Introduction
Osama bin Laden:
- Was born in a wealthy family
- The founder of Al Qaeda – a militant Islamic network
- Organized multiple terrorist attacks
- Took responsibility for the tragedy of September 11, 2001
Early Years
- Was born on March 10, 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Was a son of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a multi-millionaire construction magnate
- Attended the most prestigious school in Jedda – Al Thagher Model School
- Al Thager influenced his radical views and shaped his personality
- He obtained a degree from King Abdul Aziz University
Creation of Al Qaeda
- Was founded in 1988
- Al Qaeda – “The Base”
- Mission – “to correct wrongdoings according to Islamic law” (Richardson, 2019, p. 38).
- Based on the principles of extremist Jihad
- Al Qaeda is responsible for terrorist acts in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, the United States, East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, etc.
Goals and Activity of Al Qaeda
- The goal of bin Laden: to launch a holy war against American citizens and Jews
- Al-Zawahiri – bin Laden’s successor
- Major terrorist acts:
- 1997 – massacre of tourists in Egypt
- 1993 – World Trade Center bombings in New York
- 2004 – bombing in Madrid
- 2005 – bombing in London
9/11 Attacks
A series of four terrorist acts:
Aims:
- The World Trade Center
- The Pentagon
- The White House/ the Capitol (the airplane did not reach the target)
- Osama bin Laden was the prime suspect
- In 2004, he claimed responsibility for the attacks (Wallace, 2019)
9/11 Consequences
Victims: Around 3000 people killed.
Economic consequences: The destruction of the 110-story, 417-meter towers in the heart of New York; $75 billion damage (Wallace, 2019, p. 24)
Bin Laden’s Later Life and Death
- Special operations aimed at capturing bin Laden were organized by Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations.
- Bin Laden spent his last years of life
- He was killed on May 2, 2011, in Pakistan
- Bin Laden’s death was announced by President Obama
- Al Qaeda remains the threat to international peace and security (Richardson, 2019)
Impact
- “The age of terror”
- Killing of civilians
- Economic damage
- Negative influence on the political and social spheres of life
- Reinforcement of national security
- Importance of addressing the problem of terrorism
References
Richardson, C. (2019). Bin Laden, Osama (1957/8-2011). In P.L. Reichel (Ed.), Global crime: An encyclopedia of cyber theft, weapons sales, and other illegal activities (pp. 37-39). ABC-CLIO.
Wallace, J. (2019). Tragedy since 9/11: Reading a world out of joint. Bloomsbury Publishing.