al Quaeda long term goal: damage US economy
From the deeply sober and respected Jane’s
It is almost certain that there is a comprehensive Al-Qaeda strategy for a long-term campaign against the United States because in the final analysis it is the US that is the major obstacle to their eventual triumph. This long-term strategy probably revolves around forcing the US into an isolationist ‘Fortress America’ policy.
To achieve this type of long-game result it is likely that the Al-Qaeda planners have been thinking along the following lines: ‘The business of America is business. Therefore, the way to force the political change that Al-Qaeda requires is to have an impact upon American business.’
It is almost impossible to destroy the US. However, it is almost certainly possible to cause significant economic damage to the US across a number of sectors.
Look at Al-Qaeda as a cross between a merchant bank, providing venture capital for terrorist operations and a terrorist consultancy. Possibly 5,000 trained terrorists from Afghanistan are at large, and it is likely that they are infiltrating Muslim groups (many of these groups totally innocent) in a number of countries worldwide. These Al-Qaeda terrorists are almost certainly identifying the radical individuals who are likely candidates for future operations and adding terrorist expertise and operational value to these local groups.