from the book

1
Remembering September 11, 2001

• from the book
• Understanding September 11, 2001
• by Mitch Frank, Time magazine reporter

2
Questions Weve All Had

• Who were the hijackers?
• What is the Al Qaeda?
• What is Islam?
• Why does the Middle East matter to us?
• Why did we go after Afghanistan?
• Who is Osama Bin Laden?

3
Who were the hijackers?

• Nineteen men from various Middle Eastern
  countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United
  Arab Emirates, and possibly others.
• All a part of an organization called Al Qaeda led
  by Osama Bin Laden.
• They were not known terrorists. Family and
  friends were as shocked as we were.

4
What is the Al Qaeda?

• Believe to be in a holy fight against evil
  commanded by God.
• International terrorist organization
• Members in 60 different countries
• Effort to unite Muslims in the world
• Goal to drive out western (U.S.) influence from
  Middle Eastern nations.
• Goal to overthrow any government in a Muslim
  country that does rule by Islaamic principles.
• Goal to form a new Muslim empire (as in the 7th
  century in the Middle East).

5
What has the Al Qaeda done?

• 1998 U.S. embassies in Kenya and Uganda
• 1999 planned attacks on L.A. International
  Airport and hotels in Jordan (planners caught
  before attacks)
• 2000 USS Cole (U.S. naval ship in Yemen

6
IRAQ
KUWAIT
SAUDI ARABIA
YEMEN
SUDAN
UGANDA
KENYA
7
What is Islam?

• One of the worlds largest religions more than
  one billion believers.
• Largest Muslim populations in Indonesia, India,
  and Pakistan. Second largest religion in France.
• Islam means surrender to God.
• Originated in the 7th century Muhammed believed
  he was following footsteps of Moses and Jesus as
  a prophet bringing a divine message to the
  world.

8
MIDDLE EAST
AFGHANISTAN
9
What is Islam?

• Not all Muslims believe in the exact same
  teachings Sunnis, Shiites, Wahhabbis, Sufis
• Some practice peace and tolerance while others
  justify violence against people of different
  faiths.
• Major conflict among Muslims how much control
  Islam should have over government, law, and daily
  life.

10
Why does the Middle East matter to us?

• Religion center of the three major religions of
  the world Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
  holy ground
• Economy most of worlds oil supply
• Politics Middle Eastern countries are unstable
  making the people unhappy and vulnerable to
  follow leaders like Osama Bin Laden. (Remember
  unstable, poor Germans easily followed Hitler.)

11
Why did we go after Afghanistan?

• Recent history
• Russia wars with Afghanistan for ten years, 1979
  1989 to control the country and work its way
  closer to the major oil fields in the Middle
  East.
• Arab Afghans fought against communist Russia,
  an atheist government. They feared their
  religion would be taken from them.
• U.S. aided Afghanistan with weapons and money
  during the war.

12
Why did we go after Afghanistan?

• Young Muslim fighters gathered in Afghanistan
  from Saudi Arabia to successfully beat the
  superpower of Russia.
• Without soviet rule, Afghanistan was up for grabs
  among various Muslim groups. Fighting continues,
  but U.S. stops aid. Afghans felt abandoned by
  U.S. Hatred begins. Al Qaeda formed by Saudi
  Arabian Afghan, Osama Bin Laden.
• Afghanistan was home to Al Qaeda for training and
  planning.

13
Who is Osama Bin Laden?

• Son of millionaire founder of Saudi bin Laden
  Group, an enormous construction company
  renovating Muslim holy cities of Medina and
  Mecca.
• Father died when Osama was 10 years old leaving
  him 80 million which grew to 250 million by the
  time he was an adult.
• 1979 earned Saudi unversity degree in civil
  engineering to work for his company

14
Who is Osama Bin Laden?

• Preferred studying Islam under Dr. Azzam
• Azzam and bin Laden left Saudi Arabia to fight in
  Afghanistan against Russia.
• High social standings made bin Laden a valuable
  recruiter of soldiers around the world.
• His efforts to defeat Russia made him believe he
  could defeat America whom he blamed for most
  problems in Middle East.

15
Who is Osama Bin Laden?

• Sadaam Husseins invasion into Kuwait also
  threatened Saudi Arabia.
• Osama offered to bring Al Qaeda to defend his
  homeland. King Fahd refused his help in favor of
  U.S. and European aid.
• After Gulf War, bin Laden spoke out against his
  king. Osama bin Laden was forced to leave his
  own country and fled to Sudan, Africa where an
  Arab Afghan friend was in power.

16
Who is Osama Bin Laden?

• Under President Clinton, U.S. was providing
  Project Hope to Sudan, but after 18 soldiers were
  killed in 1993, America withdrew.
• Osama bin Laden saw this as a sign of weakness
  and his vision to defeat America became more
  intense.
• He began to recruit and train as he had done
  during the war in Afghanistan.