by Zach Bigalke

Created on: July 16, 2007

I was drawn into writing about this topic when the top-ranked "NO" diatribe by Penny Penn. The author's narrow argument that there is no such thing as al-Qaeda, international Islamist jihadist organization, is purely ludicrous. As Richard A. Clarke, a man who worked as a key official in the National Security Agency under four presidents from Reagan to George W. Bush and was the head of the counter-terrorism office during 11 September 2001, states in his personal narrative "Against All Enemies", the United States government has known about Osama bin Laden since the first term of the Clinton administration. Over time, with attacks on U.S. embassies and military installations and equipment overseas, the truth has revealed itself to be more horrible than most Americans wish to realize or acknowledge; this denial of the facts extends from John Q. Public to President Bush himself.

The Clinton administration had been working for years on stifling the growth of al-Qaeda. Born out of the mujahedeen which fought and turned away the might of the Soviet military in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda has spread nefariously across the globe into countries on every continent. When these fighters were finished fighting MiGs and Red Army tanks, they were summarily left to their fate in the rugged Afghan frontier. One key cog in organizing the influx of warriors - Osama bin Laden, the black sheep of a wealthy Saudi family - had acquired the fealty of many men now looking for a new warfront. Espousing radical Sunni dogma and the return of a global caliphate, bin Laden had turned his sights and his growing financial backing toward stemming the tide of the two global superpowers through guerrilla terrorist tactics intended on provoking larger guerrilla conflict. The ultimate achievement in the scheme? Global Islamic theocratic rule, intolerant of any alternative viewpoints.

To achieve this aim, bin Laden needs as many men on his side as he can muster. This is where global anti-terrorism efforts fail to slay the head of the Gorgon that is al-Qaeda. With each serpent slashed from its pate, the beast grows two in its place...

The tactics that the United States government and military have used in its counter-terrorism efforts during the entirety of the Bush administration have been laughable. Before the fateful airplanes ever began boarding, American efforts were being directed on fronts where they would provide little if any immediate protection for the American public in the event of another attack

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