Al Qaeda and 9/11

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that bin Laden continued the development of his ideological and religious radicalization and military acumen while fighting with guerrilla-style Islamic troops against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He became a raging tyrant against American and Saudi Arabia after the kingdom invited U.S. troops to use an air station in Saudi Arabia. The author points out that the motivation for members of the Al Qaeda Islamic combines both religious fanaticism and cool pragmatism. The paper relates that an example of the sophistication employed by al Qaeda in the pre-planning and strategic military preparation for September 11's attacks is that the 19 trained Muslim hijackers were kept in the dark about the specifics of the operation because letting all 19 know the details would risk one or more of them sharing that information with someone who might not be able to keep it secret.

Table of Contents
Bin Laden's Motivation
The Philosophy and Methods of al Qaeda's Terrorism
Military Training
New Breed of Terrorists
Motivation and Bloodthirsty Strategy on a Spiritual Level
Funding
The al Qaeda Military Strategy: Do Not Tell the Hijackers their Mission
The 9/11 Commission Report: What Happened and Why?

From the Paper:

"While at the university bin Laden also began studying the thinking of Egyptian Islamic radical, Sayyid Qutb, "whose writings deeply influence bin Laden's religious views", according to Bin Laden, Islam and America's New War on Terrorism. Qutb was an influential fundamentalist thinker and agitator who was arrested by Nasser, the Egyptian president, and executed in 1966. The writings of Qutb continue to inspire and motivate Islamic extremists throughout the world. Bin Laden obviously picked up some of his rhetoric and hate from Qutb's writings, in particular the "takfir method". A "kafir" in Arabic is "an infidel or unbeliever" and to "declare takfir is to ascertain who is the unbeliever in the midst." It's important to note that Qutb was not talking just about Americans or westerners as "infidels" - he was talking about fellow Muslims who were not taking up the campaign of violence against the west."

More papers on Al Qaeda and 9/11:

• Book Review # 102377 : "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11"
• Research Paper # 93114 : "Al-Qaeda's Terror Network"
• Analytical Essay # 71995 : "Al Qaeda"

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