(Toronto Globe & Mail) - Edward Luttwak The recent attacks in Riyadh and Casablanca have been widely interpreted as evidence that al Qaeda has overcome the loss of its bases in Afghanistan and is once again capable of attacking anywhere. Yet, it is just as likely that the attacks mean only weak fragments of al Qaeda survive. The attacks may show that al Qaeda survives, but they have also evoked much opposition because the victims were mostly Muslim. The Islamist movement in general is in decline, probably because it is now associated with defeat from Afghanistan to Palestine, or at least a persistent failure to win, as in Chechnya and Kashmir. Islam as a faith was originally validated by victory, hence the defeats of the Islamists everywhere imply that they themselves are not favored by God.
2003-05-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive