al qaeda Essay

Submitted By shanejohnson02
Words: 1116
Pages: 5
Open Document
1
The Base of Holy War- Al Qaeda in 2012Al Qaeda, the most widely known terrorist network, was founded in 1988 by the mostwanted terrorist in America, Osama Bin Laden. It started off with three members and grewover the years. They were active during the Persian Gulf War because they did not agreeupon the Americans joining and they have committed multiple attacks afterwards on mostcommonly US targets. They have committed crimes such as the attack on the World TradeCenter in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. on September 11th
, 2001 aswell as the bombings on nightclubs in Bali. Even though their leader, Osama Bin Laden, wasexterminated one year ago, the terrorist network still exists. Two days after his death, a newleader was elected who is said to be ‘better’ than Osama Bin Laden.
Not only Osama Bin Laden has been “removed from duty”; also the leader of the Al Qaeda in the ArabianPeninsula who was shot by an FBI agent, as well as the leader of the Al Qaeda in East Africawas shot by a Policeman. Yet, the Al Qaeda network is powerful and is still growing in theamount of their supporters. Al Qaeda is still a global threat because of their globalsupporters, financial means and their access to weapons and chemicals.First off, the many Al Qaeda supporters around the world are trying to sustain the well-organized terror assembly. In 2001, they were only active in Afghanistan and Pakistan andhad little support from other areas. Besides, the network has 7 groups, spread across 5different continents. They have a group in the Islamic Maghreb, Oceana, Afghanistan,Pakistan, and Europe, in the Arabian Peninsula as well as in east Africa. Through this, theiradvantage is that they are able to easily conduct an attack anywhere around the globe. Eachgroup has different targets. Furthermore, the Al Qaeda in East Africa (AQEA) is focused onbombing US embassies in Africa while the Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is focused on bombing USWarships and Tanks in the Middle East. In addition, since the Persian Gulf War, Al Qaeda hasgrown in the number of supporters. They started off with two members: Osama Bin Laden,and Ayman Al Zawahiri. As John Ellis, an American Journalist from the Business Insider whofrequently travels in Afghanistan stated:
“Today, it has more members, greater geographicreach, and a level of ideological sophistication and influence it lacked ten years ago.”
(Business Insider) To add on, Jayshree Bajoria, an Al Qaeda focused Journalist, said
“
estimates range from several hundred to several thousand members”
(Council on Foreign
2
Relations).The many members and supporters of the Al Qaeda network sustain the group’s activity and therefore, is a main aspect to why they still exist.Secondly, their financial means keep them powerful in a financial sense. In order to conductattacks, they require a lot of money. As Fred Bruno, a criminal defense lawyer said “ theLondon transit bombings on July 7, 2005, only cost about $15,000
” (Council on Foreign
Relations).The AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) earn some of their money bysmuggling between countries. A great deal of their smuggling actions include illegal drugtrafficking. Another manner in which they earn their financial aid is through kidnapping.They kidnap tourists throughout the Sahara, most of which occur in areas such as Egypt, dueto the historic attractiveness to travelers. To exemplify, they kidnapped 32 AustrianTourists. After they kidnapped the tourists, they threatened Austria that they would killthem if no one would pay ransom. In this case, Austria payed the ransom, but in other casesthe hostage keepers would kill the hostages. To add on, they get money through supporters.As mentioned before, Al Qaeda has many supporters who also support the group withmoney. Some Muslims have to support Al Qaeda otherwise they are considered
“Not Muslim anymore”
(AQIM Interview Podcast) and are seen as being against their faith. The money they get through their supports,
Show More

Related Documents: al qaeda Essay

History Of Al-Qaeda

Noli Timere It is known that it was a clear, beautiful morning on September 11, 2001. People would wake up and run through their normal routines and go about their day. What America did not know was that 19 militants, associated with Al-Qaeda, planned to hijack four commercial airplanes and commit suicide attacks against the United States. It started at 8:45 AM when the first hijacked American Airlines plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. The destruction was horrible…

Words 565 - Pages 3

Al Qaeda Dead or Alive Essay

Wood, Santina M1-A2 HUM200 Al Qaeda: Dead or Alive? After reading the first article “Bin Laden’s dead. Al Qaeda’s not” from The New York Times, there are several very strong, very valid arguments, however, in my opinion the strongest of these arguments comes from the statement “Believing that their religion requires them to act violently against nonbelievers in the West and impure, apostate Muslim elites, the Islamist extremists will not be stopped by the elimination of Al Qaeda's leader or even by…

Words 474 - Pages 2

Obama: Al-qaeda and President Barack Obama Essay

America in history. No one will ever forget the images of people dying, buildings collapsing, airplanes crashing and the cries of loved ones and the nation as we all watched grieving for the loss of life. Killing innocent people in this way was evil. Al Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden were responsible and needed to be brought to justice. It took nearly 10 years to find Bin Laden and kill him. On May 1, 2011, Barack Obama gave a speech to announce the death of Osama Bin Laden. The Speaker…

Words 678 - Pages 3

Matrix: Al-qaeda and Social Media Essay

Allegory of the Cave From the start of time people have tried to control the way society thinks. For an example if someone from a higher ranking says you can’t jump and stay in the air for more than one second, then the rest of society tends to believe them. What happens when somebody jumps and stays in the air for more than one second? Does society still believe you can’t because that’s how they think? As a society we are blinded by people making us believe what the real world, making us think…

Words 380 - Pages 2

Terrorism: Terrorism and Al-qaeda Suicide Bomber Essay

Al-Qaeda- Acts of Terrorism What is terrorism, you may ask yourself. Most people think it is random acts of violence of one country against another. When really, it is political violence. There are many reasons why there are terrorist attacks, which can be related to many different things, , and in some cases they justify as a holy duty. But a lot of it has to do with whose point of view is being represented. Al-Qaeda feels that their mission is correct but, from our view, they have been terrorizing…

Words 636 - Pages 3

Argumentative Essay: Did My Car Join Al Qaeda

had one. I don't think anything wrong with SUV’s I believe that their good vehicles for someone who has a big family or loves to travel can use. I can agree with Hochswender and defend his position on having an SUV. In the article “Did My Car Join Al Qaeda?, Hochswender (pg, 154-155), he defends himself because the SUV get’s very low on gas mileage and accuse drivers of suvs of being wasteful. Hochswender states that SUVs are safer in many situations than cars. I agree because they’re bigger and heavier…

Words 274 - Pages 2

Osama Bin Laden Research Paper

Osama Bin Laden was the leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda. Bin Laden was hunted down and Al-Qaeda crippled. This paper will go over Bin Laden and the founding of Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda activities, and the death of Osama Bin Laden. The circumstances around Bin Laden’s death is very interesting and should be known. First let’s go over Osama’s days before Al-Qaeda and how he founded the group. According to history.com Osama had a privileged upbringing and began to follow the radical pan-Islamist…

Words 373 - Pages 2

September 11 Attacks and Nationalist Terrorist Groups Essay

the group called Al-Qaeda The word Al-Qaeda means “the base” in Muslim. As an international terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden. The group seeks to rid Muslim countries of western influence and replace them with fundamentalist Islamic regimes. Al-Qaeda grew out of the of the ashes of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1988, after it helped expel the Soviet…

Words 1417 - Pages 6

The U.S. Government's Hunt for Al-Qaeda's Osama bin Laden Essay

Laden and Al-Qaeda Historical Background- In approximately 1989, Bin Laden and co-defendant Muhammad Atef founded "Al Qaeda," “an international terrorist group ... which was dedicated to opposing non-Islamic governments with force and violence." (“Al Qaeda” pbs.org). -Al-Qaeda is a Sunni militant Islamist organization that was founded by Saudi national Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 1988.("the facts about Al-Queda janes.com) Causes -One of the principal goals of Al Qaeda was to drive…

Words 686 - Pages 3

Osama Bin Laden Research Paper

Al Qaeda came to power in 1988, after the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan after the Soviet- Afghan war. Soon after, the Soviet’s withdrew; Osama Bin Laden along with Abdullah Azzam founded the terror group Al Qaeda, which can be translated as “the base.” Osama Bin Laden was born in the north area of Yemen and was the 17th son of Mohamed Bin Laden. When Osama Bin Laden turned 19 years of age, he took the time to enroll himself in the King Abdul Aziz University to study economics and management…

Words 1242 - Pages 5