Is Al Qaeda Changing Strategies?

By Douglas Farah

Al Qaeda (meaning the core group led by bin Laden) seems to be adjusting its strategy in the wake of the relative success of Hezbollah in its recent war with Israel. Rather than letting Hezbollah and Shi'ite groups operate there alone with such greatly enhanced stature, the core al Qaeda leadership is working hard to regroup with an eye toward moving into more direct attacks on Israel and corrupt Islamic regimes.

The al Qaeda leadership appears to be concerned that Hezbollah's ability to frontally attack the "Great Satan" of Israel and not only survive, but prosper politically around the Arab world, will undermine al Qaeda's standing and that of its leadership.

As the Asia Times reports, the recent decision by Pakistan to negotiate a truce with the Taliban in several provinces has helped faciliate this by unblocking the flow of money to bin Laden and his network. While the Taliban may not be militarily active in those regions, in technical compliance with the terms of the agreement, the cessation of hostilities has made it far easier for bin Laden to regain his financial footing and project control further than he has been able to in some time. In fact, this consolidation has been going on for several months, taking advantage of the easing of Pakistani pressure during the negotiating process. My full blog is here.

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