They bit themselves and went mad

There was an interesting article in The Independent entitled "Special report: Is Al Qa'ida in pieces?" by Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank. Bergen is the author of two books on al-Qai'da so I'm rather inclined to listen when he writes on the subject.

The thrust of the piece is that Islamists are turning against al-Qaida. It refers to a conversation between a Libyan militant and bin-Laden, where the former referred to the indiscriminately violent tactics of the Algerian jihadists that ultimately alienated all their support and led to their being crushed.

The jihadi later become one of many religious leaders and ex-militants who have criticized al-Qaida for its takfiri tactics which allowed them to go after any Muslim they don't consider to be a "true" Muslim.

The article referenced polls that showed that support for al-Qaida has been declining worldwide, with support for suicide bombing declining in Indonesia, Lebanon and Bangladesh, for instance. This general trend adds some useful context to the turning of Sunnis in Iraq against al-Qaida in Mesopotamia. As an ICG report pointed out that it was AQI's high-handedness that turned the Sunnis against them even before the surge began and further undercuts its claims of success.