Transcript Document

CLARIFYING AND GUIDING QUESTION
[All notes you take need to help you answer
the following question]
History of al-Qaeda and
Terrorism against the USA
Adapted from a work created by Dan Greenstone
Michael Quiñones
What is al-Qaeda?
• Al Qaeda means “the Base.” It is a stateless
(meaning without a country) terrorist
organization.
• It is led and financed by Osama bin Laden, a
radical Sunni Muslim.
When did al-Qaeda form?
• The beginnings of al-Qaeda go back to the 1980s
when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
Bin Laden, and the Arab Afghans, fought
the Soviet Union in Afghanistan for over
10 years.
• The Soviet army left in
1988.
• US stinger anti-aircraft
gun.
Desert Storm (Gulf War I)
• In 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded
the tiny, oil-rich country of Kuwait
Operation Desert Shield/Storm
• The United States feared Saddam would
invade Saudi Arabia too. The result of further
Iraqi invasions could cause unprecedented oil
price spikes.
Iraqi tanks
US and Saudi coalition
• The United States was asked by the Saudis to
establish military bases in their country in order to
stop an Iraqi advance and conquest of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi’s choice
• Osama bin Laden, back home from Afghanistan,
offered the Saudis the use of his soldiers to fight the
Iraqi army because Infidel armies have no place in the
holy land of Islam.
Saudis chose the USA as its ally and snubbed bin
Laden. The presence of infidels [non-Muslim
people] in the Middle East outraged bin Laden.
1991--Bin Laden leaves Saudi Arabia
for Sudan
USA in Somalia
• Dec. 4, 1992, George H.W. Bush sent 28,000
American troops to Somalia.
• Bush wanted to help the Somali people since
all attempts to send food to them were
intercepted by war lords.
Black Hawk Down!
• In 1993, 18 Americans
died when Black Hawk
helicopters were shot
down over Mogadishu,
Somalia and the
resulting gun battles.
al Qaeda?
• US intelligence agencies such as the CIA and
NSA think al Qaeda operatives taught the
Somalis how to shoot down helicopters using
the [US made] stinger anti-aircraft guns just
like the Mujahadeen did in Afghanistan against
the Soviets.
1993-The 1st World Trade Center bombing
Pakistani national Ramzi Yusef was the mastermind of
this attack. He has since been captured, tried,
convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the
U.S.
1993 WTC bombing
This attack killed 6 people and injured
over 1000.
May 1996 ---Sudan expels bin Laden, and
he returns to Afghanistan
1996 car bombing of Khobar Towers
• 19 Americans were killed and hundreds injured.
Fatwa [An Islamic edict demanding
action]
• In August of 1998, Al Qaeda, led by bin Laden
and Ayman Zawahiri declare war on
American.
Embassy bombings: 1998
• Two American embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania were
bombed simultaneously [220
people were killed].
Clinton responds.
• President Clinton, risking “Wag the Dog”
criticism during the Lewinsky scandal, decided
to attack al Qaeda to project US strength in
response to attacks against the US.
US sent missiles to destroy al Qaeda training
camps in Sudan and Afghanistan under Bill
Clinton----to little effect.
2000—Millennium Attacks Foiled!
• Jordanian police halted suicide 4 bombings of civilian
targets.
• Four al Qaeda terrorists were arrested, crossing the
Canadian border with nitroglycerin in their trunk.
Allegedly the group was set to bomb [LAX] LA
International Airport.
• In Yemen, a boat with explosives tried to bomb a
navy ship but sank due to being overloaded
USS Cole attack Oct. 2000
• In Yemen, Al
Qaeda operatives
sent a suicide
bomber aboard a
small speed boat
into the USS Cole,
a US Navy
destroyer, and
detonated its
bomb, blowing a
large hole in the
US Navy ship. 17
sailors killed.
• 2819 people were killed
• 343 firefighters and
paramedics were killed
Khalid Sheik Muhhamad was the central
Planner of the 9/11. Most terrorists (at right)
were from Saudi Arabia [later captured in
Pakistan and still in US custody].
Someone committing suicide by
jumping from a window inside the
World Trade Center rather than
burning to death on 9/11/01.
Flight 93 crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania instead
of its believed destination, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C,
because of the heroic efforts of several passengers!
Pentagon the control center of the
U.S. military
U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act
• Within 6 weeks of 9/11 the US Justice Department drafted a national security
instrument to combat terrorist threats [foreign and domestic].
• The law was actually an acronym for Uniting (and) Strengthening America
(by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct
Terrorism.
• This counter-terrorism law strengthened an existing statute called the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act formerly created to expose foreign agents inside
the US. However, the revisions to the law targeted US citizens too.
• 3 of the most controversial provisions were National Security Letters, FISA
courts, and indefinite detentions of declared enemy combatants.
• Water boarding [simulated drowning] and Rendition [capture, transfer to 3rd
World nation “Black site,” [secret prison] blind folded, beaten and
interrogated] have been 2 examples of extra-legal tactics used by the US to
obtain intelligence.
U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act
• National Security Letters-allowed the FBI and other federal agencies such as
the CIA to obtain information [administrative subpoena] without judicial consent
[permission of a judge]. This power was troubling because it contradicted
guaranteed constitutional rights. The subpoena also had a gag order attached
barring the recipient from making the letter public to anyone [that was later
overturned as a violation of the 1st Amendment].
• FISA courts-federal courts established to issue secret warrants to monitor/mine
financial, personal, employment, education and medical data to detect patterns of
terrorist activity and money laundering. Defendants were/are never notified as is
standard practice.
• Guantanamo Bay Detention center [a.k.a. Gitmo]-is a US Naval base used
since 1903 but more recently used to detain people captured on battlefield or
terror investigation and held without bail or expectation of release [no lawyers].
Some Closure…
• Small hard to detect unmanned
remotely controlled aircraft
(drones) have been used by the
U.S. to obtain intelligence and
employ missile strikes on targets
throughout the Middle East,
Africa and Asia.
• On May 2, 2011 terror
mastermind Osama bin Laden
was killed by US special
operations forces inside a walled
compound in Pakistan as has been
suspected by the US.
REEXAMING THE CLARIFYING AND
GUIDING QUESTION
[All notes you take need to help you answer
the following question]
WHAT EFFECT HAS TERRORISM
AND THE U.S. RESPONSE TO IT
DURING THE 1990S AND EARLY
200S HAD ON THE U.S.’S IMAGE
OVERSEAS ? WHAT EFFECT HAS
IT HAD U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS?