II.

Al-Qaeda’s Mission

Al-Qaeda seeks to incite a global jihad (holy war) to overthrow regimes with predominantly Arab or Muslim populations that al-Qaeda considers corrupt and anti-Islamic. It wants to replace these regimes with a single Muslim nation or empire strictly governed according to sharia (Islamic law). Al-Qaeda sees the United States and other Western countries as blocking this goal because they are allied with many of the countries al-Qaeda considers corrupt.

Al-Qaeda also considers the presence of U.S. military forces in Saudi Arabia an affront to the Muslim people because Saudi Arabia is the location of Islam’s two holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina. Bin Laden has issued two fatwas (Islamic religious edicts) calling for the expulsion of these forces from the Arabian Peninsula and sanctioning the use of violence to achieve this objective. A 1998 fatwa, issued in the name of “The World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders,” declared that “the ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilian or military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it.” Bin Laden regards the U.S. military presence as a continuation of the Crusades, a series of wars during the Middle Ages in which Western Christians sought to capture the Holy Land from Muslims.

In addition, since the September 11 attacks bin Laden has sought to exploit Arab and Muslim hatred of Israel, calling for the destruction of the Jewish state. He has also tried to portray al-Qaeda as the true defender of Islam and protector of Muslims everywhere. He has opposed U.S.-backed sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations (UN) and the violence inflicted on Muslims in places such as Bosnia, Chechnya, East Timor, the Philippines, Sudan, and Somalia.

Al-Qaeda is arguably one of the world’s most formidable and resilient terrorist movements. Following the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush approved the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda lost its training camps, operational bases, and command headquarters in that country. Thousands of its fighters and many of its leaders were killed or captured. Nevertheless, al-Qaeda has demonstrated a remarkable ability to continue its violent attacks.

During 2002, for example, terrorist incidents linked to al-Qaeda occurred in places as diverse as Tunisia, Pakistan, Jordan, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Philippines, Yemen, and Kenya. Its targets have included Australian, German, and Israeli tourists, and French engineers and a French oil tanker—as well as longstanding targets such as American diplomats and servicemen. Al-Qaeda has continued to use suicide-bombing tactics—on land and at sea. A group believed to be closely linked with al-Qaeda also kidnapped and subsequently executed an American journalist, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Commercial aviation remains a significant al-Qaeda target. In December 2001, for example, an alleged al-Qaeda terrorist with a bomb hidden in his shoe attempted to blow up a U.S. aircraft en route from Paris, France, to Miami, Florida. Eleven months later, a group in Kenya linked to al-Qaeda tried to shoot down an Israeli charter flight with a handheld surface-to-air missile.