A Bit More On Khorasan And Al-Qaeda

Link: The Name "Khorasan" A Big Secret?


Here we are talking about the "Khorasan" group again.  Joshua Katz, Managing Partner of "The Enright Group", really rips into the Director of National Intelligence James Klapper, because Klapper revealed the name "Khorasan" Group (see the link).  Like Katz, I also spent a career as an Operations Officer in the CIA and I'm guessing that ninety-nine percent of the time, I agree with Mr. Katz on issues of National Security.  I believe the Obama Administration has politicized the Department of Defense, the CIA, NSA, the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and every other phalange of the federal government.  The priority seems to be to elect Democrats at all costs, and the ends will justify the means.  I have heard Mr. Katz speak before, and he acquits himself very well on matters of National Security.  Which is why this commentary on Foxnews.com is so confusing.

Why was the release of the name "Khorasan" such a heinous error?  Did Klapper put some asset's life in danger?  As I read the link carefully I kept expecting to find some additional information that would have made Klapper's comments worthwhile.  But those details never showed up.  As far as I see it, Klapper announced the existence of a group called "Khorasan", who were active in Syria and were a threat to the United States (Klapper opined that Khorasan was a "greater threat" to the United States than ISIS).  That definition sounds like Al-Qaeda to me, and I already knew Al-Qaeda was present in Syria.  I'm actually grateful to Klapper.  If he hadn't spoken up, I would not have known that the Administration was trying to cloak Al-Qaeda's activities in Syria.  In truth, its all a game of semantics.  Al Nusra Front, Khorasan, Islamic State in the Levant, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Al-Qaeda in my Grandma's Drawers, they are all part of the same enemy.  The sooner we recognize that our foe in Syria and Iraq is not new to the battlefield, the better.  Osama bin-Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be dead, but the hatred they inspired and cultivated is alive and well. Forget all the various names and splinter groups.  The Administration will put forth the narrative that anti-terrorist actions under Obama have decimated Al-Qaeda and reduced the Islamic extremist cause to a handful of squabbling, separately named and motivated groups.

Identifying this enemy is not difficult.  Any groups associated with Al-Qaeda will be Sunni-affiliated.  Although at times Iran has shown a willingness to assist anti-U.S. operations, the recent Islamic State (IS) actions in Iraq have aggravated existing Sunni-Shia tensions.  I would be very surprised to discover a Shia-dominated terrorist movement with Al-Qaeda connections.  Besides the Sunni angle, any Al-Qaeda group will focus its venom almost exclusively on the United States (and occasionally Europe).  Although its leaders enjoy ranting about "international Jewry", Al-Qaeda has yet to conduct any legitimate operations against Israel (or maybe Mossad has disrupted such operations; its possible).  Not surprisingly, Al-Qaeda was not active in Iraq until the U.S. Army arrived.  Also, Al-Qaeda branches will be well-funded. They always seem to have butt-loads of U.S. dollars to throw around.  Personally, I get suspicious of an Al-Qaeda presence every time I see certain well-known Islamic "Charities".

The most distressing fact regarding Al-Qaeda is its resilience.  These assholes are worse than cockroaches. No doubt the Obama Administration believed that once Bin-Laden's bullet-riddled corpse (I just LOVE that phrase) was disrespectfully dumped from a helicopter into the Indian Ocean, that Al-Qaeda would wilt, dry-up and blow away.  It was never a possibility.  Some will argue that the continued presence of Ayman al-Zawahiri (former leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, reportedly a gifted Physician who speaks Arabic, French and English) is the manna which keeps Al-Qaeda alive, but I disagree.  In order to destroy Al-Qaeda, the message of Al-Qaeda must be thoroughly repudiated.  That can only be accomplished by killing (preferred method) or incarcerating every man and woman who were ever part of (or expressed sympathy for) Al-Qaeda.  Its a fight to the death, my friends.  Al-Qaeda can only flourish as long as they can blame the West and the United States for the miserable plight of the Arab people (at times Al-Qaeda will lash out at moderate Arab states, especially the monarchies).  I don't believe the United States or our culture will be disappearing anytime soon, so we are compelled to defend ourselves.  And the best defense is a great offense.  And we are lucky to have heroes like Joshua Katz on our side, to never let us forget.