Life after bin Laden


While the central Al Qaeda organization has been hobbled since the death of Osama bin Laden, affiliated groups are still quite functional.


“We’re getting good at identifying where threats are coming from and heading them off. The bad news, unfortunately, is that the terrorists need to be right once and we need to get it right every time to avoid catastrophe.”


Brian Finlay, Henry L. Stimson Center


In the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden, we’ve seen what appears to be a fracturing of Al Qaeda. The central organization of Al Qaeda can likely no longer conduct major operations like the 9/11 attacks, but the United States remains vulnerable to threats from affiliated terrorist groups. In addition, smaller groups that were once narrowly focused are expanding their ambitions to conduct attacks abroad. Thus far, the military, intelligence agencies and law enforcement have scuttled most serious attempts to attack Western interests, but the odds of preventing every possible major attack do not appear to be in our favor.


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