Guest Blogger: Maintaining the Last Line of Defense – American Vigilance

Scott Erickson / May 09, 2011

With the killing of Osama bin Laden, a significant strategic and symbolic blow was dealt to al-Qaeda and its network of affiliated terrorist organizations. The cache of intelligence obtained during the raid on bin Laden’s compound revealed the terrorist mastermind to be an active and integral player in the engineering of al-Qaeda’s ongoing attempts to wreak havoc against the West.

The long-term implications of having killed bin Laden are no doubt favorable to the ongoing efforts of the United States and our allies to contain and eradicate the jihadi threat. But what of the short-term implications?

Bin Laden’s death will most surely spark a dash among al-Qaeda affiliates or individual acolytes determined to avenge his death or prove their worth in ascending to the forefront of the global jihadi movement. (more…)