Triumphant from the successful pursuit of Osama bin Laden last year, President Obama proclaimed that al Qaeda was “on a path to defeat.” But Seth Jones, a former U.S. Special Operations Command senior adviser, says the evidence he has collected points to the contrary.
In Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of Al Qa’ida Since 9/11, Jones draws upon his expertise and thousands of pages of court transcripts, including wiretapped conversations and communications intelligence intercepts, to paint a picture of a terrorist organization that has been transformed, but not defeated. Jones recently spoke with U.S. News about his theory of “waves” of violence from the world’s most notorious terrorist organization and what needs to be done to prevent the next cycle. Excerpts:
