Osama Bin Laden
Osama Bin Laden is a Saudi Arabian millionaire and the leader of al Qaeda, a worldwide terrorist group responsible for September 11, 2001 attacks and some other terrorist attacks on Americans in the 1990s. He obtained his wealth by inheriting it from his father, Mohammed Awad bin Laden, who was a successful entrepreneur in the construction industry.
During the Clinton Administration [1], bin Laden issued two Declarations of War against the United States for the basing of troops in the Arabian Peninsula to defend against external aggression by Saddam Hussein and because of the suffering of the Iraqi people under UN economic sanctions.[2] However, Clinton did not take the threat seriously, and did not make an effort to capture or kill Bin Laden. [3] Near the end of his term, he had some agents find out about Osama's activities. When the Bush Administration came into office, the agents who investigated Bin Laden under the Clinton administration tried to warn the Bush administration of the likelihood of an attack. They warned the Bush administration in July 2001, but they were ignored. At one point, one agent was told to leave because he'd already "covered his ass".
Bin Laden lived in Sudan for most of the 1990's at the invitation of Hassan al-Turabi, a powerful Sudanese political leader and terrorism supporter. He then returned to Afghanistan, where he had fought against the Soviets in the 1980's. He was protected by the Taliban until the American liberation of Afghanistan following 9/11.
During the 1980s insurgency against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan the Carter Administration initially directed help to train and arm anti-Soviet Islamic militants, some of whom were radical Islamists. Bin Laden had his own source of funding, though, and would have shunned influence by America.Re[4]He eventually accepted funding from Reagan, however. This funding is suspected to have lasted him for many years.
In 1998, Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, then leader of the Egyptian terrorist group called the Islamic Brotherhood, announced the joining of al Qaeda and the Islamic Brotherhood to form the World Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders[5]. In 1998, the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were destroyed by suicide bombers; the United States later indicted both Ben Laden and al-Zawahiri for the attacks which killed 224 people. In retaliation the United
States launched cruise missiles, however, both terrorist leaders escaped. In September 11, 2001, Bin Laden sponsored an Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center, which resulted in 3000 american deaths. Ironically, it is suspected that the same funds that Bin Laden used for the attack are the ones given to him by Reagan to fight soviets in the 1980's. At first the Bush administration acted appropriately, by sending troops into the headquarters of the organization, Afghanistan. However, through a series of fear mongering lies in a desperate effort for oil, Bush managed to divert American focus to Iraq. Due to this, Bin Laden was able to hide in mountains in Afghanistan with no attempts to capture him, and it is currently suspected he has made it to Pakistan.
Bin Laden is cited by the United States government as the most wanted terrorist. He remains at large to this day.
See also
References
- ↑ Did Bill Clinton Smooth the Way for Bin Laden to Become the World's Most Successful Terrorist?, Mary Mostert, Original Sources, August 24, 1998.
- ↑ Bin Laden's Declaration of War, 1998.
- ↑ [1] Osama bin Laden: missed opportunities
- ↑ http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2005/Jan/24-318760.html
- ↑ http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir011003_1_n.shtml