Berger on Foreign Policy: Zawahiri’s American Court Jester

I have a piece as part of Foreign Policy's roundtable on the start of the Zawahiri era of Al Qaeda.

Osama bin Laden liked having Americans in his entourage. Mohammed Loay Bayazid, a former resident of Kansas City, took notes at the meeting in which al-Qaeda was founded. Wadih El-Hage, formerly of Tucson, was one of the terror network's first members and eventually became bin Laden's personal assistant.

Now that Ayman al-Zawahiri has ascended to al-Qaeda's throne, he will likely bring along his own American courtier - Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzam the American, formerly of Orange County, California.

Click here to read the full story

For more about Gadahn, check out buy J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, out now!

Also be sure to check out the other, rather-more-impressive entries in the FP Roundtable:

William McCants: The al-Qaeda Zawahiri inherits

Leah Farrall: Al-Qaeda’s delayed announcement

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: Zawahiri’s ascension won’t change al-Qaeda’s strategy

Labels: Adam-Gadahn, Al-Qaeda, American-Al-Qaeda, American-Jihadists, American-Terrorists, Ayman-Al-Zawahiri, Jihad-Joe, Osama-Bin-Laden

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