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Examination of a Terrorist Group: Al-Qaeda
Helms School of Government, Liberty University
HLSC 610: Understanding Terrorism and Homeland Security
Dr. Melvin Richards
July 31, 2022
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Examination of a Terrorist Group: Al-Qaeda
Introduction
Al-Qaeda is known to be one of the largest and deadliest terrorist organizations and is
responsible for the death of many innocent lives. Its network of affiliate terrorist groups leaves
nations worldwide vulnerable to international and domestic terrorist attacks. The mere mention
of Al-Qaeda invokes images of power, war, and death. Hence, to gain a deeper understanding of
Al-Qaeda, this paper will present an overview of the organization, its history, ideology,
organizational structure, geographic makeup, and affiliates. This paper will also discuss the
tactics, behaviors, and methodologies used by this terrorist organization to provide context and
evidence of its violent capabilities.
The Origins of Al-Qaeda
History & Overview of Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda, a broad-based militant Islamist organization, was founded in late 1988 by
Osama bin Laden (Thomas, 2022; also see Britannica, 2022). The organizations consisted of
exiled Islamic revivalist forces from the Arab nation and “other foreign veterans of the Afghan
insurgency against the Soviet Union” (Thomas, 2022, p. 1). The organization, headquartered in
Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan, was established to support Islamic causes in conflicts
worldwide and opposed non-Islamic governments through violent means. Saudi Arabia’s
decision to host U.S. troops after the Gulf War in 1991 led the leadership of Al-Qaeda, including
Osama bin Laden to relocate to Sudan (Thomas, 2022; PBS, n.d.). The organization did not
return to Afghanistan until the Taliban took power and offered to harbor members of Al-Qaeda
and other armed Islamists in 1996 but continued to maintain its satellite offices in various parts
of the world (Thomas, 2022; PBS, n.d.). Al-Qaeda’s organizational growth continued to increase
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as the Islamic Group, or “el Gamaa Islamia,” Egypt’s Islamic Jihad, and several other militant
Islamist organizations merged with Al-Qaeda (Britannica, 2022; also see PBS, n.d.).
Al-Qaeda declared a holy war and continued to wreak havoc against the United States
and its allies even before the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks. For example, Thomas (2022)
asserts that Al-Qaeda was responsible for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania, which led the United States to declare Al-Qaeda as a foreign terrorist organization. In
2000, Al-Qaeda launched an attack on the USS warship Cole in Yemen (Thomas, 2022). Then,
on September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda staged an attack on the United States
that shook nations worldwide (Thomas, 2022). Al-Qaeda had 19 militants carry out these suicide
attacks by hijacking four airplanes, two of which were flown directly into the twin towers of the
World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon, and the last plane crashed on a field in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania (History.com Editors, 2010/2021). This single catastrophic event took
the lives of approximately 3,000 people. In the subsequent years following 9/11, Al-Qaeda
masterminded more terrorist attacks on allies of the United States.
Shortly after 9/11, “Operation Enduring Freedom, an American-led international effort to
oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network [was
launched]” (History.com Editors, 2010/2021, para. 27). Osama bin Laden remained in hiding
until the United States forces tracked and killed him in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011
(History.com Editors, 2010/2021). The other terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks
were imprisoned, killed, or have remained in hiding. The following month, Al-Qaeda appointed
Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, a long-serving deputy of the late Osama bin Laden as the organization’s
leader (Britannica, 2022). Some reports say that the U.S. counter-terrorism pressures have
weakened the Al-Qaeda organization’s efforts to have a unified movement and strike again. The
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organization and its affiliates have since concentrated on “local issues in their respective area of
operation, where they threaten local U.S. personnel, interests, and partners” (Thomas, 2022, p.
1).
Ideology
According to Burke (2004), Al Qaeda is “less an organization than an ideology; […]
[wherein], Qaeda can be translated as a ‘base of operation’ or ‘foundation’” (p. 18). The
fundamental tenets of Al-Qaeda’s ideologies draw from two primary sources—Wahhabism and
Sayyid Qutb’s ideas. Wahhabism, a revivalist movement named after its founder, Mohammad ibn
Abd al-Wahhab, preaches against the worship of false idols and denounces all those who have
abandoned the teachings of the Quran (Haykel, 2016; Haynes, 2005). Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian
ideological thinker, a prominent Islamist, and a Muslim Brotherhood member, strongly
influenced Al-Qaeda’s leaders. Sayyid Qutb declared that “Western civilization is the enemy of
Islam; denounced leaders of Muslim nations for not following Islam closely enough; and sought
to spread the belief among Sunni Muslims that it was their duty to undertake jihad to defend and
purify Islam” (Haynes, 2005, p. 183).
As mentioned earlier, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri (al-Zawahiri) was Osama bin Laden’s
deputy, Al-Qaeda’s chief ideologue, and the man responsible for branching the Al-Qaeda
organization into an international network (Haynes, 2005). Although Osama bin Laden first
declared a holy war against the “Jews and Crusaders,” it was al-Zawahiri who persuaded Osama
bin Laden to refocus Al-Qaeda’s attention toward the United States and cease spreading
revolution in the Muslim world (Haynes, 2005). Haynes (2005) asserts that this was “a pivotal
moment in the development of Al-Qaeda’s ideology as it gave a concrete set of goals in relation
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to contemporary issues which could be justified and pursued by reference to the organization’s
ideological referents: Wahhabism and the ideas of Sayyid Qutb” (p. 184).
According to PBS (n.d.), Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda’s members violently opposed
the United States for the following primary reasons:
First, the United States was regarded as an “infidel” because it was not governed
in a manner consistent with the group’s extremist interpretation of Islam. Second,
the United States was viewed as providing essential support for other “infidel”
governments and institutions, particularly the governments of Saudi Arabia and
Egypt, the nation of Israel, and the United Nations organization, which were
regarded as enemies of the group. Third, Al-Qaeda opposed the involvement of
the United States armed forces in the Gulf War in 1991 and Operation Restore
Hope in Somalia in 1992 and 1993. In particular, Al-Qaeda opposed the continued
presence of American military forces in Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere on the Saudi
Arabian Peninsula) following the Gulf War. Fourth, Al-Qaeda opposed the United
States Government because of the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of persons
belonging to Al-Qaeda, its affiliated terrorist groups, or those with whom it
worked. (para. 2)
Hence, because of all this animosity toward the United States, Osama bin Laden orchestrated
violent attacks through Al-Qaeda and its affiliated terrorist organizations.
Organizational Structure, Geographic Makeup, and Affiliates
Al-Qaeda, as its name implies, is the base of operations and has adopted a command and
control or hierarchical organizational structure. As a central terrorist hub, Al-Qaeda has a shura
or consultation council that considers, discusses, and approves all major terrorist operations or
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attacks. Hoffman (2006), as cited in Santhana Dass (2021), describes Al-Qaeda’s organizational
structure into four different dimensions:
(1) Al-Qaeda Central, comprising remnants of the pre-9/11 Al-Qaeda
organization, which includes the organization’s central leadership and shura
council; (2) Al-Qaeda Affiliates and Associates, comprising formally established
insurgent or terrorist groups who have benefited from training and assistance from
Al-Qaeda Central; (3) Al-Qaeda Locals comprising of individuals/groups who
have had some previous links to Al-Qaeda; and (4) Al-Qaeda Network which
comprises of homegrown radicals who have no direct link to Al-Qaeda but who
may be inspired to carry out an attack in its name. (p. 3)
Prior to Al-Qaeda expanding its network, the organization was relatively small and
geographically contained in Afghanistan, which attracted recruits and forged links among
preexisting Islamic military groups. Eventually, Al-Qaeda expanded its network to include
terrorist organizations, such as the “Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Group also known as ‘el
Gamaa Islamia,’ and other jihad groups in Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Eritrea,
Djibouti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Albania, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, the
Philippines, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and the Kashmiri region of India and the Chechnyan region
of Russia” (PBS, n.d., para. 4). In addition, Al-Qaeda also maintained cells in Kenya, Tanzania,
the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Malaysia, and the United States to facilitates its terrorist
activities (PBS, n.d.).
Some reports have suggested that today, Al-Qaeda functions like a venture capital firm—
providing financial support, contacts, expert advice, inspiration, and strategic vision to affiliate
groups and individuals (Burke, 2004). However, it has since left operational responsibilities to
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regional affiliates as Al-Qaeda Central, and its leadership has shifted away from plotting and
directly supervising attacks (Thomas, 2022). Although Al-Qaeda’s original command and control
structure may no longer exist today, scholars have argued that the Al-Qaeda worldview continues
to grow stronger daily. Al-Qaeda, an ideology more than an organization, “has evolved into a
branch name or franchise, ineluctably linked with modern Islamic militancy’s various and
complex manifestations” (Haynes, 2005, p. 189).
Tactics, Behaviors, and Methodologies
Members of Al-Qaeda, including its affiliates, have pledged an oath of allegiance to
Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and its ideologies (PBS, n.d.). Those suspected as enemies of Al-
Qaeda were targeted and killed (PBS, n.d.). Al-Qaeda was a part of the Arab movement that
emerged from the failures and brutalities of Arab politics that were often described as
unaccountable, repressive, and corrupt (Haykel, 2016). According to Haykel (2016), this
movement “offered up a fantasy vision of renewed power and glory that claims to reproduce the
early history of Muslims, […] a time when Islamic empires of the Umayyads and the Abbasids
reigned supreme over huge swathes of the globe” (p. 72). Hence, with Al-Qaeda’s advocacy,
several Islamic revivalist forces used catchy slogans like “Islam is the solution” and
“Sovereignty belongs to God” to attract, persuade, and recruit like-minded supporters to help
“organize an armed struggle or jihad as a means to effect political change” (Haykel, 2016, p. 73).
Al-Qaeda supports its operations through propaganda, recruiting, training, and financing
(McEntire, 2018). According to PBS (n.d.), Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda organization
have “sponsored, managed, and financially supported training camps in Afghanistan” (para. 7).
These training camps were used to teach how to use firearms, explosives, chemical weapons, and
other weapons of mass destruction (PBS, n.d). In addition, these training camps were also used
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to train others in security and counterintelligence methods, travel guidance or tactics to avoid
detection by security officers, and how to monitor media reporting of its operations to gauge the
public’s reaction to their terrorist activities (PBS, n.d).
With the advancement of technology, Al-Qaeda has used the internet and the media as a
force multiplier to spread its toxic message, recruit, and heighten the impact of its terroristic
attacks. In addition, Al-Qaeda has also utilized the internet for terrorist financing because it
“offers a broad reach, timely efficiency, anonymity, and security for both donors and recipients”
(Jacobson, 2010, p. 353). Several reports on Al-Qaeda’s operations have implicated that Al-
Qaeda and its affiliates have continued to diversify their sources of money to avoid detection.
Osama bin Laden has helped finance most of Al-Qaeda’s activities, including setting up dual-use
front companies for developing nuclear and biological weapons, laundering money, credit card
fraud, petty theft, charities, and non-government organization donations (“Al-Qaeda operations,”
2003; Santhana Dass, 2021). It is essential to note that Al-Qaeda’s terrorist acts do not require
large sums of money; thus, their financial trails are not always easy to track.
Biblical Perspective on Terrorism
According to Kainz (1999), “terrorism often draws justification from some ideal,
religious and/or political, that seems so overarchingly important that it seems to justify the
suspension of all conflicting moral norms; it then becomes a paramount norm, so that, at times,
indiscriminate killing is ‘justified’ in terms of the attainment of some transcendental or higher
good” (p. 41). Al-Qaeda encouraged Muslims to kill non-Islamic rulers in the Sunni Muslim
Arab world and those who allied with them as they were viewed as helpers of Satan (Haynes,
2005). The book of Ecclesiastes 8:8-9 proclaims that “no man has [the] power to retain the spirit
or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver
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those who are given to it. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the
sun, when man had power over man to his hurt” (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016).
This scripture reviews that throughout history, people have used terror tactics to oppress others,
and in response to oppression, others have used terrorism to fight back.
Conclusion
Al-Qaeda, following the death of its founder Osama bin Laden, has become more of an
ideology than it is an organization. Osama bin Landen was a propagandist, and the Al-Qaeda
worldview has attracted more supporters worldwide. He viewed that attacking the United States
would radicalize the Muslim population worldwide. The carefully orchestrated “attacks on 9/11
represent the pinnacle of Al-Qaeda’s influence; […] it illustrated that America could be attacked
on its own territory, using its own culture and products against it” (Haykel, 2016, p.75).
Furthermore, although the Al-Qaeda organization has not received the same amount of publicity
today as it did during its peak, there is no doubt that it has influenced many contemporary
terrorist organizations.
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