U.S. officials say Al-Qaida 'imploding,' unpopular

Al qaida is lost and fading. War on terror is won.

Bring the troops back.

War on terror is won"

Who won? Not the US or its allies, that's for sure.

The war on terror isn't over. It's just that with the rising cost of fuel, food, bombs, etc they just can't get around as much as they use to.

It's just that with the rising cost of fuel, food, bombs, etc they just can't get around as much as they use to.

Now that fuel and food prices are falling like autumn leaves, we may expect real victory soon?

yes sure the war has been won. The US will be in Iraq for the next decade as long as those spineless Iraqi soldiers remain incapable to defending their own society.

skipthesong - it was a draw. Both sides will claim, like in cricket, a "winning draw".

But the question should be: Al Quaeda is unpopular, but is it more so than the US?

I think the U.S. Govt is going to get egg on their face for saying that Al Qaida is going away. I think they are just on vacation and will be back soon.

sounds like a case of the dog biting the hand that feeds it.. I think just like Iraq is tired of American soldiers in Iraq, the Arab countries are tired of AQ in their lands killing their people.

Soldave... seems like your trying a tad hard to make a point that isnt even close to being acurate... Thats like saying is AQ less popular then Germany for all its killing of innocents.. apples and oranges. One is a country and the other is a terriost extremist group...

If this is true, that's good news. However, I'm not sure what the government is really saying here:

Absolutely it’s imploding. It’s imploding because it’s not a message that resonates with a lot of Muslims.

I wonder what he thinks Al-Qaida's message is and whether he differentiates message from tactics.

Bin Laden's original 3 demands were: (1) cessation of the 10-year bombing of Iraq, (2) fairness in resolving the Israeli-Palestine situation and (3) removal of troops from the holy land. It seems to me that these demands still resonate with a lot of Muslims.

Bin Laden's version of the Muslim faith does not resonate with a lot of Muslims, but it never did. Al-Qaida, to the extent that it really exists as a single entity, was always small and loosely organized. The Al-Qaida brand may have lost its allure in terms of gathering other opposition groups to its ranks, but the opposition to the US and its policies has not disappeared--as witness the clamor for the US to leave Iraq. Or, if that is not enough, consider the article's suggestion that Al-Qaida is, in the minds of the people, killing too many non-Westerners.

It's tough to kill an idea with military power. In the continuing battle of Dow Chemical versus the cockroach, the cockroach looks to be the survivor and looks to have the superior genetic idea. No doubt Dow could design a pesticide that would eradicate the roach, but doing it without eliminating humanity is the trick.

A sad day for all global liberals.

RR

The headline "U.S. officials say Al-Qaida 'imploding,' unpopular", unfortunately could almost be reversed; "Al-Qaida officials say U.S. 'imploding,' unpopular." I certainly hope the former is true and not the latter!

those spineless Iraqi soldiers remain incapable to defending their own society." Everton, why do you claim they are spinless? I would imagine just putting one of those uniforms on would make you a target - so either stupid or brave..

skipthesong - it was a draw. Both sides will claim, like in cricket, a "winning draw". No, its not. I believe AQ is stronger than what anyone claims and their influence in ways not war like are proving that so..

But the question should be: Al Quaeda is unpopular, but is it more so than the US?" As long as that there is such a thing as infidel, and as long as the US keeps investing in those lands as well as buying their oil and they can all sit back nice and comfty, the US will be the most unpopular in the region. Now, once, and the if, all that money dries up, which it won't for a very long time even with Obama or McCain, then we will see a switch in attitudes.

RomeoRamenII

Sad is schadenfreude in respect of mistaken grief.

Why would you imagine that "liberals" would be saddened by a US government announcement that Al-Qaida is on the run?

SezWho2; I think the answer is because liberals do not love their country and are not with the Bush administration in this crusade against evil.

SwiftBoatVet,

Thanks for the chuckle.

SwiftBoatVet- Good concise post buddy, nice post!

The terrorists are being routed worldwide, even in their strongholds they are losing influence.

The war is gonna be over pretty soon. Bin Laden, i reckon your days are numbered you devil.

SBV,

True dat. For years the liberals here have been rooting for the Islamoterrorists. One poster, a cough former milirary person cough, cough has gone as far as to say the real terrorists are the U.S. troops stationed in the Mid East.

The global liberals are once again on the wrong side of history.

RR

Wow, they're trying to paint Al-Qaida as uncool now?

The U.S. is also imploding and unpopular by all accounts - it's a massacre on the stock markets!

moderateguy2008,

The days are numbered for all of us. Very few of us know the number. Many of those who know wish the number to be other than what it is.

I don't think this war will soon be over. We may be out of Iraq in two years. We may wander in the mountains of Afghanistan for several years after that. But this is, as Bush promised, a war that will not end in our lifetimes.

We have declared war on a way of life. And ways of life do not die easily--if they die at all. More chillingly, revenge is a dish that is best served cold. The Sunni and Shia have been going at it for what? 13 centuries? The tribes in the border regions have rejected all attempts to bring them into line since when? since Alexander? But we are going to defeat terrorism?

Not likely the way we are going about it.

RomeoRamen - can't you come up with something better than 'global liberals'?

You've used it to death.

"One poster, a cough former military person cough, cough has gone as far as to say the real terrorists are the U.S. troops stationed in the Mid East."

I'd go as far as to say the civilian leaders of those US soldiers are the real terrorists - the ones whose orders have strengthened terrorism worldwide.

Also, good news to hear AQ is imploding in Iraq - I'm sure this will be just fantastic news for the Republicans, but hey - let's face it - AQ just wasn't in Iraq before shortsighted Republican party policies sucked them into the conflict in that country.

At the end of the day, if you still support Republican party policies on this issue, you're - to borrow and tweak your cliche - a 'global idiot.'

Nippon5 - Germany has killed all of its people?! Surely this would have made the Japan Today world news section???

I think I kind of understand your muddled point, in chich case add "government" to the end of my question.

U.S. officials say Al-Qaida 'imploding,' unpopular

We've heard this before. Many times.

An yet, Al-Qaida is still around. And Osama is still at large.

Bush is failure. He invaded the wrong county.

SezWho: Why would you imagine that "liberals" would be saddened by a US government announcement that Al-Qaida is on the run?

Because it's a topic that's hard to manufacture criticism of the US.

"On the run"... makes you think of Osama bin Laden as some Road Runner-esque character, with Bush on his Acme rocket trying to chase him.

SezWho: Bin Laden's original 3 demands were: (1) cessation of the 10-year bombing of Iraq, (2) fairness in resolving the Israeli-Palestine situation and (3) removal of troops from the holy land. It seems to me that these demands still resonate with a lot of Muslims.

Al Queda's primary demand is that Muslims live under their brand of Islam or face death. It says a lot about you that you would leave that off of your list.

Since Al-Quaeda is imploding, get the troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan where they can be used against the Taliban. < :-)

its violent tactics have turned Muslims worldwide against the organization.

I have my doubts.

" Top U.S. counterterrorism officials Monday said al-Qaida is imploding and that its violent tactics have turned Muslims worldwide against the organization. "

They are dreaming. They might as well say that islam is imploding... is it? Al Quaida represents simply the purest, most literal form of Sunni islam. And Sunni islam is alive and well, and funded by an endless supply of petrodollars from the Middle East.

While they are spouting their Al-Quaida dreams, footbaths are built in US universities, islamic holidays introduced, madarassas and radical mosques sprouting left right and center, wahabi clerics enter the country unimpeded on "religious worker" permits, and CAIR takes everyone to court who dares question all this.

Somebody should pinch these idiots so they wake up.

Extremists will always be able to co-erce impressionable young fanatics to the cause. As ever, dreaming you could take a so-called "war" to an ideology was always the pipe-dream of other fanatics living in La La Land.

Bin-Laden's ideology is sadly working. It has drawn the US into several third world conflicts that are un-winnable and as equally difficult to extract itself from, it is sapping American and NATO resources and is also breeding many a new fanatic in both Afghanistan and Iraq...

..and all that without Oussama even leaving his supposed hiding place.

The biggest error was to give "al-Qaida" the credit for all the mayhem in Iraq, when "al-Qaida" itself is an ideology to which one needs only internet access to be a member, but it is not an uber-organized terra group as the Bush administration would have us believe.

"Al Quaida represents simply the purest, most literal form of Sunni islam"

willi, you crack me up nearly as much as the Lourdes thread yesterday. Perhaps you should read up on bin-Laden's bain-child before getting the spade out again.

WilliB - You mean there's a difference between Islam and Al Queda? Someone needs to let the US president know this before he leaves office!

SuperLib,

Pray tell, what is the source for your statement that Al-Qaida's "primary demand" is for all Muslims to live under its brand of Islam or face death? That certainly was not the primary demand that bin Laden made on the US. And even if it had been, I can't imagine how predominantly Muslim countries would not be more qualified to handle bin Laden's religious demands than the US is.

And, since you are ever at the ready with you trusty personal aspersions, what does it say about me that I left this off "my" list. And, really, isn't this bin Laden's list for us? And aren't we the ones who are fighting bin Laden and friends?

Is any of this related to your imagination that in the face of this good news--if it is not propaganda--that liberals are sad because it's difficult to criticize the US in this? Conservatives should criticize their country every bit as much as liberals. If not, they are nationalists, not conservatives.

Perhaps i haven't been paying close attention but did not some former "defence" secretary talk about the dead enders, no-hopers and the remmanents of Saddamists? Some years ago perhaps? So now we are at the same point? But this time it is the AQ imploding? How I miss the days of Mission Accomplished. The smirks, the downturn in sales of duct tape and plastic, the clour coded alerts. Somehow the "imploding" of AQ does not bouy me up so much. Maybe this time they are calling it right because come on, how many times can you get it so wrong? Did I mention Afghanistan? Freedom for all women there and lots and lots of schools open for girls. Big success story ther. Or so I'm told.

I think I kind of understand your muddled point, in chich case add "government" to the end of my question.

Sorry I still dont get your point, is it you would like to say that people in general around the world hate the US goverment (which is a goverment elected by the people) more then a Terrorist group who kills woman and children on purpose???

Even though you dont like the present president (one of 537 people in Washinton DC representing America) I hope it doesnt mean you dislike it more then AQ cause it would be silly and pointless to respond to you as your not on level ground in your thinking.

As far as comparing Germanys killing of innocents (in ww1 ww2) to AQ it was suppose to be a ridicules thought just like your original post was..

OBL is the smartest man in the world. He has been able to collect a fortune, create basically his own brand of religion (old adage - create a religion and you will be rich), has been able to get almost the entire Islamic world on his side as well as splitting the West into two - left and right when both were merely a manifestation of each other. He has been able to garner support from Liberals by having Bush and Co, invade Iraq and even has help Islamic causes in Europe (read: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1055764/Islamic-sharia-courts-Britain-legally-binding.html ) And he is still getting richer by the day.

I don't believe he is living in a cave, if he isn't in Saudi Arabia under the protection of the ruling family; no, I don't believe they really exiled him. AQ is an ideaology as poster above says and I believe it is growing by the day. Only after 9-11 has Muslim immigration increased..... have we ever seen a war in which the enemy actually moves to its enemies location? I don't believe Obama is going to do a damn thing. He needs something like OBL just as much as the Repubs did. He can fight the infidels without ever having another person killed, and still win.

imploding at the end of the Bush Presidency? What conspiracy?

I believe this, when we have the world at peace for at least 20 years with no wars, invasions, terrorist incidents etc. etc. The Bush administration has said so much stuff over the last few years concerning this stuff and have rarely been right.

RDT, I do know. Obama would redeploy our troops to Afghanistan, where we're inarguably more needed. Only then will your dream (and mine) of "decimating" Al-Qaeda come to pass.

As for mocking the C-in-C, I know a lot of my military colleagues who do, and we're right to do so. This war would have been over years ago with a strong President. Sadly, we don't have one right now; we will when Barack Obama is inaugurated President of the United States on 20 Jan 09. Then, the US stance against terror will begin to really toughen.

Don't worry; we won't let you down.

Yea Obama is a strong president, please show me when he served as president and showed us his strenght? Or are we just going off what his campain say he will be... Hes an unknown with no background in military operations or foriegn diplomacy. Bush wasnt good and neither will be obama, its just a pipe dream thinking he would be the golden warrior of justice...

No president is going to effect the other 535 idiots in Washignton enough to do anything outside what they want to do.. But hey you can have a dream right?

No dream, dude. It's Republicans that I hear calling Obama a "messiah" or a "golden warrior of justice", not the Democrats. We already know that it'll take the next five presidents to fix Bush's unholy mess.

But, not that you bring it up, please tell us what McCain's grand master plan is. Last I heard, it was stay indefinitely in Iraq so Al-Qaeda can gather even more strength than when Bush let bin Laden get away.

You see, WE are the warriors, the US military. We'd actually like to win this war, but we need a good C-in-C. We've already seen the Republicans fail to seal the deal after seven years (SEVEN YEARS!); time to elect a president who'll actually listen to his military advisors instead of arguing with them and firing them. That president, in a few short months, will be Barack Hussein Obama.

You're welcome.

Dude? first of all son I served in the military and did my time in war. Second of all Im not a Bush supporter, but I am a firm believer you cant call a kettle black when your the pot.. He is not going to make magic he isnt going to wave a wand and save the day, and he isnt listening to the Military either as he served in congress and voted against money for the soldiers, voted against the surge, and lastly got confused which of the 61 states the troops came from:)

But hey who ever wins this election is going to do one thing for sure...]

. . . . Not fulfill their campaign promises!!!!

Nippon, first of all, "son", no one but Republicans claim that Obama wants to "perform magic" to correct Bush's wrongs. If you have a problem with him, don't vote for him, but don't post sh*t like "he got confused which of the 61 states the troops came from" and expect to be viewed as something other than a foaming-at-the-mouth NeoCon.

Second, re-read my post; I clearly say that we Democrats already know it'll take the next five presidents to fix Bush's unholy mess. That doesn't equate to either candidate "not fulfilling their promises". I for one will be happy to see President Obama scratch the surface at ending the Bush war.

Lastly, I appreciate your service, particularly in time of war. I hope you feel the same for those of us doing so now.

Anyone who thinks AQ is failing should remember what Osama Bin Laden said in a tape released in 2004. Speaking about how AQ's actions were affecting the American economy, he said: "We, alongside the mujahedeen, bled Russia for 10 years until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat. . . . We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy."