Kaim Arounet
AL Qaeda won't be obsolete until Osama is captured and until the schools teach differently. Many countries teach philosophies that aren't to far off from Osama's teachings.
Tell me what has Al Qaeda accomplished since 2001, not much at all just a few bombings. Most muslims know the difference between Islam's teachings and the teachings of Osama.
Osama will probably never be captured in my opinion, personally if I were him I'd be in Africa, terrorism is rampant in Africa and we are not looking for him there. Although even if he is in the middle east we will most likely never find him because there are simply too many places to look.
I fail to believe that Al Qaeda's status is dependant on the capture of Osama Bin Laden. If we do find him then what? Do you think his band of crooks will just give up? They will rescue him from prison or kill themselves trying. The capture of Osama Bin Laden will do absolutely nothing, for even if they couldn't liberate him someone would take his place. Your argument is flawed in saying that nothing will change until his capture.
Also you mentioned other countries schools teaching philosophies not too different from Osama's whether or not that is true I do not know, regardless we are talking about Al Qaeda. States with policies openly hostile to the United States' interests can be changed through official channels.
My determination that Al Qaeda is on its way to being obsolete is made by looking at the last 20 years and noticing the trend starting as of 2001. The drop off of the rate in attacks tells me that one way or another Al Qaeda is becoming obsolete, whether that be from lack of support at home or from preventive actions taken by governments around the world is debatable.
Yes there have been a few sporadic bouts of violence from them, as to be expected but overall thier effectiveness has plummeted.