Learning Goals

Students will analyze the evolving and persistent threat of terrorism.

Students will discuss the importance of inter-agency collaboration in current events as well as historically.

Vocabulary

al-Qaeda: This international Islamist extremist terrorist network is responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda is responsible for multiple terrorist attacks since its founding in the 1980s by Osama bin Laden and others who were involved in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Their aim has been to overthrow governments in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the Muslim world, which do not strictly enforce a narrow, fundamentalist version of Islam. 

Terrorism: This is when people use violence for political ends. 

Activity

1.  Tell students they will investigate some of the ways terrorism has evolved since the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011 and consider what lessons have been learned in the process.

2.  Show the video clip below, The Death of Bin Laden: An Ongoing Threat, which exposes bin Laden’s activity while in hiding and what that information means for the intelligence community.

3.  After showing the clip, ask students to read the section overview below and consider the following questions:

• What is a lone actor? What makes that type of attack different from attacks like 9/11?
• Why has fighting terrorism remained a challenge for law enforcement, military, and intelligence officers in the years since the death of bin Laden?

The raid was the culmination of years of risk, involving countless individuals across dozens of U.S. and allied government agencies. After the operation’s conclusion, Osama bin Laden’s death spurred headlines globally. It was a defining moment for millions of people.

However, the death of bin Laden offers no tidy conclusion to the story of al-Qaeda or of terrorism generally. His successors and others remain faithful to his vision of a religious war. Al-Qaeda is active and continues to plan attacks, while affiliated organizations and radicalized individuals plot their own strikes.

Bin Laden’s fanatical beliefs did not die with him. Until people are no longer willing to kill or die for these ideas, the threat will persist. Even so, a determined network of intelligence, military, and law enforcement officers across the globe, well-practiced in their methods, works tirelessly to counter the terrorist threat. 

 

4.  Show the video clip below, The Death of Bin Laden: Lessons Learned, in which President Barack Obama reveals what he hopes the intelligence community can take away from the hunt for bin Laden.

5.  Ask students to share what they think President Obama hopes people will draw from the 10-year hunt for Osama bin Laden. Conclude by asking the question, can you think of other times in history or today when people have worked together for the common good despite differences? 

Learning Goals

Students will investigate why U.S. intelligence believed Osama bin Laden was living in the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Students will consider the options presented to President Obama concerning the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Vocabulary

al-Qaeda: This international Islamist extremist terrorist network is responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda is responsible for multiple terrorist attacks since its founding in the 1980s by Osama bin Laden and others who were involved in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Their aim has been to overthrow governments in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the Muslim world, which do not strictly enforce a narrow, fundamentalist version of Islam. 

Courier: Someone who moves information from one person, or location, to another.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: This Islamist extremist was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. “Islamists” see Islam as a guiding ideology for politics and the organization of society. They believe that strict adherence to religious law should be the sole basis for a country’s law, as well as its cultural and social life. While some Muslims believe this, many do not. Islamist extremists believe violence is acceptable to achieve these ends.

Activity

1.  Show the video clip below, Compound Discovered, that explains how the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was discovered. 

2.  After viewing the clip, ask students to read the section overview below and answer the following questions: 

• How did US intelligence agencies locate the compound?
• What led them to believe that someone important was living there?

In August 2010, U.S. intelligence agencies tracked a suspected al-Qaeda courier, Abu Ahmad al-Kuwaiti (whose real name was Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed), to a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Al-Kuwaiti lived there with his brother, also an al-Qaeda messenger, and their families. Another family with many women and children lived in the compound, too. 

For intelligence analysts, conditions at the compound strongly suggested that someone important was hiding there. Tight security guided the residents’ lives. They had no telephone or Internet connection. They burned their garbage. The surrounding walls, topped with barbed wire, were uncommonly high. A third-floor terrace in the main building had been walled off, obscuring a scenic view.

Meanwhile, a figure dubbed the Pacer took frequent walks in an outdoor, covered area. Analysts believed that the compound housed a high-value target. Could it be bin Laden?

3.  Review student answers and tell them that they will now explore the options presented to President Obama and his decision-making process.

4.  Show the video clip below, The Authorization, that provides an overview of the various options presented to President Obama.
 

5.  After viewing the clip, direct students to read The President Considers to answer the following questions:

• What options were presented to the president?
• Who helped the president make the decision? 
• What risks did the president and his aides need to consider when planning the raid? 

6.  Facilitate a discussion based on student responses. Conclude the activity by asking how they would rank each option and why based on the evidence presented. What are the pros and cons of each?

Learning Goals

Students will understand the preparation for, and sequence of, the raid carried out on Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound.

Students will examine multiple responses to Osama bin Laden’s death.

Vocabulary

National security: This is a collective term for the defense and foreign relations of a country, as well as the protection of the interests of a country.

SEAL Team Six: Part of the U.S. Navy’s special operations force, this group carried out Operation Neptune Spear. SEAL is an acronym for Sea, Air, and Land, referring to members’ ability to operate in all conditions.  

Activity

1.  Ask students to read the section overview below and answer the following questions:

• What was decided as the best option for confirming bin Laden’s presence in the compound?
• Which group was approved by President Obama to carry out the raid?
• When did the raid take place?

In late 2010 and early 2011, the U.S. intelligence community tried to confirm its suspicions about the Abbottabad compound. U.S President Barack Obama and his national security team debated how to act on the lead in the face of continuing uncertainty and risk.

Among the options considered, a special operations raid emerged as the best opportunity to confirm Osama bin Laden’s presence at the compound. President Obama ordered planning for the raid while continuing to evaluate the risks with his team. After asking his advisers for input, he approved U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), also known as SEAL Team Six, to carry out the operation. The SEALs prepared for their mission by conducting rehearsals at replica compounds built in Nevada and North Carolina.

President Obama formally authorized the raid, which occurred on May 1, 2011 (May 2, 2011, Pakistan Standard Time).

 

2.  Review student answers and inform students that they are now going to focus on what happened during the raid.

3.  Show the video clip below, The Raid, which details the sequence of the raid carried out inside bin Laden’s compound. 

4.  After viewing the clip, direct students to read Operation Neptune Spear and discuss the following questions:

• What was the sequence of the raid on the compound, also known as Operation Neptune Spear?
• What was a piece of information about the raid that you were surprised to learn?

5.  Show the video clip below, The Death of Bin Laden: National and Individual Reactions, which illustrates national and individual sentiments immediately following bin Laden’s death.

6.  After viewing the clip, direct students to read Immediate Reactions to answer and discuss the following questions in small groups.

• What was the national mood immediately after President Obama announced that bin Laden had been killed?
• What perspectives did 9/11 family members Maureen Santora and Joe Quinn express after bin Laden was killed? How did they differ?

7.  Bring students back from small groups to discuss their answers. Conclude by asking students to reach out to a family member, teacher, or trusted adult about how they felt after learning about bin Laden’s death.

Learning Goals

Students will explore how intelligence agencies tracked Osama bin Laden over the course of 10 years.

Students will discuss how changes in strategy and technology impacted the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Vocabulary

al-Qaeda: This international Islamist extremist terrorist network is responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda is responsible for multiple terrorist attacks since its founding in the 1980s by Osama bin Laden and others who were involved in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Their aim has been to overthrow governments in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the Muslim world, which do not strictly enforce a narrow, fundamentalist version of Islam.

Activity

1.  Show the two video clips below from The Hunt: Who Is Harboring Bin Laden? and The Hunt: Sharing Intelligence, which explore how intelligence agencies began tracking bin Laden and sharing intelligence across agencies.

2.  After showing the clips, ask students to read the section overview below and as a class consider the following questions:

• What were considered key steps in fighting al-Qaeda?
• Who were intelligence agencies looking for in addition to bin Laden?
• How were agencies gathering information? What challenges did they face?

Osama bin Laden escaped from Tora Bora in December 2001, leaving no trace.

While the hunt for bin Laden continued for years, it was not the U.S. government’s sole priority. America’s strategy to find bin Laden now hinged on tracking al-Qaeda’s global network. 

More intelligence and better integration were key to fighting al-Qaeda. Intelligence and law enforcement officers now deployed alongside troops overseas to help plan special operations. Raids increased in frequency and importance. Materials recovered from these missions, along with aerial imagery, information from detainee interrogations as well as local allies, and other sources, produced a flood of intelligence, all of which needed to be shared and analyzed rapidly. 

When a lead to bin Laden’s location finally emerged in 2010, the U.S. applied a decade of knowledge and experience against the ultimate high-value target.

3.  Review student answers and tell them that they are going to focus on the ways in which intelligence agents worked to track bin Laden through al-Qaeda's network.

4.  Show students a third video clip from The Hunt: Identifying the Courier that details how identifying those close to bin Laden could aid in finding him. 

5.  Direct students to read The Counterterrorism Toolkit and as a class consider the following questions:

• What counterterrorism efforts were being used to find bin Laden? 
• Based on the strategy laid out in the toolkit and video clip, why was it important for intelligence analysts to know who was closest to bin Laden?
• How did analysts believe bin Laden was communicating? 

6.  Review student answers and conclude the activity by facilitating a discussion about how changes in communication, strategies, and technology impacted the hunt for bin Laden. What challenges do rapidly changing modes of communication present for analysts working in counterterrorism? Can you think of possible benefits or opportunities they present? 

Learning Goals

Students will examine the United States’ immediate response to the 9/11 attacks.

Students will discuss the importance of international cooperation when fighting terrorism.

Vocabulary

al-Qaeda: This international Islamist extremist terrorist network is responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda is responsible for multiple terrorist attacks since its founding in the 1980s by Osama bin Laden and others who were involved in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Their aim has been to overthrow governments in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the Muslim world, which do not strictly enforce a narrow, fundamentalist version of Islam.

CIA: This is an abbreviation for the Central Intelligence Agency. 

NATO: This is an abbreviation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Taliban: This Islamist fundamentalist group ran Afghanistan and allowed al-Qaeda to operate in return for money and troops. 

Activity

1.  Show the video below, America’s Response, that outlines the actions of some of the first U.S. Operations personnel arriving in Afghanistan after 9/11.

2.  After viewing the video, ask students to read the section overview below and answer the following questions:

• What does Jawbreaker refer to? What were they doing in Afghanistan?
• Why were Afghan militias important allies for the U.S. military and intelligence communities?

On September 17, 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush authorized the CIA to launch operations in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda and its ally, the ruling Taliban government. Nine days later, a small unit of CIA personnel arrived to strengthen alliances with Afghan militias and gather intelligence. 

The U.S. military began operations in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. By early November, approximately 100 CIA officers and 300 U.S. Special Forces were on the ground. International partners also provided troops.

By December 2001, intelligence and military forces had tracked Osama bin Laden to the Tora Bora cave complex in Afghanistan’s Spīn Ghar mountain range. During a weeks-long battle with al-Qaeda, bin Laden escaped. 

3.  Review student answers and ask them to read International Community Responds and consider the following questions:

• When did NATO meet? What does this date tell you about the importance of this meeting?
• What does Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty state? Why was the invocation of Article 5 historic? 
• How did United States’ allies in NATO support America’s response to 9/11?

4.  Review student answers and conclude with a brainstorming activity. As a full class or in small groups, ask students to brainstorm what these early operations in Afghanistan teach us about the importance of international cooperation when fighting terrorism.

Learning Goals

Students will learn about the activities of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda prior to 9/11.

Students will examine how intelligence agencies communicated prior to the 9/11 attacks and how the process changed in the aftermath.

Vocabulary

al-Qaeda: This international Islamist extremist terrorist network is responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda is responsible for multiple terrorist attacks since its founding in the 1980s by Osama bin Laden and others who were involved in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Their aim has been to overthrow governments in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the Muslim world, which do not strictly enforce a narrow, fundamentalist version of Islam.

Islam: This is the world’s second-largest religion, founded by the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago. Islam’s beliefs and practices center around two key sources: the Qur’an and the Hadith. An adherent of Islam is a Muslim.

Islamist extremism: “Islamists” see Islam as a guiding ideology for politics and the organization of society. They believe that strict adherence to religious law should be the sole basis for a country’s law, as well as its cultural and social life. While some Muslims believe this, many do not. Islamist extremists believe violence is acceptable to achieve these ends. Al-Qaeda is one of many Islamist extremist groups.

Jihad: A religiously-sanctioned war.

Terrorism: This is when people use violence for political ends.

Activity

1.  Direct students to the section overview below and discuss the following questions:

• Who was Osama bin Laden?
• Why was al-Qaeda formed?
• Why did bin Laden target the United States?

Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi, founded the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in 1988 to mobilize Arab fighters on the Afghan side of the Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989). Following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, bin Laden sought to establish al-Qaeda’s military role in the Middle East. When American troops were deployed to Saudi Arabia for the Gulf War (1990–1991), bin Laden saw an opportunity. He denounced Western influence, particularly American influence, in Muslim-majority countries. In 1996, bin Laden declared a jihad, a religiously sanctioned war, against the United States, leading to violent al-Qaeda attacks on American interests overseas. Ultimately, bin Laden believed a devastating strike on American soil would convince the U.S. to withdraw from the Muslim world.

U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies had been monitoring bin Laden and al-Qaeda during the 1990s, warning senior government officials of a growing threat. Even so, most senior U.S. policymakers did not consider al-Qaeda a priority.

2.  Review student answers and share that al-Qaeda carried out several attacks against the United States before 9/11. Share with students that they will now investigate those attacks. 

3.  Direct students to read An Escalating Threat to answer the following questions:

• What locations were targeted by al-Qaeda prior to 9/11? Why were they important? 
• How did the U.S. government respond to terrorist threats before 9/11? 

4.  Review student answers and show the video below. Revealed outlines initial U.S. investigations of bin Laden and discusses communication (or lack thereof) between the agencies conducting these investigations. As students watch, ask them to pay attention to the different agencies the speakers represent and what each says about inter-agency communication.

5.  After viewing the clip, ask students to share in small groups what they learned about communication between agencies tasked with monitoring bin Laden and al-Qaeda before 9/11. How do they think these practices affected access to information about bin Laden and al-Qaeda before 9/11? Have groups share their findings. 

6.  Conclude by asking students how communication between agencies changed after the 9/11 attacks. Why do they think 9/11 caused such a large shift in the way agencies communicated? 

Learning Goals

Students will examine the concept of identity and stereotypes. 

Students will investigate causes of the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment after 9/11.

Students will be introduced to multiple perspectives about Islam and terrorism, including voices from within the Muslim community. 

Students will understand the difference between Islam and Islamist extremism.

Vocabulary

Islam: This is the world’s second-largest religion, founded by the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago. Islam’s beliefs and practices center around two key sources: the Qur’an and the Hadith. An adherent of Islam is a Muslim.

Islamist extremism: “Islamists” see Islam as a guiding ideology for politics and the organization of society. They believe that strict adherence to religious law should be the sole basis for a country’s law, as well as its cultural and social life. While some Muslims believe this, many do not. Islamist extremists believe violence is acceptable to achieve these ends. Al-Qaeda is one of many Islamist extremist groups.

The Qur’an: A central religious text of the Islamic faith, the Qur’an contains what Muslims believe is God’s final revelation, made to the Prophet Muhammad, Islam’s founder, more than 1,400 years ago.

The Hadith: Another central religious text of Islam, the Hadith is a collection of Muhammad’s sayings and deeds during his life.

Stereotype: This is a set of generalizations about the characteristics of the members of a group or social category. Stereotypes simplify perceptions, but they are often exaggerated, negative rather than positive, and resistant to revision even when perceivers encounter individuals with characteristics that don’t fit the stereotype. 

Prejudice: This is a negative attitude toward another person or group formed in advance of any experience with that person or group.

Cognitive shortcut: These are cognitive strategies that simplify decision-making by using mental shortcuts.

Activity

1.  Tell students that they are going to be asked to think about the following questions: What makes us who we are? How do we see ourselves and others? Where do stereotypes come from and why do we use them?

2.  Ask students to draw two intersecting circles on a piece of paper—a Venn Diagram. Instruct them to write words that describe how they see themselves inside the circle on the left and how others may see them based solely on visible identity markers (e.g., gender, ethnicity, etc.) on the right. 

3.  After a few minutes, ask students to look at the words in each circle and write any that appear in both the left and right circles in the center where they overlap. By a show of hands, ask students if they discovered any words that overlapped. 

4.  Pose the question, based on the responses: Do you think visible identity markers tell the full story of who you are as a person? Why or why not?

5.  Explain that cognitive shortcuts are often used to lessen cognitive load in order to make quick decisions, but these shortcuts can also lead to prejudice and stereotyping based on one’s visible identity markers, often causing false assumptions. Tell students they will now look at an example of this concept.

6.  Play the first 15 seconds of Dahlia Mogahed’s TED Talk, “What it’s like to be Muslim in America,” from February 2016, and then pause. Ask students to either write or share the first words that come to mind when they look at her, in response to her question. Note: You may also ask students, by a show of hands, how many censored their answers and why.

7.  Ask students to draw another Venn Diagram on the back of the paper. Instruct them to write the words Dahlia uses to describe how she thinks others may perceive her based on how she looks inside the left circle, and then write the words she uses to describe herself inside the right circle, and to note any words or descriptions that overlap in the center.

8.  Play the clip until 1:25 and then pause to debrief on student responses. Ask: Does anything overlap on the diagram in process? Why do you think that is?

9.  Play the clip until 4:25 and pause after the line, “…turned me from a citizen to a suspect.” Ask students: How did listening to more of Dahlia’s talk change or deepen your original views of her based solely on her appearance?

10.  Conclude by sharing with students that for many like Dahlia, 9/11 served as a moment that altered their perceptions of Muslim-Americans—or those perceived to be Muslim based on visible identity markers—from citizen to suspect. 

11.  Tell students they will investigate the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment after 9/11 in the next lesson. Point out that while the lesson focuses specifically on the Muslim experience, statistics show there has been a rise in discrimination against several different racial, ethnic, and religious groups around the world in recent years. This rise highlights the importance of examining stereotypes and their consequences.

Learning Goals

Students will explain the concepts of national security and civil liberties.

Students will examine multiple points of view expressed toward the balance between national security and civil liberties.

Students will question the balance between national security and civil liberties before and after 9/11.

Vocabulary

National security: This is a collective term for the defense and foreign relations of a country, as well as the protection of the interests of a country.

Civil liberties: These are the rights guaranteed by the laws of a country, as in the U.S. by the Bill of Rights.