THE AL QAEDA GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT

It is acceptable American parlance to describe a screw up by a bunch of people as the gang that couldn't shoot straight. An Al Qaeda group appears deserving of the label.

A new Al Qaeda group was recently formed in the Indian Subcontinent. The Indian Subcontinent is not a part of India per se. The area is located in South Asia and its core lands involve India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Note this story is replete with confusion and inconsistencies. Indian Subcontinent being one of them...

The Al Qaeda group was started by Ayman al-Zawahiri. Not a fool. Knowledgeable in the ways of Al Qaeda. He was close to Osama bin Laden and one of his first followers.

Al-Zawahiri has not been pleased with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the ISIS organization he heads. Al-Zawahiri started his Al Qaeda group to counter Al-Baghdadi and ISIS.

The Al Qaeda group was in business only ten days when it decided to capture or take down a United States carrier, the USS George Washington. The Washington was in Pakistan's Karachi harbor.

In Karachi harbor also was the Pakistani Navy frigate Zulfiqar. The frigate had been sitting in the same place in the harbor since 2011. Reportedly, the Zulfiqar had no armaments, ordinances and was not seaworthy.

At this point the story becomes confusing. More than one version has been reported.

The first was that ten Al Qaedas went to Karachi harbor with the intent to take over the carrier USS George Washington. They mistakenly boarded the Pakistani frigate Zulfiqar thinking it was the carrier Washington. A battle ensued between the Al Qaeda and Pakistani Naval personnel. Three Al Qaeda died and seven were captured. Two Pakistani were wounded.

How the ten Al Qaeda could have mistaken the frigate for an aircraft carrier is beyond me. The carrier is huge in every respect. The frigate low, sleek and nowhere near as long as a carrier. However, they did. Enter, the gang that couldn't shoot straight..

Other reported news items had the ten Al Qaeda's dressed in Pakistani Naval uniforms. They carried official appearing papers. They approached the Zulfiqar. Several went aboard. A frigate gunner thought something was amiss. Shooting erupted. Four Al Qaedas were killed and six taken prisoner. One of those killed actually took his own life.

The story was these ten Al Qaedas were going to commander the frigate and take it into harbor waters. It was their intent to blow up and destroy the United States carrier the USS George Washington.

Even if the Al Qaeda had been successful in taking control of the frigate, there was no ammunition aboard and the vessel was not even turned on and in a ready to go posture. The engine was cold. Enter again, the gang that couldn't shoot straight.

Whatever the correct version, Ayman al-Zawahiri and his new Al Qaeda organization lost face. They have become the laughing stock of the terror world. One reporter described the attack thusly, ".....a juvenile search for notoriety."

More confusion. The news reports suggested different numbers as to the total  Al Qaeda involved. Four different numbers. All low. The actual number immaterial, except for accuracy purposes.

Even the actual date of the attack has not been agreed upon. Some claim it happened on 9/11 in celebration of that date. Others have it occurring on September 5 or 6.

It was reported that the ten Al Qaeda were not of the same ilk as the masterminds who pulled off 9/11. Otherwise, how could they have confused a frigate for a carrier? Not college graduates and post graduates. Additionally, there does not appear to have been a well  formulated plan for the attack.

I have a couple of reasons for writing about this topic.

First, there have been comments to the effect that a group of ten could not have taken over or badly damaged a carrier. Not enough manpower.

Not true. Think back to the USS Cole in Aden, Yemeni in 1992. Only 2 persons were involved in driving the boat into the Cole. Then there was the World Trade Center underground garage bombing in 1993. A small number involved. The car bombing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1995 involved only 4 persons.

9/11 was the biggest attack of all. Four commercial jets taken over by 19 men who ended up taking down the two tallest buildings in the world and leaving dead just under 3,000 persons.

Not many are required to do significant injury and damage.

The additional reason I selected this topic was the decided lack of media coverage. 

The news itself was initially kept from the media. The conflicting accounts and the possible Al Qaeda embarrassment caused some not to talk concerning the event. When the news began to leak out in drips and drabs, several written accounts over several days appeared. Not that many. I do not recall seeing the attack discussed on television. Though I cannot say with certainty that no news show reported the event.

Why the silence? When are the American people going to be made aware regarding what is happening when it happens? Especially a military type attack such as this one. Even for nothing more than the humorous aspect of the attackers mistaking a frigate for a carrier.