Reflections on "The Starfish and the Spider"

Today's New York Times carried an interesting piece of news analysis titled: "A Year of Terror Plots, Through a Second Prism." In this article, the author argues that too much credit is given to lone, relatively unconnected terrorists. Here is part of his argument.

"... The term “Al Qaeda,” used as a catchall in many of the plots, blurs important distinctions. By most accounts, apart from possibly the Zazi case, none of the 2009 cases appears to be directly tied to “Al Qaeda central,” as experts refer to the Pakistan-based group led by Mr. bin Laden.
 
"Others involved ersatz “Qaeda” agents who actually worked for the F.B.I. Still others, including the Christmas Day attempt, had links to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a loosely linked affiliate of Mr. bin Laden’s group in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Audrey Kurth Cronin of the National War College said Qaeda affiliates borrow the name to enhance their appeal but are usually more interested in local goals than in the global jihad proclaimed by Mr. bin Laden.

“The proper response is to stop calling all these plots ‘Al Qaeda,’ ” Ms. Cronin said. “We’re inadvertently building up the brand.”

In 2008, in his book “Leaderless Jihad,” Marc Sageman, a psychiatrist and former C.I.A. officer who has long studied terrorism networks, wrote that Al Qaeda was in decline, to be replaced by dispersed terrorists for whom it provided mostly inspiration. The new generation of extremists, he believed, would be less skilled and would likely pose less of a threat than the network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks."

The term "leaderless jihad" caught my attention. As a strong advocate of "church planting movements" (CPM) within my organizations (World Team, LeaderLink and OMF), this seemed to be an apt description of what the Church is trying to accomplish. Unlike the Church of Rome, which relies heavily on top-down structure, evangelical mission advocates are seeking to "infiltrate" societies worldwide with reproducing cells of believers, connected virally, more than structurally.

If we are connected fundamentally to the same vision, through an understanding of and commitment to Christ's Great Commission, it makes it that much more difficult for us to be thwarted by earth-based social, political or financial structures.

Viva this kind of "jihad".