“Osama bin Laden carefully curated his public persona to cultivate a dedicated following,” said Katherine Zimmerman, an advisor for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute’s. But Bin Laden died before this schism took place, meaning his legacy among Islamist extremists is not tainted by the disunity that followed. With time, Bin Laden became above all a myth, with few jihadists alive who would have encountered him in person. “Osama bin Laden has been lionized in jihadi media and still appears in propaganda,” Zimmerman said. She pointed to a video of Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia after an attack last December, showing them watching a video of Bin Laden.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer April 27, 2021 04:18 UTC