Is Al Qaeda Still Relevant Today?

A combination of undated video stills shows Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Reuters

Nine Years After 9/11, Is Al-Qaeda's Threat Overrated? -- Time Magazine

Nine years after the 9/11 attacks, al-Qaeda's shadow still looms large in America's national conversation. President Barack Obama on Thursday warned that a grotesque Koran-burning prank planned by the pastor of a tiny Florida church would be a "recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda." The putative threat of Osama bin Laden's little band of terrorists, believed to number no more than a couple of hundred, is also the prime reason offered in Washington for keeping close to 100,000 troops in Afghanistan at a huge cost in blood and treasure. "No challenge is more essential to our security than our fight against al-Qaeda," Obama said last week. "And because of our drawdown in Iraq, we are now able to apply the resources necessary to go on offense."

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My Comment: Osama Bin laden and his top lieutenants may not hold the power and influence that they once had in 'getting things done', but their philosophy and view of what Islam should be has millions of followers .... in particular, small radical groups that have no direct connection to the founders and leaders of Al Qaeda.

So ... is Al Qaeda's threat overrated? The answer is probably yes, but how their philosophy impacts other radical groups should not be underestimated .... for it is from these groups that the next big terror strike will probably come from.