The killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was a crippling blow to the global terrorist group and its violent agenda. The manner in which US special forces took him out in his protected lair will seriously undermine the morale of terrorist groups and their sympathisers across the world.
The unceremonious death of Bin Laden and his controversial sea burial might provoke violent reprisals from them but Al Qaeda, as the flag bearer of global jihad, will rapidly slip into a fatal coma.
Bin Laden was not only a great planner but also a motivating, inspirational force behind the resurgence of jihad across the world for over three decades. By declaring jihad against the US, Bin Laden projected himself as the lone crusader of the Islamist cause, bringing together disparate extremist groups and leaders from different parts of the world under a common ideological umbrella of hatred and violence.
By carrying out the 9/11 attack, Bin Laden showed how the world’s most powerful nation, the US, can be humbled, sparking a violent movement across the world which fed on misplaced perceptions and showed utter disregard for human lives.
Al Qaeda had been systematically degraded by the US-led global war on terror, but Bin Laden remained an icon of Islamic revenge against the "Great Satan". The failure of the US to hunt him down made him invincible in the eyes of his admirers, followers and sympathisers, creating a cesspool of potential candidates for jihad from different corners.
His abrupt killing by the US in Pakistan, much like a wanted criminal, has robbed Bin Laden of a "brave martyrdom" and will certainly dim his charisma among the jihadis. As for Al Qaeda as a group, Bin Laden’s death has already created a leadership vacuum with a possible "war of succession" imminent in the days ahead.
Ayman al-Zawahari, Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, has neither the commanding stature of Bin Laden nor a vision for "global jihad". Whether he can lead Al Qaeda out of imminent defeat and destruction is questionable. Al Qaeda as a group will die a natural death over the next few years, leaving behind a diffused group of proxies, mercenary jihadis, and lone wolves inspired by Bin Laden’s violent extremist ideology and agenda. The man is dead, so will be Al Qaeda. But global terrorism can remain as pressing and tough a challenge for the civilised world.
Courtesy: Asian Age, May 5, 2011
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