History of the Terrorist Group Al-Qaeda - Case Study Example

History of the Terrorist Group Al-Qaeda Soon after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Al-Qaeda emerged as threat to the world security. The terrorist organization challenged the writ of the state, and reign of terror was imposed by the organization. The international community under the leadership of United States took the preventive measures to avert the possibility of another terrorist attack. Al-Qaeda is an organization off Islamic extremists and fundamentalists, the organization was founded by Osama bin Laden. The organization was initially sponsored by CIA to fight against the Soviet aggression in Afghanistan. The organization labeled itself as an Islamic Military Force, the purpose of which was to ensure that the Islamic practices are followed in true spirit, and military actions shall be taken against the community which either contradicted the Islamic practices, or challenged the political objective of the Muslim countries and groups. The organization was namely an Islamic outfit, which wanted to secure its political objective. The organization was joined bu “thousands of young Muslim aspirants who volunteered to fight against the Soviets as mujahedeen, warriors fighting to defend fellow Muslims”. Osama bin Laden was expelled from Saudi Arabia for his political agenda, and was then exiled from Sudan under American pressure. Osama Bin Laden was successful enough to gather the support of the government of Afghanistan, and established his network in that country. According to Derek (2005) "the organization initially attacked the U.S servicemen in Somalia, the attack were followed by the series of deadly attack in the embassies of the United States in African countries”. The western interests were again targeted on 9/11, which was an open declaration of war against United States and its allies. The allies of the United States in this war against terror included Britain, Canada, European Union, NATO, Australia and Pakistan. The allies offered their logistic, military, diplomatic and financial support to the Americans, and hide-outs of Al-Qaeda were targeted. The locals of Afghanistan supported the war against terror, and offered intelligence assistance to the armed forces. However, the moral of Al-Qaeda were high, the organization was swift and took an offensive stand, and the organization was successful to target the significant installations of financial, political and social significance to the allied countries. Location / Area of Operation Al-Qaeda was not an international organization, and its operations were initially limited within Gulf region, however the organization was able to form network with the Islamic radical groups based in different countries. Initially, the organization Al-Qaeda formed an alliance with International Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Harakat ul-Ansar, and other groups. The influence of the organization was so strong that it was able to forge alliance with the government of Afghanistan, the group developed affiliation with certain quarters of government of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The alliance with the Taliban government of Afghanistan developed soon after the expulsion of the Osama bin Laden from Sudan, the Sudanese government was pressurized by the American and Saudi government to expel him. Osama bin Laden is not the only person who monitors the activities of the organization, he has been backed by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, theological leader of Al-Qaeda and bin Ladens probable successor, according to Derek (2005) "he has been instrumental in bin Ladens political evolution". Al-Qaedas leadership oversees a scattered and loosely prepared network of cell, numbers of Arab Afghan veterans and radicals around the world have registered for the organization, the infrastructure of the organization is restricted, itinerant, and decentralized-each cell functions independently with its members, who are kept unaware about the performance and activities of the other cells. Rationale Strength, Influence to the World Al-Qaeda is considered not to be a traditional terrorist organization, "it does not depend on the sponsorship of a political state, and, unlike the PLO or the IRA, and it is not defined by a particular conflict". Al-Qaeda is considered to operate as a franchise; it provides financial and logistical support, as well as name and recognition to the terrorist outfits in places like Philippines, Algeria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Somalia, Yemen, and Kashmir". The principal objective of the organization is to eliminate the existence and dominance of the American government and culture from the Muslim countries. The group has developed a strategy to counter the military capabilities of Israel, and has aimed to destroy the country. The organization has plans to destabilize the pro-western governments in Islamic countries. A fatwa i.e. final verdict was issued by Osama in 1998, which called upon the Muslims of the entire world to unite and struggle against the Americans and Jewish, and join the Holy War. According to Jason (2004), the political analysts have regarded the ideology of Al-Qaeda as "jihad-ism, is marked by a willingness to kill apostate". The experts of terrorism has appreciated the alliance of Western countries against the Islamic militants, "the United States and its allies had scored significant victories against Al-Qaeda, but cautioned that the chaos of post-war Iraq represented a setback". According to reports, the US-led anti-terrorism efforts has been successful in prevention of some terrorist plans, Al-Qaeda linked attacks have killed more than 3500 people and injured almost ten thousand in the two years since September 11. The US-led alliance has been able to combat terrorism, but the traces are so deep that it has been a challenge to eliminate the Islamic militants significantly, the alliance has been able to destroy the Al-Qaedas infrastructure in Afghanistan, the important members of the terrorist organization Muhammed Atef and Abu Zubaydah have been arrested, however the large culprits Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri are missing, and it has been almost impossible to trace their hideouts even after six years of struggle and military operation. The network of Al-Qaeda is considered to be strong, even the mutual cooperation of the countries in their War against Terror has not been able to influence or disrupt the momentum of the activities of the organization. According to Ami (2005) "Al-Qaeda terrorist network is stronger than before the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the US-led "war on terror has so far been a failure", the critics have deplored the United States and its allied forces for their failure to crush the Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq, the organization is still every much intact and active, and have been involved in wide range of activities which has endangered the human survival. Range of Activities According to David (2004), the collapse of Al-Qaeda and the global network of Islamic terrorist organizations are evident more certain today than it did two years ago. Since 9/11 the world has experienced terrorist attacks against US interests and its allies in seven different countries, including Muslim countries. Afghanistan was previously safe heaven for the organization, however the NATO, Australian and Pakistani armed forces have been able to trap and confine their activities significantly. Surprisingly the organization has been able to secure a new front by conducting operations against US and coalition forces in Iraq. The reports have lamented success of the American forces, “despite US military successes, Al-Qaeda retains a demonstrated ability to recruit and conduct operations globally as Osama bin Laden and many of his most experienced inner circle and associates are still at large. The lack of a subsequent catastrophic attack in the US since 9/11 is not in itself proof of a successful strategy against terrorism. Despite the efforts of two years of military operations against al Qaeda, the CIA pronounced that Al Qaeda still represents the single greatest risk to US national security. According to David (2004), the fundamental of Al-Qaeda still remains potent and capable enough to carry out deadly attacks, the organization has proved to be flexible and elastic and has retained an ability to conduct and execute large-scale attacks in the Western word despite the attrition it has suffered. The threats from the Islamic militants has not diminished, rather it remains at alarming level, the American and allied forces have fail to eliminate the group, “the organizations ideology appears to have taken root to such a degree that it will require decades to eradicate". The group and nature of activities are so diversified that two groups are expected to work in parallel having their respective objectives, the structure of the organization has not been revealed, "local operatives rarely know anyone higher up in the organizations hierarchy", except for the objective of the organization which is to fight infidels till death. Financial Sources According to Robyn (2003), Taliban and Al-Qaeda network has delivered "waves of couriers with bars of gold and bundles of dollars across the porous border into Pakistan", while the forces of the United States and allied forces "swept toward Afghanistans main cities". The valuables collected from the Afghanistan were transported by the reliable Taliban and Al-Qaeda members, the members were required to supply the valuables to the Karachi port, and “preferred couriers and the virtually untraceable hawala money transfer system”, the members are assigned the responsibility for the transference of the millions of dollars to Dubai, the ideal place for the disposition of the valuables due to the high market. The assets owned by Talban and Al-Qaeda were spread in the major parts of the world, in order to avoid any major crackdown, the diversified formed of the financial structure ended up in the failure of the international investigation organizations to detect the true financial source. Gold is considered an as valuable which is source of preserving the financial resources of Taliban and Al-Qaeda, the organization was able to develop linkages in African countries like Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, from where the valuables were imported, the gold was of vital significance for its global acceptance, and it played a crucial role for the development of the financial structure of the terrorist organization. According to the law enforcement official of United States, "gold is a huge factor in the moving of terrorist money because you can melt it, smelt it or deposit it only because there is a willful blindness in Dubai". According to reports, gold has been exempted from the international reporting requirements for financial transactions; therefore it is a favored commodity in laundering money from drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorist activities. The business analyst have been of the opinion that the Gulf countries in particular Dubai have one of the largest and least regulated gold markets in the world, making it an ideal place to hide. The investigation officers found some manuals in the hideouts of the Al-Qaeda, the manuals contained description regarding melting procedure of the gold, and the reference manual further explained the possible means for smuggling gold. The terrorist organization exported large quantity of the valuable to Afghanistan prior to the commencement of war on terror, therefore all such exports went unchecked, and the support of the Taliban regime made it much easier for them to ensure smooth supply within the country. The export of the gold prior to the commencement of the war on terror was only to carry out transaction in the remote country where foreign currencies are not accepted. The donations offered to Al Qaeda and the Taliban from wealthy supporters were in gold plates, "taxes on opium production, a source of revenue for both groups, were also paid in gold". The organization has been accused of smuggling the valuable in the South Asian countries for profit, smuggling valuables like gold is profitable because the countries in South Asian region have a high demand for valuables, and high taxes have been levied on the legal gold imports. According to Robyn (2003), “gold bullion was flown directly from Dubai to the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar on Ariana Afghan Airlines”, the Taliban took gold into Afghanistan because there was nothing else they could take there; the local money was worthless, and locals are reluctant to accept the foreign currency, however gold is generally acceptable, people know exactly what that is worth, therefore gold was necessity for the Al-Qaeda to operate, the gold needed to be easily convertible to cash, and to be available around the world, therefore it relied on a hidden financial network across the Middle East, Pakistan and Europe. Evaluation of Risk to Australia Certain defects and deficiencies were observed in the emergency and security services of London after London Bombing, According to Audery (2004) the city was "at risk from a terrorist attack by Islamic extremist groups then either New York or Washington". According to Audery (2004), the reports issued by Control Risks Group claimed that, "Britains support for the United States during the war in Iraq has helped fuel the chances of a suicide attack in the British capital". The situation in Australia is very much the same; the government has emerged as strong supporter of American government in its war against terrorism, and has deployed its forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The international risk rating, which estimates the possibility of terrorist attack in Australia, was previously insignificant, but now the terrorist alarm is at low, therefore the country to vulnerable to terrorist attack. According to Audery (2004), "Australia in the last few years has moved from insignificant to low, and as a low category country its in the same category as the United Kingdom, and its important to stress that those countries are low", as compared to the possibilities of threat in other countries, the countries have experienced "civil unrest, civil war, ongoing terrorism and a complete breakdown in the security situation". The possibility of a deadly terrorist attack can never be ignored, as the traces of the extremist Islamic terrorist organization are evident. According to Anthony (2000), "Australias prominent support for the war in Iraq, the Australian administration has been fairly vociferous in its support of whats going on, their Australian troops are involved, and of course its Australias position geographically, as a prominent neighbor of the worlds most populist Islamic nation, Indonesia, and in the wake of the Bali bomb, Australia clearly has been on the terrorist map, and that must continue to be in peoples minds as theyre assessing the risk that Australia faces". The existence of the Al-Qaeda in Australian has not been officially traced or proven, "it has got to be a working assumption that clearly organizations and people and individuals inspired by the al-Qaeda movement are operating in Australia". The risk to Australia is regarded as low, the possibility of the attacks has been avoided through the extra security measures taken by the country, for example extra security was provided for the CHOGM meeting outside of Brisbane, and similar measures were taken for the Olympic Games, other major public events". References 1. Robyn L. Pangi, Arnold M. Howitt (2003). Countering Terrorism: Dimensions of Preparedness. MIT Press. pp. 154-158. 2. Anthony Kubaik (2000). Stages of Terror: Terrorism, Ideology, and Coercion as theatre History. Pp. 254-257. 3. Ami Pedahzur (2005). Suicide Terrorism. Polity Press. pp. 13-16. 4. Audrey Kurth Cronin, James M. Ludes (2004). Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy. I.B.Tauris Publication. Pp. 78-85. 5. Jason Burke (2004). Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam. Georgetown University Press. pp. 106-112. 6. David Martin Jones (2004). Globalization and the New Terror: The Asia Pacific Dimension. Edward Elgar Publishing. Pp. 98-103. 7. Derek McDougall, Peter Shearman (2005). Australian Security after 9/11: New and Old Agendas. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Pp. 54-58. Read More