335 Carlos Setas Vílchez What are we talking about when we talk about al- Qaeda? missile destroyer off the coast of Yemen. While it did not succeed in sinking the ship, it did manage to kill 17 American sailors and injure a further 39, thus confining the vessel to dry dock for almost two years. Nevertheless, the event that cut al Qaeda’s successful trajectory short and led to its virtual dismantling in the ensuing years, was the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. in 2001. There is little new to say about the attacks or al Qaeda’s involvement in their orchestration and execution after the publication in 2004 of the report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, set up by the U.S. Congress in 2002.35 However, the objective pursued by al Qaeda is still open to interpretation. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks was the jihadist, who it is alleged acted alone, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, or KSM. Born in Balochistan (Pakistan) and believed to be of Baloch ethnic origin, KSM grew up in Kuwait, where he soon came under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was widely embraced by Palestinian refugees. KSM was part of the Afghan jihad between 1987 and 1989, where he fought alongside bin Laden. Mohammed planned his first terrorist operation, together with his nephew, Ramzi Yousef,36 from the Philippines. Later known as the Bojinka Plot, the operation consisted of smuggling explosives onto 12 transoceanic flights and detonating them over the Pacific Ocean. The operation was discovered by the Philippine authorities, but Yousef and Mohammed managed to escape.37 In 1996, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, by now on the radar of the U.S. authorities because of his relationship with Yousef, moved to Afghanistan where he came into contact with al Qaeda. During meetings with bin Laden, KSM raised the possibility of using commercial aircraft as missiles against U.S. targets. It was after the attacks of Kenya and Tanzania (1998) that the leaders of al Qaeda gave their approval to KSM’s plan. From then through the early months of 1999, they planned the operation that would result in the 9/11 attacks.38 35 The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (VV.AA.), The 9/11 Commission Report. Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2004. The literary quality of the official report and its thoroughness led to its being published as a book by several publishers. 36 Ramsi Yousef, three years younger than Mohammed and also a lone terrorist, gained notoriety for masterminding and carrying out the first terrorist attack against the World Trade Center in 1993, where a bomb was planted in the car park of one of the towers in an attempt to knock it. Yousef was arrested in Islamabad by the Pakistani authorities in February 1995 and then extradited to the United States. 37 RIEDEL, 2010, p.58. 38 VV.AA., The 9/11 Commission Report. Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, pp.145-150.
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