Al Qaeda
al-Qaeda is an international Islamist terrorist organization founded in the late 1980s to fight the Red Army of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, during the 1980-89 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, Osama bin Bin Ladin and his comrades had their own sources of support and training, and they received little or no assistance from the United States. [1][2] It is currently led by Osama Bin Laden and is predominantly composed of fanatical Sunni Muslims. Al Qaeda is responsible for the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and numerous smaller attacks. The group's wing in Iraq is believed to be responsible for many of the attacks and bombings there. The 9/11 Commission Report has tied al-Qaeda to the government of Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein,[3] specifically the alleged harboring of al-Qaeda second-in-command Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It is unclear if Iraq was funding al-Qaeda operations prior to the 2003 invasion. "Al Qaeda" is roughly equivalent to "the base" ( القاعدة) in Arabic.
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References
- ↑ 9/11 Commission ReportThe Foundation of the New Terrorism, pg. 56.
- ↑ Did the USA "create" Osama bin Laden? US State Department
- ↑ 9/11 Commission Report, The Foundation of the New Terrorism.