Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Jonathan Evans, director general of Britain's security service MI5 describes al-Qaeda and its associated groups as "the main national security threat that we face today." Through a series of attacks and attempted attacks, Islamist extremists have declared war on the values that underpin the liberal democracies of Britain, Europe, and the entire West.

A Growing and Evolving Threat. In an extraordinary public speech, Mr. Evans detailed a growing and evolving al-Qaeda threat to the United Kingdom, where at least2,000 individuals have been identified as a threat to national security because of their support for terrorism. He went on to identify the increased threats posed by the "extension of the al-Qaeda brand" in both the Mid­dle East and Europe.

When the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in 1949, NATO's founding members agreed on the sacred Article 5 clause stipulating that "an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all." As a collective defensive military alliance, NATO rightly invoked Article 5 following al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on the United States. The Alli­ance must now follow through on that invocation and continue to deny al-Qaeda a safe haven in which to operate by winning in Afghanistan.

The Need to Recommit to the Mission. With a catalogue of successful and thwarted al-Qaeda ter­rorist attacks on Britain and Europe since 9/11, it is imperative that all NATO members recommit to the mission in Afghanistan. The terrorist attacks on London and Madrid serve as stark reminders of why NATO undertook the Afghanistan mission in the first place. Europe cannot afford to underestimate the incredible momentum that Islamist extrem­ists—at home and abroad—will gain from signs of weakness by the Alliance in Afghanistan.

It is significantly obvious that al-Qaeda and its associates remain committed to a long, asymmetric war against the West and to attacking the values of liberal democracy. They must be fought tactically and strategically. On a tactical level, increased coun­terterrorism operations have contributed to major successes in the war on terrorism. Britain and Europe, like America, must continue to increase their capacity to conduct counterterrorist opera­tions and vigorously pursue efforts to thwart terror­ist plots, many of which are deeply interwoven.

Al-Qaeda Plots and Conspiracies. The cata­logue of plots and conspiracies sponsored, inspired, and directed by al-Qaeda and targeted against Brit­ain and Europe reveals a number of patterns that must be addressed:

• The prevalence of terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan,
• The role of hate preachers and extremist clerics,
• The importance of the mission in Afghanistan as a central front in the war on terrorism, and
• The continuing crucial need to maintain close cooperation and intelligence-sharing among Britain, Europe, and America.

Faced with these needs, if the war on terrorism is to be won, America and Europe must remain strong and reliable allies to each other. Europe must be under no illusion that it is not a prime target for al-Qaeda attacks—as well as a base of operations. A former Islamist extremist revealed last year that al-Qaeda held a summit in London to coordinate its activities in Britain: Such is their strength of pres­ence there.

Conclusion. Although al-Qaeda took some heavy hits to its command and control structures when NATO first went into Afghanistan, it contin­ues to motivate affiliated groups and to regroup in the tribal areas of Pakistan. As Times correspondent Sean O'Neill has noted, "al-Qaeda has proved itself to be a resilient organization that absorbs blows, regroups, reforms its networks, and returns."

The war in Afghanistan is ultimately not yet won, and gains made there remain under threat so long as the region remains susceptible to al-Qaeda and Tal­iban insurgencies. Now is the time for the NATO Alliance to show its backbone and defeat the scourge of al-Qaeda. NATO members cannot afford to underestimate the threat that al-Qaeda continues to pose to the West and its collective values of free­dom, liberty, human rights, equality, and democ­racy. The political expediency of keeping troops out of harm's way grossly miscalculates the long-term strategic implications of a resurgent Taliban and an al-Qaeda presence in Afghanistan.

Sally McNamara is Senior Policy Analyst in Euro­pean Affairs in the Margaret Thatcher Center for Free­dom, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation. The author is grateful to Oliver Horn, Research Assistant in the Margaret Thatcher Center, for his assistance in preparing this paper.