A Concise 20th Century Al-Qaeda
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Material Summarized from Wikipedia' s Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in Peshawar, Pakistan,[20] at some point between August 1988[21] and late 1989,[22] with its origins being traceable to the Soviet War in Afghanistan.[23] It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army[24] and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad and a strict interpretation of sharia law. Al-Qaeda has carried out many attacks on non-Sunni Muslims,[25] non-Muslims,[26][27] and other targets it considers kafir.[28
Al-Qaeda has attacked civilian and military targets including the September 11 attacks, 1998 U.S. embassy bombings and the 2002 Bali bombings. The U.S. government responded to the September 11 attacks by launching the War on Terror. With the loss of key leaders, culminating in the death of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda's operations have devolved from actions that were controlled from the top-down, to actions by franchise associated groups, to actions of lone wolf operators.
Characteristic techniques employed by al-Qaeda include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different targets.[29] Al-Qaeda ideologues envision a complete break from all foreign influences in Muslim countries, and the creation of a new world-wide Islamic caliphate.[3][31][32] Among the beliefs ascribed to Al-Qaeda members is the conviction that a Christian–Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy Islam.[33] As Salafist jihadists, they believe that the killing of civilians is religiously sanctioned, and they ignore any aspect of religious scripture which might be interpreted as forbidding the murder of civilians and internecine fighting.[9][34] Al-Qaeda also opposes man-made laws, and wants to replace them with a strict form of sharia law.[35]
Al-Qaeda is also responsible for instigating sectarian violence among Muslims.[36] , is intolerant of non-Sunni branches of Islam, denounces them by means of excommunications called "takfir" and regards liberal Muslims, Shias, Sufis and other sects as heretics and have attacked their mosques and gatherings.[37]
Some financing for al-Qaeda in the 1990s came from the personal wealth of Osama bin Laden.[64] and some in 2001 possibly comong from Jamaa Al-Islamiyya and Islamic Jihad, both associated with Afghan-based Egyptians.[65] Other sources of income in 2001 included the heroin trade and donations from supporters in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries.[64] A WikiLeaks released memo from the United States Secretary of State sent in 2009 asserted that the primary source of funding of Sunni terrorist groups worldwide was Saudi Arabia.[66]