Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Al-Qaida #3 in Algeria Resigns To Spend More Time With His Family

He must be the first living AQ #3 man in captivity.

Actually, I don't know that he was really the #3 man in al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb, since the news accounts of today's announcement by the Algerian Interior Ministry describe Atmane Touati only as "an ideological leader of the Algeria-based affiliate of al-Qaida" who has played a part in the Islamic insurgency against the Algerian regime since the 1990s. Well, that sounds like another #3 to me. Anyway, have you ever heard of an AQ leader in any position lower than the #3 slot?

The Interior Ministry also said that Atmane Touati surrendered after his wife "convinced her husband to abandon the criminal horde and come home." That explanation fools no one in Washington, of course, since we hear pretty much the same story every time the law catches up with one of our office holders. I prefer to think that Touati got tired of scanning the sky all day for unmanned aerial vehicles, and listening all night for the sound of incoming missiles.

4 comments:

A Daring Adventure said...

ROTFL at the title!

And the first sentence.

And the closing sentence.

Ando said...

Being #3 in AQ sounds a bit like being the nephew of a capo - neither are roles conducive for developing a five year plan.

TSB said...

That's an interesting thought: I wonder how many 5 year service pins al-Qaeda has given out ever since Bin Laden created it in 1989? I'll bet just four or five, maybe ten at most.

Ando said...

And yet another nephew is killed...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/30/ignacio-nacho-coronel-top_n_664797.html