which is the bigger threat. Radical Islam or China.
Last time it was a question between communism and fascism. The west decided communism and Nazism wreaked havoc. Communism became a threat but it never caused the damage compared to Fascists in the Cold War. Even when choosing between enemies, the better enemy is the more civilized one.

my co-worker's mother makes $83 every hour on the laptop. She has been fired for 6 months but last month her paycheck was $8116 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read more on this web site... makecash16.com

Is it because our so-called political and military leadership have been fighting for
* Peace, justice and the American Way
* So that others can enjoy the democratic freedoms we do
* So that our nation will be secure and our kids can grow up safe

Fill in your own worn buzz words, tropes or John McCainisms. Multiply those by one indifferent president, two misguided ones, a greedy, ambitious general more interested in how the war was being framed to media, a Security Military Complex that has little to no accountability, a once-capable but overburdened Sec.of Defense who wanted only to retire and get the hell away from it all, and a Congress who just don't have the time to pay attention to little things like foreign policy. They'd rather fight each other.

The U.S. had two failed bomb attempts on our soil during the past 15-18 months.One of the attempts was by a U.S. resident with ties to al Qaeda or an offshoot. Both were foiled by average citizens. Our troops were fighting in Afghanistan killing those Taliban "so that our nation could be secure." We know this to be true because of all the press releases issued by Gen. David Petraeus's apparently extensive communications force.

So after a decade of war, just like that, we're done with the Middle East (except for the drumbeats to "get" Iran) and now we're turning to the Asia Pacific Rim. Old Man bin Laden is dead, so we've declared the terrorist threat behind us. Well, no, but ... the truth seems to be that the war in Afghanistan was smoke and mirrors in the first place. Michael Hastings has written a riveting book called "The Operators" which kicks butt and names names, but it probably isn't the definitive book that answers the question: What was the Afghan War about? If al Qaeda is still spreading, popping up around the world, including our homeland, then why are we still in Afghanistan?

I've noticed that the media likes to characterize al Queda in the post-bin Laden age as "remnants."

Which implies what, exactly? That al Queda is defeated? Unable to operate? Unable to recruit?

HP wasn't called a "remnant" corporation by Foreign Policy when Mark Hurd left it. HP, of course, isn't defeated. It isn't unable to operate. It isn't unable to recruit.

al Queda isn't defeated either, though, do you see? It's still operating. It's still recruiting.

There is only one reason for using the term "remnants," and that's to plant an impression in the public's mind that the "war on terror" has in some way succeeded. But absurdly, in this article, this idea of a defeated al Queda - which validates the effort and expense and wars we've poured into defeating it - coexists with dire warnings about easy access by al Queda to the United States for its operations.

Am I the only reader troubled by this breathless self-contradictory analysis?

The muslims who became al-Qaeda were trained in the 1980's by US Army Special Forces soldiers to defeat the Russians in Afghanistan. They learned to recruit, organize, train, and direct islamic insurgents in unconventional warfare. They learned operations and intelligence, light and heavy weapons, demolitions and construction engineering, local and regional communications, advanced first aid to minor surgery, and civil affairs and psychological operations. They learned how to gather and use information to plan effective combat operations. They learned about chain of command to replace lost or captured leaders. They learned how to take apart, reverse engineer, and manufacture their weapons and munitions. They learned how to develop, improve, and test weapons and munitions. They learned how to make and use explosives, including shaped charges, from indigenous materials. They learned to build bunkers that could not be found by aircraft, satellites, or electronic sensors. They learned how to use communications systems without detection or with misdirection of intent in unsecure environments. They learned how to provide medical and economic aid to those from whom they recruited. They learned how to make appeals to specific audiences at specific times and for specific purposes.

The most important training that al-Qaeda learned is how to train other insurgents. Al-Qaeda is a force multiplier. An A detachment of 15 men can train as many as 1,500 troops. Al-Qaeda has about 3,000 members and could train as many as 300,000 insurgents. Al-Qaeda works in many countries where it trains and advises islamic insurgents. Sometimes, the members of al-Qaeda may function as de facto commanders, but most often they train and advise units that already exist.

Qaddafi fought al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (southern Libya and Algeria and northern Mali, Niger, and Chad). The Libyan Rebellion in 2011 forced Qaddafi to move his army north, and part of al-Qaeda moved south through Niger to northern Nigeria to train and advise Boko Haram, an ineffective group that fought with clubs and knives and was easily driven away. Al-Qaeda taught Boko Haram to make and use explosive devices to attack police stations and capture firearms and ammunition. They have launched increasingly successful raids and ambushes, and they have launched coordinated attacks on multiple targets to prevent reinforcement of the main target.

Al-Qaeda's aid for al-Shabab should make that group more effective in unconventional attacks on regular military units in Somalia, especially cutting supply lines for militaries with limited aerial resupply capabilities. In short, al-Qaeda will not take command; it will train, advise, and improve the combat performance of al-Shebab's insurgent units.

Even if Osama Bin Laden has been killed last year it doesn't mean that Al Qaeda
has ceased to be a threat to the Americans. They are still continue with their plans to destroy us and just before being killed, Osama Bin Laden was conspiring about creating another 9-11. Now by merging with another group they will have access to more man power and means to do their plans. The government should think of away to sweep them out of the face of the Earth.