Al-Qaida confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden in an Internet statement posted on militant websites. The statement warns of retaliation, saying bin Laden’s death “will not go in vain” and is signed by the general leadership of the group. The organization is not centralized, does not trust the international media, and have difficulties communicating with each other so this acknowledgment can serve to certify the death and allow the organization to move on. Michael Semple, fellow at The Carr Center for Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School analyzes al-Qaida’s future and what the U.S. government is hoping to find in the data pulled from Osama bin Laden’s computers.
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