Al-Qaedas Bulls-Eye: the United States of America

By Kalli Kiefer

The terrorist group known as al-Qaeda has attacked the United States by crashing a plane into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, killing thousands of people, and scarring the lives of many. Many brave, heroic, and unfortunate people lost their lives to the terrible terrorist attacks from either the collapsing buildings, or the bursting flames that enraged the World Trade Center. This shook the whole world, but especially Americas spirit of security, justice, and freedom. The question is: Why is al-Qaeda targeting the United States? The answer is, that they target the United States because Western Civilization has an influence on the Middle East; the United States placed their army in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, and the United States became an ally of Israel. Western Civilization has influence the Middle East with their culture, religion, and idea of democracy. Firstly, the United States has influenced the Middle Easts music, art, cuisine, and social technology. In fact, by the end of 2012, there will be 3.2 million Facebook users in Saudi Arabia. (Digital use in Saudi Arabia) As Facebook is American software, the influence of America has pushed the new computer technology through the location barrier, and into the lives of many Saudi Arabians. As well as technology advancing in the Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, the religion is changing too. Secondly, many people are diverting to Christian in the Middle East because of the influence American religion is having on their lives. For example, 18% of Egypts population is Christian, and still growing. (The Worlds Growing Religions) So, because the majority of the US population is Christian, the idea of freely choosing a religion influenced the Middle East massively. Religion is a main part of life, so if you make the diversion, there is also spirit to change other important matters, including the government. Lastly, democracy is spreading quickly throughout the Middle East. There have been protests for freedom conquering the land. To sum it up, many changes have been made for the better because of the United States and their positive influence on the Middle East. The United States placed their army in Saudi Arabia (home of Osama bin Laden) during the Gulf War, and didnt withdraw it until 2003. So, to prepare for the Gulf War, the US placed troops in Saudi Arabia. However, after the war, they still remained in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, since Saudi Arabia houses Mecca and Medina (the holiest sites in Islam), many Muslims were upset at the permanent military presence. (US Military in Saudi Arabia) Actually, this was a main motivation for the 9/11 attacks. This event has caused many other

attacks, too. For example, The date of the 1998 United States embassy bombings was eight years to the day (August 7) that American troops were sent to Saudi Arabia. (US Military in Saudi Arabia) Also, there have been many debates about this problem within the Middle Eastern community. Such as, 52% of Saudis agreed that removing military bases from Saudi Arabia would significantly improve their opinion of the US. Also, 60% of Egyptians, 39% Jordanians, 40% of Syrians and Palestinians, 55% of Tunisians, 13% of Iranians, 29% of Turks, 40% of Lebanese, 30% of Algerians gave that opinion too. (Ray 1) To conclude, the presence of the US military in Saudi Arabia was a huge motivation for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to target America. Al-Qaeda was not pleased when the United States became an ally of Israel. On a different note, the US became a major ally with Israel for three main reasons: both countries have a vast amount of nuclear weapons, Israel is very Westernized and modern, and Israel is the only non-Islamic dominated country in the Middle East. First off, both countries have a vast amount of nuclear weapons, and both countries will provide help for one another if needed. Next, Israel is very modern and westernized. Israel is one of the only freely religious countries in the Middle East. In addition, The religious count of the Israeli population as of 2011 was 75.4% Jewish, 16.9% Muslim, 2.1% Christian, and 1.7% Druze, with the remaining 4.0% not classified by religion. (Israeli Religious Statistics) They have very modern buildings, rules, and rights. This is good, because that means that Israel is able to trade, fight, and even be open to influence from the US. In fact, there have already been many cases in which help from one another was needed, especially when being attacked by others in the Middle East. So, because of their alliance, the US and Israel were able to come to aid for each other. Finally, Israel is the only non-Islamic dominated country in the Middle East. Israel is one of the only free-religious countries in the Middle East. Actually, only 13.8% percent of the Israel population is Muslim. (Israeli Population) Therefore, it is easier for the US to cooperate with them, because they are not Muslim. Overall, the United States supporting Israel is one of the main reasons Osama bin Laden targets the US. Al-Qaeda targets the US because of three main reasons: the United States and Western Civilization has influenced the Middle East, the US placed their mi\litary in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War and didnt withdraw it until 2003, and the US is an ally of Israel. The terrorist group that committed 9/11, the Madrid train bombings, the London underground

bombing, and many more attacks, has killed thousands of people in America alone. 9/11 was a specifically horrid and traumatizing event for the world and especially Americans. Many people died fighting fires, jumping out of the World Trade Center windows to avoid the flames burning in the building, and under the weight of the collapsing buildings. All of this happened in a long couple of hours. Al-Qaeda has affected the lives of many people, but not for the better. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to keep fighting for justice and freedom in Afghanistan until every person is free from al-Qaeda terrorism.

"Al-Qaeda." ProQuest Encyclopedia. 2004. ProQuest. ProQuest, "Al-Qaeda." Wikipedia. 2012. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda>. Burgan, Michael. Terrorist Groups. Cole, Matthew. Death of Mustafa Abu al-Yazid. June 1, 2010 abc. June 3, 2012 <http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/al-qaeda-number-al-yazidkilled/story?id=10793370>. Digital use in Saudi Arabia. 2010 Discover Digital Saudi Arabia. <http://www.ddarabia.com/tag/saudi-arabia/>. Faces of al-Qaeda. Terrorism Files. <http://www.terrorismfiles.org/organisations/faces_of_al_qaida.html>. Garrison , Carla. Why is al-Qaeda is Against the US. 2011 Washington Times. <www.washingtontimes.com>. Israeli Population. U.S. Library of Congress. <http://countrystudies.us/israel/38.htm>. Israeli Religious Statistics. 2012 Central Bureau of Statistics. <http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnatonenew_site.htm>. Mamdouh Mahmud Salim. 2007 Global Jihad. June 3, 2012 <http://www.globaljihad.net/view_page.asp?id=403>. Mohammed Atef. 2007 Global Jihad. June 3, 2012 <http://globaljihad.net/view_page.asp?id=36>.

"Osama bin Laden." Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia. 2005. ProQuest. ProQuest. Ray, Julie. US Military in Saudi Arabia. 2009 Gallup World. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/114007/opinion-briefing-image->. Scheuer, Michael. Al-Qaeda's New Leader in Afghanistan: A Profile of Abu alYazid. July 3, 2007 The Jamestown Foundation. June 3, 2012 <http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D= 4276&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=240&no_cache=1>. The World's Growing Religions. 2007 Foreign Religions. <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3835. >. US Military in Saudi Arabia. 2003 BBC News. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2984547.stm>. Victims of Terrorism. 2011 Anmesty International. <http://www.amnesty.org/en/campaigns/security-with-humanrights/issues/Victims-terrorism-armed-groups>.