House Examines Obama’s Claims of Al-Qaeda ‘On the Path to Defeat’

Al-Qaeda Has Captured 'Significant Cities'

Two House committees, the Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees are planning to hold hearings next week on the question of al-Qaeda’s status, questioning President Obama’s claim the group is “on the path to defeat.”

“Al-Qaeda controls more territory than it ever has before, and much of that is in Western Iraq where it has recently captured significant cities,” noted Rep. Ed Royce (R – CA).

President Obama claimed during the State of the Union speech that the parent al-Qaeda group was weakened, while other factions were rising in Northern Africa and Yemen.

Arguably this is the case, but as al-Qaeda’s parent group has embraced factions like Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) as their own, the distinction between proper al-Qaeda and its auxiliaries is becoming less obvious.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is senior editor of Antiwar.com.