Bin Laden's Death and the Future of Violent Jihad

By Lawrence Wright
Spiegel

Al-Qaida has lost its leader. It may also have lost its purpose.

He is best known for his 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the rise of al-Qaida and the September 11 attacks. In a piece for SPIEGEL, Lawrence Wright argues that Osama bin Laden's death -- at a time when peaceful Arab youths are delivering what jihad has been unable to -- has drastically diminished al-Qaida's standing.
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I was at home when I learned the big news about the killing of Osama bin Laden. My brother-in-law had just called me, so I rushed to turn the TV on to see what had happened.

I felt a sense of relief and a feeling of closure. Although I recognize that al-Qaida has not died with its leader, I also know that al-Qaida could not die without first removing Osama bin Laden.

But now there was something different: The fact that we have experienced two historic moments at the same time -- the Arab revolution and the killing of bin Laden -- makes his death all the more powerful.

We are witnessing an extraordinary Arab revolution, and we are observing that al-Qaida has no influence on it, has nothing to say about the choices that Arabs are making. This has been a revelation not only to Westerners, but also to Arabs themselves -- and certainly to al-Qaida. Its message is that peaceful means of protest can bring about the change that years of jihad have failed to accomplish.

(More here.)