The War in Afghanistan
Essential Question 5 by: Maddie Frick & Emma Kimura
al-Qaeda Attacks on the United States
In 1993 there was a Truck Bombing of the World Trade Center. This caused one-hundred people to be injured, 6 people were killed, and there was thirty million dollars worth of damage. In 1998 there were U.S. Embassy Bombings in East Africa which killed three-hundred people. On October of 2000 there was a Suicide Bombing of military destroyer, USS Cole in Yemen which caused seventeen people to be killed. The next attack Al-Qaeda had on the United States was 9/11, which was when Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airlines, and crashed them in the U.S.
Why Did al-Aqaeda Attack on The Unites States?
Al-Qaeda attacked the United States because we ended support for Afghanistan after the Cold War. We also supported Israel, which Al-Qaeda greatly disagreed with. Al-Qaeda also believes that the United States act as the “world police” especially in the developing world. Al-Qaeda would not like this because they want to take over the world and have everything their way. A final reason is because extreme members of Al-Qaeda didn’t like the West’s government and religious attitudes.
The Attacks of al-Qaeda
1993
Truck Bombing of the World Trade Center
1998
U.S. Embassy Bombings in East Africa
9/11
Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airlines, and crashed them in the United States
After the 9/11 Attacks
United States Issues Final Demands to the Taliban
The Taliban had to ordered Al-Qaeda to 'give' them all of the Al-Qaeda leaders, which includes Bin Laden to the United States. Al-Qaeda also had to immediately stop all terrorist training camps and allow U.S. to inspect the camps. The Taliban said they would give Bin Laden to an Islamic court, and agree with the United States' orders, if we had evidence against Bin Laden. The U.S. rejects this offer, and Bush, the President at that time said “We know he’s guilty.”
War
In October of 2001, the United States and their allies invaded, with the help of the Northern Alliance, a rebel force opposed to the Taliban. In 2001 a new government was created and led by President Hamid Karzai. In 2011 U.S. troops traveled into over into Pakistan to attempt to kill kill Bin Laden. In December of 2014, combat operations(fighting) ended. The United States still had ten-million troops in Pakistan until the end of the year.
Timeline Events
September 11, 2001: Terrorists Strike the United States
Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airlines and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center in New York, and one into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The final plane crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost three thousand people died in all these attacks, and there was a total of 19 hijackers who were led led by an Egyptian named Mohammed Atta. Later on, President George W. Bush zeroed in on Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, and then Bush teld the Taliban regime to “deliver to the United States authorities all the leaders of Al-Qaeda who hide in your land,” or share their fate.
December 2001: Bin Laden Escapes, and then Found
The United States found Osama Bin Laden in the Tora Bora cave after Afghan militants participated in a terrible two-week war with Al-Qaeda militants which lasted from December third to the seventeenth. It resulted in a few hundred deaths, and Bin Laden escaping who is thought to have left on horseback in December 16, just before Afghan forces captured 20 of Bin Laden’s men. Although the U.S. found Bin Laden’s location, they were not engaged in any the attacks in the two-week war with Al-Qaeda.
October 29, 2004: Bin Laden Surfaces
Osama Bin Laden released a video message three weeks after the United States' presidential election. During this time, Bin Laden insulted the Bush administration, and took the responsibility of the 9/11 attacks. He also threatened to commit more violence, and said, ”We want to restore freedom to our nation, just as you lay waste to our nation.”
July 2006: A Bloody Resurgence
This is when violence increased greatly across the country around this time. Suicide attacks increased from 2005 to 2006 from twenty-seven to one hundred thirty-nine. Furthermore, bombings increased more than double, and went all the way up to one-thousand six-hundred seventy-seven. During this time, the central government got badly impacted as well.
May 1, 2011: Osama Bin Laden is Killed
Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in mid-morning on May 2nd in Pakistan, and on May 1st in the late evening. U.S. Special Forces arrived around where Bin Laden was hiding in two Black Hawk helicopters. The forces first made holes in all of the walls in order to get into into the thee-story building where Bin Laden lived. They then had to fight in the second and third floor where Bin Laden'f family lived. In the last five to ten minutes of the fighting, Osama Bin Laden was shot in the head above the left eye.
Have our actions in the War in Afghanistan helped or hurt our image in the world?
The United States’ actions in the War in Afghanistan has helped our image in the world. This is because we showed that we have great technology and searching skills because we were able to find someone who damaged our country who was in very protected hiding. For example, the United States used special tracking devices to find Osama Bin Laden when he was hiding in Pakistan and in the Tora Bora cave. The War in Afghanistan also helped out image because it showed that the United States can hurt the person or group even more than they hurt the U.S. This is shown when the United States attcked Osama Bin Laden's hiding spot, and then went on to kill him.
Sources
- The War in Afghanistan Worksheet
- War in Afghanistan