[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ds-1col clearfix\u0022\u003E\n\n  \n\n  \n  \u003Cp\u003ELike its parent organization and other affiliates, AQIM is not immune from the media debate over whether it has been defeated or is resurgent. In February 2014, McClatchy asked, \u201cIs the U.S. Powerless to Stop the Spread of Al Qaeda?\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EJames Rosen, \u201cIs the U.S. Powerless to Stop the Spread of Al Qaeda?\u201d McClatchy DC, February 10, 2014, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2014\/02\/10\/217374\/is-the-us-powerless-to-stop-the.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2014\/02\/10\/217374\/is-the-us-powerless-to-stop-the.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E The article ominously noted that the \u201cblack flag of al Qaida flies in Fallujah, the group and its offshoots are spreading across the Middle East and Africa, and their fighters are battling for control of cities not only in Iraq but also in Syria, Lebanon and beyond.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EJames Rosen, \u201cIs the U.S. Powerless to Stop the Spread of Al Qaeda?\u201d McClatchy DC, February 10, 2014, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2014\/02\/10\/217374\/is-the-us-powerless-to-stop-the.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2014\/02\/10\/217374\/is-the-us-powerless-to-stop-the.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E The outlet quoted U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, who bluntly stated, \u201cHarbor no illusions: Al Qaida is not on its heels or even on the run\u2026 Their operations in Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and large portions of Africa indicate that al Qaida is alive and well\u2026\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EJames Rosen, \u201cIs the U.S. Powerless to Stop the Spread of Al Qaeda?\u201d McClatchy DC, February 10, 2014, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2014\/02\/10\/217374\/is-the-us-powerless-to-stop-the.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2014\/02\/10\/217374\/is-the-us-powerless-to-stop-the.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EYet by late April 2014, the\u003Cem\u003E New York Times\u003C\/em\u003E\u2019 Adam Nossiter asked, \u201cIs Al Qaeda\u2019s regional affiliate in West Africa dead, at least for now?\u201d Nossiter pointed to the deaths of \u201cmore than 40[AQIM] jihadists in Mali\u201d since March 2014, including Mokhtar Belmokhtar\u2019s father-in-law, as well as the fact that \u201cjihadists have not pulled off any significant attacks in nearly a year\u2026Many of their arms caches have been destroyed.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EAdam Nossiter, \u201cKeeping Al Qaeda\u2019s West African Unit on the Run,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, April 29, 2014, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/04\/30\/world\/africa\/keeping-al-qaedas-west-african-unit-on-the-run.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/04\/30\/world\/africa\/keeping-al-qaedas-west-african-unit-on-the-run.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E Nossiter quoted a Western defense official who said, \u201cTheir offensive capabilities have been seriously harmed. Their leaders have been neutralized, their logistics have been damaged\u2026this is not the AQIM of one year ago.\u201d That analysis led Nossiter to conclude, \u201cSo the group that terrorized half a country, northern Mali\u2026has been reduced to a pale remnant of its former self. It is no longer the pre-eminent threat to fragile states in West Africa\u2019s Sahel region\u2026\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EAdam Nossiter, \u201cKeeping Al Qaeda\u2019s West African Unit on the Run,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, April 29, 2014, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/04\/30\/world\/africa\/keeping-al-qaedas-west-african-unit-on-the-run.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/04\/30\/world\/africa\/keeping-al-qaedas-west-african-unit-on-the-run.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESimilarly reporting AQIM\u2019s death-knell militarily in late April, the Associated Press pointed out that AQIM had been so devastated by France\u2019s air strikes that it was \u201ctrying something new to stay relevant: Twitter.\u201d According to the network, the group\u2019s PR campaign \u201caims to allow [AQIM] to move the fight at least partly off the battlefield by appealing to widespread concerns, such as the repression and a sense of injustice that galvanized the Arab Spring revolts.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E\u201cStruggling Al Qaeda Offshoot Using Twitter to Spread Message,\u201d Associated Press, April 23, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/2013\/04\/23\/struggling-al-qaeda-offshoot-using-twitter-to-spread-message\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/2013\/04\/23\/struggling-al-qaeda-offshoot-using-twitter-to-spread-message\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA CNN article similarly downplays the threat played by AQIM, referring to them as a \u201ca small splinter group of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate prone to disunity.\u201d CNN also alluded to al-Qaeda\u0027s message and draw being seemingly outdated in the rise of ISIS, \u201cIt is not the first\u2014and likely will not be the last\u2014jihadist outfit to quit al-Qaeda for the millenarian message of al-Baghdadi.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n","dialogOptions":{"minWidth":850,"resizable":true,"modal":true,"title":"AQIM Defeated or Resurgent"}},{"command":"doFootnotes"}]