radicalized muslim hearing

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Al Qaeda:

Al Qaeda Field operatives

The number of individuals in the organization who have undergone proper military training, and are capable of commanding insurgent forces, is largely unknown. In 2006, it was estimated that al-Qaeda had several thousand commanders embedded in 40 different countries.[29] As of 2009, it was believed that no more than 200–300 members were still active commanders.[30]

According to the award-winning 2004 BBC documentary The Power of Nightmares, al-Qaeda was so weakly linked together that it was hard to say it existed apart from bin Laden and a small clique of close associates. The lack of any significant numbers of convicted al-Qaeda members, despite a large number of arrests on terrorism charges, was cited by the documentary as a reason to doubt whether a widespread entity that met the description of al-Qaeda existed.[31]

6-27-10
WASHINGTON -- CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Sunday there may be fewer than 50 al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan, with "no question" that most of the terrorist network is operating from the western tribal region of Pakistan.

Asked by ABC's Jake Tapper to estimate the number of al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, Panetta said, "I think the estimate on the number of Al Qaeda is actually relatively small. At most, we're looking at 50 to 100, maybe less. It's in that vicinity."

Panetta told ABCs' "This Week" that the CIA is heavily focused on killing the al Qaida leadership in Pakistan, and he defended CIA drone strikes against "dead wrong" claims that they violate international law. He said Osama bin Laden is hiding amid the region's rough terrain with "tremendous security around him."

Al-Qaeda in Iraq: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda_in_Iraq