Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Breeding terrorists

Both Debka-news and Assad claim that Washington and Moscow may be encouraging the rush to Syria of al Qaeda and other radical Islamist fighters so as to put them in harm’s way on the Syrian battlefield instead of their staying home to make trouble in Asian, European and other Middle East countries.

That seems to me a very bad strategy. Al Qaeda thrives on fights that are popular and seem justified. Sure, some of its fighters may be killed, but the fighting enhances the battle skills of the rest and brings in new recruits. There are already reports that Al Nusra is asking recruits to be sign that they are prepared to fight for it anywhere in the world. And don't discount all those youngsters in Libya and Syria, who after a period of fighting can't fit in in civil society again. In the past they might have opted for the French Foreign Legion. Now they are more likely to choose Al Qaeda or one of its affiliates.

To me the best strategy to get rid of Al Qaeda is to have them stay in Waziristan playing ping-pong. They will get bored and sooner or later most will go back home.

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