Rise of AQ by Margot McAuliffe '24

Afghanistan

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:01:37 UTC

1979- Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Led UBL to travel to Afghanistan to fight the Jihad, and join the Mujahideen. Brings financial and construction knowledge to the Mujahideen. UBL establishes connections with future Al-Qaeda leaders all around the world.

Waras, Afghanistan

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:06:22 UTC

1989 - Soviet Union pulls troops out of Afghanistan, and consequently falls apart. Taught UBL and the mujahideen that jihadist action using guerrilla warfare tactics can defeat a superpower. This confidence from success leads UBL to create AQ, a international organization with the purpose of using terrorism to attack enemies of Islam.

Aden, Yemen

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:13:15 UTC

1992- AQ operatives where caught attempting to launch rockets at U.S. military planes. This is the first known attempted attack of AQ. Brings attention to AQ as a threat to the USG.

Pakistan

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:17:37 UTC

1989 - Azzam, one of UBL's colleagues that helped him establish AQ, was killed in a car bombing. UBL becomes the sole leader of AQ.

New York, NY

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:19:33 UTC

1993- A truck bombing exploded in a parking garage of the World Trade Center. Killing six and injuring over a thousand. First attack on US soil. Was also later revealed as an attempt to topple the north tower taking down the south tower as it fell. USG becomes even more eager to find UBL and stop him.

Sudan

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:21:03 UTC

1991 - UBL is expelled from Saudi because he expressed rage against the US government for having US troops in Saudi and moves to Sudan. Here, UBL creates training camps and begins to form AQ into a legitimate organization. This puts AQ on the radar of the USG.

Saudi Arabia

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:26:35 UTC

1994- Saudi government strips UBL of his citizenship. Due to remarks about the USG. During this time Ramiz Yousef was plotting to assassinate Bill Clinton and the Pope. More US interest pulled by AQ.

Mogadishu, Somalia

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:27:41 UTC

1993 - Black Hawk Down. A US military unit on a peacekeeping mission got shot down by a group of Somali terrorists. The USG pulls all troops out of Somalia which teaches UBL and AQ that if you use enough force, the US will withdraw. UBL took credit for training the terrorists, but at the time the USG had no valid means to arrest or try him, and therefore the CIA said they were unable to make a snatch.

Southeast Asia

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:32:15 UTC

1994 - Ramzi Yousef developed Oplan Bojinka an attempt to blow up 10 airplanes en-route to the US. A bomb was put in an airplane in Tokyo.

Sudan

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:36:38 UTC

1996- Sudan under pressure by the US, Egypt, and Saudi to expel UBL, he then returned to Afghanistan along with some followers and family. Establishing training camps that were protected by the Taliban Regime. He then announces a "Declaration of War against the Americans occupying the land of the two holly places." Because of persistent US soldiers in Saudi. He portrayed the US as an invading enemy and declared it the duty of all Muslims to resist and expel it from the Middle East.

Khobar Towers, Dhahran Saudi Arabia

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:37:55 UTC

1996 - Attack on the Khobar Towers killed US military personnel. UBL takes the attacks sole killing of US citizens and no Saudis as a sign for confidence.

Afghanistan

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:41:19 UTC

1997- UBL gave an interview to CNN saying that America must pay for its support of Israel. UBL is not afraid of the USG ability to capture him. He is a real threat to the US.

Afghanistan

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:46:23 UTC

1998 - AQ joins with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad to form the International Front for Fighting Jews and Crusaders. UBL declares that it is the duty of all muslims to "kill Americans anytime, anywhere".

Jordanian

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:46:59 UTC

1999- 20 supposed AQ operatives arrested who where planning to bomb three American tourist attractions. Shows the USG that US citizens are not safe world wide.

Tanzania

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:47:08 UTC

1998 - US embassy is attacked. Showed the global reach of AQ. This attack represents UBL's effort to attack Americans on foreign soil, where they has less rights to make moves, and less surveillance/intelligence.

Kenya

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:47:20 UTC

1998 - US embassy is attacked in Nairobi - the US officially states, "we are at war". Later it is discovered that UBL had been planning the attacks since 1993. This event along with other consequential ones shifts the US' view on UBL from a criminal investigation to a military attack. (Operation Infinite Reach)

Canada

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:50:17 UTC

1999- Ahmed Ressam was arrested trying to cross the US Canada boarder with bomb making materials in the trunk of his car. He later revealed that he was planning to bomb the airport in the name of AQ.

Puerto de Adén, South Arabia, Aden, Yemen

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-02 00:52:31 UTC

January 2000 - AQ operatives attempted to blow up a U.S Naval Ship called the USS The Sullivans. The attempt failed because the boat sank, but the resources survived and were used in a latter attack.

Port of Aden

mmcauliffe24_1 — 2023-11-02 00:53:05 UTC

October 12, 2000 - a group of AQ members execute a suicide bombing on the USS Cole, operatives pulled the boat almost right next to the ship, and killed 17 U.S. Sailors. This event made it clear to the US that war should have been the response to UBL and AQ a long time ago.

Afghanistan

jcramer241_1 — 2023-11-06 15:07:09 UTC

September 9, 2001 - Leader of the Northern Alliance and ally of the US is killed in Afghanistan. This event is used as deterrence for suspicion the pending attack on Sep 11.