Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette: Al-Qaida has will to harm U.S.
The wire story carried on The Journal Gazette Web site, “U.S. officials: Al-Qaida unpopular and imploding” (Sept. 16), unfortunately endorsed a misguided assessment by Undersecretary of State James Glassman that the al-Qaida model “has almost no popular appeal” and that instead we ought to be more concerned about more popular groups among Muslims like Hamas and Hezbollah that combine social services with a radical message.
The issue is not about popularity, but rather, about capacity. Al- Qaida is less likely than Hamas or Hezbollah to take over a state, but the threat posed by al-Qaida to the U.S. is much greater. The truth is that al-Qaida does not need to be popular to threaten American security. It just needs a small pool of recruits, minimal financial support and a safe haven from which to operate – and unfortunately, al-Qaida has all three.
There are religious and political parties in power in countries all over the world that have positions at odds with the United States, and while we may disagree with their positions, we should keep our focus on marginalizing and defeating groups – like al- Qaida – that have a demonstrated capacity and will to strike at the U.S. and its interests abroad.
BERNARD I. FINEL Senior Fellow American Security Project Washington, D.C.
