“TODAY IS SEPTEMBER 12, 2001″

Flopping Aces ^ | 04-30-12 | Wordsmith

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The hub for conterterrorism operations is the CTC's Global Response Center. At its entrance is a three-foot by three-foot sign that says, TODAY IS SEPTEMBER 12, 2001. It's a reminder of the urgency required to combat global terrorism. Along the wall are two photos of the World Trade Center and one of the Pentagon after the attacks.

-Ronald Kessler, The Terrorist Watch, pg 188

A portrait of bin Laden burns in New Delhi on Sept. 21, 2001, after terrorism protesters set his effigy
aflame. A report released in 2004 showed that not all those working with bin Laden have accorded him undivided devotion. MANDEL NGAN / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

As the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's demise, looms before us, questions are being asked:

What is the state of al-Qaeda?

Is the war on terror over?

Are we safer?

Brian Ball of Frederick covers his mouth in emotion while standing near his wife, Ashley, and son, Paddy, 8 months, near the memorial bench of a close friend
at the memorial at the Pentagon. Ball's friend died while working at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post

When President Obama took to the airwaves to announce and confirm that "We got him", it was a great day for America. The face and figurehead of al-Qaeda had finally been decapitated (Well...technically, a bullet through the head). It brought some level of closure for many Americans, even though Osama bin Laden and his organization has been decentralized and made impotent ever since they got their ass handed to them in Afghanistan, as well as all across the globe. Under the leadership of President Bush, with some level of continuity under President Obama, most of al-Qaeda's original leadership and membership have been killed or captured over the last decade. We've warred with them in over 102 countries. Not just militarily and not just in two countries.

“We have killed all the slow and stupid ones. But that means the ones that are left are totally dedicated,” - Ambassador Ryan Crocker

bin Laden is dead. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, his nephew Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Ramzi Binalshibh, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi will be arraigned soon to face a death penalty trial.

Other notables remain at large, with bounties on their heads. The U.S. recently added a $10 million bounty for the founder of Lashkar-i-Taiba- seen as an international threat and not just a regional one.

So how is al-Qaeda today?