Crippled and written-off as dead, al-Qaeda is still far being eliminated as a threat to the United States, as it reshapes its tactics to work with regional terrorist organizations.

Instead of manning its own terrorist plots aimed at U.S. soil, al-Qaeda has used “affiliates” to stage “an unlikely but limited recovery over the past year,” according to The Washington Post.

The terrorist organization has made connections with armed groups in North Africa and the Middle East, where weapons are aplenty and the U.S. is limited in its military options.

Experts cited the attack last fall on U.S. diplomats in Libya and the more recent assault on a natural gas complex in Algeria as two examples of what the newly-restructured al-Qaeda can do against direct and indirect American interests.

Also, the network appears to making inroads with rebels fighting to topple the Syrian government.

Outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently told Congress that the rebels have received “messages” from a part of Pakistan where al-Qaeda’s core leaders are reportedly hiding out. She also warned that the Syrian “opposition is increasingly being represented by al-Qaeda extremist elements.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Although Splintered, Al-Qaeda Finds New Life In Unstable Areas (by Greg Miller and Joby Warrick, Washington Post)

Al-Qaeda’s World: A Fascinating Map of the Group’s Shifting Global Network (by Max Fisher, Washington Post)

Clinton: Syrian Rebels Getting ‘Messages’ From Pakistan Region Known As Qaeda Haven (by Max Fisher, Washington Post)

Should We Still Fear al Qaeda? (by Peter Bergen, CNN)

Where is Al-Qaeda Still Operating? (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)