The Formation of Al Qaeda
Perspective
Do Now
Today we will read bin Laden’s 1998 Fatwah.
Think of this document as Bin Laden’s
declaration of war on us. What do you think
Bin Laden will argue for issuing this
declaration or fatwah? Generate a list.
What did you write? 3 volunteers
Timeline Task
Look at the timeline about Bin Laden’s life.
Pretend you are working for the CIA. Identify
(by underlining) any two sections that would
be of importance to you or raise a flag.
Iraq invades Kuwait in
August of 1990
prompting the US to lead
a coalition against Iraq.
Out of fear of a Saudi
Arabia being invaded by
Iraq, Saudia Arabia
He relocated to Peshawar, Afghanistan, allowed a military
and using aid from the United States presence on Saudi
under the CIA program Operation
Arabian soil where
Cyclone, he began training a
Medina and Mecca are
mujahideen
located.
His father obtained government
contracts to build extensions on the
Mecca, Medina and Al-Aqsa
mosques. He became a highly
influential figure.
Born in
Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia,
in 1957 (7th
of 50 kids)
Al Qaeda begins
acts of terrorism
directed toward
the US to try and
start a holy war
against America
with hopes of
unifying all
Muslims in one
Islamic state.
By 1993, Bin Laden organizes
Al Qaeda (the Base) from
former Soviet Afghan warriors
Bin Laden openly criticizes the Saudi
Royal Family leading to an exile of Bin
Laden from Saudi Arabia in 1992 where
he travels to Sudan
At 14, Osama received the beginnings of an education in
some of the principles of violent jihad.
The teacher who educated the children, influenced in part
by a sect of Islam called The Brotherhood, began instructing
his pupils in the importance of instituting a pure, Islamic law
around the Arab world
1992 US invades Iraq with the UN
Medina is a city in the Hejaz region of western
Saudi Arabia, and the capital of Al Madinah
Province. The burial place of the Islamic
prophet Muhammad
Muslims should
defend these holy
places!
The prophet Muhammad
designated Mecca as the holy city
of Islam and the direction in which
all Muslims should offer their
prayers.
1998 U.S. embassies in Nairobi Kenya
attack
DAR ES SALAAM ATTACK SAME TIME TWO PLACES
224 Combined Dead
How should the US respond?
Why the attack?
US assisted in the prosecution and torture of
four members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
Such US intervention prompted the 1998 Bin
Laden Fatwah
U.S. RESPONSE
-- On August 20 the U.S. fired some 75
Tomahawk cruise missiles at facilities in
Afghanistan and Sudan in response to terrorist
activities.
-- U.S. President Clinton said the strikes were a
response to an "imminent threat" to the U.S.
posed by a terrorist network backed by Osama
bin Laden.
-- Clinton said that the U.S. had "convincing
information" that the network organized and
financed by bin Laden had carried out the
bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
-- He also blamed bin Laden's followers for
other previous attacks and plots.
American cruise missiles pounded
sites inAfghanistan and
Sudan Thursday in retaliation for the
August 7 bombings of U.S. embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania.
U.S. officials say the six sites attacked
in Afghanistan were part of a
network of terrorist compounds near
the Pakistani border that housed
supporters of Saudi millionaire
Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden’s Fatwah 1998
•
• Fatwa Questions
•
• According to the author, what is the US guilty of? List each point.
•
• How do the author’s accusations support the view of a US foreign
policy that is viewed as hypocritical?
•
• According to the author, what is the duty of every Muslim?
•
• Does the fatwa represent an ideological personal agenda or does
the fatwa represent all Muslims?
•
• Connect Bin Laden’s fatwa to the Quran, Milestones, the work of
Azzam and US actions in the Muslim and Arab world.
•
• Discuss the sections in bold font.
OBL Speeches and Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn2PnagLMCI
OBL Speech Nov 2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hq_brdMDcs
Clinton Response Statement on Military Strikes in Sudan and Afghanistan
(1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHspzNEkX7U
Brief Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJJ5_s9I9pE
Clinton Interview
Closure: Last two Boxes