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Many felt that the death of Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki and numerous other key members of the al-Qa'ida leadership had stemmed the tide of the movement and the global jihad. But as terrorism issues appear to be slipping down the hierarchy of perceived risks in much of the Western world, the trends that are emerging from the Syrian conflict remind us that al-Qa'ida is in this campaign for the long term.