Name:   copperline - Subject:   I thought al Quada was on the run?!?!? Date:   1/19/2013 9:35:13 PM

Al Quaeda hasn’t been defeated, but its centralized command probably has been neutralized to a large degree.   That’s the good news.   The fact that there are groups of people willing to become jihadists all over Africa isn’t such good news.   And while Kaddafi had to go down eventually, the arms that this spilled out of Libya made their way into Mali and Algeria along with the foreign fighters.    This scenario has nothing to do with US policy action or inaction, it’s because of the politics & economics of that part of the world. 

 The US could become very inclined to intervene if all this begins to threaten oil & gas production, but also if the other mineral resources of the region could come under hostile control.  But i hope we don’t, and would think that the Europeans will have to be the tip of this spear.   Their economic interests in Africa are greater than ours.