THE

NETWORK

OFTERRORISM
O

AN ATTACK ON

THE CIVILIZED 

WORLD

ne month ago today, innocent citizens

from some 80 nations were attacked and killed, without warning or provocation, in an act

that horrified not only every American, but every person of every faith, and every nation that

values human life.

The attack took place on American soil, but it was an attack on the heart and soul of the 

civilized world. And the world has come together to fight a new and different war, the first,

and we hope the only one, of the 21st century. A war against all those who seek to export

terror, and a war against those governments that support or shelter them.

We’re mounting a sustained campaign to drive the terrorists out of their hidden caves and to

bring them to justice....At the same time, we are showing the compassion of America by

delivering food and medicine to the Afghan people who are, themselves, the victims of a

repressive regime.

We’re angry at the evil that was done to us, yet patient and just in our response....Our war

on terrorism has nothing to do with differences in faith. It has everything to do with people

of all faiths coming together to condemn hate and evil and murder and prejudice.

People often ask me, how long will this last? This particular battlefront will last as long as it

takes to bring al Qaeda to justice. It may happen tomorrow; it may happen a month from

now; it may take a year or two. But we will prevail.”

President George W. Bush

October 11, 2001

TERROR

FREEDOM

1

“

Today, 

the United States, 

joined by nations throughout the world, 

is engaged in a sustained effort to identify and destroy 

a global network of terrorists. With our abiding faith in human life 

and freedom, we will prevail over those who, cynically exploiting the

fears of others, offer nothing but suffering and death.

DEFENDING

DEFEATING

THE 

UNITED STATES 

AND THE

INTERNATIONAL 

CAMPAIGN 

TO END 

GLOBAL 

TERRORISM
“Our war on terrorism has nothing to do with

differences in faith,” President Bush said. “It has everything to do with people of all faiths coming together to 

condemn hate and evil and murder and prejudice.”

This worldwide campaign against terror has many

faces, some highly visible, others not:

❏ In Afghanistan, U.S. forces, with coalition support, are

conducting military operations to root out and destroy

the al Qaeda terror network and its Taliban supporters.

❏ International relief agencies, with U.S. assistance, are

providing food, medicine, and shelter for Afghan

refugees who have endured the humanitarian disaster

over which the Taliban have presided. 

❏ Law enforcement agencies are identifying and arresting

suspected terrorists, and governments are freezing

the financial assets of terrorists and their supporters.

❏ In the United States and around the world, families

gather to mourn for the dead of September 11, and

to care for the families bereft of sons and daughters,

brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers.

❏ At the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, workers

continue to clear wreckage and begin the process of

rebuilding. 

Yet out of this pain and loss, we can already 

see a renewed determination to find the perpetrators 

of these acts and to defend the values of humanity,

diversity, and freedom that unite the world community.

How did we reach this time of sorrow and

resolve, pain and hope?

DAY OF BLOOD AND FIRE

In describing the events of September 11, 2001,

it is easy to fall back on familiar, journalistic terms and

refer to attacks on the World Trade Center and the

Pentagon as if the buildings were the chief victims. The

reality, of course, is much different: Within the space 

of two hours, more than 5,000 men, women, and 

children were terrorized, tortured, slashed with knives,

burned to death, and crushed under tons of rubble 

in a premeditated act of mass murder. In addition, 4,000

or more children lost a parent that day in the terrorist

attacks, according to the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.

The basic facts: On the morning of September 11,

terrorists operating in bands of four to five hijacked

four commercial jetliners departing from airports on the

East Coast of the United States. Using knives and box

cutters, the 19 hijackers transformed 

3

THE HIJACKINGS

The worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil was committed on September 11, 2001, when bands of 

four to five terrorists took control of four airliners, United Airlines Flights 93 and 175 and

American Airlines Flights 11 and 77. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) knows from witness

accounts of cell phone conversations with passengers on the hijacked airliners that the terrorists

eluded security measures and used cardboard-box cutters and razors to take control of the four

aircraft. Hijackers also smuggled other types of knives through airport security and turned off

cockpit transponders to evade detection by air traffic controllers, investigators believe. Security

experts say the hijackers almost certainly scouted their locations with care, choosing flights and

airports that would give them the greatest chance of success.

The events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 are perhaps the best known. Bound from Newark, New

Jersey, to San Francisco, California, the Boeing 757 was loaded with more than enough fuel to

carry it across the continent. The hijackers chose a busy metropolitan airport. They picked a plane

that was making a nonstop flight, departing early on a Tuesday morning, a week after the Labor

Day holiday — factors that almost guaranteed fewer passengers and, more important, less opposition. The terrorists also appear to have had help. Sources say the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) received bomb threats for three or four other planes in the air that morning, creating a distraction that would give the hijacked planes extra time to change course without being noticed. 

United Airlines Flight 93 was airborne by 8:44 a.m., according to radar logs, and headed west, flying apparently without incident until it reached Cleveland, Ohio, about 50 minutes later.

Passengers reported that hijackers brandished cigarette lighters with hidden switchblades to take

control of the jetliner once it was airborne. At 9:37 a.m., the plane turned south and headed back

the way it came. Descriptions from people aboard Flight 93 indicate that there was pandemonium on the plane. Four men wearing red headbands and speaking with accents killed a passenger,

rushed the cockpit, injured both pilots, and took over flying the aircraft. The remaining passengers

and crew were split into two groups — a few were held in the first-class compartment but most

were moved to the galley in the rear of the plane.

One of the hijackers — the one watching the passengers in the galley — had a small red box tied

to his waist with a belt; he said the box was a bomb. CNN reported that it had obtained a partial

transcript of cockpit chatter and talked with a source who had listened to the air-traffic control

tape. The source said that a man had said in broken English: “This is the captain speaking. Remain

in your seat. There is a bomb on board. Stay quiet. We are meeting with their demands. We are

returning to the airport.” 

Passengers on cell phones learned of the crashes at the World Trade Center and formulated a plan

to respond to the hijackers. After making a number of odd maneuvers in midair — indications of a

struggle to gain control of the plane — Flight 93 slammed nose-first into a field near Shanksville,

Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board. (continued on page 4)

2

(continued on page 6)

“Islam, 

the religion of tolerance,

holds the human soul 

in high esteem 

and considers the attack

against innocent 

human beings 

a grave sin....

I categorically go against

a committed 

Muslim’s embarking on

such attacks. 

Islam never allows 

a Muslim to kill 

the innocent 

and the helpless.”

— Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, 

Muslim scholar, Doha, Qatar

IslamOnline & News Agencies, September 13, 2001
4

5

Similar stories abound from the other doomed

flights of September 11. Hijackers told passengers

that the planes flying from Boston, Massachusetts,

to Los Angeles, California, would be used as bombs

and crash into New York City. A flight attendant on

one of those planes — American Airlines Flight 11 —

made a cellular phone call in which she said several “Middle Eastern men” had used knives to wound 

passengers. The cell phone call sheds light on 

how a few men armed only with small knives or 

box cutters could quickly commandeer an airliner:

they did not hesitate to draw blood.

On American Airlines Flight 77, a passenger

described how several men with knives and box 

cutters had hustled passengers to the rear of the

Boeing 757 aircraft after it had departed from

Washington’s Dulles International Airport en route

to Los Angeles. About an hour after takeoff on

Tuesday morning, Flight 77 became a massive 

missile aimed apparently at Washington, D.C. The

target changed suddenly as the unidentified pilot 

executed a pivot so tight it reminded observers 

of a fighter jet. The plane cut 270 degrees to the

right to approach the Pentagon from the southwest; it fell below radar level and vanished from

controllers’ screens, the sources said. Aviation

experts said the plane was flown with skill, 

making it highly likely that a trained pilot —

possibly one of the hijackers — was at the helm. 

If a plane’s pilots were killed, forced out of the

cockpit, or incapacitated, it would be relatively 

simple to steer a jumbo jet into the World Trade

Center or the Pentagon, aviation and security

experts said. “We have to assume that the pilots

were no longer a factor; they were either shot 

or killed somehow,” said retired Air Force Colonel

Dale Oderman.

❑

(continued from page 3)

Osama bin Laden 

(center), the prime 

suspect in the

September 11, 2001, 

terrorist attacks on 

the United States, with

his top lieutenant,

Ayman al-Zawahri of

the Egyptian Jihad

group (left), and an

unidentified bodyguard.

Clockwise from above:

Forever changed, the

New York City skyline

is awash in smoke for

hours following the

collapse of the World

Trade Center after two

hijacked airliners

crashed into the twin

110-story towers;

firefighters make

their way through

the rubble of the

World Trade Center

on September 11;

looking down at “ground zero,” the

site of the World

Trade Center, one

week after the attack.
7

planes into huge, fuel-laden missiles. The killers crashed

two of them into New York’s World Trade Center and a

third into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Passengers

and crew heroically fought with the hijackers aboard

the fourth plane, apparently headed toward another

Washington target. The plane crashed in Pennsylvania,

killing all aboard. 

The attacks inside the planes were brutal and 

calculated. In the inhuman words found in luggage 

left behind by one of the killers: “Let each find his blade

for the prey to be slaughtered.” The hijackers either

killed or wounded the pilots, and stabbed and killed

passengers. Reports indicate that, in several instances,

flight attendants had their throats slashed with their

arms helplessly bound behind them. 

But the horror was only beginning. Along with

the hundreds of passengers who died aboard the

planes, more than 4,800 human beings died in the fire

and wreckage of the World Trade Center. Many were

trapped and killed immediately following the impact of

the planes into the towers; some, forced by intense

flames, fell or jumped from windows on high floors.

And tragically, the intense flames weakened structures

that survived the actual impact of the planes; in less

than two hours from the first impact, both towers

imploded, killing thousands, including the citizens of 

78 countries and people of virtually every religious faith

and ethnic group in the world today. 

In Washington, 189 people died at the Pentagon,

including those aboard the plane; 45 died aboard the

fourth plane, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

The terrorists may have thought that, in attacking

the World Trade Center, they were attacking a “symbol

of America.” They weren’t. Instead, they attacked an

institution of international trade, prosperity, and economic

opportunity. Along with government offices of Thailand,

Chile, and Côte d’Ivoire, for example, the World Trade

Center held offices of 430 companies from 28 countries.

In short, the terrorists attacked not just the

United States, they attacked the world.

MURDEROUS DECLARATIONS 

The September 11 atrocity is the responsibility 

of the al Qaeda terrorist network, headed by Osama

bin Laden.

6

Clockwise from above: An 

emergency worker helps a woman

who was injured in the attack 

on the World Trade Center; 

pedestrians scramble for safety as 

the first World Trade Center tower

collapses; destruction and debris at

the Pentagon, near Washington, D.C.,

after a hijacked jetliner crashed into

the southwest side of the building 

on September 11, 2001; a person

falls headfirst after jumping from the

inferno of the World Trade Center 

following the crash of an airliner 

into the north tower. More than

5,000 people were killed in New York

and Washington and in the crash 

of a fourth hijacked airliner in

Pennsylvania.

(continued from page 2)
8 9

❏ Before September 11, bin Laden indicated that he

was planning an attack on the United States.

❏ In August and September, bin Laden operatives around

the world were warned to return to Afghanistan by

September 10.

❏ One of bin Laden’s closest associates has been 

identified as conducting detailed planning for the

September 11 attacks.

❏ Of the 19 hijackers, at least three have been identified

as al Qaeda operatives.

❏ At least one hijacker is known to have been involved in

the attack on the Navy ship USS Cole and the bombings

of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. 

❏ In tracking the hijackers’ movements prior to

September 11, investigators have found that many of

them met with bin Laden operatives and regularly

received money and support from the al Qaeda network. 

More broadly, the planning, pattern, and character

of the September attacks were similar to those of 

previous al Qaeda terrorist attacks. The September 11

operation involved long-term planning, coordinated

actions, lack of warning, use of suicide attackers, and

an effort to kill and maim as many people as possible,

including Muslims and citizens of other nations.

In his notorious, pre-taped statement released 

on October 7, bin Laden said, “God has blessed a group

of vanguard Muslims, the forefront of Islam, to destroy

America.” Taken as a whole, his words amount to a

confession and acceptance of responsibility for the

September 11 attacks — and falsely invoke the faith of

Islam to justify mass killing. But this is only the latest 

in a series of bin Laden pronouncements: 

❏ In his 1996 “Declaration of Jihad,” he urged 

coordinated efforts to kill Americans and encouraged

others to attack the American “enemy.”

❏ In a 1998 statement published in the Arabic newspaper

Al-Quds Al-Arabi, he stated that Muslims should kill

Americans — including civilians — “anywhere in the

world where they can be found.”

❏ In a 1999 interview on the Arabic-language al Jazeera

television, bin Laden stated, “Our enemy ... is every

American male, whether he is directly fighting us 

or paying taxes.”

❏ In two 1997 and 1998 television interviews, he

specifically described the terrorists who bombed the

World Trade Center in 1993 as role models and urged

his followers to “take the fighting to America.”

HIJACKING THE WORLD

Al Qaeda’s record of death and destruction

extends back long before September 11. In October

1993, operatives trained by al Qaeda killed 18 U.S. 

soldiers serving with United Nations peacekeeping

forces in Somalia. This organization bombed the

American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August

1998, killing 223 and wounding more than 4,000 —

the overwhelming majority of them Kenyans. And in

October 2000, these terrorists attacked the Navy ship

USS Cole with a bomb-laden small boat, killing 17

American crew members. 

Al Qaeda is closely tied to the Egyptian Islamic

Jihad, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and other

terrorist groups.

Al Qaeda doesn’t take credit for its failures, but it is

implicated in other terrorist conspiracies. In January 1995,

Philippine authorities discovered a plan to blow up as

many as 12 jetliners as they crossed the Pacific. In Jordan,

authorities foiled the so-called Millennium Plot to attack

Westerners across Jordan during the January 1, 2000,

celebrations. A plan to bomb Los Angeles International

Airport failed when customs officials at the Canadian

border found bomb materials in a car. Authorities in

Frankfurt, Germany, arrested members of a terrorist cell

who were assembling bombs and had surveillance tapes

of a crowded Christmas market in Strasbourg, France.

Al Qaeda is by no means the only terrorist band

operating today. On October 10, the United States

issued a “List of Most Wanted Terrorists.” Along with al

Qaeda suspects, the 22 names include suspects who 

“Attacking innocent

people is not courageous;

it is stupid 

and will be punished 

on the day of judgment.

It’s not courageous to

attack innocent children,

women, and civilians. 

It is courageous 

to protect freedom; 

it is courageous 

to defend oneself and 

not to attack.”

— Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed al-Tantawi of 

Al-Azhar mosque and university, Cairo, Egypt

Muslim-American woman prays at the Islamic Society of Nevada on Friday, 

September 14, 2001, during a special service for the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York and

Washington. President Bush declared that day a national day of remembrance and prayer.

Agence France-Presse, September 14, 2001
10 11

hijacked a TWA jetliner in 1985 and killed an American

passenger; detonated a tanker truck in 1996 at Khobar

Towers, a military housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi

Arabia, killing 19 U.S. Air Force personnel and wounding

280; and bombed the World Trade Center in 1993,

killing six and wounding hundreds.

THE TALIBAN CONNECTION

Over the past 20 years, 4 million Afghans have

fled the country as refugees. Since taking power in

1996, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has presided

over a humanitarian catastrophe. Millions have fled

drought, war, and the repressive policies of the Taliban,

including 80,000 to 100,000 who have fled since

September 11.

The Taliban, operating one of the most repressive

and abusive regimes in the world today, have systematically violated every basic norm of human rights. They

have attacked and burned towns, summarily killed 

civilians, conscripted children into the military, and 

profited from heroin trafficking.

The regime’s assault on women is unprecedented

in modern times. Women are prevented from attending

schools or conducting business, denied access to health

THE TOLL IN THE 

U.S. EMBASSY BOMBINGS

IN AFRICA

On August 7, 1998, terrorists associated 

with al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden bombed

American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and 

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The vast majority 

of those killed and injured in these bombings 

were Kenyans and Tanzanians.

Location Killed Wounded

Nairobi 212* Over 4,000

Dar es Salaam 11** 72***

* includes 12 Americans, 31 Kenyans employed by the

U.S. embassy

** includes 7 Tanzanians employed by the U.S. embassy

*** includes 2 Americans

Top: U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Prudence Bushnell is overcome

with emotion after laying a wreath at the site of the embassy

bombing in Nairobi a few days after the attack. Above: A

Kenyan woman, who was an employee of the U.S. embassy in

Nairobi, speaks to the media after arriving for treatment at

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

Opposite page: Rescue

workers carry an employee

of the U.S. embassy in

Nairobi, Kenya, following

a terrorist bombing on

August 7, 1998. Bombs

exploded minutes apart

outside the U.S. embassies

in Nairobi and Dar es

Salaam, Tanzania, killing

223 people and injuring

over 4,000. On October

18, 2001, four operatives

of Osama bin Laden were

sentenced in U.S. District

Court in New York City to

life in prison for their roles

in the bloody plot. 
12 13

care, and forbidden to leave their homes without male

escorts. Widows or women without a male relative,

with or without children, are essentially treated as nonpersons by the state and often face starvation.

But these are not the reasons why the United

States is now conducting military operations in

Afghanistan. The United States is using military force

because the Taliban, despite repeated warnings, have

continued to provide support and shelter to Osama bin

Laden and al Qaeda terrorists.

More accurately, the evidence now indicates that

the Taliban have been bought and paid for by bin

Laden’s money. Rather than describe the relationship as

“state-supported terrorism,” the Taliban can be characterized as a “terrorist-supported state.” Al Qaeda has

provided the Taliban with training, weapons, soldiers,

and money — lots of it. The Taliban, in turn, provide safe

haven and logistical facilities. 

It is these malignant networks — the Taliban and 

al Qaeda — that the United States is targeting in its

military campaign, not the Afghan people. The United

States repeatedly warned the Taliban that they must

either hand over bin Laden and his associates, or share

their fate. They have chosen the latter, and forced the

Afghan people to suffer as the al Qaeda network inside

the country is methodically located and destroyed.

The civilian casualties suffered by the Afghan people

during the air campaign are tragic, and they could be

avoided but for the Taliban and al Qaeda, who bear the

responsibility for the suffering of the innocent. Unlike

terrorists, the United States doesn’t target civilians: it

strives to protect them. It is the Taliban that choose to

protect an organization whose declared purpose is 

the killing of civilians. Both the Taliban and al Qaeda 

continue to use innocents as human shields, and both

rob food and shelter from the Afghan people.

AFGHANISTAN’S FUTURE

Afghanistan’s immediate future will be difficult,

but it can be one of hope, if only because the Taliban

and al Qaeda will soon be consigned to the past.

On the humanitarian front, the United States and

other nations, working as part of an international 

coalition with the UN World Food Program and other

international relief organizations, continue to take steps

to avert the human tragedy brought on by the Taliban.

Even before the September 11

THE TALIBAN’S BETRAYAL OF THE AFGHAN PEOPLE

The Afghan people have been the primary victims of Taliban misrule since the Taliban came to 

power in 1996. The Taliban have made them the unwilling hosts of foreign armed terrorists, who

have exploited and endangered the Afghan people and made Afghanistan a pariah in the world 

community. This fact sheet outlines documented atrocities and human rights abuses committed 

by the Taliban against the Afghan people.

Massacres: The Taliban have massacred hundreds of Afghan civilians, including women and children,

in Yakaolang, Mazar-I-Sharif, Bamiyan, Qezelabad, and other towns. Many of the victims of these

massacres were targeted because of their ethnic or religious identity. 

Human Rights Abuses Against Women and Girls: Girls are formally prohibited from attending school.

Women are prohibited, with very few exceptions, from working outside the home and are forbidden

to leave their homes except in the company of a male relative. The Taliban have significantly reduced

women’s access to health care by decreeing that women can be treated only by women doctors.

The Taliban and the Humanitarian Situation: Twenty years of internal armed conflict and four years 

of devastating drought have contributed to a grim situation, but the Taliban have made the situation

much worse, holding the Afghan people hostage to a corrupt agenda. The Taliban do not share 

the hardships they have imposed on the Afghan people, and they have done nothing to alleviate

these hardships. The Taliban have disrupted the efforts of international relief agencies to deliver 

desperately needed food and medical supplies. 

The Taliban and Islam: The Taliban have used Islam as a cloak to practice ethnic cleansing in

Afghanistan. Warning against “converting our countries into another Afghanistan,” Saudi writer 

Turki Al Hamad, writing in As-Sharq Al Awsat, put it this way: “...[under the Taliban], Islam would be

relegated from a world religion with a global human and civilized mission to a Taliban-like dogma

that bans pigeon breeding, long hair, kite flying, and listening to music.”

Destruction of Afghan Culture: The Taliban have perverted Afghan customs, tradition, and religious

practice for their own narrow political interests. They have looted and destroyed the historical and

cultural patrimony of the Afghan people — the Kabul Museum, formerly one of the finest museums

in the region, is largely empty; the centuries-old Buddhist statues in Bamiyan have been reduced 

to rubble. 

For more information on Afghanistan, see this web site: http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/sasia.

(continued on page 16)

“Just as he 

must not be allowed 

to get away with 

the terrorist 

hijackings 

and cold-blooded murder 

of September 11, 

Osama bin Laden 

must not be allowed 

to get away with

hijacking Islam 

and the good name 

of religion generally.”

— Joint statement of the 

Canadian office of the Council 

on American-Islamic Relations

and the Canadian Muslim Civil 

Liberties Association

October 17, 2001
14 15

Ayman Al-Zawahiri 

has been indicted for

his alleged role in 

the August 7, 1998,

bombings of the U.S.

embassies in Tanzania

and Kenya.

Abdelkarim Hussein

Mohamed Al-Nasser

has been indicted in

Virginia for the June 25,

1996, bombing of the

Khobar Towers military

housing complex in

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah Ahmed

Abdullah has been

indicted for his

alleged involvement 

in the August 7, 1998,

bombings of the U.S.

embassies in Tanzania

and Kenya.

Muhsin Musa Matwalli

Atwah is wanted in

connection with the

August 7, 1998, bombings of the U.S.

embassies in Tanzania

and Kenya.

Ali Atwa was indicted

for his role and participation in the June 14, 

1985, hijacking of a

commercial airliner

that resulted in the

assault on passengers

and crew and the 

murder of one U.S. 

citizen.

Anas Al-Liby is

wanted in 

connection with 

the August 7, 1998,

bombings of the

U.S. embassies in

Tanzania and Kenya.

Ahmed Khalfan

Ghailani was indicted

in New York on

December 16, 1998,

for his alleged involvement in the August 7,

1998, bombings of 

the U.S. embassies in

Tanzania and Kenya.

Ahmed Mohammed

Hamed Ali is wanted

in connection with

the August 7, 1998,

bombings of the

U.S. embassies in

Tanzania and Kenya.

Fazul Abdullah

Mohammed was 

indicted in New York

on September 17,

1998, for his alleged

involvement in the

August 7, 1998, 

bombings of the U.S.

embassies in Tanzania

and Kenya.

Ibrahim Salih

Mohammed Al-Yacoub

has been indicted in

Virginia for the June 25,

1996, bombing of 

the Khobar Towers

military housing 

complex in Dhahran,

Saudi Arabia.

Imad Fayez Mugniyah

was indicted for his role

in planning and participating in the June 14,

1985, hijacking of a

commercial airliner

that resulted in the

assault on passengers

and crew and the murder of one U.S. citizen.

Mustafa Mohamed

Fadhil was indicted in

New York on December

16,1998, for his alleged

involvement in the

August 7,1998, bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and

Kenya and conspiring

to kill U.S. nationals.

Abdul Rahman Yasin is

wanted for his alleged

participation in the

bombing of the World

Trade Center in New

York, on February 26,

1993, which resulted in

six deaths, numerous

injuries, and significant

destruction of property.

Fahid Mohammed Ally

Msalam was indicted in

New York on December

16,1998, for his alleged

involvement in the

August 7, 1998, bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and

Kenya and conspiring

to kill U.S. nationals.

Ahmad Ibrahim AlMughassil has been

indicted in Virginia 

for the June 25, 1996,

bombing of the Khobar

Towers military housing

complex in Dhahran,

Saudi Arabia.

Muhammad Atef was

indicted for alleged

involvement with the

August 7, 1998, bombings of U.S. embassies

in Tanzania and Kenya.

Hasan Izz-Al-Din was

indicted for his role in

planning and

participating in the

June 14,1985, hijacking

of a commercial airliner that resulted in the

assault on passengers

and crew and the murder of one U.S. citizen.

Ali Saed Bin Ali El-Hoorie

has been indicted in

Virginia for the June 25,

1996, bombing of the

Khobar Towers military

housing complex.

Osama bin Laden is wanted in connection with

the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United

States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,

and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over

200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect

in other terrorist attacks throughout the

world.

Khalid Shaikh

Mohammed was

indicted in New York

in January 1996 for

his alleged involvement in a plot to

bomb commercial

airliners flying to the

U.S. from Southeast

Asia in January 1995.

Sheikh Ahmed Salim

Swedan was indicted in

New York on December

16,1998, for his alleged

involvement in the

August 7,1998, bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and

Kenya and conspiring

to kill U.S. nationals.

al

Qaeda

terrorist

network

Satam M.

A. Al

Suqami

Ahmed

Alnami

Marwan

Al-Shehhi

Hani

Hanjour

Mohamed

Atta

Waleed M.

Alshehri

Majed

Moqed

Khalid

Almihdhar

Wail M.

Alshehri

Ziad Samir

Jarrah

Abdulaziz

Alomari

Hamza

Alghamdi

Salem

Alhazmi

Mohand

Alshehri

Ahmad

Ibrahim A.

Al Haznawi

Ahmed

Alghamdi

Saeed

Alghamdi

Nawaf

Alhazmi

Fayez Rashid

Ahmed Hassan

Al Qadi

Banihammad

T

aliban

Saif Al-Adel is wanted

in connection with 

the August 7,1998,

bombings of the U.S.

embassies in Tanzania

and Kenya.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation

has identified these 19 individuals

as the hijackers aboard the four 

airliners that crashed in New York,

Washington, and Pennsylvania on

September 11, 2001.

Osama bin Laden 

and 21 others 

comprise the FBI’s

“Most Wanted

Terrorists” list.
16

tragedy, the United States had

long been the largest single donor of humanitarian supplies to the Afghan people, donating some $180 million

in humanitarian assistance last year. President Bush

recently announced that the United States will contribute another $320 million in Afghan aid. U.S. planes

have airdropped hundreds of thousands of 

individual rations to needy areas inside the country.

Approximately 85 percent of the more than 200,000

metric tons of food aid — either in transit or stored in

the region — comes from the United States.

Recently, the United States announced a fivepoint strategy to meet Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis:

❏ Reduce death rates by opening every possible pipeline

to move food, seed, blankets, and health kits into the

country before winter.

❏ Minimize population movements by moving as much

food as possible to villages and rural areas. 

❏ Lower and stabilize food prices by selling significant

amounts of food to local merchants.

❏ Ensure that aid reaches the needy and prevent the

Taliban from looting or manipulating aid.

❏ Begin developmental relief programs that will 

encourage Afghans to start rebuilding homes, villages,

farms, and markets where possible. 

Afghans, not outsiders, must determine the future

of their country. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, 

“We want to see eventually arise a government that

represents all the people of Afghanistan, that is prepared

to take care of the needs of its people, not repress its

people. And so we are in touch with all of the different

factions to see how such a government could arise if

the Taliban were to collapse and go out of power.”

In addition to the strategy for assistance inside

Afghanistan, the United States is providing assistance,

through the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees and other international organizations, to the

millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and other

neighboring countries.

THE INTERNATIONAL COALITION

The world community has confronted the 

threat posed by global terrorism with an unprecedented

worldwide coalition that is employing every tool of

national and international power at its command:

diplomacy, law enforcement, intelligence, financial

investigation, military action, and humanitarian aid. Just

“Such attacks 

on such a grand scale —

it’s very outrageous, 

it’s worth every

condemnation. 

Whoever carried out 

the attack 

did not have a right 

to do it in the name of 

the religion, 

namely Islam....

Killing innocents 

to achieve a target 

has never been the heart

of the religion.” — Yusuf Muhammad, 

Muslim cleric, Jakarta, Indonesia

(continued from page 12)

17

BUILDING COALITIONS

Reuters, September 14, 2001

Left: President Bush 

confers with German

Chancellor Gerhard

Schroeder. Below 

left: The upper house 

of the Japanese Diet 

passes anti-terrorism 

legislation. Below 

right: The Canadian 

destroyer HMCS 

Iroquois heads out 

to join the war 

against terrorism.
18 19

and betrayal of Islam. As just one example, a panel of

independent Muslim scholars, including the prominent

Qatar-based cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, condemned

the terrorist attacks and said that it is the duty of

Muslims to bring the perpetrators to justice. 

Americans find the baseless charge that the

United States is waging a war against Islam deeply

offensive. This allegation, no matter how many times it

is repeated, is not legitimate criticism of U.S. foreign

policy, but a calculated lie. Millions of Americans are

Muslims; freedom of speech and religion stand at the

very core of America’s identity. To suggest that the United

States would attack another’s religious faith is inconceivable. In this anti-terrorist campaign, the United States

and its partners are upholding the values of tolerance,

diversity, and freedom of faith — and battling against

the fanaticism and hatred of organizations seeking to

destroy those values.

For its part, the United States can point to its

long and tireless record of seeking peace with security

and justice for Israel and the Palestinians. The United

States can also cite its indisputable record in defending

Muslim populations and nations from invasion and 

ethnic cleansing — from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in 

the Gulf to Bosnia and Kosovo in the Balkans.

COURAGE AND HOPE

Bin Laden and his band of killers offer nothing but

pain and suffering to a world where they have consigned

the world’s billions of non-Muslims as “infidels” and

labeled the vast majority of Muslims who abhor their

words and deeds as “heretics.” They cause death, but

create nothing, and offer no future except for a nightmare of violence and evil.

In the end, their monument will be as lasting as 

a footprint in the desert.

The United States, with its coalition partners, 

will fight the sustained, unrelenting, multifaceted battle

necessary to defeat global terrorism. Together with the

world community, we will prevail.

But the United States also will not allow the

shadow of terrorism to hijack its efforts to address

other foreign policy challenges of the 21st century. 

As America and the world rebuild from the ashes of

September 2001, the United States will continue to

offer leadership and a vision of hope, stability, freedom,

and economic opportunity for all peoples. ❑

as terrorism constitutes a fluid, elusive enemy, so the

new anti-terror alliance has assumed new and flexible

forms in which different countries assume different 

levels of action and responsibility. 

Already, the war against global terrorism has

achieved important successes. On the diplomatic front,

for example, a UN Security Council resolution, adopted

unanimously, obligates all 189 members to end all 

terrorist activity and support, and to bring the perpetrators of terrorism to justice.

“We cannot overestimate the importance of 

that trailblazing resolution,” said Secretary Powell. “No

resources plus no refuge ultimately equals no escape.”

Investigators throughout the world have arrested

hundreds of individuals with possible ties to al Qaeda and

other terrorist networks. The threat of future attacks

remains, but the sustained pressure of police work and

intelligence gathering, coupled with military operations

in Afghanistan, means that al Qaeda is on the run and

its network is being dismantled cell by cell, cave by cave.

Killing and hate take money. Drying up the 

financial sources of terror is vital to end the terrorist threat.

More than 112 nations have issued blocking orders and

frozen assets used to finance terrorism, which have

been found everywhere from bank accounts in the

United States to relief organizations in Europe and

chains of honey shops in the Middle East. The 29-nation

Financial Action Task Force has played a particularly

active role in coordinating efforts to identify and stop

financial flows to terrorist organizations. 

Nations bring their own experiences, concerns,

and even policy differences to this effort. That is

inevitable, and positive; the diversity and flexible nature

of this unprecedented coalition is one of its strengths.

But the unity and commitment of the coalition remains

deep as well: everyone recognizes that, without concerted

action, all nations remain vulnerable to terrorist attacks. 

TERRORISM AND U.S. POLICY

The United States recognizes no such thing as

“Islamic terrorism.” The members of al Qaeda are simply

terrorists and criminals, nothing more. They cynically

seek to exploit Islam to disguise their murderous agenda,

which is nothing less than an attack on the values of

civilization and humanity itself.

Bin Laden and al Qaeda attempt to justify themselves by the words of Islam for the same reasons that

they burrow into Afghan caves: to escape the wrath of

the international community for their savage acts of

mass killing. Just as they hijacked airplanes, they now

seek to hijack a world religion.

Muslim leaders and clerics throughout the world

have condemned the terrorist attacks as a perversion 

Above: U.S. Secretary of

State Colin Powell (left) and

Pakistani President Pervez

Musharraf speak to the

press after their meeting in

Islamabad on October 16,

2001. Left: Indian Prime

Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

(center) and External Affairs

Minister Jaswant Singh 

talk with Secretary Powell 

at the prime minister’s 

residence in New Delhi on

October 17, 2001.

“It would be a grave

calamity when the 

followers of this 

phenomenon [terrorism]

use religion

as a camouflage, 

because true Islam 

stands innocent from all 

that. Its teachings stand

aloft from people 

who believe in violence as

a course of action and

sabotage as a method

and bloodshed as a 

way of reform.” — Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Sudais,

at the Grand Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Reuters, September 28, 2001
Albania

Algeria

Afghanistan

Azerbaijan

Australia

Austria

Bahrain 

Bangladesh

Belgium 

Bosnia 

Egypt

Eritrea

France

Germany 

India 

Iran

20

Before These Remarks,

Bin Laden Was

Innocent. However, Now

He Is Condemned — Faisal Salman, As-Safir, Lebanon,

October 9, 2001

A Confession Is the

Most Conclusive Piece

of Evidence — Al-Ra’i, Jordan, 

October 9, 2001

Misuse of the

Palestinian Issue — Al-Ayyam, West Bank, 

October 9, 2001

Bin Laden Disturbs Us;

However, He Doesn’t

Convince Us — La Vie Economique, Morocco, 

October 12, 2001

Al Qaeda Is Not

Authorized to Speak on

Behalf of Muslims — Akhbar Al-Arab, United Arab Emirates, 

October 15, 2001

“God has blessed a group of vanguard

Muslims, the forefront of Islam, to 

destroy America.”

From videotaped statement broadcast by 

Al Jazeera, October 7, 2001

“We issue the following fatwa to all

Muslims: The ruling to kill the Americans

and their allies — civilians and military — is

an individual duty for every Muslim who can

do it in any country in which it is possible to

do it....We — with God’s help — call on

every Muslim who believes in God and wishes

to be rewarded to comply with God’s order

to kill the Americans and plunder their

money wherever and whenever they find it.”

From World Islamic Front Statement, 

February 23, 1998

Osama bin Laden speaking in the October 7 videotape.

Condemned

in His Own Words

COUNTRIES WHERE AL QAEDA OR AFFILIATED GROUPS HAVE OPERATED 

21

Ireland

Italy

Jordan

Kenya

Kosovo

Lebanon

Libya

Malaysia

Mauritania 

Netherlands

Pakistan

Philippines

Qatar

Russia 

Saudi Arabia 

Somalia

South Africa 

Sudan

Switzerland

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Tunisia

Turkey

Uganda

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

Uzbekistan 

Yemen
22

CURRENT U.S. FOOD SHIPMENTS

TO THE AFGHAN PEOPLE

What is the level of crisis? Nearly half the population,

12 million people, are drought affected, 5 to 7 million

will need food aid to make it through the winter, and

1.5 million are at serious risk of starvation. A food

deficit of nearly 2 million metric tons existed in early

October 2001. Food supplies may run out in some parts

of the country and, according to an assessment team

sent into the country in May 2001, famine has already

started. According to the United Nations Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO), the country will produce

only 10,000 of the 400,000 metric tons of seed that it

will need for next year’s planting. Afghanistan currently

ranks last among all nations in the calories consumed

per person and first in the number of women who die

in childbirth. 

What is the extent of the new U.S. aid effort? During

the 12 months ending September 30, 2001, the 

U.S. government contributed nearly $180 million in

humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people. In 

addition, President Bush has announced new aid of

$320 million. The administration’s goal is to get as

much food as possible into the country as soon as 

possible, particularly to the central highlands of the

Hindu Kush. This means doubling or more the amount

of tonnage going in from about 29,000 metric tons 

per month to 52,000 metric tons.

Is the kind of food aid appropriate for the Afghan 

people? The Afghan people are used to eating flat

bread made from wheat flour so about 90 percent of

the food going in is wheat. Of the remaining 10 percent, 7 percent is lentils or beans needed to provide

protein, and 3 percent is in vegetable oils necessary for

a balanced meal. None of the rations contain any meat.

How will food get to the Afghan people? Food will 

be moved into the country by the World Food Program

and nongovernmental organizations through every 

border of Afghanistan — through Iran, the Central

Asian republics in the north, and Pakistan. If needed,

airlifts of food will be used in remote areas affected by

winter snows. To reduce the chances of looting and

diversion of the food aid, large quantities will be stored

in secure areas in the bordering countries. 

Will the Afghan people know the food aid comes from

the United States? We are printing “Gift of the People

of the United States” in Pashto and Dari and a large

U.S. flag on each bag of food. The United States also

will implement a public information campaign so that

the Afghan people know the aid is on the way. This will

discourage further population movements and provide

a check against diversion or manipulation of aid.

❑

23

Center: Pakistani and Afghan

workers load a World Food

Program (WFP) truck with

wheat donated by the U.S.

government at the WFP 

compound near Peshawar,

Pakistan, on October 1, 2001.

The trucks carried 1,000 

tons of wheat to Kabul,

Afghanistan. Left: Afghans 

in Kabul load food supplies

from the WFP and the U.S.

Agency for International

Development onto a bicycle

on October 2, 2001.

HUMANITARIAN AID TO AFGHANISTAN

After 22 years of war, three years of drought, and

five years of Taliban misrule, Afghanistan is facing 

a major famine. The U.S. government is leading 

the international community in responding to this

humanitarian crisis. 

Afghanistan was the number one recipient of

humanitarian assistance prior to September 11 —

and remains so today. Last fiscal year, the United

States provided nearly $180 million in aid. This 

year, President Bush has already announced $320

million in additional humanitarian assistance for 

the people of Afghanistan. 

The United States has supplied more than 80 

percent of all food aid for vulnerable Afghans

through the United Nations’ World Food Program,

and will continue to be the lead donor. 

The United States is using every available means —

emergency shelter, clothing, and supplies; 

minimizing population movements; stabilizing 

food prices; and increasing food arriving by boat,

plane, and truck from every border — to reduce 

the death rates among the Afghan people through

the winter.

The U.S. Agency for International Development 

is beginning developmental relief efforts and 

long-term planning to help the Afghan people 

eventually resettle and rebuild, including programs

to provide clean water, sanitation and irrigation 

systems, and seeds for next year’s crops. 

Providing humanitarian assistance is the right 

thing to do — and it benefits us all. Our work 

overseas helps stabilize vulnerable societies and 

prevent future conflicts. To eradicate terrorism, 

we must replace poverty and despair with hope 

and economic opportunities. 

❑

Above: U.S. Air Force C-17 

loadmasters inspect the aerial

delivery system loaded with

Humanitarian Daily Rations

(HDRs) en route to a drop zone.

The C-17s carry some 37,000

prepackaged meals per day to

Afghan refugees inside the 

borders of Afghanistan.
24

“The global reaction to the attacks should give us

courage and hope that we can succeed in this fight.

The sight of people gathering in cities in every part of

the world from every religion to mourn — and to

express solidarity with the people of the United States — proves more eloquently than any words that terrorism is not an issue that divides humanity, but one that

unites it. We are in a moral struggle to fight an evil that

is anathema to all faiths. Every state and every people

has a part to play. This was an attack on humanity, and

humanity must respond to it as one.”

KOFI ANNAN, SECRETARY-GENERAL 

OF THE UNITED NATIONS, 

OCTOBER 1, 2001

“NATO Ambassadors this morning

expressed their full support for the

actions of the United States and

the United Kingdom, which follow

the appalling attacks perpetrated

against the United States on 11

September 2001....The campaign

to eradicate terrorism has reached

a new stage. It will be pursued on

many fronts with determination

and with patience. The Alliance

stands ready to play its role.”

LORD ROBERTSON, 

SECRETARY-GENERAL OF NATO,

OCTOBER 8, 2001

“Two weeks on from the attacks on the United States,

it’s clear to me that the coalition of support for firm

action against those responsible is strengthening, not

weakening....As the coalition builds and our preparations continue, the terrorists inside Afghanistan and the

Taliban regime that harbors them should be in no doubt

of the unity of the alliance built against them and our

determination to do what is necessary to bring those

responsible to account.”

PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR OF GREAT BRITAIN,

SEPTEMBER 25, 2001

“China and the United States are two countries with

significant influence in the world. As such, we share

common responsibility and interest in maintaining

peace and security in the Asia Pacific and the world at

large, promoting regional and global economic growth

and prosperity, and working together with the rest of

the international community to combat terrorism.”

PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN OF CHINA, 

OCTOBER 19, 2001 “We have decided to be with the coalition in the fight

against terrorism and whatever operation is going on in

Afghanistan within the parameters — within the three

parameters which have been enunciated — that is, the

intelligence cooperation, use of air space, and logistical

support. And to this extent we will certainly carry on

cooperating as long as the operation lasts.”

PRESIDENT PERVEZ MUSHARRAF OF PAKISTAN, 

OCTOBER 16, 2001 “We continue to hold that September 11 was an assault

on freedom, on civilization, on democracy, and India’s

stand against terrorism — not simply starting from

September 11, even before that — has been unequivocal, and we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the international community and the United States of America

in our battle against this global menace.”

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER JASWANT SINGH OF INDIA,

OCTOBER 17, 2001 “It should be said that in the course of these three

years, Uzbekistan has been witnessing the inhumane

face of terror; therefore, we cannot afford standing

aside, and we are taking part in this anti-terrorism operation that the international community called for.”

PRESIDENT ISLAM KARIMOV OF UZBEKISTAN, 

OCTOBER 5, 2001 “The message I brought was a message of reiterating

our condolences and reiterating our solidarity — the

solidarity of the Egyptian people, president, and government with the United States — and our determination

to work together in the fight against terrorism.”

FOREIGN MINISTER AHMED MAHER OF EGYPT,

SEPTEMBER 26, 2001

All photos AP/WideWorld Photos except following: front/back covers: Digital Vision, Ltd.; p. 4, top: Al Jezeera via AP/Wide World Photos; p. 7, bottom right: Department of Defense; 

p. 11, top: The Washington Post; pp. 14-15: photos/text from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; p. 19: Internet: p. 22, top and p. 24, top two: Department of Defense; pp. 24-25, NATO.

A LONG AND

DETERMINED

COMMITMENT

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE 

DONALD RUMSFELD “This war will not be waged by a grand alliance united for the 

single purpose of defeating an axis of hostile powers. Instead, it

will involve floating coalitions of countries, which may change 

and evolve. Countries will have different roles and contribute in

different ways. Some will provide diplomatic support, others

financial, still others logistical and military. Some will help us 

publicly, while others, because of their circumstances, may help 

us privately and secretly. In this war, the mission will define the

coalition — not the other way around.”

Clockwise from top: U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald

Rumsfeld (left) and NATO Secretary-General Lord

Robertson (right) talk to the press after meeting at the

Pentagon; flags of NATO’s 19 member countries fly at

half staff; President Bush (right) shakes hands with King

Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House; President

Bush and China’s President Jiang Zemin meet in

Shanghai; British Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) and

President Bush meet with the press at the White House;

Uzbekistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulaziz

Kamilov, at the Pentagon for a meeting with U.S. officials.
Produced by the 

U.S. Department of State

http://usinfo.state.gov