B-Man Posted August 1, 2022 Posted August 1, 2022 Hmmmmm. From three weeks ago. What Leadership Type will Succeed Al-Qaeda’s al-Zawahiri? Tricia Bacon, Elizabeth Grimm15 Jul 2022 Questions of succession loom large for al-Qaeda. By most accounts, al-Qaeda leader Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri is alive, but in poor health, and thus questions of succession loom large for the group. This succession—when it occurs—would mark only the second leadership transition for al-Qaeda in its more than 30-year existence. During his time as al-Qaeda’s leader, al-Zawahiri persisted in following the blueprint developed by Usama bin Laden. In so doing, he provided a degree of consistency for the group, which has faced unprecedented counter-terrorism (CT) pressure since 2001. At the same time, his approach to leadership and the CT environment the group faced made it difficult, perhaps impossible, for al-Zawahiri to rejuvenate the beleaguered organisation. Such are the trade-offs of what we call a ‘caretaker leader’. While many have criticised al-Zawahiri’s characteristics as a leader, we argue that rather than focusing on al-Zawahiri or his potential successor’s personality traits, the more critical question to examine is what type of leader al-Zawahiri has been and what type his eventual successor could be. Despite extensive criticism of al-Zawahiri as uncharismatic, fractious [p.256], and overall incompetent [p.47], al-Zawahiri has been a steadfast steward of bin Laden’s legacy for al-Qaeda—leading some to comment that, “if Osama bin Laden were alive today, he’d likely be a happy man.” The al-Qaeda of today has, primarily through its affiliates, expanded geographically, increased its strength in places like Yemen, Syria, and sub-Saharan Africa, and remained a leader within the jihadist community. But al-Qaeda core has experienced significant losses. Though it now enjoys safe haven in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, the US Intelligence Community assesses it lacks the capability to conduct major transnational attacks, a hallmark of al-Qaeda’s approach. https://icct.nl/publication/what-leadership-type-will-succeed-al-qaedas-al-zawahiri/ .
LeviF Posted August 1, 2022 Posted August 1, 2022 Long game. Inflation made his meds too expensive. But sweet, dead terrorists. Take that any day. 1 1
Irv Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 Distraction politics. Don’t fall for it. What a mess. Biden has still failed at everything. 2
BillStime Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 10 minutes ago, Doc said: Joke has now started WWIII! 1
leh-nerd skin-erd Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 2 minutes ago, Tiberius said: You have to worry about fall out from this killing. It’s been said it’s like throwing a stick of dynamite on a tinderbox. Great decision by Biden and the military to take this guy out though. 1
T master Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 14 hours ago, gobilz said: Joe is a killa Yes of a lot more than some are willing to admit to !!
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Tiberius said: Takes a twisted mind to think up these things…
LeviF Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 26 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said: Takes a twisted mind to think up these things… Imagine seeing that thing coming after you. Gonna ***** your pants before you die 100% 1 1
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 8 minutes ago, LeviF said: Imagine seeing that thing coming after you. Gonna ***** your pants before you die 100% Bet you hear the sound of the blades pop out right before impact
sherpa Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 39 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said: Takes a twisted mind to think up these things… On the other hand a reasonable corollary is that it takes a responsible gov/military to spend the money to get this to production. It is basically an airborne assassin aimed to get one person. Far more humanitarian than lobbing artillery shells or cluster bombs, which would kill everything within a football field area. 1 1
Demongyz Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 Love the fact that they got this piece of trash with no collateral damage. Good work Joe!
dpberr Posted August 2, 2022 Posted August 2, 2022 (edited) Hasn't this guy been "confirmed" dead for a decade? He and Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (Saddam's right hand) have died like 10 times. I find it odd as how neat and packaged this appears. They found him in a wealthy suburb of Kabul. The Taliban and al-Qaeda aren't exactly friends. This isn't Pakistani ISI turning a blind eye to bin Laden living in their country. (They knew.) Why would al-Zawahiri be in the open in an unfriendly country that is teeming with foreign intelligence surveillance after spending decades in hiding, and doing a great job of ot? I find it even more unusual he so happened to be standing on a balcony, the perfect spot for a drone strike, where no one else would be harmed. It's just very...neat. On the other hand, the US dropped two 500lb bombs on a single house to kill al-Zarqawi in Iraq, and sent special operations into someone else's country to kill bin Laden. As time has gone on, one of the more uncomfortable realizations I've had as an adult is that 9/11 may not be what we've (American public) been told. Edited August 2, 2022 by dpberr 2
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