On September 11th, 2001, 2,753 people were killed in a terrorist attack on United States soil well known as “9-11”. (cnn.com) Two planes, flown by 19 men, were purposely crashed straight into the world trade centers. (cnn.com) Later, another plane was flown into the pentagon, a United States government building located in Washington, DC. Almost 3,000 people were killed by 19 members of one single terrorist group. The group’s name is Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda, meaning “The Base” in Arabic, is a terrorist group that was formed in 1989 to get rid of non-islamic government influences from the west. Al Qaeda was formed through the influence of Services Office group who opposed Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. At first there were only headquarters …show more content…
Al Qaeda declared a holy war against the United States in 2001, before executing the terrorist act called “9-11”. In addition to this, Al Qaeda has also killed the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2007 with a suicide bombing at an election rally, attempted a Northwest airlines bombing in December 2009, completed the March 2004 bomb attacks on commuter trains in Madrid, and their senior leader executed the London bus bombings. (cfr.org) The commuter train bombings in Madrid alone killed nearly 200 people and left about 1,800 people critically injured. (cfr.org) Al Qaeda is thought to be affiliated with the 1993 World Trade center bombings, and that was before they even declared a holy war on the United states! (cfr.org) In February 2006, Al Qaeda led an attack on the largest petroleum processing plant in Saudi Arabia. The group also did car bombings in Saudi Arabia and Kenya in May 2003 and November 2002. Also in 2002, they were responsible for the explosion of a fuel tanker in Tunisia in April, and an attack on a French tanker off the coast of Yemen. In October 2000, they bombed the U.S.S. Cole as …show more content…
In reality, Al Qaeda dropped off the radar very abruptly and without a reason. Since the news sources have been focused more on ISIS, it is thought that Al Qaeda could be rebuilding their power in the background. In fact, it has been reported in Syria that there is an estimated 30,000 troops set up, containing the most skilled terrorists who have already planned past attacks. (cnn.com) While we have been watching ISIS attacks, Al Qaeda has begun hiding its face and recruiting members in places where war is happening. There is no way they are simply satisfied with their work, because there are still a ton of secular governments around the world. Because there is no single headquarters from the group and there are only little areas that they work from, it would be impossible to stop them from a specific area or source without causing uproar from unknown locations. Because they are decentralized, it is also almost impossible to scale how big or small the group is becoming. However, they definitely have less support than they used to. According to a poll taken in 2008, only 24% of Pakistanis support Bin Laden, compared to the 46% in 2007. (cfr.org) This is a step in the right direction. Al Qaeda still owns underground cells, though. Some have been found in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Albania, and Uganda. As they are recruiting members out
On September 11, 2001, the Islamic extremist group, al-Qaeda hijacked four american airlines. “Two of the airlines crashed into the world trade center in New York The third plane crashed into the Pentagon outside the world trade center, and the fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania” (9/11 Attacks). They called it a suicide attack against United States, but there are conspiracy theories the the terrorist are still alive. That they stole
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States was incredibly eager to strike back at the nations thought to be responsible for this horrific tragedy. These attacks were quickly attributed to the terrorist group al-Qa’ida, led by Osama bin Laden, and to the Taliban-run government of Afghanistan, which had provided sanctuary to al-Qa’ida. In response, Washington approved a covert plan led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to directly attack those responsible in their Middle East safe haven. Initiated on 26 September 2001 with the approval of the warlords of the Afghan Northern Alliance, with whom the CIA had formed an intelligence liaison relationship, Operation Jawbreaker resulted in the fall of the Taliban regime, the killing and capture of a significant amount of al-Qa’ida leadership, and elimination of a terrorist safe haven by early December 2001. Moreover, the Taliban’s collapse denied al-Qa’ida a pseudo-nation-state partner, serving to reduce the organization’s sanctuary to areas residing along the Pakistani border.
19 militants from al-Qaeda carried suicide attacks towards the United States. Two of the planes hit the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, making the towers to fall down. A third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania which didn’t reach its goal which was the Capitol. As a result from this tremendous attack over 3,000 people died in New York City and Washington D.C.
On the morning of September 11/2001, 19 terrorist working for the Al Qaeda terrorist organization hijacked four commercial planes. They attempted to fly them into multiple U.S targets. One of the planes, American Airlines, flight 11, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:50 a.m. Another plane, United Airlines, flight 175, crashed into the south tower at 9:04 a.m. These tragedies took the lives of nearly 3000 people and affected the lives of millions.
On December 24th 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. On that day began a war which wreaked incredible havoc and destruction on Afghanistan for 10 long years. The Soviets stormed in with thousands of troops at the request of the troubled Afghan Communist regime. The Russians believed this be a neat surgical military operation. They were wrong.(Boggs) The only resistance to the Soviet invasion were men known as the "mujahideen" known to many as freedom fighters. They are multinational; some even from America, doing everything in their power to repeal the Soviet horde. The Soviet invasion frightened neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, so they unofficially allied with the United States. The U.S. provided the weaponry, training, etc., Saudi Arabia recruited the fighters (mujahideen) which were sometimes based in Pakistan. They all agreed on the need for armed resistance against the Soviets. The U.S. decided to tap the religious vein of the rebels, creating a zealous religiously driven guerrilla organization; well armed and trained by CIA officers with the goal of returning Afghanistan to Islamic purity.
On September 11, 2001, the Islamist terrorist group known as al-Qaeda launched a series of terrorist attacks on the United States of America, specifically in the New York City and Washington D.C areas. Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes with the intention of using them as suicide attacks that would crash those planes into designated buildings, or targets. Two of the four passenger jets were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, both of which collapsed entirely within two hours of being hit. The third plane was crashed into the Pentagon, and the west side of the building, which is the Headquarters of the US Department of Defense, partially collapsed. The fourth hijacked plane was intended for the US Capitol Building in Washington D.C, but instead crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers of the plane interfered with the hijackers. The attack on September 11th was devastatingly fatal—almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including all of the al-Qaeda hijackers and every passenger aboard the four planes.
The two victims said that they were not involved in terrorist groups, but during the investigation they had visited some Al- Qaeda websites to plan out the bombing. Al- Qaeda is an Islamist group that was found by Osama bin Laden in the 1980s. Al- Qaeda is the same group that did the terroist attacks on September 11, 2001. Al- Qaeda means "the base". In 2010, the Al- Qaeda's magazine had a step by step to make a pressure cooker bomb. The brothers were planning to do some of the same acts in New York City.
The most infamous leader of the Al Qaeda is Osama bin Laden of Saudi Arabia. Osama Bin Laden did not derive his theories, practices, or views because he was educated or raised through the teachings of Islamic seminaries, though his principal inspiration appears to be based upon far-reaching religious sentiment. His higher education was actually the study of engineering at a prominent university in Saudi Arabia (Schweitzer and Shay, 2003). Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian, was a highly regarded mentor and the primary source of persuasion for Bin Laden’s ideology and fundamental vision. Azzam was the main architect behind jihad views and is credited as the founder of Al Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden also shaped his outlook from the works and actions of zealous Islamic philosophers from all over the middle-eastern region of the world that opposed Soviet occupation (...
On September 11, 2001, many people’s lives were changed. Not only Americans, but Muslims and Islamist alike, were affected. (A Nation Challenged 80). Family members and friends were lost, lives were taken away, and New York City was torn to pieces. Two planes hit the Twin Towers, otherwise known as the World Trade Center. One plane was flown into the Pentagon located in Virginia. One last plane was flown into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after being taken over by the passengers. The nineteen men who hijacked these planes were from the Islamist militant group known as al-Qaeda. (The 9/11 Commission Report). An editorial in the New York Times said, “It was one of those moments in which history splits, and we define the world as ‘before’ and ‘after’.”
Al-Qaeda’s purpose for targeting the US was due to Osama bin Laden’s mission to wipe out American presence on Islamic lands. Fearing America was looting natural resources of Islam through aiding Islamic countries, al-Qaeda decided to attack the U.S. Founded in the late 1980’s by Osama bin Laden in Peshawar, Pakistan, al-Qaeda was created as a network to fight against the Soviet Union during the Afghan war through Islam. Meaning base in Arabic, al-Qaeda was considered the base of Islamic support for Sunni Muslims to fight the Soviet Union and the protector of Islam. After the Soviet Union departure, al-Qaeda focused on removing corrupt leaders of Islamic regions and removing U.S presence in Islamic lands. bin Laden’s rift with U.S
Historical Significance: The September 11th, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, orchestrated by Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, were the events that launched the U.S. War on Terrorism. Al-Qaeda’s attack on the United States was carried out by members of radicalized Islamic groups, whose objective was to spread jihad against the secular influence of the West. This tragic event provided the historical b...
America has had 21 terrorist attacks, from 2000 to 2009 consisting mostly of al-Qaeda and suicide bombers (infoplease.com). Osama Ben Laden, leading al-Qaeda’s attacks is fed up with the way America treats the world. Blaming America for global warming and determined to stop them by sending suicide bombers and hijacking planes. After the 9/11 attack America changed the way they looked at security, putting into effect; Airport Security Federalization Act of 2001: To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools (The Library of Congress).
Al Qaeda is leading by Osama bin laden that was born and grown up in Saudi Arabia; his family was very rich and respected by Saudi Royal household and the public. When he finished his University in Saudi Arabia, he becomes an extreme religious person. Osama started to help Islamist movement against communist in Yemen (Gunaratna, 2005) . In December 1997 when Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan he went to Pakistan and then Afghanistan to help Afghan group to protect it from Soviet Union. At the time a Palestinian Jordanian, Dr Abdullah Azzam esta...
Al Qaeda, the organization that the United States is in a constant, never ending battle with, the organization that has made the most impact and changed the United States forever. Al Qaeda is always making headlines with their terrorist attacks, the most known attack September 11th, 2001. This essay is about the terrorist group Al Qaeda, its history and background, Osama bin Laden, their well-known leader, and the major attacks on America.
They were Being one of the most powerful and richest terrorist groups in history combining military and religion fanaticism to build what they call the Islamic State. However, it all started with the Soviets invading Afghanistan causing thousands of Muslims to fight back. Finally, after the Soviets fight withdraw, a man named, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who travels to Afghanistan. Later on, Zarqawi later on meets another man named, Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi who eventually persuades Zaraqawi to believe in Islam. Subsequently, this was significant because it led to the organization known as JTWJ (Jamaat-al-Tawhid wal-Jihad). Finally, in 2003, JTWJ was renamed as AQI (al-Qaeda in Iraq) and grew to become the leading organization of Sunni’s. Furthermore, this made AQI very cocky which ends up most of their members in prison. After some time, they finally escape and reorganize to become an even more powerful organization. In 2013 AQI was renamed as Isis as they left Al Qaeda. ISIS then ends up capturing a major city in Syria known as Raqqa which later was made to be the capital for ISIS. This was significant because it allowed them to use this as an opportunity to recruit people which made them grow and increase in members hastily. This caused the western societies to be concerned because of a powerful organization could bring a threat to