Al-Qa’ida – An Expanded Global Network of Terror
Jun 2005, Vol. 150, No. 3
By Magnus Ranstorp
The Al-Qa’ida ‘classic’ – i.e., the original core leadership – have shown a remarkable degree of adaptation in the face of adversity, burrowing itself into the deep tribal underground in the Afghan hinterland or within the dense urban fabric of Pakistani mega-cities or across the Arab world. There they have gradually regrouped and remain secretly concealed to act periodically as a clarion for the broader salafist jihadist movement, amplifying the violence skilfully through calibrated psychological warfare. In the underground, key operational planners can patiently assess damage to its infrastructure, weaknesses in our security architecture and put in motion the multi-year operational strands for the next large strategic attack principally directed against the ‘far enemy’. For these core Al-Qa’ida operatives, strategy drives tactics as they pursue operational planning for spectacular and complex mass casualty events with directives that are initiated top-down and through its regional hubs and affiliates.
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By Magnus Ranstorp
The Al-Qa’ida ‘classic’ – i.e., the original core leadership – have shown a remarkable degree of adaptation in the face of adversity, burrowing itself into the deep tribal underground in the Afghan hinterland or within the dense urban fabric of Pakistani mega-cities or across the Arab world. There they have gradually regrouped and remain secretly concealed to act periodically as a clarion for the broader salafist jihadist movement, amplifying the violence skilfully through calibrated psychological warfare. In the underground, key operational planners can patiently assess damage to its infrastructure, weaknesses in our security architecture and put in motion the multi-year operational strands for the next large strategic attack principally directed against the ‘far enemy’. For these core Al-Qa’ida operatives, strategy drives tactics as they pursue operational planning for spectacular and complex mass casualty events with directives that are initiated top-down and through its regional hubs and affiliates.
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