Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, was the mastermind behind the infamous 9/11 terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans. Osama bin Laden grew up in an extremely wealthy family. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Bin Laden offered his troops and resources to defend Kuwait, but was shocked by the arrogance of the Americans who would defend Kuwait instead. From then on he opposed everything American and began to focus his attacks on the United States. Considering the terrorist acts of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, the US Special Forces raid to kill him was justified based on how he planned several major terrorist attacks, including 911. The leader of the world's most notorious terrorist network , Osama bin Laden is believed to have been born on March 10, 1957. He was the son of “an extremely wealthy Saudi businessman, Mohammed Awad bin Laden” (Currie 70). Bin Laden's father died when he was about thirteen. His father's death “entitled him to a significant share of his father's estate. This represented enough money to keep him comfortably wealthy for a lifetime” (Currie 71). This money would later help support Al Qaeda and purchase weapons and ammunition to defend against the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. in 1979. The motivation for Osama bin Laden to use his networks and terrorist cells around the world for attacks against the United States came in 1990. Now that he had an army with guns and tanks, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, he was ready and willing to do it. to defend it. Bin Laden was “shocked,” a family friend said, to learn that the Americans – the enemy, in his mind – would defend him instead. To him, it was the height of American arrogance” (The Most Wanted Face of...... middle of paper ......oups. Ed. Stephen Currie. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2002. 69-83 . Lucent Terrorism Library. March 13, 2014. "Osama bin Laden." March 2014. .Zernike, Kate and Michael T. Kaufman. The Most Wanted Face of Terrorism. New York Times [New York] May 2011: n. searchResults%2 30&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com %2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%23%2Fface%2Bof%2Bterrorims%2F>.