ASSESSING THE TROOPS: AL QAEDA VS. AMERICA

"... there are currently about 100 al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, as well as "several hundred" in Pakistan and... a similar number in Yemen. Members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Algeria, Mali and Mauritania) and those based in Somalia undoubtedly fall into the same category at several hundred each.... al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia never had more than 1,300-4,000 active fighters... Combined, these groups ... add up to perhaps 2,100 fighters... Members have access to rocket-propelled grenades, small arms of various sorts, the materials for making deadly roadside bombs, car bombs, and of course underwear bombs..."

"The US military has spent about $1 trillion on its post-9/11 wars so far. It has an army, a navy, an air force and a marine corps... trillions of dollars in weapons, materiel and other assets... spy satellites, advanced fighter planes and bombers, high-tech drones and helicopters, fleets of trucks, tanks and other armored vehicles... advanced missiles and smart bombs, aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and state-of-the-art ships... In addition, the US military has... approximately 1.4 million active duty men and women under arms and another 1.3 million reserve personnel. It employs more than 700,000 civilians in support roles... and utilizes untold tens of thousands of private security contractors... The active duty US military alone enjoys a 666:1 advantage over the estimated number of al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Somalia..."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LA16Df02.html


"What does it say about Washington's ''war on terror'' that dozen and a half people with paper cutters forced hundreds of thousands of Western troops into the battlefields of the "greater Middle East" region;
That 100,000 foreign soldiers are bogged down in occupied Afghanistan wondering how many dozens of al-Qaeda operatives have remained, if any;
That the most liberal democracy enacted new controversial illiberal laws and unpatriotic practices under its "Patriot Act";
That one shoe-bomber has forced millions of people to take off their shoes every time they take a flight;
That one underpants-bomber will expose every other traveler in most humiliating of ways;
That after US loss of deterrence and prestige as well as trillions of dollars of military and other expenditures, al-Qaeda's top leadership remains at large; its bases/cells proliferate globally; that volunteers continue to flock into its ranks and young supporters to its websites… (and) that it continues to terrorize America and Americans.
So much that one gets the impression that America is fighting a world superpower despite the incredible disparities in capacity, numbers and support.
Is al-Qaeda winning? Has the United States lost?"
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/imperium/2010/01/14/al-qaeda-winning