Al Qaeda Case

The Afghanistan War with regards to terrorist group Al Qaeda, is a controversial issue because the United States has just ending a 14-year war (one of our nations longest wars) that has caused a mass amount of damage to our nation including mass civilian casualties (due to the planes operation of 9/11). Bruce Hoffman is a professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. This article was summited on February 14, 2007 as his testimony on Terrorism to the House Armed Services. Mr. Hoffman is the Director of the Center for Security Studies, Director of Security Studies Program and was Vice President of External Affairs in 2004. Hoffman writes about Al Qaeda and their global threat to society.

In the article, “The Global Terrorist Threat: Is Al Qaeda on the Run of on the March”, by Bruce Hoffman, he argues that the United States underestimated Al Qaeda in 2001 and we (the United States) are at risk of repeating the same mistake once again. Hoffman first addresses Al Qaeda today, their evolution, adaption and adjustment. Al Qaeda has different categories, the central is the pre-9/11 Al Qaeda organization, their associates, or other who have benefited from Osama bin-Laden, the Locals, dispersed groups who are in constant connection with Al Qaeda and the network, also known as the homegrown Islamic radicals. He then goes on to discuses how the United States and other supporting nations played right into Al Qaeda’s hand. This is called the surge strategy, when U.S. President George Bush increased military troops in Afghanistan and changed their focus from war to implementing a democratic government and provides protection and security for locals. Finally he remarks on his beliefs if another war is in our future. He states that the success of the U.S. strategy will depend on the government’s ability to counter Al Qaeda’s ideological beliefs.

In Bruce Hoffman’s article, “The Global Terrorist Threat: Is Al Qaeda on the Run of on the March”, his information is accurate and is supported with evidence such as references, statistics, and quotes from other reputable sources. To enhance his claim that, Al Qaeda is underestimated and that there is a possibility that the United States is making this mistake again; he defines important terminology crucial to his argument. Hoffman does this because in order to grasp the full content of his argument, you need to understand the fundamentals. This allows the readers to easily follow along without getting confused. Hoffman also uses organization to clearly get all his points across. With a subject as confusing as terrorism because