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

 

Anwar Al-Awlaki Video Release Rehashes 2010 "Message To America"

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has released a tribute to Anwar Awlaki and Samir Khan that contains a video recording with an extended version of a previously released Awlaki audio.

The video is titled, "Anwar Awlaki, the Martyr of Dawah," a clear effort to continue the argument that Awlaki was killed not for his role in terrorist operations but for his Islamic preaching. Released by AQAP's Malahem Media, the video features very strong production values and English subtitles as well as English audio.

A 15-minute video is presented featuring Awlaki in a camouflage jacket with an Al Qaeda flag in the background. The content of the video is an early draft of Awlaki's March 2010 "Message to the American People." It includes additional material and rearranges several parts of the speech.

Several news reports and an initial posting on this site identified the footage as being new, or as a "final message" from Awlaki, which is incorrect. The video was recorded in early 2010.

A comparison of the original audio and the new video reveals they are separate recordings, indicating that Awlaki almost certainly recorded the video first then edited the speech and recorded the audio. The audio release is considerably improved from the video, providing a rare insight into Awlaki's editing process.

The release of this dated video raises questions about whether AQAP still has any unreleased Awlaki material available. Prior to his death in September, AQAP's Inspire magazine promised that at least two recorded communiques from Awlaki were forthcoming. Media reports from Yemen, which could not be confirmed, suggested that some of this material had already been recorded.

Today's release also includes snippets of previously unseen video of Awlaki speaking in Arabic. This observer did not recognize the content as having been released in the past, but given Awlaki's voluminous output, it may also be old material. In the clips, Awlaki discusses the virtues of martyrdom, especially in the context of AQAP's jihad.

The video includes a tribute to Awlaki from AQAP religious authority Ibrahim Al-Rubaish. Rubaish stated that Awlaki left the United States because of "plotting" by American authorities due to his belief that America was waging war on Islam, but neither Awlaki nor Rubaish discusses Awlaki's links to the September 11 attacks.

The video also features an English speaker identified as Abu Yazeed discussing Awlaki's message and impact. Yazeed also praises Samir Khan, Al Qaeda's American propagandist and the creator of Inspire Magazine.

This post has been updated.

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

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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.

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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.

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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

 

Mapping Awlaki's Current Social Network And Influence On Radical Actors

Click on image for full-size picture.

The image above is a map of Anwar Awlaki's current social and inspirational connections to terrorism, an effort to illustrate some of his reach and influence. For a map of Awlaki's connections to the September 11 plot and Al Qaeda, click here.

The blue figures on the left are terrorism suspects who have been explicitly inspired by Awlaki to a greater or lesser extent. The data about "inspiration" is incomplete, but all of the people linked here were followers of Awlaki's work to a greater or lesser extent. I've only included the best-documented cases here, so this list is only a sampling of Awlaki's influence on radical actors.

The green figures are so-called "lone wolves" who were in direct contact with Awlaki and in some cases taking explicit instructions from him.

Figures in red are Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula members to whom Awlaki has been clearly attached. Abu Basir al-Wuhayshi, AQAP's emir, has pledged to revenge Awlaki's death should the United States succeed in its stated intention to kill the Yemeni-American cleric.

Samir Khan is the editor of AQAP's Inspire Magazine, in which position he closely works with Awlaki. Omar Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day attempted bomber who set his underwear on fire in 2009, is listed here as part of AQAP because he was trained and equipped by them and was specifically directed by Awlaki. His bomb was designed by AQAP explosives expert Ibrahim al-Asiri, who also apparently designed the UPS cargo bombs deployed by AQAP in 2010, a plot which appears to have been tightly linked to Awlaki.

As you can see, Awlaki's disciples are largely independent from each other, although there is some measurable interconnection among various individuals, sometimes one or two people removed. One of Awlaki's strengths is that he can direct attacks through both organizational and "lone wolf" approaches.

So he's dangerously unpredictable, but on the bright side, he hasn't shown a real aptitude for planning terrorist attacks as of yet. Most attacks associated with him have been failures. His biggest success, Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, received indoctrination from Awlaki that almost certainly contributed to his radicalization, but the best reports we have to date indicate Awlaki did not make any tactical/operation contribution to Hasan's attack.

Labels: American-Al-Qaeda, American-Terrorists, Anwar-Awlaki, Jihad-Joe, Nidal-Malik-Hasan, Revolution-Muslim, Samir-Khan, Zach-Chesser

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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.

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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

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Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink