Difference between revisions of "Al Qaeda"

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[[File:C9Pak4-W0AIldKy (1).jpg|right|450px|thumb|[[Biden]] [[national security advisor]] and [[Trump-Russia hoax]]er [[Jake Sullivan]]<ref>
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http://www.defenddemocracy.org/a-conversation-with-jake-sullivan-video/</ref> to Hillary Clinton: "Al Qaeda is on our side."]]
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'''Al-Qaeda''' ([[Arabic]]: القاعدة‎, Translation: ''the base'') is an international Islamic [[Jihadism|Jihadist]] [[terrorism|terrorist]] organization founded in 1988, in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan.  It originally consisted mainly of members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad led by Saudi Arabian millionaire and heir of the bin Laden engineering firm, [[Osama bin Laden]].  The family engineering firm gained global recognition in the construction industry after it won the contract to refurbish and modernize the Grand Mosque at [[Mecca]].
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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 during the [[Soviet-Afghan war]],<ref>9/11 Commission Report, [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/sec2.pdf ''The Foundation of the New Terrorism''], pg. 56.</ref><ref>In his memoir, Ayman al-Zawahiri contemptuously rejects the claim that the Arab mujahideen were financed (even “one penny”) or trained by the United States. See Zawahiri, “Knights Under the Prophet’s Banner,” Al Sharq al Awsat, Dec. 2, 2001. CIA officials involved in aiding the Afghan resistance regard Bin Ladin and his “Arab Afghans” as having been militarily insignificant in the war and recall having little to do with him. Gary Schroen interview (Mar. 3, 2003).</ref> which only provided funding to indigenous Afghan ''mujaheddin''. Bin Laden was living under house arrest in [[Pakistan]] for nearly 10 years until he was killed on orders from President [[Barack Obama]] before the [[2012 presidential election]].
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Al Qaeda was predominantly composed of fanatical [[Salafi]] [[Muslim]]s. [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], former leader of the [[Egypt]]ian terrorist group called the [[Muslim Brotherhood|Islamic Brotherhood]], assumed leadership after Bin Laden's assassination.
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In 2012, the [[Obama administration]] became allied with the group, providing weapons to kick-start the [[Syrian Civil War]] and founding of the [[Islamic State of Iraq and Syria]], a rebirth of the Islamic [[Caliphate]] which was abolished after the [[First World War]].
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By 2018, Al Qaeda remained a major global terror threat.<ref>Mora, Edwin (October 6, 2018). [https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/10/06/al-qaeda-remains-top-global-jihadi-threat-17th-anniversary-afghan-war/ Al-Qaeda Remains Top Global Jihadi Threat on 17th Anniversary of Afghan War]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved October 6, 2018.</ref>
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==Terrorist activities from 1998–2007==
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[[File:National Park Service 9-11 Statue of Liberty and WTC fire.jpg|thumb|Al Qaeda attacks the World Trade Center]]
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Al Qaeda is responsible for the [[September 11, 2001 attack]]s on the [[World Trade Center]] and [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] killing 3000 Americans, the bombings of American embassies in [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]] in 1998, the October 2000 bombing of the [[USS Cole]], and numerous other deaths and attacks.<ref>Ramzi Yousef, who delivered the explosives in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing killing six people, is the nephew of [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]], a top figure in al-Qaeda. After the September 2001 attack, it was the opinion of many investigators and analysts that the perpetrators of that attack had a state sponsor – Iraq.  A number of details, including the fact that Yousef was traveling on an Iraqi passport, as well as the date of the 1993 attack – the second anniversary of the U.S. liberation of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War – furthered suspicions of Iraqi involvement in the 1993 incident. His uncle, Sheikh Mohammed was one of the masterminds the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and was arrested in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on March 1, 2003. [http://intelwire.egoplex.com/2007_03_14_exclusives.html]</ref> The group's wing in Iraq, many of which came from Libya, were responsible for insurgent attacks and bombings. The 9/11 Commission Report cites Bin laden meeting with Iraqi intelligence officials in Khartoum as early as 1995. Bin Laden declined reported Iraqi offers of a safe haven, instead settling in Afghanistan. Friendly contacts between Iraqis and Bin Laden continued, though there is no evidence of an operational relationship between the two sides.
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"However difficult the fight in Iraq has become, we must win it," Mr. Bush said in discussing the 2007 Iraqi troop surge during a commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. "Al Qaeda is public enemy No. 1 for Iraq's young democracy. Al Qaeda is public enemy No. 1 for America as well."<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070523-115137-6054r.htm</ref>
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Some [[liberals]] seem to have a problem calling this group what it is, a radical Islamic terrorist organization, and prefer to use the more [[politically correct]] terms: ''militant organization'' and its members ''rebels''.
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==Redirection==
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A March 7, 2007, article entitled, "The Redirection" described a recent shift in the George W. Bush administration's Iraq policy, the goal of which Hersh said was to "contain" Iran. Hersh asserted that "a by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda."<ref>{{cite journal |first=Seymour M. |last=Hersh |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/05/070305fa_fact_hersh |title=Annals of National Security: The Redirection |journal=[[The New Yorker]] |date=March 5, 2007 }}</ref>
 
[[Image:al_qaeda.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Osama bin Laden with Al-Qaeda members]]
 
[[Image:al_qaeda.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Osama bin Laden with Al-Qaeda members]]
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'''Al-Qaeda''' ([[Arabic]]: القاعدة‎, Translation: ''the base'') is an international [[Jihadism|Jihadist]] [[terrorism|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,<ref>9/11 Commission Report[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/sec2.pdf ''The Foundation of the New Terrorism''], pg. 56.</ref> which only provided funding to indigenous Afghan ''mujaheddin'', which al-Qaeda was not. It was led by [[Osama Bin Laden]] until he was killed by Navy SEALs and CIA operatives on May 2, 2011. It is predominantly composed of fanatical [[Sunni]] [[Islam|Muslim]]s. [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], former leader of the [[Egypt]]ian terrorist group called the [[Muslim Brotherhood|Islamic Brotherhood]], now leads Al Qaeda since Bin Laden's death. Zawahiri has increasingly become the spokesperson for the terrorist network.  
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By late 2009 analysts were reporting a decline in the strength and appeal of Al Qaeda. Its leadership was forced to retreat to remote mountain villages in Pakistan, and many leaders had been killed by missiles and manhunts. Its tactics of killing innocent civilians were said to have lost favor with the Muslim population in some countries. During the Bush/Cheney years of 2002 and 2009 the notion that suicide bombings are "often or sometimes justified" plunged across the Islamic world. Its terrorists  launched 10 major attacks worldwide in 2004 but only three by 2008. "Al Qaeda is in the process of imploding," concluded professor Audrey Kurth Cronin of the National War College in Washington. In September 2009 American-led forces killed the leader of the Somali organization "Al Shabab," which is allied with Al Qaeda; the police in Indonesia killed the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia. It has become much harder for terrorists to move agents, money and supplies.<ref>Scott Shane, "Rethinking What to Fear," ''New York Times'' Sept. 27, 2009</ref>
  
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==Terrorist activities from 1998 - 2008==
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In March 2010 Abdulhakim Belhadj was released from Abu Salim prison in [[Libya]]<ref>http://docslide.us/documents/updated-fact-sheet-may-4-2013.html</ref> after serving 6 years in custody. Belhadj had brought to Libya under the CIA's [[extraordinary rendition]] program in 2004. Belhadj was chased out of Libya by Gaddafi in 1988<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Libya’s rebel leader with a past|author=Vicken Cheterian|journal=[[Le Monde Diplomatique]]|date=May 2012 |url=http://mondediplo.com/2012/05/08libya }}</ref> and arrived in [[Afghanistan]] where he joined the [[Taliban]].<ref name=LeMondeTime>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2091744,00.html|title='We Are Simply Muslim': Libyan Rebel Chief Denies Al-Qaeda Ties|newspaper=Time Magazine|date=4 September 2011|accessdate=}}</ref><ref name="asharq">{{cite news|url=http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=26357|title=From Holy warrior to hero of a revolution: Abdelhakim Belhadj| newspaper=Asharq Alawsat|accessdate=}}</ref> After the Taliban captured Kabul in 1992 he returned to Libya where he and others formed the [[Libyan Islamic Fighting Group]] (LIFG). Belhadj was reported to have followed [[Osama Bin Laden]] when the [[al-Qaeda]] leader moved the center of its operations from Afghanistan to [[Sudan]] in 1996.<ref name=":0">Burr, J. Millard (2014-10-13). "Libya – Ali al-Salabi and the Re-Emerging Muslim Brotherhood." American Center for Democracy.</ref> The relation between LIGF and al-Qaeda was officially confirmed in October 2001, when the UN Security Council designated the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group as a terrorist entity for its association with al-Qaeda, Bin Laden and the Taliban. The [[UN Security Council]] specified that the LIFG relation with al-Qaeda was substantiated through the group's involvement in
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Al Qaeda is responsible for the [[September 11, 2001 attack]] on the [[World Trade Center]] and [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] killing 3000 Americans, the bombings of American embassies in [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]] in 1998, the October 2000 bombing of the [[USS Cole]], and numerous other deaths and attacks.<ref>Ramzi Yousef, who delivered the explosives in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing killing six people, is the nephew of [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]], a top figure in al-Qaeda. After the September 2001 attack, it was the opinion of many investigators and analysts that the perpetrators of that attack had a state sponsor - Iraq. A number of details, including the fact that Yousef was ravelling on an Iraqi passport, as well as the date of the 1993 attack - the second anniversary of the U.S. liberation of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War - furthered suspicions of Iraqi involvement in the 1993 incident. His uncle, Sheikh Mohammed was one of the masterminds the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and was arrested in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on March 1, 2003.</ref> The group's wing in Iraq, many of which came from Libya, were responsible for insurgent attacks and bombings there. The 9/11 Commission Report cites Bin laden meeting with Iraqi intelligence officials in Khartoum as early as 1995. Bin Laden declined reported Iraqi offers of a safe haven, instead settling in Afghanistan. Friendly contacts between Iraqis and Bin Laden continued, though there is no evidence of an operational relationship between the two sides.  
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{{Quotebox-float|"the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of," "supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to" or "otherwise supporting acts or activities of" Al-Qaida [...], Usama bin Laden and the Taliban."<ref>https://www.un.org/sc/suborg/en/sanctions/1267/aq_sanctions_list/summaries/entity/libyan-islamic-fighting-group</ref> }}In 2002 an arrest warrant was issued for Belhadj by the Libyan authorities after Gaddafi's reconciliation with Western powers and three assassination attempt's on Gaddafi's life by the LIFG. The arrest warrant alleged that Belhadj had developed "close relationships" with al-Qaeda leaders, and specifically Taliban chief Mullah Omar, and to have run and financed training camps for Arab mujahideen fighters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14786753|title=Profile: Libyan rebel commander Abdel Hakim Belhaj|newspaper=BBC News|date=5 September 2011|accessdate=}}</ref> After the US invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, Belhadj fled and was arrested in [[Malaysia]] in 2004 where he was rendered by the CIA to Libya.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials |author=Ian Cobain|newspaper=The Guardian |date=8 April 2012|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/08/special-report-britain-rendition-libya}}</ref>
  
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"However difficult the fight in Iraq has become, we must win it," Mr. Bush said during a commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. "Al Qaeda is public enemy No. 1 for Iraq's young democracy. Al Qaeda is public enemy No. 1 for America as well."<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070523-115137-6054r.htm </ref>
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on Friday March 8, 2011, President Obama told reporters he would appoint an official to maintain contact with the "Libyan opposition." The number two official at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, [[Christopher Stevens]]<ref>[http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/us-names-chris-stevens-liaison-to-libyan-opposition.html US Names Chris Stevens Liaison to Libyan Opposition,]  ABC News Radio, March 14, 2011.</ref>  was tasked with helping to coordinate assistance to the "rebels," whose top military commander, Abdelhakim Belhadj, was the leader of the Al Qaeda affiliate, the [[Libyan Islamic Fighting Group]] (LIFG).<ref>[http://counterjihadreport.com/tag/libyan-islamic-fighting-group/ ‘White Out’ on Benghazi: State Dept. Issues Report,] Clare Lopez, December 23, 2012. http://counterjihadreport.com</ref> Hillary Clinton attended a meeting in Paris with Stevens and representatives of the "Libyan opposition," as did U.S. Ambassador Gene Cretz, who has also had contacts with the "opposition." Clinton discussed what she persuaded the Obama administration to do to help the [[jihad]]is, and that they would do more than just provide humanitarian aid.
  
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Some [[liberals]] seem to have a problem calling this group what it is, a terrorist organization, and prefer to use the more "politically correct" terms: ''militant organization'' and its members ''rebels''.  
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''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reported on April 2, 2011, about Americans' training terrorists in the port city of Derna;<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703712504576237042432212406</ref> when the Americans left to concentrate on the Syrian operation, terrorists beheaded people in front of small children as part of their training.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3110801/What-children-seen-ISIS-beheads-Libyan-soldier-outside-mosque-education-purposes-youngsters-don-t-shocked.html </ref> The [[Libyan Islamic Fighting Group]] (LIFG) is centered in and around Derna and Benghazi. The Sinjar documents<ref>[https://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Sinjar_2_FINAL.pdf Sinjar Documents]</ref><ref>The Sinjar Documents are a collection of al Qaeda computer data captured by Americans in 2007 in a predawn raid near Sinjar, Iraq, six miles from the Syrian border.</ref> captured during the Iraq insurgency revealed 20% of all Iraq insurgents came from Derna, Sirte, and Misurata, 82% of which volunteered for suicide attacks. In 2015 twenty-one Christians in Derna were beheaded ''enmasse''.
  
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By 2012 al-Qaeda was fighting in the [[Syrian Civil War]] against the Syrian leader [[Bashar al-Assad]]<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/12/leader-al-qaeda-calls-on-muslims-to-help-syrian-rebels/ </ref> A group called [[Ansar Dine]], which is connected with the al-Qaeda, fight against the government in [[Mali]].<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18870130 </ref>
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On February 22, 2012, in a show of [[bipartisan]]ship, Senators [[Richard Blumenthal]], [[John McCain]], and [[Lindsey Graham]] visited Libya and meet with Abdulhakim Belhadj, who was put in charge of training jihadis in Eastern Libya (principally Derna and Benghazi) by the Obama administration for the second leg of Operation Zero Footprint in Syria.
  
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==Downplaying al Qaeda's significance in the early Obama era==
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On October 5, 2014, the Shura Council of Shabab al-Islam Derna, Libya declared itself part of the Islamic State. In February 2015 the [[ISIS]] [[jihad]]is beheaded 21 [[Christian]]s and distributed an uncut [[video]] of the gruesome event to world. On March 2, 2015, Katherine Herridge of FOX News reported that Obama administration senior intelligence officials told her Abdelhakim Belhadj is firmly aligned with ISIS and supports the Islamic State training camps in eastern Libya.  
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By late 2009 analysts were reporting a decline in the strength and appeal of Al Qaeda. Its leadership was forced to retreat to remote mountain villages in Pakistan, and many leaders had been killed by missiles and manhunts. Its tactics of killing innocent civilians were said to have lost favor with the Muslim population in some countries. During the Bush/Cheney years of 2002 and 2009 the notion that suicide bombings are "often or sometimes justified" plunged across the Islamic world.  Its terrorists  launched 10 major attacks worldwide in 2004 but only three by 2008. "Al Qaeda is in the process of imploding," concluded professor Audrey Kurth Cronin of the National War College in Washington. In September 2009 American-led forces killed the leader of the Somali organization "Al Shabab", which is allied with Al Qaeda; the police in Indonesia killed the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia.  It has become much harder for terrorists to move agents, money and supplies. <ref> Scott Shane, "Rethinking What to Fear," ''New York Times'' Sept. 27, 2009</ref>
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{{Quotebox-float|"Critics say Libya's new position as a safe haven for ISIS reflects one of the most significant policy failures of the so-called Arab Spring."}}
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Herridge added that counter-terrorism sources have confirmed that the new support base for ISIS in eastern Libya is now providing "tangible assistance" in the form of training camps around the city of Derna, in addition to a growing number of Libyan fighters joining the terror group in Syria and Iraq.<ref>https://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/02/catherine-herridge-isis-has-turned-libya-new-support-base-safe-haven</ref>
  
 
==Al Qaeda in North Africa==
 
==Al Qaeda in North Africa==
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:''Main article: [[Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb]]
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{{Main|Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb}}
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The [[Benghazi rebellion]] started as a series of protests in eastern [[Libya]] on February 16, 2011. Ansar al-Shariah, an offshoot of Al-Qaida in the Maghreb (AQIM), vowed to overthrow [[secular]] strongman [[Muammar Gaddafi]]<ref> [http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/24/al-qaeda-in-n-africa-backs-libya-uprising-site.html Al Qaeda in N. Africa backs Libya uprising: SITE] </ref><ref> [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/07/libya-uprising-live-updates Libya uprising.] </ref> and establish [[Sharia]].  
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[[File:Blumenthal Belhadj McCain Graham Feb 2012.jpg|right|400px|thumb|Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Abdelhakim Belhadj, Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Lindsey Graham. Belhadj, a veteran jihadi, was kidnapped by the [[CIA]] in 2004 and "[[extraordinary rendition|rendered]]" to Libya where he spent 7 years in prison being "rehabilitated." He was released in March 2010 to reactivate the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, of which Ansar al Shariah was part. In August 2011 he was appointed commander of the Tripoli Military Council by the TNC, and in 2015 head of the Mujahideen Shura Council in Derna.]]
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The [[Benghazi rebellion]] started as a series of protests in eastern [[Libya]] on February 16, 2011. Ansar al-Shariah, an offshoot of Al-Qaida in the Maghreb (AQIM), vowed to overthrow [[secular]] strongman [[Muammar Gaddafi]]<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/24/al-qaeda-in-n-africa-backs-libya-uprising-site.html Al Qaeda in N. Africa backs Libya uprising: SITE]</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/07/libya-uprising-live-updates Libya uprising.]</ref> and establish [[Sharia]].  
  
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Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi of the U.S. organized [[Libyan Fighting Group]] said [[jihad]]ists who killed American troops in [[Iraq]] were now serving on the front lines in Libya. <ref> [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8407047/Libyan-rebel-commander-admits-his-fighters-have-al-Qaeda-links.html Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links.] </ref> <ref> [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/world/guantanamo-files-libyan-detainee-now-us-ally-of-sorts.html Libyan, Once a Detainee, Is Now a U.S. Ally of Sorts.]</ref> NATO's Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee days before President Obama publicly admitted he ordered intervention that U.S. intelligence knew [[al Qaeda]] and [[Hezbollah]] elements were among the Libyan insurgents.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8414583/Libya-al-Qaeda-among-Libya-rebels-Nato-chief-fears.html</ref>  
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Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi of the U.S. organized [[Libyan Fighting Group]] said [[jihad]]ists who killed American troops in [[Iraq]] were now serving on the front lines in Libya.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8407047/Libyan-rebel-commander-admits-his-fighters-have-al-Qaeda-links.html Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links.]</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/world/guantanamo-files-libyan-detainee-now-us-ally-of-sorts.html Libyan, Once a Detainee, Is Now a U.S. Ally of Sorts.]</ref> NATO's Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee days before President Obama publicly admitted he ordered intervention that U.S. intelligence knew al Qaeda and [[Hezbollah]] elements were among the Libyan insurgents.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8414583/Libya-al-Qaeda-among-Libya-rebels-Nato-chief-fears.html</ref>  
  
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On March 21, 2011, President Obama announced he ordered U.S. military force operations in Libya two days earlier over the objections of his most trusted and knowledgeable experts. Secretary of Defence [[Robert Gates]] opposed the action<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20038391-503544.html</ref> as did National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, and [[White House]] counterterrorism chief [[John O. Brennan]]. Libya was not vital to American national security interests and the rebels had ties to Al Qaeda.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19policy.html?_r=2&hp]</ref> However [[Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Clinton]] "won the bureaucratic battle to use [Department of Defence] resources to achieve what's essentially the State Department's objective... and Obama let it happen". <ref>[http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/18/how_obama_turned_on_a_dime_toward_war How Obama turned on a dime toward war.] </ref>  Secretary Clinton stated:
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On March 21, 2011, [[President Obama]] announced he ordered U.S. military force operations in Libya two days earlier over the objections of his most trusted and knowledgeable experts. Secretary of Defence [[Robert Gates]] opposed the action<ref>https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20038391-503544.html</ref> as did National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Adviser [[Denis McDonough]], and [[White House]] counterterrorism chief [[John O. Brennan]]. Libya was not vital to American national security interests and the rebels had ties to Al Qaeda.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19policy.html?_r=2&hp]</ref> However [[Secretary of State Hillary Clinton]] "won the bureaucratic battle to use [Department of Defence] resources to achieve what's essentially the State Department's objective... and Obama let it happen."<ref>[http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/18/how_obama_turned_on_a_dime_toward_war How Obama turned on a dime toward war.]</ref>  Secretary Clinton stated:
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{{cquote|We are currently doing everything we can to bomb, strafe and use missiles to carry the rebels into power in Libya. We want them to win. We just don’t know who they are.” <ref>http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/06/23/hillary-clinton-to-libya-skeptics-whose-side-are-you-on/ </ref>}}
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{{cquote|We are currently doing everything we can to bomb, strafe and use missiles to carry the rebels into power in Libya. We want them to win. We just don’t know who they are.” <ref>http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/06/23/hillary-clinton-to-libya-skeptics-whose-side-are-you-on/</ref>}}
  
 
A March 29, 2011 article in the ''[[Washington Post]]'' included these paragraphs:
 
A March 29, 2011 article in the ''[[Washington Post]]'' included these paragraphs:
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{{Cquote|"It’s almost a certitude that at least part” of the Libyan opposition includes members of al-Qaeda, said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA analyst and adviser to President Obama. Riedel said that anti-Gaddafi elements in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi have had “very close associations with al-Qaeda” dating back years....I would hope that we now have a good sense of the opposition in Libya and can say that this is 2 percent, not 20 percent,” Riedel said. “If we don’t, then we are running the risk of helping to bring to power a regime that could be very dangerous.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/libyan-opposition-includes-a-small-number-of-al-qaeda-fighters-us-officials-say/2011/03/29/AFRlXWyB_story.html</ref>}}
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{{Cquote|"It’s almost a certitude that at least part” of the Libyan opposition includes members of al-Qaeda, said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA analyst and adviser to President Obama. Riedel said that anti-Gaddafi elements in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi have had “very close associations with al-Qaeda” dating back years....I would hope that we now have a good sense of the opposition in Libya and can say that this is 2 percent, not 20 percent,” Riedel said. “If we don’t, then we are running the risk of helping to bring to power a regime that could be very dangerous.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/libyan-opposition-includes-a-small-number-of-al-qaeda-fighters-us-officials-say/2011/03/29/AFRlXWyB_story.html</ref>}}
  
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A document published by the U.S. [[West Point]] Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center  revealed that jihadi rebels between 2005 and 2007 exited Libya to join the [[Operation_Iraqi_Freedom#Insurgency|Islamic insurgency]] in Iraq in greater numbers than any other country.<ref>[http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/pdf/CTCForeignFighter.19.Dec07.pdf A First Look at the Sinjar Documents]</ref><ref> The Sinjar Documents are a collection of al Qaeda computer data captured by Americans in 2007 in a predawn raid near Sinjar, Iraq, six miles from the Syrian border.</ref>  Many of those jihadi rebels that came from Libya to Iraq to kill American soldiers came from among the very people Obama pledged to protect in the name of "humanitarianism". One group—the Libyan Fighting Group (''jamaʹah al‐libiyah al‐muqatilah'')—claimed to have [[War on Terror|Afghan]] veterans in its ranks. The Combating Terrorism Center document concludes,
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A document published by the U.S. [[West Point]] Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center  revealed that jihadi rebels between 2005 and 2007 exited Libya to join the [[Iraq insurgency]] in greater numbers than any other country.<ref>[http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/pdf/CTCForeignFighter.19.Dec07.pdf A First Look at the Sinjar Documents]</ref><ref>The Sinjar Documents are a collection of al Qaeda computer data captured by Americans in 2007 in a predawn raid near Sinjar, Iraq, six miles from the Syrian border.</ref>  Many of those jihadi rebels that came from Libya to Iraq to kill American soldiers came from among the very people Obama pledged to protect in the name of "humanitarianism." One group—the Libyan Fighting Group (''jamaʹah al‐libiyah al‐muqatilah'')—claimed to have [[War on Terror|Afghan]] veterans in its ranks. The Combating Terrorism Center document concludes,
 
{{Cquote|The [[Syria]]n [ [[Bashar al-Assad|Assad]] regime] and Libyan [Gaddafi] governments share the United States’ concerns about violent salafi‐jihadi ideology and the violence perpetrated by its adherents. These governments [Syria, Gaddafi, and the US] like others in the Middle East, fear violence inside their borders and would much rather radical elements go to Iraq rather than cause unrest at home. U.S. and Coalition efforts to stem the flow of fighters into Iraq will be enhanced if they address the entire logistical chain that supports the movement of these individuals—beginning in their home countries – rather than just their Syrian entry points.}}
 
{{Cquote|The [[Syria]]n [ [[Bashar al-Assad|Assad]] regime] and Libyan [Gaddafi] governments share the United States’ concerns about violent salafi‐jihadi ideology and the violence perpetrated by its adherents. These governments [Syria, Gaddafi, and the US] like others in the Middle East, fear violence inside their borders and would much rather radical elements go to Iraq rather than cause unrest at home. U.S. and Coalition efforts to stem the flow of fighters into Iraq will be enhanced if they address the entire logistical chain that supports the movement of these individuals—beginning in their home countries – rather than just their Syrian entry points.}}
  
−
This set off a fierce debate in the [[Obama administration]] over the wisdom of arming terrorists.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/world/africa/30diplo.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss</ref> It is now known sometime prior to March 31, 2011,<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/africa/31intel.html?_r=2&hp</ref> at the urging of Hillary Clinton and over the objections of his National Security Council, Obama signed a Presidential Finding authorizing support for the rebel jihadis.<ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/us-libya-usa-order-idUSTRE72T6H220110330</ref>
+
This set off a fierce debate in the [[Obama administration]] over the wisdom of arming terrorists.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/world/africa/30diplo.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss</ref> It is now known sometime prior to March 31, 2011,<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/africa/31intel.html?_r=2&hp</ref> at the urging of Hillary Clinton and over the objections of his [[National Security Council]], Obama signed a Presidential Finding authorizing support for the rebel jihadis.<ref>https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/us-libya-usa-order-idUSTRE72T6H220110330</ref>
  
 
===Ghaddafi's murder and Sharia law installed===
 
===Ghaddafi's murder and Sharia law installed===
−
By October 2011, Libyan rebel fighting groups with support from [[NATO]], overtook the capital of Tripoli and toppled the government. Ghaddafi was captured and brutally and sadistically murdered.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPzeLLL9V-c Leading from behind - a critique of Obama foreign policy]</ref> The jihadis were immediately recognized by the U.S. and the U.N. as the legitimate government. Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, announced that [[Sharia]] will be the source for all legislation in Libya and that all laws conflicting with Sharia are null and void.<ref name="Sharia">[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8861608/Libya-Al-Qaeda-flag-flown-above-Benghazi-courthouse.html Libya: Al Qaeda flag flown above Benghazi courthouse - Daily Telegraph]</ref> Abdel Rahim al-Kib, the country's interim prime minister, echoed Jalil's words a couple of days later.<ref>[http://www.presstv.ir/detail/207953.html New Libyan PM backs Islamic sharia law]</ref> Around the same time these statements were made an Al Qaeda flag was flown above the Benghazi courthouse, and reports were surfacing that the Libyan jihadis imposed Sharia law in some parts of the country even earlier.<ref name="Sharia" />  
+
By October 2011, Libyan rebel fighting groups with support from [[NATO]], overtook the capital of Tripoli and toppled the government. Ghaddafi was captured and brutally and sadistically murdered.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPzeLLL9V-c Leading from behind - a critique of Obama foreign policy]</ref> The jihadis were immediately recognized by the U.S. and the U.N. as the legitimate government. Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, announced that [[Sharia]] will be the source for all legislation in Libya and that all laws conflicting with Sharia are null and void.<ref name="Sharia">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8861608/Libya-Al-Qaeda-flag-flown-above-Benghazi-courthouse.html Libya: Al Qaeda flag flown above Benghazi courthouse - Daily Telegraph]</ref> Abdel Rahim al-Kib, the country's interim prime minister, echoed Jalil's words a couple of days later.<ref>[http://www.presstv.ir/detail/207953.html New Libyan PM backs Islamic sharia law]</ref> Around the same time these statements were made an Al Qaeda flag was flown above the Benghazi courthouse, and reports were surfacing that the Libyan jihadis imposed Sharia law in some parts of the country even earlier.<ref name="Sharia" />  
  
−
U.S. intelligence says as many as 20,000 advanced Russian surface-to-air missiles were missing.<ref>[http://weaselzippers.us/2011/09/27/u-s-intelligence-now-says-up-to-20000-advanced-surface-to-air-missiles-mussing-from-libya/ U.S. Intelligence Now Says Up To 20,000 Advanced Surface-To-Air Missiles Missing From Lib, Weasel Zippers, September 27, 2011]</ref> Some of those missiles reached the hands of [[Hamas]] in the Gaza Strip.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/hamas-boosting-anti-aircraft-arsenal-with-looted-libyan-missiles-1.392186 Hamas boosting anti-aircraft arsenal with looted Libyan missiles - Haaretz]</ref>
+
U.S. intelligence says as many as 20,000 advanced Russian surface-to-air missiles were missing.<ref>[http://weaselzippers.us/2011/09/27/u-s-intelligence-now-says-up-to-20000-advanced-surface-to-air-missiles-mussing-from-libya/ U.S. Intelligence Now Says Up To 20,000 Advanced Surface-To-Air Missiles Missing From Lib], [[Weasel Zippers]], September 27, 2011.</ref> Some of those missiles reached the hands of [[Hamas]] in the Gaza Strip.<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/hamas-boosting-anti-aircraft-arsenal-with-looted-libyan-missiles-1.392186 Hamas boosting anti-aircraft arsenal with looted Libyan missiles - Haaretz]</ref>
  
−
===American Ambassador murdered===
+
===Benghazi massacre===
 +
[[File:Obama UN.jpg|right|275px|thumb|Obama crowing just days after the murder of Americans, "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."]]
 
:{{main|Benghazi Attack}}
 
:{{main|Benghazi Attack}}
 
With several U.S.embassies besieged on the anniversary of the [[September 11 attacks]], White House Press Secretary [[Jay Carney]] declared authorities had no reason to believe the attack on the sovereign territory of the United States consulate in Benghazi less than two months before the [[2012 Presidential election]], resulting in the deaths of several Americans, was a terrorist attack.
 
With several U.S.embassies besieged on the anniversary of the [[September 11 attacks]], White House Press Secretary [[Jay Carney]] declared authorities had no reason to believe the attack on the sovereign territory of the United States consulate in Benghazi less than two months before the [[2012 Presidential election]], resulting in the deaths of several Americans, was a terrorist attack.
 
{{Cquote|The unrest that we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims, find offensive.}}
 
{{Cquote|The unrest that we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims, find offensive.}}
−
This became the official White House line. President Obama went on the ''Comedy Channel'' to say the deaths of Americans was "not optimal".<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/18/Obama-Benghazi-murders-not-optimal Interview with Jon Stewart of the ''Daily Show''].</ref> When pressed by reporters, who pointed out evidence that the violence in Benghazi was a terrorist attack, Press Secretary Carney argued “the unrest around the region has been in response to this video.”
+
This became the official White House line. President Obama went on the ''Comedy Channel'' to say the deaths of Americans was "not optimal."<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/18/Obama-Benghazi-murders-not-optimal Interview with Jon Stewart of the ''Daily Show''].</ref> When pressed by reporters, who pointed out evidence that the violence in Benghazi was a terrorist attack, Press Secretary Carney argued “the unrest around the region has been in response to this video.”
  
−
Leading suspected jihadis in the murders and terrorist attack were the local Benghazi branch of Ansar al-Shariah, known to have ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.<ref>http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/10/19/when-an-obama-adviser-called-benghazi-an-al-qaeda-hotbed/?cxntfid=blogs_political_insider_jim_galloway</ref> A commander of the terrorist group boasted jovially about the attack over drinks with reporters for the ''[[New York Times]]'' in Benghazi<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/world/africa/election-year-stakes-overshadow-nuances-of-benghazi-investigation.html?pagewanted=2&ref=world</ref>.<ref>http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/frappe-libya-attack/</ref>
+
Leading suspected jihadis in the murders and terrorist attack were the local Benghazi branch of Ansar al-Shariah, known to have ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.<ref>http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/10/19/when-an-obama-adviser-called-benghazi-an-al-qaeda-hotbed/?cxntfid=blogs_political_insider_jim_galloway</ref> A commander of the terrorist group boasted jovially about the attack over drinks with reporters for the ''[[New York Times]]'' in Benghazi.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/world/africa/election-year-stakes-overshadow-nuances-of-benghazi-investigation.html?pagewanted=2&ref=world</ref><ref>https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/frappe-libya-attack/</ref>
 +
 
 +
Two weeks to the day after the attack which killed four Americans including an Ambassador and left many with puzzling and unanswered questions, President Obama declared victory from the speakers platform at the United Nations using the premise of his [[strawman]] talking points, "[T]he future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."<ref>http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obamafuture.asp</ref>
  
 
===Algeria and Mali===
 
===Algeria and Mali===
−
Two more Americans were killed, along with 35 others, after being taken hostage by rebel jihadists in Mali shortly after the Libyan upheaval.<ref>[http://world.time.com/2013/01/21/algeria-37-foreigner-hostages-killed-in-attack/ Algeria: 37 Foreigner Hostages Killed in Attack], Associated Press, Jan. 21, 2013. ''[[TIME magazine]]]].</ref>
+
Two more Americans were killed, along with 35 others, after being taken hostage by rebel jihadists in Mali shortly after the Libyan upheaval.<ref>[http://world.time.com/2013/01/21/algeria-37-foreigner-hostages-killed-in-attack/ Algeria: 37 Foreigner Hostages Killed in Attack], Associated Press, Jan. 21, 2013. ''[[TIME magazine]].</ref>
  
 
Hillary Clinton testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the wake of the Benghazi murders that occurred under her stewardship, that weapons and fighters equipped by the Obama administration made their way into Mali and Algeria:
 
Hillary Clinton testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the wake of the Benghazi murders that occurred under her stewardship, that weapons and fighters equipped by the Obama administration made their way into Mali and Algeria:
−
{{cquote|There is no doubt that the [[Algeria]]n terrorists had weapons from Libya. There is no doubt that the [[Mali]]an remnants of AQIM [Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb] have weapons from Libya.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-says-militants-used-weapons-libya-algeria-attack-154222664.html Clinton says militants used weapons from Libya in Algeria attack,] Reuters, Jan 23, 2013.]</ref>}}
+
{{cquote|There is no doubt that the [[Algeria]]n terrorists had weapons from Libya. There is no doubt that the [[Mali]]an remnants of AQIM [Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb] have weapons from Libya.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-says-militants-used-weapons-libya-algeria-attack-154222664.html Clinton says militants used weapons from Libya in Algeria attack,] Reuters, Jan 23, 2013.</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
==State Support==
 +
===Pakistan===
 +
In 2000, British Intelligence reported that the Pakistani Inter-Services-Intelligence(ISI) had been taking an active role in several Al-Qaeda training camps since the 1990s.<ref>https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_9_11_Encyclopedia/PDDIgWRN_HQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover</ref> In 2012, the Afghan parliament's Security Commission has said that the ISI provides support to Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Nuristan Province.<ref>https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2012/04/12/pakistans-isi-supports-taliban-al-qaeda-in-nuristan-says-afghan-parliament/</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Azerbaijan===
 +
An investigation conducted by the Center for Middle East and Central Asian Studies has uncovered Azerbaijani intelligence support for Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria.<ref>https://southfront.org/azerbaijan-got-caught-supporting-al-qaeda-linked-jabhat-al-nusra-in-syria-report/</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Iran===
 +
According to a U.S. court record for the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings, Osama Bin Laden was living in Khartoum, Sudan when Sudanese religious scholar Ahmed Abdel Rahman Hamadabi brought Shekih Nomani an emissary of Iran to meet the Al-Qaeda leadership. Sheikh Nomani was described as having "had access to the highest echelons of power in Tehran.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=WDkqQSWFvvIC&pg=PA146#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref> This meeting resulted in an informal agreement between Iran and Al-Qaeda to cooperate, with Iran providing critical explosives, intelligence and security training to Bin Laden's organization.<ref name="washingtoninstitute.org">https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-iran-al-qaeda-conundrum</ref> Iran continued to provide support to Al-Qaeda even after they relocated to Afghanistan in 1996. Iranian officials helped Al-Qaeda members transit through Iran to Afghanistan. Iranian border guards were instructed not to stamp their passports, to prevent their home governments from suspecting that they had traveled to Afghanistan.<ref name="washingtoninstitute.org"/> A section of the 9/11 commission states that shortly after the meetings between Iran and Al-Qaeda in Sudan in 1991,"senior Al-Qaeda operatives and trainers traveled to Iran to receive training in explosives. In the fall of 1993, another such delegation went to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon for further training in explosives as well as in intelligence and security. Bin Laden reportedly showed particular interest in learning how to use truck bombs such as the one that had killed 241 U.S Marines in Lebanon in 1983. The relationship between Al-Qaeda and Iran demonstrated that Sunni-Shia divisions did not necessarily pose an insurmountable barrier to cooperation in terrorist operations."<ref>https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf#page=257</ref>
 +
 
 +
Iran and Al-Qaeda cooperation continues to this day. The State Department's Country Reports on terrorism has noted that, "Iran has allowed [Al-Qaeda] facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least 2009, enabling [Al-Qaeda] to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria."<ref>https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/02/06/irans-support-for-al-qaeda-is-incompatible-with-fatf-standards/</ref>
 +
 
 +
===China===
 +
After the U.S. conducted cruise missile strikes against Al-Qaeda in 1998, China paid Osama Bin Laden several million dollars to access unexploded American cruise missiles. <ref>http://taiwantt.org.tw/cdrom/20020801/For%20Taiwan%20XII/Letters/2001-10-24-Walter%20Schwimmer%20letter-24.htm</ref>
 +
==Iran==
 +
 
 +
In 2023, the US confirmed that Al Qaeda top man is in [[Iran]],<ref>[https://www.iranintl.com/en/202302157586 US Confirms That Al Qaeda Top Man Is In Iran], IranIntl, 02/15/2023.<blockquote>
 +
Seif al-Adel, the apparent new leader of al Qaeda is in Iran, a United Nations report has said and the United States confirmed the information on Wednesday.
 +
 
 +
State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked during his daily press briefing to comment on the UN report. He said: “Our assessment aligns with that of the UN…offering safe haven to al Qaeda is another example of Iran’s wide-ranging support for terrorism, its destabilizing activities in the Middle East and beyond.”
 +
 
 +
Asked by a reporter what the United States is ready to do if Adel is in Iran, Price said that the Biden administration is determined not to allow threats to emerge. “We have taken action against Iran for its support for terrorist group throughout the region,” he said and added that Washington will closely coordinate with European allies to confront “all the challenges Iran poses.”
 +
 
 +
Seif al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces officer who is a high-ranking member of al Qaeda with a $10 million US bounty on his head, is now the "uncontested" leader of the militant group, according to a new U.N. report on the organization.</blockquote></ref> shielded by the [[IRGC]].
  
 
== See also==
 
== See also==
−
*[[Ramzan Kadyrov]]
+
* [[Kunduz airlift]]
 +
* [[Al-Nusra Front]]
 +
* [[Al-Zarqawi: The Second Generation of Al Qaeda]]
 +
*[[ISIS-K]]
 +
* [[Younis Tsouli]]
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
{{reflist|2}}
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 
*[http://polidics.com/cia/top-ranking-cia-operatives-admit-al-qaeda-is-a-complete-fabrication.html Top Ranking CIA Operatives Admit Al Qaeda Is a Complete Fabrication.]
 
*[http://polidics.com/cia/top-ranking-cia-operatives-admit-al-qaeda-is-a-complete-fabrication.html Top Ranking CIA Operatives Admit Al Qaeda Is a Complete Fabrication.]
−
*[http://www.uaff.info/alqaedatruth.htm Fake Al Qaeda] Al-Qaeda 100% Pentagon Run.
 
 
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2001/war_on_terror/default.stm BBC Profile of Al-Qaeda]
 
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2001/war_on_terror/default.stm BBC Profile of Al-Qaeda]
 
*[http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070523-115137-6054r.htm Bush shares al Qaeda plans] - Jon Ward, ''Washington Times'' - May 24, 2007
 
*[http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070523-115137-6054r.htm Bush shares al Qaeda plans] - Jon Ward, ''Washington Times'' - May 24, 2007
−
*[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331512,00.html Al Qaeda in Northern Africa Has Become Pipeline for New Iraq Recruits], Reena Ninan, ''[[Fox News Channel]]'', February 20, 2008
+
*[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331512,00.html Al Qaeda in Northern Africa Has Become Pipeline for New Iraq Recruits], Reena Ninan, ''[[Fox News Channel]]'', February 20, 2008
−
*[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328832,00.html Al Qaeda Trains Young Boys as Terrorists, Tapes Show],  
+
*[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328832,00.html Al Qaeda Trains Young Boys as Terrorists, Tapes Show],  
−
*[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330810,00.html Purported Al Qaeda Video Shows Prisoners Burned Alive]
+
*[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330810,00.html Purported Al Qaeda Video Shows Prisoners Burned Alive]
 
*[http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-taliban-and-al-qaeda/ Difference Between Taliban and Al Qaeda.]
 
*[http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-taliban-and-al-qaeda/ Difference Between Taliban and Al Qaeda.]
 
*[http://www.rferl.org/content/Are_Theological_Tensions_Distancing_Taliban_From_Al_Qaeda/1332904.html Are Theological Tensions Distancing Taliban From Al-Qaeda?]
 
*[http://www.rferl.org/content/Are_Theological_Tensions_Distancing_Taliban_From_Al_Qaeda/1332904.html Are Theological Tensions Distancing Taliban From Al-Qaeda?]
 +
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ Turkey's Islamic leader, Israel's Chief Rabbi, and Al Qaida's assassination attempt]
 +
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/ Two Flags, Multiple Explosions, One God, and no Escape]
 +
*[https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/al-qaeda-v-isis-origins-global-reach Al Qaeda v ISIS: Origins & Global Reach], By Cameron Glenn, September 28, 2015. The Wilson Center wilsoncenter.org
 +
{{Terrorism}}
  
−
==References==
 
−
<references/>
 
−
{{Terrorism}}
 
 
[[Category:Al-Qaeda]]
 
[[Category:Al-Qaeda]]
 
[[Category:Terrorist Organizations]]
 
[[Category:Terrorist Organizations]]
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[[Category:Iraq War]]
 
[[Category:Afghanistan War]]
 
[[Category:Afghanistan War]]
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[[Category:Man-Made Disasters]]
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[[Category:Threats]]
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[[Category:Police State]]
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[[Category:Gun Control]]
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[[Category:Oppression]]
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[[Category:Anti-American]]
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[[Category:Syria]]
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[[Category:Iraq]]
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[[Category:Iran]]
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[[Category:Afghanistan]]
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[[Category:Terrorism]]
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[[Category:Islamic Terrorism]]
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[[Category:Islamism]]

Latest revision as of 03:03, March 28, 2024

Biden national security advisor and Trump-Russia hoaxer Jake Sullivan[1] to Hillary Clinton: "Al Qaeda is on our side."

Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة‎, Translation: the base) is an international Islamic Jihadist terrorist organization founded in 1988, in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. It originally consisted mainly of members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad led by Saudi Arabian millionaire and heir of the bin Laden engineering firm, Osama bin Laden. The family engineering firm gained global recognition in the construction industry after it won the contract to refurbish and modernize the Grand Mosque at Mecca.

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 during the Soviet-Afghan war,[2][3] which only provided funding to indigenous Afghan mujaheddin. Bin Laden was living under house arrest in Pakistan for nearly 10 years until he was killed on orders from President Barack Obama before the 2012 presidential election.

Al Qaeda was predominantly composed of fanatical Salafi Muslims. Ayman al-Zawahiri, former leader of the Egyptian terrorist group called the Islamic Brotherhood, assumed leadership after Bin Laden's assassination.

In 2012, the Obama administration became allied with the group, providing weapons to kick-start the Syrian Civil War and founding of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a rebirth of the Islamic Caliphate which was abolished after the First World War.

By 2018, Al Qaeda remained a major global terror threat.[4]

Terrorist activities from 1998–2007

Al Qaeda attacks the World Trade Center

Al Qaeda is responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon killing 3000 Americans, the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and numerous other deaths and attacks.[5] The group's wing in Iraq, many of which came from Libya, were responsible for insurgent attacks and bombings. The 9/11 Commission Report cites Bin laden meeting with Iraqi intelligence officials in Khartoum as early as 1995. Bin Laden declined reported Iraqi offers of a safe haven, instead settling in Afghanistan. Friendly contacts between Iraqis and Bin Laden continued, though there is no evidence of an operational relationship between the two sides.

"However difficult the fight in Iraq has become, we must win it," Mr. Bush said in discussing the 2007 Iraqi troop surge during a commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. "Al Qaeda is public enemy No. 1 for Iraq's young democracy. Al Qaeda is public enemy No. 1 for America as well."[6]

Some liberals seem to have a problem calling this group what it is, a radical Islamic terrorist organization, and prefer to use the more politically correct terms: militant organization and its members rebels.

Redirection

A March 7, 2007, article entitled, "The Redirection" described a recent shift in the George W. Bush administration's Iraq policy, the goal of which Hersh said was to "contain" Iran. Hersh asserted that "a by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda."[7]

Osama bin Laden with Al-Qaeda members

By late 2009 analysts were reporting a decline in the strength and appeal of Al Qaeda. Its leadership was forced to retreat to remote mountain villages in Pakistan, and many leaders had been killed by missiles and manhunts. Its tactics of killing innocent civilians were said to have lost favor with the Muslim population in some countries. During the Bush/Cheney years of 2002 and 2009 the notion that suicide bombings are "often or sometimes justified" plunged across the Islamic world. Its terrorists launched 10 major attacks worldwide in 2004 but only three by 2008. "Al Qaeda is in the process of imploding," concluded professor Audrey Kurth Cronin of the National War College in Washington. In September 2009 American-led forces killed the leader of the Somali organization "Al Shabab," which is allied with Al Qaeda; the police in Indonesia killed the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia. It has become much harder for terrorists to move agents, money and supplies.[8]

In March 2010 Abdulhakim Belhadj was released from Abu Salim prison in Libya[9] after serving 6 years in custody. Belhadj had brought to Libya under the CIA's extraordinary rendition program in 2004. Belhadj was chased out of Libya by Gaddafi in 1988[10] and arrived in Afghanistan where he joined the Taliban.[11][12] After the Taliban captured Kabul in 1992 he returned to Libya where he and others formed the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). Belhadj was reported to have followed Osama Bin Laden when the al-Qaeda leader moved the center of its operations from Afghanistan to Sudan in 1996.[13] The relation between LIGF and al-Qaeda was officially confirmed in October 2001, when the UN Security Council designated the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group as a terrorist entity for its association with al-Qaeda, Bin Laden and the Taliban. The UN Security Council specified that the LIFG relation with al-Qaeda was substantiated through the group's involvement in

"the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of," "supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to" or "otherwise supporting acts or activities of" Al-Qaida [...], Usama bin Laden and the Taliban."[14]
In 2002 an arrest warrant was issued for Belhadj by the Libyan authorities after Gaddafi's reconciliation with Western powers and three assassination attempt's on Gaddafi's life by the LIFG. The arrest warrant alleged that Belhadj had developed "close relationships" with al-Qaeda leaders, and specifically Taliban chief Mullah Omar, and to have run and financed training camps for Arab mujahideen fighters.[15] After the US invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, Belhadj fled and was arrested in Malaysia in 2004 where he was rendered by the CIA to Libya.[16]

on Friday March 8, 2011, President Obama told reporters he would appoint an official to maintain contact with the "Libyan opposition." The number two official at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Christopher Stevens[17] was tasked with helping to coordinate assistance to the "rebels," whose top military commander, Abdelhakim Belhadj, was the leader of the Al Qaeda affiliate, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG).[18] Hillary Clinton attended a meeting in Paris with Stevens and representatives of the "Libyan opposition," as did U.S. Ambassador Gene Cretz, who has also had contacts with the "opposition." Clinton discussed what she persuaded the Obama administration to do to help the jihadis, and that they would do more than just provide humanitarian aid.

Wall Street Journal reported on April 2, 2011, about Americans' training terrorists in the port city of Derna;[19] when the Americans left to concentrate on the Syrian operation, terrorists beheaded people in front of small children as part of their training.[20] The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) is centered in and around Derna and Benghazi. The Sinjar documents[21][22] captured during the Iraq insurgency revealed 20% of all Iraq insurgents came from Derna, Sirte, and Misurata, 82% of which volunteered for suicide attacks. In 2015 twenty-one Christians in Derna were beheaded enmasse.

On February 22, 2012, in a show of bipartisanship, Senators Richard Blumenthal, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham visited Libya and meet with Abdulhakim Belhadj, who was put in charge of training jihadis in Eastern Libya (principally Derna and Benghazi) by the Obama administration for the second leg of Operation Zero Footprint in Syria.

On October 5, 2014, the Shura Council of Shabab al-Islam Derna, Libya declared itself part of the Islamic State. In February 2015 the ISIS jihadis beheaded 21 Christians and distributed an uncut video of the gruesome event to world. On March 2, 2015, Katherine Herridge of FOX News reported that Obama administration senior intelligence officials told her Abdelhakim Belhadj is firmly aligned with ISIS and supports the Islamic State training camps in eastern Libya.

"Critics say Libya's new position as a safe haven for ISIS reflects one of the most significant policy failures of the so-called Arab Spring."

Herridge added that counter-terrorism sources have confirmed that the new support base for ISIS in eastern Libya is now providing "tangible assistance" in the form of training camps around the city of Derna, in addition to a growing number of Libyan fighters joining the terror group in Syria and Iraq.[23]

Al Qaeda in North Africa

For a more detailed treatment, see Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Abdelhakim Belhadj, Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Lindsey Graham. Belhadj, a veteran jihadi, was kidnapped by the CIA in 2004 and "rendered" to Libya where he spent 7 years in prison being "rehabilitated." He was released in March 2010 to reactivate the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, of which Ansar al Shariah was part. In August 2011 he was appointed commander of the Tripoli Military Council by the TNC, and in 2015 head of the Mujahideen Shura Council in Derna.

The Benghazi rebellion started as a series of protests in eastern Libya on February 16, 2011. Ansar al-Shariah, an offshoot of Al-Qaida in the Maghreb (AQIM), vowed to overthrow secular strongman Muammar Gaddafi[24][25] and establish Sharia.

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi of the U.S. organized Libyan Fighting Group said jihadists who killed American troops in Iraq were now serving on the front lines in Libya.[26][27] NATO's Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee days before President Obama publicly admitted he ordered intervention that U.S. intelligence knew al Qaeda and Hezbollah elements were among the Libyan insurgents.[28]

On March 21, 2011, President Obama announced he ordered U.S. military force operations in Libya two days earlier over the objections of his most trusted and knowledgeable experts. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates opposed the action[29] as did National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, and White House counterterrorism chief John O. Brennan. Libya was not vital to American national security interests and the rebels had ties to Al Qaeda.[30] However Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "won the bureaucratic battle to use [Department of Defence] resources to achieve what's essentially the State Department's objective... and Obama let it happen."[31] Secretary Clinton stated:

“ We are currently doing everything we can to bomb, strafe and use missiles to carry the rebels into power in Libya. We want them to win. We just don’t know who they are.” [32] ”

A March 29, 2011 article in the Washington Post included these paragraphs:

“ "It’s almost a certitude that at least part” of the Libyan opposition includes members of al-Qaeda, said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA analyst and adviser to President Obama. Riedel said that anti-Gaddafi elements in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi have had “very close associations with al-Qaeda” dating back years....I would hope that we now have a good sense of the opposition in Libya and can say that this is 2 percent, not 20 percent,” Riedel said. “If we don’t, then we are running the risk of helping to bring to power a regime that could be very dangerous.[33] ”

A document published by the U.S. West Point Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center revealed that jihadi rebels between 2005 and 2007 exited Libya to join the Iraq insurgency in greater numbers than any other country.[34][35] Many of those jihadi rebels that came from Libya to Iraq to kill American soldiers came from among the very people Obama pledged to protect in the name of "humanitarianism." One group—the Libyan Fighting Group (jamaʹah al‐libiyah al‐muqatilah)—claimed to have Afghan veterans in its ranks. The Combating Terrorism Center document concludes,

“ The Syrian [ Assad regime] and Libyan [Gaddafi] governments share the United States’ concerns about violent salafi‐jihadi ideology and the violence perpetrated by its adherents. These governments [Syria, Gaddafi, and the US] like others in the Middle East, fear violence inside their borders and would much rather radical elements go to Iraq rather than cause unrest at home. U.S. and Coalition efforts to stem the flow of fighters into Iraq will be enhanced if they address the entire logistical chain that supports the movement of these individuals—beginning in their home countries – rather than just their Syrian entry points. ”

This set off a fierce debate in the Obama administration over the wisdom of arming terrorists.[36] It is now known sometime prior to March 31, 2011,[37] at the urging of Hillary Clinton and over the objections of his National Security Council, Obama signed a Presidential Finding authorizing support for the rebel jihadis.[38]

Ghaddafi's murder and Sharia law installed

By October 2011, Libyan rebel fighting groups with support from NATO, overtook the capital of Tripoli and toppled the government. Ghaddafi was captured and brutally and sadistically murdered.[39] The jihadis were immediately recognized by the U.S. and the U.N. as the legitimate government. Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, announced that Sharia will be the source for all legislation in Libya and that all laws conflicting with Sharia are null and void.[40] Abdel Rahim al-Kib, the country's interim prime minister, echoed Jalil's words a couple of days later.[41] Around the same time these statements were made an Al Qaeda flag was flown above the Benghazi courthouse, and reports were surfacing that the Libyan jihadis imposed Sharia law in some parts of the country even earlier.[40]

U.S. intelligence says as many as 20,000 advanced Russian surface-to-air missiles were missing.[42] Some of those missiles reached the hands of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.[43]

Benghazi massacre

Obama crowing just days after the murder of Americans, "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."
For a more detailed treatment, see Benghazi Attack.

With several U.S.embassies besieged on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declared authorities had no reason to believe the attack on the sovereign territory of the United States consulate in Benghazi less than two months before the 2012 Presidential election, resulting in the deaths of several Americans, was a terrorist attack.

“ The unrest that we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims, find offensive. ”

This became the official White House line. President Obama went on the Comedy Channel to say the deaths of Americans was "not optimal."[44] When pressed by reporters, who pointed out evidence that the violence in Benghazi was a terrorist attack, Press Secretary Carney argued “the unrest around the region has been in response to this video.”

Leading suspected jihadis in the murders and terrorist attack were the local Benghazi branch of Ansar al-Shariah, known to have ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.[45] A commander of the terrorist group boasted jovially about the attack over drinks with reporters for the New York Times in Benghazi.[46][47]

Two weeks to the day after the attack which killed four Americans including an Ambassador and left many with puzzling and unanswered questions, President Obama declared victory from the speakers platform at the United Nations using the premise of his strawman talking points, "[T]he future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."[48]

Algeria and Mali

Two more Americans were killed, along with 35 others, after being taken hostage by rebel jihadists in Mali shortly after the Libyan upheaval.[49]

Hillary Clinton testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the wake of the Benghazi murders that occurred under her stewardship, that weapons and fighters equipped by the Obama administration made their way into Mali and Algeria:

“ There is no doubt that the Algerian terrorists had weapons from Libya. There is no doubt that the Malian remnants of AQIM [Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb] have weapons from Libya.[50] ”

State Support

Pakistan

In 2000, British Intelligence reported that the Pakistani Inter-Services-Intelligence(ISI) had been taking an active role in several Al-Qaeda training camps since the 1990s.[51] In 2012, the Afghan parliament's Security Commission has said that the ISI provides support to Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Nuristan Province.[52]

Azerbaijan

An investigation conducted by the Center for Middle East and Central Asian Studies has uncovered Azerbaijani intelligence support for Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria.[53]

Iran

According to a U.S. court record for the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings, Osama Bin Laden was living in Khartoum, Sudan when Sudanese religious scholar Ahmed Abdel Rahman Hamadabi brought Shekih Nomani an emissary of Iran to meet the Al-Qaeda leadership. Sheikh Nomani was described as having "had access to the highest echelons of power in Tehran.[54] This meeting resulted in an informal agreement between Iran and Al-Qaeda to cooperate, with Iran providing critical explosives, intelligence and security training to Bin Laden's organization.[55] Iran continued to provide support to Al-Qaeda even after they relocated to Afghanistan in 1996. Iranian officials helped Al-Qaeda members transit through Iran to Afghanistan. Iranian border guards were instructed not to stamp their passports, to prevent their home governments from suspecting that they had traveled to Afghanistan.[55] A section of the 9/11 commission states that shortly after the meetings between Iran and Al-Qaeda in Sudan in 1991,"senior Al-Qaeda operatives and trainers traveled to Iran to receive training in explosives. In the fall of 1993, another such delegation went to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon for further training in explosives as well as in intelligence and security. Bin Laden reportedly showed particular interest in learning how to use truck bombs such as the one that had killed 241 U.S Marines in Lebanon in 1983. The relationship between Al-Qaeda and Iran demonstrated that Sunni-Shia divisions did not necessarily pose an insurmountable barrier to cooperation in terrorist operations."[56]

Iran and Al-Qaeda cooperation continues to this day. The State Department's Country Reports on terrorism has noted that, "Iran has allowed [Al-Qaeda] facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least 2009, enabling [Al-Qaeda] to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria."[57]

China

After the U.S. conducted cruise missile strikes against Al-Qaeda in 1998, China paid Osama Bin Laden several million dollars to access unexploded American cruise missiles. [58]

Iran

In 2023, the US confirmed that Al Qaeda top man is in Iran,[59] shielded by the IRGC.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.defenddemocracy.org/a-conversation-with-jake-sullivan-video/
  2. ↑ 9/11 Commission Report, The Foundation of the New Terrorism, pg. 56.
  3. ↑ In his memoir, Ayman al-Zawahiri contemptuously rejects the claim that the Arab mujahideen were financed (even “one penny”) or trained by the United States. See Zawahiri, “Knights Under the Prophet’s Banner,” Al Sharq al Awsat, Dec. 2, 2001. CIA officials involved in aiding the Afghan resistance regard Bin Ladin and his “Arab Afghans” as having been militarily insignificant in the war and recall having little to do with him. Gary Schroen interview (Mar. 3, 2003).
  4. ↑ Mora, Edwin (October 6, 2018). Al-Qaeda Remains Top Global Jihadi Threat on 17th Anniversary of Afghan War. Breitbart News. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  5. ↑ Ramzi Yousef, who delivered the explosives in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing killing six people, is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a top figure in al-Qaeda. After the September 2001 attack, it was the opinion of many investigators and analysts that the perpetrators of that attack had a state sponsor – Iraq. A number of details, including the fact that Yousef was traveling on an Iraqi passport, as well as the date of the 1993 attack – the second anniversary of the U.S. liberation of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War – furthered suspicions of Iraqi involvement in the 1993 incident. His uncle, Sheikh Mohammed was one of the masterminds the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and was arrested in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on March 1, 2003. [1]
  6. ↑ http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070523-115137-6054r.htm
  7. ↑ Hersh, Seymour M. (March 5, 2007). "Annals of National Security: The Redirection". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/05/070305fa_fact_hersh. 
  8. ↑ Scott Shane, "Rethinking What to Fear," New York Times Sept. 27, 2009
  9. ↑ http://docslide.us/documents/updated-fact-sheet-may-4-2013.html
  10. ↑ Vicken Cheterian (May 2012). "Libya’s rebel leader with a past". Le Monde Diplomatique. http://mondediplo.com/2012/05/08libya. 
  11. ↑ "'We Are Simply Muslim': Libyan Rebel Chief Denies Al-Qaeda Ties", 4 September 2011. 
  12. ↑ "From Holy warrior to hero of a revolution: Abdelhakim Belhadj". 
  13. ↑ Burr, J. Millard (2014-10-13). "Libya – Ali al-Salabi and the Re-Emerging Muslim Brotherhood." American Center for Democracy.
  14. ↑ https://www.un.org/sc/suborg/en/sanctions/1267/aq_sanctions_list/summaries/entity/libyan-islamic-fighting-group
  15. ↑ "Profile: Libyan rebel commander Abdel Hakim Belhaj", 5 September 2011. 
  16. ↑ Ian Cobain. "Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials", 8 April 2012. 
  17. ↑ US Names Chris Stevens Liaison to Libyan Opposition, ABC News Radio, March 14, 2011.
  18. ↑ ‘White Out’ on Benghazi: State Dept. Issues Report, Clare Lopez, December 23, 2012. http://counterjihadreport.com
  19. ↑ https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703712504576237042432212406
  20. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3110801/What-children-seen-ISIS-beheads-Libyan-soldier-outside-mosque-education-purposes-youngsters-don-t-shocked.html
  21. ↑ Sinjar Documents
  22. ↑ The Sinjar Documents are a collection of al Qaeda computer data captured by Americans in 2007 in a predawn raid near Sinjar, Iraq, six miles from the Syrian border.
  23. ↑ https://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/02/catherine-herridge-isis-has-turned-libya-new-support-base-safe-haven
  24. ↑ Al Qaeda in N. Africa backs Libya uprising: SITE
  25. ↑ Libya uprising.
  26. ↑ Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links.
  27. ↑ Libyan, Once a Detainee, Is Now a U.S. Ally of Sorts.
  28. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8414583/Libya-al-Qaeda-among-Libya-rebels-Nato-chief-fears.html
  29. ↑ https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20038391-503544.html
  30. ↑ [2]
  31. ↑ How Obama turned on a dime toward war.
  32. ↑ http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/06/23/hillary-clinton-to-libya-skeptics-whose-side-are-you-on/
  33. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/libyan-opposition-includes-a-small-number-of-al-qaeda-fighters-us-officials-say/2011/03/29/AFRlXWyB_story.html
  34. ↑ A First Look at the Sinjar Documents
  35. ↑ The Sinjar Documents are a collection of al Qaeda computer data captured by Americans in 2007 in a predawn raid near Sinjar, Iraq, six miles from the Syrian border.
  36. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/world/africa/30diplo.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
  37. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/africa/31intel.html?_r=2&hp
  38. ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/us-libya-usa-order-idUSTRE72T6H220110330
  39. ↑ Leading from behind - a critique of Obama foreign policy
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Libya: Al Qaeda flag flown above Benghazi courthouse - Daily Telegraph
  41. ↑ New Libyan PM backs Islamic sharia law
  42. ↑ U.S. Intelligence Now Says Up To 20,000 Advanced Surface-To-Air Missiles Missing From Lib, Weasel Zippers, September 27, 2011.
  43. ↑ Hamas boosting anti-aircraft arsenal with looted Libyan missiles - Haaretz
  44. ↑ Interview with Jon Stewart of the Daily Show.
  45. ↑ http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/10/19/when-an-obama-adviser-called-benghazi-an-al-qaeda-hotbed/?cxntfid=blogs_political_insider_jim_galloway
  46. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/world/africa/election-year-stakes-overshadow-nuances-of-benghazi-investigation.html?pagewanted=2&ref=world
  47. ↑ https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/frappe-libya-attack/
  48. ↑ http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obamafuture.asp
  49. ↑ Algeria: 37 Foreigner Hostages Killed in Attack, Associated Press, Jan. 21, 2013. TIME magazine.
  50. ↑ Clinton says militants used weapons from Libya in Algeria attack, Reuters, Jan 23, 2013.
  51. ↑ https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_9_11_Encyclopedia/PDDIgWRN_HQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
  52. ↑ https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2012/04/12/pakistans-isi-supports-taliban-al-qaeda-in-nuristan-says-afghan-parliament/
  53. ↑ https://southfront.org/azerbaijan-got-caught-supporting-al-qaeda-linked-jabhat-al-nusra-in-syria-report/
  54. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=WDkqQSWFvvIC&pg=PA146#v=onepage&q&f=false
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-iran-al-qaeda-conundrum
  56. ↑ https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf#page=257
  57. ↑ https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/02/06/irans-support-for-al-qaeda-is-incompatible-with-fatf-standards/
  58. ↑ http://taiwantt.org.tw/cdrom/20020801/For%20Taiwan%20XII/Letters/2001-10-24-Walter%20Schwimmer%20letter-24.htm
  59. ↑ US Confirms That Al Qaeda Top Man Is In Iran, IranIntl, 02/15/2023.

    Seif al-Adel, the apparent new leader of al Qaeda is in Iran, a United Nations report has said and the United States confirmed the information on Wednesday.

    State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked during his daily press briefing to comment on the UN report. He said: “Our assessment aligns with that of the UN…offering safe haven to al Qaeda is another example of Iran’s wide-ranging support for terrorism, its destabilizing activities in the Middle East and beyond.”

    Asked by a reporter what the United States is ready to do if Adel is in Iran, Price said that the Biden administration is determined not to allow threats to emerge. “We have taken action against Iran for its support for terrorist group throughout the region,” he said and added that Washington will closely coordinate with European allies to confront “all the challenges Iran poses.”

    Seif al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces officer who is a high-ranking member of al Qaeda with a $10 million US bounty on his head, is now the "uncontested" leader of the militant group, according to a new U.N. report on the organization.

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