OsamabinLaden:TheFaceofTerrorism
ThenameOsamabinLadenhasbecomesynonymouswithterrorismandviolence.BorninRiyadh,SaudiArabia,onMarch10,1957,binLadenwasthefounderofAl-Qaeda,theterroristgroupresponsibleforthe9/11attacksontheWorldTradeCenterandthePentagon.
TheEarlyYears
BinLadencamefromawealthySaudifamilythatmadeitsfortuneintheconstructionindustry.Intheearly1980s,hebecameinvolvedwiththeMujahideen,theAfghanresistancefightingagainsttheSovietinvasionofAfghanistan.BinLadenusedhiswealthtofundtheMujahideen'sefforts,andhesoonbecameaherotomanyMuslimsaroundtheworld.
However,binLaden'sviewsbecameincreasinglyradicalizedovertime.HebelievedthattheUnitedStateswasacorruptandimmoralsocietythatstoodinthewayofIslam'sdominationoftheworld.In1988,hefoundedAl-Qaeda,whichtranslatesto\"TheBase\"inArabic.Thegroup'sprimarygoalwastodriveWesterninfluenceoutoftheMiddleEastandestablishIslamicruleacrosstheregion.
TerrorismandtheWaronTerror
BinLaden'sfirstmajoractofterrorismoccurredin1993,whenAl-QaedabombedtheWorldTradeCenterinNewYorkCity.Theattackkilledsixpeopleandinjuredover1,000others.Overthenextseveralyears,Al-Qaedacarriedoutanumberofsimilarattacksaroundtheworld,includingthebombingsofUSembassiesinKenyaandTanzaniain1998andtheattackontheUSSColein2000.
However,itwastheeventsofSeptember11,2001,thatbroughtbinLadenandAl-Qaedatotheforefrontoftheworldstage.Onthatday,19hijackersassociatedwithAl-QaedahijackedfourcommercialairplanesintheUnitedStatesandflewtwoofthemintotheWorldTradeCentertowersinNewYorkCityandoneintothePentagoninWashington,D.C.ThefourthplanecrashedinafieldinPennsylvaniaafterpassengersattemptedtoregaincontroloftheaircraft.
The9/11attacksresultedinthedeathsofnearly3,000peopleandledtotheUnitedStates'declarationofaWaronTerror.BinLadenbecamethemostwantedmanintheworld,andtheUSlaunchedamanhunttobringhimtojustice.
TheDeathofaTerrorist
InMay2011,USNavySEALsraidedacompoundinAbbottabad,Pakistan,wherebinLadenwasbelievedtobehiding.BinLadenwaskilledintheraid,andhisbodywasburiedatsea.Hisdeathmarkedtheendofadecade-longhuntforthemanbehindthemostdeadlyterroristattackinUShistory.
WhileOsamabinLadenmaybegone,thelegacyofhisbeliefsandactionsstilllinger.Thethreatofterrorismremainsamajorconcernaroundtheworld,andtheimpactof9/11continuestobefeltbythosewholostlovedonesonthattragicday.
OsamabinLadenwillalwaysberememberedasthefaceofterrorism,amanwhobelievedthatviolenceandmurderweretheonlywaytoachievehisvisionfortheworld.Hislegacyservesasareminderoftheneedtoremainvigilantagainstthosewhoseektocauseharmanddestructioninthenameoftheirbeliefs.
