...UNIVERSITY OSAMA BIN LADEN: FALL OF LEADERSHIP POST 9/11 MIND OF A TERRORIST BY TERI DANIELLE MOUNT SAN DIEGO, CA FEBRUARY 2014 OSAMA BIN LADEN: FALL OF LEADERSHIP POST 9/11 Under Osama bin Laden's leadership, al Qaeda has become the most dangerous terrorist organizaiton in the world, responsible for more than 10,000 deaths (Terrorism [2011], 1). As the leader of this organization, he was strategic, intelligent and knew how to attack his enemy both economically and culturally. He was a mastermind and was able to communicate and exert influence upon his followers, affiliates and to the entire world as we know it. He was also the mastermind behind the tragic act that took the lives of thousands in the United States terrorist attack known as 9/11. However, since the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, bin Laden's ability to communicate and influence others has changed drastically. As al-Qaeda's leader, bin Laden meticouslly planned 9/11 and wanted it to be the attack that caused the United States to “bleed-until-bankrupt” by creating a wars between Americans and the Muslim world (Gartenstein-Ross 2013, 1). As a leader, his strongest form of communication lied in his ability to take down his enemies from behind the scenes. After the attacks on 9/11, he repeatedly made it known that he was not responsible for the attacks. However, did the attacks on the United States...
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...On May 2nd, 2011, Osama Bin Laden was assassinated by United States Navy Seals in his compound in Pakistan. Osama Bin Laden was an infamous terrorist who led attacks on the United States and several of its allies. He created the jihadist group called Al-Qaeda, which he used to carry out several major terrorist attacks across the world. Although Bin Laden could have been interrogated for information, his assassination was justified because he organized the 9/11 terrorist attack, he had an extreme hatred for the United States, and he was the leader of Al-Qaeda. The September 11th terrorist attack was the worst terrorist attack in the history of the United States. Approximately 2,753 people died in the attack after a total of four planes crashed into the North and South World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania (CNN Library, September 11th Terror Attacks). Additionally, on December 13, 2001, the United States government released a video of Osama Bin Laden claiming responsibility for the September 11th terrorist attack(CNN Library, September 11th). This evidence shows that his assassination was justified because the terrorist attack killed thousands of people and the video shows...
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...Bin Laden Is Dead: America Still Unsafe Devry University English 135 June 28, 2011 Introduction So, in the end it was not a cold, dark Afghan cave that sheltered the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden. It was a huge million dollar home in Abbottabad, Pakistan, with far too much security and 18-foot high walls, much taller than necessary to protect the two couriers who allegedly lived there alone. A U.S. bullet into his head, among other places, is what brought the sudden end to Bin Laden's life after a 10-year hunt for the spiritual leader of the global Al-Qaeda terrorist franchise and the master plotter of the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. The death of Osama bin Laden has raised many questions; what impact does his death have on U.S. counter-terrorism activities, Al-Qaeda and Islamic extremism, and U.S./NATO efforts in Afghanistan? More importantly, is the world any safer now than it was before? U.S. efforts to combat terrorism Without doubt, the death of the Al-Qaida leader is a great achievement in the global fight against terrorism. The spontaneous celebrations that broke out across the U.S. show how eagerly Americans were waiting to see this day. “History's most expansive, expensive and exasperating manhunt has finally ended, but the most expensive war against terrorism still has a long way to go.” (China Post, 2011) While we take comfort in his removal, we must not become complacent in our efforts to win the war on terror. Bin...
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...Death of Osama bin Laden: Effect on Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization, boasts of a globe-spanning conglomerate with franchises far and wide. Unfortunately, the organization was dealt a blow when their founding father, Osama bin Laden, was killed in an operation by U.S. commandos in the military garrison city of Abbottabad, Pakistan. Though the death of Osama was a setback to Al-Qaeda, the group is still classified as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” by the U.S. State Department, “Proscribed Group” by the UK Home Office, and “Terrorist Group” by the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. The killing of the man who was charged with running the organization for many years had an effect on its leadership and image (Lüsted, 2012). Osama Bin Laden had achieved mythic status as a symbol of international terrorism. Indeed, as the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama declared war on the US and its allies. He organized and coordinated the attack of the USS Cole in the 1990s, US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, 9/11 attacks, and other attacks in Bali, Madrid and London. The killing of Bin Laden, therefore, had symbolic and informational ramifications on the group. The killing of his deputies, Atiyah al-Rahman, whom he relied on to plan and execute the terrorist acts, dealt a further blow. The organization continues to suffer from the loss of their top leaders. The organization has not succeeded to find a suitable replacement with enough charisma such as Osama Bin Laden...
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...Osama Bin Laden Biography Osama bin Laden and His fusion of Terrorism Introduction: Osama bin Laden, born in 1957, comes from a wealthy Saudi Arabian family that owns a multinational construction business. He used his inborn wealth to finance Afghan forces fighting the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980's. After the 1991 Gulf War, he was distressed that Saudi Arabia allowed U.S. forces to remain in the Arabian Peninsula. To advance his agenda of expelling the U.S. from the Islamic world, he worked with other anti-Western fundamentalists to organize a secretive, highly compartmentalized terrorist network, known as al-Qaida. It is through his upbringing, education, culture, and wars in Islamic countries, that Osama bin Laden has sought to purge the Islamic world of the influences that he believes have corrupted and degraded it. Osama bin Laden’s family: Osama Bin Laden was the 17th son of 51 children of Muhammad bin Laden. His father was of Yemeni descent, and his mother was from Saudi Arabia. Osama's father was the dominant figure in the family, and Osama may have obtained his strong Islamic heritage from his father. "He had a tough discipline and observed all the children with strict religious and social code. He maintained a special daily program and obliged his children to follow.1 Over and above the strict Islamic teachings that he received from his father; Osama bin Laden also received religious indoctrination...
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...Terrorism Many people around the world have been traumatized by the effects of terrorism. Terrorism can cause many different emotions and cause people to do many things. Some people go to church and pray with friends and family. Others want to be alone because they have lost loved ones. Many people just sit in disbelief when they see a terrorist attack, whether it be on tv or right next to them. Explaining what he thinks about the reaction in the United States against terrorism, Anup Shah said, “It was with disbelief and shock that people around the world saw footage of the terrorist attack in the U.S...”(Shah). Terrorism is horrific and must be stopped for the safety of our loved ones. Terrorism is also a worldwide problem, everywhere people's safety is being taken and destroyed by these horrendous events. Terrorism has caused global fear around the world and has taken the peace from people’s lives. Three events that have taken the peace from people’s lives are the attack of 9-11, Osama Bin Laden, and Al Qaeda and in understanding these events, hopefully they can be prevented. First, the tragedy that happened on September 11th, 2001 was possibly one of the worst incidents of this time for the United States. Many people lost their lives and safety that day. Four separate planes were hijacked that day by terrorists and their intent was to hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House. Luckily...
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...Qaeda a terrorist group was founded by Osama bin Laden and Mohamad Ataf in 1989. The main objective was to drive the United States of America out of Muslim African countries, Saudi Arabia and the entire Arab Peninsula. The death of Osama bin Laden was a major blow to the group. Prior to his death the group was more coherent and structure with central leadership and smaller units with delegated missions. Even with the demise of its head the terrorist group continues to make world news headlines. Al Qaeda disintegrated into several groups that all embrace the groups initial ideologies and methodologies. The though the group has declined, its influence has soared. These splinter groups all have a connection and have a central agenda. They argue though open source data on the groups' innovation practices are necessarily more sparse, we contrast the doctrinal texts with selected examples, which suggest caution in assuming that group doctrine is necessarily put into practice "as written" (Jackson & Loidolt 2013, p. 233) Byman reviews that with Bin Laden's death, these affiliates retain their operational capacity. They continue to try to undermine U.S. allies and some, such as AQAP, will attempt to strike U.S. targets beyond the region in which they operate. His success has made them all far more lethal, but keeping the ties strong depended heavily on Bin Laden's charisma and his access to funds. Zawahiri is less charismatic than Bin Laden. The group influences like minded...
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...Courtney Friedman Term Paper: International Terrorism (Due Week 10) Professor Smith 5/23/14 CRJ 440 Terrorism, it is a well-known term, every person has all heard of it, but yet do we really know what it is. Terrorism is in the eyes of most, a meaningless hate crime, which has no true reason behind it. The terrorism mindset is people who want to create terror among civilization. They are trained to disturb peace, and to break social harmony. Terrorism is also a horrible threat to the modern world and modern society. It has become a problem around the world, not just in the United States. Many innocent people are killed by terrorist and their acts of terrorism. An individual can see terrorism in multiple forms, but not limited to: Bombing, hijacking, cross border terrorist activities and massacres on a massive scale, in addition to many others not listed. Its consequences are very frightening. Though much effort is put into eliminating terrorism, it is impossible to get rid of it until some strict laws are devised. Whenever and wherever society is victim to brutality, injustice, wrongs and intolerance, terrorism cannot be eradicated. There are many terrorist groups out there, of many different origins and sects. The group that will be discussed is Al Qaeda, which is the most well-known out of the groups listed. The questions and statements that will be answered and debated are: 1.) A brief explanation of Al Qaeda and the summarization of its origins, 2.) Al Qaeda's major...
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...2001 terrorists attacks, Tom Harkin, former United Sates senator from Iowa stated, “The planes were hijacked, the buildings fell, and thousands of lives were lost nearly a thousand miles from here. But the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were an attack on the heart of America.” The immediate effects from 9/11 like death and destruction are very disturbing, and that leaves Americans wondering why someone would kill thousands of innocent civilians. The causes of 9/11 have been a topic of debate for many years, and many of the effects are quite evident in our society. The September 11th attacks performed by the Al-Qaeda were caused by certain motives that root from conflicts with the United States and the effects run deeper death and destruction and are displayed through changes in American law and culture. First, a leading cause towards the 9/11 attacks is the United States’ foreign policy which favors Israel over Palestine in the Israel-Palestine Conflict. Israel and Palestine have been been conflicting since the mid 20th century due to issues that involve the control of the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. Primarily, the issue involves the Israeli Jews and the Palestinian Muslims Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the Al Qaeda was anti-Semitic (a hatred of Jews), took favor of the Palestinians. United States military supporting Israel, which led to deaths of many Palestinians, obviously upset bin Laden and fueled his hate towards Americans even more. Bin Laden stated...
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...Osama Bin Laden’s Death: a Hit or a Miss for the US? A Reaction Paper on the Death of Osama Bin Laden Raquel G. De Leon Philippine Christian University May 28, 2011 Bin Laden’s Death: A Hit or a Miss for the US? The United States caught the world by surprise with its announcement that it finally killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1, 2011. Following a decade of manhunt and costly war against Iraq and the Taliban, the mastermind of the 11 September 2001 attacks to the US’ economic and military symbols has finally repaid his actions. He was killed in his safe house in Pakistan and was buried to the sea following Islamic burial traditions. The raid, however, was unknown to Pakistani authorities, which could compromise whatever relations the two countries still have. Nonetheless, Osama is dead, and the US can now relax with the thought that its shores are now safe from the claws and pangs of terrorism, or is it so? Bin Laden’s death caused a flurry of reactions from all over the world. Some say that justice to the bombing victims had been served. Others, however, insist that although the US Military annihilated him, he already drained American coffers with trillion in dollars considering the costly wars it waged with the Iraq and the Taliban, as well as the expensive manhunt that lasted for a decade, thus raising the question of the significance of such death. Reactions do vary, with one saying that there is not any single human being, either directly or indirectly;...
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...major event from this time period was the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, which is referred to as 9/11. 9/11 was one of the worst terrorist attacks in American history, and changed the country forever. This article will be discussing 9/11 in detail. In particular, we will go over the events that led up to the attack and who was involved. After that the details of the attack will be discussed as far as how the attack was done and what was affected by it. Lastly, the article will discuss the events that took place after 9/11, and what would be done to bring justice to the criminals responsible for the attack. There were a lot of events that took place before 9/11 that occurred in the 90s and early 00s between America and Islamic groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden and his followers were involved in many attacks in the 90s, and were being closely watched by the UN and America. In the late 90s, America was getting fed up with bin Laden’s ways. An article from Fox News explains some of America’s earlier involvement with bin Laden: “Aug. 28, 1998 -- FBI accuses bin Laden of having declared "jihad," or holy war, against United States. Complaint also alleges bin Laden founded Al Qaeda that year to promote Islamic fundamentalism and force non-Muslims out of Muslim countries.” (Associated Press, 2002) Bin Laden’s involvement in terrorism increased as his support grew. Bin Laden followers bombed a military base in 1996, killing...
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...According to John F. Burns writings in the New York Times, those who knew Muhammed Bin Laden claimed that his character is replicated in Osama, as the son shares “his [Muhammed’s] shrewdness and singularity of purpose, his deeply conservative religious and political views, [and] his profound distaste for non-Islamic influences…” (Scheuer, page 88). His mother was from Syria and it is said that bin Laden deeply cared for...
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...What is terrorism? Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as the “systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective”(Jenkins), but if you ask any American that question and the most common answer you’ll receive is Al-Qaeda, which is an Islamic terrorist group, located primarily in the Middle East. Many join these extremists due to political, economical, cultural, or military Issues coupled with the groups’ ideology of the “global Salafi jihad”(freeman 41). There is no clear solution to Al-Qaeda, but many of the responses to the terrorist group are primarily military actions including the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with a plan made for the modern age; cyber planning. Up until 2002 not much was know about the origins of Al-Qaeda when in March of that year the Bosnian authorities seized many documents of Osama Bin Laden’s first initial meeting taking place in his own home located in Peshawar (Bergen and Cruickshank 3). These documents studied by Peter Bergen of the National Security Studies Program and Paul Cruickshank from the Center on Law and...
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...Usama Bin Laden Angel L. Roman Strayer University SEC 310 Professor Darrel Nerove December 1, 2013 On May 2nd 2011, the United States executed a covert mission in Pakistan that lead to the death with the most wanted terrorist, Usama Bin Laden. For almost 10 years, the United States and its agencies where looking for Usama Bin Laden all over the world for the atrocious acts against the United States in September 11, 2001. The United States was dedicated in taking down everyone responsible for the terrorist acts on that day and finally in May 2nd 2011, the US was able to find him. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, made a speech on the mission that was taken place. He spoke how after he took office he made a priority to capture or kill Bin Laden and how there was intelligence of a possible lead of Bin Laden in Pakistan. President Obama’s speech about what the United States has in the future about terrorism was not going to stop there, because terrorism was not going to stop at Bin Laden. There is always someone that is going to take his place and still networks of al-Qaeda all over there world that need to be dismantled. President Obama stated (2011), yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad. The killing of Usama Bin Laden was a big step in combating terrorism, it has made a huge empty hole in al-Qaeda, because...
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...Terrorism and Homeland Defense Fundamentals Weekly Assignment 3.2 Part One: 1. Describe the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947. For two years after the end of WWII, the world was in constant flux. New countries and boundaries were being drawn and one of the most contested and controversial was the creation of an Israeli/ Palestinian state. The Learning Network (2011) states the following: On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews, allowing for the formation of the Jewish state of Israel. Since 1917, Palestine had been under the control of Britain, which supported the creation of a Jewish state in the holy land. Sympathy for the Jewish cause grew during the genocide of European Jews during the Holocaust. In 1946, the Palestine issue was brought before the newly created United Nations, which drafted a partition plan. The plan, which organized Palestine into three Jewish sections, four Arab sections and the internationally-administered city of Jerusalem, had strong support in Western nations as well as the Soviet Union. It was opposed by Arab nations. US Central Intelligence Agency (para. 1-3) 2. Why do you think that Palestinian terrorists concentrate on soft targets? The concentration on soft targets is a result of the need to draw attention of a global audience that is increasingly challenging to traumatize, the growing sophistication of the terrorists...
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