I think it's important, and relevant to this discussion, to distinguish among the following:

- Core al-Qaeda members, those directly under orders from and financed by AQ

- AQ-linked groups, which are autonomously directed, usually primarily driven by local issues, but which have or have had connections to AQ.

- AQ-motivated individuals and groups, which have never had any direct link to the organization but which share the AQ agenda (at least on very general terms) and look to AQ for inspiration and example.

All too often these distinctions are not drawn by media reports, which are quick to describe organizations and individuals as "AQ" or "AQ-linked" without examining how much connection to AQ they actually have.

Neutralizing the AQ core will have little impact on the latter two categories.

Many recent arrests appear to fall into the last category. The lack of affiliation in these groups and individuals, and their ability to appear as home-grown entities in the US and other target areas, make them dangerous; fortunately most so far seem to be of fairly limited competence. We cannot, of course, assume that this will always be the case.