Terrorist without honor in their home base

Strategy Page:

In the two countries that Islamic terrorism was born in, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the terrorists are taking a beating. This is good news that doesn't get much attention, but it says much about the future of Islamic terrorism. In Egypt, the majority of the population continues to be turned off by the seemingly random violence of Islamic terrorists. The radical groups continue to survive, partly because of the fact that Palestinian Islamic terrorist groups thrive right next door in Gaza. The Palestinian terrorists are the darlings of the Moslem world because, so far, the Palestinians have concentrated on killing non-Moslems (namely Israelis and Arab Christians).

The main source of Islamic terrorism, Saudi Arabia, has turned on Islamic terrorism with a vengeance. Last week, Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al Suwailmi, the most wanted Islamic terrorist in the kingdom was captured. This happened after al Suwailmi went on a one-man terror spree, killing five policemen in drive-by shootings. This was the only kind of attack al Suwailmi could get together. The Saudis have a posted list of the 36 most wanted Islamic terrorists in Saudi Arabia. But 21 of those are believed to be out of the country (hiding in places like Iraq, Yemen, Europe, Syria or Iran). Of the fifteen terrorists in the kingdom, eight have been killed or captured. This is the second "most wanted" list, consisting largely of second-string al Qaeda operatives. Al Suwailmi, for example, was only 23 years old, and his main activity was propaganda and recruitment.

The first most wanted list, issued two years ago, had 26 men on it. All but one of those has been captured or killed. These men were senior al Qaeda leaders and operatives. The second-string crew have not been able to rebuild al Qaeda's terrorism operations in Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is the source of most Islamic radical rhetoric, money and volunteers. As with Egypt, once Saudis got a taste of Islamic violence, they changed their minds about supporting it.

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One of bin Laden's biggest strategic errors besides his attacks of 9-11, was his attacks in Saudia Arabia. His forces have been attrited and his support base has been substantially reduced. It was a significant blunder.