Speaking of Khalid Sheik Mohammed isn't this like the third time we've captured the number 3 guy in Al Qaeada? I certainly hope this leads to the capture of Osama and Al Zwahari but pardon me if this seems like Deja Vu all over again. Uh oh I used French.. So now I must hate America.
The no. 4 guy doesn't stay the no. 4 guy when no. 3 gets his ticket stamped. From the article: "U.S. counterterrorism officials believe al-Libbi took on the role of No. 3 in al Qaeda following the March 2003 capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. They said he was responsible for plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland."
How does that affect what I was saying? We've caught the number 3 guy in Al Qaeda at least twice but we have yet to catch the top two.
I think its because the top two (Bin Laden and the other dude) are now no more than figureheads and don't really touch the operational side of the terror network anymore. If you are just a figurehead and don't have to be in contact with the day to day activities of the organization, you can hide much easier. The #3 guy (especially the last one we caught) are extremely hands on and involved in the actual operations, planning, and execution. If you are actually involved in the planning and operations, you leave yourself much more open to being tracked down. You are in touch with more people, exposed more to the community, send more communication, ect. So things can be traced back to you. I think its pretty good news we can keep taking out their lead operational guys. That throws things into disarray. Plus...I think these guys tend to know more about what is planned and what is going on...they can provide a lot of info on planned "events."
I thought the lead guy always uses another guy as a screener for every operation so no one can find the lead guy. So basically, Osama bin Laden is still the one behind the scenes masterminding the operation, but he does it through his #2 and #3 guys. I'd rather take out Osama bin Laden. That would crush their morale...hopefully.
I think its good news too but I don't think we or even our intelligence services know enough about Al Qaeda to determine how much damage this does to them. We've been hearing for years that Al Qaeda is on its heals and that the capture of Osama Bin Ladin is just around the corner yet they keep on coming back like something out of a Wes Craven movie.
I beleive what Vince is reffering to (and i might be wrong) is a BBC documentary called "The Power of Nightmares". If you haven't seen this doc i highly recomend it. How factual it is is a whole different argument but it is very interesting and thought provoking.
that's fine. but hardly worthy of calling another "blind" because they buy intelligence communities over a documentary on BBC. i don't see a few guys in the desert successfully pulling off 9/11.
