Al Qa'eda still a threat

A US Navy SEAL provides cover for his team mates advancing on a suspected location of al Qa'eda and Taliban in Afghanistan. Photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class (AW) Tim Turner

Coalition actions in Afghanistan and around the world have hurt the al Qa'eda terrorist network in many ways, but the organisation remains a threat to America and its allies.

Al Qa'eda was most severely hurt when the coalition forced them from Afghanistan - its safe haven.

"That was the one place it could do basically all of the business it wanted to do in one safe, controlled spot," a US Defence official said recently.

"[Al Qa'eda] had freedom of action, freedom of training, freedom of movement, freedom to meet [in Afghanistan]."

The official spoke to Pentagon reporters on the condition of anonymity.

He said it would be next to impossible for al Qa'eda members to set up a new centralised command and control element such as they had in Afghanistan.

"They have not found a spot that would give them the same support as Afghanistan," he said.

Osama bin Laden set up his terrorist organisation in Afghanistan in 1996 and basically had free rein to run terrorist training camps and to direct global terrorist operations.

The official said bin Laden had not been caught, but he and his key deputies have had a harder job of directing al Qa'eda operations while they were on the run. This would force al Qa'eda to spread out many of its key operations.

"We believe the leadership is going to be more decentralised, ... more of a franchise-type thing," the official said.

But bin Laden's propensity to plan ahead made it harder for law enforcement and intelligence officials to get a handle on how dangerous al Qa'eda still was to the United States.

"Bin Laden basically always thought three steps ahead. He'd have plans in the works, multiple plans, not just one.

"Some of those plans, we believe, are still out there."

The US Defence official said the effectiveness and speed of coalition military actions had knocked the terrorists down a peg or two.

US officials believed al Qa'eda would not go quietly, but would try to "reconstitute" in a form different from before. In whatever form they end up, al Qa'eda will be a threat to Americans for some time.

"This is a long-term process," he said, "It's not going to be done in a month or two months."

American Forces Press Service

By Sgt 1st Class Kathleen T. Rhem, USA