webofevil | (no subject)

A high-ranking al-Qaeda operative has been captured in Pakistan. The US administration, intent on portraying al-Qaeda as some kind of rigid corporate structure (though whether that's to keep things simple for the general public or for themselves is anyone's guess), are saying he's "Number 3 in the organisation".

He was captured by Pakistani security service (ISI) agents, most of whom appear to have been wearing the ultimate disguise: a burqa. If this tactic becomes widespread in capturing Islamic radicals, do you think we might see a change of heart among Islamist ideologues about the desirability of imposing a style of dress on half the population that entirely obscures the wearer's identity?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If they're going to try to use the metaphor of Al Quaeda as a business, they should at least apply it to the lower ranks. I'd like to here that they'd captured two marketing executives and an admin assistant, with the acting HR director killed in a shootout.

Now "some European intelligence experts have now said Mr Libbi was not al-Qaeda's third in command as claimed but only a middle-ranking operative". (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4528957.stm) What? Not third in command? In an almost entirely non-hierarchical organisation that itself is scarcely an organisation? How can this possibly be?