Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda is a terrorist group founded by Dr. Abdullah Yusuf Azzam in August 1988. The organization started as a core group of fighters in Afghanistan, with aspirations of fighting off the Soviet Union. The organization has defended Muslims who were being slaughtered in Afghanistan, as well as in the killing fields of Bosnia. Both of these theaters of war have seen some support from Western governments who helped the al Qaeda fighters with uneven and usually very secretive levels of support. At the same time, al Qaeda leaders aspire to reestablish the Islamic caliphate of old. Although much of the attention on al Qaeda has focused on its attacks against Western targets, the number of attacks, as well as the number of deaths, has ...