Some have speculated that the al-Qaeda terror network has dissipated, spent after a series of attacks on Western capitals and financial centers and the American destruction of their proxy state in Afghanistan. However, security sources tell the BBC that AQ has managed to reorganize itself and reorient their strategy to make the UK their primary target -- and they're training on the home team's turf:

Al-Qaeda has become more organised and sophisticated and has made Britain its top target, counter-terrorism officials have told the BBC.

Security sources say the situation has never been so grim, said BBC home affairs correspondent Margaret Gilmore.

They believe the network is now operating a cell structure in the UK - like the IRA did - and sees the 7 July bomb attacks "as just the beginning".

The cell-structure organization is nothing new; AQ used the same organization in Europe and the US before 9/11. It's terrorist operating procedure, and it does have its basis in the history of groups as diverse as the IRA and the French Resistance.

Interestingly, this report talks about a real change in strategy on the part of AQ. Instead of targeting mosques as recruitment centers, the terrorists have decided to start recruiting from colleges and universities in Britain. The UK has had some success in expelling the most radical imams from their country, and this has put a dent into their efforts to find and train new terrorists, especially ones that will blend into Western society better than the Saudis, Pakistanis, and Yemenis they currently have. It's a sobering realization to have -- al-Qaeda considers Western universities a better place to find radicals than mosques.

The July 7 bombings did not sate the blood lust of radical Islamists in Britain. Al-Qaeda has not disappeared and has not transformed itself into a mere ideology, as some would believe. They continue to find ways to re-invent themselves and target Western civilians for murder and mayhem, and if Britain happens to find themselves in the crosshairs for the moment, that target will inevitably focus on America before long.

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UK 'number one al-Qaeda target' Al-Qaeda has become more organised and sophisticated and has made Britain its top target, counter-terrorism officials have told the BBC. Security sources say the situation has never been so grim, said BBC home affairs co... [Read More]

Tracked on October 19, 2006 7:06 AM