Progress in the War on TerrorMike Rappaport

This article in the London Times, via Instapundit, is quite powerful. The first two thirds gets the progress exactly right.  The West has greatly diminished the ability of Al Qaeda to attack through its actions in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The first three years in Iraq involved massive incompetence, but the last two have been much improved. 

The last third of the article is a surprise to me -- that Muslims have started to reject the extremists.  I hope it is correct.  (It relies in part on an article by Lawrence Wright, whose book The Looming Tower, is fantastic.  I am now reading it and will have more to say when I am finished.  For now, let me say, that it is indispensable.)   While the article suggests that the Muslims have rejected the extremists because of they have recognized the latter's evil, I am not so sure this is the principal reason.  Instead, it may be that Al Qaeda has been on the run and failure by that group makes them a much less attractive organization. 

Wright's book makes clear how much of the appeal of Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups is based on the perceived humiliation of many Muslim men at the hands of the West.  In an honor society, like traditional Islam, humiliation is horrible.  If Al Qaeda seems like it might be successful, it will be irresistable to those who are seeking to restore their honor.  If it is being beaten, then it loses its appeal.

Comments

[dearieme]

"The West has greatly diminished the ability of Al Qaeda to attack through its actions in Afghanistan and Iraq." Oh well, half right is better than all wrong.

[Mike Rappaport]

The success in Iraq due to the surge has harmed Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been decimatated,and it was filled with people who would have fought in other places. The surge also shows that effectiveness of the US. When it wins wars, it harms Al-Qaeda. If the US withdraws from Iraq, as per the conservative nightmare of what Obama would do if he is elected (read Viet Nam withdrawal), that would empower Al-Qaeda. (By the way, I am not so sure that Obama will actually withdraw the troops.)

[josil]

On the authority of the New York Times, the success in Iraq is either illusory or due to luck.