Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Al Qaeda Misses the 1990's

Can't imagine why. Oh yes, because we are winning now! From Strategypage:

How soon we forget. In 1993, al Qaeda bombed the World Trade Center in New York City, and had agents assisting warlords in their fight to drive American troops out of Somali. In 1994, an elaborate plan to blow up eleven U.S. airliners over the Pacific was about to get underway, when Filipino police got wind of it. The planner of that operation, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, got another chance and was largely responsible for putting together the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 1995 and 1996, bombs were set off outside U.S. military facilities, killing two dozen Americans and wounding many more. In 1997, al Qaeda scored a major victory that did not involve an explosion, it established a number of training camps in Afghanistan, and began training thousands of terrorist recruits each year. In 1998, there were simultaneous bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224. In 1999, there was another spectacular failure, as U.S. border agents unmasked a plot to set of several bombs during New Years eve celebrations. In 2000, an al Qaeda suicide boat damaged, and almost sank, an American destroyer in a Yemen harbor. That attack killed 17 sailors, and was later found to be the second attempt against a U.S. warship that year.

You must read all of this excellent article.