Shifting al-Qaeda Alliances Prove Ominous for US Interests

Scott Erickson / November 29, 2010

The recent attempts to explode packages aboard U.S.-bound airliners, linked to elements within the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), underscore the perpetual danger posed by radical Islamists and their ideological brethren.

Not relegated solely to attacks against Western interests, AQAP has leveled a series of regional attacks aimed at local government and civilian populations, most recently an attack aimed at a procession of Shiite worshipers that killed dozens.

These dual attacks, and the divergent nature of their respective targets, illustrates the global threat that now often defines terrorist organizations whose interests once ostensibly revolved around regional disputes. (more…)