Post Cold War Challenges: Sept
11 and Terrorism
Lesson 25
Islamism
• As globalization spread, many
Muslims became skeptical about
European and American models of
economic development and political
and cultural norms
• Blamed the Western models for their
own economic and political problems
as well as for secularization and its
attendant breakdown of traditional
social and religious values
• Saw the Muslim world as slipping into
a state of decline brought about by the
abandonment of Islamic traditions and
many blamed the US
The Saudi Arabian
Mutaween, or
religious police,
enforce the Islamic
dress code
Islamist Reaction
• Many saw the solution to
the problems faced by
Muslim societies as being
a revival of Islamic identity,
values, and power
• Most sought to bring about
change through peaceful
means, but an extremist
minority has claimed a
mandate from God that
calls for violent
transformations
Supporters of Hizbut Tahrir, a
hardline Muslim group,
protesting in front of the US
Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia
Jihad
• Convinced that the Muslim
world is under siege, extremists
used the concept of the jihad to
rationalize and legitimize
terrorism and revolution
– Jihad is sometimes called
the Sixth Pillar of Islam and
is an exertion or struggle in
achieving the ways of Allah
– It invokes the right and duty
to defend Islam and the
Islamic community from
unjust attack
Members of the Islamic
Jihad’s military wing,
the Al-Quds Brigade, in
Gaza
Extremist Rhetoric
• “God has blessed a group of vanguard Muslims,
the forefront of Islam, to destroy America.”
– Osama bin Laden in a videotaped statement
broadcast by Al Jazeera, October 7, 2001
• “We issue the following fatwa to all Muslims: The
ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -civilians and military -- is an individual duty for
every Muslim who can do it in any country in
which it is possible to do it....We -- with God’s
help -- call on every Muslim who believes in God
and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God’s
order to kill the Americans and plunder their
money wherever and whenever they find it.”
– World Islamic Front Statement, February 23, 1998
Clash of Civilizations
• “On both sides the interaction between Islam and the
West is seen as a clash of civilizations.”
– Samuel Huntington
Huntington’s Civilizations
Western
Slavic- Orthodox Japanese
Latin American
Islamic
African
Sinic
Hindu
Osama bin Laden
• Osama bin Laden began his
militancy in response to the
1979 Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan
• He helped found the Maktab alKhadamāt (MAK) which
recruited and funded
mujahideen to fight the Soviets
– Ironically, the US also
supported the mujahideen
based on the Cold War
philosophy that “the enemy
of my enemy is my friend”
al-Qaeda
Part of the postDesert Storm US
military presence
at Prince Sultan
Air Base, 80 km
south of Riyadh
• In 1988, bin Laden split from the MAK and formed a new
group comprised of some of the most militant mujahideen
that would become the al-Qaeda terrorist group
• With the US involvement in Desert Storm and its
subsequent continued presence in Saudi Arabia, home of
the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, bin Laden
became irreconcilably infuriated by the Western influence
Terrorism
• The deliberate and systematic use of violence
against civilians with the aim of advancing
political, religious, or ideological cause
• Terrorism is not a new phenomenon, but its
impact has been magnified in a globalized world
distinguished by rapid technological advances in
transportation, communications, and weapons
development
– Worldwide television coverage has transformed
terrorism by expanding its visibility and impact
September 11, 2001
• On Sept 11, 2001, 19
men affiliated with alQaeda hijacked four
planes and crashed two
into the World Trade
Towers in New York
City and one into the
Pentagon
• The fourth plane
crashed in
Pennsylvania after
passengers attacked
the terrorists
al-Qaeda’s International Presence at
the Time of the Sept 11 Attack
Global War on Terrorism
• On Sept 20, President Bush addressed the
nation and declared “Our war on terror begins
with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will
not end until every terrorist group of global
reach has been found, stopped and
defeated… Our response involves far more
than instant retaliation and isolated
strikes. Americans should not expect one
battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any
other we have ever seen. It may include
dramatic strikes, visible on TV, and covert
operations, secret even in success….
Global War on Terrorism
• … We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them
one against another, drive them from place to
place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we
will pursue nations that provide aid or safe
haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every
region, now has a decision to make. Either you
are with us, or you are with the
terrorists. From this day forward, any nation
that continues to harbor or support terrorism
will be regarded by the United States as a
hostile regime.”
Operation Enduring Freedom
• The attack was quickly traced to
Osama bin Laden who had been
operating from Afghanistan since
his 1996 expulsion from Saudi
Arabia
• On Oct 7, 2001, the US led a
coalition attack into Afghanistan to
destroy terrorist training camps and
infrastructure, capture al-Qaeda
leaders, and eliminate terrorist
activities in Afghanistan
• By mid-March 2002, the Taliban
government had been removed
from power and the al-Qaeda
network in Afghanistan was thought
to have been destroyed
CENTCOM Commander
General Tommy Franks
explains Operation Enduring
Freedom
Preemptive Action
• On Sept 17, 2002, President Bush issued a
National Security Strategy which stated, “While
the United States will constantly strive to enlist
the support of the international community, we
will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to
exercise our right of self-defense by acting
preemptively against such terrorists, to prevent
them from doing harm against our people and
our country.”
Axis of Evil
• In his Jan 29, 2002 State of the Union
Address, Bush had labeled Iraq, Iran,
and North Korea as comprising an
“axis of evil” of “regimes that sponsor
terror”
• In Sept 2002, the Director of Central
Intelligence issued a report stating,
“Iraq has continued its weapons of
mass destruction (WMD) programs in
defiance of UN resolutions and
restrictions. Baghdad has chemical
and biological weapons as well as
missiles with ranges in excess of UN
restrictions; if left unchecked, it
probably will have a nuclear weapon
during this decade.”
• Bush felt reports such as this justified
him to take preemptive action against
Iraq
United Nations
• Secretary of State Colin Powell
presented the US evidence of
Iraqi WMD to the United Nations
and the US proposed a resolution
to the Security Council
authorizing military force if Iraq
refused to disarm
• France, Russia, Germany, and
others opposed the US resolution
and it failed to pass
• Nonetheless, the US, joined by
Britain and a “coalition of the
willing” launched Operation Iraqi
Freedom on March 20, 2003
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
• “I would speculate that they very
likely expected Gulf War II, a long
air war that would give them time
to do whatever they thought they
wanted to do . . . followed, at
some distance, by ground war.
The ground war went so much
faster that the opportunity for
people to reorganize and to
reconstitute forces, in areas
where they could provide a more
aggressive defense, didn't exist.”
Compare and Contrast
• Desert Storm
– Objective to liberate
Kuwait
– Deliberate build up
– Mass (Powell)
– Large coalition and
UN support
– ONW/OSW and UN
monitoring
– Beginning of
precision munitions
– 500,000 troops
• Iraqi Freedom
– Objective to change
regime
– “Rolling start”
– Speed (Rumsfeld)
– Unable to repeat
consensus
– Occupation
– Increased precision
far outstripped
Desert Storm
– 150,000 troops
Situation on Mar 21, 2003
Situation on Mar 26, 2003
Situation on Apr 4, 2003
April 9, 2003: US Troops help Iraqis
Topple Statue of Saddam in Baghdad
Situation on Apr 10, 2003
May 2, 2003: President Bush visits the
USS Abraham Lincoln: “Major combat
operations in Iraq have ended.”
USM in OIF
• Major General Buford Blount,
USM 1971, commanded the
3rd Infantry Division that
captured Baghdad
• Major General Thomas Miller,
USM 1973, served as Deputy
Chief of Staff for Operations,
Multi-National Force Iraq
• Brigadier General Jeff
Hammond, USM 1978,
served as Assistant Division
Commander of the 1st
Cavalry Division
• Many others, to include
members of the 155th Bde
MSARNG
Tom Brokaw with Major
General Blount in Iraq
Post Conflict Developments
Oil pipeline sabotage
Bombing of
UN Building
Post Conflict Developments
Continued casualties
Questioning of the
WMD intelligence
Post Conflict Developments
Capture of Saddam
Iraqi elections
Post Conflict Developments
Guantanamo Bay Detainee Camp
Abu Ghraib
Post Conflict Developments
Political Dissent
War Protests
Post Conflict Developments
• An insurgency developed that
united Saddam-loyalists, antiAmericans, foreign agitators, and
terrorists
• The lightning-fast strike on
Baghdad that had been so
successful in achieving decisive
battlefield victory had by design
bypassed terrain and not secured
territory as it advanced
• The bypassed weapons caches
became the source of countless
IEDs that proved to be the
insurgency’s most deadly weapons
• In addition to prolonging the war,
these developments ignited a
political controversy about the war’s
planning and leadership
Unequal Playing Field
• “Al Qaeda’s members have
passports and nationalities– and
often more than one– but they are
truly stateless. Their allegiance is
to their cause, not to any nation.
The same is also true of the
criminal networks engaged in
(illegal trade in drugs, arms,
intellectual property, people, and
money) The same, however, is
patently not true of government
employees– police officers,
customs agents and judges– who
fight them. This asymmetry is a
crippling disadvantage for
governments waging these wars.”
– Moises Naim
Jill Carroll was
one of several
westerners taken
hostage in Iraq
Additional Terrorism Considerations
Terrorist bombing on the
train station at Madrid killed
200 people and led to
Spain’s withdrawing its
forces from Iraq
Heightened security at
events such as the Super
Bowl has become a fact of
life
Additional Terrorism Considerations
Suicide bombings are a
common part of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict
The Department of
Homeland Security was
established as a result of
September 11
Additional Terrorism Considerations
Jemaah Islamiyah, which is suspected of
having ties to al-Qaeda, is dedicated to
establishing an Islamic fundamentalist
state in Southeast Asia. With some 210
million Muslims, Indonesia has the
largest Muslim population of any country
in the world.
The US Secretary of State
considers Iran to be one of
the state sponsors of
international terrorism.
Next Lesson
• Debate