Difference between revisions of "Al Qaeda"
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By late 2009 analysts were detecting a systematic decline in the strength and appeal of Al Qaeda. Its leadership has been forced to retreat to remote mountain villages in Pakistan, and many leaders have been killed by missiles and manhunts. Its tactics of killing innocent civilians have lost favor with the Muslim population in most countries. Between 2002 and 2009 the notion that suicide bombings are "often or sometimes justified" has plunged across the Islamic world. Its terrorists launched 10 major attacks worldwide in 2004, its peak year, but only three in 2008. "Al Qaeda is in the process of imploding," concludes 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> | By late 2009 analysts were detecting a systematic decline in the strength and appeal of Al Qaeda. Its leadership has been forced to retreat to remote mountain villages in Pakistan, and many leaders have been killed by missiles and manhunts. Its tactics of killing innocent civilians have lost favor with the Muslim population in most countries. Between 2002 and 2009 the notion that suicide bombings are "often or sometimes justified" has plunged across the Islamic world. Its terrorists launched 10 major attacks worldwide in 2004, its peak year, but only three in 2008. "Al Qaeda is in the process of imploding," concludes 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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*[[Ramzan Kadyrov]] | *[[Ramzan Kadyrov]] | ||
Revision as of 20:40, October 2, 2010
Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة, Translation: the base) 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] which only provided funding to indigenous Afghan mujaheddin, which al-Qaeda was not. It is currently led by Osama Bin Laden and is predominantly composed of fanatical Sunni Muslims. Ayman al-Zawahiri, former leader of the Egyptian terrorist group called the Islamic Brotherhood, is second in command of the Al Qaeda. Zawahiri has increasingly become the spokesperson for the terrorist network.
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 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 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." [2]
Contents
Decline?
By late 2009 analysts were detecting a systematic decline in the strength and appeal of Al Qaeda. Its leadership has been forced to retreat to remote mountain villages in Pakistan, and many leaders have been killed by missiles and manhunts. Its tactics of killing innocent civilians have lost favor with the Muslim population in most countries. Between 2002 and 2009 the notion that suicide bombings are "often or sometimes justified" has plunged across the Islamic world. Its terrorists launched 10 major attacks worldwide in 2004, its peak year, but only three in 2008. "Al Qaeda is in the process of imploding," concludes 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. [3]
Also See
External Links
- BBC Profile of Al-Qaeda
- Bush shares al Qaeda plans - Jon Ward, Washington Times - May 24, 2007
- Al Qaeda in Northern Africa Has Become Pipeline for New Iraq Recruits, Reena Ninan, Fox News Channel, February 20, 2008
- Al Qaeda Trains Young Boys as Terrorists, Tapes Show,
- Purported Al Qaeda Video Shows Prisoners Burned Alive
References
- ↑ 9/11 Commission ReportThe Foundation of the New Terrorism, pg. 56.
- ↑ http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070523-115137-6054r.htm
- ↑ Scott Shane, "Rethinking What to Fear," New York Times Sept. 27, 2009
