The Saber and Scroll
take retaliatory action against terrorist organizations . Usama Bin Laden and his followers believed , however , that although America would be slow to react , a large enough attack would eventually draw the US into conflict , “ bogging them down ,” similar to the Soviet Union during their occupation from 1979 to 1989 . The goal was to deplete the US government of both power and influence . 2
Bin Laden had already played a significant role in the August 7 , 1998 , bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania , Nairobi , and Kenya and in conspiring to kill US nationals traveling abroad . The United Nations ( UN ) passed Resolution 1267 on October 15 , 1999 , calling for the indictment of Usama bin Laden and his associates . The resolution reaffirmed its commitment to the sovereignty of Afghanistan while condemning the ongoing violations of international humanitarian law and human rights and the production of opium . Resolution 1267 also established an al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee and granted this panel the ability to prevent the departure of any aircraft from land owned , leased , or operated by either group and froze assets or financial resources owned or generated by the Taliban . 3
Two years after the implementation of Resolution 1267 and two days before September 11 , 2001 , two suicide bombers posing as news correspondents assassinated the former defense minister of the post-Soviet interim Afghan government and chief commander of the Northern Alliance , an anti-Taliban force , Ahmad Shah Masoud , known as the “ Lion of Panjshir .” 4 Journalists later called Masoud ’ s murder “ the curtain-raiser for the attacks on New York City and Washington , DC .” 5 Just two days later , on September 11 , Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four commercial airliners . Two crashed into the World Trade Center in New York , one struck the Pentagon in Washington , DC , and the fourth and final plane crashed in a field near Shanksville , Pennsylvania . In total , the coordinated attacks were responsible for the death of approximately three thousand people . Although none of the nineteen hijackers were Afghan nationals , and the attack originated from Saudi Arabia , President George W . Bush immediately zeroed in on al-Qaeda , Usama Bin Laden , and the terrorist safe-haven of Afghanistan . 6
Knowing that Pakistan and Afghanistan would not extradite Bin Laden to the US , President Bush then turned to Congress , who subsequently authorized a Joint Resolution . This resolution determined ( with the understanding of the war in Afghanistan ) “ to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations , organizations , or persons [ whom they ] determined had planned , authorized … committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11 , 2001 , or harbored such organizations or persons , in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the US by such nations , organizations or persons .” 7
There has been much debate over the legality of the US invasion and occupation of Afghanistan . On October
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