Reports Of Al Qaeda's Imminent Defeat Are Greatly Exaggerated

The al Qaeda Franchise Threat -- Wall Street Journal

Reports of the terrorist group's imminent defeat are greatly exaggerated.

Seven weeks after Osama bin Laden's death in 2011, President Obama declared al Qaeda was "on a path to defeat." He has redeployed the phrase often to justify leaving Afghanistan and slashing defense. Al Qaeda, meanwhile, mocks predictions of its imminent defeat.

Even as the U.S. has "decimated" (the President's word) al Qaeda's senior leadership—killing or capturing 13 of the top 20 most wanted terrorists—it pops up in new locales and forms. In recent months, al Qaeda has revived or started terrorist franchises in Iraq and Syria, across northern Africa and in Nigeria. It lost a haven in Afghanistan but set up bases in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. It has nimbly exploited opportunities and is more active and in more places, points out Rand analyst Bruce Hoffman, than on September 11, 2001.

Al Qaeda's tactics have changed by necessity. American special forces and drones drove what's left of the old "core" leadership underground. Administration officials discount the threat from the newer affiliates, saying Somalia's al Shabaab or al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb aren't actively plotting attacks on the U.S.

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My Comment: Yup .... Al Qaeda is certainly not looking like an organization that is about to die.dying