TA-ORGANIZATIONS: Al Qaeda: It's Origins And History.

This piece seeks to explain Al Qaeda by looking at it's origins,and history.



Origins

Osama bin Laden:

Osama bin Laden (aka Osama Mohammad al Wahad, aka Abu Abdallah, aka Al Qaqa) was born in 1957 in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia to Mohammad bin Awdah bin Laden of Southern Yemen,a former bricklayer turned construction magnate.




Bin Laden grew up a rich man in an increasingly wealthy Saudi Arabia. He studied engineering in college, an indication that he intended to take over the family company, which by 1966 had become the largest private construction firm in the world.


His life style and ambition changed after December 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and propped up a communist government in Kabul..

At Jeddah University, Osama bin Laden's came under the influence of Dr Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian of Jordanian origin. An influential figure in the Muslim Brotherhood. After his graduation with a degree in public administration in 1981, Bin Laden became deeply religious.

Mujahideen

In 1982-1984 bin Laden's mentor Azzam founded Maktab al Khidmat lil-mujahideen al-Arab (MaK), known commonly as the Afghan bureau. As MaK's principal financier, bin Laden was considered the deputy to Azzam.The Mujahideen (Holy Warriors) are often thought to be a united organisation,infact,there are many factions.Mujahideen is a generic term.MaK was only one faction of the Mujahideen involved in Afghanistan but an important faction.

At the height of the foreign Arab and Muslim influx into Pakistan-Afghanistan from 1984- 1986, Bin Laden spent time traveling widely and raising funds in the Arab world. He recruited several thousand Arab and Muslim youths to fight the Soviet Union and MaK channeled several billion dollars' worth of Western governmental, financial and material resources for the Afghan jihad. MaK worked closely with Pakistan, especially the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the Saudi government and Egyptian governments, and the vast Muslim Brotherhood network.With the backdrop of the Cold War the CIA and MI6 channeled resources through the ISI and US and British special forces gave training and technical advice.Afterall these "Holy Warriors" were fighting the real perceived enemy of the time,communism.

Around 35,000 Muslim radicals from 40 Islamic countries joined Afghanistan's fight between 1982 and 1992. Tens of thousands more came to study in Pakistan. Eventually more than 100,000 foreign Arab and Muslim radicals were directly influenced by the Afghan jihad.

Bin Laden's relationship with Azzam suffered towards the end of the anti-Soviet Afghan campaign. The dispute was over Azzam's support for Ahmadshah Massoud, the current leader of the Northern Alliance fighting the Taliban. Bin Laden preferred Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, former prime minister and leader of the Hizb-i-Islami (Islamic Party), who was both anti-Communist and anti-Western.

When the Soviets withdrew, Bin Laden decided to form a group that could unite the whole Muslim world into a single entity. Despite their differences, Azzam and Bin Laden worked together until Azzam was assassinated in September 1989. Although Soviet troops withdrew that year, they installed the pro-Communist leader Najibullah in Kabul. MaK strengthened the organization in order to fight the Najibullah regime and to channel resources to other international campaigns where Muslims were perceived as victims. In addition to benefiting from MaK's pan-Islamic, as opposed to pan-Arab, ideology, Al Qaeda drew from the vast financial resources and technical expertise mobilized during the decade-long anti-Soviet campaign.

The group that bin Laden would form would later come to be known around the world as Al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda,translated means "The Base"."The Base" can mean more than one thing."The Base" could be geographical.That Afghanistan was the base.It could mean the extensive data base of willing holy warriors that Osama bin Laden had drawn up.It could also mean,as I believe looking at bin Ladens next actions,a militant base for the Islamic religion.

For bin Laden, the war in Afghanistan and the triumph over a superpower there was a watershed moment in Islamic solidarity and a personal turning point. He once said, "One day in Afghanistan was like 1000 days of praying in an ordinary mosque." In Afghanistan, "The myth of the superpower was withered in front of the mujahideen cries of Allahu Akbar!". Bin Ladin has since said that the Afghanistan experience was so important that "it would have been impossible for me to gain such a benefit from any other chance.�This jihad was great."

Bin Laden returned from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia as a hero. However, this status was short-lived as he vocally criticized the regime�s corruption and policies. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, though, bin Laden immediately offered to protect Saudi Arabia from the Iraqi forces with his mujahidin. Bin Laden saw the opportunity for a cause that could recapture the glory achieved in Afghanistan--defending the holy mosques from invasion.

The royal rejection of his offer coupled with the royal request for U.S. protection must have been a stunning and embarrassing blow to his personal pride and vision of the world. After all, it was bin Laden�s view that the mujahidin could defeat a great power and Muslims did not need a superpower�s protection.

At this point Al Qaeda ceases to be a tool of the west in the Cold War and starts to emerge as a terrorist threat against the west and it's interests.Before this point the US Administration would of described bin Laden as a freedom fighter struggling against Soviet oppression afterwards he would be considered a terrorist.

History


Bin Ladin�s criticism of the regime led to his expulsion from Saudi Arabia and he fled to Sudan. His ties with his old life were further weakened when bin Ladin�s family disavowed him. With the build-up of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, bin Ladin applied to the United States the Soviet-Afghan analogy of an invading infidel to the Muslim heartland. A new conflict--this one even more inflammatory due to a perceived threat to the Islamic holy places--presented bin Ladin and others with the opportunity to reenact the exact situation in which they felt their jihad had succeeded in Afghanistan.




The National Islamic Front, led by Hasan al Turabi, came to power in Sudan and sent a delegation to Pakistan. Bin Laden had moved his infrastructure of well-trained and experienced fighters from Pakistan to Sudan beginning in 1989 and remained there until international pressure forced him to return to Afghanistan in 1996.

Below is a list of terrorist attacks known to have been carried out by Al Qaeda or that have been credibly linked to Al Qaeda.

� The attempt to kill U.S. soldiers en route to Somalia in December 1992

� The 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people;

� Al Qaeda took credit for providing training and help to Somalis that attacked U.S. soldiers and killed eighteen in Mogadishu at the beginning of October 1993.

� Al Qaeda is also linked to the 1995 assassination attempt of Egyptian president Mubarak

� The 1995 bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan that was conducted by Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

� The 1995 and 1996 bombings in Saudi Arabia in which 22 American soldiers were killed;

� The 1998 US Embassy bombings in East Africa, in which 224 people were killed, including 12 Americans;

� The 2000 attack on the USS Cole at a port in Yemen, in which 17 US sailors were killed.

� The September 11, 2001, hijacking attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

� The April 2002 explosion of a fuel tanker outside a synagogue in Tunisia.

� Several spring 2002 bombings in Pakistan

� The October 2002 attack on a French tanker off the coast of Yemen

� The October 2002 nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia.

� The November 2002 car bomb attack and a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli jetliner with shoulder-fired missiles, both in Mombasa, Kenya.

� The May 2003 car bomb attacks on three residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

� The May 2003 suicide attacks on Western interests in Casablanca, Morocco.

� The Nov 2003 bombings of the British consulate and a UK bank in Istanbul that killed at least 27

� The March 11th 2004 train bombings in Madrid that killed over 200.




[Edited on 25-3-2004 by John bull 1]

[Edited on 25-3-2004 by John bull 1]

excellent work sir, and I love the early bin laden picture with him in his bellbottoms and turtleneck. Thank you for putting together a great piece

There is a photo of an SAS soldier in a turban standing alongside Mujahadeen with guns on a mountainside in Afghanistan or Northern Pakistan when the SAS where training them during the soviet occupation..I can see the photo in my minds eye but I can't find it.

If anyone knows this photo can they post it up so I can add it to the piece.

I think it was one of those former SAS who have written a book.

Thanks Wordwatcher.

[Edited on 25-3-2004 by John bull 1]

Excellent piece indeed, a lot that i was familiar with but also a few things i did not know before. That photo of young Osama is priceless!

I may own the book you are referring to, unfortunately a freind borrowed it and he is out of town, in the next few days i should get it back and i will go through it and if i see the picture i will be sure to post it. It is called The Feathermen and is written by an ex SAS.

This article fails to address a question that has stymied me since 9-11-01. When CNN first mentioned his name as a possible suspect on Sept. 11th, they called him Osama Bin Laden, but the picture in the upper right corner of the tv screen of Bin Laden showed his name as being Usama Bin Laden. Why the difference. Why do european reporters call him Usama and American reporters call him Osama? What was the extent of training received by Usama Bin Laden by the CIA, especially during the tenure of CIA Director George Bush (Sr.)?

Ossama/Usama Gaddafi/Khadafi Q'uran/Koran Mao Zedong/Mao Tse-Tung Tomato/To-mah-to

Originally posted by cval4312
This article fails to address a question that has stymied me since 9-11-01. When CNN first mentioned his name as a possible suspect on Sept. 11th, they called him Osama Bin Laden, but the picture in the upper right corner of the tv screen of Bin Laden showed his name as being Usama Bin Laden. Why the difference. Why do european reporters call him Usama and American reporters call him Osama? What was the extent of training received by Usama Bin Laden by the CIA, especially during the tenure of CIA Director George Bush (Sr.)?

The US government also refers to him as Usama as can been seen in the court case USA v. Usama bin Laden et al trial in the Southern District of New York

I've heard has was also called Tim Osman while working with the CIA but I don't have any official documents with that name.

I belive that the Usama and Osama are just differnt spelling of the same name.

Very intresting piece of work JB,. I enjoyed reading it, had alot of facts.

I have a book I can't remember the exact name but I think its "Charley Grodin's War", about the funding and training of terrorists during the Russian invasion.

I have to agree. this is a very well done piece. Thanks for posting it. everyone should read it.

Originally posted by Disastro
Excellent piece indeed, a lot that i was familiar with but also a few things i did not know before. That photo of young Osama is priceless!

I may own the book you are referring to, unfortunately a freind borrowed it and he is out of town, in the next few days i should get it back and i will go through it and if i see the picture i will be sure to post it. It is called The Feathermen and is written by an ex SAS.

Yeah, he kinda reminded me of that Arabic/Indic looking kid from "That 70's Show"

First off, excellent piece John Bull!

I'm curious on a couple of points you made.

From your article:

Bin Laden's relationship with Azzam suffered towards the end of the anti-Soviet Afghan campaign. The dispute was over Azzam's support for Ahmadshah Massoud, the current leader of the Northern Alliance fighting the Taliban. Bin Laden preferred Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, former prime minister and leader of the Hizb-i-Islami (Islamic Party), who was both anti-Communist and anti-Western.

When the Soviets withdrew, Bin Laden decided to form a group that could unite the whole Muslim world into a single entity. Despite their differences, Azzam and Bin Laden worked together until Azzam was assassinated in September 1989.

Do you think if Azzam had not been killed that Bin Laden would have eventually put his support behind Massoud?

And

Bin Laden returned from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia as a hero. However, this status was short-lived as he vocally criticized the regime�s corruption and policies. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, though, bin Laden immediately offered to protect Saudi Arabia from the Iraqi forces with his mujahidin. Bin Laden saw the opportunity for a cause that could recapture the glory achieved in Afghanistan--defending the holy mosques from invasion.

The royal rejection of his offer coupled with the royal request for U.S. protection must have been a stunning and embarrassing blow to his personal pride and vision of the world.

Have all these lives been lost over a spoiled rich kids temper tantrum or did the Saudi's rejection simply delay his plans for becoming a major player in Saudi politics?

One thing I also wonder about is, if Russia had not invaded Afghanistan and/or bin Laden did not fall under the spell of Azzam, would he still grow up to become the largest terrorist in the world? Or would he still pursue his orginial dream of construction?

seems this is the orig b&w photo taken in 1971. its taken from Osama bin Laden 1971.