Osama bin Laden attacked the United States primarily due to his opposition to U.S. military presence in the Middle East, especially in Saudi Arabia, and its support for Israel. He viewed U.S. actions as imperialist aggression against Muslims, condemning American support for governments and military interventions in Muslim countries. Bin Laden's motivations included retaliation for U.S. support of attacks on Muslims in Somalia, Russia's actions in Chechnya, India's oppression in Kashmir, Israeli policies against Palestinians, and U.S. sanctions on Iraq. He also believed that attacking the U.S. was a way to fight Western influence in the Muslim world and to provoke a costly war of attrition that would economically weaken the U.S. These views were expressed through fatwas he issued in 1996 and 1998, and in his 2002 letter to the American people, where he declared a jihad against the U.S. and its allies.
