Al Qaeda

July 26, 2005

Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة - al-Qā‘idah, “the foundation” or “the base”) is the name given to an international alliance of militant Islamist organizations. Originally built from the cadre of Saudi-funded Arab fighters who flocked to join the mujahideen resistance movement against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, it seeks to establish, via military and terrorist tactics, a radical form of Islamist ideology to supplant both current regimes in the Middle East and eventually Western society as a whole.

These are their activities:
- Al-Qaeda gained worldwide notoriety after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

- Besides the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., al-Qaeda has also taken responsibility for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, and the attack on the USS Cole, as well as many attacks on people in and of other nations around the world.

- In 1996, Osama bin Laden was expelled from Sudan after possible participation in the 1994 attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak while his motorcade was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

- On February 23, 1998, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri of Egyptian Islamic Jihad issued a fatwa under the banner of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders saying that “to kill Americans and their allies, civilians, and military is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able.”

- In 1999, Egyptian Islamic Jihad officially merged with al-Qaeda, and al-Zawahiri became bin Laden’s right-hand man.

- Following the September 11, 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda, the United States began to build up military forces in preparation for an attack on Afghanistan (whose government harbored bin Laden’s organization) in response.

- Battles between the United States and the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces continue as of 2005. As a result of this invasion, the al-Qaeda training camps were destroyed, and much of the existing operating structure of al-Qaeda was disrupted.

- During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, al-Qaeda took more formal interest in the region and is known to have been responsible for actively organising and aiding local resistance to the occupying coalition forces.

- During Iraq’s historic elections in January 2005 al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for nine suicide blasts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

- The first militant attack that al-Qaeda allegedly carried out consisted of three bombings which were targeted at U.S. troops in Aden, Yemen, in December 1992. A Yemeni and an Austrian tourist died in the bombing.

- Ramzi Yousef, who was involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (though probably not an al-Qaeda member at the time), and Khalid Sheik Mohammed planned Operation Bojinka, a plot to destroy airplanes in mid-Pacific flight using explosives.

- Al-Qaida is believed to be responsible for a bombing at a U.S. military facility in Riyadh in November 1995, which killed two people from India and five Americans. Al-Qaeda is also thought by some to be responsible for the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing which killed American military personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; this attack and the previous one are usually ascribed to Hizbullah.

- Al-Qaeda is believed to have conducted the bombings in August 1998 of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing more than 200 people and injuring more than 5,000 others

- In December 1999 and into 2000, al-Qaeda planned attacks against U.S. and Israeli tourists visiting Jordan for millennial celebrations; however, the Jordanian authorities thwarted the planned attacks and put 28 suspects on trial. Al-Qaeda also attempted the bombing of the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California during the millennium holiday, although the bomber Ahmed Ressam was caught at the US-Canadian border with bombs in the trunk of his car.

- Also, al-Qaeda planned to attack the USS The Sullivans on January 3, 2000, but that effort failed due to too much weight being put on the small boat meant to bomb the ship.

- They are also thought to be responsible for the October 2000 USS Cole bombing. German police foiled a plot to destroy a cathedral in Strasbourg, France in December 2000. Al-Qaeda is thought to be responsible.

- The most destructive act ascribed to al-Qaeda was the series of attacks in the USA on September 11th, 2001.

- Several attacks and attempted attacks since September 11, 2001 have been attributed to al-Qaeda. The first of which was the Paris embassy attack plot, which was foiled. The second of which involved the attempted shoe bomber Richard Reid, who proclaimed himself a follower of Osama bin Laden, and got close to destroying American Airlines Flight 63).

- More subsequent plots included the El Ghriba synagogue bombing in Djerba, Tunisia and attempted attacks in Jordan, Indonesia, Morocco, and Singapore.

- The network has also been implicated in the Limburg tanker bombing, of complicity in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and in numerous bombings in Pakistan.

- Al-Qaeda is responsible for the terrorist car bombing in Mombasa in November 2002, the Riyadh Compound Bombings, and the Istanbul Bombings in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2003.

- Al-Qaeda has strong alliances with a number of other Islamic militant organizations including the Indonesian Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah. That group was responsible for the October 2002 Bali bombing.

- Although there have been no identified al-Qaeda attacks within the territory of the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks, numerous al-Qaeda attacks in the Middle East, Far East, Africa and Europe have caused extensive casualties and turmoil

- It is also believed that al-Qaeda was involved in the 7 July 2005 London bombings, which was a series of explosions that was set off by four bombs that struck London’s public transport system during the morning rush hour. At 08:50, three bombs exploded within one minute on three London Underground trains, and at 09:47 a fourth bomb exploded on a bus. Fifty-two people are confirmed dead, with 700 injured.

WHAT DID YOU ALL GET FROM ALL OF THIS, HAH?!?!?

X-(

Shocking moment

phone So, when I was laying on my bed dreaming about something, I heard a phone’s ringing and mom picked up the phone. She knocked my door and gave it to me. Apparently it was the temporary employment agency. I talked with the man and made an appointment for the next friday to come there and have to do a typing test. They are currently looking for people who can work in the morning and also afternoon and I took the afternoon one because if I took morning it starts at 07:00 AM and my place is not near by its place so I’m sure I’ll be late.

I might be updating this weblog more than once. Why? It’s just because I am learning to type more faster :D On the other side I also have plan to live by my own, looking for a small apartment for myself that offers an internet connection cable, or ADSL. But IMHO, this job is not yet enough for me to get all the things I need because I think this job is only for 20 hours in a week. But I really appreciate it because I just can’t stay at home doing nothing all the times. I don’t really care where to live, in the same place or another place, at least I’ll still get an internet connection there otherwise I will not rent it for sure.

I am old enough to stay outside home because my other family who live in this country have lived by their own since they were still 17 years old. Can you imagine that? It’s not because they wanted it, but their parents (who was of course, my grand parents) told them to live by their own. But if you ask me whether I am mature enough to live by my own, then I really can’t say anything because I know that I am always with my mom.

But …. who can get what s/he wants if s/he doesn’t try? :)

Another way to blog

So, a weblogger basically writes something on their weblogs, there’s another way to blog. As most of you already know about podcasting. What’s a podcasting? Podcasting is a method of publishing files via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed to receive new files automatically. It became popular in late 2004, largely for downloading audio files onto a portable audio player or personal computer.

Podcasting allows your listeners to listen to your audio clips whenever and wherever they want. Software aggregators check for and download new clips, which can be played on the computer or synchronized with MP3 players like Apple’s iPod. Some aggregators now support videocasting as well. Aggregators require an RSS feed, which Castpost automatically provides. ~ Castpost ~

This Castpost site is a nice site to broadcast your video and audio clips. I found this site yesterday night and I have mine. Interesting stuff, though. Wanna try out? ;) (but if you hear my bad voice, don’t laugh hahah!)