“Prior to 9/11, Al-Qaeda enjoyed the benefits of physical sanctuary that Afghanistan provided. The Taliban, the de facto rulers of Afghanistan, allowed al-Qaeda to construct training camps and other facilities that enabled the terrorist group to plan, communicate, coordinate, train, indoctrinate, and spread its message to the world in a secure enviroment. Each one of these activities and the Afghan sanctuary in general were enabling factors that allowed the core of al-Qaeda to grow into a formidable terrorist group and execute a number of devastating attacks.
In response to the attacks of 9/11, the US military removed the Taliban from power and ejected al-Qaeda from its Afghanistan stronghold. As a result, al-Qaeda has had to search for new sanctuaries. There has been speculation in the media regarding the location of these new sanctuaries. According to terrorism expert Peter Bergen, al-Qaeda has sought out new sanctuaries in Pakistan along the Afghan border, in Saudi Arabia, and finally on the Internet”
The Terror Network: How Al-Qaeda Uses the Internet by Ned Moran
