Al-Qaeda: From Soviet Jihad to Global Terrorism - Essay Sample

Introduction

Al-Qaeda's origins can be traced to Afghanistan in the 1980s (Byman & Williams, 2015). The anti-Soviet jihad was the beginning of Al Qaeda. As the Soviets prepared to withdraw, Osama Bin Laden and his associates, based on the belief of a victory against the Soviet, thought to scale the network and took the jihad on a global scale. At the time, hundreds of small jihadist groups were struggling to survive. However, under Bin Laden's vision, they could unite and work as a proper organization (Gerges, 2014). Slowly the greatest common enemy became the United States. For local jihadists, allegiance to Bin Laden and declaring belonging to Al Qaeda meant obtaining access to a wide range of funds, weapons, expertise, and, above all, training.

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Al Qaeda became very famous around 2000 (Byman & Williams, 2015). The attacks at the two U.S. embassies in Africa and the 9/11 attacks on U.S. soil demonstrated its capabilities (Byman,2015). Following these attacks, the U.S. counterterrorism responded with a hard line, which proved devastating Al Qaeda. The U.S. declared total war on the deadly and targeted its leadership, finances, and training camps. As a result, Al Qaeda has suffered a confusing mix of setbacks and advances since the establishment of the American war on terror (Byman, 2015).

Further, the group's attacks on other Muslims have been largely counterproductive. A combination of U.S drone strikes and the persistent deployment of Special Forces on the ground has crippled its leadership, and the organization no longer has a haven (Harper, 2014). Also, after the U.S. military forces and Afghan oppositionists overthrew the ruling Taliban, the Al Qaeda became significantly decimated. Until that moment, the Taliban had provided al Qaeda with a haven. Afterwards, the terrorist group had to relocate to Pakistan, a far more dangerous territory.

Over the years, the Al-Qaeda, and later ISIS, have camouflaged by undertaking sporadic attacks across the globe. While initially the attacks targeted the U.S and its operational bases, recent approaches have been aimed at protecting their territories from within. This approach is particularly true with ISIS, whose primary objective remains to consolidate the Middle East into Islamic states. As for Al Qaeda, the death of its leader, Osama Bin Laden, resulted in the weakening of its central operations. However, its ideologies are still overseen by various small groups that operate independently in different countries, mostly in Africa and Asia. With persistent attacks on the groups, it is not known when their operations are likely to end.

As the war progressed, the U.S. military invasion of Iraq became counterproductive in the sense that it energized the Al Qaeda. There was new ideological support for their activities because it motivated a new generation of jihadists to get involved in countering the U.S. military in Iraq (Sherlock & Spencer, 2014). Consequently, the United States suffered at the hands of the terrorist group, both Iraq and Afghanistan. The war on terror has led to the loss of more than 6,000 troops and cost the country trillions of dollars.

Slowly, with the downfall of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government, and the resulting disorganization, Al-Qaeda-linked groups began to seize power for themselves and slaughter Iraqi civilians. This new path prompted Sunni tribes to turn against them, working with U.S. forces to decimate Al Qaeda (Crompton, 2014). Outside the country, Muslims initially inflamed by the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq gradually became more critical of the Muslim-on-Muslim slaughter.

While Al Qaeda's power was declining in Iraq, it was growing in Pakistan, where it had strong ties since its founding. However, the group suffered a setback when the Pakistani government and the U.S. worked together to capture key leaders such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (Gerges, 2014). Meanwhile, Pakistan itself became more and more chaotic, with a range of radical groups turning against the Pakistani government (Crompton, 2014). Thanks to the resulting confusion, Al Qaeda again used the opportunity to re-establish itself operationally in Pakistan. Hence, most of the major terrorist attacks plotted against European targets since 9/11 had some link to al Qaeda's core in Pakistan.

As the Arab Spring erupted, al Qaeda suffered a devastating blow after the U.S. Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden. Ayman al-Zawahiri became the new leader. Unlike Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri was less charismatic, a weakness that worked to diminish the strength of Al Qaeda further. Bin Laden's death was the most dramatic and essential loss suffered by Al Qaeda. Since then, the organization has suffered continuous losses from U.S. drone strikes. In the process, the United States has killed hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida figures, along with dozens of civilians. These strikes not only killed key figures, but they also forced the whole network to keep their heads low, making them far less effective.

Despite its rise and fall, the Al Qaeda has still been able to count several accomplishments since 9/11. Its once-controversial tactics now seem regular. Today, al-Qaida's ideology can be found in Indonesia, Nigeria, Central Asia, as well as its traditional home in South Asia and the Arab world. While Al Qaeda's core may not be at its best but, its affiliate organizations remain strong. In Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and the Maghreb, strong affiliate organizations are in rebellion against their governments (Byman, 2012). In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the group still has a strong presence.

Structure

Historians of the Islamic State note that the group emerged in Iraq out of al-Qaeda, as a response to the 2003 U.S. invasion. One of the main players in founding the ideology of the group was the Jordanian Jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Al-Zarqawi later became the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq. He intended to create tension between Sunnis and Shiites and establish a caliphate. The two al-Qaeda leaders, Zarqawi and Osama bin Laden, both Sunni extremists, had different visions about fighting Shiites. This extremism was probably one of the essential splitting factors that led to the creation of the Caliphate (Al Arabiya, 2014). It is noteworthy, however, that the ideology leading to the creation of ISIS seems to have been planned long before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. According to other accounts, it was Anbari, Zarqawi's deputy, who defined the Islamic State's radical approach, and probably more than any other person, set the radicalism that has attracted so many Jihadist to join the group in Iraq and Syria.

Anbari was born in 1959 and studied Sharia after graduating from the University of Baghdad. He also received military training on top of Islamic teaching. The combination of religious and military training was quite rare. In the mid-1990s, Anbari moved to Tal Afar, which was a mixed city of Sunnis and Shiites. After settling there, he became an Imam at a mosque near his place of residence. Records indicate that Anbari was influenced by jihadist materials that originated in Afghanistan and Chechnya. With such training and exposure, he began to expand his network and established contact with three Jihadinsts who became very famous later in the conflict. One of the landmark visions for Anbari was the consideration of other Islamist groups modelled like the Muslim Brotherhood as enemies. The success of Anbari's vision possibly derives from the fact that it was adequately laid down before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. With the arrest of Anbari by U.S. troops in 2006, Zarqawi was easily captured and killed. However, even in detention, Anbari continued to spread Jihadist influence to other inmates.

Another key personality in the leadership and structure of the al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorist groups was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Two accounts have tried to document his rise within the group. On one side, there is the belief that Al-Baghdadi rose as a revolutionary during the reign of Saddam Hussein. On the other hand, some accounts link him to the Muslim Brotherhood, where he is believed to have honed his extremism skills. When Anbari was released from detention, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi assigned him the critical mission of investigating whether the Syrian group Jabhat al-Nusra was still loyal to al-Baghdadi (Joby, 2019). Anbari found that the group's leader, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, was not faithful to al-Baghdadi, and so the al-Qaeda was weak in Syria. Hence, al-Baghdadi and Anbari plotted against al-Julani. Therefore, Anbari was central in the formation of the ISI, which was birthed way before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In March 2016, the duo succeeded in killing Anbari (Joby, 2019). The successful elimination of al-Julani made Baghdadi the leader of ISIS. He created a Caliphate that functioned as a state and all government functions until he died in 2019 (Joby, 2019).

The Group's Tactics and Targets

There are variations in the strategies, tactics, and enemies between Isis and Al Qaeda. The two groups also pose different threats to the U.S. The United States is the main enemy for the al-Qaida (Gomes & Mikhael, 2018). The al-Qaeda considers the United States' involvement in the Middle East and in other Muslim countries as an affront to Islam. Also, whereas the al-Qaeda considers Shi'a Muslims to be apostates, they are not decided on whether to start a conflict with them. On its part, the Islamic State considers the apostate" regimes in the Arab world as its greatest targets. This choice explains why the group targeted Assad's regime in Syria and the Abadi regime in Iraq. Their goal is first to create an Islamic State, then use it to target the United States. Besides such governments, ISIS also targets the Lebanese Hizballah, the Iraqi Shi'a, and Al Qaeda in Syria (Gomes & Mikhael, 2018). Also, they have countered any attempt by western nations to influence the region, including through journalists and humanitarian workers.

Al Qaeda prefers terrorist tactics and targets that have the greatest impact, and which help them to get extensive media coverage, which it then uses to fan its propaganda. Al-Qaeda supports insurgent groups in different parts of the globe to fight against the U.S -backed regimes. On its part, the Islamic State has almost similar objectives. However, its strategies are quite different. The Islamic State's principal goal is to conquer the Arab world and to create a state. Isis operates more like an Army as compared to Al Qaeda (Gomes & Mikhael, 2018). It uses proper military tactics and attempts to solidify its territory by governing it with terror. The Islamic State also has connections with other smaller groups in different continents such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis in Egypt.

The death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi potentially marked a turning point for ISIS as it fights for survival and could consider reuniting with Al Qaeda. Whereas al-Baghdadi's death may not mark the end of the organization, it surely has created a power vacuum. Like in the case of al-Qaeda losing Osama Bin Laden, it is difficult to replace a charismatic leader. It is not easy to properly strike a balance between replacing leadership and fighting on the front while slowly losing territory. Over time, thousands of ISIS fighters have been held in detention camps in both Iraq and Syria. Also, thousands of its supporters are detained in camps. This loss of leadership and territory has led to Isis' loss of support from the local communities. More so, the greatest disdain has been due to the cruelty of the group.

In the early 2000s, Al Qaeda considered it a primary objective to communicate to the U.S by attacking it within its territor...