History of al-Qaeda and Terrorism against the USA

What is al-Qaeda?

• Al Qaeda means “the Base.” It is a stateless (meaning without a country) terrorist organization.

• It is led and financed by Osama bin Laden, a radical Sunni Muslim.

When did al-Qaeda form?

• The beginnings of al-Qaeda go back to the 1980’s when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan .

Bin Laden, and the Arab Afghans, fought the Soviet Union in Afghanistan • The Soviet army left in 1988.

Desert Storm (Gulf War I) • In 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded the tiny, oil-rich country of Kuwait

Operation Desert Storm • The United States feared Saddam would invade Saudi Arabia too. Iraqi tanks

US and Saudi coalition • The United States asked the Saudis for permission to establish military bases in their country.

Saudi’s choice • Osama bin Laden, back home from Afghanistan, offered the Saudis the use of his soldiers to fight the Iraqi army because Infidel armies have no place in the holy land of Islam.

Saudis chose the USA and snubbed bin Laden.

1991--Bin Laden leaves Saudi Arabia for Sudan

USA in Somalia • Dec. 4, 1992, George H.W. Bush sends 28,000 American troops to Somalia.

• Bush wanted to help the Somali people since all attempts to send food to them were intercepted by war lords.

Black Hawk Down!

• In 1993, 18 Americans died when their Black Hawk helicopter was shot down over Mogadishu, Somalia.

al Qaeda?

• We think al Qaeda operatives taught the Somalians how to shoot down helicopters just like they did in Afghanistan against the Soviets.

1993-The 1 st World Trade Center bombing

1993 WTC bombing It killed 6 people and injured over 1000.

May 1996 ---Sudan expels bin Laden, and he returns too Afghanistan

Afghanistan Was Run by the Taliban, A Violent Local, Afghanistani Group Led By Mullah Omar

The Taliban Did Not Plan the 9/11 Attacks, But They Let Bin Laden Operate in Afghanistan and Refused to Turn Him Over to the US

1996 car bombing of Khobar Towers • 19 Americans were killed and hundreds injured.

Fatwa • In August of 1998, Al Qaeda, led by bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri declare war on American.

Embassy bombings: 1998 • Two American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed simultaneously. 220 people were killed.

Clinton responds.

• President Clinton, risking “Wag the Dog” criticism during the Lewinsky scandal, decided to attack al Qaeda in response.

US sends missiles against Qaeda training camps in Sudan and Afghanistan----to little effect.

2000—Millennium Attacks Foiled!

• Jordanian police halted 4 bombings • Four al Qaeda terrorists arrested, crossing cross the Canadian border with nitroglycerin in his trunk. They set out to bomb LA International Airport.

• In Yemen, a boat with explosives tried to bomb a navy ship but sank due to being overloaded

USS Cole attack Oct. 2000 • In Yemen, Al Qaeda operatives sent a suicide bomber aboard a small ship near the USS Cole and detonated its bomb, blowing a large hole in the US Navy ship. 17 sailors killed.

World Trade Center (Twin Towers)

• 2819 people were killed • 343 firefighters and paramedics were killed Khalid Sheik Muhhamad was the central Planner of the 9/11. Most terrorists (at right) were from Saudi Arabia.

Note that Saudi Arabia is one of America’s strongest Allies in the Middle East!

Unintended Consequences =

Fear

The Pentagon

Damaged Area after 9/11

Damaged area under reconstruction

Shanksville PA Flight 93 crashes after passengers attack highjackers

Flight 93

Flight 93 crash site

•

Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on 9/11: The Mysterious Plane Crash Site Without a Plane

"This crash was different. There was no wreckage, no bodies, and no noise."

- Somerset County Coroner Wallace Miller [1] •

"I was looking for anything that said tail, wing, plane, metal. There was nothing."

- Photographer Scott Spangler [2] •

"I was amazed because it did not, in any way, shape, or form, look like a plane crash."

- Patrick Madigan, commander of the Somerset barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police [3]

Review Quiz • 1. The Soviet Union invaded what country in 1979 where al Qaeda formed?

• 2. In the first Gulf War, what was bin Laden’s objection regarding American troops in Saudi Arabia?

• 3.Was Osama bin Laden friends with Saddam Hussein of Iraq?

• 4. How was the WTC attacked in 1993?

• 5. What American embassies were bombed in 1998?

• 6. What Navy ship was bombed in 2000?

• 7. How many planes were hijacked on 9/11/2001, and what happened to each of them?

• 8 Name 3 Al Qaeda leaders.