The anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death last week focused attention briefly on the continued threat posed by al Qaeda Central. But what about al Qaeda's franchises elsewhere, like al Shabaab in Somalia? The viability of the threat these groups pose to the U.S. deserves more careful consideration than it has received.

It is quite telling that if President Obama had to construct a strategy for defeat, it would not differ from what he and his aides describe as America’s way forward.

Obama has treated foreign policy as something to keep on the back burner so he could concentrate on domestic politics. By killing Osama bin Laden, he got what he wished for. And that may just be the beginning of his problems.

The news that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula nearly blew up a US aircraft last week is a reminder of its continuing strength.

The temptation to declare victory in the "global war on terror" is, a decade after 9/11, very strong. But Osama bin Laden was only a part of the problem of the "greater Middle East," and the so-called "Long War" will continue.

Bin Laden's murder is not the end of Al Qaeda. And even if Al Qaeda were totally eliminated, the world would still have to deal with Al Qaeda's progenitor. Just how likely is it that Egypt will end up-after the inevitable transition period-being ruled indirectly or directly by the Muslim Brotherhood?

U.S. forces must drive out the Haqqani Network-- al Qaeda's allies-- and set conditions in which Afghan troops can hold.