Al-Qaeda returns The new face of terror

[Valin]

The Economist :

9/28/13

 

 

A FEW months ago Barack Obama declared that al-Qaeda was on the path to defeat. Its surviving members, he said, were more concerned for their own safety than with plotting attacks on the West. Terrorist attacks of the future, he claimed, would resemble those of the 1990slocal rather than transnational and focused on soft targets. His overall message was that it was time to start winding down George Bushs war against global terrorism.

 

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How much should Western complacency be blamed for this stunning revival? Quite a bit. Mr Obama was too eager to cut and run from Iraq. He is at risk of repeating the mistake in Afghanistan. America has been over-reliant on drone strikes to decapitate al-Qaeda groups: the previous defence secretary, Leon Panetta, even foolishly talked of defeating the network by killing just 10-20 leaders in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The general perception of Americas waning appetite for engagement in the Middle East, underlined by Mr Obamas reluctance to support the moderate Syrian opposition in any useful way has been damaging as well.

 

A second question is how much of a threat a resurgent al-Qaeda now poses to the West. The recently popular notion that, give or take the odd home-grown lone wolf, todays violent jihadists are really interested only in fighting local battles now looks mistaken. Some of the foreign fighters in Syria will be killed. Others will be happy to return to a quieter life in Europe or America. But a significant proportion will take their training, experience and contacts home, keen to use all three when the call comes, as it surely will. There is little doubt too that Westerners working or living in regions where jihadism is strong will be doing so at greater risk than ever.

 

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