The last 'terrorist' activity there is 1986 (or maybe 1985). Since then, as you say, Abu Nidal appears to have been a nasty little murder squad, doing assassinations - mainly of PLO members! - but not practicing terrorism, e.g., hijacks, suicide bombs at civilians, etc. This is not a terrorist group per se. It's vile, but not terrorism.
Besides, according to your link Iraq kicked it out in 1983, to curry favour with the west. It's unclear (from your link) if they loosely rebased in Iraq later, but remember there were large areas not under any real control (by anyone) so maybe that's why the source is vague.
AQ preaches maniac radical Islamic-based doctrines... it's not in keeping with Abu Nidal, as far as I could tell from the sources you or I posted. It wants (or wanted?) the destruction of Israel, they have that common aim.
But AQ also preached against Saddam, remember? They loathed him too, because he ran a secular dictatorship.
As for pursuing AQ, I thought that was the main enemy - remember OBL, who cannot run and cannot hide?
Acting against terrorism elsewhere is also good and laudable. And nothing to do with invading Iraq, since there was no AQ link there and no significant terrorist group... it's well and good to punish 18-year-old acts, but do you genuinely think this justified invading and occupying Iraq?
This is why I called the case so weak, because the terrorists referred to are so ancient, inactive, or irrelevant to the active terrorism now...
<edit> should I add in some insults about your thinking? oh well, take them as read... |
