Causes of 9/11:
U.S. Troops in Saudi Arabia?
Did the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia cause the September 11 attacks?
U.S. Marines during the Gulf War,
Saudi Arabia, Feb. 1991.
(AP Photo/Sadayuki Mikami)
The presence of about 5,000 U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's two holiest sites, is one of Osama bin Laden's bitterest grievances against America?both because he is offended by having "infidel troops" stand guard over Islam's holiest sites and because the U.S. presence makes it harder for him to topple the Saudi monarchy.
Why are U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia?
Their purpose is to deter Iraq from attacking Saudi Arabia and monitor the "no-fly" zones (which are off-limits to Iraqi planes), U.S. officials say.
Has bin Laden called for a U.S. withdrawal from Saudi Arabia?
Yes, repeatedly. In his writings and speeches, bin Laden has hotly argued that since at least 1991?the year of the Persian Gulf War, which was waged by a U.S.-led coalition with bases in Saudi Arabia?the United States has been "occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of its territories, Arabia, plundering its riches, overwhelming its rulers, humiliating its people, threatening its neighbors, and using its bases in the [Arabian] peninsula as a spearhead to fight against the neighboring Islamic peoples."
When did significant numbers of U.S. troops arrive in Saudi Arabia?
The Saudis invited in the U.S. military shortly after Saddam Hussein invaded Iraq's oil-rich neighbor Kuwait, on August 2, 1990. To help protect the kingdom and prepare to expel Iraq from Kuwait, the United States sent about 500,000 troops to Saudi Arabia; the U.S. secretary of defense at the time, Richard Cheney (now vice president), promised Saudi King Fahd that the troops would be removed after the war.
When did bin Laden turn against the Saudi royal family?
Bin Laden, a Saudi himself, broke with the Saudi monarchy over the Gulf War and now avidly seeks its overthrow. In 1990, bin Laden approached the Saudi defense minister and volunteered to mobilize veterans of the 1979-89 Afghan jihad against Soviet occupation to defend Saudi Arabia against Iraq. The Saudi government declined his offer, preferring to rely instead on the U.S.-led coalition assembled by President George H. W. Bush. Ever since, bin Laden has resented the presence of "infidel troops" on the holy land where the Prophet Muhammad founded Islam in the seventh century.
