By Manish Rai | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
NEW DELHI (IDN) – Throughout 2012 and much of 2013, the Obama administration has toed the line that Al-Qaida is on the path to defeat and with it, terrorism is no longer the threat it once was. Nothing could be further from the truth.
During his landmark counterterrorism speech in May 2013, President Barack Obama all but declared an end to the global war on terror. He said that Al-Qaida was “on the path to defeat” the White House touted the death of Osama bin Laden as the death knell to it. Pre-9/11, Al-Qaida maintained large-scale operations in South Asia, complete with training camps and operational capabilities. Surely that capability of Al-Qaida is questionable but it is far from over. Today, Al-Qaida is a complex, adaptive, and resilient organization. The administration’s successes against high-value targets have fostered a false sense of security.