Top al Qaeda commander dies, U.S. officials say

I. Citation:
Top al Qaeda commander dies, U.S. officials say, CNN.com/international,April 9, 2008
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/04/09/al.masri/index.html

II. Summary:
This article is about the recent report from United States officials of the death of former al Qaeda commander, Abu Ubaida al-Masri. Al-Masri was a senior in the religious extremist group and was said to have been very close to the leader of the clan, Osama Bin Laden. The controversy surrounding these reports is speculations on how the terrorist group will react to their loss and what their next move may be. Al-Masri “claim to fame” was his role in the London subway bombings of 2005 which killed 52, and reports say he also played a part in the foiled plan to bomb two planes crossing the Atlantic in 2006. Al-Masri could have died many months ago from hepatitis, but the report is known to be true now. Later in his life al-Masri trained jihadists (religious warriors) and planned attacks in Pakistan after fleeing Afghanistan post September 11, 2001. This “very bad, bad man” led a terrible lifestyle because of his extremist beliefs and now after his death, America may be taking a collective sigh of relief.

III. Reactions:
a. This article relates to the AP world history theme impact of interaction among and within major societies because al Qaeda and the United States have conflicted for many years and now that a vital part of the terror clan has been lost, many wonder if the conflict will change for the better or worse in the future.
b. Al Qaeda has been the culprit for the causing of many terrible terrorist attacks such as the London bombings in 2005 and the infamous attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in 2001. A senior commander in this group, Abu Ubaida al-Masri, has died recently according to reports from U.S. officials reiterated in this article. Al-Masri was a vital part in many terror acts as well as in the training of future extreme activists, his important role in this terrible society will surely be hard to fill, and after this loss curiosity has arose about how the terror group will deal with al-Masri’s death.
c. The writer of the article, CNN’s Jamie McIntyre, is a male, American who served for the U.S. army earlier in his life. He was definitely an insider in his report because he had quotes from the U.S. officials who originally reported the news of al-Masri’s death and got his info from a primary source.
d. Being that the author was a former military server, we must approach this article with caution because he is obviously a devoted patriot that put his life on the line for his country. He puts much emphasis on the terrible qualities of the terrorist al-Masri and how his actions killed many in his writing. This shows how pro-America the author is and that he supports his country and opposes the people who don’t.
e. The point of view that is missing from this article is a person who actually knew al-Masri. Hearing from a person who had this knowledge would allow me to better understand the article because they would be able to describe al-Masri and what he has done better than people who done know about him and the people he associated himself with.
f. I believe that the loss and an influential piece of al Qaeda can only hurt them and possibly help our cause in stopping terror. It is never a good thing when someone dies I believe, but when a person devoted their life to killing the innocent because of extreme beliefs, he may have just deserved to go.