Different terrorist groups have posed threats to different nations for a long period of time. Moreover, the issue has been affecting the security of the different nations which in turn affects its economic development. Countries such as Somalia which depend on aids are mostly affected by terrorism in that they do not receive the programmes due to lack of peace and security. This paper will discuss on the history of Al Qaeda terrorist group and how it has affected United States.
History
The Al Qaeda group was formed in the year 1989 by Usama Bin Laden and Muhammad Atef among others like Abu Ubaidah al Banshiri (Bajoria & Bruno, 2012). Moreover, the group had its headquarters in Afghanistan and Peshawar in Pakistan and other offices in the United States. Further, the group was focused and targeting into opposing non Islamic governments. Additionally, used to oppose the governments through force and violence. In 1991, the leaders moved the headquarters to Sudan until 1996 where they returned back to Afghanistan. Consequently, all the members had to take an oath of allegiance by the name bayat (Bajoria & Bruno, 2012).
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On the other side, the group used to oppose United States because thy claimed that it was infidel as it did not govern with Islamic interpretation. Additionally, they complained of United States giving support to other nations which were termed to be infidel an example been Egypt government (Bajoria & Bruno, 2012). Further, they opposed it because the United States government arrested anyone who was found associated with Al Qaeda group. Moreover, because of that reason, Bin laden had war declared by the name Jihad or Holy War in other terms against the United States. In 1989, Usama Bin Laden and his group started training camps in which they had sponsored to instruct and train members on the use of fire arms, chemical weapons or explosives. Hence, in 1996, Usama and other leaders of the Al Qaeda group faked close friendship with the Taliban in Afghanistan and then informed other members about the forged alliance which continued with the opposition against the United States(Bajoria & Bruno, 2012).
Strengths
The other thing is that the Al Qaeda group has its own strengths which made it and have been making it successful. Powerful image of the group has made it strong as it is the most threatening terrorist group in the world (Lia, 2008). Moreover, some of the countries like Europe are seen the whole idea of been a member of the group as an achievement and cool. Additionally, global character of allowing membership for anyone interested to join the group (Lia, 2008). Hence, so long as one accepts its rules and procedures then they are allowed to become a member of Al Qaeda.
Weaknesses
However, the group has its own weaknesses too. One being its unwillingness to create a future for political platform (Lia, 2008). Moreover, the group has always dependent on violence full time. Its members are not politically oriented as they are inclines to committing suicides and bombing. Also, the other weakness is that the group kills civilians which leaves the affected government furious (Lia, 2008). Apart from that, the group has a limited time as its image has a chance of fading away because of its conflicts and image of a violence.
Composition
The group is composed of regional affiliate organizations and clandestine cells which have different degrees of communication with the group’s leaders and ideologies (Bajoria & Bruno, 2012). The group does not depend much on operations which are centralized, for example, hierarchical structures and training camps. It relies its operation and communication through the use of propaganda and internet an advantage been that the technology is advancing day by day (Bajoria & Bruno, 2012). The main leaders of the group consists of Veterans and it has also been associating itself with other regional groups from Iraq. Hence, there have not been much information on all the groups which are associated with Al Qaeda group or made up of it.
Effects on U.S
Al Qaeda group has affected the United States in various ways which include killing of their military soldiers. Military soldiers are killed during the periods of fighting back the Al Qaeda group. From different bombings which have been caused by the group in the United States and other countries several people have lost their lives. An example is the bombing which happened in Saudi Arabia in the year 1995 killing five U.S military advisers (Bajoria & Bruno, 2012). Therefore, the group has just been fighting U.S and killing its soldiers and citizens for not supporting terrorism.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the paper has discussed about the origin of the Al Qaeda terrorist group and the ones who formed it. It has also highlighted the weaknesses and strengths of the group or what makes them successful. Additionally, it has explained composition of the group and what they mostly rely on. Besides, it has shown how it has affected the United States.
References
Bajoria, J. & Bruno, G. (2012). Al-Qaeda (a.k.a al-Qaida, al-Qa’ida). Council Foreign Relations . Retrieved on 12 May 2017 from http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations-and-networks/al-qaeda-k-al-qaida-al-qaida/p9126.
Lia, B. (2008). Al-Qaida’s: Understanding its Unique Selling Points. Perspectives of terrorism. 2 (8). Retrieved on 12 May 2017 from http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/44/html.
