Inspire 10: Still sucks

I guess I'm never going to get to write a self-congratulatory post about how I got a shout-out in Inspire, because I still don't have anything much good to say about it.

Issue No. 10 of the English-language vehicle for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula just came out, and while it's crawled back from the precipice of copy-editing collapse hinted at in its last issue, it's still a sad little effort that gets taken awfully seriously.

The "hit list" of targets named by Al Qaeda and friends repeatedly over the years is neither fresh nor surprising. The recycled content remains recycled, the original content remains uninspired. The flashy graphics remain flashy.

The part of the publication that most concerns U.S. counterterrorism officials is, of course, "Open-Source Jihad," AQAP's how-to guide for "lone wolf" terrorists. Regular readers will recall that this feature was self-parody from the beginning, and it's descended further into absurdity with this issue's advice that Western mujahideen should try to cause traffic accidents and carry out ninja-style assassinations. And no, I'm not joking, that's really their advice.

Certainly, one can kill people even using absurd methods, but Inspire's readers have so far been distinguished by a lack of competence using tactics of more reliable lethality than lubricating highways so cars will slide and crash (again, not joking).

Look, lone wolf terrorism is a legitimate concern, even if it's generally far less common and less effective than people would have you think. And sure, it would be better if there wasn't this magazine goading idiots into attempting violence. I'm in favor of talking about these things, and I have specific concerns about them. But let's also keep it real. Inspire is ridiculous, and hyping its potency (about halfway into the clip) only elevates its status. Inspire remains unoriginal and largely ineffective. By all means, let's talk about it, but let's not forget to keep it in context.

For more about American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

AQAP: Inspire Magazine Will Continue

Two new issues of Al Qaeda's English-language magazine "Inspire" hit the virtual newsstands today, with a promise that more will follow.

"To the disappointment of our enemies, issue 9 of inspire [sic lowercase] magazine is out against all odds," wrote Yahya Ibrahim, the only surviving member of Inspire's original masthead. "[Inspire] is here to stay because it was not found to end with the end of its founders."

Issue 8 of Inspire is the last issue overseen by its founding editor, American Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula member Samir Khan, prior to his death by drone in September 2011. Although it was not released at the time, the issue had been finalized almost two weeks before Khan and his mentor, American cleric Anwar Awlaki, were killed.

Issue 9 is the first post-Khan issue, and the downgrade to Inspire's staff is clearly evident from the quotes above and on the cover, which features a grievous typo.



As Jihadica's Will McCants observed on Twitter, they "left off the 'h' in 'whining'."

Khan's absence is felt throughout the issue in ways large and small. For instance, the issue display of martyr's tribute for Awlaki and Khan lack Khan's trademark design flourish to emphasize their importance. Despite its release this week, the issue does not strongly reference the death of bin Laden. Headlines throughout the issue often fail to reflect the articles, and a autobiographical piece attributed to Awlaki is in sore need of editing.

As far as content, Issue 8's most important feature is a previously promoted article by Awlaki justifying the murder of American civilians. Awlaki takes a bloodier tone than he has in the past with a fairly sweeping imprimatur for nearly any tactic or approach to killing Americans. Operational notes features instruction on the use of handguns, continuing AQ's trend toward encouraging smaller and more reliable attacks. In most other respects, the issue continues the content seen in previous editions.

Issue 9 attempts to maintain continuity and succeeds to a degree, despite the noticeable drop in quality. In addition to Yahya Ibrahim's assurance that Inspire will continue, AQAP religious leader Ibrahim al-Rubaish also indicates that AQAP will continue to strongly support Inspire. Much of the issue is dedicated to personal accounts of Awlaki by those who knew him, as well as a lengthy piece on Samir Khan.

In a sharp break from previous issues, Inspire 9 urges would-be "individual jihadists" (i.e., lone wolves) to contact them directly via e-mail and provide a wealth of identifying information, which I imagine most American CT officials would wholeheartedly endorse. Previous issues of Inspire urged would-be lone wolves to act without contacting AQAP or anyone else about their plans. I may have a bit more to say about this later.

Operational elements in Issue 9 include a focus on assassination, which can be read as significant in conjunction with Issue 8's focus on handguns. Both issue 8 and 9 strongly suggest President Obama as an assassination target, although issue 8 is more explicit.

For more about Inspire and American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, American-Al-Qaeda, Anwar-Awlaki, Inspire-Magazine, Samir-Khan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

NYC pipe bomb suspect Pimentel posted on Revolution Muslim

Jose Pimentel, a devotee of American Al Qaeda propagandist Anwar Awlaki arrested in New York this weekend for building a pipe bomb described in Al Qaeda's Inspire magazine, posted entries at least twice on Islam Policy, the radical Web site previously known as Revolution Muslim.

Pimentel was a prolific blogger and highly connected social media user. He ran his own Web site, TrueIslam1, and at least twice cross-posted material to Islam Policy.

Revolution Muslim, a pro-Al Qaeda website founded by American radicals, was suspended briefly after one of its writers threatened the creators of South Park for depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

But the site soon returned, voluntarily changing its name to Islam Policy. The current leader of Islam Policy, Younus Abdullah Mohammed, was recently arrested and is now facing charges in relation to those threats. Another American, Zachary Chesser, was arrested in July 2010 and subsequently convicted for the same threats.

Pimentel posted on Revolution Muslim as "M. Yusuf" at least twice, one on "Rape in the U.S. Army," and once on the Arab Spring. Both posts were made in April 2011 and linked back to TrueIslam1.

"I say to the brothers and sisters in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and the rest of the Muslim world that establishing the Islamic laws is an obligation upon us that cannot be overlooked, the Day of Judgment is near, and Allah is quick in accountability and severe in punishment," Pimentel wrote.

Another post, also apparently by Pimentel, was titled "How Can I Train Myself For Jihad" and was later deleted from Islam Policy, but reposted to the Al Jahad extremist Web forum. The post was dated July 2011, but the content was dated 2008, suggesting Pimentel may not have written but simply reposted it.

The article encouraged firearms training and the use of U.S. military training materials available online to prepare for violent jihad.

"The majority of the time spent in Jihad is learning to cope with harsh, physically and mentally demanding living conditions. It is not about fighting glamorous battles for your pictures to appear on the Internet. Jihad is tough and difficult, which is why the rewards for it are so great," the post read.

In a section on firearms training, the post read: "Useful courses to learn are sniping, general shooting and other rifle courses. Handgun courses are useful but only after you have mastered rifles."

For more about American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

CTC Sentinel: Awlaki's 'Constants of Jihad'

Foreign Policy: Awlaki's Legacy

The Atlantic: Awlaki and September 11

Foreign Policy: The Awlaki Myth

Video: Lessons Learned, 10 Years After 9/11

INTELWIRE: Interview With An Online Jihadist

Book Review: Bin Laden's Legacy | Buy

Huffington Post: Is AQ's Inspire Uninspired?

INTELWIRE: The Five Ds of CVE

INTELWIRE: How Terrorists Use The Internet

INTELWIRE: Hyping the Terrorist Internet

The Atlantic: Why Johnny Jihad Doesn't Listen

Foreign Policy: The Zawahiri Era Begins

New York Daily News: Al Qaeda's Gun Fixation

Fox News: J.M. Berger seen in "Secrets of 9/11"

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Labels: American-Terrorists, Anwar-Aulaqi, Anwar-Awlaki, Inspire-Magazine, Islam-Policy, Jose-Pimentel, Revolution-Muslim, South-Park

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Anwar Awlaki Killed

The most wanted American in Al Qaeda, Anwar Al Awlaki, was reportedly killed in Yemen.

The details of his death are uncertain, and this is not the first time he has been reported killed.

So far, three claims have surfaced. First, that Awlaki was killed in a drone strike. Second, that he was killed by a Special Operations raid of some sort. Third, that he was killed by air strikes by either the Yemeni or U.S. governments.

J.M. Berger for Foreign Policy: Gone But Not Forgotten, Awlaki's Legacy

Awlaki was, in many ways, a unique figure in the jihadist pantheon. Born in the United States and raised mostly in Yemen, he was fluent in both English and Arabic. He rose to prominence as a mainstream Muslim speaker, winning substantial acclaim for his translation and commentary on stories from the Quran and hadith.

Awlaki was rightfully praised for his command of American idiom and ability to process Islamic content for Western audiences by drawing on his knowledge of Western pop culture. But his real strength as a preacher was storytelling. Awlaki took stories from ancient sources and embellished them, breathing live into tales that had often been passed down only in skeletal form.

His mainstream success accentuated the danger created by his public shift to extremism. Awlaki was widely loved by English-speaking Muslims around the world. The evidence strongly suggests that he was involved in extremist networks even as a young man, but to the public, he was the very face of devotional Islam. He was cited in U.S. media for his moderate statements even as he made much more radical statements behind closed doors.

In 2000 and 2001, Awlaki and his followers provided significant assistance to at least three of the September 11 hijackers, helping them find apartments, drive around the country and obtain IDs suitable for use in boarding an airplane. The evidence suggests this help was provided knowing that the men were Al Qaeda operatives, if not with specific knowledge of the plot. One of the hijackers described Awlaki as "a great man" and his "spiritual leader."

From 2002 on, Awlaki became a case study for how not to handle a suspected terrorist. Misstep after misstep from both government and media helped catapult Awlaki into global prominence as an extremist.

In October 2002, the U.S. arrested Awlaki while he was entering the country after traveling overseas but released him almost immediately under murky circumstances. Had he been arrested and prosecuted then, it might have saved American lives.

Awlaki left the country immediately after this near miss. His lectures became more and more overtly radical. Followers who had joined him for stories of the Islamic prophets could follow him as he "thought aloud" about the relationship between the West and Islam and concluded that they were fatally incompatible.

In 2004, Awlaki returned to Yemen, issuing his most famous extremist work, "Constants on the Path of Jihad." Although Constants is often attributed to Awlaki, it was not his original work. Based on an Arabic essay by one of the founders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the six hour lecture series outlined a strong argument in favor of jihad. Although Awlaki presented himself only as the translator, he extensively expanded on the original text, making it significantly more accessible and emotional. At least dozens of arrested extremists have listened to the lectures for inspiration.

Awlaki was arrested by Yemeni authorities in 2007 on the pretext of having given a fatwa approving a kidnapping by local militants. By most accounts, he emerged from prison even more heavily radicalized. Soon after, Awlaki created a blog where he praised jihadist groups such as Al Shabab. In 2009, he praised American military officer Nidal Hassan for killing American soldiers in a shooting spree at Fort Hood. Soon after, Awlaki was implicated as the teacher and guide to Omar Farouk Abdulmuttallab, who tried to bomb a Detroit-bound plane at Christmas with explosives smuggled on board in his underwear.

Awlaki also used e-mail to inspire and sometimes direct plots. He was among the most accessible and Internet-savvy extremists, personally corresponding with several suspects who were later arrested on various charges of terrorism.

A number of things happened after that. The United States leaked that Awlaki had been added to the CIA's authorized list of targets for assassination. That immediately led Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to issue a statement that the organization would defend Awlaki to the death. Soon after, AQAP issued a video interview with Awlaki in which he openly embraced Al Qaeda and its ideology, and soon after that, Awlaki issued an explicit call for Muslims living in the West to kill Americans under any circumstance.

Awlaki's standing in the jihadist world exploded in the wake of these developments, which were at least accelerated (if not wholly provoked) by the leak about Awlaki's targeting. Prior to the leak, Awlaki was someone with wide influence among Western extremists but without clear credibility among hardcore jihadists.

After the leak, Awlaki became public enemy number one. The media anointed Awlaki a "senior leader" or even "the top leader" of AQAP, a claim which was presented without evidence and which flew in the face of established reporting on AQAP's leadership.

Although some were skeptical of Awlaki having any role at all with AQAP, credible reports did support the view that Awlaki had become part of the group. Abdulmutallab reported being trained by Awlaki and the bomb in his underwear matched those created by AQAP's senior explosive expert. A subsequent bomb plot linked to Awlaki, the UPS bomb plot of 2010, also carried the technical hallmarks of AQAP. Reports from Australian media also described sightings of Awlaki at AQAP training camps.

On being adopted by AQAP, Awlaki stopped issuing audio and video in English, abandoning his most effective tool for inspiring violence, but he continued to issue statements in Arabic. More importantly, he oversaw the production of Inspire magazine, an English-language propaganda publication distributed online.

Inspire was the brainchild of American extremist Samir Khan (reportedly killed alongside Awlaki), who started it as a hobby project while living in the United States, then moved to Yemen and began publishing the magazine under the flag of AQAP, with exclusive content and oversight from Awlaki.

At the time of his alleged death, Awlaki was planning to issue a video answering questions from email correspondents. The most recent issue of Inspire, which did not feature any original content from Awlaki, also promised a forthcoming piece on the legitimacy of targeting civilians living in the West.

Both of these pieces could still surface, even if Awlaki is dead, and of course, his 100-plus hours of audio and video lectures will survive his death, likely becoming even more popular. It's worth remembering that Abdullah Azzam, killed more than 20 years ago, is still one of the most popular jihadist ideologues, whose videos still provide vast inspiration.

That "if" is an important consideration. If it turns out these reports are premature, Awlaki is uniquely positioned to capitalize. Inspire has already published articles touting Awlaki having survived a painfully close call with a drone strike in May 2011.

Inspire often employs mockery in the service of its propaganda, and Awlaki himself has a sharp sense of humor. If we have buried Awlaki too soon, we'll hear about it, and once again, our own missteps will make his legend grow.

Full story from CBS News

Intelwire coverage of Awlaki

The Atlantic: Awlaki and September 11

Foreign Policy: The Awlaki Myth

Letter from UK jihadist describes contacts with Awlaki

Is Inspire Magazine Uninspired?

For much more about Awlaki, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Journalists seeking more information or comment on Awlaki can contact J.M. Berger here.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, American-Al-Qaeda, Anwar-Aulaqi, Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Samir-Khan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Letter From British Jihadi Describes Contacts With Anwar Awlaki

A letter from convicted British homegrown jihadi Rajib Karim, posted on extremist forums this week, sheds light on the methods of American Al Qaeda figure Anwar Awlaki.

Rajib Karim was an employee of British Airways, who in Marc h was sentenced to 30 years in prison for providing information about airline security for use in a terrorist plot to Awlaki, an American-born Muslim cleric who today works with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from his family's homeland of Yemen.

It's important to note that Karim's account contradicts evidence submitted at trial and may obviously be colored by self-interest. However the account was written after his sentencing and he admits to being guilty of several of the counts brought against him.

According to Karim, he initially sought out Awlaki not for terrorist purposes but because he wanted to emigrate to a region in Yemen where he could live under a strict interpretation of shariah law. Awlaki's audio lectures in English frequently exhort Muslims living in the West to make such a move, known as making hijrah.

But Awlaki did not help Karim follow Awlaki's own advice, according to the letter.

According to Karim, he chose to contact Awlaki because "I needed someone whom I could trust and who would be a man of influence in that region. ... He was a well respected scholar, he was from an influential tribe." Additionally, Karim does not speak Arabic and hoped Awlaki, who is fluent in both Arabic and English, could help him get settled.

Karim wrote to Awlaki, outlining his wish to emigrate and mentioning that he worked for British Airways. On hearing Karim's profession, Awalki's wrote back immediately.

"[Hearing] that you intend on making hijrah, I immediately wanted to contact you to tell you that my advice to you was to remain in your current position," Awlaki wrote.

Karim, by his own account, did not want to remain in the U.K. but having gotten Awlaki's attention was loath to say anything that might cause Awlaki to stop writing.

According to Karim, he decided to string Awlaki and portray himself as too incompetent to pull off an act of terrorism in the UK, in the hopes that Awlaki would eventually decide to help him make hijra.

This idea was doomed to fail. In my soon-forthcoming article on Awlaki's "Constants on the Path of Jihad," I examine Awlaki's focus on taking any kind of terrorist action over taking pragmatic action calculated to succeed.

According to Karim, he proceeded to Google information about airline security and sent Awlaki the top search results, while claiming to have access to more sensitive areas of the industry.

At the same time, he wrote things that Karim thought "would have made [Awlaki] at least question my suitability for doing a terrorist attack in UK," raising a series of technical questions about whether Islam permitted him to take various steps, raising doubts about his commitment and asking to come to Yemen. Awlaki was not swayed.

If Karim's account is credible, the contradiction between Awlaki's lectures and his private statements is striking. Awlaki has repeatedly urged Western Muslims to make hijra to Muslim lands rather than live among "infidels."

However, the e-mails do line up with arguments presented in AQAP's English-language "Inspire" magazine which urges Western Muslims to remain where they are, and to focus on carrying out lone-wolf-style terrorist attacks at home in the West rather than traveling to join jihadists who are fighting in regional conflicts.

This strategy is a departure from previous jihadist concepts. In the past, jihadist ideologues have urged Muslims to become foreign fighters by traveling from the West for training and to gain experience in battle in jihadist conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq or Yemen.

Al Qaeda and its affiliates have increasingly embraced the lone wolf model over the foreign fighter model, despite its many limitations.

The foreign fighter model has numerous advantages to movements like Al Qaeda, including stronger justifications and the opportunity to subject recruits to extended religious indoctrination. Foreign fighters are far more likely to become experienced terrorist operatives and bring long-term value to the movement. In contrast, most lone wolves fail in their attacks and are arrested in short order, essentially removing them from the playing field before they even begin.

For more about Anwar Awlaki and other American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Awlaki, individual-jihad, Inspire-Magazine, lone-wolf, Rajib-Karim

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Who Really Inspired Nasser Abdo?

New details continue to emerge regarding Nasser Abdo, the would-be terrorist who was arrested before he could carry out an attack on military personnel stationed at Fort Hood.

Abdo's own words indicate he was inspired by Nidal Hasan, the Army major and devotee of Anwar Awlaki who killed 13 people in a shooting spree in November 2009. And a search of his hotel room revealed he was also reading Inspire magazine, which is published by Awlaki and his followers and urges Americans to take up "individual jihad" by plotting solitary attacks.

But here's something else to consider. Abdo, it now appears, was planning to carry out a complex attack using a bomb, in combination with a shooting attack, while wearing a fake military uniform.

Just days earlier, Norwegian right-winger Anders Breivik had carried out a complex attack that combined a bomb with a shooting spree, employing a fake police uniform in the process.

Breivik's attack was carried out July 22. Abdo didn't purchase the guns and other supplies for his attack until July 27.

We don't know enough to draw any firm conclusions here, but I will be very curious to see how the timeline of Abdo's alleged attack plays out as his court case progresses.

One of the worrisome things about Breivik's spectacular terrorist attack is that its most successful features are relatively easy to emulate compared to the work of a bomb design genius like Ramzi Yousef, or expensive and complicated attacks like September 11 which require a robust support network.

My concern is that Breivik has provided a "proof of concept" not previously seen in the terrorist world, which shows terrorists of any ideology just how much impact one person can have. Could Abdo have been moved closer to action by this example? We don't have enough information to be certain, but it's a provocative -- and worrying -- question.

For much more about American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Labels: Anders-Behring-Breivik, Anwar-Awlaki, Fort-Hood, Inspire-Magazine, Nasser-Abdo, Nidal-Malik-Hasan, Oslo

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Is Al Qaeda's Inspire Magazine Uninspired?

I have a slideshow up on the Huffington Post which offers side-by-side comparisons of pages from Inspire Magazine, the new English-language project from Anwar Awlaki and Samir Khan, two Americans associated with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

"Inspire" is only the latest in a long line of jihadist and terrorist magazines in English and Arabic. While it does break some ground, its originality has been vastly overstated. Here's a look at some of its venerable but less celebrated predecessors.

View the slideshow

For more about Inspire, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Samir-Khan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Inspire, Issue Six: Martyrs and Mixed Messages

"We apologize for the delay in the publication of the magazine," writes Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula correspondent Yahya Ibrahim in the opening line of the new issue of Inspire magazine. "Things have been quite hectic over here."

Indeed. The new Inspire reads like a hasty afterthought, no doubt due to the ongoing revolution in Yemen as well as the drone strikes which very nearly took out AQAP's American propagandist Anwar Awlaki.

The new issue of Inspire seeks to depict Awlaki as a prototypical action hero, strapped heavy and cracking wise about the strikes ("It looks as if someone was a bit angry with us this evening") before the bodies of the two men who died in his place had cooled. Unfortunately, the pictures meant to illustrate the scholar's toughness call to mind a child dressed up for Halloween. The man does not look at ease.

The issue notably lacks any content directly attributed to Awlaki, although the question-and-answer section clearly means to suggest that Awlaki is writing the answers. The questions this month were rather interesting in their broad focus. One question asked about whether the mujahideen supported the Shia semi-uprising in Bahrain (they don't), another asked about whether the niqab headcovering for women is "fard" (obligatory). What I take away from this section is that Inspire and/or Awlaki seek to be defined as broadly Islamic in focus rather than narrowly jihadist (although the latter is the obvious priority). If the questions were legitimately sent by readers, that also suggests that Inspire's readers are looking to Awlaki as an Islamic authority figure beyond his simple exhortations to terrorism.

The death of Osama bin Laden received a mixed treatment. Inspire's American editor, Samir Khan, wrote a fairly long piece on the subject. Another short piece on bin Laden ended with a half-hearted non-endorsement to the effect of "So we guess Zawahiri is taking over now."

Beyond bin Laden, Inspire's issue was death-themed with a series of martyr biographies. Notably lacking was a clear acknowledgement of or appreciation for the two men who were killed in Awlaki's place. Until now, martyr biographies have been notably understated in Inspire. Such content has a much higher profile in most other jihadist propaganda including the many magazines that preceded Inspire (I will have more on this soon). It's not clear to me whether this is an overdue corrective, or just an effort to give the issue a theme spinning off bin Laden's death.

In the how-to-be-a-terrorist section, Inspire wrapped up its series of tips for carrying out shooting sprees, then encouraged homegrown terrorists to start working on a very dangerous new bomb ingredient. Fortunately, the article is probably more dangerous to people trying to follow its directions than anyone else, but on sum, we'd probably all be happier if this information wasn't circulating.

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

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Awlaki, Drones, Inspire-Magazine, Samir-Khan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Happy Birthday Inspire!

Well, it's been about one year since the American clique at Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula rolled out "Inspire" magazine for an adoring public. During that time, the project -- run by American cleric Anwar Awlaki and American blogger Samir Khan -- has captured a lot of the public imagination regarding the nature of the war on terrorism, without producing a lot of clearly quantifiable results.

The burning question of the moment is whether Inspire -- which is not all that original or unique despite its press -- is facing the same fate as News of the World.

It's been four months since the last issue of Inspire hit virtual newsstands -- the longest period in between issues since the magazine was founded.

During that period, Osama bin Laden was killed, which is the kind of thing Inspire should have made hay from by now. On the other hand, intel leaked from the raid at Stately Bin Laden Manor indicates that the big man was not enamored of Inspire's creative approach to terrorism, which was apparently too bloodthirsty for the man behind the deaths of almost 3,000 civilians September 11. This long silence also comes in the wake of a reported near miss by a drone targeting Awlaki and the outbreak of near civil war in Yemen.

Is Inspire on hiatus for an editorial reevaluation in light of bin Laden's withering critique? Are Awlaki and Khan too busy running for their lives to propagandize? Have they been handed rifles and sent to the front lines in Zinjabar? Stay tuned...

For much more about Inspire and Awlaki, check out my new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere. Journalists interested in discussing this issue can contact me here. For reviews and additional information about the book, click here.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Awlaki, Inspire-Magazine, Samir-Khan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

The Inspire Paperboy Missed My Porch

Judging from the keywords bringing people to the site from Google, many of you are wondering where is the latest issue of Inspire Magazine from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula with its presumed cover story on the death of Osama bin Laden.

Like you, I'm waiting eagerly. Not because I love its content especially, but because I have a feature piece teed up to run when it comes out, which focuses on how the much-touted magazine is heavily derivative of jihadi media from years gone by.

Odds are that Anwar Awlaki's close call with a drone in early May has set things back. Perhaps the laptop with Samir Khan's pirated copy of Adobe Illustrator was destroyed in the strike. I suppose we'd have heard about it by now if Khan himself was attached to the destroyed laptop.

Anyway, you can follow me on Twitter or RSS, and I promise I will tell you as soon as it arrives.

Labels: Anwar-Awlaki, Drones, Inspire-Magazine, Samir-Khan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Man Arrested on Explosives Charge In Washington State Visited Jihadist Forums, Read AQAP Inspire

A Washington state man arrested on bomb charges Monday was a reader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's "Inspire" Engligh-language magazine and sought to make contacts with terrorist through jihadist forums.

The arrest comes in the wake of heightened concerns about homegrown terrorism due to the death of Osama bin Laden.

Joey Brice, 21, of Clarkston, Wash., was taken into custody Monday after a search warrant was executed at his home. According to local news reports, agents removed several bags of evidence from his home.

In April 2010, Brice detonated an improvised explosive device using several components commonly found in terrorist bomb recipes. The device detonated prematurely, severely injuring Brice. The bomb formed the basis for the grand jury indictment which led to his arrest this week. Brice was previously convicted of possessing a loaded firearm without a permit and minor drug charges.

An affidavit in support of the search warrant on Brice's house and other properties was unsealed this week and obtained by INTELWIRE. It reveals significant new information about Brice's activities including extensive interest in jihadist online forums and propaganda.

However, the affidavit does not clearly indicate whether Brice was a would-be jihadist (or even a Muslim), or simply a would-be serial bomber. In addition to his dalliances with online jihadists, Brice posted comments and contents related to Timothy McVeigh and the attempted Martin Luther King Day bombing in Spokane, Wash. The unifying thread in his activities appears to be explosives.

Nevertheless, he found much content of interest among jihadist sources, including Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's "Inspire" Engligh-language magazine. In online postings, Brice made references to an Inspire article titled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom," among others.

Brice tried to reach out to jihadists online. After posting messages to various people online that he was interested in a jihadist forums where he could discuss moving "from knowledge to action," he received a message from someone named Binyamine suggesting "try your luck at [Ansar Al Mujahideen]," a well-known jihadist forum with links to real-world terrorists and an English-language section. Brice also visited a less significant jihadist site known as Deen Al Haq.

Brice also maintained a YouTube account under the name "StrengthofAllah," according to media reports and the affidavit. The account was used to upload videos of explosive devices being used in the Clarkston area. Some of the videos were labeled with the logo of Al Qaeda in Iraq and featured nasheeds (jihadist war chants) as soundtracks.

The videos showed explosive devices similar to the one that injured Brice in 2010 and showed test detonations at the same location where Brice had been injured. Another video showed an IED used to destroy a house somewhere outside of the U.S. The StrengthofAllah account was also used to upload videos celebrating martyrdom and encouraging jihad against the United States. Brice closed the account in January 2011.

Commenting on a video about the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Brice wrote, "As long as it's one more dead American kuffar, what difference does it make to me if she is a democrat or gop?"

Other users commenting on the video called StrengthofAllah "f--ing stupid and delusional," and accused him of being a right-wing Zionist posing as a Muslim online. "I hate Jews," Brice responded laconically.

Brice often posted under Arab- or Muslim-sounding names, but also under the names John Doe, Joe, or Joey. He also took part in a wide variety of online activities oriented toward violence, including prolific posts on a Web site called the Young News Channel, which features violent videos and extreme pornography. According to the affidavit, Brice was listed as a "super moderator" for the site.

For more about American jihadists, order Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go To War In The Name Of Islam, the new book by INTELWIRE's J.M. Berger.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, American-Jihadists, Inspire-Magazine, Jihad-Joe, Joseph-Brice

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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Inspire's Ode to the Not-So-Lone Wolves

Previous: Inspire Issue 5 Aims For Rapid Repositioning

Some counterterrorism-oriented notes from the fifth issue of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire magazine:

In the "Ask Inspire" section, a writer (presumably Awlaki) encourages Americans to stay at home and carry out lone-wolf terrorist attacks rather than travel to the fields of jihad. Interestingly, it pushes the lone-wolf concept even further than previous issues, pointing out that the FBI has diverted would-be mujahideen who reached out to others for help. Probably-Awlaki argues that success is more likely if the aspiring mujahid acts without consulting ANYONE.

But there are virtually no documented cases in which an American with clear jihadist motivations has acted totally in a vacuum. Jihadism is a social movement typically carried out because the participant has an overly strong sense of community. Lone actors are exactly the opposite.

Awlaki cites Nidal Hasan and Stockholm bomber Taimour Abdulwahab as examples of "lone wolves," but in reality, Hasan had contact with Awlaki directly, and Abdulwahab may have had accomplices. Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab is cited elsewhere in the magazine as another example of lone wolfism, but he hardly qualifies, having been trained at an AQAP camp and assigned his mission by Awlaki personally.

AQAP's military commander Abu Hurairah also praises the not-so-lone wolves in an interview segment. He calls for a homegrown operation after every Western operation targeting mujahideen.

An extract from the writings of Abu Musab Al Suri calls for assassinations of Western military and civilian leaders. Al Suri writes that assassination is good enough for the CIA, so it's good enough for Al Qaeda.

Given that assassins are much more likely to be lone actors than other kinds of terrorists, this is probably something counterterrorism officials should be looking at. This message is reinforced by Awlaki's celebration of the assassination of Anwar Sadat later in the magazine.

It's also reinforced by repeated references throughout the magazine to Roshonara Choudhry, the British Muslim who attempted to assassinate British parliament member Stephen Timms as revenge for his vote in favor of the Iraq War.

Of all the examples cited, Choudhry is the only one who really fits the profile of a lone wolf in the purest sense. If any case study recommends itself out of Inspire No. 5, it's Choudhry. Unfortunately, her case also highlights the one redeeming characteristic of the otherwise weak lone-wolf model -- she didn't give herself away until it was too late.

For more about Awlaki and other American jihadists, pre-order "Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go To War In The Name Of Islam," the first comprehensive look at the phenomenon of American jihadists from the 1970s to the present.

Labels: Abu-Musab-Al-Suri, Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Jihad-Joe, Nidal-Malik-Hasan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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New Issue of Al Qaeda's Inspire Magazine Aims For Rapid Repositioning

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has released the latest issue of Inspire, and it's a 70-page behemoth devoted to the Middle East uprisings.

LATEST: We've Killed Bin Laden, What Happens Next?

There are two important dimensions to this issue's theme. First, it seeks to refute a wave of media coverage that deemed Al Qaeda irrelevant to the Middle Eastern protests. Second, it seeks to fundamentally reinterpret Al Qaeda's core principles in order to give the global AQ movement a foothold in the evolving political process.

PLEASE DON'T CALL US IRRELEVANT

Inspire's writers take strong exception to the idea that secular, nonviolent revolutions have made Al Qaeda obsolete and irrelevant.

In a prominent opening position, we get an introductory piece by Yahya Ibrahim, whose previous claim to fame was the invention of the Ultimate Mowing Machine. Ibrahim argues that the uprisings are opening the door to globalized jihad in Palestine by removing the U.S. allies who previously protected Israel.

The key to making this argument stick is, of course, combining words with action. There is no shortage of AQ rhetoric on Palestine, but neither the network nor the movement have managed to breach Israel's borders in a very effective manner.

Ibrahim's piece makes two more very important points related to the uprisings, which represent a significant shift in AQ rhetoric and even its philosophy. First, he argues that Al Qaeda is entirely in favor of "freedom" in the Middle East, because that gives people the freedom to learn about and understand AQ's goals. In a pointed jab against the West, he writes:

Why would the freedoms being granted to the people be bad for al Qaeda? If freedom is so bad for al Qaeda, how come the West has been practicing a restriction on the freedoms of expression when it comes to the message of the mujahidin? Why does the West ban the spread of books and talks of the al Qaeda leadership and in some countries consider it to be a crime to be in possession of such material? Why did the U.S. request from a site such as YouTube to take off lectures by Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki?

Even more significantly, Ibrahim writes that Al Qaeda is not opposed to regime change through peaceful means. While Ibrahim's status as an Islamic authority figure in the movement is unclear at best, this represents a pretty significant shift away from a long argument that military jihad is the only acceptable means to achieve Al Qaeda's long term political goals.

One of Inspire's predecessors, an English-language newsletter published in Boston during the 1990s, summed up nonviolent political action in the following terms:

[Y]ou find that the first thing mentioned is “He took part in all of the attacks.” It does not say “He gave a hundred speeches” or that “he wrote such and such a book,” or “he had a lot of money.” It says “He took part in all of the attacks.” This is the greatest virtue, excellence, or merit of the friends of the Messenger. The value of someone in Islam is measured by the “number of battles he took part in.”

Today when they write about our dead, what do they say? Do they mention how many attacks they took part in? No. If they are truthful they will write “This famous scientist, this matchless preacher did not shoot one bullet for Allah’s cause in all of his life.”

This echoes a line of thought going all the way back to Abdullah Azzam, the emir of the Arab-Afghan jihad, who famously said, during a lecture in Brooklyn in the 1980s:

Whenever jihad is mentioned in the [Quran], it means the obligation to fight. It does not mean to fight with the pen or to write books or articles in the press, or to fight by holding lectures.

In contrast, Ibrahim makes a very important qualification which, if truly adopted by the broad Al Qaeda movement, could be a game-changer (emphasis below added by me):

Another line that is being pushed by Western leaders is that because the protests in Egypt and Tunisia were peaceful, they proved al Qaeda – which calls for armed struggle – to be wrong. That is another fallacy. Al Qaeda is not against regime changes through protests but it is against the idea that the change should be only through peaceful means to the exclusion of the use of force.

The accuracy of this view is proven by the turn of events in Libya. If the protesters in Libya did not have the flexibility to use force when needed, the uprising would have been crushed.

There is a galaxy of distance between arguing that Al Qaeda believes military jihad is a mandatory sixth pillar of Islam and arguing that Al Qaeda believes that peaceful regime change is appropriate as long as the use of force is permitted under the right circumstances. Yet Ibrahim is planting that seed squarely in the soil of what is arguably Al Qaeda's most important messaging platform.

It will be very interesting indeed to see whether this thread is taken up by other Al Qaeda figures. Although Ibrahim correctly points out that this principle is implied in recent statements by Al Qaeda leadership on the protests, most notably Zawahiri, I don't recall seeing it stated so starkly.

This could be seen a bold effort to fundamentally redefine Al Qaeda as a political movement that sometimes uses violence rather than as a violent movement whose goals are political. But it is certainly possible that this will be read simply as an effort to jump on somebody else's bandwagon. We'll see how that develops.

AWLAKI'S TAKE

The cover story in Inspire No. 5 is an article on the protests by Anwar Awlaki. Over the last year, Awlaki's messages in print and in A/V communiques have become increasingly concerned with local events in Yemen and Islamic rulings. Here, he returns to his best form with a piece that is political and accessible.

Awlaki far exceeds Ayman Zawahiri's recent messages about the protests by keeping his comments short and to the point. Awlaki argues that the uprisings have fundamentally changed the outlook of the Muslim Ummah by proving that the totalitarian regimes of the Middle East can be defied.

He then launches into an extended attack on CNN's Peter Bergen, who argued that the uprisings were bad news for Al Qaeda, with an amusingly discordant jab at Fareed Zakaria, whom Awlaki inexplicably characterizes as a "neoconservative."

Awlaki argues that Bergen is thinking too much in the short-term and that the uprisings will benefit Al Qaeda over time. Mubarak, he says, did not defeat the jihad movement in Egypt. Rather, by driving it out of Egypt, he spread it all over the world, where it is now thriving and from whence it will return.

Peter Bergen believes that al Qaeda is viewing the events with glee and despair. Glee yes, but not despair. The mujahidin around the world are going through a moment of elation and I wonder whether the West is aware of the upsurge of mujahidin activity in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco? Is the West aware of what is happening or are they asleep with drapes covering their eyes?

Notably, Awlaki does not advance the "peaceful change" argument made by Ibrahim, but instead takes the approach that the fall of American allies in the region cannot help but be good for Al Qaeda.

America, since 9-11, has been focused on the fight with the mujahidin in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and now Yemen. It has devoted its resources and intelligence for the “fight on terror”. But with what is happening now in the Arab world, America would no doubt have to divert some of its attention to the unexpected avalanche that is burying its dear friends. America has depended on these men for the dirty work of protecting the American imperial interests. They acted as point men that saved America the effort of doing it themselves but now with their fall, America would have to divert huge amounts of effort and money to cultivate a new breed of collaborators. This would force America, which is already an exhausted empire, to spread itself thin, which in turn would be a great benefit for the mujahidin. Even without this wave of change in the Muslim world, the jihad movement was on the rise. With the new developments in the area, one can only expect that the great doors of opportunity would open up for the mujahidin all over the world.

Although Awlaki did not seem to embrace the kinder, gentler Al Qaeda in the main piece of the protests, there are some interesting comments in the "Inspire Responses" section where readers can write in with questions. The column is not attributed to Awlaki but it ends with an invitation for readers to send Awlaki questions, and the style of the writing matches the Yemeni-American's voice.

The main letter to Awlaki challenges is a multi-part question challenging the methods and beliefs of Al Qaeda generally and Inspire specifically. The early parts of the question challenge a number of points in AQ propaganda before getting to the red meat:

In terms of your personal ideology, how do you account for the fact that your legitimacy within the Islamic community is not only called into question but nearly non-existent. Most Muslims condemn the actions that you commit, Alĥamdulillâh. I understand your takfîri ideology but what gives you the right to judge the rest, even Muslims? It seems to me that you enjoy the power of playing God and determining who is good and evil. Nowhere in the Koran does it give authority to man to judge and determine the life of a man.

I cannot overstate how awesomely great this question is in this context. Back before 9/11, Awlaki gave a khutba at his mosque in San Diego on this exact subject and the questioner has almost certainly listened to at least part of that lecture.

Takfir means excommunication, and in this context it refers to the Al Qaeda practice of declaring that its Muslim enemies are not Muslims, have become apostates and are therefore legitimate targets for murder.

In San Diego, Awlaki argued against the practice of takfir, saying:

[If] you tell your brother that he is [an apostate], if he is not, it will come back on you. [ . . . ] We do not know what is in the hearts of people. [If we think] this man is saying with his tongue what he doesn’t mean in his heart, [the hadith] tells us we are not ordered to open up and seek what is in the hearts of people. He is not ordered clearly [ . . . ] I am not told by Allah to seek what’s in the hearts of people. Meaning that we call people to Islam, but we are not judges over them. We do not judge the people. We leave the judgment to Allah, [glory to him].

The questioner is clearly trying to catch Awlaki in a contradiction, and to some extent, he is successful. The Awlaki of 2011 squirms in his response, first suggesting that his correspondent google takfir for more guidance, then writing:

We don’t just assume someone is an apostate without clear evidence. The other thing is who can implement the ruling once one is determined to be an apostate. In today’s world, there is no Caliph nor Islamic Caliphate to properly pass the judgment. So within that we find a whole other topic in fiqh concerning the implementation of [mandatory Islamic capital punishment] without a state. In brief, if the individual has apostatized publicly, and his apostasy is clear, then this person’s blood and wealth is not protected from the Muslims due to the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari, “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.”

Our ideology is not takfîri; the non-Muslims as well as their puppet governments made that up to make the people condemn us. [...] We are openly against extremism in takfîr and seek a balance.

Awlaki is sensitive to his dilemma here. His choice is either to renounce his previous statements and risk being called a hypocrite (a serious slam in his world) or to alienate some of his core supporters in the jihadist movement. So his response is an artful dodge, but it's still a dodge, and no one who is familiar with his earlier arguments on takfir is likely to see it otherwise.

For the full issue of Inspire, check out Jihadology.

Labels: Al-Qaeda, American-Al-Qaeda, American-Jihadists, American-Terrorists, Anwar-Aulaqi, Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Jihad-Joe

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Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Awlaki Breaks Silence In New Issue Of Inspire, Builds Links To History Of Jihad

SUMMARY: American cleric and Al Qaeda leader Anwar Awlaki today issued his first communication since November. The statement is a religious ruling allowing Muslims to steal money from non-Muslims if the proceeds are used for jihad.

Awlaki's statement was published in the latest issue of Inspire Magazine, an English-language online publication that aims to radicalize Western Muslims. The magazine also features an article from American citizen jihadist Samir Khan, who produces the magazine on behalf of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based branch of the terrorist network.

The magazine suggests that American Muslims blow up apartment buildings using a technique designed by September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

Click here for a large image suitable for broadcast. Mandatory credit for INTELWIRE.

ANALYSIS: Anwar Awlaki reappeared this morning for the first time since November with the cover story of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire Magazine, Issue 4. The new issue of Inspire reaches into the past, using past jihadist precedents in ways both subtle and overt to highlight AQAP's ideological and operational linkages to major figures such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Omar Abdel Rahman and Abdullah Azzam.

The latest issue features Awlaki's "ruling on dispossessing the disbelievers' wealth," which revives at some length an argument used by Omar Abdel Rahman and other jihadist clerics in the West during the 1980s and early 1990s to justify bank robberies if the proceeds are used for jihad. The ruling -- which authorizes taking infidels' money by "force or deception" -- could also be used to justify credit card fraud and other scams.

The article is a departure from AQAP's previously announced jihad to cripple Western economies in that Awlaki is primarily concerned with whether Muslims can use funds seized from non-Muslims rather than simply waging war against their economies.

Inspire's regular feature on homemade terrorist attacks includes an interesting article that revives a scheme invented by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and assigned to American Al Qaeda member Jose Padilla -- blowing up buildings by renting an apartment and filling it with combustible gas.

An article by American Al Qaeda member Samir Khan delves into the jihadist justifications of Abdullah Azzam, the father of the modern global jihad movement. Twenty years after his death, Azzam is still one of the most influential figures in jihad.

Khan's piece reviews several of Azzam's key themes, including the defense of historically Muslim lands under attack or occupation, but also expands this idea with Omar Abdel Rahman's definition of inadequate Muslim leaders as apostates who should be considered occupiers.

Khan also cites -- in his article and elsewhere in the magazine -- injunctions against spying on Muslims, which must be a sore subject for AQAP after its UPS bombing was thwarted by a Saudi turncoat.

Interestingly, Khan dials back on takfirism, arguing that takfir (excommunication from Islam, punishable by death) is not applicable to individual sinners but only to Muslim rulers who permit major sin under their rule. Another article in Inspire, discussing recent AQAP actions against the Shi'a Houthi movement in Yemen, takes great pains to specify which sects have been targeted and to specifically exclude members of the Zaydi Shi'a sect, in an apparent effort to avoid the appearance of all-out sectarian war most famously promulgated by Abu Musab Zarqawi in Iraq.

The issue also shed some light on the operational security around Khan and Awlaki, asking readers to bundle news stories into PDFs and compressed archives and e-mail them to Inspire's editors because, "due to security reasons, we do not log on to the net frequently." It's useful to know that attachments are Inspire's best friends.

For more about American jihadists, including Awlaki and Samir Khan, check out my new book, "Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go To War In The Name Of Islam," the first comprehensive look at the phenomenon of American jihadists from the 1970s to the present. The book is scheduled to be released in April/May 2011. Pre-orders are available now. For information about review copies or for media interviews on American jihadists, contact me here.

Labels: Abdullah-Azzam, Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Omar-Abdel-Rahman, Samir-Khan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

New Issue of Al Qaeda English-Language Magazine Inspire Focuses On UPS Bomb

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released a new issue of its English-language magazine "Inspire" devoted exclusively to the UPS bomb plot.

The magazine features a photograph of the device prior to its being mailed. According to the magazine, the book "Great Expectations" was included to reflect AQAP's high hopes for the plot.



Inspire claims the plot was an "operation of leverage" designed to cost the U.S. money through increased security precautions.

"Our objective is not maximum kill but to cause a hemorrhage in the aviation industry," wrote Yahya Ibrahim, who in the previous issue of Inspire proposed that would-be mujahideen weld lawnmower blades to trucks and drive into crowds of people.

In another article, an AQAP "explosives department" member named "Ikrimah Al Muhajir" says that the organization has developed five detonators which do not use any metal components, in order to evade security measures such as metal detectors.

"Inspire" No. 3 is notably lacking in any content from Anwar Awlaki, the Yemeni-American cleric who is believed to oversee the magazine. An Awlaki video was released earlier this month without the distinctive logo of AQAP's media division. While I would hesitate to draw a conclusion based on two pieces of data, these are both curious omissions and worth keeping an eye on.

In the "Contact Us" section of the magazine, a message states: "Due to technical difficulties, we have been unable to check our e-mails for some time."

The PDF of Inspire was rendered on Nov. 16, 2010, and released today, indicating a four-day lag time between the completion of the magazine and its availablity to the public.

The issue comes more than 20 days after the actual UPS bomb plot, in which explosives devices were shipped from Yemen and addressed to Chicago synagogues. The devices were detected, intercepted and disarmed before reaching U.S. soil.

Follow INTELWIRE on Twitter for instant analysis of breaking news related to the War on Terror. INTELWIRE coverage of this release began at 7:44 p.m. Eastern and included the first reported images and details of the magazine's content.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Samir-Khan, Yahya-Ibrahim, Yemen

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Mowing Machines And Other Circus Acts

The second issue of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire magazine has been released, and it's much like the first -- a mix of amateurish and questionable advice, predictable tracts from terrorist leaders like Anwar Awlaki and overproduced graphics.

The issue's major emphasis is on "lone wolf" style terrorism, suggesting that readers attack Americans in their hometowns without openly espousing jihad or doing anything which might alert authorities, such as reading jihadi websites. It's not clear how these readers are supposed to keep up with Inspire if they don't look at jihadi websites, but never mind that for now.

Thomas Hegghammer at Jihadica accurately diagnoses the major flaw in this approach.

Khan’s strategy presupposes that individuals can aquire the motivation to die for the cause almost in a vacuum. However, in most historical cases, individuals only acquired this motivation after interacting with other radicals, going abroad for jihad, or accessing jihadi propaganda - all of which are activities discouraged by Samir Khan. Of course there have been exceptions, such as the Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hassan, but even he was not completely “clean”, as evidenced by his email correspondence with Anwar al-Awlaki. Decentralized jihad is indeed a scary concept, but it does not necessarily work.

The biggest concern for those fighting terrorism today is whether or not the paragraph above is true. I tend to think it is, although we could certainly see some borderline personalities acting out based on Khan's advice, and anyone familiar with Western media and politics knows that two or three lone lunatics can make a significant impact on this country's national dialogue.

Aside from the obvious issue that, as Hegghammer points out, almost no one engaging in explicitly jihadist violence is totally clean, the Inspire approach to jihadism has a few more noteworthy problems.

First, and foremost, it is apparent from reading the operational advice in Inspire that its writers and editors have no direct experience of violence. They have not dirtied their hands -- fired guns at the enemy, blown up buildings, executed prisoners. Their advice on committing violence is completely speculative and often childishly stupid, as in last issue's "Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom" and this issue's "Ultimate Mowing Machine" in which aspiring terrorists are advised to weld lawnmower blades to the bumper of a truck and drive it into a crowd.

This leads to the second problem with Inspire. Jihadism is a social movement. It's trying to create social change in Islamic countries, within Islam writ large, and in the West. Lone-wolfism is the Unabomber, a pathological narcissist hurling bombs from a remote cabin in the woods. There is a meaningful distinction between jihadism and lone-wolfism (albeit sometimes a distinction without a difference).

A procession of individual lemmings driving their mowing machines off a bridge without community context is ultimately a very limited tool for Al Qaeda, which is built on a fraternity of experienced fighters whose most effective recruiting tools are credibility and commitment, both as soldiers and as religious figures. Awlaki aside, history shows us that the most effective terrorist recruiters are those who have fought in traditional conflicts in "defense" of Muslims overseas.

Mowing-machinists, on the other hand, will be flavors of the month, at best, laughingstocks at worst. They won't become recruiters or elder statesmen. The smart ones won't even sit behind mowing machines. They will aspire to be like Samir Khan himself, all talk and no action.

I'd love to tell you that the broad Al Qaeda movement will degenerate into this kind of absurd circus act, but I don't think Inspire as it currently exists has real legs. Eventually, someone will decide that Samir Khan needs some experience on the front lines. He probably won't come back from that experience, but if he does, he won't be churning out the same crap.

Labels: Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Samir-Khan

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Inspire, Abu Talha and More...

A couple of short notes on recent buzz around the Web:

OVERESTIMATING INSPIRE

Coverage of AQAP's Inspire continues to disappoint, although it's improved since the full issue was posted. I continue to think this is not as much of a quantum leap forward as its reception might indicate. I suspect aspiring jihadists are more likely to burn down their moms' kitchens than create a successful bomb with the recipe provided in the magazine, and beyond that, there isn't much about Inspire that is groundbreaking.

The magazine's graphic design has been praised by various reporters and analysts. Personally, I found it rather busy and distracting, not to mention undercutting the alleged serious-mindedness of the content. One thing is certain -- all the rave reviews guarantee we'll be getting a second issue, which was far from certain given the fiasco around its release.

THE NEW BIN LADEN

Inspire has also kicked off a minor flurry of attention for Awlaki including some retreads of the premise that has been kicking around for a while: Is Awlaki the new bin Laden?

The answer to that is pretty easy. "No."

First off, Awlaki's never seen actual combat, and frankly, I don't think he's the type. Bin Laden's military exploits may be greatly exaggerated, but they do, in fact, exist. Unless and until Awlaki gets out there with a machine gun, he's not likely to become the leader of what is essentially a military organization. He can be the spiritual head or a senior advisor, up to a point, but he's not blind, so he has no excuse for not fighting.

Secondly, while everyone generally agrees Awlaki has become "operational," there is no evidence he has a head for operational details or tactics. Bin Laden is quite the opposite. He understands the value of planning, and he has been hands-on supervisor for some of Al Qaeda's greatest triumphs. He notoriously pointed out the weak points in the U.S. embassy in Nairobi during the planning of the East African Embassy bombings. Awlaki, so far, has directed a college student to set his pants on fire.

Thirdly, he's American. Whether due to the local angle or unconscious bias, the fact of his American citizenship automatically causes the media to inflate his dangerousness.

Of course, I am not saying Awlaki isn't dangerous or important. He's both of those things. But we need to keep him in perspective.

ABU TALHA SPEAKS

Speaking of people whose status benefits from media coverage, the always engrossing Al Maktaba blog has an interview with Abu Talha Al Amriki, aka Zach Chesser. Turns out the heat from the South Park death threat has driven the American jihad supporter into radio silence, at least as far as using his own name. When reading, keep in mind that Abu Talha has advised pro-jihad Muslims only to talk to us "counterterrorism analysts" in order to "feed them outright lies."

Labels: Abu-Talha-Al-Amreeki, Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Aulaqi, Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Osama-Bin-Laden, Revolution-Muslim, Zach-Chesser

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Full AQAP Inspire Issue Posted Online

I am fighting deadlines today, but I wanted to make a couple of quick observations following on my earlier pieces.

Coverage of AQ's "New English Magazine," 1 of 2

Coverage of AQ's "New English Magazine," 2 of 2

First, and most important, if the editors of Inspire are to be believed, then Anwar Awlaki did play a direct role in the creation and production of Inspire. There is at least one article by Awlaki which is characterized as an original piece written for the magazine.

So clarifying some earlier questions, the magazine is, at the least, formally endorsed by Awalki. I suspect we're still looking at a jihobbyist production, but as I noted earlier, Awlaki and AQAP's active role in the magazine does open the door to a "material support of terrorism" charge for any Americans who helped produce it.

The most important article in AQAP Inspire is not Awlaki's fairly pedestrian article on the Danish cartoons, but a guide for aspiring Westerners about what to expect and how to prepare when you go to jihad overseas.

The format still strongly resembles Jihad Recollections, but it seems to me the content is a bit more sophisticated and a bit more activist in terms of what it expects its readers to do after perusing the issue.

Overall, I'm sticking with much of my earlier analysis of the magazine as cited above. I will say that the magazine is, in some ways, a step up from Al-Hussam in terms of its sophistication as a magazine. It's probably also an upgrade in terms of content, except for the impression that its main participants (writers of original articles and editors) appear to the reader's eye to be mostly noncombatants -- a category that includes Awlaki, I might add. Al-Hussam had tremendous credibility for its unpretentious style and links to actual fighters. In contrast, Inspire is a bit effete.

That's all for now, but I may ring in with some additional thoughts later.

Labels: Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Aulaqi, Anwar-Awlaki, AQAP, Inspire-Magazine, Weblog

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Al Qaeda's New Magazine, Or Was It Web Site, Or Is It Really Al Qaeda? Or... Or...

This week saw the debut of a new English-language magazine called "Inspire" and branded as coming from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or rather, the first three pages of such a magazine. I don't think I've ever seen such a crazy welter of bad coverage.

To start with, dozens of news outlets began trumpeting Al Qaeda's new English-language "Web site" -- apparently an army of supposedly tech-savvy reporters and/or headline writers are unable to distinguish between PDF documents and Web sites. Apparently many major news outlets are also incapable of distinguishing between Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Al Qaeda central in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Hint: Osama bin Laden is only directly involved with one of these groups. (At most.)

Then, the real hand-wringing began (and continues today). Was it REALLY an Al Qaeda magazine or was it fake? Few of the reporters could answer that question because they were all afraid to open it and actually read the magazine. Turns out the PDF got corrupted or was parsed wrongly in the first place, so the file just had three pages and then a lot of alphanumeric junk. Reporters and jihadis alike leapt to the conclusion that the file was some sort of Trojan horse that would beam your sexual preferences directly to the CIA. (Hint: The author prepared the PDF on a Mac.)

So reporters began not just reporting but analyzing a document they had not viewed, and which even if they had viewed it, they could basically only have read the cover and the table of contents. However, if they HAD read the three pages they might have noticed that it did not match their imaginings. Click here for the most egregious example of would-be analysis of a document that the analyst clearly had not even glanced at and the broader logic of which wouldn't stand up even if the actual magazine reflected the author's assumptions. (Hey, Max, in case you missed it, the "secretive" Ayman Al-Zawahiri and other top AQ leaders like Abu Yahya Al-Libi have written and distributed plenty of books online since 9/11, a publishing process which is identical to putting out this magazine.)

Could it be a FAKE? Let's take a moment to consider what that even means. First off, no one except hyperbolic journalists are even claiming that this magazine was produced by Al Qaeda Central. (Spoiler Alert! That's the one with Osama bin Laden.) The only question here is:

Was the document produced by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula proper or by its online jihobbyist fans?

If the latter, did AQAP formally endorse the publication?

If none of the above, was the document created by the CIA or online terrorist hunters to serve as misinformation or a trap?

The answers to these questions, in my opinion, are Jihobbyists, Maybe, and No.

The table of contents pretty clearly indicates that the magazine consists mainly of transcripts of earlier communiques by celebrity jihadists such as Bin Laden and AQAP's own Anwar Awlaki. There is nothing in the table of contents which suggests new or original material by anyone important. Click here to see the TOC as an image if you are too terrified to find and open the PDF.

The selection of authors (lots of celebs and relatively little from AQAP's main leaders) plus the fact that there doesn't seem to be any original material suggests that the person who assembled the magazine was not part of AQAP proper. In fact, the format of "Inspire" strongly resembles last year's "Jihad Recollections," composed by American jihadist blogger Samir Khan of North Carolina.

So assuming it is not a trap, a point which I will not belabor because those who think it is a trap are unlikely to be swayed by anything I say, the main question is whether AQAP formally endorsed the publication or played any other role in its publication. And to be honest, there is really only one reason to care about that question -- "material support."

When a lone American like Khan makes what is essentially a fan magazine about Al Qaeda, there is room for debate about whether he is exercising his first amendment rights. If an American like Khan is creating a magazine at the behest of AQAP or with its direct cooperation, that is material support for a terrorist organization, and as the Supreme Court recently ruled, exactly this kind of material support is appropriate for prosecution by the Justice Department.

Labels: Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda-In-The-Arabian-Peninsula, Anwar-Awlaki, Inspire-Magazine, Osama-Bin-Laden, Weblog

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink