To: greenspirit who wrote (41762 ) 4/21/2013 7:58:04 PM From: Broken_Clock Read Replies (1) | Respond to So you think the bombing was in response to what?"The Americans are between two fires," declared Osama bin Ladin’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2004. "If they remain [in Iraq] they will bleed to death, and if they withdraw they will have lost everything." Zawahiri’s grim prediction has proven correct. As the United States and its Iraqi allies falter, bin Ladin and the broader jihadist movement are emerging victorious. [1] Al Qa’ida was on the ropes. The United States and its coalition partners had rousted it from Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban, while a global manhunt was steadily shutting down jihadist cells from Moroccoto Malaysia. Perhaps equally important, many Islamists, including fellow jihadists, harshly criticized bin Ladin for having rashly attacked a super power and, in so doing, causing the defeat of the Taliban, the only "true" Islamic regime in the eyes of many radicals.The invasion of Iraq breathed new life into the organization. On an operational level, the United States diverted troops to Iraq rather than consolidate its victory in Afghanistan and increase its chances of hunting down Bin Ladin. Today, Al Qa’ida is reconstituting itself in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Politically, Iraq vindicated bin Ladin’s argument that the primary enemy of the Muslim world was not the local Muslim autocrats, but the "faraway enemy," the United States. Today, Al Qa'ida is again on the march. [2] brookings.edu
