Know Your Enemy: Understanding the Worldview and Motives of Osama Bin Laden and the Jihadist Movement He Inspired

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to recall what motivated bin Laden to risk his life, his family, his fortune, and his reputation in confronting the military might of the United States in order to (1) rid the Muslim world of the U.S. presence, (2) overthrow repressive, apostate Muslim regimes not governed by Sharia law, and (3) destroy the state of Israel. The point of understanding bin Laden’s motives is not to excuse any aspect of the barbarous acts he committed, but rather to capture as fully as possible the magnitude of the threat he posed and that which al Qaeda and similar groups, buttressed by his martyrdom, continue to pose.