There are more members of Al Qaeda in the US than in Afghanistan
Did you know this? I didn’t until Mike Capuano mentioned it during a debate for the US Senate seat in Massachusetts. The number of Al Qaeda members in Afghanistan reportedly hovers around 100. I’m not sure where Capuano is getting his estimate of Al Qaeda within the US borders, but it’s easy to believe that there are more than 100.
If President Obama expects any measurable public support for a troop increase in Afghanistan, he’d better have a good explanation for why our anti-terrorism strategy requires us to fight the Taliban as well as Al Qaeda. Right now the suggestion made by Capuano (and others, I’m sure) to focus on Pakistan rather than Afghanistan sounds pretty compelling.
