Al Qaeda: Myth or Reality?

Al Qaeda's ideologies envision a complete break from the foreign influences in Muslim countries, and the creation of a new Islamic caliphate. Reported beliefs include that a Christian-Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy Islam, which is largely embodied in the U.S.-Israel alliance, and that the killing of bystanders and civilians is religiously justified in jihad. Experts debate whether or not the Al-Qaeda attacks were blowbacks from the American CIA's "Operation Cyclone" program to help the Afghan Mujahideen.