In the short run, it seems sure that the death of Osama bin Laden will inspire attempts at revenge from the violent fanatics who followed his leadership.
But analyst Paul Cruickshank, thinks al Quaeda will not hold together without a charismatic central figure.
New York (CNN) — The killing of Osama bin Laden is “an enormously significant moment in the fight against al Qaeda terrorism,” and there is no one poised to take his place as the group’s leader, says CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.
President Obama announced Sunday night that U.S. forces killed bin Laden in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. The strike came as the nation approaches the 10th anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks on September 11, 2001, that killed almost 3,000 people in the United States.
“Even after 9/11, bin Laden continued to be the strategic guiding force for al Qaeda, signing off on the biggest operations, according to western officials,” Cruickshank, an Alumni Fellow at the New York University Center on Law and Security, said in an interview.
“He was the linchpin of al Qaeda. Without him, al Qaeda could fracture. There are lots of centrifugal forces within al Qaeda, people with different ideologies and agendas. Bin Laden was able to unify them. He’s irreplaceable. There’s no one with his level of charisma, fame or visibility.”
A vicious idea thrives on despair and a sense of injustice. Dealing with real and perceived injustice in the world is the challenge.
Kmareka.com 
Al Qaeda is a decentralized movement,not a command and control type outfit.
I expect some seriously destructive activity from Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines and Al Jamaariyah(sp?) in Indonesia as well as activity out of Yemen.
Most terrorist movements have charismatic figures and operational people.
Obama was the guiding spirit of Al Qaeda,while others like Zawahari oversaw operations.KSM was an operational individual.
In the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya,Jomo Kenyatta was the theorist and symbol of the movement,while others planned and carried out operations.He late became a very moderate head of state,but then the Mau Mau movement bore no resemblance to Al Qaeda.Just using an example of the structure of some groups.
I am glad that we killed the SOB because we did not need a show trial with a phalanx of ACLU types defending this enemy of America and the civilized world.His justice came out of a gun barrel,which was the right thing here.He was nothing but an architect of mass murder.
I will say that although I’ve frequently been critical of President Obama for being indecisive and inexperienced,he sure stepped up this time and made a decision and left it to the specialists to do their job and it showed.
Virtually no collateral casualties as there might have been if we dropped a bunker buster on the compound.Then we might not have found a body.The SEALS and other special ops people are to be commended for doing such a great job and bringing it to him up close and personal.
I know you don’t like the idea of taking people out,but this was definitely a justified instance.
Osama Bin-Laden on trial would’ve unleashed a worldwide reign of hostage taking and murder to force his release.
Now a few of the 911 “truthers”,”birthers”,and conspiracy nuts are claiming it’s not true.
Well,I doubt all the people involved would be complicit in such a decption.As matter of fact,it just doesn’t merit serious attention.
there are still people who think we faked the Moon landing.