Will al Qaeda Try to Revenge Osama's Death?

Department: 
The War on Terror
Teaser: 

"What is the increased threat in the wake of the elimination of the leader of al Qaeda and how can it be defended against?"

Source: 

Scientific American - News Download time: May 3 2011 7:31 AM ET

On Monday morning, hours after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, subway platforms and cars here held more than their usual share of cops. Police officers will continue to clock overtime in the coming days and potentially weeks in the Big Apple. It's been almost ten years since al Qaeda sleepers brought down the World Trade Center towers, but the city isn't taking any chances with news of bin Laden's death.

Many security officials, not only here but in Washington, D.C., too, are expecting al Qaeda and sympathetic terrorist groups to seek some kind of retribution. U.S. forces fatally shot Bin Laden on Sunday. The cycle of response and counter-response has been a regular staple of the "war on terror" for at least the past decade, and nobody expects it to end with Bin Laden's death. "Clearly, this is an event that will almost certainly produce at least an attempted response," says Brian Jackson, a senior physical scientist and terrorism analyst at RAND Corporation. "In these kind of back and forth conflicts with non-state groups that is one of the inevitable dynamics."…

See Scientific American - News for links to further info.

Also see this Scientific American story.