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__ Osama bin Laden and the War __ If you asked any American who Osama bin Laden was, you will get many

different answers. Most responses you will hear, although in different words, will have

the same message. You will likely hear “Osama bin Laden is the world’s most cold-

hearted mass-murderer,” or “He is the reason for the deaths of millions of Americans, and

is the reason many Americans will to cringe after they hear someone say 9/11.” But what

happened to bin Laden that made him the way he is? Was he a normal child like us,

growing up in a house with parents, brothers, and sisters? Is Osama bin Laden even the

reason why we are in Iraq?

September 11, 2001. That day will be remembered as when one of the greatest

acts of terror was ever committed. Osama bin Laden is the great mastermind

behind the destruction of the World Trade Center. But first, we need to take a look at his

childhood. What was his life like before al-Qaeda? Osama bin Muhammad bin 'Awad

bin Laden was born on March 10, 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden did not

have what you would call [|a “normal” family]. His father, Muhammed Awad bin Laden ,

was very wealthy businessman, and his mother was Muhammed Awad’s tenth wife.

Osama’s parents divorced soon after he was born. Osama's mother then married

Muhammad al-Attas. The couple had four children, and Osama lived in the new

household with three stepbrothers and one stepsister. He was raised as a Sunni Muslim.

As for school, he attended the "elite" secular Al-Thager Model School from 1968 to

1976. Then, he studied economics and business administration at King Abdulaziz

University. While at the university his main interest was religion, and he studied and

debated in many issues such as interpreting the Quran and jihad. He married his first

wife, Najwa Ghanem, at the age of seventeen. Bin Laden is said to of married others and

divorced two. He has had anywhere from 12 to 24 children.

After the death of his father in 1967 he got really involved in the Islam

religion. Bin Laden studied management and economics, and he became interested in

fundamentalist Islamic groups. Sheikh Abdallah Azzam, a Palestinian who had become

disillusioned with the Palestine Liberation Organization and felt Islam needed to return to

its roots greatly influenced the young boy. In 1979, bin Laden joined many other young

Muslims in fighting against the Soviet Union's Afghanistan invasion. When the Soviet

Union pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989, bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia a hero.

Working from Khartoum, bin Laden established terrorist training camps where he passed

on the skills he had learned from American troops to radical Islamists who would start

a jihad against the United States. In 1998 he became the leader of the world known

terrorist group, al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda's objectives include the end of foreign influence in

Muslim countries and the creation of a new Islamic caliphate. Al-Qaeda is responsible

for the September 11th attacks. Due to its secrecy and structure of semi-autonomous

cells, al-Qaeda's size and degree of responsibility for particular attacks are difficult to

establish.

Planning the September 11th attacks had to be in the works for many years. The

idea for the September 11 plot came from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who first presented

the idea to bin Laden in 1996. In 1999 bin Laden gave Mohammed approval to continue

planning and organizing the attacks. He provided the money for the attacks and

leadership. Bin Laden selected the hijackers, Mohamed Atta being the lead one. It said

to have cost around 500,000 dollars to plan and carry out the attacks. As planned, on

September 11, 2001, planes crashed into the Twin Towers and into the Pentagon. After

the attacks, videos were released of Osama denying any relation to the attacks. Soon

afterwards, videos were found proving he had foreknowledge of the event.

The aftermath of the terrorist attacks on [|September 11th] was devastating. Bin

Laden and al-Qaeda are responsible for the deaths of 2,974 people. They committed the

worst terror act in history. Bin Laden said “ It is far better for anyone to kill a single

American soldier than to squander his efforts on other activities.” They declared a Jihad

against the United States because they think that we are the greatest terrorists, and we are

harming millions of Muslims.

But why did President Bush declare war on Iraq when al-Qaeda was responsible

for the attacks? Two main reasons for the invasion were offered by the president and

his supporters: the allegation that Iraq was actively supporting and working with al-

Qaeda, and that it possesed and was currently developing weapons of madd destruction. Both of these claims were supported by some U.S. intelligence. Osama bin Laden is the cause of the war. He did something some only dream of in nightmares. He is responsible for the September 11th attacks, the war in Iraq, and for the lives of thousands of innocent victims. He is one of the FBI’s most wanted, and Americans everywhere fear him. Bin Laden is the reason we are in Iraq right now. By being in Iraq, though, we are helping many innocent people over their. Osama bin Laden, normal child, normal life, was brain- washed into a radical Islamist, and is why many Americans have died fighting to protect the freedom that many live without. __ WORK CITED  __ ==== Gould, Katherine. "Osama bin Laden." __United States__ __at War: Understanding Conflict and Society__. 2008. ABC-CLIO. 7 May 2008 <[|http://www.usatwar.abc-clio.com>.  ====

__ Osama bin Laden __ . 6 May 2008. Wikipedia. 5 May 2008 .
code code code "Osama bin Laden Quotes." __All Great Quotes__. 2008. 7 May 2008  code

==== Spector, Daniel E. "al-Qaeda in the Middle East Wars (Role in War)." __United States__ __at War: Understanding Conflict and Society__. 2008. ABC-CLIO. 25 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.usatwar.abc-clio.com>.  ====

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