The killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden by US special forces in Pakistan is a huge blow to the terrorist organisation and a major victory for the war on terror. Bin Laden was responsible for killing thousands of innocent people across the world and for masterminding numerous acts of terrorism including, of course, the horrendous September 11, 2001 attacks in New York.
US President Barack Obama rightly described Bin Laden as a mass murderer when he announced the al-Qaeda leader’s death. There is no doubt, therefore, that the killing of Bin Laden means that justice has been done for thousands of families who lost loved ones as a result of al-Qaeda terrorism. It also sends out a very clear message: whoever kills innocent civilians will face justice, irrespective of how long this process takes.
The fact that the al-Qaeda leader was found in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 100 kilometres from Islamabad and a few hundred metres from the elite Pakistan Military Academy – rather than in the country’s northwestern tribal regions – will no doubt raise a lot of questions about Pakistan’s role in harbouring Bin Laden. However, it is important to remember that al-Qaeda had also declared war on Pakistan and killed thousands of its civilians and troops.
Bin Laden’s killing in no way implies that the war against al-Qaeda has been won. On the contrary there are bound to be revenge attacks by the terrorist group to show that it is still operational and capable of inflicting damage. Furthermore, al-Qaeda is no longer the centralised hierarchy it once was – thanks mainly to the progress that has been made by the west and its allies in Afghanistan and elsewhere – and now consists of numerous sleeper cells across the world which more or less act independently of their “leadership”.
There are also plenty of al-Qaeda leaders willing to replace Bin Laden although none of his presumed successors, including the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri, has any of his charisma and appeal, and it remains to be seen whether his death will lead to a fracturing of the organisation. What is certain is that there must be no let-up in the war against al-Qaeda, which remains a major threat to people’s lives and to global peace and stability.
Bin Laden’s death comes at a historic moment in the Arab world where people across the region are fighting for democracy and have rejected al-Qaeda’s violent ideology which has no value for human life or dignity. Some experts have even argued that the Arab uprisings have rendered al-Qaeda irrelevant. This is no doubt an exaggeration but Bin Laden’s death could, hopefully, encourage this trend.
However, the root causes of radical Islam – those issues that allowed al-Qaeda to recruit angry young Muslims to its cause – need to be addressed in order to deprive this terrorist organisation of support among the Muslim rank and file. Principally, the impasse in the Middle East peace process, where the prospects for a Palestinian state seem bleak, needs to be tackled by the Quartet, especially the US.
Furthermore, the support shown by the US and Europe for democratic reforms in the Arab world must continue; this is not only the right thing to do but it shows that there is a democratic alternative between autocratic regimes and jihadism.
Bin Laden’s death is a cause for hope and should be welcomed by all civilised nations. It is an important step in the fight against al-Qaeda terrorism which, however, must continue on both political and military levels.