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The War on Terrorism
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  Which Terrorist Attacks are Linked to Osama bin Laden?

Osama bin Laden


 
The U.S. State Department calls bin Laden "one of the most significant sponsors of Islamic extremist activities in the world today."

After his exile from Saudi Arabia, bin Laden issued a number of fatwahs (rulings on Islamic law) stating that American forces stationed in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia should be attacked.

According to U.S. authorities, bin Laden was involved in at least three major terrorist attacks against U.S. interests prior to 1999:
  • February 1993 - World Trade Center bombing, killing 6 persons and injuring over 1,000

  • June 1996 - Bomb attack in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S. soldiers

  • August 1998 - U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, resulting in 224 deaths
Shortly after the African embassy bombings, the United States launched Tomahawk cruise missile strikes against an alleged chemical weapons facility operated by bin Laden operatives in Sudan and terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. Reportedly, bin Laden left one camp shortly before it was devastated in a missile attack.

In addition, U.S. authorities believe that al Qaeda members "provided military training and assistance to Somali tribes opposed to the United Nations' intervention in Somalia." On October 3-4, 1993, attacks against U.S. Army personnel in Mogadishu, Somalia resulted in the deaths of 18 U.S. soldiers.

After the 1998 embassy bombings, Bin Laden's acts of terror grew even bolder, with attempts to attack U.S. naval vessels and targets within the United States.

On January 3, 2000, an attack on the USS The Sullivans, a U.S. navy destroyer, failed when the alleged attack boat sank in the port of Aden, Yemen.

Around the same time, U.S. law enforcement personnel arrested Ahmed Ressam, who they believed was planning several terrorist attacks on West Coast targets, including Los Angeles International Airport, coinciding with the Millennium celebrations.

Then, on October 12, 2000, the U.S. navy destroyer USS Cole was attacked by an explosive-packed boat that rammed the ship during its refueling stop in Aden. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed, 39 wounded and a $1 billion modern warship was crippled.

But, most troubling to Americans who believe that a massive intelligence failure led to the September 11, 2001 attacks is a failed terrorist attack in 1995, also believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden.

Philippine police in Manila had discovered a clandestine terrorist cell allied with bin Laden that was plotting to plant bombs in a dozen American airliners. Even more ominous was a report that the terrorists also planned to commandeer an airliner and crash it into CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The bomb plot was discovered when one of the terrorists accidentally caused a fire while mixing chemicals. Philippine authorities insist that they passed on all of this information to the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Joint Task Force on Terrorism, but that U.S. authorities did not give it credibility.

When the terrorist attacks in the United States occurred on September 11, it was immediately speculated that Osama bin Laden was behind them -- and, indeed, the United States and its allies now claim that evidence ties bin Laden to the attacks. Approximately 5,000 civilians were killed when two hijacked commercial airliners, loaded with highly flamable aviation fuel for transcontinental flights, were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, eventually causing the collapse of the towers and several surrounding buildings. A third aircraft was commandeered and flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, resulting in nearly 200 deaths. A fourth aircraft, widely believed to be targeting the U.S. Capitol complex, crashed in Pennsylvania, likely the result of a struggle between the hijackers and passengers determined to stop the plane from being used as another missile.

Although the U.S. has only released some of the evidence linking bin Laden to the attacks, there existed additional warning signs that, had they been acted upon properly by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, might have helped to prevent the tragic events of September 11th.

In August 2001, a suspected Algerian terrorist, Zacarias Moussaoui, was picked up in Minnesota on immigration charges after a flight simulator training school tipped off authorities that Moussaoui had offered cash to learn only how to "steer" a jumbo jet and apparently wasn't interested in practicing take-offs and landings.

When told of Moussaoui's arrest, French intelligence authorities notified the FBI that Moussaoui was linked to bin Laden and that the Saudi dissident was training his terrorists to fly commercial aircraft. The French, having thwarted an attempt by hijackers to crash an airliner into the Eiffel Tower in 1994, apparently understood the seriousness of the matter.

Despite these ominous signs, U.S. authorities did not alert commercial airlines to be alert of the possible takeover of cockpit controls by terrorists, nor did they increase the alert status of U.S. fighter aircraft should an interception be neccessary.

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