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1-Page Summary of The Looming Tower

Early Days

Egyptian doctor and Islamic revolutionary Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri played a key role in shaping the radical Islamic politics that eventually attracted Osama bin Laden. Zawahiri began with a clear political and religious goal: to overthrow the Egyptian government. He participated in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, was imprisoned, tortured, released and then met Osama bin Laden in Saudi Arabia in 1985. There they formed an alliance which brought them closer to overthrowing governments around the world with their radical Islam ideology.

Osama was very religious at the age of 14. He married a cousin when he was 17 and joined the Muslim Brotherhood, which Saudi Arabia did not like. Osama then moved to Sudan when Islamic fundamentalists overthrew its government. The new regime welcomed him and gave al-Qaeda sanctuary in their country because they wanted his help with business ventures. At this point, Osama became more fundamentalist in his beliefs and hated music, air conditioners or chilled water because he believed that it showed a lack of piety on behalf of those who enjoyed them. To show that he had faith in God, Osama ate leftovers from guests’ plates so as to share food with those less fortunate than himself and fasted twice a week despite being wealthy enough to eat whatever he pleased whenever he wished to do so

Osama Bin Laden was a successful businessman in Sudan. He built roads, bought land and imported trucks from Russia. He paid his employees well and made money by exporting crops to Italy and selling tanned hides. In the mosque, he preached peace as a virtue while also running al-Qaeda.

Osama bin Laden believed that the United States was trying to gain control of all the oil in the world. He also thought that America’s presence in Saudi Arabia after Iraq I was a blasphemy, because it is a holy place for Muslims. Also, he saw U.S. troops going to Somalia as an attempt to get control over East Africa and cut off oil shipments from there, which would be bad for the economy. Bin Laden also had very strong feelings about Christianity and how Christians were responsible for most of his people’s problems throughout history; they killed many innocent Muslims during their crusades into Muslim lands centuries ago (the Middle East). Therefore, according to him, Islam must fight back against these “evil” Christians who want nothing more than to destroy Islam and take over Muslim land once again.

Radical Sharia Law

Osama bin Laden was influenced by Islamic extremists who believed that the Western world, including democracy and equal rights for women, is evil. Bin Laden sought to lead Muslims back to their original way of life. He also wanted to fight against American culture and influence in other countries. His ideas were shared with many people, several groups were formed as a result, and he met leaders from those groups in Sudan. One of them agreed to train his followers if they provided weapons.

In 1992, bin Laden launched a suicide attack on a hotel in Aden, Yemen. The attack killed several people including an Australian tourist and some Yemenis. This incident provoked religious discussions about killing innocent people because the Koran says that they will be sorted out after death anyway and so their deaths are acceptable if it advances jihad (holy war).

Coming to America

Sheik Rahman was a blind Muslim cleric who lived in New Jersey. He traveled around the United States and Canada preaching violence. He advocated killing officials of New York, as well as the Egyptian president. The FBI later said that he received money from bin Laden. In February 1993, Rahman’s disciple Ramzi Yousef rigged up a bomb in a van and entered the World Trade Center garage. His explosion created a 200-foot-wide crater, killed six people, and injured more than 1,000 others. Yousef had hoped to topple both towers and kill 250,000 people; however he escaped to Pakistan before being captured by Philippine police on his way to kill President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II with al-Zawahiri’s help