Homeland Security

Laden and Ladenism
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Issue Net Edition | Date : 05 May , 2011

No wonder why despite providing $20 billion to Pakistan in counterterrorism aid since 9/11, the US has received grudging assistance, at best, and duplicitous cooperation, at worst. Today, amid a rising tide of anti-Americanism, US policy on Pakistan is rapidly unraveling. Yet Pakistan has become more dependent than ever on US aid. In an internal document written a few years ago Bruce Riedel, a former CIA agent and advisor to several US presidents, referred to Pakistan as “the most dangerous country in the world.” The magazine Newsweek then quoted Riedel in the title of a cover story. Riedel still stands by his assessment today. Pakistan, he writes, is a country where “every nightmare of the 21st century — terrorism, nuclear proliferation, the danger of nuclear war, dictatorship, poverty and drugs — come together in one place.” In addition, Riedel points out, the country is critical to the survival and development of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, as the strike against bin Laden demonstrates yet again.

While he was alive, bin Laden retained tremendous symbolic power, some of it by dint of the US focus on and failure to find him, and some because of his operational power over the al-Qaeda base in the Afghanistan-Pakistan borderlands.

Now, let us deal with another huge myth that now that Osama is gone and democratic revolutions are about to sweep across the Arab world, there will be no more the haunting of the spectre of Islamic fundamentalism. Nothing can be more perverse than this. Laden might have gone, but Ladenism still remains a potent force everywhere, including India, particularly the way Laden’s supporters ( some of them in the Congress, India’s ruling party) are openly weeping and cursing the Americans.

While he was alive, bin Laden retained tremendous symbolic power, some of it by dint of the US focus on and failure to find him, and some because of his operational power over the al-Qaeda base in the Afghanistan-Pakistan borderlands. But worldwide, al-Qaeda is more decentralised, a loose global network of franchises and other terrorist groups for whom bin Laden served as a primarily symbolic head. Now, in addition to bin Laden’s well-known deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a number of other senior commanders has been in the organisation long enough to command similar respect and credibility. The organisation will still be able to funnel through young recruits by the hundreds or thousands all over, particularly in Arab world, South Asia and South East Asia.

In fact, Osama had chalked out a syllabus for franchises and let them execute this syllabus independently. The Al Qaeda sleeper cells have been established in the US and Europe, as terrorist attacks in the UK and Spain, and arrests in Germany last week have proved. One has heard of the Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). But there are plenty of others. This global franchise model means that it will be difficult if not impossible to ever say that al-Qaeda or terrorism is eradicated.

We saw the other day how openly the Lashkar-e-Taiba staged an impressive rally in Lahore in memory of Laden. And most important, we have the Pakistani establishment which will always keep Ladenism live and kicking for its sheer survival.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

About the Author

Prakash Nanda

is a journalist and editorial consultant for Indian Defence Review. He is also the author of “Rediscovering Asia: Evolution of India’s Look-East Policy.”

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