America is the absolute symbol of freedom, freedom and opportunity. These pillars are upon which our nation is built and allow the American people of all races, colors and creeds to unite under one nation, under God. It is very demoralizing that there are radical Islamic organizations working to destroy these very pillars on which our country was built. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In the aftermath of the war between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, the face of the rise of radical Islam emerged across the world. That man is Osama bin Laden, and his radical organization is known as Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda's goal is to exterminate all infidels in the West, and Americans are its prime targets. Between 2004 and 2008, al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for 313 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 3,010 people worldwide. What could possibly motivate Al Qaeda to commit such heinous acts of terror? The problem has its origins in the Muslim faith. Due to the devout practice of the Muslim faith throughout the Middle East and South Asia, these countries should be considered theocracies. These theocracies pave the way for Al-Qaeda to continue its operations in other countries in the region, recruit young Muslim men to fight in the name of Allah, and plan terrorist attacks against the West. Al-Qaeda is stationed in lawless, predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and South Asia, allowing Al-Qaeda's radical practices to grow and prosper in the name of Islam. Qaeda, the events following World War I remain the basis of the motivations for the organization's acts of terror. On May 19, 1916, France and Great Britain signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement. This agreement allowed Britain and France to create colonization of the Middle East, including British rule in Palestine. The reason Palestine is so important for understanding Al Qaeda's motivations is its deep Arab roots in the Palestinian region. Palestine was considered a holy land for Muslims around the world, and in 1948, Palestine would change forever. After World War II, the Jews living in Europe were virtually exterminated. Those who survived the Holocaust had no home to return to. This put massive pressure on Britain, which was occupying Palestine, to cede the land to the Jews so that Jewish refugees could have a home. Britain became extremely fed up with dealing with this problem and subsequently handed the issue over to the United Nations. The United Nations decided to divide Palestine and give half to Israel so that Jews could create their own nation. This led to an inordinate number of Palestinians being expelled from their lands and forced to become refugees in other countries in the newly created Middle East, formed during the decolonization movement (1945-1960). This frustrated many people from Palestine, and these events are now used as a primary motive by Al Qaeda to attack the United States. According to Osama bin Laden himself, "the British handed over Palestine, with your help and support, to the Jews who have occupied it for more than fifty years...The creation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders. of its criminals. Osama bin Laden believes that the creation of Israel was a crime, but that is simply not true. Great Britaincontrolled Palestine, thus allowing Britain to be vindicated for providing Jewish refugees with a new home in Israel. After the decolonization of Asia and Africa by France and Britain in 1945–1960, 36 new states in Asia and Africa gained independence from their European colonial rulers. This was accompanied by great instability and vulnerability in these newly formed countries. Because of the devout Muslim population in the South Asian and Middle Eastern regions, the majority of nations in these two regions are governed by theocracies. “The Quran clearly requires that the Muslim state implement a system of government based on mutual consultation. » This means that Muslim states must base their laws on respect for the teachings of the Quran, also known as Sharia law. Because these Middle Eastern and South Asian nations are theocracies, this makes them extremely vulnerable to invasion by other countries, and this was evident during the Cold War. During the Cold War, between 1947 and 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union took power. the decolonization of these states as an opportunity to implement their own ideologies throughout Asia and Africa. The rise of Al-Qaeda begins because of the greed shown by the United States and the Soviet Union during this time. After the overthrow of Afghanistan's constitutional monarchy in 1978, Afghanistan attempted to establish a communist government. They then appointed Nur Mohammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin as joint prime ministers of the socialist regime. The Soviet Union then began supporting the communist authorities in Afghanistan by giving them advice on how to run the country. Prime Ministers Amin and Taraki decided to ignore Soviet advice and ruled Afghanistan by introducing women's rights and redistributing land as they saw fit. This upset many Muslims because it interfered with inheritance laws outlined in Sunni Islamic law, and in March 1979 a resistance group began to overthrow the Afghan government. So, on the night of December 24, 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The objective behind the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was to preserve the communist state in Afghanistan. To do this, the Soviets had Prime Minister Amin put to death. The Soviets then installed their own communist leader in Afghanistan, President Babrak Karmal of Moscow, but this was not the only motive for the Soviet invasion. According to Uday Mehra, “The USSR invaded foreign nations…. with the aim of thwarting their Western enemies.” This means that the USSR, slightly motivated by the Cold War, invaded Afghanistan in order to get a reaction from the United States. This turned out to be true because the United States was very quick to support Afghan rebel groups. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, "multilateral aid to Afghanistan amounted to $3 million in 1979, no aid in 1980, and $222,000 in 1981." These generous donations went to the Afghan rebel group known as the Mujahideen. The donations were made to the group so they could fight the Soviets for the United States. This was not a war between the Soviets and the Mujahideen, but rather a war between capitalism and socialism. The consequences of the Afghan-Soviet War proved devastating for all parties involved in the war except Islamic radicals. The actions of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Afghan-Soviet War backfired horribly on both sides forvarious reasons. The wars claimed about 15,000 lives for the Soviets and contributed to the sudden demise of the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991. As for the United States, the radical Islamic push evolved, making America and its allies targets for future terrorist attacks. The rise of Al-Qaeda began in Afghanistan, during the same ten-year war in which the Soviets were defeated. This war was the pivotal moment when terrorism spread internationally. The invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 allowed young Muslim extremists from around the world to come together in unison to fight in what is called a "holy war," also known as jihad. Volunteers and donors have flocked from various parts of the Islamic world to try to defend the Muslim community in Afghanistan. One of these backers was Osama bin Laden. At the time, Bin Laden was inspired by the mujahideen's efforts, but he was not fully satisfied with their goal of simply fighting the Soviets. Bin Laden wanted to expand internationally and decided in 1988 to create his own radical group known as Al-Qaeda. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan on February 15, 1989; Osama bin Laden focused his ambitions on exterminating all non-Islamic governments. Working to advance al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden founded a financial support network system known as the "Golden Chain." This financial network provided the financing necessary for Al-Qaeda to be able to spread to other countries and recruit young Muslim rebels to participate in jihad. Bin Laden mentions why he targets young people: "So as his mind grows in maturity, his capacity to give weakens...We find that the only age group capable of giving and waging jihad is the fifteen to twenty-five years old. " This essentially means that he wants to brainwash young people before they understand how morally wrong it is to murder innocent people in acts of terror. The idea behind Bin Laden of targeting youth is very similar to what Hitler did by creating the Hitler Youth movement. Both Bin Laden and Hitler understood that to keep their aspirations for world domination alive, they would have to brainwash the youth with propaganda. This allows bin Laden to spend less time recruiting, giving him more time to plan future terrorist attacks. Propaganda and theology play a very vital role in Al-Qaeda's daily actions. The person responsible for this file is Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al Zawahiri. Zawahiri is a fifty-five-year-old Egyptian pediatrician, engaged in radical activities since the age of fourteen, and the main ideologue and theorist of Al-Qaeda. Zawahiri is a very competent man and, as such, his role is to reiterate to the Muslim population that it is justifiable for Al-Qaeda to commit acts of terror and martyrdom. Zawahiri justifies Al-Qaeda's actions through verses from the Koran. . It's very effective because these Muslim countries are theocracies, and that's how these methods can work. An example of this comes from a verse from the Quran used by Zawahiri: "Allah took from the believers their lives and their material possessions, and in return promised them Paradise: they will fight in the name of Allah and kill and be killed." (9:111). This verse means that if an individual chooses to believe in Allah, then he will obtain paradise in the afterlife if he stays away from evil. This is not how Zawahiri interprets the verse. Zawahiri distorts the meaning of this verse to give the impression that young men.