CHAPTER FOUR: AQ’S CURRENT PLANS AND THEATRES OF OPERATION
This chapter explores the current plans of AQ. To this end, it argues that the organisation might be planning to use either AQ in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) or al Nusra to carry out a terror attack in the West. With the increased movement of youthful fighters from the West to Syria and Iraq, it is highly likely that these could be part of the AQ plan to launch an attack in the West. The chapter also explores the theatres of operation available to AQ; and to this end, the argument is that all civil war contexts and nations where there are potential conflicts are likely to become the next theatres of operation for AQ.
Current Plans of the Original AQ Leadership
The operations of AQ as an organisation are largely secretive. The planning and execution of attacks are even more secretive aspects of AQ which hardly come to the limelight except on very rare occasions (Al-Bahri, 2013). With the US led ‘War on Terror’ succeeding …show more content…
There is a possibility that AQ is still recruiting volunteers that can attempt to carry out a large-scale terror attack on the US or its interest in general and especially US flights. This threat has not been totally thwarted and is a possibility (Jenkins, 2015). Currently, the al Nusra is also likely to be used by the original AQ leadership to attempt attacks in the US through the use of foreign-based fighters. Given the large number of fighters from the West who have gone to fight the jihad war in Syria and Iraq (Gray, 2015), it is only natural to expect that AQ might be planning to make use of these fighters, upon their return to their home countries in the West, to launch spectacular attacks there. Therefore, the issue of homegrown terrorists, and those returning from the war front in the Middle East, ought to be given priority by the
This chapter explores the current plans of AQ. To this end, it argues that the organisation might be planning to use either AQ in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) or al Nusra to carry out a terror attack in the West. With the increased movement of youthful fighters from the West to Syria and Iraq, it is highly likely that these could be part of the AQ plan to launch an attack in the West. The chapter also explores the theatres of operation available to AQ; and to this end, the argument is that all civil war contexts and nations where there are potential conflicts are likely to become the next theatres of operation for AQ.
Current Plans of the Original AQ Leadership
The operations of AQ as an organisation are largely secretive. The planning and execution of attacks are even more secretive aspects of AQ which hardly come to the limelight except on very rare occasions (Al-Bahri, 2013). With the US led ‘War on Terror’ succeeding …show more content…
There is a possibility that AQ is still recruiting volunteers that can attempt to carry out a large-scale terror attack on the US or its interest in general and especially US flights. This threat has not been totally thwarted and is a possibility (Jenkins, 2015). Currently, the al Nusra is also likely to be used by the original AQ leadership to attempt attacks in the US through the use of foreign-based fighters. Given the large number of fighters from the West who have gone to fight the jihad war in Syria and Iraq (Gray, 2015), it is only natural to expect that AQ might be planning to make use of these fighters, upon their return to their home countries in the West, to launch spectacular attacks there. Therefore, the issue of homegrown terrorists, and those returning from the war front in the Middle East, ought to be given priority by the