Global Jihad

President Bush declared in early October that the war in Iraq is a key front in the war with terrorist jihadists. But the president's critics insist that the war actually serves as a recruiting tool for jihadists. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that made Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorist organization notorious — and celebrated — worldwide, jihadists have struck more than 107 times in more than a dozen countries — a figure that doesn't include hundreds of attacks on civilians and American soldiers in Iraq. The global terror offensive points to the existence of a unifying jihadist ideology. But much is unknown about the terrorists. Are their goals political or strictly religious? Do they operate under a unified command or through a loose network of organizations and cells? Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that al Qaeda remains strong enough to have played a role in the subway and bus bombings in London on July 7.