Al Qaeda
Osama bin Laden • Multi-millionaire • Saudi Arabian by birth • Funded and helped train Mujahedeen • Muslims that fought Soviets in Soviet-Afghan War of 1980s
Soviet Afghan War • 1979 – 1989 • One million Afghani deaths • US provided billions of dollars of aid to Mujahedeen • Weapons and other supplies
Al Qaeda • “The Base” • Founded in Mujahedeen training camps in Afghanistan in 1988 • Sunni Islamic Extremists • Recruited from major Muslim countries • Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria
Goals and Objectives • Establishing rule of God on Earth • Attaining martyrdom in cause of God • Purification of the ranks of Islam • Wahhabism • Rid Islamic societies of cultural practices • Literal interpretation of the Koran
Tactics • Assassinations, bombings, hijacking, kidnapping, suicide attacks • Targets • Very public and prominent sites • Public buildings, embassies and military personnel • US and its allies
Persian Gulf War • 1990 • Saddam Hussein and Iraq invades Kuwait • Saudi Arabia allows UN and US forces in • Attack Iraq through Saudi borders
Upset Bin Laden • Offers help of Mujahedeen to attack Hussein • Alternative to using US and UN • Saudi Arabia refuses • Insulted OBL • Increases hatred of Western culture
Islamic Attacks pre-9/11 • Feb. 26, 1993 --Bomb explodes in garage under World Trade Center, killing six and injuring more than 1,000. Group of Islamic extremists later convicted.
Nov. 13, 1995 --Seven people, including five Americans, killed when two bombs explode at U.S.-Saudi military facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden blamed for attack. • Sept. 27, 1996 --Taliban, suspected of giving refuge to bin Laden, completes takeover of Kabul, Afghanistan.
The Taliban • Afghanistan's Islamic fundamentalist rulers • 1996 – 2001 • Harbored bin Laden and his followers • bin Laden gave funds to train their army, in return allowed Al-Qaeda training camps in the country
June 25, 1996 --Bin Laden followers detonate bomb at U.S. military base near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 American soldiers and wounding hundreds of Americans and Saudi Arabians.
Aug. 7, 1998 --U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, bombed, killing more than 250 people, including 12 Americans, and injuring 5,000. In retaliation, United States launches airstrikes against suspected terrorist camps in Sudan and Afghanistan.
Aug. 28, 1998 --FBI accuses bin Laden of having declared "jihad," or holy war, against United States. Complaint also alleges bin Laden founded Al Qaeda that year to promote Islamic fundamentalism and force non-Muslims out of Muslim countries. • November 4, 1998 --Bin Laden charged with ordering embassy bombings.
Oct. 12, 2000 --Suicide bombers in Yemen attack U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole, killing 17 sailors. Officials suspect bin Laden involvement.
September 11, 2001 : Hijackers take over planes flying two into the World Trade Center, One into Pentagon, and fail in their attempt on the White House
Why Target the US? • Frustrations over America's pro-Israeli Middle east policies • Cause as many deaths as possible • Slap America in the face for the rest of the world to see
