Al Qaeda

On September 11, 2001, a new Epoch War emerged. Terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial airplanes and attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist group, Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for those attacks. Fighting against transnational terrorist networks has become the task of the day. The terrorist groups who comprise this network pose the biggest threat. They do not operate openly, do not have permanent places of operation and appear in different forms such as military, civilians, patriots and sometimes groups of religious motive. Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda's creator and leader, has developed an operational design to carry out his strategy against U.S. Osama Bin Laden's threat is sharpened by the fact that his ideas are grounded in the tenets of Islam. Professor Bernard Lewis has explained, "Islam is not only a matter of faith and practice. It is also for many an identity, solidarity, and loyalty that transcends all other."1 Analyzing Al Qaeda's organizational structure, strategy, ideology, and tactics, we can learn what transnational terrorist networks are all about. Finally, a conclusion and recommendations flowing from the preceding assessments are provided for how U.S. can further refine the strategy plan for the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).