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Religious-based terrorism gets a lot of attention in today’s world, and it is true that about one-half of the world’s terrorist groups are religiously motivated. Islamic groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State pose the greatest threats to U.S. national security today, but at various times in history the most dangerous religious-based groups have included Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Buddhists, and many others. Atheist and secular groups have shown to be just as dangerous.

It is important to remember than no matter how a group represents itself or what it purports its beliefs to be, power and politics are the true motivators behind terrorism. Religious belief is merely the reasoning and justification employed by these terrorists. These individuals desire nothing more than the power to define the environment in which others will live.

 

 

When bin Laden’s organization merged with the Egyptian Jihad in 1998, it gained the expertise of Ayman al-Zawahiri, a medical doctor who possessed a great knowledge of and interest in all types of WMDs. Thereafter, the organization relocated to Afghanistan, where thousands of extremists attended basic training courses in chemical, biological, and radiological weapons organized by al-Zawahiri. He recruited Pakistani biologist Rauf Ahmed to develop the group’s biological weapons program and provided him with a laboratory. Another al-Qaeda recruit, chemical engineer Abdel Aziz al-Masri, began conducting nuclear-related explosive experiments.

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Al-Qaeda

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