"Osama Bin Laden's experiences as a logistical coordinator and financier for the Afghan and Arab resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan during the 1980s are thought to have provided the backdrop for his belief that Muslims could take effective military action inspired by select Islamic principles. His exposure to the teachings of conservative Islamist scholars in Saudi Arabia and his work with Arab militants in Afghanistan provided the theological and ideological basis for his belief in the desirability of puritanical Salafist Islamic reform in Muslim societies and the necessity of armed resistance in the face of perceived aggression—a concept Al Qaeda has since associated with a communally-binding Islamic principle known as ‘defensive jihad.'"—Al Qaeda: Statements and Evolving Ideology According to this text, what provoked Osama bin Laden to found al Qaeda?

Al-Qaeda is a loose, worldwide terrorist network of mostly Sunni Islamist organizations, which since 1993 has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in several countries and is connected to numerous global political events.

The organization was first noticed by the world after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the defeated mass murder known as Operation Bojinka during World Youth Day in Manila in 1995. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it has been part of world affairs as a permanent Islamist threat. Their goals are to fight the western states, which it believes are leading a global anti-Islamic conspiracy, and to destroy Israel, in order to form an Islamic theocracy in the Middle East.