The Huffington Post features some of the 900 plus questions put to Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in an online interview. They range from the impatient to the concerned, sublime to the ridiculous. One thing that strikes the Post is that self-proclaimed AQ supporters are as much in the dark about the terror network’s operations and intentions as Western analysts and intelligence agencies. Here are some of the more interesting questions:
– Why hasn’t al-Qaida attacked the U.S. again, why isn’t it attacking the Israelis and when will it be more active in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria?
– Does al-Qaida have a long-term strategy?
– Should followers be focusing their jihad, or holy war, against Arab regimes, or against Americans?
– Why doesn’t al-Qaida open a front in Egypt, where there are wide opportunities and fertile ground for drawing in mujahedeen?
– What do you expect from us? Should we follow the instruction of the mother organization to target the ‘far enemy’ (America) or do we focus our efforts on the apostate regime (Algeria)? Or do you advise a middle path of striking both enemies?
– We hear a lot about the non-centralization of al-Qaida… is the loss of direct control by al-Qaida’s leadership over the jihadi cells harmful to al-Qaida? … Does al-Qaida intend to try to reassert its control?
– Do you have a body that studies events and reviews them to correct mistakes and assess them?
– I want to travel to join jihad and I sought my mother’s permission, be she would not give it to me… can I go without her permisson?
