No Fog of War in Benghazi

By Dr. Earl Tilford

Al Qaeda, a globally arrayed group whose leadership arranges funding, sets training standards to inculcate tactical expertise, and provides the overall vision wrapped around jihad with the ultimate goal of establishing a global Islamist caliphate, continues as an immediate and substantial threat. Its diffuse organizational structure renders it a multiheaded hydra, difficult to decapitate with isolated drone strikes. Largely autonomous local affiliates select and reconnoiter targets, plan and carry out attacks. Osama bin Laden's vision was that al Qaeda be a "message" and not an organization like the Hamas or Hezbollah. Al Qaeda, now under the experienced leadership of Egyptian terrorist Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, exists to inspire the strategic vision. Recent attacks on U.S. embassies in the Islamic world and the coordinated operation against the Benghazi consulate on the night of September 11, 2012, prove al Qaeda is not "on its heels." The original administration claims about the attack on the Benghazi consulate were politically motivated and disingenuous. Even David Petraeus, recently resigned director of the CIA, initially supported the.... (Read Full Article)