Third time the jihad charm

General Carter Ham, head of US African command (AFRICOM) sees a growing threat from the disparate jihad groups(all Al-Qaeda ideologues) and rightly worries that the whole of Africa is at risk.  His assessment is spot on, as Al-Qaeda, despite Leon Panettas proclamation that "they are on the ropes"  regroups and coalesces into a serious threat for both Africa and the broader Europe and eventually America.  


Al-Qaeda is a ideology, not a club.  It is not the name that drives those affiliated with it, it is the Qur'an and the behavior of Muhammad which gives life and breath to jihad.  


If Xerox stopped making copiers tomorrow, the copier business would continue unabated.  Al-Qaeda may cease to exist as a name, but the goals will continue unabated, until the world is for Allah alone(8-39).




From AFP/Yahoo September 14

Terror threat 'very worrying' in Africa: US general

Africa must improve security cooperation in battling extremists or face the prospect of a continent-wide terror network threatening the region and the United States, a top US commander warned Wednesday.

General Carter Ham, head of US African command AFRICOM, said countries in North Africa face increasing threats from terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda affiliates who wish to join forces -- as well as from extremists in Libya who might fan out to other locales, bringing a proliferation of weapons and an exodus of people from the war-torn country.

"Al-Qaeda main may be somewhat diminished, but the affiliates, both acknowledged and those who would like to be affiliated, may be gaining in capacity. And that's what I see in Africa and that's what concerns me," Ham told reporters in Washington.

He said three groups form the greatest threat: the Algeria-based Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has claimed numerous terrorist attacks in the region; the militant Shebab operating out of Somalia and East Africa; and Islamist group Boko Haram, blamed for repeated attacks in Nigeria including a bomb blast at UN headquarters in Abuja in August.

"Each of those three independently I think presents a significant threat, not only in the nations in which they primarily operate, but regionally, and I think they present a threat to the United States," Ham said.

The organizations have "very explicitly and publicly" voiced intent to target the West, and while Ham said he questions their capability to do so, "I have no question about their intent to do so."

General Ham, do you know the doctrine which drives AQIM, Al-Shebab and Boko Haram?  Have you read the Qur'an or explored the reasoning these three groups give as to why they are attacking?  If not I suggest you do, otherwise you will be missing the crux of the biscuit and your efforts in Africa will be for naught.

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