The West Point analysts statistical study of
the al-Qaeda personnel records comes to the
conclusion that one country provided far more
foreign fighters in per capita terms than any
other: namely, Libya.
Furthermore, the records show that the vast
majority of Libyan fighters that included their
hometown in the Sinjar Records resided in the
countrys Northeast.
The contributions of two cities in particular
stand out. One of these has in the last month
become a household name: Benghazi. The second
is precisely Darnah: the city in which, according
to Libyan government sources, an Islamic emirate
was declared when the unrest started in February
and that thereby earned a visit from the New York
Times to prove that it was not so. Darnah lies to
the east of Benghazi, behind the battle lines
created by the furthest advance of Libyan
government forces prior to the announcement
of Thursdays UN Security Council resolution.
While in Darnah, New York Times reporter Anthony
Shadid even spoke with Abdul-Hakim al-Hasadi:
the man who, according to Libyan government
sources, had declared the Islamic emirate. Shadid
found al-Hasadi running Darnahs defenses.
According to Shadids would-be reassuring account
of their conversation, al-Hasadi praises Osama bin
Ladens good points, but denounces the 9/11
attacks on the United States. (One must read
backwards from the introduction of al-Hasadis
name into Shadids narrative to realize that these
quotes come from him.)
A report from Benghazi in the French daily Le
Figaro identifies the same al-Hasadi as the voice
of Libyas Islamists and claims that a transitional
government could only be formed with his approval.
The New York Times or the Obama administration
might remember that the Osama bin Laden whom
al-Hasadi praises has declared war on America.