Wednesday July 25, 2007

Column:

Al Qaeda is alive and well and thriving on the internet. In fact, the latest message to the world sent by al Qaeda came not from Osama bin Laden and not from his right arm Ayman Zawahiri. It came not via the video and audio tapes we have become familiar with and come to expect and accept as valid.

It was sent through one of the many of websites under al Qaeda auspices, it came from the North African branch of al Qaeda. Experience should tell us that we do not have to verify the authenticity of the site to determine the seriousness of the message. All we need to know is whether the message is both appropriate and reasonable.

And this message is serious. The site posted a threat aimed at non-believing countries accompanied by a series of warnings aimed at non-believing Muslims.

The threat:
"The Mujahadin (Holy Fighters), thanks to Allah, have managed to reorganize their ranks and set forth their plans, and they are preparing many hidden surprises for the enemies of Allah in the countries of the Islamic Maghreb, (North Africa) which will come in an escalating sequence."

The warning:
"We call upon all our Muslim brothers to stay away from the centers of the infidels and official apostates, as well as security (gatherings) of army and police ... The Mujahadin are determined to target their quarters, centers and barracks with all available means of detonation, bombing and demolition."
The site explained that earlier intended attacks against military targets had been cancelled "only due to the presence of Muslims."

The importance of this message, in addition to alerting the world to the reality that there is an organized, vital arm of al Qaeda in North Africa, is the clear and undeniable intention of al Qaeda to strike out not only at the West, but also at local targets.

Al Qaeda is giving fair warning to friends who do not tow the line. Al Qaeda is prioritizing a list of objectives. Al Qaeda is letting it be known that, right now, local intimidation is an even higher priority than attacks on Western targets.

The Muslim world gets it, but do we? That is the question we must ask ourselves.

If al Qaeda now intends to set their sights on local targets, should the West breath a sigh of relief? Does this mean that we are off the terrorist hook, at least for a little while?

Absolutely not.

The West has fallen victim to what I have termed "targetism".

Our fear of terror - righteous as it is - has clouded our ability to analyze and understand the underlying facts of terror. We think of ourselves as the targets of terror, and any attack that does not target us, we think of as marginal and significantly less important. And that is wrong thinking. And it is dangerous thinking. It is targetism thinking.

Targetism thinking does not permit us the ability to learn from the experiences of others, it does not let us see that other targets of terror were chosen by the same enemy for the same reasons that we are chosen and targeted.

Because the Western mind has succumbed to targetism we do not realize that al Qaeda terrorist attacks against the Algerian army or the streets of downtown Marrakech in Morocco are just the same as attacks against American army bases on foreign soil and the streets of New York and Washington. Victims of targetism do not recognize that members of the Saudi royal family and Red Cross office in Iraq are targets for the same reason that citizens of the West are targets.

For al Qaeda, we are all one. Targetism obscures the fact that al Qaeda prioritizes operations according to access and ease. The easier to reach a target, the more likely it will be hit. But al Qaeda is not lazy and will take the time and make the effort to infiltrate and penetrate other targets until they, too, are easy. And that's where the West in general and the United States in particular come in.

Al Qaeda wants to attack the West, but al Qaeda also wants to destroy those Arab countries and communities that embrace Western culture and ideas. Al Qaeda wants to paralyze Western leadership, but al Qaeda also wants to hurt Arab leadership that is not really Islamic.

Al Qaeda wants us all to believe in their beliefs, and if we don't, slowly and methodically, al Qaeda will try to eliminate us all. Al Qaeda will continue to send their messages through the air waves and on the internet. They will continue to remind us that we are all in their cross hairs. But as long as we do not allow ourselves to become our own worst enemies by falling into the trap of targetism we have a chance at beating our real enemies.

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