Al-Qa’ida’s strategy to drive the U.S. out of Muslim lands is to wage an extended campaign of terror causing substantial physical and psychological damage, as well as political and economic damage that would force the U.S. to withdraw from the region. Al-Qa’ida core, however, does not have the capability to wage this war by itself. it depends on local affiliates and allies to strike at the U.S., its allies and its interests abroad. Al-Qa’ida’s leadership believes that the removal of the U.S. and Western power would significantly weaken and allow them to topple what they refer to as “the apostate rulers,” n the process, creating a power vacuum which the group and its affiliates could then fill. This strategy includes not just terror attacks
