Why Did 9/11 Determine The Political Goals Of Al Qaeda

Introduction Terrorism in global politics has become the textbook solution for small extremist groups to advance their political agendas. No other terrorist organisation does this better than Al Qaeda, founded in 1988 and spearheaded by jihadist Osama Bin Laden, it did not take long for the Muslim terrorist group to commit the worst attack ever seen on United States soil. But, why did they commit this attack? The simple answer would be, ‘it’s just what terrorists do,’ but there is far more to it. Political goals and agendas, whether they be influenced by religion or not, are what fuel terrorist attacks, but did 9/11 advance the political goals of Al Qaeda? This essay is broken up into two main parts. First I look at Al Qaeda and its history,

Some authors, such as Mohammad Mohamedou in Changing War and Global Politics, argue that by the early 2010’s Al Qaeda had achieved its goals that were set out by them in the 1900’s (Mohamedou 2011). A unique approach by Michael Scott Doran in Somebody Else’s Civil War suggested that the United States was dragged into Al Qaeda’s civil war because of 9/11 (Doran 2002, 17-21). On the other side of the table, Jerold M. Post argues that after 9/11, Al Qaeda has had to take a much more decentralised position in the Middle East due to the United States and the Global War on Terror, coining this current period of Al Qaeda as ‘Al Qaeda Version 2.0’ (Post 2009, 118-121). This argument is further supported by Barbara Elias and her article, Why rebels rely on terrorists: The persistence of the Taliban-al-Qaeda battlefield coalition in Afghanistan. This article examines the alliances that terrorist groups form with rebel militias, and has a particular focus on the Taliban and Al Qaeda alliance (Elias 2022, 235). Vasiliev and Zherlitsyna discuss that Al Qaeda in 2020 is in a very different position to what it was even in the 2000’s, using data that shows support for Al Qaeda in 14 different Muslim countries had an ‘unfavourable view’ of Al Qaeda (Vasiliev and Zherlitsyna 2022, 1244). There is a wide spectrum of views in regards to how successful 9/11 was in achieving

The US reaction was quick and simple: blow everything related to Al Qaeda up. With the Taliban destroyed and the US occupying Afghanistan, this was one of the terrorist organisation’s lowest points since its inception. It is hard for Al Qaeda to claim the 20 years after 9/11 as successful because the majority of their key figures were forced into hiding in Pakistan while their home land was being turned into a wasteland (Crumpton 2006, 3).

Prior to 2021, this argument of US aggression against Al Qaeda within the Middle East after 9/11 to destroy them would have been sound. However, now that United States troops have officially withdrawn from Afghanistan and the Taliban have taken effective control of the state, I argue that Al Qaeda has taken a small, yet favourable win when keeping their political goals in mind. The Taliban have an unambiguous alliance with Al Qaeda, there is no question about that, and now that Afghanistan is under complete control by the Taliban, there is a safe haven waiting to be used by Al