Timbuktu, Al Qaeda, and us

[Starbuck]

You'll need a map of Africa to find Timbuktu. It is in Mali, which is south of Libya.

Years back, Timbuktu was a center of commerce. Sporting a desert to the North and a jungle to the South, it was a perfect jumping off spot for goods coming out of Africa. Caravans would form up and make the trek across the Sahara to the Mediterranean.

The Portuguese spoiled all that when they formed up sea ports on the western African coast. And Timbuktu died, for all practical purposes. It just wasn't really needed for much any more.

How things change. Al Qaeda has found a home. At least we know where to find them.....

Northern Mali is now the biggest territory held by Al Qaeda and its allies. And as the world hesitates, delaying a military intervention, the extremists who seized control of the area earlier this year are preparing for a war they boast will be worse than the decade-old struggle in Afghanistan.

"Al-Qaeda never owned Afghanistan," said former United Nations diplomat Robert Fowler, a Canadian kidnapped and held for 130 days by Al Qaeda's local chapter, whose fighters now control the main cities in the north. "They do own northern Mali."

Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of Mali, a country hobbled by poverty and a relentless cycle of hunger. In recent months, the terror syndicate and its allies have taken advantage of political instability within the country to push out of their hiding place and into the towns, taking over an enormous territory which they are using to stock arms, train forces and prepare for global jihad.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12...#ixzz2GgvTU7sL

[djones520]

I had someone argue with me that Al Qaeda was nothing more then a boogeyman name now, it didn't exist anymore in any real capacity.

People out there... just wanna shove their heads in the sand.

[SarasotaRepub]

Sounds like an excellent MOAB test range...

[djones520]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...ali/?pageNum=2

I found that article on it. It paints a scary picture.

[Odysseus]

I had someone argue with me that Al Qaeda was nothing more then a boogeyman name now, it didn't exist anymore in any real capacity.

People out there... just wanna shove their heads in the sand.

To those people, al Qaeda was an intrusion that set back their agenda. The left hated that 9/11 forced them to pretend to be patriots, and provided a Republican administration with a crisis that it didn't use the way that they would have. Democrats don't have a country, just a party.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...ali/?pageNum=2

I found that article on it. It paints a scary picture.

The scariest tactical issue is the proliferation of the portable anti-air missiles. They're designed to bring down fighters, which are a lot faster and better protected than passenger planes. Image a couple of them getting smuggled into the US, and no passenger flight would be safe. They wouldn't even have to deal with airport security, as the range on them is several miles.

The strategic issue is that al Qaeda not only owns a country, but it is strategically located to provide resources to other Islamist movements. Al Qaeda is run by Ayman al Zawahiri, who cut his teeth in the Muslim Brotherhood, which means that al Qaeda is now joined at the hip with the government of Egypt, as well as the new Libyan government and the insurgency in Syria. The secular Arab dictatorships are now in the process of becoming Muslim Brotherhood/al Qaeda states, and the Arab monarchies aren't far behind (Jordan has the beginnings of an insurgency going on right now). The caliphate is coming.

[Starbuck]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...ali/?pageNum=2

I found that article on it. It paints a scary picture.

That's a good article. I urge everyone to read it. The more I learn the afraider I get.

On the other hand I am very sure that CIA and others are getting regular feeds from Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and other places where CIA has planted spies. And I am just as sure that there are spies in Timbuktu and within the ranks of Al Qaeda.

Funny. I have wanted to visit Timbuktu for years, ever since I first learned where it was, and learned its fascinating history. It was once a center of learning, and, later, a place where valuable artifacts could be found. No more. School is over.

[djones520]

That's a good article. I urge everyone to read it. The more I learn the afraider I get.

On the other hand I am very sure that CIA and others are getting regular feeds from Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and other places where CIA has planted spies. And I am just as sure that there are spies in Timbuktu and within the ranks of Al Qaeda.

Funny. I have wanted to visit Timbuktu for years, ever since I first learned where it was, and learned its fascinating history. It was once a center of learning, and, later, a place where valuable artifacts could be found. No more. School is over.

So much history in that part of the world. And these people are trying to destroy it. It's so sad.