Al Qaeda's New Base

...Islamists don't like secularists...

...But while the U.S...

...Above all, the linkup between Iran and al Qaeda supports what could be seen as the core premise of Bush war strategy: the pivotal role of anti-American rogue states—the "axis of evil"—in making it possible for the enemy to accomplish the mass murder of Americans and anyone who stands in the way of bringing this Elements of the U.S...

...This fact, and the nature of the debate surrounding it, was revealed in a thoroughly reported front-page article by Douglas Farah and Dana Priest in the October 14 Washington Post...

...BY JEFFREY BELL AT A TIME when even nuances of Iraq reconstruction policy become flashpoints for bureaucratic infighting, causing competing leaks to spring from almost every precinct of the administration's foreign policy apparatus, the most consequential policy struggle of all is playing out in virtual silence...

...As with other major decision points since 9/11, the current debate is between the aggressive, comprehensive war strategy of the president and some of his top aides, and the cautious, incremental view of many of the military, intelligence, and diplomatic officials responsible for carrying it out...

...All very true, and yet Islamist warriors are today infiltrating into Iraq to fight side-by-side with Baath restorationists...

...One hopes this will happen soon, because what we've learned about al Qaeda's presence in eastern Iran suggests time is in short supply...

...Governments are not terrorist movements...

...Arabs are not Persians...

...Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983...

...Interestingly, the Post reports that the architect of the supposedly shocking link between the Shiite and Sunni wings of Islamism was Hezbollah strongman Imad Mug-niyah, a Lebanese national responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans going back to the bombing of the U.S...

...Surely it is no accident, in the analysis of the Bush White House, that a surge in al Qaeda activity and visibility coincides with its high command obtaining a new, more secure base...

...He views the enemy as implacable, protean, and resourceful, bringing together diverse, seemingly contradictory elements that cross national and sectarian barriers to be united by one thing: hatred of the United States and a desire to weaken decisively our role in the world...

...And what better host could al Qaeda have than a well-armed, well-financed Islamist government racing to obtain the nuclear weapons al Qae-da has never made any secret of wanting to use against America and its friends...

...The argument always had elements of truth: Al Qaeda was somewhat independent of the Taliban, after all...

...Sunnis are not Shi-ites, they point out...

...But it would be at least equally foolish to minimize the danger to these efforts posed by a reconstituted and revitalized al Qaeda, newly headquartered in the Islamist rogue state that sits between Iraq and Afghanistan...

...This information vindicates George W. Bush's analysis of the war on terrorism...

...So, the Saudis pursue diplomatic channels demanding extradition of the al Qaeda commanders, while our State Department delivers protests to Iran's utterly powerless president, Mohammad Khatami...

...So, a central premise of the Bush war strategy is once again front and center...

...At each major decision point since 9/11, the president has pressed for an aggressive, comprehensive view of the enemy and of the moves needed to bring him down...

...These officials tend to see most issues raised by the war as discrete and separable...

...The president has repeatedly argued that the nexus between Islamist terror and potentially nuclear-armed rogue states poses the gravest of all dangers to the American people and their safety...

...It would be foolish, of course, to minimize either the difficulties, or the paramount importance, of bringing peace and self-government to post-invasion Iraq and Afghanistan...

...So, elements of the U.S...

...military and State Department agonized over how soon and how thoroughly to bomb the forward positions of the Taliban's army, and how challenging it was going to be for the Northern Alliance to represent Pash-tun tribal interests in the event of a swift military victory, precious days were wasted and al Qaeda commanders found plenty of time to escape...

...Today, as always, the most effective ally of what could be called "micro" thinking is sheer bureaucratic inertia and risk-averseness...

...Needless to say, these efforts get nowhere, and the excuse given is that the Jerusalem Force, the branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps tasked with sheltering the al Qaeda high command, is said to be somewhat independent of the rest of the Iranian government...

...That is the debate over what to do about the fact that, for the first time since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001, major elements of al Qaeda seem to have acquired a new home...

...Their views have a veneer of expertise and sophistication...

...According to a consensus of American, European, and Arab intelligence officials, the article said, the "upper echelon" of al Qaeda—including a favored older son of Osama bin Laden and the group's de facto secretary of war and secretary of the trea-sury—"is managing the terrorist organization from Iran...

...Around the same time, Saad bin Laden, Osama's son and heir apparent, operating from Iran, was linked to the May 16 bombings that left 45 dead in faraway Casablanca, Morocco...

...What to do...

...Amazingly, this polite, bureaucratic approach is supported by many of the same people who said, more than two years ago, that we needed a polite, bureaucratic approach in Afghanistan...

...government, and of other governments, do not want to hold Iran accountable for allowing al Qaeda to establish a new global headquarters within its borders...

...The intelligence agencies, said the Post, have known about the relocation at least since May, when it was learned that the May 12 Riyadh suicide bombing that killed 35 people, including eight Americans, was conceived, planned, and ordered by high al Qaeda officials in eastern Iran...

...If his past performance is any guide, the president will soon turn up diplomatic, political, and—if necessary—military pressure on the Iranian mullahs to break this nexus...

...How, it is being asked, can we even think about what is happening in eastern Iran when we have our hands full in Iraq and Afghanistan...

...In the end, of course, these interesting but diversionary arguments were swept aside when President Bush ordered a full-scale air bombardment on the Taliban units defending Kabul...

...Jeffrey Bell is a principal of Capital City Partners, a Washington consultingfirm...

...Meanwhile, the State Department is described by the Post as "eager to renew talks with Iran on a variety of issues...

...The address is eastern Iran...

...government do not want to hold Iran accountable for allowing al Qaeda to establish its new headquarters there...