Wash Post: Al Qaeda Near Collpase

Politico:

The killing of Osama bin Laden and years of drone attacks have left al-Qaeda on the verge of collapse, U.S. counterterrorism officials believe, according to a report Wednesday.

Nearly a decade of fighting against the terror group since Sept. 11, 2001, has left it weakened to the point where the widespread view at the CIA and other U.S. agencies is that a relatively small number of attacks could wipe it out altogether, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

Officials cautioned the Post that al-Qaeda may be able to revive itself and that the terror threat from radicalized individuals and related groups like one in Yemen is now greater than the threat coming from al-Qaeda.

Still, that officials are discussing the possible demise of al-Qaeda reflects a major shift, one that was downplayed before bin Laden’s early May death.

During a visit to Afghanistan earlier this month, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta – the former CIA director – said “we’re within reach of strategically defeating al-Qaeda,” but his remarks were framed by critics as an effort to motivate troops and defend the long war.

But, the Post reported, senior officials from the CIA, the National Counterterrorism Center and other agencies have said the same in closed-door briefings with members of Congress and in classified reports.

“There is a swagger within the community right now for good reason,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, told the Post.

“Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is nowhere near defeat,” he said, referring to the Yemen group. “But when it comes to al-Qaeda [core leadership in Pakistan], we have made the kind of strides that we need to make to be in a position of thinking we can win.”