Is 'core al Qaeda' defeated? Yes. Move on.

OK, I admit that Obama's term "core al Qaeda" is kind of dumb. Obama's trying to simplify in a few words what is actually more complicated, and the result of a years-long campaign of assassination and arrest by the U.S. Military to "decimate" and destroy al Qaeda.

By the way, we hear that word a lot from politicians and the press: "al Qaeda has been decimated."  Google it and see.  Literally, decimated means a tenth of the organization has been destroyed.  In fact it's more like the other way around, more like nine-tenths, but who's counting?  And al Qaeda certainly hasn't helped itself, recruitment-wise, since about 85 percent of those it has killed worldwide were Muslims.

But Marc Thiessen's parsing the term "core al Qaeda" to death is even worse than Obama's oversimplification, and makes us dumber.

Thiessen's whole argument boils down to this: because bin Laden's #2 and his personal secretary are still alive, Obama cannot say that "core al Qaeda" has been defeated... and -- here's the kicker -- ipso facto, we must continue the gargantuan global war on terror with no end.

Two guys.

Two dudes.

And only one of them is "senior," reminded us al Qaeda expert Peter Bergen. Regardless, I don't care if those two guys are as senior as Cobra Commander and Zombie Hitler, when there are two guys left on the other side, you've won. Finito.

In fact Thiessen may have been low-balling just a bit. The BBC just ran an article saying there are about 10 "prominent" al Qaeda members left in places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen and Egypt.  So excuse me.  Ten dudes, not two.  By all means, to stop 10 dudes, we must continue the Global War on Terrorism.

Sheesh.  Gimme a break.  Give us a break.  Give our poor, brave troops a break. And give the U.S. Constitution a break, since it's being torn up to fight this stupid non-war.

‘Core al-Qaeda’ is not defeated

By Marc A. Thiessen

August 7, 2013 | Bezos Post

URL: http://wapo.st/15amuNz

Rush: 'Don't trust Obama!'...'It's too bad people distrust Obama'

Here's the end of a very long rant by Rush Limbaugh today about Obama's order to close 21 embassies in the Middle East and Africa:

But there's another aspect of this that's dangerous. 

The very fact that there are so many people who are cynical about this, the very fact that there are so many Americans who think they're being lied to about a terror threat, is a really dangerous thing.  It is an unhealthy thing for the country.  It is the surest sign of the wanton lack of respect for this country that has swept all across this country.  This threat may be real.  Everything we're being told could be real.  We could be facing something somewhere as bad or worse than 9/11 -- and I dare say, the majority of Americans think it's a lie. 

What does that tell you that what most Americans think of the people who are telling them about this threat? 

They're liars, too. 

Before I comment on that, here's part of a WaPo op-ed by conservative pundit and NSA-spying defender Marc Thiessen that says basically the same thing:

When President Obama dismisses the IRS’ political targeting of his conservative critics as a “phony scandal,” he is not only stretching credulity — he is undermining our nation’s security.

[...] That collapse is a direct result of the disintegration in public trust that has taken place on Obama’s watch. 

Why are Limbaugh and Thiessen both full of shit?

Because they, and the rest of the GOP and talk radio Axis of Evil, spend all day, every day, seeking to undermine the public's trust in Obama, asserting day after day that he hates America, he's a secret socialist, he persecutes Tea Partyers, and on and on.  Then these same scaremongers turn around and bemoan the public's (alleged) lack of trust in Obama when it comes to national security.

The nerve of these self-serving jerks!  ... The same jerks who urged us to rally 'round the flag in the Dubya years, no matter what we thought of him or his foreign policies -- they've never once rallied to Obama.  Hypocrites. We should have nothing but contempt for them.

UPDATE (08.07.2013):  Speaking of hypocrites, why no mention from the Right about how Tom Ridge admitted he was pressured to raise the terror threat level for Dubya just before the 2004 presidential election?