President Obama's Secret: Only 100 al Qaeda Now in
With New Surge, One Thousand
By RICHARD ESPOSITO, MATTHEW COLE and BRIAN
December 03, 2009 "ABC News" - Dec. 2, 2009 — As he justified sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan at a cost of $30 billion a year, President Barack Obama's description Tuesday of the al Qaeda "cancer" in that country left out one key fact: U.S. intelligence officials have concluded there are only about 100 al Qaeda fighters in the entire country.
A senior
President Obama made only a vague reference to the size of the al Qaeda presence in his speech at West Point, when he said, "al Qaeda has not reemerged in Afghanistan in the same number as before 9/11, but they retain their safe havens along the border."
A spokesperson at the White House's National Security Council, Chris Hensman, said he could not comment on intelligence matters.
Obama's National Security Adviser, Gen. James Jones, put the number at "fewer than a hundred" in an October interview with CNN.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., referred to the number at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee in October, saying "intelligence says about a hundred al Qaeda in
As the President acknowledged, al Qaeda now operates from
Intelligence officials estimate there are several hundred al Qaeda fighters just across the border in
An Obama administration official said the additional troops were needed in
"Pakistan has been stepping up its efforts," the official said.
"So the real question is will
"What if they take all the money we given them but don't really follow through? What the strategy then?" said Clarke.
With 100,000 troops in
al Qaeda's Ideological Influence
Other counter-terror analysts say the actual number of al Qaeda in
"A hundred 'no foolin' al Qaeda operatives operating in a safe haven can do a hell of a lot of damage," said one former intelligence official with significant past experience in the region.
At a Senate hearing, the former
"So in terms of 'in
"That's true," replied Grenier.
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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24105.htm
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