Osama Bin Laden Biography

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Osama bin Laden was perceived to be a brave, intelligent, and independent man who always held a high standard for himself and the Muslim world. He was driven by the term jihad, which means “holy war”. People viewed him as a genuine professional that embraced all aspects of his culture. The Christian West is considered Islam’s main enemy due to the perceived belief that they oppose Muslims and their culture. Muslims believe that the Israelis are trying to oppress them by claiming their rightful land, Palestine. This did not settle well with Osama and he would not stand to not do anything about it. As years went on, every decision he made was based off of his life and faith. Through radicalization, exile from homeland, and anti-western sentiments, Osama bin Laden built the terrorist organization known as Al- Qaeda.
His family upbringing and financial status helped shape the early years of Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden was born on March 10, 1957 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He was the 17th son of Mohammed bin Laden out of about 50 children (Coll 84). Mohammed bin Laden was a wealthy man who owned a construction company known as bin Laden Construction Company. Not only did he obtain his wealth from this, but also from his massive support of the Saudi Government. In 1967, when Osama was 13, his father passed away in a plane crash. When this occurred, Osama wanted to take charge and start making a life of his own (Coll 85). Growing up, Osama enjoyed being on his own because he accepted the fact that he was not very close with his family. In times of need, bin Laden turned to Allah for support when his family gave him none (Anonymous 82). Between the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Osama attended Jedda’s King Abdulaziz University which foc...

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...sador to Libya, as well as, three other Americans. It is believed that Al-Qaeda was responsible ("Osama Bin Laden Fast Facts").
Events that capture the entire world’s attention are few and far between. Fighting wars normally occurs between acknowledged enemies. In the war against terrorism, most notably, the war against Al-Qaeda, the enemy is unknown. One is not the enemy of the United States of America by virtue of one’s ethnic heritage. A Muslim is not a hidden enemy simply because he is Muslim. A Muslim does however become the enemy when he targets the world as a member of Al-Qaeda, the vision of one man. He was an intelligent and educated man who came from wealth and high esteem, who, guided by his faith, through radicalization, exile from homeland, and anti-western sentiments, built the terrorist organization known as Al- Qaeda. His name was Osama bin Laden.

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