teresadp

Teresa Del Prince College Prep English 1 Mrs. Downey 8 May 2008 = Terrorism; lead by Al-Qaeda = [|September 11, 2001]. A date that is all too familiar in our minds as Americans. It happened seven years ago, but it is still remembered with sorrow and sympathy. Although it was a major attack claiming almost three thousand lives, there are still so many other terrorist attacks happening around the world that claim the lives of so many and most of the time, we do not even hear about it. So, how is the same terrorist group that attacked the U.S.’s [|World Trade Centers] connected with those terrorist attacks all around the world? On September 11, 2001, three planes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda members. [|Two of them successfully hit the towers] while heroic civilians aboard the plane saved one. The two planes crashed into the towers in the morning and instantly people across the country went into shock. Neighbors, families, and friends joined together to repair a broken country. But attacks planned by Al-Qaeda happen frequently around the world taking numerous lives and destroying families and places. There is not one small group of Al-Qaeda terrorist members. It is more like a network of them with small individual sectors of people. They are scattered all around the Middle East, frequently meeting to discuss future attacks. Each of the small groups in the whole network has its own leader. "[Al-Qaeda] has a global agenda which goes beyond any particular country and is aimed at a kind of globalized Islamic jihad -- a very new kind of jihad -- against the United States as a superpower. It's a kind of globalized anti-imperialist movement with Islam as its ideology," Barnett Rubin says. [|Osama bin Laden], [|Saddam Hussein] , and [|Ayman Al Zawahiri] are three of the most popular leaders known to Al-Qaeda, (though Saddam Hussein was located and executed in 2006.) Al-Qaeda is also linked to the famous terrorist group the Taliban. They are not the same group, but they do carry out some, not all, attacks together. Both members and non-members of Al-Qaeda carry out terrorist attacks. Regular citizens and extremists that are not necessarily liked to Al-Qaeda are inspired by their “bravery” and “heroism”. An example is the violence that occurred at London ’s mass transit system in 2005. This attack was not planned by official Al-Qaeda members, but responsibility was instead claimed by “  The Secret Organization for Qaidat al-Jihad”. So, while Al-Qaeda is not to be blamed for //every// attack, they certainly inspire brainwashed Islamic citizens to turn towards radical, violent acts of terrorism. Al-Qaeda is very organized when it comes to their acts. They plan exact dates for violence years upon years in advance. What kinds of ammunition will we use? By what means such as a plane will we utilize? When will we attack? Where will we attack? Where could more people potentially be offered to Muhammad? Who will carry this out? These are all questions Al-Qaeda answers every time they plan terrorism. Well, research shows most of the time, they use bombs or possibly snipers with guns. They often times attack in the November, December, January, and February months. They usually plan attacks in large cities and towns or where potential enemies may reside, such as [|embassies], [|boats] , and [|hotels]. As disturbing as it may seem, Al-Qaeda frequently use women with mental disabilities to carry out their suicide attempts. They know that since they have that disability, they will often get past security easily and with much less trouble. Though we view Islamic terrorists and Al-Qaeda as enemies and evildoers, they look at Americans the same way. The troublesome Islamic people are actually brainwashed. In school, they learned that we are evil and that they must cause chaos in our country in order to do good in their religion and for [|Muhammad] (their highly-worshipped prophet). They view Americans as being people totally against them and their ways. While Americans think they are doing totally horrible things and while many may not understand their ways, they believe they are completing acts of faith and doing what is good for their religion and themselves. When suicide bombers carry on their attacks, they believe that they are dying for Muhammad, which is a good thing. They believe they are martyrs and that they are going straight to heaven (while anyone whose lives they successfully take is going to hell). And these actions are viewed as excellent deeds. The situation with Al-Qaeda is they are not deliberately trying to be evil. They are not a group that decided they would to violent acts because they were mad at the world. They believe they are doing //[|good]// deeds for the world. Al-Qaeda has performed hundreds of terrorist attacks over the years around the world. They include bombing places that they view as evil, bombing anywhere that American officials may be, right down to bombing hotels with totally innocent people in them. It is very hard to understand, but Al-Qaeda and other radical terrorists believe what they do is right. All Americans can do is step up security, no matter how frustrating, no matter how long it takes to get to your plane. Because after all, going through extra security is worth keeping your life. So, Al-Qaeda is linked in many ways to attacks around the world. Their large network is an outbreak in the Middle East. If they are not totally responsible for an attack, there is no doubt that they gave inspiration or were somehow included in some way. Most of the time, Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for their violence to show their heroism to their families back home and to the world. And by brainwashing children at a young age, they have had great amounts of success recruiting members to their network. Terrorism is a widely spreading epidemic, and Al-Qaeda is leading the way.

Works Cited "9/11 Attack Video." __YouTube__. 3 Apr. 2006. 5 May 2008 . __ The Age __. 1 May 2008 . Bajoria, Jayshree. "Backgrounder: Al-Qaeda." __CFR.Com__. 18 Apr. 2008. 30 Apr. 2008 . __ Cache __. 1 May 2008 . "Cooperative Research." 27 Apr. 2008 . Copyright Russian Spy. 28 Apr. 2008 . Federson, Ken J. "Complete Al-Qaeda Timeline." __Cooperative Research History Commons__. 2007. 30 Apr. 2008 . Hayes, Laura, Beth Rowen, and Borgna Brunner. "Al-Qaeda." __Infoplease.Com__. 28 Apr. 2008. 29 Apr. 2008 . Highbeam Research, Llc. "Terrorist Acts Suspected of or Inspired by Al-Qaeda." __InfoPlease__. 2008. 24 Apr. 2008 . "The War on Terror:  Afghanistan   and   Iraq   ." __National Security__. Kim Masters Evans. 2007 ed. Detroit  : Thomson Gale, 2007. __Opposing__ __ Viewpoints __   __ Resource __   __ Center __. Gale. Seton    High School. 24 Apr. 2008