Monday, September 20, 2010

Who is Bin Laden?


Who is Osama Bin Laden?


Bin Laden is the seventh son of fifty brothers and sisters, his parents were Syrian. Bin Ladens father was a devoted Muslim and made sure his sons were devoted to Islam. Bin Laden lost his father at the age of thirteen. Bin Laden married at 17 to a relative of his family. Bin Ladens first encounter in Afghanistan was during the Soviet war in which he was part of a "jihad" which means "the holy war." He wanted to protect Afghanistan which was an Islamic Muslim country from the Soviets. Once the Soviet invasion was over he started Al Qaeda which means "the base." The name Al Qaeda came about because Bin Laden made bases in Afghanistan to train  men for the "Jihad" army he was building. Bin Laden and his family had a construction company and thats how he funded Al Qaeda. 





Attacks which Bin Laden plotted:

1993 bombing of the World Trade Center



1995 truck bombing of a Saudi National Guard training center


1998 explosions at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania


2001 attacks on the World Trade Centers.




Who are the Taliban?

In 1996 the Taliban formed under Mullah Omer who was the leader and founder. They were against the Afghan government, and they support Al Qaeda. The Taliban met with Al Qaeda to receive Bin Ladens support. When the Taliban formed they were disorganized and Bin Laden landed his support by assisting the Taliban with educating them, and training them.  

The Taliban were also known as the “students of Islamic knowledge movement." They came to power during Afghanistan's civil war. They had policies including the treatment of women, and supporters of terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda.
From 1996-2001 the Taliban ruled over Afghanistan and in 2001 once the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred the United States issued a war against terrorism. The U.S. put pressure against the Taliban to give up where Bin Laden was hiding and the location of Al Qaeda training camps, in which the Taliban refused. By December U.S. troops defeated the majority of the Taliban rule. But today the Taliban still active in Afghanistan with the help of Al Qaeda. 

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2 comments:

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  2. In my eyes the patriot act is rather scary. Just to think that for any reason the United States government can tap into your phone calls and the rest of your life as they deem necessary and without a search warrant is a violation of our rights. Granted it is a very subjective topic, seeing that if it is a matter of life and death concerning terrorism, some may view it as necessary. I myself feel this way to a certain extent, but truthfully if there is such a need to invade ones privacy to this extent they should have probable cause for a search warrant beforehand. This is a prime example of how our government has grown beyond the needs of the people. The 4th and 5th amendments were part of what founded our nation and our criminal justice system, and just because the government sees these founding regulations unfit for the current situation they toss them aside. It makes you think just what else they are up to that is violating our rights.

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