Al-Qaeda's been around since the late
1980s. US intelligence had their eye on
them way before 9/11 because they'd been
linked to several attacks, including a
1992 bombing at a hotel in Yemen; a truck
bomb that blew up at the World Trade
Center; simultaneous attacks on American
embassies in Tanzania and Kenya; and the
bombing of a US Navy destroyer. So what
was driving al-Qaeda? Well, to understand
that we have to understand Osama bin
Laden.
He was born in Saudi Arabia and came
from a wealthy family that ran one of
the biggest construction companies in
the Middle East. In the 1980s bin Laden
went to Afghanistan to join the fight
against the Soviet occupation.
He styled himself as a devout Muslim who
had a duty to defend other Muslims from
a foreign occupying power.
And in 1988 he established al-Qaeda,
using his millions to fund and recruit
fighters for the cause. After the Soviets
withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, bin
Laden's mission shifted to focus on the
US. And the first Gulf War was the
catalyst.
Iraq had invaded Kuwait. The US came to
Kuwait's defence, and in the process
stationed thousands of US soldiers in
Saudi Arabia. And as with the Soviets in
Afghanistan, bin Laden saw the US as a
foreign power in Muslim lands.
The question was —
How would he do it?
Well, by 1996, the Taliban had seized
power in Afghanistan and it became clear
they would provide some kind of
sanctuary for bin Laden to build up his
group.
So the late ’90s was a time that al-Qaeda,
tucked away in Afghanistan, was able to
grow and plan attacks, including 9/11.
That so-called war on terror led to the
invasion of Afghanistan by the US and UK,
with several other countries joining a
bit later.
President Bush also used it to justify
the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 even
though Iraq had no connection to 9/11.
Over the next few years many top members
of al-Qaeda were killed, mostly by US
drone strikes. But al-Qaeda was still a
threat, and it was still able to attract
new recruits for lots of reasons. One of
them was the growth of the internet,
which helped them spread their message
further and faster. And it's been argued
that abuse committed by the US and
others in the name of the “war on terror”
also ended up pushing more people
towards them.
Things like the torture at the Abu
Ghraib prison in Iraq, and the indefinite
incarceration without charge or trial of
hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
In
the years after 9/11 there were more
plots and attacks by al-Qaeda, and those
they inspired, like the Bali bombing, the
Madrid train attack, London 7/7 and the
Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris.
But not all these happened under Osama
bin Laden. Because by 2011, he was dead.
After a 10-year manhunt, the US found
him and killed him in Pakistan.
The killing of Osama bin Laden was a big
blow to al-Qaeda. He was replaced by
Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian who had
been a top member of al-Qaeda since the
late ’90s. But he's no bin Laden.
There have been various reports of
al-Zawahiri being killed.
But most experts believe he's still
alive, hiding out somewhere in
Afghanistan with a $25-million
bounty on his head.
Al-Qaeda's leadership is under constant
pressure from a huge international
counterterrorism effort that's made it
harder for the group to plan attacks on
the same scale as 9/11.
But al-Qaeda has adapted.
So al-Qaeda now has a
network of affiliates around the world.
Aside from Afghanistan and Pakistan,
there are groups in different parts of
Africa. Like al-Shabab in Somalia, and
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in
Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. There's
another group in Mali, and in South Asia it's
been active in places like India and
Bangladesh. And in the Middle East, al-
Qaeda has taken advantage of the chaos
caused by wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen,
developing branches in all those
countries. The one in Iraq actually split
off and became ISIL.
But
are al-Qaeda about to get a boost?
The Taliban has taken over Afghanistan
again, and last time around they helped
al-Qaeda.
This time they say it'll be different.
But can the Taliban be trusted when it
comes to al-Qaeda?
Some people, though, would
argue that al-Qaeda's biggest weapon has
always been, and continues to be,
something more powerful and elusive than
men with guns.
But actions by the US and its
allies since 9/11 have also created a
ripple effect.
And now that the last US soldier has
left Afghanistan, the Taliban are
celebrating what they see as a victory
in that war.
And so, it would seem, are al-Qaeda.
Twenty years
after 9/11, the world has changed and al-
Qaeda has changed. But after all this
time, the question of what al-Qaeda might
do next is probably as important as it
ever was.
If you want to know more about what's
been going on in Afghanistan, check out
our recent episode on the fall of Kabul.
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