International Terrorism: What You Need to Know

Description and Origin of al-Qaeda 

Al-Qaeda, an Islamic phrase meaning “The base” alternatively spelled as “Al-Qaida” is one of the longest-operating and the largest Sunni Islamist global terrorist group founded on August 11th, 1988. Al-Qaeda functions as a combination of Islamic extremists and Jihadists. Its founder Osama bin Laden had gained experience and training in organizing groups after operating in counteracting operation against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Though the group was initially founded to fight the Soviet Union, it later expanded to become a global organization with affiliates and supporters all over the world. In the past three decades of its operations, the group has carried out some of the deadliest attacks in different parts of the world. The group’s objective has been to protect the Muslim world from western impact and to establish Sharia-based governments (Rollins, 2010). The group has been declared a terrorist organization by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and other organizations and nations worldwide.

Al-Qaeda was formed from the Mujahideen movement in Afghanistan that organized jihadists against the Soviet occupation in the country which began in the late 1970s. One of the essential members of the jihad and Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden had joined the fight in 1980. Having come from an extremely wealthy business family in Saudi Arabia, Osama facilitated the group financially. During the jihadists' operations, he worked closely with Palestinian cleric, Abdullah Azzam to form a group known as Mektab al-Khidmat (Bureau of Services) that accelerated jihadist in Afghanistan. Later bin Laden established his presence in Afghanistan by constructing a training base for Afghan Arab Mujahideen. The base acted as a training camp, hideout, and a source of resources (Rollins, 2010). When the Soviet declared to withdraw from Afghanistan in 1989, Bin Laden, with the help of Azzam, formed Al-Qaeda from the fighters, and resources initially used in the anti-Soviet war. After one year, Bin Laden started to create attention for his worldwide operation intentions. Al-Qaeda has since conducted deadly attacks such as the 1998 American embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya and September 11, 2001, US attack commonly known as 9/11.

Al-Qaeda’s Major Motivations 

Al-Qaeda like other Islamic terrorist groups is guided by different motives to conduct attacks to different countries, mostly non-Islamic states. First, religious motives dominate most of the attacks conducted by the group. The attacks on non-Muslims are perceived to be sacrament intended to restore moral values that have been corrupted by enemies of the Islamic religion. The extremist holds that the attacks are an act of redemption of the moral order that western countries have corrupted. By killing and humiliating those who defy the rule of God, it helps to return the world into its moral state. Bin Laden often quoted his motives about the defense of Islam. He constantly based his justifications on certain parts of Koran by invoking the “sword” verses which allows uncompromised attacks on infidels. Second, Al-Qaeda combines its jihadist ideology with the perspective of martyrdom (Rudner, 2017). The extremist firmly believes that anyone who sacrifices himself for a holy and noble cause is guided and rewarded by Allah. This has been witnessed in the attacks by suicide bombers, including the 9/11 perpetrators who were strongly willing to sacrifice their lives. The sacrifice, according to the jihadists, is an initiative to establish the course of majestic Allah in the world. The reward of martyrdom is the power to keep slaves for sex. Third, the US and other countries sanctions on Muslim world motivated most Bin Laden’s attacks in the US and its affiliates. American Middle East policies were particularly said to fuel the 9/11 attack. Bin Laden had formed the basis of his attacks on the US as from 1996. In an article published by a London based newspaper, Bin Laden lamented how Islamic community suffered from injustices, iniquity, and aggression in addition to thousands of deaths of children in Iraqi due to lack of food, and medicine following the sanction imposed on the country in 1990.

Al-Qaeda’s Major Source of Financial and Non-financial Support 

The main source of finance for Al-Qaeda since its formation in 1988 has been through fundraising from a different range of donors. The most significant group of donors is said to be based in Saudi Arabia. However, the group also has donors from all over the world. While most donors understand the destination of their money, some of them are unaware of where their finances head to. Most donors make their contributions through the group’s fundraisers situated in different parts of the world. Corrupt employees working in governments and private sectors make their contributions, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Most charitable organizations usually vulnerable, making them prone to exploitation by terrorist groups. Since they enjoy the confidence of the public, they have access to vast resources, including cash. Some of these organizations have been operating indirectly by funding Al-Qaeda’s activities, such as training, indoctrination, and recruitment (Levitt, 2014). Al-Qaeda has often used strategy to infiltrate employees to charity groups who divert cash from charity’s legitimate social programs towards the group’s illegal activities.

Apart from financial support, Al-Qaeda receives another form of support such as ammunition from different sympathizers. In a report published by CNN showed that Saudi Arabia and Yemen had partnered in providing US-made weapons to Al-Qaeda linked groups. The Arabia and UAE had entered in Yemen’s war in 2015 with a motive to return President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s power after the civil war had broken between his supporters and opposition. It is said that the coalition gave Al-Qaeda weapons to help restore the course (Levitt, 2014). Al-Qaeda militants are usually generated by a Muslim extremist who helps recruit young men into the group. They are responsible for ensuring that the group always has sympathizers to accelerate its course.

Al-Qaeda’s Use of Media in its Terrorist Activities 

Persuasion, opportunity, and access have played a significant role in Al-Qaeda’s terrorist activities in the US and other parts of the world. Currently, the group and other jihadist recruiters are said to use media in spreading its belief in different corners of the world. Unlike the 1980s when the group concentrated in large cities, media has enabled Al-Qaeda spread roots into mid-size and small cities in all states which have facilitated its attraction to more than forty different ethnicities and every race in the US. A research conducted by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), shows that continued watching online extremist videos and communicating with avatars from Al-Qaeda in addition to reinforced promises of prosperity after becoming a terrorist have been used by the group to lure young Americans into joining terrorism. The main objective of using media in perpetrating its course is to reach the largest audience of their attacks in the world. This facilitates attraction from various people in different parts of the world. For instance, most of Al-Qaeda attacks targets cities with sufficient mass media coverage, which enables the spread of audiovisual in a span of a moment (Michael, 2009). To satisfy this logic, in the 9/11 attack Bin Laden strategically chose to attack places with sufficient media coverage such as New York and other large cities where film studios and media houses are concentrated to convince the public captivation for live coverage of attacks.

The image portrayed after airing terrorist attacks is the power of the terrorist group and its capability of changing the course of life. This helps to draw many young people who seek recognition to join the terrorist group in a bid of becoming a “hero.” The 9/11 Al-Qaeda attacks popularized Bin Laden in the whole world, making his name a talk of every day in each corner of the world. The enemies of the US saw in him a hero who proved his mighty in ‘touching’ the world’s superpower. The internet and social media have played a significant role in facilitating Al-Qaeda’s communication strategies. In 2001 attacks, the group’s leadership posted several videos to al-Jazeera, but the media house opted to broadcast a small fraction. This changed the group’s communication as it app loaded the clips on the internet (Michael, 2009). With advanced technology, Al-Qaeda has revolutionized its communication strategies to social media messaging through Facebook and messenger, which facilitate communicating the group’s course without being detected.

Al-Qaeda’s Illegitimate Demands 

Al-Qaeda’s constant demands on the US reflect the group’s effort to remain relevant in the US and other countries’ political discussions. In 2010 the group offered president Obama various demands for the former to withdraw plans for attacks on America. The group demanded US troops be withdrawn from Afghanistan and other parts of the Muslim population. Through its spokesperson, a California born al-Qaeda propagandist, Adam Gadahn the group threatened to future attacks on the US if the government continued to provide security on the Islamic States. Though these demands seem threatening to US peace, they were termed as illegitimate by the US intelligent (Byman, 2015). A study conducted in 2010 on based on some of the demands of al-Qaeda suggested that from close examination they were made out of cowardice and fear of defeat because President Obama had put strategies to end Bin Laden’s activities through attacks on his main hideouts. Some of the other demands included; a release of all al-Qaeda prisoners in Guantanamo, US to stop broadcast into the Muslim world in a way that destroyed people’s faith and the US to discontinue donations to all Arabic states that did not support the group’s activities. Al-Qaeda has always tried to associate political upheavals in the US with the government unwillingness to withdraw troops from the Middle East. These demands lack legitimacy as they have been continuously meant to create attention in American political development.

Al-Qaeda’s demands on the US are termed as illegitimate because; first, the US withdrawing troops from terror-prone countries would mean to surrender the future of innocent people to the hands of terrorist thus risking humanitarian catastrophe. If Afghanistan were left in the hands of a terrorist, more deaths and suffering of innocent people would have been experienced. Second, it would be wrong to claim that al-Qaeda’s motivation is to seek justice in the Middle East (Byman, 2015). The only clear thread for their operations is violence and destruction of democracy in any of their territories. Third, al-Qaeda’s fight is for traditional understanding which the group has failed. Establishing rules to oppress women in society is not only illegal but also against humanity.

Importance of Al-Qaeda’s Activities to the U.S. 

The series of terror attacks conducted by al-Qaeda across the world are of significance to the United States. The war between al-Qaeda and the US began more than twenty years ago. This struggle has taken different phases with each group launching attacks and revenge against the other. The first phase began in 1996 when Bin Laden declared war against the US. Two years later al-Qaeda organized attacks aimed at American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania where more than two hundred people were killed. The US responded through war against al-Qaeda sponsors and military action in Afghanistan and Sudan. In 2001 group brought the war to the US through attacks that killed more than three thousands US citizens (Ilardi 2009). The second phase of the struggle followed after the 9/11 attack with the US determined to win through the invasion of Afghanistan. President George W. Bush declared war on terrorism, which resulted in destroying al-Qaeda training grounds in Afghanistan and restructuring the architecture of the US home defense. Such a series of attacks between the US and al-Qaeda shows the significance of the group’s activities on the US domestic and foreign peace.

Al-Qaeda’s operations are essential to the US because, first, these attacks pause a threat to the security of the US citizens, which the government vows to protect. Second, most of the al-Qaeda’s attacks have been aimed at the US directly or indirectly through its embassies abroad, thus posing a threat to the political structure. Lastly, the United States, as the world’s superpower, plays a major role in improving the world’s economic and political stability. Therefore the destruction of material through terrorist attacks affects the US and the world’s economy.

US Response to Al-Qaeda’s Attacks 

The US has been in the forefront to initiate a response mechanism on al-Qaeda attacks across the world. The response initiated include closure of the group’s training camps in Afghanistan, capture, and elimination of the members of the group, and increasing level of international cooperation. For instance, in response to attacks in Kenya and Tanzanian US embassies in August 1998, President Bill Clinton responded by attacks on the terrorist’s base in Sudan and Afghanistan. The United States Department of Bureau of Diplomatic Security included Kenya in US Antiterrorism Assistance Program (ATA). In a bid to commemorate those who lost their lives in the bombing, memorial parks were constructed at the former embassy sites. In response to 9/11 US attack, President Bush declared war on terrorism resulting in the invasion of Afghanistan and destroying several training camps of al-Qaeda.

The response of the United States on al-Qaeda attacks has been effective in different ways in helping to avoid future similar attacks. For instance, in response to the US embassy attack in Kenya, the US increased its monetary aid for Kenya to fight terrorism. Consequently, Kenya has been able to manage attacks from an al-Qaeda affiliate, Alshabaab, which has posed threats to the country (Cronin, 2012). The US initiated an immediate response to 9/11 attacks on the group. The effectiveness of these responses saw consequent attacks on terrorist’s base in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Most of the group’s members were killed, and eventually, the leader, Bin Laden, was found and eliminated in 2011.

Changes to Increase US Efficiency in Response to Al-Qaeda 

Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups upgrade their activities daily. As technology advances, the terrorist group also invents new strategies to conduct their attacks in the US and other countries. Therefore, the US should also upgrade the defense and response mechanism in order to protect its citizen from terror attacks. The priority is to prevent the occurrence of the attacks. Hence the US intelligence must invent strategies to collect data regarding plans of attacks. Investigative departments should be given full authority to probe suspected members of the group. The US policies must target all states that support al-Qaeda operations. Sanctions should be imposed on such states. All private agencies that provide financial support to the group should be swept off. If these strategies are employed and appropriately utilized, al-Qaeda’s operations would be minimized and eliminated (Gurule, 2010). For instance, the advance probe of terror suspects would prevent any plan of attacks. Establishing financial sanctions on governments that support the group would deny the latter financial capabilities of supporting its operations. Also eliminating private organizations which provide support to the terrorist group would deny the latter access to finance, personnel, and information.

References

Byman, D. (2015). Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the global jihadist movement: what everyone needs to know. What Everyone Needs To Know (R).

Cronin, A. K. (2012). US grand strategy and counterterrorism. Orbis, 56(2), 192-214.

Ilardi, G. J. (2009). The 9/11 attacks—a study of Al Qaeda's use of intelligence and counterintelligence. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 32(3), 171-187.

Gurulé, J. (2010). Unfunding terror: the legal response to the financing of global terrorism. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Levitt, M. (2014). Terrorist financing and the Islamic state. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Washington.

Michael, G. (2009). Adam Gadahn and Al ‐ Qaeda's Internet Strategy. Middle East Policy, 16(3), 135-152.

Rollins, J. (2010). Al Qaeda and affiliates: historical perspective, global presence, and implications for US policy. DIANE Publishing

Rudner, M. (2017). “Electronic Jihad”: the internet as Al Qaeda's catalyst for global terror. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 40(1), 10-23.