by Dore Gold
The killing of U.S.
Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on
Sept. 11, 2012 has become the focus of heated political exchanges in
the U.S. and even appeared prominently in the presidential debates
between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. But the events
in Benghazi are extremely important to understand beyond their impact on
American internal politics. For the attack on the U.S. diplomatic
compound highlighted many unanticipated developments in Libya that were a
direct outgrowth of the fall of its former ruler, Muammar Gadhafi.
Even before the attack
on the U.S. compound, according to an Oct. 2, 2012 report in The
Washington Post, the White House held a series of secret meetings that
came out of a growing concern that "al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb"
(AQIM) was gaining strength after it took control of the northern parts
of the African state of Mali, where it created a new Afghan-like
sanctuary. In the last year it has begun to spread its influence across
the Sahara. AQIM's weaponry came from post-Gadhafi Libya, whose arsenal
was boosting the arms trade from Morocco to Sinai. Israeli sources have
noted that Libyan weapons, including shoulder-fired SA-7 anti-aircraft
missiles, were also reaching the Gaza Strip, where one was fired last
week at an Israeli helicopter for the first time.
Moreover, it was
unveiled at the end of September by journalist Eli Lake that a U.S.
government study this past August reported how the leadership of
al-Qaida in Pakistan dispatched senior commanders to North Africa to
help build its new network there. This is a pattern found elsewhere. Two
Palestinian Salafists targeted by the IDF on Oct. 13 were part of an
effort to reorganize and strengthen al-Qaida networks in the Gaza Strip;
one of them was linked to jihadi networks in Egypt and Jordan, and had
fought with al-Qaida in Iraq. These same networks are building up their
capacity to operate from Sinai, in particular.
While only a small
number of AQIM combatants were involved in the attack on the U.S.
mission in Benghazi, within hours U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted
communications between members of Ansar al-Sharia, the main Libyan
militia behind the operation, and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. When
the Libyan revolution began in 2011, the flag of al-Qaida was raised
over the courthouse in Benghazi, indicating that elements identifying
with al-Qaida were present right from the start. After the attack on the
mission the black flag of al-Qaida was raised again. The rise of these
radical elements in eastern Libya should not have come as a surprise.
When the U.S. Army
investigated where the foreign fighters in Iraq came from during 2007,
they discovered that while the largest contingent were Saudis, Libyans
were the second largest group. The vast majority of the Libyan
volunteers in Iraq came from two towns in eastern Libya: Darnah and
Benghazi. The current Libyan government just pointed out that the head
of Ansar al-Shariah, Ahmed Abu Khattala, commanded the Benghazi attack.
Like other Libyan jihadists, he was let out of prison by the interim
Libyan government after Gadhafi fell, though he refused to renounce
violence. He apparently based himself in the Benghazi area.
Bruce Reidel, who was
one of the top Middle East analysts in the CIA and later served in
former president Bill Clinton's National Security Council, wrote already
on July 30, 2012 that what was happening in Libya and across the Middle
East was nothing less than a comeback for al-Qaida, which had created
"its largest safe havens and operational bases in more than a decade
across the Arab world." He specifically pointed to AQIM, which he said
was now "the best armed al-Qaida franchise in the world."
Thus AQIM is on the
rise. The commander of the U.S. Army's African command said this July
that it was al-Qaida's "wealthiest affiliate." The new AQIM network has
been at war with Mauritania, but it also directly threatens Algeria,
Morocco, Tunisia and whatever government arises in Libya. Their
operatives have been caught in Spain and will eventually pose a threat
to France and Western Europe. Given this background, it is
understandable how Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, who headed the U.S. security
assistance team in Libya, could conclude in recent Congressional
testimony about al-Qaida in Libya: "Their presence grows every day. They
are certainly more established than we are."
While the debate rages
in America over whether there was a cover-up of what actually happened
in the U.S. compound in Benghazi, there are important trends being
missed. There are considerable signs that al-Qaida elements are on the
rise in much of the Middle East, and especially in the area of Benghazi
in eastern Libya. Indeed, in the first half of 2012, attacks on
foreigners in Benghazi escalated: The British ambassador's convoy was
assaulted in June by terrorists who used rocket propelled grenades.
Al-Qaida has techniques
which it has used to build up its capabilities through local jihadi
organizations. These groups, which identify with aspects of its
ideology, start out as local militias in the Gaza Strip or in Libya, but
nonetheless come into contact with global jihadi networks which provide
weapons, combat skills, and finally recruit them into the al-Qaida
network. Clearly what happened in Libya did not stay a local phenomenon
but radiated out to the entire region and beyond.
Dore Gold
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=2718
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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