Founders of Terrorism in AfghanistanBy: Tay Punyahotra
“Fear makes us feel our humanity”, Benjamin Disraeli once said. Terrorism has terrorized countless lives around the world. The establishment of Al-Qaeda, a leading terrorist organization in Afghanistan, is credited to Osama Bin Laden and Abdullah Yusuf Azzam(A Biography of Osama Bin Laden). The Al-Qaeda, meaning the base or foundation, was founded to record names of mujahedin and inform the families that have lost their family members (A Biography of Osama Bin Laden). Osama Bin Laden and Abdullah Yusuf Azzam are the most important figures in the Al-Qaeda organization.
Osama Bin Laden was born in 1957; he was the seventh son of fifty siblings. He had a Syrian mother. His father, Mohammed Awad bin Laden, came from Hadramout in Southern Yemen. Mohammed Awad bin Laden started as a poor laborer and eventually became the owner of the biggest construction company in Saudi Arabia. He also helped build King Saud’s palaces, his cost efficient buildings greatly impressed the King. Osama’s father also demanded his children to have a strict religious and social code. Osama Bin Laden lost his father at the age of 13 and married at 17 to a Syrian girl. He was educated in Jeddah and received a degree in public administration. Osama Bin Laden was very religiously motivated; he practiced Islamic responsibility at a very young age. In university he adopted the idea of Muslim Brotherhood. He first encountered Afghanistan on a trip to visit the refugee camps in Peshawar during the Soviet invasion. Later, he returned back to Afghanistan to support the mujahedeen. After raising enough money he decided to go into Afghanistan in 1982. Within two years he created 6 camps to fight the Soviets. Later on he created the Al-Qaeda to help organize the Arab fighters and keep track of those who’ve died in the conflict. With time, Osama bin Laden eventually declared war on America to remove American forces from the Arabian Peninsula. The Al-Qaeda has become notorious for their terrorist tactics. How did Osama bin Laden’s views help create this organization. One of the biggest influences was his teacher, Abdullah Yusuf Azzam. (A Biography of Osama Bin Laden) Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, otherwise known as Sheik Abdullah Azzam, was the teacher and mentor of Osama bin Laden at Abdulaziz University (Stanley). The Azzam family was well known (Azzam). Abdullah was very pious, since he was a child (Azzam). He was very determined and joined the Muslim Brotherhood at a very young age (Stanley). In the late 1960’s he joined the Jihad against the Israel’s occupation of Palestine (Stanley). He later got expelled from his university and he got to know some of the leaders of the Jihad in Afghanistan (Azzam). He founded the Mekhtab al-Khadimat (MAK), established guesthouses in Peshawar, formed training camps in Afghanistan, and worked closely with Osama Bin Laden (Stanley). Later on he changed the goal of their organization to global terrorism with the Al-Qaeda (Stanley). Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was a very influential contributor to the Jihad and the Jihad also greatly influenced himself (Azzam). Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was assassinated when his car exploded in Peshawar on 24th of November 1989; there is no evidence for who could’ve planted the bomb (Stanley). Both of these men were very influential in the creation of the Al-Qaeda and ultimately global terrorism. Both of them have had education and are very pious. Islam has influenced them greatly and ultimately led them to join the Jihad and create the Al-Qaeda. Osama and Abdullah changed the way the world viewed Afghanistan causing terror at a global scale. |
Causes behind the Al-Qaeda Attacks and Their Origins
By: Matthew Kim
Afghanistan has been exposed to political conflicts and brutal wars for half a century now. Due to these wars, the nation is under constant threat and turmoil. Groups of Afghan rebels and militia, therefore, were formed in order to combat these invasions and internal conflicts. These Afghan militia groups resist foreign invaders from intervening into Afghanistan’s affairs. Al-Qaeda, perhaps the most well-known Afghan militia, serves the purpose of retaliating foreign invasions. Al-Qaeda, a group forged by the fires of warfare, has the agenda of resisting foreign influences to purify their rich Islamic background.
Al-Qaeda has its origins deeply rooted in Islamic ideals and serve as an example for the rest of the Islamic community, despite the unjust methods of spreading their agenda (Burke, Jason). A man named Abdullah Azzam founded Al-Qaeda on 1987; and he believed that Al-Qaeda needed to show the Islamic community or “umma” the path for becoming better Muslims and not fall into Western culture (Burke, Jason). However, Al-Qaeda acts more as an idea than a group of terrorist as its doctrine spread among the Muslim extremists (Burke, Jason). A major factor in the growth of Al-Qaeda is Osama Bin Laden, he was responsible for establishing this group within Afghanistan (Chossudovsky, Michael). Not only that, Osama would later become well known for his 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States (Chossudovsky, Michael). Osama and his allies were able to enlist more members in Al-Qaeda each day and eventually multiply as more and more people were joining (Burke, Jason). Al-Qaeda also served as an advisor or leader to other Islamic extremists in order to spread their influence (Burke, Jason). Al-Qaeda would even fund other Islamic extremists in their missions to spread their ideals through extreme violence which consist of bombings and much worse (Burke, Jason). However, overtime, Al-Qaeda operations have deteriorated in the Afghanistan, as Osama Bin Laden died, however, Al-Qaeda has spread its influence among many different regions (Burke, Jason). As a result, there is no sign of Al-Qaeda dying, but instead that there are more groups arising that agree with Al-Qaeda’s point of view of Semitism and anti-western doctrines. Al-Qaeda’s use of terrorism and other unethical methods has grabbed the attention of the entire world with their agenda. Al-Qaeda has no intention of unifying the entire Islamic community under one country or leader, but have the intention of opposing the influx of Western concepts into Islamic nations (Burke, Jason). The Western influence is seen as a force that opposes Islam while others see that the Western world is trying to revive the Crusades; as a result, Al-Qaeda wants to purify and defend their lands from that influence (“Jihad”). Not only that, some Muslim extremists abide by the Islamic term “Jihad” which literally means, “struggle or effort” as a calling or duty to defend the Islamic lands or begin a “holy war” (“Jihad”). The foundation of these terrorist attacks and bombings of Al-Qaeda are deeply interconnected with their religious beliefs in Islam and see that it is their responsibility to preserve Islam and prevent from corruptions of Westernization. The origins and agenda of Al-Qaeda are heavily intertwined with their religious beliefs in Islam as they try to benefit the Islamic community through their works. Al-Qaeda sprang into action as they sought to push out all Western influences that has the capacity to debauch any of the Islamic ideals; and Al-Qaeda aren’t afraid of use excessive force as a means to bring an end to other influences. Despite all the obstacles Al-Qaeda has gone through, they continue to gather more to their cause to and continue to impact the world with their actions and doctrines that they fight for. |
Al Qaeda movementBy: Antonio Oh
The Al Qaeda movement has started since the 1980’s when Osama Bin Ladin brought the Afghan people together to fight in the soviet invasion. It had stopped for a while until the 9/11 attacks in the twin building in the United States. Al Qaeda has attacked many other countries including Norway, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany and Pakistan (O’Brien). Although Al Qaeda is very threatening, they have made many mistakes to try and take over some places. Due to their mistakes, they have made many enemies including some of their own people (Liepman). Al Qaeda has made a huge impact in people’s lives due to their massive destructions and weapons.
Al Qaeda has started in Afghanistan and it has many different names. They have religious commandments they must follow, called Fatwa. Its strength is that they have thousands of followers and members, which also include many other Islamic groups. As Al Qaeda’s message has been resonance, the people begin to recruit potential to claim their victory (Liepman). Al Qaeda has been sending many innocent people in the clan as suicide bombers to destroy and kill many others (Liepman). The weapons that Al Qaeda group uses are improvised nuclear device; it was used during the 9/11 attacks. Al Qaeda has camps in where they set and train people to be the targets of the experiments in the new biological and chemical weapons. These camps also help to train some others in security officials. Terrorism has changed many reliabilities and responsibilities in their country due to the massive impact they had in their own people. Due to much awareness of other countries security, they are very aware of what Al Qaeda’s next movement or attack would be. Terrorism has slowly decreased since 9/11 attacks, other countries security has grown and improved. Some countries plants undercover people to try to get people out of the camp and release them. The undercover people also try to find out what Al Qaeda’s next move would be. |
Effects on Terrorism in the United StatesBy: Toay Punyahotra
The 9/11 incident is the most memorable and terrorizing man-made disaster in the history of mankind and it the result of terrorism. Terrorists hijacked four planes and flew them towards the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (“9/11 Attacks”). Terrorism in Afghanistan is affecting the US, and is the cause of many disasters such as the 9/11 and the attack on the Pentagon.
The World Trade Center, located in New York, was once the world’s tallest building. It consisted of two towers, the North Tower and the South Tower. They were both 110 stories tall and 1360 feet high. It was the hub of the financial district. There were 50,000 people working in the World Trade Center and they had 200,000 daily visitors. The tower had a concept of “world peace through trade” when it was built in 1931. The World Trade Center was bombed in 1993, killing six and injuring thousands. The tower was repaired and six Islamic terrorists were tried and convicted. (“World Trade Center”) The tower remained strong until September ninth of 2001. Islamic terrorists hijacked two Boeings and flew them straight into the World Trade Center. The first plane flew into the side of the North Tower with 92 on board. The second plane came flew into the South Tower a few minutes later with 65 on board. This catastrophe killed around 3000 people, 343 of which were paramedics and firefighters. Shortly after the fall of the World Trade Center’s north and south towers, George W. Bush gave a speech to America: “Terrorists attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundations of America.. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” (“9/11 Attacks”) The Pentagon, located in Washington D.C, is the headquarters of the U.S Department of Defense. It is a five-sided building and is the largest office building in the world. The Pentagon was the terrorist’s second target. A third hi-jacked plane flew into the Pentagon, killing 189 people and damaging a third of the building (“Pentagon”), luckily, no rescue workers died carrying out their duty (“9/11 Interactive Timeline”). The plane damaged the outermost walls of the Pentagon known as the E-rings but it was later on rebuilt. The fourth airplane, flight 93, never reached it’s intended destination. Shortly after Ed Ballinger, a flight dispatcher working for the United Airlines warned about hijackers, flight 93 was hijacked. Passengers and crewmembers were ordered to stay at the back of the plane. The passengers were able to contact family members and after hearing about the World Trade Center, they decided to act. The passengers and crewmembers fought the Al-Qaeda terrorists and crashed the plane in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The casualties of the 9/11 attacks would have been much higher if it wasn’t for the sacrifice of the people on board of flight 93. (“Flight 93”) Terrorism in Afghanistan isn’t only affecting the Middle East but is also affecting the United States. The events of 9/11 led America to try to put an end to the Taliban. This led to a war. In 2011, Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks was tracked down and killed by American forces. (“9/11 Attacks”). |