Al-Qaeda's War Against America

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright July 28, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

           Something went terribly wrong in Feb. 15, 1989 when the Osama bin Laden finally succeeded—with massive U.S. covert help—of chasing the Soviets out of Afghanistan.  Nine years before, former President Jimmy Carter cancelled the U.S. participation in the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets, at the request of a puppet government, invaded Afghanistan Dec. 27, 1979.  Carter passed the baton to Ronald Reagan Jan. 20, 1980, who continued Carter’s policy of undermining the Soviets by supporting terrorist groups, especially Bin Laden’s mujahedeen fighters, whose ragtag band of Islamic warriors fought a bloody guerrilla war with CIA help until the Soviets finally gave in.  When the Soviets called it quits Feb. 15, 1989, it was nine months  before the Berlin Wall collapsed Nov. 9, 1989, signaling an end to the beleaguered post-WWII Soviet Union.

            During the long twilight battle against the Soviets, the CIA poured billions in covert aid to Bin Laden, building his cave complexes, supplying arms and providing vital intelligence from which to attack the Soviets.  When the Soviets called it quits, the CIA and Al-Qaeda celebrated, though quietly.  Fast-forward to al-Qaida’s failed first Feb. 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.  Eight months later U.S. forces battled al-Qaeda again in the Oct. 3, 1993 battle of Mogadishu   With two Blackhawk helicopters shot down and 19 U.S. Marines killed, Bin Laden go the better of U.S. forces when former President Bill Clinton ordered a withdrawal of U.S. troops.  Unwilling confront Bin Laden at Mogadishu, the U.S. let Bin Laden regroup, eventually finding his way back to Afghanistan to help a fledgling radical Islamic government called the Taliban.  Five years later, Bin Laden struck again.

          On August 7, 1998, Bin Laden bombed U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, killing dozens of embassy personnel, prompting then CIA Director George J Tenet to declare war on al-Qaeda.  Instead of landing ground troops in Afghanistan, Clinton chose a throwaway Cruise missile attack on Bin Laden’s training camps 100 kilometers from Kabul.  Two years later, Bin Laden struck again, suicide bombing the U.S.S. Cole Oct 12, 2000, killing 17 U.S. sailors, only 11-short months before Sept. 11.  “Oh American people.  We offered you a peace plan, and mutual benefit, but your governments were proud and haughty, and so the attacks against you followed one after another, everywhere—from Indonesia to Times Square, by way of Madrid and London.  And the attacks are ongoing—and more will come one after another,” said Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s No. 2.

            When former President George W. Bush detoured to Iraq March 20, 2003, the  Afghan War was long lost.  After a stunning defeat of the Taliban Nov. 15, 2001, the U.S. completed Operation Enduring Freedom, ejecting the radical regime in only three weeks.  Instead of tracking down Bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, U.S. forces let both escape to Pakistan in the Dec. 12-17, 2001 in the battle of Tora Bora.  Since then, the Taliban has fought a successful guerrilla war, wreaking havoc on U.S. and coalition forces.  Today’s mission in Afghanistan is no longer about going after Osama bin Laden, Mullah Mohammed Omar or any other terrorist responsible for Sept. 11.  While campaigning to end the Iraq War, President Barack Obama has escalated the Afghan War, adding over 50,000 troops since taking office.  Meanwhile, Bin Laden continues to threaten the U.S.

            Instead of nimbly following Bin Laden’s movements outside Afghanistan, the U.S. now escalates a go-nowhere war, defending the government of U.S. puppet Hamid Karzai, despite his close ties with the Taliban.  Karzai reportedly stole a U.N.-monitored election in June 2009.  Hamid’s half-brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, is heavily involved in Afghanistan’s opium trade.  Karaza’s Pashtun family are part of the same tribe as the Taliban, the “enemy” from which U.S. forces continue to die.  Zawahiri’s recent threat stems from the successful June 1 CIA drone attack killing al-Qaeda’s No. 3 man Mustafa Abu al-Yazid.  Since July 19, Zawahiri and radical U.S.-born al-Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki have threatened the U.S.  Al-Awlaki, believed based out of Yemen, reportedly inspired the Nov. 7, 2009 Fort Hood massacre, where 39-year-old Army psychiatrist Maj. Abdel Malik Hasan killed 13 soldiers.

           More threats from al-Qaeda must be taken seriously not because of an imminent Sept. 11-like threat but precisely because they continue to plan and execute terrorist acts.  “Imperial hubris is leading America to its fate:  A war of attrition, a continuous hemorrhage that would end with fall and splintering of the United States of America,” said Yemen-based Awlaki.  After keeping several steps ahead of U.S. counter-terrorism operations, Obama must shift gears, end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and gear terrorism efforts to al-Qaeda’s shifting operations.  Recent leaks about the Afghanistan War can’t obscure the necessity of resetting U.S. terrorism policy.  Full-scale military operation in Iraq and Afghanistan waste precious U.S. assets and do little to prevent the next Sept. 11.  U.S. should join France in declaring war on al-Qaeda, taking the battle to the enemy.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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