James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, testified on Wednesday that he can’t say that the threat from al-Qaeda “is any less” today than it was in 2001. However, only a year ago President Obama said that al-Qaeda was only “a shadow of its former self.”
“Listen to how the language has changed,” George Will said on Special Report. Whereas last year Obama described an al-Qaeda on the run, in Tuesday’s State of the Union the president said, “We put al-Qaeda’s core leadership on a path to defeat.” With al-Qaeda gaining in strength in much of the Middle East, Will questioned what exactly ‘core’ means.
“It turns out that the devil is in the adjective, ‘core’ leadership,” Will said, “and the more they use it the less informative this gets.”
I wrote a comment that my computer ate….or something.
Anyway.
A State Dept spokeswoman, Ms Marie Harf made the silly claim that there was only one living ”core” al Qaeda member, namely Ayman al Zawahiri.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2014/01/220560.htm#COUNTERTERRORISM
Her ignorance showed she lacked information from her own State Dept http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/05/209499.htm
as well as the US Treasury Department http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2249.aspx
From those sources it is pretty clear (crystal) that there are MANY core members of al Qaeda.
These men lead groups that look to Zawahiri for dispute resolution, guidance, money and even recruits.
The fact is, Obama has droned to death many jihadists who fell short of the title ”core” al Qaeda.
But killing them was necessary to protect America and American interests abroad.
It would be good if he killed every one of al Qaeda, core or not.
the CORE of ALQUAEDA is they are running toward here,
they are across the border already, in the drug business,