“Al Qaeda Is a Global Terrorist Organization”
No. It is less an organization than an ideology. The Arabic word qaeda can
be translated as a “base of operation” or “foundation,” or alternatively as
a “precept” or “method.” Islamic militants always understood the term in the
latter sense. In 1987, Abdullah Azzam, the leading ideologue for modern Sunni
Muslim radical activists, called for al-qaeda al-sulbah (a vanguard of the
strong). He envisaged men who, acting independently, would set an example for
the rest of the Islamic world and thus galvanize the umma (global community
of believers) against its oppressors. It was the FBI—during its investigation
of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa—which dubbed the loosely linked
group of activists that Osama bin Laden and his aides had...
