Top al-Qaeda leaders and their motivations for violence against the West

¶ … top al-Qai'da leaders, living or dead, and determine the reasons why they chose to participate in violence against the U.S./West

Al Qaeda (which means "the base" in Arabic) has come to the forefront of the media in recent years as the world's most notorious terrorist organization. They have been held responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks inflicted on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. It was founded by Osama Bin Laden in the later half of the 1980's and was aimed at eradicating any form of western control over Muslim nations and establishing Islamic administration. It is supposed to have originated at an office of the International Muslim Brigade which resisted Afghanistan's invasion by Soviet forces in 1979. This was followed by the recruitment and training of individuals who were collectively called the 'Mujahadeen' or holy warriors. Since then Al Qaeda operations had spread on an international scale with no specific headquarters. Its major planning activities were held along the borders of Afghanistan but had shifted towards Pakistan's tribal locations due to the war started by the United States after September 11 (Bajoria, "al-Qaeda").

Al Qaeda is said to have an active underground following in over 100 other countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Uganda, Spain, Italy and Germany. According to the 1998 federal reflections of the United States, Al Qaeda activities are controlled by organized planning and authorization by its leaders. Most of these leaders are currently in the world's most wanted list of the United States. Five of these infamous Al Qaeda leaders have been introduced here along with a brief overview of how incidents in their lives steered them towards becoming a terrorist. The gradual development of their hostility against the United States and westerners has been explained as well (Bajoria, "al-Qaeda").

Osama Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden is an infamous terrorist mastermind who leads CIA's list of the world's most wanted criminals. He controls the terrorist association known as Al Qaeda and is suspected to be the principal architect behind the September 11 attacks on the World trade center located in New York. The bombings on the U.S. embassies based in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, bombing of the Yemen-based USS cole in 2000, gunfights in Somalia in 1993 and the destruction of the Khobar military complex in Saudi Arabia which happened in 1996 are some of the other activities he is held responsible for (Gillespie,"Finding Osama").

Laden was born around 1957 to a wealthy Yemeni family. He was educated at the King Abdul Aziz University, Jedda and the teachers there initiated his interest in Islamic Politics. The Soviet attack and conquer of Afghanistan played a major role in Laden's life. He got involved in what was called Jihad (holy warfare) as a part of his support for the Afghan troops. His core beliefs focused on the re-establishment of the Sharia law which would eliminate immoralities like pre-marital sex, homosexual behavior, gambling and intoxication. The extremist form of Jihad, also referred to as Qutbism guided most of his actions. It caused him to dedicate his life towards fighting injustice against Muslims inflicted by Americans. Laden's anti-Semitic standpoint made him oppose Jews in all aspects. It was ironic that the United States supported the Afghans as well the development of Islamic institutions in Pakistan for Afghan immigrants. These went on to become training centers for Taliban rulers. His hostility against the west was demonstrated by the establishment of the Maktab al-Khidimat or MAK which dealt with seeking out potential fighters and gathering war equipment. These included youth from countries like Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey who had shared his religious hatred against the United States. His activities caused him to be driven out of Saudi Arabia and Sudan where he stayed for a few years. He continues to operate over various parts of the world funding all activities using his $250 million fortune. He is venerated as a hero in several parts of the Islamic world, with over 3000 followers under his command and the potential to gather even more support. He is capable of launching destructive nuclear and chemical attacks, which he considers to be a part of his religious duty of safeguarding Islam. The events on September 11 triggered a series of U.S. retaliation attacks to force Afghanistan to hand over Laden into U.S. custody. Even though his videos show up in Qatar's Al Jazeera network, Laden's location still remains obscure (Laden,"Chapter 4: Born the son of").

Ayman al-Zawahiri

Ayman al-Zawahiri is believed to be one of the founders the Jihad extremist organization based in Egypt. Originally an eye surgeon, Ayman went on to become one of Osama Bin Laden's chief associates plotting several Al Qaeda missions. He is said to one of the masterminds behind the infamous September 11 attacks in New York City. He was born in an educated middle class family but got involved in crime early in his life. He spent his childhood in highly strict and socially prominent muslim home. They considered the Maadi social life as decadent which resulted in Ayman to stay confined to academics. The origin of his extremist ideology can be traced back to his high regards for Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian literary columnist who was an American resident during the fifties. His anti-American ideas stating the United States to be spiritually unbalanced and tainted led to Ayman accepting Islamic fundamentalist ideas such as warfare and extreme suffering for holy reasons. Qutb promoted actions and plans which would result in the western world to collapse. This included the western residents and supporters who lived in other Muslim countries. Qutb's writings had a lot to do with Ayman's Salafist understanding of Islamic traditions. He strayed away from the actual teachings of the prophet. It led to him developing a severe hatred for Christians and Jews which was exhibited in military fronts. He was also against Muslims who did not follow Salafist practices ("Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri:Idol).

Associations with the criminal Muslim Brotherhood led to his arrest when he was in his mid-teens. He had to undergo the trials held with regards to the murder of President Anwar Sadat. He was arrested and subjected to 3 years in prison time due to unlawful custody of arms. On being released, he travelled to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and then to Afghanistan. It was here that he organized a major section of the Islamic Jihad group in Egypt. . He resided in countries like Denmark and Switzerland using counterfeit passports. He held the second position in the world's most wanted list, behind Osama Bin laden with a reward of $25 million for any information which could lead to his capture. Some believe that Ayman was Laden's personal physician and supervised Al Qaeda's finances for a long time. Some of the better known instances of Ayman's actions included his appearance in a video which threatened the United States with regards to holding Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman captive for suspected association with the a bombing in New York. He also declared an Islamic religious ruling (better known as fatwa) along with Laden named "World Islamic Front against Jews and Crusaders" which proclaimed their hostility against American residents ("Zawahiri tries to clear name").

Abu Zubaydah

Abu Zubaydah was third in line in the after Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri among terrorists sought after by the United States. He is one of the seniormost members of Al Qaeda under U.S. custody and was arrested in May 2002. He became the spearhead of Al Qaeda military proceedings after the death of Muhammed Atef. In the words of White house spokesperson Ari Fleischer, he was a part of Osama Bin laden's inner circle of operations dealing with terrorist recruitment. This made his capture even more crucial due to the possibility of the large amount of Al Qaeda information that he could reveal ("The CIA Interrogation").

He was of Saudi Arabian origin and is said to have strong associations with extremist groups of Jordan and Palestine. His criminal mentality was fuelled by the Palestinian hostility against Israel and the Afghan civil war, both of which he was a part of. He ended up getting linked on to the jihadist training facility known as the Khalden Camp. This is what ignited and flourished his hostility against the west. He had been considered as the leader of Al Qaeda operations in Pakistan at one point, and a part of the group which had plotted terrorist attacks in Paris and Sarajevo. He was an expert on disguising himself and had used over 30 false identities over the years. According to the U.S. officials, his whereabouts were traced by a phone call to the Al Qaeda representatives in Yemen. The CIA however believes that the Pakistani government had to be bribed to reveal his information. He was subjected to extreme interrogation by both the FBI and CIA, some of which led to controversies due to their inhumane nature. Waterboarding, forced sleep deprivation, long-term solitary confinement and sexual mortification were some of the methods used ("ICRC Report on the treatment").

Richard Reid

Richard Reid, better known as the "shoe bomber" has nearly eight charges held against him. He was arrested as a result of his efforts to demolish a commercial flight using bombs concealed in his shoes. Richard was born in London in 1973. He had a Jamaican father who was in prison for a majority of his childhood. The early separation of his parents reflects family dysfunctionality. Even though he had been educated in one of UK's better schools, the lack of proper family support subjected him to getting involved in several crimes. An interracial background might have resulted in adjustment problems in an environment dominated by whites. He was imprisoned several times, and accepted Islam while at Feltham young offender's institution. On his release Reid became a part in the London based, Brixton Mosque. He made an effort to get involved in mosque proceedings but ended up getting influenced by extremist groups. They took advantage of his vulnerable character and brainwashed him with their line of militant teachings. He is said to have come in association with Zacarias Moussaoui (one of the conspirators of the terrorist attacks on September 11) and Abu Hamza Al-Masri (one of the leaders of the Islamic extremism), both of whom might have planted the seeds of anti-American viewpoints and led him to become a part of Al Qaeda ("Chapter 5: Al-Qaida: Terrorist Selection").

His actions against the west were fuelled by training camps in Afghanistan and anti-American religious groups in Pakistan. He traveled and resided temporarily in several countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Netherlands and France. This is said to be indicative of a way to get accustomed to breaking the security arrangements in those countries. He boarded a flight from Paris to Miami which got delayed by a day, due to the implementation of additional checks. After managing to board the flight eventually, Reid tried but failed to accomplish his purpose of crashing the flight. He got caught in his act of trying to ignite a fuse connected to the explosives. The dampness imposed on the explosives on account of the damp weather, feet perspiration and delay had caused the fuse to become moist, which made it hard for Reid to set it off immediately. He was tied up by other passengers and taken into custody after an emergency landing at the closest airport. Even though he admitted to his charges, Reid's anti-American defiance was pretty obvious from his lack of remorse and argumentative attitude. He claimed to be a soldier of god working under the orders of Osama Bin Laden. His feelings against the west were triggered by his teachings as a part of Al-Qaeda. His attempt has caused airlines to make their passengers to take their shoes off as a part of the security check ("Chapter 5: Al-Qaida: Terrorist Selection").