Terrorist Groups: Al-Qaeda

The attack on September 11, 2001 is defined as a group of Islamic terrorist who are believed to be members of the al-Qaeda, attacking the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, also known as the Twin Towers, by hijacking four commercial airlines. Only three of the four attacks succeed. This is considered a terrorist attack to most of us. From this incident we can define terrorism as a well-planned violent attack that targets innocent people to send a political message by planting fear not just to the country or government but also to civilians. However, terrorism cannot and should not be easily defined in this way. The definition of terrorism defined above is defined in America’s point of view and not al-Qaeda’s perspective. If we put ourselves in al-Qaeda’s shoes, our definition of terrorism is going to change. Al-Qaeda declared war to America because they felt that the Muslims were threatened by the U.S. as well as their freedom. It is not to be said that the actions of al-Qaeda should be justified, but we should try to understand them before making assumptions. Al-Qaeda dealt with their situation to extreme by planning massive attacks but it could be considered as a method of protection instead of a terrorist attack.

Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, America has been on edge about the topic of terrorism. Groups like Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Taliban, and now more recently, ISIS, has kept the world cautious of their every next move. Looking more closely into how these groups are formed and operate could help us better understand how they can be stopped. Studying the history of terrorist organizations can help us better predict the future of terrorist organizations.

The book “How Terrorism End; Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns”, written in 2011 at the height of Al-Qaeda, the most well-known international terrorist group of our time. The author of this work, Audrey Cronin, at the time of print, served as a professor of strategy at the United States National War College in Washington D.C., and a senior associate at Oxford University’s Changing Character of War Program. Both positions allowed her to impact strategic policy making in the execution of the Global War on Terror by allowing her access to senior military and civilian policymakers. Her previous area of her prior work has been mainly focused on international terrorism with an emphasis on al-Qaeda. She has authored

For our purposes, we will use the Title 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f(d), to define terrorism. It defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Examples of terrorism persist on a near daily basis around the world. Unstable countries, such as Afghanistan and Syria, deal with terrorist attacks on a constant basis. The common thread of these attacks is deliberate targeting of civilian populations in order to achieve political objectives. The best known and largest example are

This paper is aimed at outlining the events of the Terrorist attack against America, the results and actions taken by the United States Government in retaliation to the attacks. There is no way to legitimize terrorism, although deeply rooted in religion; there can never be a valid excuse to victimize innocent people. Terrorism is never easily defined and many individuals have an obscure idea of what it really is. Terrorism is a premeditated act of violence, geared at bringing about political change by intimidation; it is disruptive in nature and is intended to have an impact outside of its intended targets. Acts of terrorism are responsible for thousands of deaths, increased security measures and negative impacts to the budgets of many countries including America.

The event that transpired on September 11, 2001 was nothing but devastating. The teams of the terrorist group hijacked jetliners going to Boston, Newark, New Jersey and Washington D.C. Al Qaeda murdered the planes’ pilots and took control of the aircraft's’, putting the lives of others on the line. The Islamic group, Al Qaeda caused a tremendous impact, which led to the deaths and injuries of more than 6,000 people. People viewed this attack as an act of war.

September 11th 2001 is a day Americans will remember for the rest of their lives. This was the day Al Qaeda, a radical Islamic group organized by Osama Bin Laden in the 1990’s, terrorized America. Al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and executed suicide attacks on four sites in the United States of America. The first two of the airplanes were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City, another hit the Pentagon in Washington DC and the last plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, but could have been headed towards the White House or United States capital building. Thousands of people died and these terrorists’ attacks changed America’s fabric forever.

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.

The events surrounding the September 11 attacks on the United States of America have often been shrouded in a cloud of controversy and mystery, with no one individual seemingly able to apprehend the “true” details of the terror attack. Many proposed theories have been brought forth, the most widely accepted being that of co-ordinated attacks by terrorist organisation “Al-Qaeda”. “9/11”, as the event is commonly known, is simply one of many global terrorism attacks that have seemingly consumed the contemporary world. Thus, it is up to the acts and responsibilities of governments and legal organisations to undertake action in attempt to achieve justice and equality throughout the world, ensuring the safety of all people. Although, it is

September 11, 2001, a day the people in United States will all remember, a terrorist group called al-Qaeda hijacked four U.S. airplanes and directed them to crush into twin towers and World Trade Center the Pentagon. The fourth plane, thought to be heading to the capitol in Washington, however, crushed in rural Pennsylvania. This terrorist attack took the lives of nearly 3,000 people, resulting in being one of the worst attack on the United States in history. The criprits, Al-Qaeda, is a group that practice in muslim religion and desire to create a muslim state independent from other countries. The September 11 attack by al-Qaeda, later resulted in changes in the United States’s views on safety, vigilance, and privacy.

Al-Qaeda has shaped the U.S. and its Anti-Western ideology that has corrupted the world. This terrorist organization was constructed by Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden’s main goal was to drive the United States armed forces out of Saudi Arabia and Somalia through the technique of violence. Members of Al-Qaeda issued fatwas indicating that the attacks were both proper and necessary. Al-Qaeda had a command and control structure which included a consultation council, allowing many heartbreaking attacks to form. The al-Qaeda organization used horrendously violent acts to induce terror during catastrophes, causing social climate of distrust and fear to emerge the American citizens.

Al-Qaeda, or “the Base” in Arabic, is an arrangement of extremists initially organized by Osama Bin Laden. Al-Qaeda originated throughout the uprising against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Thousands of volunteers from around the Middle East came to Afghanistan as mujahideen, warriors fighting to defend fellow Muslims. Bin Laden returned to his native Saudi Arabia after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan and founded an organization to help veterans of the Afghan war, thus creating the basis of al-Qaeda. The death of Bin Laden, who was killed in a joint operation by US troops and CI operatives in May 2011, complicated the future of al-Qaeda. Some speculated that the group might seek retaliation, while others wondered if they would wallow without their supreme leader. More than a month after bin Laden’s death, al-Qaeda named Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri as their new leader. Following bin Laden’s death another powerful top ranking al-Qaeda leader, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, was killed in June. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was the leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa and was responsible for the organized US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998.

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists who were members of the Islamic terrorist organization named al-Qaeda, hijacked four commercial airplanes and committed suicide attacks against the United States. Two of the planes were ran into the towers of the World Trade Center (Twin Towers) in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside of Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks resulted in mass death and destruction, triggering the United States initiatives to fight terrorism and defend our country. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., among these people were more than 400 police officers and 300 firefighters, these heros lost their lives

On September 20th, 2001, President Bush gave one his most iconic speeches before 80 million Americans where he identified the enemy, al Qaeda, as “a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations” that “practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics” (O’Connell 285). President Bush commanded on Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban regime to turn over all al Qaeda members living in Afghanistan and that they close all of their training camps. This was his speech where he preached tolerance for members of the Muslim faith and he pleaded with Americans to grant him their patience for an extended struggle. It was Bush’s closing lines that were truly exceptional:

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