The New York Times' David Johnston and David Sanger report that a new generation of leaders is emerging for Al Qaeda, with "upper ranks being filled with lower ranking members and more recent recruits," and that "the organization is regenerating and bringing in new blood."
The article highlights the fundamental problem with the current "War on Terror": We will always lose fighting it on the supply side. No matter how many countries we bomb, or sovereign nations we invade and occupy, or prisoners we detain in gulags around the world, there will be thousands of people lining up to do America harm, until we address the demand side.
Based on a recent Zogby poll of Arab views of the United States, it would seem to start with a sensible foreign policy:
"In 2002, the single policy issue that drove opinion was the Palestinians; now it's Iraq and America's treatment, here and abroad, of Arabs and Muslims," said James Zogby, who commissioned the report with the Arab American Institute.posted by dack
In Zogby's 2002 survey, 76 percent of Egyptians had a negative attitude toward the United States, compared with 98 percent this year. In Morocco, 61 percent viewed the country unfavorably in 2002, but in two years, that number has jumped to 88 percent. In Saudi Arabia, such responses rose from 87 percent in 2002 to 94 percent in June. Attitudes were virtually unchanged in Lebanon but improved slightly in the UAE, from 87 percent who said in 2002 that they disliked the United States to 73 percent this year.
Those polled said their opinions were shaped by U.S. policies, rather than by values or culture. When asked: "What is the first thought when you hear 'America'?" respondents overwhelmingly said: "Unfair foreign policy."
And when asked what the United States could do to improve its image in the Arab world, the most frequently provided answers were "Stop supporting Israel" and "Change your Middle East policy."