The Most Dangerous Man in the World?

In appearances publicizing my book, I've said several times that if the United States could successfully target any individual in the world, it would not be the Ayman al-Zawahiri, but rather Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, the deadly genius behind AQAP's "underwear" and printer-cartridge bombs, and the suspected designer of the device recently smuggled out of Yemen by a U.S. double-agent.  Yesterday The Washington Post had an excellent profile on al-Asiri, whom the reporters describe as representing "the CIA's worst fears."

Although I recommend the entire article, there were three key takeaways I found particularly interesting:
- There is a debate as to how al-Asiri, a 30-year-old chemistry major, learned to make such sophisticated bombs.  One expert says he was taught by a Pakistani bombmaker linked to al-Qa'ida, while Bruce Riedel says "He seems to be largely self-educated."  The latter is especially dangerous, as it suggests the threat of lone-wolfs learning to make sophisticated devices via manuals and other resources on the Internet is viable.
- Even if al-Asiri is unique in his learning capacity and ingenuity, analysts say al-Asiri "is training the next generation of bombmakers in the event he is killed."  The possibility of al-Asiri creating a "starfish network" of sophisticated bombmakers is truly frightening, and underscores the need to kill him as quickly as possible.
- Al-Asiri's first significant bomb utilized 100 grams of PETN, "a white, powdery explosive that was virtually undetectable" and was targeted at Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism chief, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.  The bomber selected to conduct the suicide mission was Abdullah al-Asiri, Ibrahim Hassan's brother.  In other words, al-Asiri is one cold-hearted bastard.

Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri: The single most important target in the War on Terror.