Motives for the September 11 attacks

rdf:langString Motives for the September 11 attacks

rdf:langString The September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 were carried out by 19 hijackers of the militant Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda. In the 1990s, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden declared a holy war against the United States, and issued two fatāwā in 1996 and 1998. In these fatāwā, bin Laden sharply criticized the financial contributions of the American government to the Saudi royal family as well as American military intervention in the Arab world. These motivations were published in bin Laden's November 2002 "Letter to America", in which he said that al-Qaeda's motives for the attacks included Western support for attacking Muslims in Somalia, supporting Russian atrocities against Muslims in Chechnya, supporting the Indian oppression against Muslims in Kashmir, condoning the 1982 massacres in Lebanon, the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, US support of Israel, and sanctions against Iraq. Following the attacks, the U.S. government took the position, as often repeated by the Bush Administration, that terrorists attacked the United States because "they hate us for our freedoms". President George W. Bush said in a speech to Congress nine days after the attacks that "They hate what we see right here in this chamber — a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms — our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other."