al-Qaeda

(noun)

A militant Sunni Islamist global organization founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam, and several other Arab volunteers who fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Related Terms

Examples of al-Qaeda in the following topics:

  • The War on Terror

    • Originally, the campaign was waged against al-Qaeda and other militant organizations with the purpose of eliminating them.
    • In February 1998, Osama bin Laden signed a fatwā, as the head of al-Qaeda, declaring war on the West and Israel.
    • Bush delivered an ultimatum to the Taliban government of Afghanistan to turn over Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda leaders operating in the country or face attack.
    • The remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants fell back to the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, mainly Tora Bora.
    • The insurgency, which included al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, led to far more coalition casualties than the invasion.

  • September 11th and the War on Terror

    • On that Tuesday morning, 19 members of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets.
    • Suspicion quickly fell on al-Qaeda, and in 2004, the group's leader Osama bin Laden, who had initially denied involvement, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
    • Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited the United States's support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives for the attacks.
    • The United States responded to the attacks by launching the "War on Terror" and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who were accused of harboring al-Qaeda.
    • For that purpose, the United States began transporting men suspected of being members of al-Qaeda to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for questioning.

  • Policy in the Middle East

    • In May of 2014, the coalition led by then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was able to win 92 of the 328 seats in parliament, and he seemed poised to begin another term as the country’s ruler.
    • In June 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a radical Islamist militant group consisting of mostly Sunni Muslims and once affiliated with al-Qaeda, launched a military offensive in Northern Iraq and seized control of Sunni-dominated areas of Iraq and Syria.
    • On June 29, 2014, it proclaimed the formation of the Islamic State with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as caliph, the state’s political and religious leader.
    • Osama bin Laden, the founder and head of the Islamist group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S.
    • Al-Qaeda confirmed the death on May 6 with posts made on militant websites, vowing to avenge the killing.

  • The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

    • When it became clear that the person behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentegon was Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi Arabian national who led the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda from Afghanistan, the full attention of the United States turned towards Central Asia and the Taliban.
    • In his address to a joint session of Congress on September 20, President Bush had declared war on terrorism, blamed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for the attacks, and demanded that the radical Islamic fundamentalists who ruled Afghanistan, the Taliban, turn bin Laden over or face attack by the United States.
    • By the late 1980s, the Soviets and the Americans had both left, although bin Laden, by that time the leader of his own organization, al-Qaeda, remained.
    • A faction within the Bush administration, sometimes labeled neoconservatives, believed Iraq’s recalcitrance in the face of overwhelming U.S. military superiority represented a dangerous symbol to terrorist groups around the world, recently emboldened by the dramatic success of the al-Qaeda attacks in the United States.
    • In 2007, President Bush increased the number of American troops in Iraq in order to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province.

  • The George W. Bush Administration

    • After two vote recounts, Democratic presidential candidate and incumbent Vice President Al Gore filed a lawsuit for a third recount.
    • The Florida Secretary of State certified Bush as the winner of Florida, and Florida's 25 electoral votes gave Bush, the Republican candidate, 271 electoral votes, enough to defeat Al Gore.
    • In October of 2001, he ordered an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, destroy Al-Qaeda, and capture Osama bin Laden on the pretense that "weapons of mass destruction" were being hidden by these groups.

  • The Obama Administration

    • Starting with information received in July of 2010, intelligence developed by the CIA over the next several months determined what they believed to be the location of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda and the person behind the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, in a large compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

  • The Disputed Election of 2000

    • In the disputed and extremely close 2000 presidential election, Democratic candidate Al Gore lost to Republican George W.
    • Bush, then-governor of Texas, and Democratic candidate and incumbent Vice President Al Gore.
    • Al Gore of Tennessee was a consistent front-runner for the nomination.
    • Al Gore unanimously won the Democratic nomination at the Democratic National Convention, and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman was nominated for Vice President.

  • Al Smith and the Election of 1928

    • Democrat Al Smith, the first Roman Catholic presidential nominee, lost the 1928 election in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover.
    • Alfred Emanuel "Al" Smith was the Democratic Party’s candidate for president in the election of 1928.
    • Republican Herbert Hoover defeated Al Smith in the election of 1928 to become the 31st President of the United States.
    • Democrat Al Smith came from humble beginnings in New York City and rose through the political ranks to become a four-time governor of New York state.

  • Prohibition

    • Many of Chicago's most notorious gangsters, including Al Capone and his archenemy, Bugs Moran, made millions of dollars through illegal alcohol sales.
    • Alphonse "Al" Capone headed the largest criminal organization in the Chicago area during Prohibition.

  • Obama's Foreign Policy

    • The unrest grew out of the 2011 Arab Spring protests, escalating to armed conflict after President Bashar al-Assad's government violently repressed protests calling for his removal.
    • The war is being fought by the Syrian Government, a loose alliance of Syrian Arab rebel groups, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Salafi jihaidst groups (including al-Nusra Front), and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, sometimes referred to as ISIS).
    • A demonstration in Homs, Syria against the al-Assad regime (April 18, 2011)