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Al Qaeda (view source)

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→‎Downplaying al Qaeda's significance in the early Obama era

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on Friday March 8, 2011, President Obama told reporters he would appoint an official to maintain contact with the "Libyan opposition". The number two official at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, [[Christopher Stevens]]<ref>[http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/us-names-chris-stevens-liaison-to-libyan-opposition.html US Names Chris Stevens Liaison to Libyan Opposition,] ABC News Radio, March 14, 2011.</ref> was tasked with helping to coordinate assistance to the "rebels", whose top military commander, Abdelhakim Belhadj, was the leader of the [[Al Qaeda]] affiliate, the [[Libyan Islamic Fighting Group]] (LIFG).<ref>[http://counterjihadreport.com/tag/libyan-islamic-fighting-group/ ‘White Out’ on Benghazi: State Dept. Issues Report,] Clare Lopez, December 23, 2012. http://counterjihadreport.com</ref> Hillary Clinton attended a meeting in Paris with Stevens and representatives of the "Libyan opposition", as did U.S. Ambassador Gene Cretz, who has also had contacts with the "opposition". Clinton discussed what she persuaded the Obama administration to do to help the [[jihad]]is, and that they would do more than just provide humanitarian aid.

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~~==Downplaying al Qaeda's significance in the early Obama era==~~

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By late 2009 analysts were reporting a decline in the strength and appeal of Al Qaeda. Its leadership was forced to retreat to remote mountain villages in Pakistan, and many leaders had been killed by missiles and manhunts. Its tactics of killing innocent civilians were said to have lost favor with the Muslim population in some countries. During the Bush/Cheney years of 2002 and 2009 the notion that suicide bombings are "often or sometimes justified" plunged across the Islamic world. Its terrorists launched 10 major attacks worldwide in 2004 but only three by 2008. "Al Qaeda is in the process of imploding," concluded professor Audrey Kurth Cronin of the National War College in Washington. In September 2009 American-led forces killed the leader of the Somali organization "Al Shabab", which is allied with Al Qaeda; the police in Indonesia killed the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia. It has become much harder for terrorists to move agents, money and supplies.<ref>Scott Shane, "Rethinking What to Fear," ''New York Times'' Sept. 27, 2009</ref>

==Al Qaeda in North Africa==

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