There are a lot of cautionary words being written and spoken today around the idea the bin Laden’s death doesn’t mean the end of terrorism. Just saying this is not enough. In fact, that conclusion is fairly obvious and not all that useful. We know, in another context, that just because commercial aviation has been made very safe, that we will still have plane crashes. The question is how many and what we can do to prevent them. So cannot be prevented, because we won’t know the cause until they happen.

Terrorism is an idea that is highly attractive not only to jihadists but to many disaffected, disappointed people, including people right here in the United States. That’s the problem. You can’t kill an idea. You can discourage its use and encourage other plans, but you can’t kill it. The spectacular nature of the 9-11, 2001 suicide attacks put a marker down in the history books and on video for all in the world to see and that horrible vision will continue to go forward in the future.

We should realize that bin Laden’s value to this wave of terrorism is that he possessed a particular “skill set” that is not likely to be matched by others. One of the most important is he had access to his own money through his family in the middle east. No many    want-to-be terrorists have millions of dollars to make their nightmares into reality. He was also a charismatic figure unlike most others in his group. When he started his personal war, he was young and relatively attractive as a human figure. This counts for a lot.

One of his other great attributes was his willingness to wait and take his time in planning and executing attacks. Most terrorists are motivated by other factors. They seek to act quickly and often act rashly. That’s one reason so many of them have been caught in recent years. Bin Laden was not so young and foolish that he felt a needed to wander about bragging on his plans, unlike many criminals who wind up turning themselves in by talking too much.

THE IDEA OF TERRORISM

The great danger of terrorism to the United States was never from foreign based terrorism. It is too difficult, too complicated and too expensive for people outside our country to mount major, repeated attacks. If they had been working with the money and resources of a government, plus retaining their cunning and careful planning, the threat would have been much greater. A bunch of guys hiding in caves, no matter their level of skill, find it rather difficult to mount major operations.

In the future, the danger is right here at home. The danger is that some disaffected group will adopt terroristic methods and apply them with great skill right here. Attempts were made by the radical left anti-war movement to move toward violence in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. These efforts were pathetic, misdirected and did not have much support within the far left itself. In fact, the violence that was carried out marked then end of a popular    anti-war movement in the United States that did not return with any force until the second Iraq war more than 25 years after the peak of the Vietnam anti-war effort.

Alih Soufan writing an op-ed in the NY Times, discussed more details of the impact of bin Laden on terrorism:

 Bin Laden’s fund-raising (especially through his connections to fellow wealthy Saudis) and his personal story (his decision to give up a life of luxury and ease to fight in a holy war) had brought him to prominence during the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan and later secured his position as Al Qaeda’s leader.

 He further cultivated that image by trying to model his ascetic life on that of the Prophet Muhammad by dressing similarly and encouraging his followers to ascribe divine powers to him. Bin Laden regularly hinted at this when discussing Al Qaeda’s strikes against America and his ability to withstand Washington’s wrath.

 Not only has Al Qaeda lost its best recruiter and fund-raiser, but no one in the organization can come close to filling that void. Bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, who will probably try to take over, is a divisive figure. His personality and leadership style alienate many, he lacks Bin Laden’s charisma and connections and his Egyptian nationality is a major mark against him.

NYTIMES.COM