that left nearly 3,000 Americans dead. This sparked significant anti-terrorism efforts

around the globe, especially targeting the perpetrators of the attacks. After 14 years,

has the US managed to defeat Al Qaeda?

Well, the Islamic extremist group known as Al Qaeda was founded in the 1980s in opposition

to the Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan. But after the USSR left the region, Al Qaeda’s

ideology became more aggressively anti-Western. Since 1993, Al Qaeda has been responsible

for more than 50 deadly terrorist attacks: These include the 1993 World Trade Center

bombing, the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

But after the attacks of 2001, the United States and its allies began the “War on

Terror”, seeking to dismantle terrorism in the Middle East. In particular, foreign

policy focused on taking down the leader of Al Qaeda and the mastermind behind 9/11, Osama

bin Laden. The ensuing conflict sent thousands of US soldiers into Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria

and Pakistan.

Then, in 2011, US forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan, contributing to the already declining

stability of the group. According to the US National Counterterrorism Center, Al Qaeda

had been “significantly degraded” over the last decade, and its “capability to

recruit, train, and deploy operatives for anti-Western attacks has been reduced.”

In 2012, President Barack Obama optimistically claimed that Al Qaeda was “on the run”,

and that its core leaders were “decimated” and “on a path to defeat”.  

But, despite losing power in Iraq, Al Qaeda has made a recent resurgence. President Obama

has been careful to note that the group “continues to pursue attacks”, most notably the January

2015 shooting that targeted the magazine Charlie Hebdo.

And, offshoots from the group have sprung up. ISIS is currently one of the most powerful

and dangerous islamic terrorist groups to grow directly out of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Around

the early 2000s, ISIS split off from its parent organization in order to concentrate attacks

on LOCAL infidels and establish an Islamic State. Al Qaeda on the other hand, continues

its global terrorism efforts to destabilise Western powers. Al Qaeda has also led to the

creation of other terrorist groups in Africa like Boko Haram and Al Shabab.

Because of Al Qaeda’s decentralized organizational structure, there are many covert terrorist

cells all over the world. These have been notoriously hard to root out by law enforcement

officials. And for this reason, Al Qaeda may never be fully eradicated.

Some believe that it is the U.S.’s fault that terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda

or ISIS exist. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below. You can also watch this

video to learn more. Thanks for watching TestTube! Be sure to like and subscribe to our channel

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