Reporters on the Foggy Bottom beat had a little fun at the expense of State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke when he discussed a UN report linking Ansar al-Sharia to Al Qaeda. Daily Caller: RATHKE: I think the document that the U.N. Security Council has released, it does not connect — these groups are associated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, but they are not arms of the core al-Qaida if you look at the report. So certainly we take these groups seriously, and that’s why we acted eleven months ago to designate them … REPORTER No. 1: So they’re like a second-degree al-Qaida? RATHKE: They are… REPORTER No. 1: They’re the JV team? RATHKE: They’ve been associated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb … REPORTER No. 1: Which in itself is associated with al-Qaida core. RATHKE: It’s an affiliate. But we don’t see them as being subordinate to or a subsidiary of...(Read Full Post)