Counterterrorism Blog

Part of the policy debate over what do to (or what should have been done) about Somalia centers on the question of the relationship between al Qaed and the Islamic Court movement.

Ambassador David Shinn of Georgetown University and many others, have cautioned that the ties of the Islamist movements to al Qaeda have been "overstated." The focus is usually on whether a handful of individuals of the old "core" al Qaeda were being sheltered by the Courts and if so, if that constituted a tie to terrorism.

That is the wrong question. The question that should be asked is not dependent on the presence of specific individuals who have sworn an oath to Osama bin Laden and the old organization of al Qaeda. It is whether the Courts were part of a broader Islamist movement seeking to impose _sharia_ law and create and entirely Muslim enclave that would constitute the beginnings (or the re-beginings) of the Islamist _caliphate_.

The answer in this case is clearly yes. There is a law enforcement interest in knowing if Fazul et al are in Somalia. But there is ample evidence, from their own statements and actions, that the Court leadership that triumphed was a intergral link in the Islamist narrative, woven and rewoven in different conflicts around the globe. My full blog is here.