The detritus left behind in Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan included documents showing the former Al Qaeda leader had concerns about the terrorist organization’s brand. His worry before his death was that the world was no longer seeing the group as an Islamic one, says one senior administration official, but rather a mercenary operation. He had even considered changing Al Qaeda’s name to address the problem.
That revelation has helped to steer the White House as it plotted its response to another extremist threat in the Middle East, the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria. ” “They are seeking to establish themselves as the vanguard terrorist organization that is at war with the U.S. and the West on behalf of Islam,” says Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser at the White House. “Therefore they need to attract as much attention as they can.”
But President Obama is determined not indulge the ideological frame of his enemy, calling the claim that the United States is at war with Islam an “ugly lie.” Rather the Obama Administration has focused on building a coalition of Islamic states in the gulf, including many Sunni gulf states, to battle against the self-described Caliphate. This effort received a major boost last September, when Obama met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shiite, and representatives from the Sunni leadership of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar to discuss a united front against ISIS. “That’s