A Step

The worst result would be that in the eyes of his supporters and followers, Osama bin Laden appears larger dead than alive; the myth will become more dangerous than the man who was hunted for six years from the borders of Afghanistan to the heart of Pakistan.

Last Sunday’s covert operation that resulted in the death of the United States’ number one enemy since the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Towers is an irrefutable success. Americans should be mindful, though, not to provoke those looking to turn the war against the West, not least by commenting on how the remains of the Islamist leader were treated.

From New York to London, from Madrid to Bali, relatives of al-Qaida’s numerous victims are relieved that the group’s leader has been eliminated; without a doubt, some would have preferred a trial by an international court (while recognizing that an imprisoned bin Laden would be difficult to deal with).

However, we have to remember that al-Qaida is not a disciplined army or a structured movement; it is more of a web of somewhat interconnected cells whose operations depend largely on local situations and leaders. Recently, extremism has again been on the rise in Morocco, where groups that claim to be of the same ideology are taking hostages. In Afghanistan, soldiers, notably Americans, French and British, fight against Taliban forces that agreed to shelter Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 attacks and threaten the freedom of the Afghan people. The death of bin Laden, as symbolic as it is, is only the first step.

Without letting their guards down in the face of terrorism, at-risk countries must come to the aid of the young people who are looking for new ways to develop their countries and establish democracy in the Arab-Muslim world. Radical Islamists do not want these channels to liberty to be opened. To support these movements with the same determination and perseverance that was applied in hunting the leader of al-Qaida is, even more so now, to combat terrorism.