Existing comment:
Al Qaeda:
Al Qaeda is formed in or around 1989 by a group of militant Islamists dedicated to opposing non-Islamic governments with force and violence. By the 1990s, al Qaeda is supporting terrorists around the world. Between 1996 and 2001, 10,000 to 20,000 fighters go through al Qaeda-supported training camps. Their network of terror stretches from Afghanistan to Southeast Asia to the United States, using the internet and television to recruit followers and spread its message. Osama bin Laden is al Qaeda's founder, spokesman, and main financial supporter.
Al Qaeda provides other terrorist groups around the world with funds, training, and weapons, but bin Laden wants his organization to attack "the head of the snake" and hit the United States directly. In 1998, al Qaeda operatives simultaneously set off bombs at two US embassies in East Africa, and in 2000, attack the Navy destroyer USS Cole at anchor in Yemen.
Osama Bin Laden
Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden is born into a wealthy Saudi family in 1957 and even as a youth embraces a militant version of Islam. In 1980, he joins other disaffected Muslims to wage "holy war," or jihad in Afghanistan to expel Soviet occupying forces. After the Soviet withdrawal, bin Laden and others form al Qaeda as a base for future jihad, intent on attacking US interests.
The US is considered an enemy because it is not governed according to al Qaeda's extremist interpretation of Islam and supports "infidel" governments in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel. Al Qaeda opposes US involvement in the 1991 Gulf War, and the continuing military presence in the Arabian Peninsula. Bin Laden believes the US is behind the oppression of Muslims around the world through its political influence, military power, materialism, and traditions of democracy and equality. In 1998, he proclaims: "To kill the Americans and their allies -- civilian and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it." |