Is this the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Bin Ladin is gone and with him vanishes his view of the future. But there are others with their own view of the future. For some time now it has been debated in the Intelligence Community (IC) exactly how much influence he has had on al Qaida. Many believe that his influence wained quite some time ago and he has been merely a figure head for a greater organization. We have seen al Qaida morph over the past ten years with leaders in different regions seeming to control much of their own destiny. What does bin Ladin's death mean in the context of daily operations? Probably not much at this point in time. Bin Ladin will go down as a martyr and from that aspect may draw more recruits to the cause. The Base has extended itself to be more than just a Cult of Personality. It is doubtful that al Qaida will disappear anytime soon. We can look forward to more of the same. This has been an important victory for the U.S. from a Psychological stand point. The U.S. has shown that it will stop at nothing to bring terrorists to justice no matter how long it takes. The war on terrorism has been going on for more than 40 years and it would be a mistake to think that bin Ladin's death will change the terrorist landscape.