Something new in the world of terrorism

There's a very interesting piece on MSNBC today by Richard Engel, regarding a new trend in the world of international terrorism. Engel calls it "Al-Qaeda Franchises", and it's not good news at all.

What he's talking about is exemplified by those Fatah al-Islam jackasses who are currently slugging it out with the Lebanese army in the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp in northern Lebanon. While not technically part of AQ, these morons are clearly "inspired" by Uncle Osama and Friends. Engel compares them to your local McDonalds franchise – locally owned and operated, locally staffed, but supported by marketing, brand recognition, and "secret ingredients" from the Home Office.

The really interesting part is Fatah al-Islam and their ilk, and there's a bunch of such bands of jerkoffs scattered around Lebanon in Palestinian refugee camps and all over the Middle East, are Sunnis, just like Uncle Osama. In Lebanon at least, the strongest non-government force (hell, maybe stronger than the government) is Iranian-backed, ultra-Shiite Hezbollah. Shockingly, the Lebanese government and Hezbollah now have a common enemy. However, Hezbollah honcho Hassan Nasrallah, who may be delusional, psychotic, immoral, and a liar, but is definitely not a dummy, is pulling the "Oh, we'll help, but it's gonna cost you" bit with the Siniora government.

I don't really know what to make of this, but it's interesting (and scary) to see AQ remake itself yet again. It's equally interesting (and scary) to see just how long the Sunni target list is. These clowns are already going head-to-head with the US in Iraq, are spoiling for a fight with Israel (of course), are after most of the fascist Arab governments, and are ready to throw down with Shiites wherever and whenever they can.

Perhaps that's the answer, or part of the answer. Can we successfully get the Sunnis and Shiites to concentrate on beating the crap out of each other? The answer is probably yes, but we'd need to get out of Iraq first, then have Israel lie as low as it can. Those to pre-requisites are unlikely – we're too stuck in Iraq and it's way too late to just admit it was sheer stupidity to get involved there in the first place, and the Israelis can't afford to roll over, no matter what's at stake in the larger picture.

Still, it sure seems like there's something to be leveraged there. The Sunni-Shiite antagonism seems to present opportunities. I've given up on the Bush administration ever having the intelligence to recognize such opportunities or the skill and subtlety required to act on them, but it's something to keep in mind for January 2009 (how effing depressing is that?).

The lesson from Fatah al-Islam and groups like it is probably something along the lines of the adaptability of the fundamentalist Islamic terrorist world. We will never beat these guys with force, and force applied in the wrong place for the wrong reasons only makes them stronger (yes, that is a not too subtle reference to the Iraq boondoggle, henceforth referred to here as "The Single Biggest Foreign Policy Mistake Ever Made By Any Country Ever in the History of Ever" or TSBFPMEMBACEHE). And, thanks in no small part to TSBFPMEMBACEHE, our options stink.