Al Qaeda

The origins of Al Qaeda are rooted in the Afghanistan resistance to the Soviet invasion from 1979 to 1989. Believing that the war with the Soviet Union was a holy battle between Islam and the infidel, Osama Bin Laden, the son of a wealthy Saudi contractor, traveled to Afghanistan to aid in the fight. At the time of the war, Afghanistan lacked both the infrastructure and manpower for a long-drawn-out war. Osama Bin Laden joined forces with Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Azzam, leader of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, to establish the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) or the Afghan Services Bureau. The goal of the Afghan Services Bureau or MAK was to recruit Muslim fighters from around the world to fight in Afghanistan. Bin Laden paid for the Muslin fighters transportation and training, while Afghan locals provided land and resources. In 1988, Bin Laden broke ties with Abdullah Azzam and formed Al Qaeda (The Base) and declared his own jihad on a worldwide scale. Ironically, Azzam died in a car bombing in 1989, apparently carried out by his rivals in Afghanistan. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia to combat what he saw as an infidel Saudi government. Bin Laden, further angered by the United States presence in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, became even more outspoken. Bin Laden, along with his immediate family and his loyal band of followers moved to Sudan. In 1994, the Saudi government revoked Bin Laden's citizenship for his opposition to the Saudi government. You may note in your term paper that while in Sudan, Bin Laden established businesses, paved roads, built an airport, and created training camps to supply out of work mujahedin or holy warrior with jobs.

As the Sudanese relations with the United Stated improved in 1996, the government of Sudan asked Bin Laden to leave the country. Enraged, Bin Laden returned to Afghanistan where he established his ties with the Taliban movement. In Afghanistan, Bin Laden established numerous training camps and a terrorist infrastructure. This infrastructure supported a number of plots against the United States and its citizens. These plots included the bombings of the African Embassies in 1998 and the September 11, 2001 attacks. Following the September 11 terrorism against America, American-led forces toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Approximately half of the senior Al Qaeda leadership was captured during the American-led campaign, along with crippling the group's communication network. The exact size of Al Qaeda is unknown, but the group likely has several thousand fighters. Statistical data to include in a custom essay: The estimated numbers of people who trained in camps or fought in Afghanistan ranges from 20,000 to 60,000 but these are not all Al Qaeda members. Al Qaeda serves as an umbrella organization that carries out its own terrorist acts as well as a focal point for other extremist groups. Some experts believe that Al Qaeda is an organization in transition. The losses of many of the group's leaders and their base in Afghanistan have disrupted the organization. While Al Qaeda's definitive structure is unknown, experts fear that the organization can continue to operate if they lose senior leaders due to the entrepreneurial spirit in its lower-level fighters.