Al Queda Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Al Queda - Research Paper Example in Laden, in May 2011 may complicate the future of the organization, it remains as one of the most dreaded terrorist group in the world with potential capacity of planning, coordinating, and executing terrorist activities in the world (Bergen, 2011). This paper will discuss the al-Qaeda terrorist group, its brief history, where it is located, what kind of activities they do, how they fund their activities, and what kind of attacks they do. The history of al-Qaeda can be traced to the uprising against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. During this uprising, there were thousands of volunteers from across the Middle East who came as mujahidin to Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda grew to be a more formidable organization in mid- 1980s; Osama bin Laden was the prime financier of the organization and he oversaw recruiting of Muslim from mosques across the world (Chaliand and Blin, 2007). The organization was able to bring together a mujahidin that numbered in thousands and was important in defeating Soviet forces against occupying Afghanistan. After successfully defeating the Soviets and prompting their withdrawal from Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia, his native land. However, he was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1991 because of his anti-government activities. This expulsion was instrumental to the rise of al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden established al-Qaeda’s headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan (Bale, 2006). The group orchestrated terrorist attacks against American interests and servicemen in Somalia. Bin Laden issued a declaration of war against the United States in August 1996. The organization forged alliances with other radical groups with the view of bolstering its capacity to fight America’s interests and the Jews. Since then, al-Qaeda operates as a network that is comprised of radical Sunni Muslim movement, stateless and multinational army. It calls for a strict sharia law interpretation and global Jihad (Atwan, 2006). It is important to note that while