The War on Terror
By Jacob Self, Chris Henry, and Carson McGurk
Al-Qaeda
"I don't think there's any question that when you get the number one terrorist in the world, that we're a little safer today than we were when he was alive. But I also don't think we ought to kid ourselves that killing Usama Bin Ladin kills al-Qa'ida. Al-Qa'ida still remains a threat, they're still going to try to attack our country, and I think we have to continue to be vigilant and continue the effort to ultimately defeat these guys. We damaged them, but we still have to defeat them."
—DCIA Leon E. Panetta, Interview with NBC Nightly News, May 3, 2011
About Al-Qaeda
The Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood is a white supremacist group founded in the 1960’s. The large gang of about 20,000 members commits crimes of terror/racism outside of, as well as inside of prisons. The Aryan Brotherhood is only makes up 1% of prison populations, but it is responsible for nearly 20% of prison crimes, such as murder, assault, and drug trafficking.
The Brotherhood has changed significantly from the 60’s to the 80’s, but they are still a terrorist group in which shows hatred toward blacks and Mexicans.Timeline of Terror Events
1983-Truck Bombing of U.S. Marine Barracks-A large truck bomb with 2,500 pounds of TNT smashed through the main gate of the U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut. 241 U.S. servicement are killed when it expoldes. A French paratrooper base is blown up just a few minutes later and 58 French soldiers are killed. A terrorist group called the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
1983-Truck Bombing of U.S. Embassy-A large vehicle packed with explosives is driven quickly into the U.S. Embassy compound in Beirut. When it explodes it kills 63 people. A group of terrorists called the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
1983-U.S. Embassy Annex Attacked-A truck loaded with explosives crashed into the U.S. Embassy anex in Kuwait. Four people were killed and at least 62 were injured. A terrorist group called the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
1984-U.S. Embassy Compound Attacked-A van filled with explosives sped through several barriers and groups of U.S. soldiers and stopped about 30 feet in front of the embassy annex. The driver of the van and 12 soldiers and visitors to the annex were killed. A terrorist group called the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
1985-Restaurant Bombing-A bomb exploded in a restaurant where U.S. soldiers liked to eat. The explosion killed 18 Spaniard citizens and injured 82 other people. Only 15 of the Americans were injured, but none were killed.
1985-TWA Flight 847-This airliner took off in Rome, Italy, but was hijacked and forced to fly to Beirut, Lebanon. Mohammed Hamadei from the terrorist group Hezbollah, Hassan Izz-al-Din from Lebanon, and Ali Atwa another terrorist hijacked the plane.
1985-Rhein Main Airbase Bombing-Two Americans and 20 others are injured when a Volkswagon car loaded with explosives blew up at the U.S. Rhein-Main air base in Frankfurt, Germany. Two terrorist groups, West German Red Army faction and the French Direct Action, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
1986-Flight 840 Bombed-As the plane was beginning to land in Athens a plastic explosive bomb exploded under the seat of the passenger sitting in seat 10F. Four people were killed and nine others were wounded. The terrorist group called Ezzedine Kassam Unit of the Arab Revolutionary Cells claimed responsibility
1986-Disco in Berlin Bombed-The La Belle is a nightclub that was popular with the United States servicemen. Two United States soldiers and one Turkish woman were killed in the explosion
1998-Flight 103 Bombed-The bomb that blew up this flight was packed in a small radio case. It was left on the plane by a terrorist that got off of the plane at an earlier stop. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group claimed responsibility. The bombing was carried out so that they could take revenge on America when one of its warships accidentally mistook a Palestinian passenger plane as a war plane and shot it down.
1991-18 Americans Kidnapped-David Dodge was the president of the American University in Beirut. He was kidnapped the first time while he was on his way home from work. He was released, but he was kidnapped again. This time he was killed. His murder was called the most gruesome abduction, torture, and killing of a United States citizen. The terrorists videotaped his torture and murder. A group called the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth claimed responsibility, but the real suspects are the Hezbollah guerillas.
1996-Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia are Bombed-A fuel truck was parked 35 yards away from a United States military compound. When the truck blew up 19 American soldiers were killed and 500 more people were wounded. The Movement for Islamic Change claimed responsibility for the bombing.
1998-U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania are Bombed-These terrorist attacks happened almost at the same time. More than 5,000 people were injured and 224 were killed when the buildings that they were working in collapsed during the explosions.
2001-World Trade Centers Bombed and Pentagon is Attacked-Terrorists hijack 4 domestic flights from Boston airport. Two of the planes slam in to the two World Trade Center towers, causing them to collapse. A third flight crashes into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashes in Pennsylvania.
9/11
On September 11th, 2001, the World Trade Centers in New York City were attacked.