NEFA Foundation Report: "Core Al-Qaida in 2008: A Review"
By Evan Kohlmann
The NEFA Foundation has released a new report by NEFA Director of Analysis and Research Ronald Sandee titled, "Core Al-Qaida in 2008: A Review." Delivering the Intelligence Community’s annual threat assessment in February 2009, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair noted that, “In Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), al-Qa’ida lost significant parts of its command structure since 2008 in a succession of blows as damaging to the group as any since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.” A few months earlier, then-CIA Director Michael Hayden had also addressed the significant developments impacting core Al-Qaida: “In the past year alone, a number of senior al-Qa’ida leaders who have sought refuge in the tribal areas have died, either by violence or natural causes. These include a chief of external operations, a senior commander who plotted attacks against the coalition in Afghanistan, a seasoned explosives expert and trainer, a veteran combat leader, and a senior operational planner.” This NEFA Foundation Special Report examines, in depth, the notable losses that Al-Qaida suffered in 2008, its efforts to repulse ideological attacks by respected voices in the extremist community, and assesses the organization’s ability to carry out attacks against the West.
The report can be downloaded from the NEFA Foundation website.
