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Capturing Bin Laden Isn't Enough
(Jerualem Post) Daniel Pipes - Bin Laden's capture or death will not devastate al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is more "an ideology, an agenda and a way of seeing the world," writes Jason Burke, author of Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror, than an operating terrorist force. With al-Qaeda being just one of many jihadist organizations around the world, its decline would do little to abate the wave of militant Islamic violence in such places as Algeria, Egypt, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Bin Laden's capture or execution would have a mainly psychological impact by demoralizing his followers. Ending terrorism requires more than targeting terrorists, their leaders, or their organizations. It requires recognizing and defeating the body of ideas known as militant Islam or Islamism.