May 3, 2011

U.S. believes it can now destroy al-Qaida after killing bin Laden

White House counter-terrorism chief calls killing of al-Qaida leader latest in series of operations delivering a 'serious blow' to terrorist organization's central network.

By Reuters via Haaretz

http://www.jewishjournal.com/ world/article/us_believes_it_can_now_destroy_al-qaida_after_killing_bin_laden_20110503/

The United States will aim to destroy al-Qaida’s central organization now that its leader Osama bin Laden has been killed and its capabilities degraded by U.S. operations, a top White House adviser said on Tuesday.

Since the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, al-Qaida has spawned affiliated groups in the Middle East and North Africa and inspired attacks by so-called home-grown militants in Europe and the United States.

But White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said bin Laden’s death was the latest in a series of U.S. operations that have delivered “severe body blows” to al-Qaida’s central network in Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past year.