Al Qaeda: A Threat to American Security

Al Qaeda: A Threat to American Security

Introduction

Founded by Osama bin Laden, between approximately 1988 and 1989, Al Qaeda has grown from a small rebel force to a heavily funded terrorist organization. Its origins can be traced all the way back to the Soviet War in the regions of Afghanistan and today operates internationally with an army of undisclosed numbers and facilities. The movement is primarily based on Extremist Sunni Islamic foundations and a wildly unjustified interpretation of Sharia Law and Islam itself. It has been labeled as a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, NATO and a vast majority of nations worldwide.

The terrorist organization has led attacks on civilians and government officials alike. Focusing on the non Muslim population, they have even caused harm to their own and claimed the lives of millions of innocent people. One of its largest operations was against the World Trade Centers in New York, on September 11, 2011. Other note worthy and unfortunate attacks include the likes of the 1998 US embassy bombing and the bombing that took place in Bali in the year 2002. Angered by the hostility, the United States decided to act against the organization and launched the war on terror shortly after 9/11, leading up to the death of Osama bin Laden and many of his accomplices (Mannion, 2008). The organization still exists today, its ideology, strategy and tactics have slightly changed, but as whole, it remains at large and is nuisance to society. The purpose of this paper is to briefly highlight the foundations, the ideology, structure and tactics of Al Qaeda. The paper concludes with an analysis of relevant Homeland Security policies targeting the organization and how they have been successful thus far in the war against terror.

Ideology

The Extremist Islamic movement has thought to have gained momentum in the Islamic revival seen in the region in the past three to four decades. One of the main influencers over those that formed the organization is the controversial thinker and author Sayyid Qutb. His preaching, emphasizing the notion that the world is in such chaos mainly due to the lack of an international Sharia Law, created such stir among bin Laden and his followers that they set out on a mission to turn the preaching of Qutb into a reality. In order for Islam to rein supreme, Qutb believed that pure Islamic states needed to be formed and the world ridden of non Muslims. Any influence that seemed non Muslim, the likes of socialism and communism, were also deemed as enemies and had to be removed. In addition to their hatred for anything non Muslim, Al Qaeda and Qutb himself, had profound hatred for Zionism (Atwan, 2006).

Despite being an educated man, bin Laden fell victim to the hateful preaching of Qutb and his followers, unable to form a genuine opinion of his own. He thus chose to pursue the path of ...