Al-Qaida Seeks to Capitalize

Voice of America:

Analysts say al-Qaida appears to be trying to capitalize on the global economic crisis. They say traffic on al-Qaida-linked Web sites indicates terrorist sympathizers see the financial turmoil as punishment for al-Qaida's enemies. VOA's Michael Lipin has this report from Washington.
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Groups that monitor terrorist Internet traffic have seen a flurry of messages on al-Qaida-linked Web sites that gloat over the West's economic difficulties, and urge militants to take advantage.

On one Web site monitored by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, a user says, "now is a golden opportunity. If America is hit now, it will never survive, unless God permits it."

Has America gone soft since the Great Depression and World War II?

On the subject of decline and Al-Qaida, the New York Times reports:

A new study of the global future by American intelligence agencies suggests that Al Qaeda could soon be on the decline, having alienated Muslim supporters with indiscriminate killing and inattention to the practical problems of poverty, unemployment and education.

But that, the agencies say does not mean the U.S. will remain dominant:

The predicted decline of Al Qaeda is one of the few bright spots in the generally gloomy report, which describes a decline in the United States’ world dominance as China, India and other powers assert themselves.

“Although the United States is likely to remain the single most powerful actor, the United States’ relative strength — even in the military realm — will decline and U.S. leverage will become more constrained,” the report said.

By 2025, it predicted, “the U.S. will find itself as one of a number of important actors on the world stage,” playing “a prominent role in global events” but not a decisive one as in the past.

The report said the global shift from West to East in terms of wealth and economic power “is without precedent in modern history.” Of a projected population increase of 1.2 billion worldwide by 2025, Western countries would account for only 3 percent, it said.

“We’re projecting a multipolar world,” C. Thomas Fingar, chairman of the National Intelligence Council and the government’s top intelligence analyst, said Thursday at a briefing on the report. “The unipolar moment is over, or certainly will be over by 2025.”

I'm not sure what's so gloomy about the rest of the world catching up to the U.S. economically, and the U.S. sharing the stage politically.