Tag Archives: terrorist organization

Killing of Bin Laden Offers Insight into “The Business of Martyrdom”

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The way the U.S. military killed Osama bin Laden sent a message every bit as powerful as the fact that he was killed in the first place, according to the author of a new history of suicide bombing.

The fact that bin Laden was killed by a team of highly trained soldiers – and not by a drone or bomb – spoiled the grand narrative of brave Muslim fighters vs. U.S. technology that bin Laden and al Qaeda had developed in their war against the United States.

“Bin Laden had built up this image of himself and al Qaeda as a morally superior David against the technological Goliath that is the United States,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a lecturer in the International Studies program at Ohio State University. (more…)

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Survey: Killing of Bin Laden Worsened Americans’ Views of U.S. Muslims

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Instead of calming fears, the death of Osama bin Laden actually led more Americans to feel threatened by Muslims living in the United States, according to a new nationwide survey.

In the weeks following the U.S. military campaign that killed bin Laden, the head of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda, American attitudes toward Muslim Americans took a significant negative shift, results showed. (more…)

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Bin Laden’s Attacks Among the Most Lethal: UMD Study

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Under Osama bin Laden’s leadership, al Qa’ida has been one of the most lethal terrorist organization in the world, responsible for more than 10,000 deaths and injuries in a dozen years – finds a new analysis by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland (START).

“Al-Qa’ida, the terrorist organization Osama bin Laden founded, was responsible for fomenting more mass casualty attacks than any other group in recent history,” says START Director Gary LaFree, a University of Maryland professor responsible for assembling the world’s most comprehensive unclassified terrorism database. (more…)

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