Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror

Abstract

Analysts have suggested several reasons why bin Laden ordered the attacks on 9/11. The jihadists believed that American society, with its materialism, sexual freedom, and female equality, was the essence of evil and condemned by God; it was also weak and ready to collapse. They expected the strikes on 9/11 would bring such internal unrest and division that the American government would be unable to function. Adding to the chaos would be retaliatory attacks on American Muslims by enraged citizens. Bin Laden fantasized that images of beaten and killed Muslims on American streets would draw hundreds of thousands of enraged Muslims throughout the world to his cause. And if America responded to the suicide attacks by massive air raids on Muslim lands, as bin Laden half expected, then the entire Muslim world would erupt in a global jihad under his leadership.