Osama’s Dead! Is Al-Qaeda?
Written by James Chan   
Monday, 02 May 2011 04:21

Osama
(That's the biggest statue of Osama you'll see.)


The global cat-and-mouse lasted almost 10 years, but has finally came to an end on May 1, 2011- Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. operatives in a ground assault. President Obama and former President Bush both hailed it as a momentous achievement, and people around the world danced and rejoiced to the news. Some even believe that with bin Laden’s death, the U.S. “war on terror” is over and we should bring the troops back. However, did we kill Al-Qaeda along with Osama?

Don’t get me wrong, Osama’s death will have a significant impact on the U.S. efforts against Al-Qaeda. At the very least, American troop morale will receive a significant boost from the news- 10 years in Afghanistan has finally produced groundbreaking results (even if he was killed in Pakistan). Some closure can finally be given to the families that lost loved ones in 9/11. We can finally say that the war in Afghanistan may have been worth the cost. For many years, Osama has been the visible, charismatic head of the global terrorist movement who inspired a generation of terrorists. To finally take him down seems like we are headed toward an endgame in the Afghan war.

Or are we? By all accounts, Osama is the charismatic head of the global terrorist movement and Al-Qaeda, but only as a figurehead. Al-Qaeda itself is a very decentralized organization with many cells across countries, meaning that Osama oversaw very little of its day-to-day operations- after all, it’s hard when the most powerful country in the world is sending tens of thousands of troops mainly to hunt him down. His death will not affect operations in Yemen, Iraq, or even Afghanistan, meaning that terrorist hotspots will continue to remain so. Worse yet, this is no longer 20th century warfare- the death or capture of the leader does not mean the war is won. If anything, the fundamentalist nature of the terrorism movement views death in combat as a rallying point to inspire them. Although recruitment and morale over the long-term will likely suffer, nothing motivates an extremist like a martyr. The next few months will be rough for U.S. forces and security around the world.

But there are still some usable takeaways from this achievement. I’m encouraged that President Obama is beginning to understand the reality of the early 21st century enemy- the institutional terrorist. They are mobile institutions like Al-Qaeda that frequently move from nation to nation and can plot attacks from safe havens anywhere in the world, to anywhere in the world. Therefore, what’s needed is not big armies invading individual countries- too costly and hard to justify the benefits of an “invasion” to civilians- but smart, precise counterterrorist operations backed by top-rate intelligence gathering. U.S. war efforts should less resemble Platoon and more like a Sam Clancy novel. Otherwise, we’ll keep being sucked up in long, costly wars with countries while the organizations we’re targeting have long since set up shop. What we need for the new wars we have, more than a strong U.S. Army, is a strong CIA- mobile and armed with good information as well as a big gun.


(Photo: Steve Isaacs)