Little Al Qaeda Vs The Bigu.s Essay

To understand the convoluted events of Al-Qaeda’s reign of terror on America I had to delve into the history of Al-Qaeda’s origins and

The government’s response to the September 11, 2001 events was quick and decisive. Government officials attributed responsibility for the attack to Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization. One result was an announced policy shift from deterrence to preemption, generally referred to as the “Bush Doctrine.” (National Security Strategy, [http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html].) Given the potential consequences of terrorist attacks employing weapons of mass destruction, government decision makers felt that the nation could not afford to sit back, wait for attacks to occur, and then respond. The nation was mobilized; combating terrorism and crippling Al Qaeda became top national priorities. The use of military force against different terrorist groups and infrastructure gained increasing acceptance in Government policy circles. In addition, a February 14, 2003, National Strategy for Combating Terrorism [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030214-7.html] gave more emphasis to the role of international cooperation, law enforcement and economic development in countering terrorism.

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.

Before 2001, al-Qaeda, an Islamist militant organization founded by Osama bin Laden, had proven itself a security menace to both the West and the Muslim world. Achieving its height of power in 2001, the group and its Taliban allies were on the verge of taking over Afghanistan (Longest, 7). Then the group made a central mistake: It choose to wage an offensive jihad attack against the United States on American soil. For a time after 9/11, al-Qaeda appeared largely victorious from the devastation left behind of their ruthless exploit; but instead, the craven act would prove to be the beginning of the terrorist organization’s demise.

Al-Qaeda’s target and nemesis; the United States Government and the people that support the government. The main problem to al-Qaeda is the US government. According to bin Laden by being loyal to the US regime, you have committed an act against Islam. (Information Clearing House, 1997). This jihad was now personal, due to the United States supporting the Israelis, bin Laden could take no more. Dating back to 1982, before the organization of al-Qaeda, America placed gruesome scenes in bin Laden’s head that he could not forgive. America gave the Israelis the green light to invade Lebanon and the American Sixth Fleet helped them. “I cannot forget those unbearable scenes of blood and severed limbs, the corpses of women and children strewn everywhere, houses destroyed along with their occupants and high-rise buildings burying their residents, rockets raining down on your land without mercy.” (Milelli, 2008) A holy war has started, any allies of the United States was in al-Qaeda’s path of destruction.

It is difficult to go anywhere where the Al Qaeda terrorist group is not known. While terrorist groups have been traditionally been known to influence, inhabit, and operate in areas of the Middle East. Al Qaeda has become a household name within the United States after September 11, 2001 when the group was responsible for one of the most devastating attack on the lower 48 states. The days to follow the attack are fundamentally responsible for the development and enactment of the Patriot Act by the United States.

The other suspected motive that al-Qaeda had for the September 11th attacks was the United States’ continuing presence in Saudi Arabia. In 1991, when the Gulf War ended, the United State’s Department of Defense reserved approximately 5,000 troops to be stationed in territories located in Saudi Arabia. Part of their responsibility was to carry out the military operation, “Operation Southern Watch” ("Operation Southern Watch"). The goal of this military operation was to ensure that the no-fly zones over southern Iraq were enforced. In addition, they made certain that the oil exportation shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf were protected ("Operation Southern Watch").

Al-Qaeda was the name of the group to aim carry out suicide attacks against important United States buildings. An Islamic extremist terrorist system started by Osama bin Laden. With franchise operations in at least sixteen other countries, al-Qaeda seeks to overthrow Middle-Eastern governments or other places with strong Muslim representation that do not force religiously-sanctioned social and political order. Knowing that if those areas were to fail, then the people would have to start back over from square 1. Knocking out the United States way of trade.

The Terrorist Organization Al Qaeda is determined to end the U.S. influence in Islamic Nations. Al Qaeda and its founder Osama Bin Laden are believed to be responsible for many of the worst terrorist attacks of the 20th and 21st century Bin Laden's goal for Al Qaeda began to change during the Persian Gulf War, when he became angry at the presence of U.S. soldiers in Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda continued to focus on U.S. targets throughout the 1990s, and it is suspected of being involved in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 and the bombing of USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.

There are several terrorist groups throughout the world today. All the terrorist groups have one common goal and that is to rid the world of Americans and western influence from the Muslim world. There is one organization that has ties to most of all the terrorist groups in the world and is the most infamous group in the world today and that is the group called Al-Qaeda The word Al-Qaeda means “the base” in Muslim. As an international terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden. The group seeks to rid Muslim countries of western influence and replace them with fundamentalist Islamic regimes. Al-Qaeda grew out of the of the ashes of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1988, after it helped expel the Soviet

Although, it did not take long before America realized that the Al Qaeda group was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. In addition, the organization was led by Osama bin Laden. Besides, the Al Qaeda group had declared war openly on the States of America (Capone, 2011). As a result, the group was ready to terminate lives of innocents’ lives in America and the entire world. Therefore, America started war against Al Qaeda with the aim of protecting the citizens, friends as well as allies. However, after 10 years of the heroic and tireless effort of American military with the tireless support of the counter-terrorism professionals American had yielded some fruits. In addition, America had strengthened its homeland defense and disrupted attacks by the

When the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred the United States responded in a manner which was seen as a traditional reaction to such an attack; it used its overwhelming superior military to invade the nation of Afghanistan. As Afghanistan was the operating base of the terrorist group responsible for the attacks, Al Qaeda, the invasion all but destroyed the group's operating capacity. But in response to the United States' apparent victory the terrorists have re-organized themselves into a looser confederation and turned to alternative methods of finance and operation. One could say that the success of the American military's answer to the September 11th attacks have created a new environment in which terrorists currently operate. This includes the use of the internet, unconventional alliances with international criminal organizations, as well the inception of the "lone wolf" terrorist. Faced with these new type of threats, the United States and its allies must find a way to identify and deal with them.

As a direct consequence of September 11, a number of substantial challenges lie ahead in the area of counter-terrorism..   The most prominent of these is the changing nature of the terrorism phenomenon.  In past years, when terrorism was largely the product of direct state sponsorship, policymakers were able to diminish prospects for the United States becoming a target using a combination of diplomatic and military instruments to deter potential state sponsors.  Today, however, many terrorist organizations and individuals act independently from former and present state sponsors, shifting to other sources of support, including the development of transnational networks.

The world has been changed forever since the tragic attack on September 11, 2001. An observer described the atrocity by saying, "It just went 'bam,' like a bomb went off. It was like holy hell (CNN 1). " The new world will be different from what any American has known before. A new war has arisen, not against a foreign country or a major region of the world, but rather against a select group of people who have the capabilities to destroy the lives of so many. The war against terrorism which the United States is now forced to wage will not be an easily won battle. This war will not be fought solely on scattered battlefields in certain countries. It will instead permeate through every aspect of life as we

Differing accounts on either pole focus on al-Qaeda’s continued relevance as the premier terrorist network, whether it is any longer effective or not. From there, the natural conclusion comes around to asking how effective al-Qaeda is, and by which mechanisms does it project that effectiveness. Aside from this, both parties agree that al-Qaeda has an uncanny habit of surviving in the turbulent international dialectic that spawned radical Muslim distress, vicariously.