Posted on 05/25/2004 7:31:17 PM PDT by Gdzine
LONDON, England (AP) -- Despite losses around the world, al Qaeda has more than 18,000 potential terrorists, and its ranks are growing because of the conflict in Iraq, a leading think tank warned Tuesday.
Al Qaeda still has a functioning leadership despite the death or capture of key figures, and estimates suggest al Qaeda operates in more than 60 nations around the world, the International Institute of Strategic Studies said in its Strategic Survey 2003-4.
The terrorist group poses a growing threat to Western interests and attacks are likely to increase, the institute said.
"Al Qaeda must be expected to keep trying to develop more promising plans for terrorist operations in North America and Europe, potentially involving weapons of mass destruction," institute director John Chipman told a news conference to launch the annual survey.......
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Now where do does this "objective" think tank gets its actually number of 18,000 from. Well we can find this out by reading further in the article.
"The estimate of 18,000 fighters was based on intelligence estimates that al Qaeda trained at least 20,000 fighters in its training camps in Afghanistan before the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban regime. In the ensuing war on terror, some 2,000 al Qaeda fighters have been killed or captured, the survey said."
So the 18,000 number is all from people who were trained in Afghanistan before the Iraqi war!
The 18,000 number is in no way associated with Iraqi, but yet it is totally spun that way.
Since you're new here, you get a pass, this time.
For archival purposes, it is never a good thing to change original headlines. It also violates posting guidelines.
Don't forget to add some Bounce to that "Spin Cycle"
I didnt mean to do that, I was typing more than thinking
Even more ridiculous, the same people who will crow about "18,000 Al Qaeda" on the loose are the ones upset that we're being too mean to those poor little kids at Guantanamo.
Now we know that, no matter how journalistically challenged CNN might be, they can at least handle basic math.
Well, subtraction, anyway...
That is a really good point, how many more fighters would be trained if we didnt hadnt shut the Taliban down.
In reality most of the 18000 fighters joined Al Qaeda during the Clinton Administration
Kill them all.
Here's an AP version of the same spin :
"...2,000 al Qaeda fighters have been killed or captured..."
- - -
I think that number is a bit on the low side.
The "report" did not say "18,000 al Qaeda fighters in Iraqi."
The International Institute for Strategic Studies claims that
there are up to approximately 18,000 in the whole world.
But someone in another thread provided info on The International Institute for Strategic Studies ("Does the IISS have a political agenda?") that you should all have a look at.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1142187/posts?page=9#9
And 18,000 enemy in the context of American History and character is not many at all to kill.
Hmm. 20,000 trained prior to 2001, camps get shut down, 2,000 Jihadis captured or killed, leaves 18,000 from 2001 and earlier. This is "swelling"?
This crap comes from the "International Institute of Strategic Studies".
Checking out their web site, I find no name that is recognizable except for Dr Fareed Zakaria. Remember him? He is the anti-Bush creep who appears on George Stephanopolous' Sunday morning program.
That alone is enough to make me suspicious of anything that they say.
I really doubt this number. Al Queda is on the ropes. Yes, it might still be able to muster attacks, but those SOBs are demoralized.
I think so, too- I last heard that figure in January of 2002 in reference just to Afghanistan.
Don't let them thrash ya to hard...good post...
Post the actual headline and [] bracket your ad libs
Welcome
That is a good point as well. I bet there were more than 18,000 Nazis and Japanese militarists left in the world in August 1945. They weren't able to do much.
Maybe Carol Mosely Braun is on the think tank's board of directors.
The excerpt appears to be ludicrous on its face. Amoung other things, coming up with a number like 18,000 is just silly, and in particular associating that number with an amorphous organization like Al Queda. Sure there are probably 18,000 perps in Iraq that should be killed, maybe more. So many evil agendas, so many noisome outfits, and so little time.
Is he against the President? Very surprising. I do know that a couple of years ago, Ms. Rice invited him to the White House, to discuss American policy in the Middle East.
Cool, and more plausible, which does not mean it is plausible. How the hell did this outfit come up with such a number?
I don't really care how many are in Iraq, as long as they aren't in the USA. It's a lot easier to kill 'em over there.
Don't you know that if we had not invaded Iraq that there would be no terrorists today. No Muslims would be mad at us. Saddam would be kissing babies and giving his people freedom. Amputated limbs of Iraqi citizens would be growing back and dead bodies would be arising.
The media is populated by the stupidest people in the world.
Btw -- Does anyone know if we're still accepting human time-bombs immigrants from the Middle East?
More like 150 million Americans to oppose them...who knows how many would don the Arafat scarf and start hurling molotovs at their local Nat'l Guard base.
and its ranks are growing because of the conflict in Iraq, a leading think tank warned Tuesday.
That's a good thing. They were always terrorists and always will be. Iraq has forced them to stick their heads out of hiding...the better to deal with them once and for all.
The estimate of 18,000 fighters was based on intelligence estimates that al Qaeda trained at least 20,000 fighters in its training camps in Afghanistan before the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban regime.
*Snort*
Yet another factoid that can be laid at the feet of none other than Bill Clinton!
18,000?
Well, at least we have a reference number, eh?
How about the trainign camps run by Saddam for gosh sakes! I know of at least two near Baghdad that were training terorists right up to the day we started the invasion to oust the Saddam demons. How many would have been trained by now had we not stopped that little nesting effort? And how many would be trained in Libya if Khaddafy had not seen what happened to Saddam and family? Sheesh, the liberal leftists bastards are making an all out effort to portray things as falsely as they think they can get away with. How proud the liberal journalism school teachers must be, how please the clintons still running the dnc from the cloakroom must be, how very satisfied must be the terrorist bastards the liberals are aiding and abetting in the war on terrorism!
18,000 ins't too many to annialate if we would `just do it.'
Talk about journalistically challenged-- did I miss something, or did they never even tell us the name of this "leading think tank"?
They didn't forget to identify the "leading think tank". However, they did forget to identify its ideological bent. The IISS leans so far left, it can kiss the ground beneath Bill Clinton's feet...
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