Osama bin Laden

(noun)

The Saudi Arabian founder of al-Qaeda, the organization that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States along with numerous other mass-casualty attacks worldwide.

Related Terms

Examples of Osama bin Laden in the following topics:

  • Policy in the Middle East

    • 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.
    • The raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was launched from Afghanistan.
    • President Obama announces the death of Osama bin Laden, praises those Americans who carried out the operation to kill Osama bin Laden, tells the families of the victims of September 11, 2001 that they have never been forgotten, and calls on Americans to remember the unity of that tragic day.
    • Osama bin Laden being interviewed by Hamid Mir, circa March 1997 – May 1998.
    • Analyze Obama's decisions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the significance of Osama bin Laden's death

  • The War on Terror

    • In May 1996 the group World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders (WIFJAJC), sponsored by Osama bin Laden and later reformed as al-Qaeda, started forming a large base of operations in Afghanistan, where the Islamist extremist regime of the Taliban had seized power that same year.
    • 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.
    • It is believed that Osama bin Laden escaped into Pakistan during the battle.

  • 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.
    • On May 1, 2011, the U.S. initiated Operation Neptune's Spear, resulting in the death of bin Laden and the seizure of papers, computer drives, and disks from the compound.
    • Bin Laden's body was identified through DNA testing and buried at sea several hours later.
    • President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on Operation Neptune's Spear, a mission against Osama bin Laden, in one of the conference rooms of the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011.

  • September 11th and the War on Terror

    • 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.
    • In May of 2011, after years at large, bin Laden was found and killed.
    • On September 20, in an address to a joint session of Congress, Bush 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.

  • The Election of 2004

    • On October 29, four days before the election, excerpts of a video of Osama bin Laden addressing the American people were broadcast on al Jazeera.
    • In his remarks, bin Laden claimed credit for the September 11, 2001 attacks and taunted Bush over his response to them.

  • The Clinton Administration

    • On three separate occasions—in 1996, 1998, and 2000—the administration unsuccessfully attempted to capture or assassinate Osama Bin Laden, who was eventually killed by U.S. special operations forces in 2011.

  • 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.
    • Bin Laden had deep roots in Afghanistan.
    • Ironically, both bin Laden and the Taliban received material support from the United States at that time.
    • 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.

  • The George W. Bush Administration

    • 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.