“Not only does al Qaeda host Ansar al-Sharia, one of the militias responsible for the Benghazi attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. But U.S. intelligence now assesses that leaders from at least three regional al Qaeda affiliates—al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and members of the organization of Al-Mulathameen Brigade loyal to Algerian terrorist, Mokhtar BelMokhtar—have all established havens in the lawless regions of Libya outside the control of the central government. One U.S. military contractor working on counter-terrorism in Africa summed up the situation in Libya today as simply, “Scumbag Woodstock.” The country has attracted that star-studded roster of notorious terrorists and fanatics seeking to wage war on the West. An American counter-terrorism official used a different metaphor to describe the situation. “Libya today plays host to members and associates of several AQ-allied groups, in some ways becoming a jihadist melting pot,”………………”
An excellent description of them: a melting pot. In most Middle East countries, especially Arab ones, tribal and sectarian identities define a person and define political life (in the few places where there is a political life). The order is: Clan, Tribe, Sect, Religion, Country. In that exact order. Sometimes Ruler or King (or Sisi) is inserted before Country, sometimes they add God at the beginning to make it seem kosher and halal.
They have left their stamp: from New York and the Eastern Seaboard to Iraq and Syria and Libya and Yemen and East Africa and West Africa. Little melting pots are being created with Jihadis converging from almost everywhere in the world (except maybe Latin America, maybe). From tribes and clans and nationalities they gather in certain regions, what I call “target areas of opportunity”. Libya and Syria are the latest, but they will not be the last. Look for other states of “failed’ Arab uprisings and failed African states to host more of them. An interesting, murderous, and dangerous melting pot. Almost like the pirates of the Caribbean of another era.
Cheers
mhg