The Beginning of Al Qaeda

The Beginning of Al-Qaeda 

Propoganda Like These Images Communicate a Disdain for Foreign Forces                            

During the decade of Soviet military involvement in Afghanistan, 5.5 million people, a third of the pre-war population, fled and another 2 million were internally displaced. Here, a despondent woman and her child sit amidst the rubble of a ruined village as a Soviet bomb closes in from above. 

Mujahideen poster recruiting fighters to defend against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 1982.

The two-headed communist in this cartoon has been speared by a green flag of jihad. The two heads, labeled "Khalq" (people) and "Parcham" (banner) represent the two wings of the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan

The Salang Tunnel, which connects northern and southern Afghanistan, was the lifeline of the Soviet effort in Afghanistan, transporting the vast majority of military equipment and personnel used in the war. Because of its importance, it was subject to frequent attacks by Mujahideen.

Al Qaeda's ForeFathers

The 9/11 terrorist attack was a bombshell to many Americans. The damages from the terrorist attack shocked the whole world. Many Americans wanted answers after this tragic event. “Who did this and why? To find that answer, we need to go back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was one of the reasons why the Soviet Union fell apart. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan the American government saw this as an opportunity to severely weaken the Soviet Union. The CIA would go on to fund the Mujahideen. They were oblivious to the fact that they had just funded a terrorist organization. After the Soviet Union left Afghanistan the Mujahideen would usurp the Communist puppet government in a civil war which would leave the puppet government in shambles. This series of unfortunate events caused countless casualties many of them being civilians. The war left many veterans and orphans and more than two million civilians died mostly women and children. 

"What really disturbed the Soviets was that, beginning in March 1979, portions of the Afghan military started to revolt. In March 1979 there was a major uprising by the garrison in Herat led by Major Ismail Khan and Major Allauddin Khan, probably with some assistance from Iran (this was just one month after the Iranian revolution). In that uprising, Soviet advisers in Herat were killed as well as many of their families and some civilians from the Eastern Bloc, and it was put down with great difficulty.

Subsequently, throughout the rest of the year, there were uprisings in virtually every Afghan military garrison in the country, including in the Bala Hisar, the main garrison in Kabul itself in August 1979" -Barnett Rubin

Al-Qaeda's Transformation 

​Behind the scenes, the Mujahideen would dissipate and many of its members would turn to Al Qaeda a logistical group that used US assets to supply and train the Mujahideen.  Al Qaeda consisted of Osama Bin Laden, Mujahideen veterans, and Muslim suppliers or fighters found through the Muslim world. High off the spoils of victory Osama would direct his eyes to another target, the USA.  Osama disliked the USA for many reasons but all of these reasons came to one central thing the US backing "atrocities"  to Muslim minorities in different countries Chechenya Israel etc. Al Qaeda's headquarters would bounce around but would eventually end up in Afghanistan. The Islamic group's main objective was to get rid of "corrupt" and foreign "regimes." Al Qaeda piggybacked off of multiple militant Islamic Organizations, notably the Taliban. Al Qaeda trained these groups using paramilitary and guerrilla tactics. Leaders of these militant groups called upon jihad against the United States. Al Qaeda's agents planned and attacked US embassies and engaged in the suicide bombing of the USS Cole. 

9/11
CIA and FBI