"Portraying this as a 'global' war risks reinforcing the very image that al Qaeda seeks to project of itself -- that it is a highly organized, global entity capable of replacing sovereign nations with a global caliphate," he said. "And nothing could be further from the truth."This is a flawed argument, no? Does aQ really care about projecting such an image? Isn't this an assumption that serves the PR aims of the Obama administration but has a tenuous connection to reality? Not that aQ isn't interested in making big news, but what does that really have to do with the way they are perceived by the world or America? And wouldn't they feel or believe that a Muslim resurgence speaks for itself, is self evident - wouldn't an Islamist see such a thing as inevitable and therefore, again, why then would they care about what the world or America thinks of it's capabilities and how would such negatively impact recruitment? My guess would be recruitment had much more to do with how indigenous populations viewed aQ, not what America thinks of it - and that that indigenous view would be conditioned by the parameters of Muslim culture and what it thinks about, fears about the West in general, although no doubt America in particular.
Now it's true aQ's reputation on the the Arab street may be in decline - but even if that's true I'm not sure you can make any definitive statements about how significant that is or more importantly how long term it may be, ie if aQ does something dramatic tomorrow would the Arab street really not care? Seems very unlikely.
As for troubles brewing with Islamists in Somalia, I reiterate my Col Kurtz solution - nuke 'em. The country is hopeless, irredeemable, and so from a cost/benefit analysis standpoint the nuclear option makes the most sense. I'm just saying - I'm not entirely sold on the idea. Still, all this talk I hear coming from the Obama camp about investing in the country etc etc sounds to me like people who made a career for themselves by claiming that everything Bush did was wrong and now want to prove it by walking us straight into the biggest shit hole in the world.