Bell Work Review:
 What is an Islamic Fundamentalist?
 What are the different sects of Islam- what’s the
difference between the two?
Preview:
 What areas of the globe are current hot spots for
Al-Qaeda?
 What is the difference between hard targets and
soft targets?
 What is the idea behind “state sponsored”
terrorism?
Resolved: The United States foreign policy
regarding terrorism should focus on terrorist
activity located within Afghanistan rather
than on nation building within Iraq…
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History of Islamic
Fundamentalism
Iraq Wars (Desert Storm,
Operation Iraqi Freedom)
Al Qaeda- motives, leadership
Events of September 11, 2001
War in Afghanistan October
2001 to the present
Iraqi interlude
Organizational operations…
hard vs. soft targets
Recent Terrorist Attacks
(Mumbai, Ft. Hood, Christmas
Day 2009)
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Middle Ages to the present (meeting
of the world’s 3 largest religions:
Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Fight over the Holy Landspersistent conflict over the areas
involving Jerusalem, Modern Day
Israel, Gaza Strip, and Golan
Heights
Exacerbated by the creation of the
Jewish state of Israel
Palestinian individuals already
there (East bank, Gaza Strip)
Israel in constant defense of its
homeland- 7 Days War, etc (Egypt)
Aside from state sponsored attacks,
terrorists attacks begin (Munich
1972- Black October)
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US supports creation of Israeli state- largest source of
international funding
Shah of Iran is deposed- Ayatollah Khomeini (Shia)
preaches that the United States is the “Great Satan”
due to its sponsorship of Israel
1979- US Embassy is attacked- hostages are taken for
444 days.
Iran and Iraq War: 1980-1988- US supports Iraq but
negotiates deal with Iran for hostages
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After Iran War- Saddam Hussein attacks
Kuwait (radical rebuilding processKuwait truly apart of Iraq)
Threatens Saudi Arabia- US and a large
coalition of international states protect
Saudi Arabia
Shield to Storm: Coalition rolls back the
gains of Iraq (stops short of removing
Saddam)
Saddam has sanctions placed against
him and remains largely powerless
(despite occasional missions to weaken
him)
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Osama Bin Laden- born to a rich wealthy
family in Saudi Arabia (involved in
construction for oil manufacturing)- later his
family will disown him due to radical ideas.
Develops military prowess by stopping a
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (US supports
the Taliban- anti-Soviet).
Upset by US occupation in Saudi Arabiadevelops Al Qaeda (the base)- fundamentalist
Sunni
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“The Bush administration deliberately conflated the Al
Qaeda threat with the problem posed by Saddam's Iraq.
Then [they] deepened the confusion with the claim that
Al Qaeda hated the United States because of our
freedoms and our way of life. As [Osama] bin Ladin has
said, if that were the case, Al Qaeda would have attacked
Sweden. So what is it that motivates AQ and the
terrorists that belong to it? A sense that the Islamic
world has been under systematic attack by the West for
the last century, and that in order to defend itself from
Western attack, the Islamic world has to take the war to
the United States and its allies in order to drag them
into quagmires that will bleed them until they finally
admit defeat and leave Islamic world.”
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First attack occurs against the USS Cole,
American Embassies in Africa.
September 11, 2001.
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Similar to the Doolittle Raids of WWII, the
United States attacked Afghanistan with the
purpose of removing the Taliban (also aid
Northern Alliance)
US scatters Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives
(chase to the border of Pakistan)
US has a chance to kill Bin Laden with a drone
attack (go against it since a ranking Pakistani
individual is present)
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Using justification of Saddam developing
WMDs (had not inspected Iraq since 1998), US
goes to war with a much smaller coalition.
Justification- Nigerian Weapons Grade
Uranium, supposed meeting with Iraqi and AlQaeda operatives in Hamburg, Germany.
Despite removing Saddam, war allows the
Taliban to regroup in Afghanistan and Pakistan
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Riedel: “Al Qaeda remains the world's first truly
global terrorist organization. Think of it as a
multinational corporation. It has a CEO and deputy
CEO and a propaganda apparatus all headquartered in
Pakistan, with franchise operations in Saudi Arabia, in
Iraq, another in Yemen, another in North Africa—then
with cells throughout the Muslim diaspora in Western
Europe, particularly in the U.K. And its tradecraft—its
way of doing business, if you like—is very sophisticated.
It's a relatively small organization—thousands but not
tens of thousands—but one which has been able in the
seven years since 2001 to attack literally across the
globe, from one end of the Islamic world to another, with
"raids," as they call them, into Western Europe”.
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Goals- recreate the Ottoman empire and a
Islamic controlled Middle East- want the
Western world to leave the Middle East
Due to a weakened operational base: have
begun to focus on soft targets (hotels- Mumbai,
airplanes, nightclubs) rather than hard targetsheavy security groups.
The United States was correct in targeting Iraq
to send a message to the rest of the world
regarding tyrannical regimes.
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Pro- has proven to send messages to Libya
regarding WMDs; Iraq has made increasing
gains due to a surge that helped stabilize
important areas.
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Con- weren’t justified. No significant WMDs
found, no connection between Al Qaeda and
Saddam’s regime.
The US dropped the ball regarding the war on
terror and should have targeted the source:
Al-Qaeda.
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Pro- US could have destroyed Al-Qaeda in
Afghanistan, but focused on Iraq.
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Con- Is a war on terror even winnable? Wars
could be too expensive.
Neither military option would help with the war
on terror; instead the United States should
focus on humanitarian efforts to help broaden
American international appeal.
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Pro- helps with international appeal and
could change the image of the United States
(less US casualties)
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Con-Terrorists could claim victory, US needs
to focus on the US economy rather than the
international community
The US should continue to focus on both areas
(Afghanistan and Iraq) and try to optimize
nation building in both countries.
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Pro- finish the job we already started- can’t
simply abandon Iraq with the increased threat
from Iran.
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Con- plays into the Al-Qaeda strategy of
bleeding the west.
Given the rather dire situations in both areas,
the US should retract from world affairs and
focus on domestic issues.
 Pro- low US casualties, less expenditure, more
help for the economy
 Con- Terrorists win, could be an international
backlash (lone Superpower) opens the door for
China.