Al-Qaeda

A Look into the Islamic Terrorist Organization

By: Conor Black

Al-Qaeda is an Islamic Organization founded by Osama Bin Ladin in bet een the years !"## and !"#"$ %Bergen& '(()* Their moti+ations are for mainly religious ,ur,oses through the faith of Islam& and they e-ecute their goals in +iolent ays through bombings and mass suicides to target any grou, they consider ./afir0 hich translates to .nonbelie+er$0 %Coolsaet& '(!!* 1ATO& 1ation 2nited 3ecurity Council& and other +arious grou,s and countries ha+e categorized the grou, as a terrorist organization$ The most notable terrorist attacks orchestrated by Al-Qaeda include the 3e,tember !! Attack& !""4 5orld Trade Center Bombing& and the 233 Cole Bombing$ %Leonard& '(("* Al-Qaeda ould fall into the category of being a coerci+e organization& as they use threats and forces to try and accom,lish their goals$ It organization e-ists because Osama Bin Ladin as against the so+iet occu,ation of Afghanistan in the !"#(6s during the 3o+iet 5ar$ %Cooley& '((4* Osama belie+ed that the religion of 3unni-Islam as the best moral com,ass for the country of Afghanistan& and anyone that disagreed should be either con+erted or killed$ 7eo,le 8oin the organization& as they are also e-tremists hen it comes to the belief in Islam$ They agree ith Osama6s radical ideas and ,olitics& and since they belie+e they are under the atchful eye of the 9od they belie+e in& that them ,erforming such actions like a suicide bombing ill lea+e them to be 8oined ith the 9od of Islam$ %9unaratna& '(('* The ty,e of organization structure inside the grou, of Al-Qaeda is a fairly dis8ointed one& as the number of members for each country +aries and is e+en unkno n in some areas$ There is no sim,le ay to sign-u, for Al-Qaeda$