Toward Greater Understanding

<p>Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri enticed tens of thousands of Muslims from around the world to travel to Afghanistan swear allegiance to bin Laden and the cause of Al Qaeda fight and even die for that cause. Bin Laden united faithful Muslims under his ideological banner by making relevant the historical context of authentic Islam and promoting jihad not only as a religious obligation but a legally sanctioned and moral responsibility of every good and true Muslim. This monograph explains Al Qaeda's narrative as a jihadist organization that currently poses the greatest threat to United States and Western interests around the world. The first section offers an explanation of terms that people commonly use to describe an enemy they may not fully understand - these terms include fundamentalist extremist Salafi and jihadi. The next section provides a historical overview of the threat the United States faces in Afghanistan today. After explaining the roots of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan the paper details the organization's ideology and goals as well as the historical basis for this ideology reaching back to the Prophet Muhammad and the origins of Islam. The paper argues that in order to defeat bin Laden and Al Qaeda it is necessary to understand the roots of Al Qaeda's Islamic narrative and the environmental context that allowed these concepts to gain such a following. By understanding the true nature of the threat United States political and military leaders will be better able to formulate plans and develop operations that counter the effectiveness of Al Qaeda's messages and provide alternatives for those currently engaged in jihad against America.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>