Al Qaeda 4
Paper 1 – Al-Qaeda
10/19/10
It would not at all be surprising if this decade comes to be known as the decade of terrorism in years to come. Since the turn of the millennium, terrorism, maybe more than any other global issue or topic, has plagued the world stage with constant news and horror. It can be argued that terrorism is a problem with no solution and no end in sight. The Islamic militant group, Al-Qaeda, is the most well known terrorist organization in the world. Al-Qaeda has been held accountable for some of the most tragic and horrifying acts of terror in history. Still, many people do not fully understand what Al-Qaeda is, who is behind it, and why it exists. A fluid, agreed-upon definition does not exist for the extremist organization, run by Osama bin Laden and responsible for the September 11th terrorist attacks, but rather a multitude of beliefs on the number, strength, and whereabouts of Al-Qaeda. Most researchers and historians point to August 11th, 1988 as the origin of Al-Qaeda as an organized group. However, it was the events leading up to this meeting that caused Osama bin Laden and a small group of extremist leaders to officially organize what had grown into a large, strong Islamic following. From December 1979 through February 1989, the Soviet Union was engaged in a war with Afghanistan. The communist Soviet Union allied with the Afghan Marxist regime in order to fight the native Afghan mujahideen (Burke and Allen). The United States channeled funds to the native Afghanis in order to stop the spread of communism by the Soviet Union in a CIA program called Operation Cyclone. There are many people today that are of the belief that it was this CIA program that kick started Al-Qaeda, and that the US was directly responsible for the growth and success of the same terrorist organization that executed the most devastating attack on US soil (Dixon). Once the war ended, Osama bin Laden met with the leader of the Egyptian Islamic-Jihad,
10/19/10
It would not at all be surprising if this decade comes to be known as the decade of terrorism in years to come. Since the turn of the millennium, terrorism, maybe more than any other global issue or topic, has plagued the world stage with constant news and horror. It can be argued that terrorism is a problem with no solution and no end in sight. The Islamic militant group, Al-Qaeda, is the most well known terrorist organization in the world. Al-Qaeda has been held accountable for some of the most tragic and horrifying acts of terror in history. Still, many people do not fully understand what Al-Qaeda is, who is behind it, and why it exists. A fluid, agreed-upon definition does not exist for the extremist organization, run by Osama bin Laden and responsible for the September 11th terrorist attacks, but rather a multitude of beliefs on the number, strength, and whereabouts of Al-Qaeda. Most researchers and historians point to August 11th, 1988 as the origin of Al-Qaeda as an organized group. However, it was the events leading up to this meeting that caused Osama bin Laden and a small group of extremist leaders to officially organize what had grown into a large, strong Islamic following. From December 1979 through February 1989, the Soviet Union was engaged in a war with Afghanistan. The communist Soviet Union allied with the Afghan Marxist regime in order to fight the native Afghan mujahideen (Burke and Allen). The United States channeled funds to the native Afghanis in order to stop the spread of communism by the Soviet Union in a CIA program called Operation Cyclone. There are many people today that are of the belief that it was this CIA program that kick started Al-Qaeda, and that the US was directly responsible for the growth and success of the same terrorist organization that executed the most devastating attack on US soil (Dixon). Once the war ended, Osama bin Laden met with the leader of the Egyptian Islamic-Jihad,
Cited: "The 9/11 Commission Report." National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. . Atwan, Abdel Bari. The Secret History of Al-Qaeda. Los Angeles, California: University of California, 2006. Google Books. Bergen, Peter. "The Osama Bin Laden I Know." Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. . "Bin Laden Claims Responsibility for 9/11." CBC News. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. . Burke, Jason, and Paddy Allen. "The Five Ages of Al-Qaida." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. . Dixon, Norm. "How the CIA Created Osama Bin Laden." Green Left Weekly. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. . "Inside the Alqaeda Terrorist Network." Middle East: MidEastWeb. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. . "List of Known Terrorist Organizations." CDI - Center for Defense Information - Security Policy Research Organization. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. .