I'm once again pimping PBS' Frontline series, with
this installment looking at how Al Qaeda has morphed since 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan, becoming a decentralized network of loosely connected cells based largely in Europe.
"... bin Laden and his lieutenants did have control of this whole social movement for five years, from 1996 to 2001. But all of that changed when Al Qaeda's control "more or less evaporated" at their height in 2001 after the loss of its sanctuary in Afghanistan.
Ironically, it was at the precise time of Al Qaeda's peak that the downfall in terms of control of the jihadi movement occurred. The organization had conducted a series of successful attacks, from the U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa to the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen, which Sageman says made them more confident that they could do things without "negative consequences." The invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11 "was a surprise to them."
But even with the strong U.S. response, Sageman says bin Laden's "hands-off management style" paid off very well since he had created a system that could survive by itself without him. In that sense, according to Sageman, the movement has become far more dangerous
As always, the entire episode can be viewed
online at your convenience.