those US casualties should be included in any equation of success.

[ejames01]

I kind of reminds me of when those on the far left did the same thing to George W.
Both groups need to quit spouting off the party line and give credit when it's due.

GWB got credit for saving us from Iraq.

[rb336]

Did anyone notice that the overthrow of Kaddafi sent Al-Queda and Libyan mercenaries into Mali where they have joined Tuaregs and taken over the northern half of Mali with characteristic stonings, killings, and destruction?

The "Libyan mercenaries" were Tauregs. They just went home. The majority of Tuaregs are probably not pleased with the al Queda presence - they were brought in by a radical Mali rebel named Iyad ag Ghali. The Imams in Timbuktu are very much against him. The real problem with Mali is the military coup, which had very little to do with Libya, but created enough chaos to allow Ghali's group to temporarily gain control.

" Why are we still in Afghanistan? Those US casualties should be included in any equation of success.[/QUOTE]

because, as anyone with a lick of common sense realizes, you can't withdraw all at once, and drawing out precipitously could have catastrophic effects - like when we abandoned Afghanistan after the USSR fell apart

[oladub]

rb336: The "Libyan mercenaries" were Tauregs. They just went home. The majority of Tuaregs are probably not pleased with the al Queda presence - they were brought in by a radical Mali rebel named Iyad ag Ghali. The Imams in Timbuktu are very much against him. The real problem with Mali is the military coup, which had very little to do with Libya, but created enough chaos to allow Ghali's group to temporarily gain control.

More on the fallout from Obama's foreign policy from a Boston.com article titled, US inadvertently creates a terrorist haven in Mali


"a portion of the [[Libyan) army was made up of Tuaregs. They are a nomadic people whose traditional homeland is centered in northern Mali. After Khadafy was deposed, they went home — armed with potent weaponry they brought from Libya. Seeking to press their case for a homeland in Mali, they quickly overran the lightly armed Malian army.
Into this upheaval stepped another group, shaped not by ethnicity but by devotion to an extreme form of Islam. It has attracted Al Qaeda militants from many countries, including Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, and Algeria. They seek to create a pure Muslim state — and are destroying mosques and Islamic monuments that they believe represent the wrong kind of Islam."

Maybe Congress should have been asked if we should have overthrown Khaddafi.

" Why are we still in Afghanistan? Those US casualties should be included in any equation of success.

because, as anyone with a lick of common sense realizes, you can't withdraw all at once, and drawing out precipitously could have catastrophic effects - like when we abandoned Afghanistan after the USSR fell apart

We went in to get rid of Bin Laden and the Taliban. US forces succeeded in the latter and eventually Bin laden was found. Both goals were accomplished.

69% of the 2,000 Americans killed in Afghanistan have died since Obama became President. That's edging in on the catastrophic number of Americans who died on 9/11. How long do you want to keep them there now that Bin Laden is presumably in the ocean and the people of Afghanistan had a chance to reestablish their own government? What are we waiting for, a European social democracy to develop and a kinder more gentle form of Islam in Afghanistan? Anyone with a lick of sense realizes that we are on some sort of undefined fool's task not questioning mission creep. I wish I could say that Romney would handle this better but have no reason to believe that.

There is the possibility that you will have to be the apologist for US actions in Mali like you were for Libya. Nice that you support our continued presence in Afghanistan too.