Mshari Al-Zaydi, writing in Asharq Alawsat, condemns the Arab and Muslim intellectuals who will go through contortions of logic to find justification for terrorism. He points out that these intellectuals—secular as well as Islamist—spend so much time buried in the snares of conspiracy theories that they lose sight of the fact that terrorism is being committed in the name of Islam and has nothing to do with the presence or dearth of democracy. It’s a strong piece, worth reading.

The Market of Delusions Still Exists!
Mshari Al-Zaydi

In a matter of days, fundamentalist terrorism erupted in Pakistan, Yemen

and Mauritania to remind all those who had forgotten and to inform all those are unaware that the war is still at its strongest, and that it would not be rational or the correct to believe that the “cautious calm” of the past two years (to borrow from the Lebanese civil war terminology) is an indication that the battle is over, or even close to ending.

Each battlefield has its own unique characteristics; in Pakistan, Al Qaeda attacked a major hotel killing dozens of people. This time, Al Qaeda used the title ‘Pakistani Taliban’ and the pretext for the attack was revenge for Pakistani military operations conducted against Al Qaeda in the tribal areas of the country.

In Yemen, Al Qaeda attacked the US embassy, killing many ordinary Yemenis, including, ironically, a young American-Yemeni woman who was related to Jaber Elbaneh, a wanted member of Al Qaeda in Yemen. This young woman headed to Yemen from America to get married. Before the attack, the group demanded that members and leaders of Al Qaeda held by the Yemeni security forces be released.

As for the attack in Mauritania, eleven soldiers were slaughtered in the desert by members of Al Qaeda in retaliation for Mauritanian security operations against them.
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