'Pen and Sword' Jihadi Captured

The Washington Post reports on the terror career of Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, also known as Abu Musab al-Suri, the Spanish/Syrian al Qaeda strategist who authored a 1600 page operational manual for dispersed global jihad:

MADRID -- From secret hideouts in South Asia, the Spanish-Syrian al-Qaeda strategist published thousands of pages of Internet tracts on how small teams of Islamic extremists could wage a decentralized global war against the United States and its allies.

With the Afghanistan base lost, he argued, radicals would need to shift their approach and work primarily on their own, though sometimes with guidance from roving operatives acting on behalf of the broader movement.

Interestingly, one of the countries Nasar sheltered in following the overthrow of the Taliban was Iraq, though the Post saves that nugget for the last page of their article.

Nasar should serve as a warning for those who believe that the death or capture of bin Laden somehow will magically destroy the al Qaeda movement. He should also be instructive to those who believe that freedom of speech extends to the point of allowing people to advocate terrorism.