Words and Actions
Bin Ladin's name has come up in connection with a number of terrorist attacks around the world, as early as 1992. In addition, he had made threatening speeches and issued fatwas (religious decrees) against the West and the United States in particular.
Bin Ladin has been linked to the December 1992 bombing of a hotel in Yemen, most likely targeted at American military personnel billeted in the facility. Two Australians were killed.
Although Bin Ladin's ties to the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center (six dead, over a thousand wounded) in New York City may be tenuous, the convicted planner of the operation, Ramzi Ahmad Yusif, lived in a facility provided by the Saudi terrorist.
Bin Ladin also claimed, actually boasted, that his followers had killed American troops in Mogadishu, Somali during the U.S. effort in that country. His exact words were, "We hunted them down...."
In November 1995, a car bomb was detonated outside the compound that housed the American military personnel and contractors that supported the Saudi Arabian National Guard assistance program, killing several people.
In the event that made Usamah Bin Ladin a household name in the United States, on June 25, 1996, Saudi dissidents detonated a massive truck bomb at the Khobar Towers housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. Air Force personnel. Bin Ladin called the bombing "praiseworthy terrorism" and called for a jihad against American troops in Saudi Arabia. Although the united States has recently claimed that the the Iranian government was responsible, the hand of Bin Ladin may be present.
In July 1996, Bin Ladin warns that the terrorists who bombed American soldiers in Saudi Arabia will also attack British and French military personnel. He further issued a "declaration of war" against the United States in August 1996. He claimed that Saudis have a "legitimate right" to attack the 5,000 American military personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia. Later, he stated, "If someone can kill an American soldier, it is better than wasting time on other matters.
In February 1998, Bin Ladin issued a fatwa calling for the liberation of Muslim holy places in Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as the death of Americans and their allies.
