Al-Qaeda’s Big Post–bin Laden Cash Crunch

Al-Qaedas Big Post–bin Laden Cash Crunch
Briefing reporters on the details of Osama bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan, the White House’s Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan remarked optimistically that “bin Laden’s dead. The al-Qaeda narrative’s becoming increasingly bankrupt.”

Financially, al-Qaeda may be heading for bankruptcy too. The terrorist network has been hit by a double whammy: the death of its charismatic leader and the Arab Spring, the popular and democratic uprising against cutthroat despots. No longer can al-Qaeda and its offspring sell itself to Muslims as the sole alternative to tyrannical regimes.

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