How Al Qaeda Lost the Popularity Contest

"“In an important way, Al Qaeda has been defeated,” Jon Alterman writes for the Center for Strategic and International Studies:

At one time, many Muslims admired the organization for its courageous opposition to Western domination, and many Westerners feared that Al Qaeda might draw Muslim communities into a battle with the West. Immediately after the events of September 11, 2001, it was not always clear how the battle for Muslim hearts and minds would end up. With the passage of time, we now know, and Al Qaeda has lost.

Which jibes with the consensus among analysts that the main Al-Qaeda organization is also out of money, for it relied heavily on fraudulent “charitable” donations for its revenue. Without a popular base, that money dried up. To be clear, small-scale terror is not expensive: even major attacks such as those on September 11, 2001 can cost less than a million dollars. Still, a lack of financing limits Al Qaeda’s options and increases its risks."
War is Boring