Islam

THE LOOMING TOWER AL-QAEDA AND THE ROAD TO 9/11 CH. 9 THE SILICON VALLEY The Blind Sheikh His followers, living in a neighborhood known as Little Egypt in Jersey City, conspired to bring the World Trade Center towers down. He issued a fatwa in America that permitted his followers to rob banks and kill Jews. He called on Muslims to assail the West, ?cut the transportation of their countries, tear it apart, destroy their economy, burn their companies, eliminate their interests, sink their ships, shoot down their planes, kill them on the sea, air, or land.? bin Laden was financially backing his efforts. Ramzi Yousef Bombed the WTC in 1993 He was the first Islamist terrorist to attack the American homeland

THE LOOMING TOWER AL-QAEDA AND THE ROAD TO 9/11 CH. 7 RETURN OF THE HERO The Muttawa Government subsidized religious vigilantes Their goal was to stamp out sinfulness and heresy They were officially known as ?representatives of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice? They became the models for the Taliban in Afghanistan The Hero bin Laden assumed the role of the hero who could voice a longing for change and provide a focus for the rage of the young people. He offered a conventional, Muslim Brothers critique of the plight of the Arab World: The West, particularly the U.S. was responsible for the humiliating failure of the Arabs to succeed. After describing the American/Vietnam conflict he stated: ?They won?t stop until we do jihad against them.?

THE LOOMING TOWER AL-QAEDA AND THE ROAD TO 9/11 PROLOGUE - CHAPTER 1 1990?s Dan Coleman- FBI Middle Eastern Terrorism Squad FBI- regarded terrorism as a nuisance, not a real threat 1993- FBI first heard of a ?Saudi Prince? who was supporting a cell of radical Islamists who were planning to blow up NY landmarks 1990?s 1996- Dan Coleman uses CIA?s 35 volumes of information to open an intelligence case on the ?Islamist Financier,? bin Laden, ?in case he turned out to be something more than that? bin Laden August 1996- declares war on America (from a cave in Afghanistan) Reason: the continued presence of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia five years after the first Gulf War bin Laden

THE LOOMING TOWERAL-QAEDA AND THE ROAD TO 9/11 CH. 10 PARADISE LOST Training for terrorism Young men from all over came to Khartoum to train for al-Qaeda. Their motivations varied, but they had in common a belief that Islam (pure and primitive, unmitigated by modernity and uncompromised by politics) would cure the wounds that socialism or Arab nationalism had failed to heal. bin Laden?s main task was to direct them toward a common enemy. ?America the weak? bin Laden told the al-Qaeda recruits that though America appeared so mighty, it was actually weak and cowardly. For all its wealth and resources, America lacks conviction. Tall tales Al-Qaeda was not actually responsible for many of the feats that bin Laden gave them credit for.