(Matthew Levitt is a Senior fellow and Director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy). The either-or nature of the question misses the point.
Is Osama bin Laden still relevant? Or rather, is the threat more from a reconstituted, centralized Al Qaeda, or from more local groups radicalized by preachers or outside forces? (See the recent arguments between Marc Sageman and Bruce Hoffman).
(Matthew Levitt is a Senior fellow and Director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy). Gregory offers a thoughtful analysis and has bravely baited the rest of us to respond, so I’ll take the bait.
(Greg Djerejian is a financial services professional and publishes the popular blog The Belgravia Dispatch) Before we fall into a consensus that terrorism remains at (or very near) the top of the heap, permit me to play contrarian among these terrorism experts.
(Paul Cruickshank is a Fellow at the NYU Center on Law and Security). I agree with Matt Levitt and others that tackling the threat of Al Qaeda terrorism should remain a top-tier national security priority.
(Eric Rosand is a senior fellow at the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation in New York and a nonresident fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation).
(Eric Rosand is a senior fellow at the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation in New York and a nonresident fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation). Thanks, Matt, for following this thread.
(Matthew Levitt is a Senior fellow and Director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy). Eric raises excellent points.
(Eric Rosand is a senior fellow at the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation in New York and a nonresident fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation).
(Matthew Levitt is a Senior fellow and Director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy). I do not think we are concentrating too much on terrorism, it legitimately belongs at the very top of the list of national security threats we face today.