Terrorism Still Thriving, State Department Says
by Jim Lobe
Four years into the “global war on terror,” terrorism appears to be thriving, according to the 2005 edition of the annual “Country Reports on Terrorism” released here Friday by the U.S. State Department.
While the control and reach of al Qaeda, which carried out the spectacular Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, have weakened over the past four years, smaller autonomous groups and individuals that are “extremely difficult to detect or counter” have increasingly moved into the vacuum, according to the 265-page report.
And while its ability to mount “global acts of terrorism” has diminished, “AQ and its affiliates political will has not been undermined” and it remains the most prominent terrorist threat to the United States and its allies, the report stated. (more…)