American Jihadists

How Many American Jihadists?

2010-03-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

Updates now at news.intelwire.com

2010-03-10T11:04:00.001-08:00

Just a reminder that all new updates, including the latest on Jihad Jane (Colleen LaRose) are now being posted to http://news.intelwire.com/. Update your bookmarks and RSS feeds!

Pennsyvlania Woman Charged With Recruiting For Jihad

2010-03-09T21:58:00.001-08:00

This one is a doozy...

David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Michael L. Levy, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, together with Janice K. Fedarcyk, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI in Philadelphia, today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Colleen R. LaRose, aka "Fatima LaRose," aka "Jihad Jane," with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft.

It's an interesting perhaps-coincidence that a Pennsylvania jihadist recruiter should be indicted immediately after a Pennsylvania jihadist was arrested in Pakistan. Pakistani news outlets reported that the jihadist was arrested based on U.S. intelligence leads.

So has Jihad Jane been talking? There's good reason to think so.

LaRose was actually rolled up with a sealed criminal complaint pertaining to her abuse of a U.S. passport back in October. An arrest warrant was executed on October 29, 2009. A series of sealed documents were then filed with the court culminating in an arrest warrant, including several requests to postpone indictment.

Additional updates will appear here.

Full Text of Gadahn Video on Fort Hood

2010-03-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

Adam Gadahn's latest video, released this weekend

Please credit INTELWIRE.com if reporting from this transcript.

A Call To Arms
Brother Adam Yahiye Gadahn
Muharram 1431

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the Accursed. In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful:

"O you who believe! Fight the unbelievers who are closest in proximity to you and let them find harshness in you; and know that Allah is with those who fear Him." (9:123)

Muslim brothers everywhere, as-Salaamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh [peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings]. Wa B'ad:

The year 2009, the inaugural year of a new administration in Washington, ended in a truly miserable fashion for the Crusader West and its intelligence organs, who suffered a series of moral and material blows which culminated in the bloody deaths of at least 8 CIA operatives in a masterfully-planned and executed martyrdom operation inside their clandestine base in Afghanistan. This crushing blow came just a few days after the compromising of America's supposedly airtight security in a valiant attempt by a heroic soldier of al-Qaida to bring down an American airliner over Detroit. But I would like here to take you back to an earlier event, one whose hero wasn't a member of al-Qaida or any other Islamic group, but was in fact, a ranking officer of the United States Army, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who, this past autumn, opened fire on a group of American soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan deep within the army's largest domestic base, Fort Hood, Texas. According to official army figures, at least 13 Crusaders were killed and more than 30 wounded in this surprise attack. Major Nidal Malik Hasan himself was shot, wounded and captured, and has had charges filed against him in a Crusader military court of inquisition in preparation for a summary show trial whose outcome is not in question.

America may let the thugs of Blackwater off the hook, and may give the depraved guards of Abu Ghraib and the homicidal gang-rapists of al-Miqdadiyah slaps on the wrist, but it goes without saying that such concessions don't extend to defiant Muslim heroes like Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The fact is, the heroic Fort Hood operation opens up a host of new opportunities for discussion of the hypocrisy, hubris and less-than-wholesome aspects of the Western Crusader culture which bestows peace prizes on war presidents and condemns Christmas messages from captured American soldiers as cruel, even as it continues to torture and humiliate the Muslims and other prisoners in its own custody. However, in the interest of brevity, I will leave such topics for another day in favor of shining further light on the nature and motivations of the man behind this historic and trend-setting operation, our Mujahid brother Nidal Malik Hasan - Nahsabuhu Min as-Saaliheen wa La Nuzakeehi Ala Allah: We consider him to be a righteous man and we don't purify him before Allah.

The Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan has shown us what one righteous Muslim with an assault rifle can do for his religion and brothers in faith, and has reminded us of how much pride and joy a single act of resistance and courage can instill in the hearts of Muslims everywhere. The Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan, by the grace of Allah and with a single 30-minute battle, singlehandedly brought the morale of the American military and public to its lowest point in years. The Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan, lightly armed but with a big heart, a strong will and a confident step, again brought into sharp focus the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of America, and again proved wrong those who claim America cannot be hit where it hurts. And most significantly, the Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers and yearns to discharge his duty to Allah and play a part in the defense of Islam and Muslims against the savage, heartless and bloody Zionist Crusader assault on our religion, sacred places and homelands.

Just as significant and just as deserving of contemplation and emulation as what the defiant Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan did is what he didn't do. Courageous Brother Nidal didn't give the orders of men priority over the orders of Allah, nor did he fear the wrath of men more than the wrath of Allah. Nahsabahu wa Allahu Haseebuh [We reckon him so and Allah is his Reckoner]. And defiant Brother Nidal didn't make the youthful mistake he made in joining the American army an excuse for making the mistake of a lifetime and taking part in the fighting and killing of Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq or anywhere else. This is why I believe that defiant Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes who, like him, has come to the correct collusion that true Islam isn't in a name or a set of rituals but in fact is in total submission and obedience to Allah and total disobedience to and disassociation from the unbelievers. When Brother Nidal was issued orders which conflicted with Islamic doctrine and values, he resisted them until the last bullet and thereby broke the mold of the mindlessly obedient soldier, a mold preferred and cultivated by the militaries of the world but totally rejected by Islam, which says loudly and clearly: La Ta'ata Li Makhlooqin Fi Ma'siyat al-Khaaliq - Obedience to a Created Being in Disobedience to the Creator is Impermissible.

Not only did defiant Brother Nidal break free of the influence of the unbelievers he had grown up and worked with and served under, he also broke free of the evil influence of the anti-Jihad, pro-Crusade Shaykhs and Muftis who attempt to legitimize the killing of Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere using the flimsiest pretexts and excuses imaginable. Defiant Brother Nidal didn't try to silence his conscience or justify obeying his commanders and remaining in the ranks of the unbelievers with those Shaykhs' scandalous Fatwas which permit the impermissible, prohibit the obligatory and condone the murder of Muslims in the name of fighting terrorism, or in the name of protecting salary and position, or in the name of preserving the good reputation of American Muslims and dispelling any doubts about their patriotism and loyalty to America. Brother Nidal didn't try to hide behind such ridiculous excuses because he knew that - however many famous signatures it might carry and whatever fancy title it might have - no Fatwa in this world can possibly justify breaking the clear, unambiguous and agreed-upon laws of the Shari'ah, like the law forbidding the killing of Muslims or the law ordering loyalty to the believers and disloyalty to the unbelievers, and he knew that on the day of Judgement, all the Ulama, Mullas, Muftis and Imams of this world put together would be incapable of saving him from divine retribution were he to have blindly followed their permissions and prohibitions in contravention of what he knew - in his heart of hearts and through honest research and careful study - to be Allah's ruling and decree.

I believe that Brother Nidal realized that the insults, accusations, imprisonment, loneliness and other difficulties that one might face during or after one's mission are insignificant when compared to the punishment Allah has threatened - in numerous places in the Quran and Hadeeth - for those who abandon compulsory Hijra and Jihad despite them having access to the necessary ways and means. But at the same time, I believe Brother Nidal realized that Islam neither calls for nor approves of hasty, reckless and poorly planned actions, and that's why he acted with caution and took the necessary steps in order to avoid repeating the mistakes others have made in operational and procedural matters. For example, Brother Nidal didn't - as far as we know - discuss his plans over government-monitored-and-controlled telephone and computer systems, nor did he confide his secrets to recent acquaintances - or even long-time acquaintances - whose professed loyalty to Islam and Muslims and apparent eagerness to defend their faith and brethren may or may not be as strong or as genuine as it appears. Brother Nidal wasn't taken in by the provocateurs who infiltrate the Masjids and Muslim communities of America with hidden microphones in order to entrap Muslims eager to perform the duty of Jihad. And Brother Nidal didn't unnecessarily raise his security profile or waste money better spent on the operation itself by traveling abroad to acquire skills and instructions which could easily be acquired at home, or indeed, deduced by using one's own powers of logic and reasoning.

For example, the first thing many people often ask is: "What weapon should I use in my operation?" But the answer to this question - and it's an important question - is not as difficult as it may seem. The Mujahid Brother Nidal Hasan used firearms in his assault on Fort Hood, but the fact is, today's Mujahid is no longer limited to bullets and bombs when it comes to his choice of a weapon. As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a minimal budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon which can take the enemy by surprise and deprive him of sleep for years on end.

Another important and often intimidating stage of preparation for any operation is the targeting phase. When the time came to pick his target, the Mujahid Brother Nidal chose carefully, looking for a target with which he was well acquainted, a target which was feasible and a target whose hitting would have a major impact on the enemy. In Brother Nidal's case, these three important qualities came together in Fort Hood, but as you start to make your plans, you shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage to the Crusader West and further our global agenda and long-range strategic objectives.

We must look to further undermine the West's already-struggling economies with carefully-timed-and-targeted attacks on symbols of capitalism which will again shake consumer confidence and stifle spending. We must keep in mind how even apparently unsuccessful attacks on Western mass transportation systems can bring major cities to a halt, cost the enemy billions and send his corporations into bankruptcy. We must erode our cowardly enemy's will to fight by killing and capturing leading Crusaders and Zionists in government, industry and media who talk the talk but don't walk the walk and are only interested in prosecuting their profitable wars as long as it's other people who are in the line of fire and not them. We should look for targets which epitomize Western decadence, depravity, immorality and atheism, targets which the enemy and his mouthpieces will have trouble trying to pass off to the conservative Muslim majority as illegitimate targets full of innocent people. And finally, we mustn't allow our lawless enemies to provoke us with their evil, sadistic and murderous crimes into crossing the boundaries laid down by Allah and His Prophet or doing anything which may have negative repercussions on the image of the Jihad and reputation of the Mujahideen.

We must always remember that our role models aren't our enemies: our role models are the Prophet, His Companions and the righteous and God-fearing Mujahideen. We must always remember that we are different than the Zionists and Crusaders with whom we are locked in combat: We are not outlaws. We are not gangsters. We are not hypocrites. We are not barbarians. We are not opportunists and mercenaries. We are not enemies of freedom and civilization. We are not cowards who wage wars from behind the controls of pilotless aircraft. In other words, everything our enemies are, we are not, and everything we are, they are not. We are people of courage, honor, decency, chivalry and ethics who selflessly sacrifice themselves for the noblest cause on earth, and that is why every Muslim and every Mujahid must continue to take the high road and protect the moral high ground which we have fought so long and hard to secure.

My dear brothers in Islam: with America and 25 of its NATO allies beginning to deploy a further 37,000 occupation troops to Afghanistan, and with armed American drones now violating Islamic airspace and terrorizing Muslim populaces from Miran Shah to Mogadishu, and with the American war president and his rabid British poodle plotting fresh aggression against the Yemen, and with the United States consolidating its cruel treatment of our brothers in Islam at new or newly expanded Muslim-only concentration camps in Illinois, Bagram and elsewhere, it is rapidly becoming clear that this already hot global battle is about to get even hotter.

This is a war which knows no international borders and no single battleground, and that's why I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam. This is the golden, once in a lifetime opportunity to reap the rewards of Jihad and martyrdom we have been waiting for, so unsheathe your sharpened sword and rush to take your rightful place among defiant champions of Islam like Mir Aimal Kansi, Muhammad Bouyeri, Nidal Malik Hasan and many others like them: "Men who have been true to their covenant with Allah; of them some have been martyred and some are still waiting; but they have never changed in the least." (33:23)

My Muslim brother: Jihad is neither the personal property nor the exclusive responsibility of any single group, organization or individual. Instead, it is the personal duty of every able-bodied Muslim on the face of this earth, until the last Muslim captive is freed and the last piece of occupied Islamic land is recovered and until Muslims live in safety and security in the benevolent shadow of the Islamic state. Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has given you faculties of reason, judgement and choice within the guidelines of Islam, and it is for you - like your heroic Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan - to decide how, when and where you discharge this duty. But whatever you do, don't wait for tomorrow to do what can be done today, and don't wait for others to do what you can do yourself:"So fight (O Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) in Allah's Cause - you are held responsible only for yourself - and rouse the believers. Allah will restrain the might of the unbelievers. And Allah is strongest in might and strongest in punishment." (4:84)

Thank you for watching, and may Allah guide your steps. Wa as-Salaam 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh.

Different American Al Qaeda Arrested

2010-03-07T16:55:00.000-08:00

NYT identifies the man as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam, hailing from Pennsylvania.

Initial reports seemed to have confused the American with Adam Gadahn, a California native who has been a Qaeda spokesman and often appears on videos calling for strikes against targets in the United States.

Senior administration officials said on Sunday that they did not believe the arrest was of Mr. Gadahn. For hours, information was difficult to confirm from Pakistan. President Obama was briefed on news reports of the arrest, but later learned they were most likely not correct.

Clean Version Of Today's Gadahn Video

2010-03-07T12:51:00.001-08:00

As CNN discovered, the encoding of the latest Adam Gadahn video is faulty, resulting in the video juddering and getting badly out of sync with the audio. I have a cleaned-up version of the video available. For the next couple days, I will make it freely available to media outlets who agree to credit INTELWIRE.com.

Contact information here.

Still no confirmation of the arrest from U.S. officials, which raises two questions in my mind. First, do they really have him? And second, might Pakistani politicians try trading him for Aafia Siddiqui.

Public sentiment in Pakistan is wildly supportive of Siddiqui, a Pakistani with roots in Boston, who was convicted last month of trying to kill federal agents. Pakistani diplomats have been trying to secure her release for months. Gadahn is the kind of bargaining chip that could make a difference, but if they try, they're going to destroy a lot of the goodwill -- and financial incentive -- that they could otherwise reap from the arrest.

Report: Adam Gadahn Arrested in Pakistan

2010-03-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

Adam Gadahn's latest video, released today

CNN says, quoting a Pakistani official, that Adam Gadahn, the American Al Qaeda also known as Azzam the American, has been arrested in Pakistan. Given past misinformation from Pakistanis, let's wait for confirmation, but if true, this is huge.

CNN's is currently reporting Gadahn was arrested in Karachi, and U.S. officials have not yet confirmed the arrest.

Gadahn is an extremely important figure in Al Qaeda. He is largely responsible for the rejuvenation of Al Qaeda's media operations after September 11, and he worked his way up through the hierarchy through his media savvy and prowess at video editing. He is responsible for several interesting media experiments out of Al Qaeda's media arm.

Gadahn is also important because for at least several months he was in close proximity to Ayman Al Zawahiri, a conclusion I draw from their joint media releases during 2007, which showed very similar production values. In recent months, however, the production values on their media releases have diverged, suggesting that Zawahiri has relocated.

Consistent with this, CNN is reporting that Gadahn may have been on the outs with Al Qaeda's senior leadership. If that falling out is real, and based on intellectual content rather than sloppy spycraft, I would suggest that it has to do with the following sentiment from today's video release:

We should look for targets which epitomize Western decadence, depravity, immorality and atheism, targets which the enemy and his mouthpieces will have trouble trying to pass off to the conservative Muslim majority as illegitimate targets full of innocent people. And finally, we mustn’t allow our lawless enemies to provoke us with their evil, sadistic and murderous crimes into crossing the boundaries laid down by Allah and His Prophet or doing anything which may have negative repercussions on the image of the Jihad and reputation of the Mujahideen.

In this quote and in other recent speeches by Gadahn, the American has been distancing himself from the "takfiri" element of Al Qaeda which justifies killing Muslims, along with virtually any other atrocity, in the name of the cause.

However, I'm not sure the rift -- if rift there be -- is ideological. During the period that Gadahn was seen to be close to Ayman Al Zawahiri, the senior Al Qaeda leader was subjected to several close calls, Predator strikes that hit sometimes within hours of Zawahiri's departure from safehouses.

Further food for thought: U.S. and Pakistani forces have recently put extreme pressure on Al Qaeda's media distribution channels. There have been several significant developments in this respect.

After Jordanian double-agent Abu Dujana bombed a CIA facility in Afghanistan, his video will was released by Al Qaeda to Al Jazeera, but its distribution online was disrupted by coalition operations, my sources indicate.

The video was promised for distribution by Internet jihadi operatives, but it was suppressed for weeks. The video was eventually released, several days ago. Almost immediately after it hit the Web, a massive cyber assault knocked out nearly all of the top-tier jihadist forums.

It seems to me that all of this is likely not coincidental to Gadahn's arrest.

I'm available for anyone who needs a quote on this. Contact information here.

Gadahn's Oscar Ambitions Thwarted

2010-03-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

Back in the day, when Adam Gadahn was just an aspiring terrorist help desk worker rather than part of Al Qaeda's official operations, he released a couple of fairly slick videos designed to appeal to Western audiences by mimicking Western documentaries -- up to and including the presence of a musical soundtrack.

It is therefore interesting to note that the latest release from As-Sahab (which Gadahn basically runs at this point) opens with a short disclaimer. "ATTENTION: We do not permit musical accompaniment with our productions." One second later, a nasheed (religious song) fired up, but I guess that doesn't count.

I'm guessing this is due to input from one of Gadahn's Al Qaeda overseers. It's interesting that these guys can rationalize away visits to strip clubs but they can't handle a light orchestral score.

On the one hand, from a Western perspective, we should applaud such inconsistencies, which tend to shine a light on the hypocrisy of AQ's theological underpinnings. On the other hand, Gadahn's message indicated that AQ is increasingly sensitive to criticism of its Islamic credentials, so this may be the first stage in a rehabilitation campaign.

American Terrorist Praises American Terrorist

2010-03-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzam the American, hits the Web-waves today with a new statement praises Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, whom he wishfully (but perhaps realistically) described as "trend-setting."

According to Gadahn, Hasan was a "hero" but "wasn’t a member of al-Qaida or any other Islamic group."

The Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan has shown us what one righteous Muslim with an assault rifle can do for his religion and brothers in faith, and has reminded us of how much pride and joy a single act of resistance and courage can instill in the hearts of Muslims everywhere.

In the continuation of a worrisome trend, Gadahn stated Al Qaeda's support for micro-operations, lone wolves and soft-target attacks. The myth that Al Qaeda was only ever interested in U.S. attacks that would surpass 9/11 is officially exploded at this point.

The Mujahid Brother Nidal Hasan used firearms in his assault on Fort Hood, but the fact is, today’s Mujahid is no longer limited to bullets and bombs when it comes to his choice of a weapon. As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a minimal budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon which can take the enemy by surprise and deprive him of sleep for years on end.

Interestingly, Gadahn showed some sensitivity to recent excesses by Al Qaeda and its affiliates, praising Hasan's choice of target in particular and showing a rare flash of concern about what the wider Muslim population thinks.

We should look for targets which epitomize Western decadence, depravity, immorality and atheism, targets which the enemy and his mouthpieces will have trouble trying to pass off to the conservative Muslim majority as illegitimate targets full of innocent people. And finally, we mustn’t allow our lawless enemies to provoke us with their evil, sadistic and murderous crimes into crossing the boundaries laid down by Allah and His Prophet or doing anything which may have negative repercussions on the image of the Jihad and reputation of the Mujahideen.

Zazi Pleads Guilty

2010-02-23T10:45:00.000-08:00

The plea is sealed but here's the DOJ press release:

Najibullah Zazi guilty plea

It's clear from the information revealed in this release that Al Qaeda Core is now focusing on smaller scale attacks.

The conventional wisdom for years has been that AQ wanted to stage an attack even more spectacular than 9/11 and was not interested in smaller operations. I personally doubt whether this was ever true (there was already strong evidence to the contrary), but at this point no one can credibly mount such a claim.

This has to be seen as a negative development, since smaller attacks are easier to accomplish and pressing small attacks does not preclude the simultaneous deployment of a spectacular attack.

In fact, if the operations are properly compartmentalized, smaller attacks could distract focus away from a larger operation. U.S. counterterrorism focus is highly reactive. For instance, we might be preoccupied chasing breast impant bombs with body scanners while someone is stowing a dirty bomb on an LNG tanker from Yemen.

Another interesting point here is that Zazi traveled specifically to fight for the Taliban and only after arriving on the ground was he diverted to Al Qaeda. Since 2003, we’ve seen an increase in cases where potential foreign fighters are diverted to terrorism before they gain any battleground experience.

Prior to 2001, fighters would more often cut their teeth in a more traditional foreign fighter combat or even regular military environment, and after proving themselves under those conditions then be recruited to receive specialized training for terrorism.

For instance, Khalid Shaik Mohammed went to Bosnia in 1992 to play a support role for the mujahideen, but returned in 1995 to recruit terrorist operatives from the pool of experienced fighters.

There is a useful distinction and transition to explore between jihadist (which I am defining as a foreign fighter taking part in a localized armed conflict or insurgency) and what I would call a “networked terrorist” (attacking non-combatant civilian targets outside of a hot conflict zone). I'll get into this more in my forthcoming book.

American Arrested in Raid on Bosnian Village

2010-02-09T05:48:00.000-08:00

An American citizen was arrested during a police raid on a Bosnian village populated by Wahhabis, according to Balkans media outlets.

Enis Bosnic, of Jacksonville, Florida, was among several people arrested in "Operation Light," a sting operation conducted in Gornja Maoca, in northern Bosnia. The residents of Gornja Maoca live under Shariah law.

Some members of the community are believed to have relocated there after the Bosnian government shut down a notorious village of former mujahideen known as Donja Bocinja.

According to Bosnian news outlets, Edis Bosnic is a Bosnian national who became a naturalized American citizen. A person by that name was nominated to the board of directors of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida in 2004.

According to the Bosnian TV news magazine "60 Minutes" (no relation to CBS), Bosnic was in close contact with Adis Medunjanin, the Queens man arrested in the U.S. on suspicion of taking part in a bomb plot led by Afghan national Najibullah Zazi.

Bosnian journalist Bosnian journalist Esad Hecimovic contributed to this report.

Sources:

Glas Srpske

International Relations and Security Network

Washington Post

CIA May Set Its Drone Sights on Anwar Awlaki

2010-01-31T07:03:00.000-08:00

Interesting -- and significant -- story in the Washington Post today. Radical imam Anwar Alwaki -- an American citizen -- may soon be added to the CIA's drone target list.

Much ado has been made about the fact that this would be the first time an American has been targeted -- although as I have noted elsewhere, it would not be the first time an American Jihadist was killed in a drone attack. In 2002, a U.S. drone strike in Yemen (as it happens) killed Kamal Derwish, a Buffalo native connected to the Lackawanna Six.

It was reported earlier that the U.S. may have missed an opportunity to kill Awlaki due to wrangling over the legalities that his citizenship may or may not complicate. The questions include:

What standard of evidence gets you on the kill list?

Who reviews that decision?

Do you (as a citizen) have any recourse to get off of the list?

These are not idle questions. In at least one case, U.S.-aligned forces killed an Al Qaeda suspect whose terrorist credentials were (at the least) questionable. That person wasn't a U.S. citizen, but it's still a troubling precedent. What if Eliot Ness has simply whacked Al Capone?

The kill list is -- currently -- about two dozen names long. Most of them are active in command and control of terrorist attacks. While there are strong reasons to suspect Awlaki falls into that category, extremely significant unanswered questions remain -- not only about his role in the Detroit Christmas bomb attempt and the Nidal Hasan massacre, but about his connection to September 11.

Realistically, the only way most of those questions are ever going to be answered in the public sphere is if Awlaki is captured and returned to the U.S. for a trial. As I have mentioned before, trials are the public's most important window into Al Qaeda and how terrorism works. And there is no case we need to understand more than 9/11.

Fallout in the Military Over Nidal Hasan

2010-01-15T08:20:00.001-08:00

It looks like there will changes in procedures and discipline for those who failed to spot problems that could have prevented the murder spree of Nidal Hasan, the Army major who shot and killed 13 people in November. The missed warning signs included Hasan's obsession with U.S. wars as "wars against Islam" and his contacts with radical Al Qaeda-linked cleric Anwar Awlaki.

Contrast that to the handling of Ali Mohamed, Al Qaeda's last big conquest within the military. Mohamed infiltrated the U.S. military on orders from Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader Ayman Al Zawahiri. Some of his commanding officers sent up alarm bells about Mohamed's radical leanings (including statements made on the video below which was distributed by the military to educate soldiers about the Middle East).

No one was disciplined and nothing was changed after Mohamed's spying on behalf of Al Qaeda was exposed, a failure that spanned both Republican and Democratic administrations. The Pentagon even stonewalled requests by the CIA for information about foreign nationals serving in the armed forces after Mohamed's duplicity was finally exposed in 1998.

Accountability is an important tool in dealing with terrorism, because accountability leads to adaptability, which is our enemy's greatest strength. It's a lesson that could be applied even more broadly in the U.S. government, but a good start is a good start.

American Jihadists Study

2010-01-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

An interesting report out this week on American Jihadists. It summarizes a lot of key points to keep in mind on this subject, but it's focused mainly on post-9/11 terrorism cases.

Highlights:

About a third of the cases covered involved converts to Islam. In my own reporting, I've found that converts are an extremely important part of the jihadi mix -- especially when it comes to Americans.

About half of the cases they studied were Arabs, the rest were a mix of ethnicities. The cases I have documented in the book will probably end up skewing slightly higher toward non-Arab ethnicities.

About half the cases covered involved U.S. citizens. I expect to skew slightly higher on that front as well, although it's going to be in the same neighborhood.

There a few important elements I will be covering in the book which are not present in the study. First off, Americans have been taking part in jihad ever since the modern age of terrorism began in 1979. I'll be looking at several of those cases in the book, including some interviews with pre-9/11 jihadists. I am also examining Canadians in the book, because the cultural and logistical markers are fairly similar.

The second point is that not everyone who takes part in jihad also becomes involved in terrorism. I'm working to integrate some of those cases into the book as well.

Finally, I want to note there are plenty of cases which haven't made a big splash in the news media. I'll be looking at some of those as well.

Anwar Awlaki Describes Nidal Hasan Contacts

2010-01-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

Awlaki said he met Nidal Hasan nine years ago, at the Dar Al-Hijra mosque in Washington, D.C. Hasan began emailing Awlaki again on Dec. 17, 2008, almost a year before Hasan shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood.

The pressing question for American counterterrorism officials has been: Should those messages have alerted U.S. intelligence that Hasan was a threat? Awlaki's answer to the question of the message content certainly suggests the answer was "Hell, yes."

He was asking whether killing American officers and soldiers is legitimate or not. [...] I am surprised where were the U.S. security agencies, which claimed one day that they are able to read cars and vehicles plate's numbers from up in space, anywhere in the world. His messages were asking about the Islamic rule of killing a Muslim soldier, who served in the U.S. Army.

And in other letters he explained his view of killing Israeli civilians and was in favor of this, he mentioned the legal and factual justifications for targeting Jews with rockets. Later, there were some of his letters that asked for a way he can transfer some funds to us, to contribute on charity works.

More broadly, Awlaki said:

An American-Muslim's loyalty is to the Muslim nation, not for America. Hasan has proved that, through his blessed operation; may God richly reward him.

For the full interview, click here.

Detroit Bomber Attended AlMaghrib Institute In Houston During 2008

2009-12-31T10:18:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, attended a Houston-based Islamic seminar in 2008, according to the Detroit Free Press. He was in Houston for 17 days.

With the caveat that I don't want to read too much into this, it's interesting to note that American Jihadist Daniel Maldonado was a member of the AlMaghrib Institute's Internet forum using his online handle of Daniel Aljughafi. At the time of his arrest, he had only made two posts to the site. Oddly, one of those posts has since disappeared.

Threads of interest on the AlMaghrib site include:

Is it permissible to call non-Muslims kaffirs (infidels)?

Discussion of apostates including whether it is permissible to kill them and under what circumstances

A now deleted thread praising the writings of Anwar Awlaki (vis Google cache, I have a copy if this expires)

List of posts mentioning Awlaki

UPDATE: Internet Haganah has an extremely good post which sheds further light on Maldonado's connections to AlMaghrib and AlMaghrib's connection to other points of extremist interest on the Web.

Intel: Awlaki Linked To Christmas Bombing

2009-12-31T07:08:00.000-08:00

From the excellent Josh Meyer in the LA Times:

Intercepts and other information point to connections between terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Anwar al Awlaki -- who also communicated with the accused U.S. Army gunman in last month's attack on Ft. Hood, Texas, that left 13 people dead.

Some of the information about Awlaki comes from Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian charged with attempting to detonate a hidden packet of PETN explosive aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day, the officials said.

Under questioning by the FBI, Abdulmutallab has said that he met with Awlaki and senior Al Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year, and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it, officials said.

Other intelligence linking Awlaki to Abdulmutallab became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation, according to a U.S. intelligence official.

Click here for the whole story.

Investigators Look At Possible Link Between Detroit Bomber and Awlaki

2009-12-26T15:21:00.000-08:00

From the New York Times:

A senior American counterterrorism official confirmed that American and allied authorities are looking closely into Mr. Abdulmutallab’s possible connections to radical elements in Yemen, including extremist figures on Jihadist Web sites like Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric linked to Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings last month. Investigators are trying to determine whether Mr. Awlaki may have motivated Mr. Abdulmutallab.

UPDATE: Some later stories have been downplaying this possibility, but I'm in a wait-and-see mode. The Detroit attack appears to be well in keeping with Awlaki's "leaderless jihad" philosophy in which individuals carry out attacks with minimal guidance from headquarters. It is, of course, a critical question as to what organizational affiliation Abdulmutallab had and how strong it was. If this attack turns out to have a strong Al Qaeda component, I will have a lot to say about what that means for the future of the war on terror.

Anwar Awlaki Dead?

2009-12-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

The government of Yemen seems to think that an air strike has killed Anwar Awlaki, the American citizen turned radical imam who was a spiritual leader to 9/11 hijackers, as well as Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hassan. The strike also supposedly killed a couple of important Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leaders. There have been plenty of false reports in the last year, so we'll wait a while to see how this pans out. Another ambiguity awaiting clarification -- did the U.S. play a role in the strike? If so, that sends a powerful message about this administration's tolerance for those who support terrorism. We will see.

12/25 UPDATE: Awlaki is reportedly still alive. Some of the stories out of Yemen said that his house (or what was believed to be his house) was specifically targeted in the strike. That question is an interesting one for the reason cited above. It speaks to the Obama administration's tolerance for terrorist supporters, and perhaps also to their definition -- as in, was Nidal Hasan's shooting spree terrorism?

'Pakistan 5' Will Be Deported To U.S.

2009-12-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

An update from Bloomberg:

"It's quite clear that the next step for these men is to be deported to their home country, America, but we will do so only after a full investigation is complete," Punjab province Home Minister Rana Sanaullah said today in a telephone interview from Lahore, the provincial capital.

Americans in Pakistan: A Classic Case

2009-12-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

On CNN's Situation Room, CNN correspondent Arwa Damon said Pakistani officials told her the five Americans arrested there this week "were not motivated by Islam" but were instead traveling to a combat zone to defend Muslims against "ongoing atrocities." The report also stated that they said attacking a Muslim anywhere in the world was the same attacking all Muslims.

I have no doubt this is an accurate quote of what Damon was told, but it's a tremendous misdirection to say that these young men were not motivated by Islam. The narrative of Muslim victimization -- and Muslim solidarity against victimization -- is the dominant theme of jihadi recruitment, and an important recurring theme in Islam generally and in jihadist thought specifically.

It's also one of the most important factors which leads Americans to jihad, as I will discuss at more length in my forthcoming book. Americans are especially responsive to the Muslim victimization theme, for a number of reasons including media consumption, American political dialogue and cultural principles.

If these young men said what is attributed to them (and I'm quite certain they did) that places squarely in the center of Islamic jihadist thought, and the American Jihadist theme -- not off to one side as this report suggests.

Five Americans In Pakistan Linked to Al Qaeda, Pak Officials Say

2009-12-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

This from the Wall Street Journal:

Five young Americans detained in eastern Pakistan had developed contacts with al Qaeda operatives through the Internet and were on their way to North Waziristan to join a militant training camp, said a senior Pakistani intelligence official.

The story cited intelligence from the men's laptops.

Scores of radical Muslims from the West are believed to have received training in al Qaeda camps in recent years and have now been fighting on both sides of the border Afghanistan and Pakistan border. In September, Pakistani security forces arrested Mehdi-Muhammed Ghezali, a Swedish national and a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, who was trying to go to Waziristan to join al Qaeda.

Would-Be American Jihadists Held in Pakistan

2009-12-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

Five young men from Virginia were arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of trying to connect with jihadist groups there. According to a Pakistani newspaper and The Investigative Project on Terrorism, the five are named Ahmed Abdullah, Waqar Khan, Eman Hassan, Ramy Zamzam and Yasir (last name unknown).

The five were arrested just a couple weeks after leaving the U.S., at the home of Khalid Farooqi, a member of Jaish-e-Muhammad, according to the Pakistani paper. JEM is a jihadist group focused mainly on Kashmir. It's also connected to Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which has attracted American Jihadists in the past, and both groups are suspected of playing a role in the murder of Daniel Pearl by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

One of the group left behind a video which appeared to be expressing jihadist sentiments, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which held a press conference today to say it was assisting the investigation. In light of recent threats against American Muslim organizations by an Al Qaeda-linked forum, it will be interesting to see how the jihadists react to CAIR's collaborative role with law enforcement in this case.

New charges in Chicago for alleged LeT member David Coleman Headley

2009-12-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

This from this Justice Department this morning:

New federal charges filed today allege that a Chicago man, who was arrested in October for planning terrorist attacks against a Danish newspaper and two of its employees, also conducted extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai for more than two years preceding the November 2008 terrorist attack on India’s largest city that killed approximately 170 people, including six Americans, and injured hundreds more.

The defendant, David Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen, earlier this decade allegedly attended terrorism training camps in Pakistan maintained by Lashkar e Tayyiba (Lashkar), and conspired with its members and others in planning and executing the attacks in both Denmark and India, federal law enforcement officials announced today.

Also today, a criminal complaint was unsealed in federal court in Chicago charging Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Abdur Rehman), a retired major in the Pakistani military, with conspiracy in planning to attack the Danish newspaper and its employees. Another Chicago man, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan, was arrested in October on federal charges filed in Chicago relating to the Danish terrorism plot.

Through his attorneys, Headley has authorized the Justice Department to disclose that he is cooperating in the ongoing investigation of both the Danish and Indian terror plots. He has remained in federal custody without bond since he was arrested in Chicago on Oct. 3, 2009. No date has been set yet for his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

I've been tied up working on the book for the last couple of weeks, but I'll have some updates on this story (including documents) and some other American jihadist cases within the next few days.

American Muslims Threatened Over Statements Condemning Nidal Hasan

2009-11-26T06:21:00.000-08:00

The Al Ansar Web site, a Al Qaeda-linked jihadist forum in English and Arabic, has published a statement which threatens American Muslims who criticize Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.

We ... issue this statement due to the unfortunate yet expected wave of apologetic statements being given around the world which smack of apostasy, especially in the land of the Lead Crusaders, the United States of America, the likes of which are only given either to safeguard their worldly gains from living there, due to their misguidance and ignorance of firm principles which they easily throw away based on their false concepts of "general interest", or due to the verdicts of misguided or evil scholars.

In the Al-Ansar worldview, apostasy is punishable by death. The threat is repeated again at the end of this message, which is largely concerned with justifying Hasan's attack on a theological basis.

We warn all Muslims, both individuals and organizations, to fear Allah in the views they hold and statements they make in regards to the validity of Nidal's actions, the character of our brother, and the correct Islamic views in relation to matters of this sort. They must be very careful that they do not knowingly or unknowingly fall into disbelief and apostasy.