Thought #31                                                              June 2009
Author: Bill Thurston

Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden

Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden 1979 to 1996

Usama bin Muhammad bin Awad Bin Ladin is one of some 20 sons of wealthy Saudi construction magnate Muhammad Bin Ladin who is founder of the Kingdom's Bin Ladin Group business empire.

Usama joined the Afghan resistance movement following the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Bin Laden gained prominence during the Afghan war for his role in financing the recruitment, transportation, and training of Arab nationals who volunteered to fight alongside the Afghan Taliban. By 1985, Bin Laden had drawn upon his family's wealth, plus donations received from sympathetic merchant families in the gulf region, to organize the Islamic Salvation Foundation, or al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda was formed for these purposes:

Creating a network of al-Qaeda recruitment centers and guest houses in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan for enlisting and sheltering thousands of Arab recruits.

To work in conjunction with extremist groups, like Egypt's al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, to organize and fund camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan that provide new recruits paramilitary training in preparation for the fight in Afghanistan.

Under al-Qaeda auspices, Bin Laden imported bulldozers, and other heavy equipment to cut roads and tunnels and build hospitals and strong depots throughout Afghanistan's mountainous terrain to move and shelter supplies.

After the Soviet withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, Bin Laden returned to work in the families construction business. However he continued to support militant Islamic groups that had begun targeting moderate Islamic governments in the region. Saudi officials held Bin Laden's passport during 1989-1991 in a bid to prevent him from solidifying contacts with extremists whom he had befriended during the Afghan war.

Bin Laden relocated to Sudan in 1991, where he was welcomed by National Islamic Front (NIF) leaders. He embarked on several business ventures which began to thrive following his move to Khartoum. Bin Laden also formed business relations with wealth NIF members by undertaking infrastructure development projects on the regimes behalf.

Bin Laden's import-export company in conjunction with his investment company secured a near monopoly over Sudan's major exports. At the same time , Bin Laden encompassed large tracts of land near Khartoum and eastern Sudan.

Bin Laden's company built roads linking Khartoum with Port Sudan, as well as the modern international airport near Port Sudan.

Bin Laden and wealthy NIF members capitalized Al-Shamal Islamic Bank in Khartoum. Bin Laden invested $50 million in the bank.

Bin Laden's work force grew to include militant Afghan veterans seeking to avoid a return to their countries, where many stood accused of subversive and terrorist activities.

Islamic extremists who perpetrated the Dec. 1992 attempted bombings against some 100 U.S. servicemen in Aden, who were there to support U.N. relief operations in Somalia, claimed that Bin Laden financed their group.

A joint Egyptian-Saudi investigation revealed in May 1993 that Bin Laden helped funnel money to Egyptian extremists, who bought printing presses and weapons.

By Jan 1994, Bin Laden had begun financing at least 3 terrorist training camps in northern Sudan.

The alleged mastermind of the Worlds Trade Center bombing resided at a Bin Laden guesthouse before being apprehended in Feb 1995.

Bin Laden remains the key financier behind the Kumar camp in Afghanistan.

All the above information was taken from a CIA document released in 1996:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB55/index1.html

Attacks Attributed to al-Qaeda

2/1993: Bombing of World Trade Center; 6 killed.

10/1993: Killing of U.S. soldiers in Somalia.

1994: Investigation of the WTC bombing reveals that it was only a small part of a massive attack plan that included hijacking a plane and crashing it into CIA headquarters.

6/1996: Truck bomb explodes outside Khobar Towers military complex in Saudi Arabia; 19 American servicemen killed, hundreds of others injured.

8/1998: Bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa; 224 killed including 12 Americans.

12/1999: Plot to bomb millennium celebrations in Seattle foiled when customs agents arrest an Algerian smuggling explosives into the U.S. Other Algerians subsequently arrested were "Afghan alumni."

12/1999: Jordanian police arrested members of a cell planning attacks against Western tourists.

10/2000: Bombing of the USS Cole in port in Yemen; 17 U.S. sailors killed.

9/11/2001: Destruction of WTC, attack on Pentagon.

4/2002: Explosion at ancient synogogue in Tunisia leaves 17 dead, including 11 German tourists.

5/2002: Car explodes outside hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14, including 11 French citizens.

6/2002: Bomb explodes outside American Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12.

10/2002: Nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, kill 202, mostly Australian citizens.

10/2002: Suicide attack on a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, kills 16.

5/2003: Suicide bombers kill 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

5/2003: Four bombs kill 33 people, targeting Jewish, Spanish, and Belgian sites in Casablanca, Morocco.

8/2003: Suicide car bomb kills 12, injures 150, at Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

11/2003: Explosions rock a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, housing compound killing 17.

11/2003: Suicide car bombers simultaneously attack two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 and injuring hundreds. The following week a British bank in Istanbul is bombed.

3/2004: Ten terrorists bombs explode almost simultaneously during the morning rush hour in Madrid, Spain, killing 202 and injuring more than 1,400. A Moroccan affiliate of al-Qaeda claims responsibility.

5/2004: Terrorists attack the offices of a Saudi oil company in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, then take foreign oil workers hostage in a nearby residential compound. After a stand-off, three of the four assailants escape, leaving 22 people dead, all but three of them foreigners.

6/2004: Terrorists kidnap and execute Paul Johnson, Jr., an American, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Nearly a week after his capture, photos of his body are posted on an Islamist website. Saudi security forces find and kill four suspected terrorists, including the self-proclaimed military leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, after they are seen dumping a body.

12/2004: Militants, believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda, drive up to the U.S. consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, storm the gates, and kill 5 consulate employees, none of whom were American. Saudi security forces subdue the attackers, killing four.

7/2005: Bombs exploded on 3 trains and a bus in London, England, killing 52.

10/2005: 22 killed by 3 suicide bombs in Bali, Indonesia.

11/9/2005: 57 killed at 3 American hotels in Amman, Jordan.

1/2006: Two suicide bombers carrying police badges blow themselves up near a celebration at the Police Academy in Baghdad, killing nearly 20 police officers. Al-Qaeda in Iraq takes responsibility.

8/2006: Police arrest 24 British-born Muslims, most of whom have ties to Pakistan, who had allegedly plotted to blow up as many as 10 planes using liquid explosives. Officials say details of the plan were similar to other schemes devised by al-Qaeda.

4/2007: Some 35 people are killed and hundreds are wounded when suicide bombers attack a government building in the capital, Algiers, and a police station on the outskirts of the capital. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claims responsibility for the attack.

4/2007: Eight people, including two Iraqi legislators, die when a suicide bomber strikes inside the Parliament building in Baghdad. An organization that includes al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia claims responsibility for the bold attack. In another attack, the Sarafiya Bridge that spans the Tigris River is destroyed.

12/2007: As many as 60 people are killed in two suicide attacks near United Nations offices and government buildings in Algiers, Algeria. The bombings occur within minutes of each other. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly called the Salafist Group for Preaching, claims responsibility. It's the worst attack in the Algeria in more than 10 years.

1/2008: In the worst attack in Iraq in months, a suicide bomber kills 30 people at a Baghdad home where mourners were paying their respects to the family of a man killed in a car bomb. The Iraqi military blames the attack on al-Qaeda in Iraq.

2/2008: Nearly 100 people die when two women suicide bombers, who are believed to be mentally impaired, attack crowded pet markets in eastern Baghdad. The U.S. military says al-Qaeda in Iraq has been recruiting female patients at psychiatric hospitals to become suicide bombers.

4/2008: A suicide car bomber, believed to be a member of al-Qaeda in Iraq, kills 40 people in Baquba, the capital of Diyala Province in Iraq.

4/2008: A suicide bomber attacks the funeral for two nephews of a prominent Sunni tribal leader, Sheik Kareem Kamil al-Azawi, killing 30 people in Iraq's Diyala Province.

6/2008: At least 30 people are killed in two separate attacks in Anbar Province and the city of Mosul. The suicide bombing in Anbar occurred at a meeting of the Awakening Council, an alliance of moderate Sunnis who joined the U.S. in its attempt to crush al-Qaeda in Iraq.

8/2008: About two dozen worshippers are killed in three separate attacks as they make their way toward Karbala to celebrate the birthday of 9th-century imam Muhammad al-Mahdi. Iraqi officials blame al-Qaeda in Iraq for the attacks.

8/2008: At least 55 people die in two separate suicide attacks in Algeria. No group takes responsibility for either attack, but Algerian officials say they suspect Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is behind the bombings.

9/2008: A car bomb and a rocket strike the U.S. embassy in Yemen as staff arrived to work, killing 16 people, including 4 civilians. At least 25 suspected al-Qaeda militants are arrested for the attack.

Al-Qaida's cooperating terrorist groups                                                                                                                                       

Al-Qaida has cooperated with many known terrorist groups worldwide including the Salafist Group, the Armed Islamic Group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad (Egypt), Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, Jamaat Islamiyya, The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, Bayt al-Imam (Jordan), Lashkar-e-Taiba,  Jaish-e-Muhammad (Kashmir), Asbat al Ansar, Hezbollah (Lebanon), Al-Badar, Harakat ul Ansar/Mujahadeen, Al-Hadith, Harakat ul Jihad, Jaish Mohammed. (JEM), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan, Laskar e-Toiba (LET), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (the Philippines), Abu Sayyaf Group (Malaysia, Philippines), Al-Ittihad Al Islamiya - AIAI (Somalia), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Islamic Army of Aden (Yemen). To be honest, I didn't verify all of these groups but the point I'm trying to make is the worldwide reach of Al-Qaeda. 

Recent Information about al Qaeda

1. Department of Homeland Security -  Jan. '07

With respect to al-Qaeda, we looked at al-Qaeda as a diminished organization but its core is resilient and in some respects even resurgent. It benefits today from, what is in effect, a sanctuary in Pakistan and perhaps Iraq, as well. It benefits from its extraordinary use of the internet.
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/hsac_mtgminutes_20070111.pdf

2. Council on Foreign Relations -  Mar. '07

Not only does al-Qaeda’s leader remain at large, but he is rallying the troops. Recent reports suggest bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri have reestablished their chain of command and begun operating new training camps in the northwestern Pakistani region of North Waziristan.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/12766/alqaedas_resurrection.html

3. Department of Homeland Security -  Sept. '08

We are safer today than we were seven years ago. We haven’t been attacked since 9/11 in part because we have destroyed al Qaeda’s headquarters, enhanced our intelligence assets across the globe, captured and killed terrorists on nearly every continent, and partnered with our allies on information sharing and other security-related efforts.
http://www.dhs.gov/journal/leadership/2008/09/yes-we-are-safer.html

4. Remarks by President Obama on the new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan -  Mar '09 

Al Qaeda and its allies -- the terrorists who planned and supported the 9/11 attacks -- are in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that al Qaeda is actively planning attacks on the United States homeland from its safe haven in Pakistan. And if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban -- or allows al Qaeda to go unchallenged -- that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-a-New-Strategy-for-Afghanistan-and-Pakistan/

5. A letter from President Obama to the Speaker of the House -  Apr. '09
We face a security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan that demands urgent attention. The Taliban is resurgent and al Qaeda threatens America from its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Text-of-Letter-from-the-President-to-the-Speaker-of-the-House-of-Representatives/

6. U.S Department of State Country report on Terrorism '08 -   Apr. '09
U.S. law requires the Secretary of State to provide Congress, by April 30 of each year, a full and complete report on terrorism with regard to those countries and groups meeting criteria set forth in the legislation.
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2008/index.htm 

7. U.S Department of State Country report on Terrorism '08 -  Apr. '09
Al-Qaeda is assessed to be the top terrorist threat to the United States and is developing stronger operational relationships with affiliates in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. Al-Qaeda remains committed to attacking the United States and focuses its planning on targets that would produce mass casualties, dramatic visual destruction, and economic dislocation.
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2008/122449.htm 

Final Thought

You can compare Thought #30 and Thought #31 and understand the differences between the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Some differences I note:

  The Taliban was started by rebelling students and al-Qaeda was started by rich businessmen.

  The Taliban remains mostly local to Afghanistan and Pakistan while al-Qaeda is worldwide.

  Al-Qaeda knows how to generate millions of dollar to support its effort. The Taliban struggle to generate money.

  Al-Qaeda communicates effectively worldwide to its supporting organizations through the internet.

  The Taliban remains in hiding while al-Qaeda organizations and businesses are in the open.

Sorry for this being such a long Thought but al-Qaeda has been a busy terrorists.

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