American Military Retaliation For Terrorism: Judging the Merits of ...

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American Military Retaliation For Terrorism: Judging the Merits of ...

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• Publié par: ycyzadom
• Nombre de lectures: 44
• Langue: English

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American Military Retaliation For Terrorism: 1998 – Edition: August 2002

High School Case Teaching

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Reading

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Page 1

Topics

: International Terrorism, Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy, Defense

Areas

: Middle East – Afghanistan, United States, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Kenya , Tanzania

American Military Retaliation For Terrorism:

Judging the Merits

of the 1998 Cruise Missile Strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan

*

Notes

I.

What Happened?

On August 7

th

, 1998, the U.S.

embassies

in Kenya and Tanzania were

simultaneously truck-bombed, killing 263 people, including 12

Americans.

II.

Who Was Accused?

Within days, the American government became convinced that the

bombings had been the work of international

terrorist

, Osama bin Laden.

The critical piece of evidence came from Mohammed Sadeek Odeh,

whom immigration officials had detained at an airport in Pakistan for not

resembling the photograph in his Yemeni passport. Under

interrogation

,

Odeh boasted of the important role that he had played in the embassy

bombings. The FBI then escorted Odeh back to Kenya for questioning and

confronted him with evidence found in his Kenyan home. Odeh then broke

down and provided details of the plot, including

surveillance

of the Kenya

embassy before the attack, the construction of the bomb, and the way in

which he and six others fled Kenya. The FBI – working on Odeh’s leads –

tracked down a residence where explosive residue was found to confirm

Odeh’s claims. Most significantly, in his

testimony

, Odeh named his

partners in the bombing and identified bin Laden as responsible for the

attack. In 1998, the US Justice Department

indicted

bin Laden and

charged him with a

conspiracy

to kill Americans.

III.

How Does Osama bin Laden Fit Into the Picture?

Bin Laden’s life does not fit neatly into the mold of the typical terrorist.

He had been brought up in a life of privilege before embarking on his

international terrorism campaign. Bin Laden was born in 1955 into one of

*Adapted from Richard L. Russell’s “American Military Retaliation For Terrorism: Judging the Merits of the 1998

Cruise Missile Strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan,” Case #238, Pew Case Studies in International Affairs

Copyright 2000 by Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Adapted with permission for

High School Case Teaching

, Center for Active Learning in International Studies,

University of Southern California, by Darcy Horak, August 2002.