To begin, I would like to retell the history behind Osama’s perspective of what America meant to him. All throughout the 20th century, there was chaos in the Middle Eastern countries, over the ideology of secular nationalism. These ideas were nice in thought, but the new regimes quickly became autocratic and failed to resemble any of the previous views of their government. This made the critics revolt in violence, they became dissatisfied with these secular governments.
Simultaneously, social malaise among young men who were struggling to find jobs and start their own families while living in corrupt oil states, made them extremely vulnerable to radicalization. Bin Laden's idea that America was the “head of the snake” and the “root of all societies problems” resonated well with their discontent. I won’t retell all the background information but, one main thing I will point out about his early life is that Islam shaped his entire personality and beliefs. While in college, he became a follower of the radical pan-Islamiat scholar Abdullah Azzam, who believed that all Muslims should ride in jihad, to create a single Islamic state.
America misjudged the growing threat of Al-Qaeda and lacked intel sharing between different government agencies. There were many things that we should have been able to connect the dots to, like the Soviet- Afghan war, which laid the table for later conflicts. Another major clue was Bin Laden wanting the U.S. to stay out of the fray when Islamic nations were fighting among themselves.
What led up to 9/11 was Osama’s life entirely, I think it was his ideology, that he found from Azzam, about the pan-Islamist Idea. I think that led them into the Soviet War, where they helped the Afghan rebels and where they encouraged young men to be a part of their Afghan jihad. This proved to them that pan-Islamism was possible, so he created his own group, Al-Qaeda, in order to have a single Islamic state. And when Osama went back to Saudi Arabia, to get more fundraisers, he soon realized the pro-Western Saudi royals feared him and his views. This was because his views might cause trouble in the kingdom. So, they took his passport and spurned his offer with “Afghan Arabs” to guard the border after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. They also asked the U.S. for help. This ultimately was what set Osama off, he began to attack the U.S. soon after.
I would say Osama is to blame for this. I wouldn’t say America is to blame for the attacks, that is very cold. We could have prevented it, if we only communicated within ourselves more and understood the ground we were walking on. But, overall I think Osama and his ideology of pan-Islamism is to blame entirely.
I think we can draw similarities between 9/11 and current events in Afghanistan by realizing that all of these world issues has/have to do with radical groups. I think a lot of times people, ignorant people may I add, think all muslims are violent, when it is only the radicalized groups that inflict harm upon others. Nonetheless, there is a large majority of extremist Islams, but that is not my point here. My point is, these issues keep arising because of extremist groups like the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Isis, etc. I think something that would be super interesting to research for different projects, or just to know, is why is there still so much unsettled dust in this part of the world? Why are these countries so susceptible to terrorism? And most importantly, what can we do to once and for all to get rid of it.