File this one under “marketing efforts you hope will fail”: Fox News reports that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been unable to recruit enough foreign fighters of late, and is laying part of the blame on negative associations with the Al Qaeda brand.
According to an unnamed Arab diplomat, “after (Usama) bin Laden’s death and the Arab Spring, the name (al Qaeda) seems to have negative connotations and baggage.” Since then, AQAP has increasingly been using the name Ansar al Sharia (Army of Islamic Law).
