Al Qaeda's campaign of terror

Al Qaeda

According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), al-Qaeda "seeks to rid Muslim countries of what it sees as the profane influence of the West and replace their governments with fundamentalist Islamic regimes." The United States is only one front in the al-Qaeda campaign but is perhaps its most important and formidable foe. The al-Qaeda organization originated in response to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s and only later broadened its scope to include a collective admonishment of non-Muslim societies in the name of holy war. Ironically, the United States supported al-Qaeda's original intention of driving the Soviets from Afghanistan. According to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), al-Qaeda "seeks a global radicalization of existing Islamic groups and the creation of radical Islamic groups where none exist." One facet of radicalization includes the implementation of theocracies throughout the world that follow the model of the Islamic Caliphate. However, a BBC report claims that al Qaeda is linked to ideologically disparate radical groups around the world ("Timeline al-Qaeda"). The common thread between al-Qaeda and its allied groups is mutual antipathy toward America and its allies.

Al Qaeda means "the base" and leader bin Laden and his colleagues has amassed a substantial base of followers and mujahadeen (holy warriors) from nations around the world. The al-Qaeda campaign framed anti-Americanism as a religious imperative. Thus, al-Qaeda's campaign against the United States has its roots in radical Islamist ideology as well as in modern political and social discourse. Al-Qaeda also targets pro-American regimes including Saudi Arabia, which bin Laden purportedly views as a corrupt, wayward Muslim state (CFR).

During the early 1990s, bin Laden moved the headquarters of al-Qaeda from Afghanistan to the Sudan. There, bin Laden and the al-Qaeda organization began launching systematic terrorist attacks against the United States ("Timeline al-Qaeda"). The 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center is strongly linked to al-Qaeda (CFR; "Timeline al-Qaeda"). Later that year, two American Black Hawk helicopters were gunned down by Somali militia who were supposedly trained by al-Qaeda ("Timeline al-Qaeda"). Bin Laden moved the headquarters of al-Qaeda back to Afghanistan in 1996. In the late 1990s, bin Laden escalated his anti-American rhetoric and correspondingly the al-Qaeda group grew more aggressive. In 1998, al-Qaeda bombed several American embassies in Africa, killing hundreds of people. The group's attack on the U.S.S. Cole drew considerable media attention but it was not until September 11 that al-Qaeda and bin Laden became household terms synonymous with terrorism.

The United States had for years viewed al-Qaeda as a potential threat to national security, especially in light of evidence that bin Laden might have had access to nuclear weapons technologies ("Timeline al-Qaeda"). However, September 11 forced a radical reconstruction of American foreign and homeland security policies. President Bush established a new federal Department of Homeland Security less than a month after the terrorist attacks. The Department of Homeland Security was created "to develop and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen protections against terrorist threats or attacks in the U.S.," according to the Department of State. Ostensibly, the Department will help prevent, prepare for, manage, and recover from future terrorist attacks on American soil. The most visible contribution of the Department of Homeland Security is its much-ridiculed color-coded terrorism alarm system.

The Department of Homeland Security is partly a symbolic response to the failure of existing American intelligence organizations like the CIA and NSA to predict or prevent the September 11 attacks. Boosting both intelligence and homeland security has been a primary concern of the government because of the potential proliferation of terrorist cells in the United States.

In addition to some structural changes to the federal government, the Bush administration also initiated landmark counter-terrorist legislation the most significant of which is the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act. The Patriot Act basically extends the powers of the federal government over searches, seizures, and surveillance of citizens and organizations. Although the Patriot Act provisions were designed to target home-grown terrorists, terrorist organizations, cells, and aid groups, its scope is relatively broad. Law enforcement can invoke the Patriot Act without having to first prove any direct connection between a suspect and al-Qaeda or any other terrorist group. The Patriot Act permits the government to freeze the assets of suspect organizations, too.