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"Al Qaeda's Growing Sanctuary," by Douglas Farah and Richard Shultz, Washington Post, 14 July, p. A19.
Opening para says it all:
With the end of the brutal conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone, West Africa is seldom in the news or on the policy agenda these days. Yet the region is quietly gaining recognition as what it has long been: a haven for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Weak and corrupt governments, vast, virtually stateless stretches awash in weapons, and impoverished, largely Muslim populations make the region as ideal sanctuary.
This is what I said in Rolling Stone last month:
Weíre going to end up replicating the struggle again and again. Like spraying the cockroaches in one apartment and scattering them to the nextóweíre driving terrorists to the next country over. Sort of like rooting out old Japanese warriors on some isolated Pacific island twenty years after World War II, weíre going to be killing off the last of these guys years from now in deepest, darkest Africa.
I say this every chance I get with military leaders: our success in the Middle East only sets the table for the next stage in Africaóget used to the idea now.
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