Whatever has become of Al Qaeda?

摘要

Fourteen years ago the New York skyline was changed for ever. The Twin Towers, arguably the most iconic part of the lofty landscape for which the US's most cosmopolitan city is famous, were brought crashing to the ground by strikes from two airliners. The pilots were part of an international group that was about to become the most famous terrorist organisation in the world. Almost everyone on the planet would soon know the name Al Qaeda ('the base' in Arabic). From the outset, the attacks in America and subsequent outrages in Madrid, London and Mumbai were supposed to be conducted at an operational tempo of three such attacks a year. This scale of devastation was to be brought to the Western world. Such would be the cost that what Al Qaeda saw as fragile immoral Western societies would quickly demand the end of their countries support for despotic governments throughout the Middle East. These governments, shored up by Western money, would quickly collapse and Al Qaeda would seize the opportunity to create new governments in their place.