{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/67b039c1f7ed892410bca24d/67b0938606ec54e1d28337d0?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"The Origins of Al-Qaeda","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/67b039c1f7ed892410bca24d/1739625241467-785a0a9d-dc09-4262-90e6-d505f5b0b0d7.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p><em>To understand Al-Qaeda, we must go back to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This war became a breeding ground for radical Islamism, attracting thousands of foreign fighters, including a wealthy Saudi named Osama bin Laden.</em></p><p>📌&nbsp;<strong>Key Points Covered:</strong></p><ul><li><strong>The Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989):</strong>&nbsp;How Afghanistan became a battleground between communism and Islamic insurgents.</li><li><strong>The Role of the United States &amp; Pakistan:</strong>&nbsp;How the CIA, ISI (Pakistan’s intelligence agency), and Saudi Arabia funded and armed the Mujahideen under Operation Cyclone.</li><li><strong>Osama bin Laden’s Emergence:</strong>&nbsp;His journey from a privileged Saudi family to the mountains of Afghanistan, where he built training camps with U.S.-supplied weapons.</li><li><strong>The Birth of Al-Qaeda (1988):</strong>&nbsp;How bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri established an organization focused not just on fighting in Afghanistan but waging a global jihad.</li></ul><p><br></p>","author_name":"Ekalavya Hansaj"}