It was certainly worth trying first, but the political pressure on the White House to invade Afghanistan was extreme. Even though those who knew anything about terrorist strategies understood that that was exactly what Bin Laden wanted Washington to do.
Osama Bin Laden’s goal was to build support among Muslims for his militant ideology by convincing them that they were under attack by the “infidels.” The best way to do that was to sucker the “infidels” (i.e. the Americans) into invading Muslim countries.
The 9/11 attacks succeeded in triggering a US invasion of Afghanistan (and Bush then gave Bin Laden even more help by invading Iraq as well). As a result, Al-Qaeda has made some progress toward its ultimate goal of sparking militant revolutions in the Arab world and even the broader Muslim world, though probably not nearly as much as Bin Laden hoped.
Since Washington was already doing what Bin Laden wanted, he had no reason to carry out further major terrorist operations in the United States after 9/11, and there is no evidence that Al-Qaeda has attempted any. Shahzad’s amateurish bomb certainly did not meet that organization’s highly professional standards.
Would Al-Qaeda have gone with a bomb triggered by dozens of firecrackers, which were intended to set two jugs of petrol (gasoline) alight, in turn causing three propane gas cylinders to explode, and finally setting off a much bigger explosion of eight bags of fertilizer (except that it was of the non-explosive kind)? I think not.
But would Al-Qaeda now be interested in carrying out a big attack in the United States, if it could manage it? Probably yes, for by the middle of next year US troops will be gone from Iraq. There is reason to suspect that Barack Obama’s ultimate goal is to get them out of Afghanistan too, even if he first has to protect his flank politically by reinforcing them.As long as American troops are occupying Muslim countries, Bin Laden’s cause prospers. If they leave, the air goes out of his balloon. He therefore now has a strong motive for mounting a major terrorist operation on American soil.The goal would be to drive Americans crazy enough that they decide to keep fighting the “war on terror” on Arab and Afghan soil. The last thing Al-Qaeda wants is for the “infidels” to go
(Courtesy Arab News)
Osama Bin Laden’s goal was to build support among Muslims for his militant ideology by convincing them that they were under attack by the “infidels.” The best way to do that was to sucker the “infidels” (i.e. the Americans) into invading Muslim countries.
The 9/11 attacks succeeded in triggering a US invasion of Afghanistan (and Bush then gave Bin Laden even more help by invading Iraq as well). As a result, Al-Qaeda has made some progress toward its ultimate goal of sparking militant revolutions in the Arab world and even the broader Muslim world, though probably not nearly as much as Bin Laden hoped.
Since Washington was already doing what Bin Laden wanted, he had no reason to carry out further major terrorist operations in the United States after 9/11, and there is no evidence that Al-Qaeda has attempted any. Shahzad’s amateurish bomb certainly did not meet that organization’s highly professional standards.
Would Al-Qaeda have gone with a bomb triggered by dozens of firecrackers, which were intended to set two jugs of petrol (gasoline) alight, in turn causing three propane gas cylinders to explode, and finally setting off a much bigger explosion of eight bags of fertilizer (except that it was of the non-explosive kind)? I think not.
But would Al-Qaeda now be interested in carrying out a big attack in the United States, if it could manage it? Probably yes, for by the middle of next year US troops will be gone from Iraq. There is reason to suspect that Barack Obama’s ultimate goal is to get them out of Afghanistan too, even if he first has to protect his flank politically by reinforcing them.As long as American troops are occupying Muslim countries, Bin Laden’s cause prospers. If they leave, the air goes out of his balloon. He therefore now has a strong motive for mounting a major terrorist operation on American soil.The goal would be to drive Americans crazy enough that they decide to keep fighting the “war on terror” on Arab and Afghan soil. The last thing Al-Qaeda wants is for the “infidels” to go
(Courtesy Arab News)
