Research Paper Example on Al Qaeda

The United States has launched intense terrorism precaution ever since the 9/11 bombing incident especially through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Among the terror groups that have brought worries concerning the security of the Americans is the Al Qaeda. The DHS has found it difficult to deal with the group because of its amorphous nature. The group has become one of the multinational group with bases and affiliates all around the globe. The affiliates groups have managed to replace the base in Pakistan as the decision point for their terrorist operations. This paper is focused on analyzing the Al Qaeda group based on their history, driving force, leadership, sources of financing, and the area of operations.

History

The Al Qaeda was started in 1989 after Osama Bin Laden met with his accomplices in Peshawar in Pakistan. This is after the Soviet military was withdrawing from Afghanistan and the Affiliated Muslim forces were frustrated by the treatment of their fellow Muslim brothers by particularly the United States (Gerges, 2011). Therefore, the group was formed with the conception of a universal jihadist war. They decided to form the Al Qaeda majorly for pushing this agenda. Volunteers from Arabic countries went to Afghanistan with intentions of fighting the Russians who had invaded Afghanistan. After the battle was over, the Al Qaeda was formed to fight a holy war (Jihad) against the enemies the volunteering armies felt were against the Islam. The enemies, in this case, were majorly the Jews and Christian countries. Since then Al Qaeda has spread to be now constituted in almost 50 countries around the world. Moreover, the groups have a vision of replacing the secular countries with a uniform Islamic political entity. Finally, the group has ambitions of evicting Americans among other non-Islamic citizens from Muslim countries.

Leadership Structure

The Al Qaeda have had significant shifts in their operations and their geographical focus since the death of the founder Osama Bin Laden. Osama was regarded as the leader of the group until 2011 after his death (Ferrari, 2017). After that, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a renowned Egyptian surgeon was pronounced the new leader. He was Ladens assistant and was among the most wanted insurgents in the United States. He has stayed in hiding after the overthrowing of the Taliban by the United States-led coalition. However, there are speculations that he has been hidden in the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. This has enabled him to evade being arrested for a long time. Other leaders include Khalid al-Habib. He oversees the operations of the group while the Zawahiri is in hiding. He is the military commander who supervises the internal operations of the group in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. Analysts project that he uses proxy identities to evade being captured. Besides, other leaders include Matur Rehman who is the planning chief and Abou Mossab as the bomb maker. These leaders have had the mandate of propelling the group towards propagating its core mandate of the jihad war. Therefore, the DHS has to focus on eliminating these leaders to cause a leadership gap that will shake the group to its knees.

Areas of Operations

Since the inception of Al Qaeda in the 1980s, the major operations were restricted to Pakistan and Afghanistan. These regions were majorly the front zones of their missions. However, as the group grew bigger and with the increasing affiliates, the group spread its operations in Arabia peninsula, Syria, Africa, Asia, and Iraq )Mendelsohn, 2016). These regions had the Al Qaeda bases that are used to solicit for funds and carry out minor operations. The DHS has to instill intensified military operations and vigilance in the areas since their presence castigates the militia operations.

Tactics

The Al Qaeda militia uses the mountain warfare techniques. Furthermore, the group uses an unidentifiable and uncontrollable border advantageously. This technique makes the Al Qaeda capable of extending a conflict through retreating to the neighboring border to Pakistan. This makes them able to re-strategize as well as receiving additional support and conduct their business. This disadvantages their enemies making them have an upper hand in the war. Furthermore, the Al Qaeda also use the bold hostage taking technique as a way of minimizing the risk of being counter-attacked. The fact that they have hostages limits the ability of an army sweeping their entity for fear of injuring the hostages. On several circumstances, the Al Qaeda militias are usually involved in heavily assaulting their targets and in turn exposing the same to the media. This brings media attention and instills fear among the civilians which further gives them more psychological strength.

Financing

Ever since the inception of the Al Qaeda, the group has been utilizing various means to finance its operations. This ranges from criminal activities such as looting to legally accepted means such as fundraising and business dealings. Furthermore, the affiliate groups have also had their significant role in the financing of the Base." They are obliged to operate autonomously through the commission of ordinary crimes. However, the group does not operate their finance through the normal banking system but instead have the Hawala.

Majorly, the Al Qaeda has extensively used fundraising to fund their operations. Their main donors are usually members from Saudi Arabia and more specifically the Gulf regions. The group makes sure that they have their mandates and missions disseminated to the donors so that the donors are aware of their operations (Mendelsohn, 2016). Therefore, the donors fund the terrorist group basing on the agreement with the mission. However, the money is not donated through bank accounts or wire transfer, but instead, it is collected by "collectors" to avoid traces. This has enabled the group to exist for long without being identified utilizing tracing their money transfer method. Besides, the Al Qaeda receive funding form fraudulent leaders in international charitable corporations, especially on Ramadhan. Furthermore, Al Qaeda receives its funding through extensive taxations from the sale of drugs. This is facilitated by the underlying link between the government and nongovernment organizations with the drug traffickers. Finally, the group receives the funding through contributions from the mosques and sympathizers. The DHS is tasked with the responsibility of frustrating the funding of the group so that their operations are also shut. This is because the resources they get makes the group more powerful.

In conclusion, the Al Qaeda remains as one of the most sought terrorist group. The group started as a small group but has grown into a multinational militia over the year. They have employed unique tactics including mountain wars and target assaults that have intensified their strength in their areas of operations. Furthermore, the group has received diverse financial support from the government institutions, non-governmental institutions, mosques and through conducting businesses. This makes them more potent in since they have more resources to purchase arms. The DHS has the mandate of utilizing these facts to castigate the operation of the group for the betterment of the US security.

References

Ferrari, S. (2017). Congratulations! You Have Killed Osama bin Laden!! University of Illinois Press. doi:10.5406/illinois/9780252038860.003.0010

Gerges, F. A. (2011). The Rise of Al-Qaeda. The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda, 29-68. doi:10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199790654.003.0002

Mendelsohn, B. (2016). The al-Qaeda Franchise. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190205607.001.0001

Mendelsohn, B. (2016). Formal Organizational Expansion. The al-Qaeda Franchise, 20-36. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190205607.003.0002