Meghan+Al+Qaeda

**__ Impact religion has on producing terrorist organizations? __** Bin Laden’s goal in creating Al Qaeda is to unite all Muslims and the Islamic Nation. >
 * Al Qaeda “The Base” **
 * __DATE STARTED/FIRST ACTIVE: __** Established by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s. Today they have several hundred to several thousand members
 * __AFFILIATIONS __**__: __ Serves as the umbrella organization for a worldwide network that includes many Sunni Islamic extremist groups, such as Egyptian Islamic Jihad, some members of al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin.
 * __Goals and Objectives: __**
 * Overthrow regimes it deems "non-Islamic," and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries.
 * The principal stated aims of al-Qaeda are to drive Americans and American influence out of all Muslim nations, especially Saudi Arabia
 * destroy Israel
 * Topple pro-Western dictatorships around the Middle East.
 * To unite all Muslims and establish, by force if necessary, an Islamic nation adhering to the rule of the first Caliphs.
 * __ Why the U.S. has been the target of so much terrorism both domestically and internationally? __ ** Al Qaeda’s goal is to drive American “westernized” culture out of all Muslim Nations. They are a threat because they go to extreme measures to make sure us as Americans stay out of their business when it comes to foreign policy and culture implementation.
 * __Recent activities: __**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">The death of bin Laden, who was killed in a joint operation by U.S. troops and CIA operatives in May 2011, complicated the future of al-Qaeda.
 * <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">Al-Qaeda named Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, took over as leader. Bin Laden's death was followed in June by the demise of another powerful, top-ranking al-Qaeda leader, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed. He was the leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa and organized the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998. He was killed during a shootout at a security checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">2004—The Madrid Bombing
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">2005—The London Bombing