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Is Osama no longer the threat he once was?

* Terrorism expert Peter Bergen says jihad has moved beyond Bin Laden and Al Qaeda

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: While counter-terrorism officials no longer consider Osama Bin Laden a threat to the West, his popularity in the Muslim world has waned.
Terrorism expert Peter Bergen writes in the new issue of Time magazine that the jihad has moved beyond Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. According to former CIA official Marc Sageman, two decades since its founding in Peshawar, Al Qaeda remains a source of inspiration for certain extremists around the world, but it is far from clear that Bin Laden commands them. If Bin Laden has any role in the jihad, say the Europeans, it is merely as an icon. Alain Grignard, Belgium’s top terrorism investigator, says Bin Laden is now a “Robin Hood figure: 100 people are inspired by him, but very few respond to do what he wants”. Bergen believes that the best available evidence suggests that the threat posed by Bin Laden’s acolytes has not been extinguished - and his own influence over them is greater than many analysts acknowledge. In his old stomping grounds, the jihad is stronger than at any time since he fled from Tora Bora in 2001. The Taliban are resurgent in Afghanistan, and in Pakistan militant groups have grown aggressive. Extremists in Europe and North Africa continue to covet Bin Laden’s blessing and the Al Qaeda brand name.
Bergen writes that while it is true that many of the “leaderless jihadis” have set up operations independently of Al Qaeda, but when they turn to Al Qaeda, it is not just for inspiration but also for training, assistance and direction. Many are able and willing to do Bin Laden’s bidding; they pay very careful attention to his Internet postings and follow his instructions. And although their targets have generally been close to home, their association with Al Qaeda has tended to take their ambitions beyond their borders. Many of these homegrown wannabes live in the West. Al Qaeda is very active on the Internet, with Bin Laden having issued more than two dozen video and audiotaped messages since 9/11. In contrast to the situation in Europe, Al Qaeda’s virulent ideology has found few takers in the American Muslim community. However, it will be dangerous to dismiss Bin Laden as a spent force. While he remains at large, the jihad will never be leaderless.

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