Should we destroy Al Qaeda?

[Dayuhan]

"What specific groups are we discussing here?"

Every group that has an "AQ" added as a prefix is made up on nationalist insurgents that have bought into the AQ message and franchise.

Specifically, who? It would be easier to address the point if we named some of the actual groups we're concerned with.

These groups in turn have roots that reach into the perceptions of poor governance and western manipulation within the respective populaces they emerge from. Help those populaces address their reasonable concerns, target and manage those perceptions,

How do we do that without interfering in the internal affairs of other nations... recalling as we go that foreign interference in the internal affairs of Muslim nations fuels AQ more than anything else?

Sure, they specifically want to depose the Saudi family and specifically want to humble the US, but all of that also contributes to a larger goal of leading and leveraging the distinct quests for liberty among a wide range of oppressed Muslim populaces across the Arab world.

They have that goal, yes, but they've never come close to success: AQ has not been able to successfully leverage quests for liberty from domestic oppression. They have been able to successfully leverage resentment at foreign intervention in Muslim lands. If we want to reduce AQ's influence we have to address the factors and the narratives that they have been able to successfully leverage, not the ones that they have never had success with. AQ may have tried to appoint themselves champion of populaces fighting domestic oppression, but they have not succeeded. Neither would we. They have succeeded in rallying support for the defence of Muslim land against foreign invasion, and of course we've given them plenty of that.

Now, if AQ ends up in some sort of leadership role over all of these liberated states in a union that somehow does conform to traditional "Caliphates" of eras past, then no, I do not think there will be much "liberty" in that for the affected populaces.

I don't think so either, but it's too remote a prospect to be worrying much about.

But I do believe that a regional liberty from western influence and western supported oppression is very much a part of their platform.

Possibly part of their platform... but again, the only platform that's really worked for them involves resistance to foreign military intervention. I don't see that we need to worry about every part of their platform. We'd be better off concerning ourselves with the platform that has actually worked for them.

For years Saudi-based charities, who draw contributions from across the populace base, have supported this movement. Every liberty-seeking movement is typically such, where the vast majority of the base of support is largely passive and beneath the surface. One can only assess the size of that base by other indicators.

What movement are we talking about here, and what has it to do with seeking liberty? Saudi charities have certainly supported the spread of Wahhabi Islam abroad, and have certainly supported AQ's jihad against foreign intervention in Muslim lands. They've been a lot less engaged in supporting domestic action against Arab governments.

Once again, it seems to me that you're conflating AQ's fight against foreign military intervention with domestic resistance to authoritarian government in the Arab world to a greater extent than is supported by evidence.