CJ-681 Module Two

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School

Southern New Hampshire University *

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681

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History

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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1 Module Two Short Paper In the 1990’s the United States began to have a heavier presence within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The purpose of al-Qaeda was originally to fight against the Soviets during the Afghan War in the late 1980s. In the following years of the Soviets leaving the region, 1996 the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden declared war on the United States, citing American occupation within holy lands (Tierney, 2016). At the time, this was relatively ignored by the American Public. However, as time progressed, al-Qaeda was continuing to push their believes and ideology into a mission to destroy the United States. Following al-Qaeda’s attack on the United States on September 11 th , 2001, al-Qaeda continues their mission of overthrowing corrupt apostate regimes within the Middle East and replacing them with true Islamic governments (Tierney, 2016). However, the main mission of al- Qaeda is to continue to target the United States in an effort to have the United States withdraw from the region. Al-Qaeda continues to believe that the Middle East is in disarray due to the United States being in the region (Tierney, 2016). It appears that motivations within al-Qaeda vary, especially while dealing with homegrown terrorists, which have been described throughout the required film. However, as Subramanyam (2018) explains, of the many motivations for terrorists to plot and carry out attacks, the most common motivations include “the perception as victims of social injustice, religion, identities, and political repression Subramanyam, 2018 p.4). For example, in Homegrown, Nidal Hasan fatally killed 13 people in Fort Hood. In some of Hasan’s letters, he wanted to understand how he could best serve God. It was later revealed that Hasan spoke to Anwar al-Awlaki, who can be seen as one of al-Qaeda’s top recruiters (Poppe, 2018).

2 Understanding this, it can be linked back to religion and identities which are considered forms of motivation for interacting and carrying out terror plots as a homegrown terrorist. The dominant tactic that is used by al-Qaeda in order to recruit and radicalize individuals is the use of social media and propaganda. For example, Shifa Sadequee was arrested in Bangladesh and transported back to the United states for federal criminal charges. Sadequee caught the attention of counterterrorism officials within the United States following his completion of an Islamic boarding school, involvement in jihadist websites, and creating casting videos of the Washington D.C. area (Homegrown, 2016). As al-Qaeda propaganda and information becomes more readily available via the internet, the risk of homegrown terrorists also increases, as this has been shown within the Homegrown documentary. Al-Qaeda doesn’t need a large production to pump out propaganda in hopes to recruit more individuals. With a basic internet connection, al-Qaeda is now able to reach large audiences across the world, which would have been near impossible roughly 15 years ago. Throughout the documentary, it was established that currently the largest threat the United States is facing is homegrown terrorism. For example, one FBI official within the documentary spoke about having to travel to all 50 states to investigate potential terror threats within the United States (Homegrown, 2016). This information shows that perceived idea that terror threats and attacks only come from the Middle East region to be false. While social media allows al-Qaeda to spread their propaganda and recruit individuals, it’s important to explore their tactics for carrying out attacks. For example, tactics include suicide bombing, car bombing, roadside bombing, paramilitary operations against civilian and military targets, (ADL, n.d.). As homegrown terror threats continue, the United States must continue counterterrorism dominance in order to protect the country and its citizens.

3 Reference: ALD. (n.d.). Al Qaeda. Retrieved from https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/al-qaeda Byman, D. (2015). Comparing Al Qaeda and ISIS: Different Goals, Different Targets. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/comparing-al-qaeda-and-isis-different- goals-different-targets/ Homegrown. (2016). Homegrown: The Counter-Terror Dilemma. Retrieved from https://fod- infobase-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=114996 Poppe, K. (2018). Nidal Hasan: A Case Study in Lone-Actor Terrorism. Retrieved from https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Nidal%20Hasan.pdf Subramanyam, M. (2018). Motivation leading to radicalization in terrorists. Retrieved from http://medcraveonline.com/FRCIJ/FRCIJ-06-00221.pdf Tierney, D. (2016). The Twenty Years War. Retrieved from https://www.fpri.org/article/2016/08/twenty-years-war/#:~:text=Exactly%20two %20decades%20ago%2C%20on,both%20sides%20have%20ultimately%20lost .

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CJ-681 Module Two

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