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The Terror Web

(New Yorker) Lawrence Wright - Gustavo de Aristegui, one of the leaders of the Popular Party in Spain's Basque country and in the Spanish congress, has been preoccupied for many years with the rise of Islamic terror. "Al-Qaeda has four different networks," he says. "First, there is the original network, the one that committed 9/11....Then, there is the ad-hoc terrorist network, consisting of franchise organizations that al-Qaeda created." The third network is more subtle, "a strategic union of like-minded companies." "Hamas is in, or almost in....Bin Laden is trying to tempt Hizballah to join." The fourth network are the "imitators, emulators," ideologically aligned with al-Qaeda but less tied to it financially. "These are the ones who committed [the] Madrid [train bombings]," Aristegui said. Appeasement is a foolish strategy for dealing with al-Qaeda. Last year, many Saudis were stunned when the terrorist group struck Western compounds in Riyadh - shortly after the U.S. had announced that it would withdraw troops from Saudi Arabia, fulfilling one of bin Laden's primary demands. The Saudis now realize that al-Qaeda won't be assuaged until all foreigners are expelled from the Arabian Peninsula and a rigid theocracy has been imposed.
2004-08-19 00:00:00
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