The 9/11 Decade | The Clash of Civilizations? | Al Jazeera World

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[Music] - Denis Lill a vessel from octave boom oz on September the 11th 2001 al Qaeda challenged the United States basically bin Laden set jump and mr. Bush a mr. traini said how high Al Qaeda's goal to create a clash is crochet it's gonna take a while to unite the world's Muslims they want to put this in religious terms they want to put this in civilizational terms to start a war blood everywhere shattered bodies everywhere doesn't have anything with Islam Islam is like that [Music] this is the story of that war and how the United States very nearly lost it we did exactly what they wanted in 1993 an American historian Samuel Huntington came up with a new theory I am flattered and they're very delighted to Huntington noted that the United States was living in strange times [Applause] four years earlier the Berlin Wall had come down taking the Soviet Union with it but this posed an intriguing question with the Soviet empire gone the United States had no credible enemies left who could possibly confront them speculating on the future of warfare Huntington lit a spark that was to create a conflagration what will be the fundamental nature and source of conflict in there's new world in the future he suggested wars would no longer take place between countries or states wars would be fought between different cultures there were two likely candidates Huntington wrote of Islam and the West and of this this inherent struggle between the tenants of Islam and the modern state system as being the focal point of what he sees so I was a coming clash this century's old military interaction between the west and Islam it seems to me is unlikely to decline in the future Huntington predicted a coming conflict and gave it a name Huntington's thesis had a very mixed reaction and there were any number of people that saw it as fear-mongering or hate mongering that also saw it as the as the Liz a deliberate effort to sort of recreate the Cold War to others in the United States the suggestion of Islam and the West as rivals made perfect sense Christian nations were generally peaceful moderates liberal Islamic nations were different [Music] for years the Middle East had been in turmoil terrorism hijacks revolutions to these people Islamic fundamentalism was a growing threat to the West the fault lines had been there all along there are others who seized upon it as being an enormous ly perceptive impressions and saw that as the defining principle of really power as we approach the 21st century to those of this mindset Huntington was right a clash of some sort was inevitable in the Middle East itself others were coming to the same conclusion but their reasoning was diametrically opposite for decades the United States had been meddling in the Middle East toppling legitimately elected leaders supporting Western friendly puppets and stealing oil the crucible of all American in justices was Israel Jewish children had clean water facilities education Palestinian children had none of this every day children were dying [Music] to these people the United States talked the talk of democracy and freedom its actions were the exact opposite eventually these in justices would have to be addressed one man in particular was to become a fan of the clash of civilizations thesis started following bin Laden seriously in about 93 and 94 as part of an effort against Sunni extremism bin Laden was in Sudan at the time but his name started coming up in places as far away as Tajikistan and Mindanao Osama bin Laden son of a billionaire Saudi engineer had gravitated to Afghanistan in the 1980s where he had fought Buddha Mujahideen against the Soviet invaders to the Central Intelligence Agency the wealthy Saudi was a mystery was bin Laden another Saudi spendthrift throwing his money at anybody who could say the word jihad or was he indeed an organization organizational man who was building something quite unique it was no surprise that Huntington's thesis appealed to bin Laden for nearly a decade he had been living it bin Laden's actual intellectual foundation for the clash of civilizations notion was probably the writings of his one-time mentor of dull azam azam very much painted a picture of Islam under siege in Afghanistan the Mujahideen had rallied the troops under the banner of Islam that the United States was providing the guns and the money for the fights was ignored this was a battle of good versus evil oppressed against oppressor Islam against infidel mistress al-assad and bin Laden frame the entire struggle in Afghanistan that this godless secular power was invading and subjugating a Muslim country and that it was the duty indeed the responsibility of Muslims throughout the world to come to the aid of their brethren in Afghanistan after a decade of brutal fighting when the Soviet Army was finally expelled in 1989 victory was claimed not for the Afghans but for Islam for bin Laden it was a turning point Soviet departure from Afghanistan galvanized bin Laden's generation into believing many of them at least that Islam could prevail I think it's always been al Qaeda's historical narrative that it was the bravery and dedication of this small group of Mujahideen armed with just a K 47s and RPGs and hand grenades that in essence defeated what was you know the second superpower of the world the notion of a religious war was so effective that when it came to later conflicts such as Chechnya it was employed again coming to the aid of the oppressed was of little interest to Osama bin Laden coming to the aid of oppressed Muslims however was obligatory and oppressed Muslims were in no short supply you see the past again after Second World War what all has been happening in the world you take Palestine and then you come to Bosnia and Kosovo Chechnya Kashmir all this is Muslim so everything is happening in the Muslim world everywhere Muslims were being persecuted the main oppressor the liberal infidel West and at its heart the United States bin Laden had seen off one superpower now it was time to take care of the other it was exactly a Samuel Huntington had predicted the dominating force of conflict will be cultural this message that we were on the verge of perhaps a more tectonic clash or more consequential clash was not something that many people were receptive to interestingly bin Laden was extremely receptive to it clearly a battle was brewing the US would pay for its atrocities for its hypocrisy for its unbelief Huntington's thesis had hit its most influential proponents bin Laden jumped on hunting for his argument used it for its ends I mean every skilled propagandist needs a bumper sticker and that in essence was bin Laden's bumper sticker and better still that it was provided by an American by also a very highly respected Harvard professor it doesn't get much better than that Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-zawahiri they wanted to ignite the clash of civilization they wanted a clash with the West in particular so they worked for that clash they wanted to fight the West the United States intelligence was unaware of the true threat represented by either clearly something significant was happening but they couldn't work out what neither the CIA nor the government as a whole were very serious about bin Laden in the early 90s they figured if a Saudi was a terrorist he would be hiring Pakistanis or Bangladeshis to do the job for him but bin Laden was deadly serious I remember when I met Osama bin Laden I was walking with him in Tora Bora I said to him look you know what's your plan for the future you are going to fight the greatest power in history not just in our time so it is a suicidal he said to me my strategy is you know to bring the America to our area if I succeed in bringing them to a Muslim grounds I can't fight them and I can defeat them so as early as 1997 he publicly began trying to goad us into coming to Afghanistan if the Americans had any courage at all they would come here and settle scores with us as the Soviets did they wanted to engage us in the Muslim world and then lead us as the Soviets were bled by now the CIA was beginning to take bin Laden more seriously by the middle of 97 we had determined that al-qaeda was unlike any other terrorist group that we had ever seen no state sponsor no single location around the world here we have a guy who is doing what he says he's going to do and when you see someone who is saying something and then doing it I think you better pay attention but the US administration wouldn't pay attention I don't think the government took him all that seriously at least until he declared war once again this was not a war of conquest or for material gain this was about religion it was a war that in bin Laden's mind the United States had already launched against Muslims bin Laden says look this is a war in essence against Islam this is a war that's designed to cease Muslims most precious natural resources its oil and for that reason the United States in the West is going to invade Muslim countries and take them over bin Laden's message was specifically designed to resonate with Arab concerns and hopes for the future the Arabs were looking for a hero in a way or another somebody who can challenge those mighty Americans who are humiliating them I think probably all world cultures have a Robin Hood kind of story bin Laden is very much that kind of a figure he abandons an easy ultimately luxurious lifestyle to fight with with Mujahideen is enormous ly brave personally and in many ways this is the stuff from which Islamic heroes are made many people so that declaration so the pictures as a new beginning a defiant beginning to fight the Americans and to say at least you know enough is enough you know they you know represented a little David who are trying to challenge the mighty Goliath here you had one man and a set in essence a small group of followers attempting to stand up against the course of history or to stand up and attempt to change the course of history to confront the world's remaining superpower in essence head-on bin Laden and al Qaeda had the wherewithal that had the ability to make good on the threat and they did have the wherewithal to make good on the threats on August the 7th 1998 and by the struck US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killing hundreds and wounding thousands that deaths was actually the launching of the new al-qaida the new transformed al-qaida they would like to say to the international community to the American and particular here we are surely this might be enough to go to the United States into war today I ordered our armed forces to strike at terrorist-related facilities in Afghanistan and Sudan our target was terror 75 cruise missiles were launched by the training camps in Afghanistan were destroyed bin Laden survived and at the end of the day it didn't do anything to solve the problem if anything it made us look impotent and from the Mujahideen's point of view it made us look like cowards the ports that was used wasn't consequential enough to destroy the organization so like all terrorist groups in essence if they push in the and and the response is not firm and and hard enough they will just keep pushing al-qaeda did keep pushing we now have a six confirmed dead we have eleven who are still missing and 33 who are wounded if the Americans were too spineless to come and fight him bin Laden would have to make them come attacking them with such severity that they would be forced to act George Walker George Walker Bush do solemnly swear millennium knew presidents that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States same lack of attention to al Qaeda al Qaeda was not the Bush administration's priority after the briefings after the transition briefings I didn't even hear the phrase al Qaeda in any deliberations at all that was to change bin Laden would speak again this time the United States would listen [Music] every nation in every region now has a decision to make either you're with us or you are with the terrorists I have a message for our military be ready we will not tire we will not falter and we will not fail at last the United States was seeing things the way bin Laden saw them basically bin Laden said jump and mr. bush and mr. Cheney said how high [Music] the United States military has begun strikes against al-qaeda terrorist training camps in Afghanistan we are supported by the collective will of the world we did exactly what they wanted to do by going to Afghanistan every invader in history had come unstuck in Afghanistan most recently the Soviet Union humiliated and broken by many of the same people the United States was now hunting I am fully aware of the difficulties the Russians had in Afghanistan that's why I have explained to the American people that the new war on terror is going to be a different war it was a different war in just four weeks a handful of US forces took a country the Soviet Union had failed to control for a decade and things were just looking great for the Afghan people what could have been a very bloody war but there was a cost to be paid for the loan number of troops on the ground still haven't killed or captured Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre do you happen to know where he is obviously the United States of America does not know where he is we do not know if he's dead or alive there's all kinds of reports and all kinds of speculation but one thing we know we're on the hunt and he knows that we're on the hunt and I like our position better in his in the spring of 2002 US intelligence received a tip senior Taliban officials were back in central Afghanistan recruiting insurgents troops and helicopters watching the area were shot at [Music] clearly something was going on the heart of this activity Dara would in autoscan province there are woods villages were unaware of the US interest they had other things on their minds they were planning a wedding consider Isabella that am I not talking about a key that I wish to muster stuff they did of is give a wedding party was planned for the night of June the 30th the very same night US Special Forces decided to move into the village to capture Taliban emerged manager panel and area tables attack exactly what happened next remains classified partygoers however recall it all too well [Music] so whatever exceed reduces are awarded but the Natomas mapper ticketed us today I kill Desmond Valley you are a lucky man chuckles Erica took the two also a similar to the decimal Nvidia technologies it was no ordinary plane it was an ac-130 gunship capable of firing thousands of rounds per minute and pulverizing everything beneath it and that's exactly what it did I will say that you were a doctor per unit already be a satiric retire or a ammonia news near local look at the temperature preserve anywhere dine in Sarajevo futuna sorry ability the salata was the provincial to our care will the parsonage adoption Amish month turn would return pass Eric parity we understand that there were some civilian casualties during the operation we do not yet know how many casualties or how they occurred what we're focused on right now in Afghanistan with this incident is finding out what happened no Taliban leaders were killed it is termed an accident for precisely the reason that we struck people we didn't intend to know al-qaeda members were captured as far as I know there was no wedding party US forces killed scores of the people they had come to Afghanistan to liberate but I thought those were no leisure Devin the dollar will not with you finger like a gigantic Insogna there cannot be the use of that kind of firepower and not have mistakes it's gonna take away see in the kiss it's going to happen it always has and I'm afraid it always will it was not the first mistake the United States would make in its war on terror and it was not to be the last in 1998 Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States and set about trying to provoke a clash that would pit the Islamic world against the West [Music] in 2001 he finally got his wish this crusade this war on terrorism is gonna take a while aware that some might see the war on terror as a war on Islam or even a crusade George Bush went out of his way to bridge the cultural gap the face of Terror is not the true faith of Islam that's not what Islam is all about Islam is peace these terrorists don't represent peace they represent evil in war we may have wished in the West not to depict it as a clash of civilizations and we may very sincerely have not seen it as such but from the start bin Laden always can certainly conceived it as such and I believe saw it as such in this evening we welcomed the distinguished interim leader of a liberated Afghanistan chairman Hamid Karzai [Applause] now there were people in the administration who were euphoric about Afghanistan there was this euphoria about we've won we've won in Afghanistan it's gonna be a Jeffersonian democracy in a decade many in Washington failed to understand that in spite of the apparently easy victory in Afghanistan in 2001 the Islamic world was becoming increasingly disaffected in the aftermath of 9/11 it wasn't only Osama bin Laden who believed that a clash of civilizations was inevitable I will not wait on events while dangers gathered I will not stand by as peril draws closer and closer there are those who are strongly planted in this ideological camp that this is an existential struggle the United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons they want to put this in religious homes they want to put this in civilizational terms and I think they got the idea from Huntington's clash of civilizations the war on terror began to spread what we have found in Afghanistan confirms that far from ending there our war against terror is only beginning after 9/11 they had an opportunity that was unparalleled they had an open door to do pretty much anything they want to in the Middle East immediately after the Taliban was overthrown eyes turned to other potential threats one in particular sprang to mind rumors of the change in policy had been circulating since 9/11 there was more than whispers there was you know make sure this is not Iraq search your records over and over again what happened was that people began to say Iraq and al Qaeda had connections we do have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al Qaeda members including some that have been in Baghdad most of us dismiss this is just you know the kind of rumor that always happens when you have an event like this you know it was there's Raley's who really did it we have credible evidence that al Qaeda leaders have sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire weapon of weapons of mass destruction it was a nonsense from the start but it was very clear within I would say 120 days that the neo-cons were going to use it as the pivot to go into Iraq Saddam Hussein is harboring terrorists and the instruments of terror the instruments of mass death and destruction and he cannot be trusted I'm then starting to think seriously about wow are we going to war in Iraq at this hour American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger Americans invading another Islamic country Christians in the heart of the Muslim world it all sounded eerily familiar Laden's assessment from 1998 a declaration of war had been proven correct with the United States and its allies in the West and elsewhere were now invading Muslim lands it was the greatest pleasure and in balandin life when Bush administration sent their troops to occupy Iraq it was the revival of al Qaeda it was actually the rebirth of al Qaeda Murat convinced people across the Muslim world that the only way to settle this is with a defensive jihad which which well force from the beginning was Bin Ladin's born [Applause] like Afghanistan Operation Iraqi Freedom went according to plan [Applause] until suddenly it didn't in March 2004 Iraqi insurgents killed four US contractors in Fallujah set their bodies ablaze and hoisted them over the Euphrates River yesterday's events in Fallujah are a dramatic example of the ongoing struggle between human dignity and barbarism their deaths will not go unpunished five days later the United States launched Operation vigilant resolve and set about eliminating insurgents throughout the city Iraqis fought back the violence spiraled when the Americans invaded Iraq Fallujah was one of the most peaceful areas of the country within a year it was the most dangerous of all the cost incalculable [Music] the United States entered Iraq to eliminate weapons of mass destruction there were none the United States promised to bring peace and freedom instead the country descended into civil war [Music] [Music] for help either Operation Iraqi Freedom was a triumph everything bin Laden had said was true here finally was the clash he had promised Carter looked at the manna from heaven that precisely what al Qaeda was on the ropes precisely whether it was at a particularly weakened state to turn themselves into weapons in the name of Allah to fight the jihad United States shifted its attention shifted all of its resources away from South Asia and towards Iraq so it gave them precisely the breeding breathing space that it needed at a critical juncture al Qaeda got the ability to continue to prosecute and continue to carry on this struggle the distraction also allowed the situation in Afghanistan to deteriorate we declared Afghanistan an economy of force theater which means as little effort as possible while you maximize your effort in another theater we took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan they thought it would be a picnic and it would be an easy job and they discover that it's not easy job at all and they paid a very heavy price for that [Music] the best way to go after a superpower like the United States is to draw them into an endless struggle in a faraway periphery of Empire if you will and to bleed them and to bleed them and bleed them and bleed them pretty good strategy and exactly the strategy that bin Laden had laid out nearly a decade earlier fighting insurgencies on two separate fronts the United States was overstretched giving al Qaeda the opportunity to export the clash to the capital cities of Europe first madrid then London the London bombers were British citizens radicalized by Iraq bin Laden had fantasized about a clash of civilizations in 2005 it appeared as if he might have succeeded the gravity of the situation became clear the next year when a way of Islamic rage swept the globe hundreds of people were killed as riots raged from Indonesia to West Africa [Music] but it all started in one of the world's most peaceful cities Copenhagen Denmark my children went to the local school half of the pupils are Muslims and I decided to know something more about the Prophet of Muhammad and I would like to tell the children about the Prophet according to core blood kin no one was willing to illustrate his book about the Prophet Muhammad for fear of offending Muslims well of course I was a little upset because it's a tradition in Danish and European children's book that's that you have an illustrator and of course you and you show the main character news of blood conferred Ikhwan soon reached the press and Denmark's conservatively Islands poster newspaper which issued a provocative challenge there was a publisher who could not find an artist who dared illustrate a children's book about Islam and the Prophet the newspaper asked 42 political cartoonists to draw a picture of the Prophet Mohammed 12 agreed so I made this cartoon and there yes I didn't expected these consequences I heard about the cartoons we looked at this paper and we found it quite funny Kurt Vestergaard cartoon today considered so inflammatory that we cannot reproduce it featured an Arab with a bomb in his turban the cartoon was in no way aimed at my Muslim fellow citizens he and and McCoy in the rest of the world it was only aimed against terrorists if you are danger you just see this you couldn't see any kind of crisis in this I mean every day you see these kind of cartoons and the papers making fun of everybody not everyone appreciated the joke I have a man saying this is Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban you're actually saying that the man we value and look up to he is a criminal in a way he is a bad man danish muslims went to their politicians demanding answers was it intentionally or was it just a mistake was it because they didn't know anything about Muhammad and Muslims or was it intentionally was it something they did in purpose the Danish government can never apologize on behalf of a free and independent newspaper that's simply completely impossible by now it wasn't just Danish Muslims complaining about the cartoons in early 2006 the first protests abroad took place to the start creating a war between religions from Jakarta to Damascus [Applause] Danish embassies around the world came under attack the protests tapped into a far more dangerous seam in Pakistan and Illinois pd-nim common maquillaje Mahalo the butcher of tre Havel Tommy Bahama dat nice idea the severity Denis Mark III Islam on June the 2nd 2008 a bool variable Mackey drove a car loaded with explosives into Denmark's Embassy in Pakistan six bystanders were killed scores more wounded by the time the cartoon protests were over one embassy had been bombed five attacked over 250 people were dead no one had expected these consequences or the terrible things that happened in the midst of the conflagration just when it appeared that a clash of civilizations had been ignited something extraordinary happened al Qaeda overreached itself the story has its seeds in 2004 when the Americans staged their bloody assault on Fallujah killing hundreds of Iraqis wala Connor I can't allow a fierce and visit them kaffir - Liberia dr. Cathy urban and Muslims with her EOD embody the city has been seized we we have liberated the city of Fallujah I tell Abu yeah yeah where did I my friend ujin we're done by fellow jihad the one only con when American forces killed Noor's father in Fallujah she passed into the care of her aunt Sajida Marshall firebase the Scirocco things didn't improve yeah what America damnit damnit Vietnam actor I mean our about him or forget lakhani no kumuda hammer and almost no past me is you know not so unanimously mean vehicle mode on sajida decided to fight back and joined al-qaeda just when the organization was looking for new targets to al-qaeda Jordan an ally of the West was now a participant in the clash of civilizations on the wrong side it needed to be taught a lesson we are afraid from those terrorists because of Jordan cooperation with United States on war on terrorism we were worried to tell you the truth that al-qaeda might strike again Jordan either would strike Jordan but the organization's victims were to be entirely innocent Ashraf and I we've met in 2003 I was a training at one of the hospitals we've met in 2003 and I proposed in 2005 we decided to do the best we think we we could with with the limited budget we had it was a very good time for us and you know they as we say in in Arabic they engagement time is the best time to know your your lady Nadya Allah me and Ashraf al harlot planned their wedding ceremony in a hotel in Amman it would not go according to plan we started walking to to the ballroom we were so happy a lot of friends people were joining us 11 plus 11 plots failed because of our security alertness they tried it and the number 12 they got we were facing the entrance of the barroom I saw the lightning and some light powder and they we hear the explosion on the 9th of November 2005 3 Amon hotels were bombed including the Radisson SAS where Ashraf and Nadia were holding their wedding 60 people were killed I investigated the scene it was horrible loved everywhere shattered bodies everywhere I cannot describe you the pain inside me it's a killing pain inside me in my heart I can't say more than that why this taped message indicated that there were three bombers actually there were four the fourth bomber who was also to target Ashraf and Nadia's wedding was Knaus aunt Sajida Roger so Gina fed on how a listener Friedman feature polite when asked a master code an attacker could we are Sajida was arrested four days after the bombing and sentenced to death another bereaved family in Iraq another product of al-qaeda's clash of civilizations [Music] and then from nowhere a groundswell [Music] I would say within one day to do this you can find the candles lighting in our man streets everywhere you go to jordanians had a message for al-qaeda there was almost million people condemning the act and condemning these ideology Jordanian people are not with you they don't support your act as the protests grew al-qaeda attempted to distance itself from the atrocity it didn't work bin Laden had launched a war in the name of Islam why were most of his victims Muslims to date in Iraq al Qaeda suicide bombs have killed just 200 coalition troops over 12,000 civilians have been killed 30,000 more have been injured that doesn't have anything with Islam Islam is not like that all walks of life people together Christians Muslims they are together and shouting the slogan of hell with al Qaeda I felt so proud to be Jordanian [Music] five years later further protests across the Middle East Muslims marching to reject al Qaeda's brutal interpretation of current events and instead to demand democracy is this the end of the clash of civilizations in 1993 Samuel Huntington suggested that Islam and the West were destined to collide 9/11 appeared to herald the start of this coming conflict and the theory became a self-fulfilling prophecy for those who are exponents of the clash of civilizations they have plenty and plenty of empirical evidence that they can on both sides that they can summon to use to justify their embrace of that theory but it's a horribly reductionist and often simplistic way of viewing what's an enormous ly complicated phenomena that the clash of civilizations was a phantom mattered little the end result was the same whoa which was exactly what's bin Laden had wanted from the beginning Osama bin Laden succeeded by actually organizing the attacks of 11th leten 11th of September he provoked them and he pushed him to fall in his trap I would say this issue of clash of civilization and defining it as the truth I think didn'r did damage in creating more gulf and creating more sense of this crusade being launched against the Muslims world if there is a lesson to be learned from the 9/11 decade perhaps it lies here war between Islam and the West was not inevitable after 9/11 it is not inevitable today believing that it was handed Osama bin Laden one of the few victories he was to achieve [Music] you [Music]

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Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 216,150

Rating: 4.2697434 out of 5

Keywords: the 9/11 decade, 9/11, Clash of Civilizations, afghanistan, war on terror, featureddocumentary, george bush, al-qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, Iraq, World Trade Center, youtube, twin towers, 911decade, aljazeera, al jazeera, al jazeera english, al jazeera world, 9/11 Decade, The Clash of Civilizations?, clash of civilizations

Id: fIhTBEUr_80

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Length: 47min 28sec (2848 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 11 2011

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