Making Sense of Jihad

Harkening Back to Olden Times

As I’m reading through the second edition of Zawahiri’s Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet, I’m drawing from a small but very useful collection of 80s-era works on radical Islamic movements, including early editions of books by Moussalli, Dekmedjian, Kepel, MERIP Reports articles and several other sources. 

I started collecting books and articles on radical Islam around 2003, and haven’t really stopped.  My librarian-training teaches me to approach subject-area collection in its totality. That means, in part, collecting old and new sources, as a means of building a broad understanding of a subject area.  And that means collecting books and articles published before 9/11 and untainted by its cataclysmic effects.

At some point I found a 1990 book called The Warriors of God: Jihad (Holy War) and the Fundamentalists of Islam.  Written by two academics -- AJ Abraham and George Haddad -- Warriors reads rather quaint with passages like this:

The Soviet view of Islamic fundamentalism is also somewhat less than positive.  In its editorials, the Soviet press agency, Tass, criticizes the movement for being anew wave of "religious repression," similar to fascism, replacing the idea of a superior race with the idea of a superior religion which oppresses other religions or "free thinkers" whose followers are assigned less civil and human rights.

Oddly enough, its 1990 publication date makes it much “younger” than Dekmejian and Kepel, but its decidedly non-politically correct generalizations makes it read like something from the “olden tymes,” like some Victorian travelogue among the “Mohammedans.”  Yet, the book may provide thinking analysts some benefits.  Its cited works and bibliography point to studies and ideas long-forgotten in the chaos of the ten years following 9/11.

Around the Web, Favorites Edition

Now that Twitter is my drug of choice, I’m basing this Around the Web edition on the numerous tweets I’ve favorited over the past few weeks.

While I was stoned on twitter, Leah at All Things Counterterrorism published an excellent article in Foreign Policy in the true counterterrorism tradition.  I also agree with her assessment of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) - they are greatly underestimated, even after Mumbai.

Aaron Zelin’s coverage of Boko Haram is second to none.  He also linked to this Jihadica study of Sayf al-Adl’s recent letters of “revision.”

Evgeny Morozov’s link to this Social Science Resource Council analysis of the religion in the Arab public sphere was quite popular.

The more I see “radicalization” applied in the real world, the less I’m willing to accept its legitimacy as a discipline within counterterrorism.  Daveed posted a link to a Brennan Center for Justice report on radicalization that scratches the surface of this deepening crap pile.

The Arabist linked to this Guardian article on Egypt’s media revolution.

Steve’s link to the Flaming Oil Port Index gives you a bit of context on why we’re paying over $4 dollars for Premium.

IslamBlog linked to an article on the Pope’s new call for inter-religious dialog.

In other Europe-centered news, Martijn linked to this CSMonitor article on the slow agonizing end of Europe’s the multiculturalist experiment.

Mitchell's Appendices

I've reposted the Appendices of R.P. Mitchell's 1960 dissertation, appropriately entitled, "The Society of the Muslim Brothers."  It's an interesting read for MB scholars, representing possibly the only contemporary collection of MB publications from the time leading up to Nasser's crackdown.

I used to host them on my website, but I took them off, having come to the conclusion that no one was interested.  I've noticed a wee bit more interest in this material in the past month for any number of reasons: Beckbots, apologists, and an endless stream of blather from the MSM news channels.  However, to the young scholar, who was perhaps unaware of Mitchell's dissertation, this is all new.  Dig in, folks.

Around the Web - I’m Back!

Well, sort of.  I’m trying to be “back.”  After a crazy 2010 in which I married a real life Frog and really turned 40.  Not sure what my 40s will bring, but a few things are certain -- it will include counter-jihad, vulgar French idioms, petanque, and plenty of very fine wines.  Unfortunately, it will also include English Premier and Ligue 1 “fuutbawl,” but that’s for a different post.

The two Aaron’s

Aaron, did some excellent work not too long ago  exploring the connections between the online world of Swede suicide bomber, Taimour al-Abdaly and the online world of The Pest, aka Samir Khan. 

Meanwhile, if you were reading Aaron Zelin’s Jihadology you would know that...

-- Bin Laden’s recent message to the French had nothing to say about the burqa law.

-- Daveed Gartenstein-Ross gives a strong defense of  applying jihadi ideology in the analysis of jihadi behavior.  [BTW: Congratulations]

-- There is an emerging Salafist-jihadist movement in Nigeria called the “Brigades of the Tawhid.”

-- And that there is a new study of Salafist-jihadism in Germany, by F.W.Horst, called, of all things,  "Salafist-jihadism in Germany."

It is also through Aaron Z -- retweeted by the estimable Mr Orange -- that Mark Stout just posted a fascinating analysis of an early EIG (Egyptian Islamic Group) counter-intel piece. 

One last thing...

I forgive you, Jarret...

...for employing any ideas that spring forth from the demented mind of 1998 Bad Writing contest winner, Judith Butler in your noble struggle against online jihadis.  I admire your work.  I loved your book.  But the Butler reference is beyond the pale.  She’s Lacan without the pen.  Come back to us, Jarret, come back!  Come back to the real world of applied jihad analysis! Sigh, well, if you insist on wasting your time in the dark chambers of post structuralism, just remember this: Sometimes a pen is just a pen.

A Little OSINT Trick

If you're ever interested in discovering who is expressing their Salafist-jihadi tendencies through blogging, employ this little trick:

Go to a blog search engine -- any one will do -- and search under variations of words like:

"muwahideen"

"murtad"

etc...

You get extra points if you can do them in Arabic.  Is it full proof?  No.  Here's a recent URL pull: 

http://increasinghasanaat.wordpress.com/
http://5centedblood.wordpress.com/
http://nahnumuwahideen.wordpress.com
http://theauthenticbase.wordpress.com/
http://islamfuture.wordpress.com/

http://ahlalhadeeth.wordpress.com/
http://ummmuhammadahmad.wordpress.com/
http://islamnewcastle.co.uk/
http://tawakkulallah.wordpress.com/
http://theislamicstandard.wordpress.com/
http://thetruereligion.wordpress.com/

Word Press actually has tagged searching:

http://en.wordpress.com/tag/jihaad/4/
http://en.wordpress.com/tag/kufr/

As you can see, there are some that are hard core and others that are just of the "really enthusiastic Muslim" variety.  But it does help limit your searchable universe to blogs where the contributors with a bit of education,  an internet connection, and a hankerin' for "jehaad."  This could be helpful if you're following the emergence of new bloggers, now that The Pest and his friends have moved on.

Jihad Vault, Part III

As part three of my occasional series highlighting the spiritual character of the Salafist-jihadist writing, I would like to introduce you to Yousef al-Uyyeri's, "The Path to the Land of Battle."  It's only 12 pages in its At-Tibyan translation (excerpted), and a comparatively breezy read compared to other studies in the Salafist-jihadi literature.  Nevertheless it offers a good snapshot of one of the key reasons why young men (and women) are drawn to the movement.

So let the Youth of this Ummah know: That the truthful and sincere ones who have preceded them (to the Lands of the Jihad), they verily made serious attempts and spent and sacrificed to the maximum of their humanly capability – and then they entered the land of the Jihad… but after what? They entered only after they exhausted everything, after they had gone through stages of fear and anxiety, and after they were expelled, and many hardships… But they were truly sincere to Allah, so thus they arrived at their intended destinations.

And it is for this reason that Allah has mentioned that the ‘path’ to the Jihad, is also a Jihad in and of itself. And that is why Allah has attached such great and enormous rewards to it, and He counted the one who leaves to go to the Jihad, as a ‘Mujahid’ even before he reaches the land of the Jihad – and if he dies in that path, he dies as a Shahid. All of this virtue and reward has come as incitement for the men of this Ummah to take part in the Jihad. And the Mujahid – what does he want from his Jihad? Indeed, he wants one of the two best things – either victory, or martyrdom. And if he attains either of the two, then he has been successful. And for this reason, Allah (Most Glorious is He) and His Messenger (salutations and peace be upon him) have clarified that the one who goes out for Jihad, then verily he will attain one of the two best things….

In a January 2008 expert report submitted in the federal case against Marwan Amawi, et al (click here and here for more on the outcome of the case), Evan Kohlmann quotes from "Path":

In his book “The Path to the Land of Battle”, Yousef al-Ayyiri encourages Muslims around the world to join in Al-Qaida’s cause, whether directly or indirectly—because, in his words, “The Virtue of Whosover Falls Down in the Path of Allah, and Dies, Then He is One of Them... Then he is one of them: Meaning, he is of the Mujahidin.” Al-Ayyiri goes on to implore his readers to “try hard, and walk to the path of the Jihad. Those who reached (the land of) the Jihad—they were not ‘supernatural’ people; rather, they were humans, Muslims. They merely tried sincerely to reach the lands, and Allah facilitated it for them—after they wore out their eyes and ears in search for this Path... And how many paths there are to Jihad! ...it is absolutely impossible for a sincere slave of Allah to miss all these pathways to the Jihad... If only one million (1,000,000) Muslims attempted to arrive at the lands of the Jihad, then 100,000 of them would have definitely reached—and they would have been sufficient for the Mujahidin to continue in the lands of the Jihad.”

What's clear here is that al-Qaida's leaders (like al-Uyyeri) make no distinction between the "internal" jihad of personal inner struggle - so often mentioned by MB front group talking heads on TV -- and the external jihad against designated enemies.

A copy is still hosted at -- where else? -- archive org.  It's one of dozens of at-Tibyan publications available at this directory,

http://ia311035.us.archive.org/2/items/guidebooks/

It is directly linked at the now-defunct, but still live, at-Tibyan blog,

http://www.tibyan.co.cc/2009/09/path-to-land-of-battle.html

Dumpster Diving

Some random links for a snowy day

At Archive<dot> org
http://www.archive.org/details/AlSuryEdarah
http://www.archive.org/details/ikhlasee
http://ia341330.us.archive.org/1/items/jadwal2_673/jadwal.html

At Scribd
http://www.scribd.com/doc/10979605/Mouhammad-Qotb
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3999459/Gaza
http://www.scribd.com/Northwaziristan-Shoora-Council/d/26243507
http://www.scribd.com/doc/25207906/Messge-of-Iamam-Zurqavee-to-Banihasan

First Note on Flickr

Being a curious information gatherer, I decided to throw a few choice words at flickr and see what came up.  Not much in my estimation, but some readers may be able to exploit the site with more skill:

tawhed

which leads you to this photostream, http://www.flickr.com/photos/45874274@N07/ and this one, http://www.flickr.com/photos/35421835@N06/

aqsa

And the obvious:

jehad

Opening the Door to Primary Source Information

Originally posted at Current Intelligence

I recently shared a document entitled, The West in the Eyes of the Egyptian Islamic Movements, over at my other blog.  It was a surprisingly popular post.  It got me thinking about the enduring importance of primary source media in counterterrorism analysis, and about how very little of it is reliably available.  Jihadist websites come and go, and forums vanish.  For US-based spooks there is always the Open Source Center's website; however, it is cumbersome and incomplete.  That is why I rely on a personal collection of jihad media -- mostly documents.  I pulled The West in the Eyes of the Egyptian Islamic Movements from it.

I am considering developing a list of primary source material with the aim of slowly making it publicly available to readers. However, like any good librarian, I am more interested in knowing what my readers want to read.  So, what do you think?  Any special requests?  Be as specific as possible. 

Please, no requests for documents on jihad.  They're all on jihad. 

I'm doing something I rarely do here.  I'm opening the comments section for any suggestions.

"Al-Sabil Interviews Theorist of the Salafi Jihadist Movement." (Excerpts)

I've been reading reports of Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi's increasing moderation since the "Zarqawi crisis" of 2005-06.  If by moderation you mean clarifying the permissibility of insurgency and murder, then well, I guess the guy has morphed into a fuzzy bunny, but I wouldn't invite him to speak at the local food co-op any time soon.  In a June interview to with Wa'il al-Battiri for Amman al-Sabil we have a good idea of where Maqdisi has been heading since the descent of AQ in Iraq into a GIA-style bloodbath.  AQ Central's strategic thinking parallels Maqdisi, undergoing similar modifications at least since Zawahiri's 2005 letter to Zarqawi.  It's seen more recently in the Taliban's revised rules of engagement. 

AQAP's assassination attempt on KSA's counterterrorism chief, Prince Muhammed bin Nayif, could be interpreted through this strategy.  AQ gains more by targeting their attacks on Saudi leaders, counterterrorism officials, and other security elements, and by plotting attacks on infrastructure, not the general populace.  See coverage here, here and here.

I'm not a sociologist, but I do know enough about the Arab Middle East to recognize the general strengths and weaknesses of those societies.  Family is still very important, and the individual's ties to their family counts for much of the social cohesion in those mostly-failing states.  AQ generally looses support when they target civilians, or in the case of Iraq, entire families, because such attacks tear at the heart of social cohesion and stability. Conversely, most governments in the Arab Middle East are weak, unreliable, and disconnected from the general populace.  By concentrating operations on military and security elements within weak governments AQ has learned to target the softest spot on the beast (see The Management of Savagery, 2005).  And considering some of its recent strategic success, it is an effective strategy so far.

This is why I believe the June interview illuminates a significant and troubling trend.  Maqdisi spends most of the time clarifying past misconceptions and false statements.  Far from moderating his views, he's honing them.

From the article introduction

Al-Maqdisi was released [from prison] on 12 March 2008. The media reported that the security authorities set the condition that he would not give any press interviews - an order by which he abided. Over the past few months he refused to give statements to the press, leading to a great deal of controversy.

In this interview, given more than a year after his release, Al-Maqdisi touches on many stances that he adopts or calls for, refuting extremist views on takfir [holding other Muslims to be infidel] that are attributed to him. He also deals with many other issues.

From the interview: On takfir

[Al-Battiri] Concerning the issues of takfir to which you alluded, do you not think that certain youths display their ignorance by talking about these issues? Indeed, many of them wrote discourses and made allegations that tarnished the image of the movement. Because of them the notion spread that this movement holds the majority of people to be infidels.

[Al-Maqdisi] Yes, some of the young men with deficient knowledge might make such an error. Therefore, as I have said, I give the youth advice and I urge them to seek knowledge. This would save them from the pitfalls of extremism. I wrote my book Al-Waqafat [Stances] in which I offered advice to the youth on practical issues. I also gave them advice on religious studies and faith- related issues in my book Al-Risalah Al-Thalathiniyah Fi Al-Tahdhir Min Akhta al-Takfir [Thirty Examples Warning Against Wrong Takfiri Practices]. In this book, I mentioned in detail the conditions and prohibitions concerning takfir. I warned against extremism in takfir and drew attention to 33 examples of either well known or grave takfiri practices, which I did not want the youths to slip into.

From the interview: On civilian Muslim targets

[Al-Battiri] Given the bombings that occur here and there in countries around the world, can you speak to us about the inviolability of the blood of Muslims in Islamic shari'ah, given that some might blow up an entire building just to kill one or two soldiers?

[Al-Maqdisi] No doubt God the legislator held the Muslim's blood, property, and honour to be inviolable. In a reliably-proven saying of the Prophet - peace and blessings of God be upon him - at the inviolable city, and in the inviolable month on the day of the major pilgrimage, he said: "Your blood and property will be as inviolable to you as this day, this month, and this city, until you meet with your God on doomsday." The Prophet said: "Have I given my message?" They replied: "Yes." He said: "God be my witness. Let those present inform those who are absent. So many serve as conveyers of warnings but many others would not convey what they hear. Therefore, do not become infidels after me, each striking the neck of the other."

Our ulema said that violating the blood of a Muslim is a great iniquity. The iniquity of letting 1,000 infidels escape is smaller than the sin of shedding a drop of blood of any Muslim. Therefore, one should not be lenient about the sin of shedding the blood of Muslims based on suspicion, jihad, or other things. Indeed, the blood and properties of disobedient Muslims cannot be violated even if they commit iniquities. It is our duty to call them into religion and try to bring them from darkness to light and not to engage with them in battles.

I have written on this many times and I dissociated myself from the undisciplined operations that others commit outside the bounds of shari'ah - operations that result in thousands of victims and in which much blood is shed without any legitimate benefits to jihad or Muslims.

And,

[Al-Battiri] What about the bombing of cinema houses?

[Al-Maqdisi] If this is intended to kill the iniquitous, then this is forbidden and a crime that is impermissible in any way. It is not a legitimate means of fighting vice. The killing of such disobedient people as a form of punishment is an injustice, transgression, and infringement on the word of God. It is an illegitimate punishment. Even if the attacks do not kill anyone, they are still mistakes in terms of shari'ah policy and priorities. Bombing movie theatres does not stop disobedience. Some youths tried this and they were given long prison terms, spending the primes of their lives in jail, and eventually coming out of prison without any achievements. Moreover, this also means opening a confrontation with the public, who have the right to have us work with them in Islamic preaching and not in fighting and killing.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East. London: Jun 5, 2009. ProQuest document 1740306621.

Recent Article Roundup

The ToCs have been piling up in my in box, and they’re finally spilling over into a blog post…

• First, a little research p#&n:  Scopus
• Second, the new issue of DOMES (Digest of Middle East Studies)

From the current issue of Strategic Analysis (Volume 33, Issue 3):

Title: A Cold Start: India's Response to Pakistan-Aided Low-Intensity Conflict
Author: A. Vinod Kumar

Title: Jihad Beyond Jammu & Kashmir
Author: Shanthie Mariet D'Souza

Title: Militant Training Camps in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir: An Existential Threat
Author: Priyanka Singh

From the current issue of Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (Volume 32 Issues 5-6):

Title: After the Madrid Bombings: Internal Security Reforms and Prevention of Global Terrorism in Spain
Author: Fernando Reinares

Title:  Al-Takfir wa'l Hijra: Unpacking an Enigma
Author: Jeffrey B. Cozzens

From the current issue of Journal of Islamic Law and Culture (Volume 11 Issue 1):

Title: Secularism and modernity: alienation and the renewal of values in political Islam
Author: Smita A. Rahman

Title: Beyond Jihad: the New Thought of the Gamāʿa Islāmiyya
Author: Sherman A. Jackson

From the current issue of Critical Studies on Terrorism (Volume 2 Issue 1):

Title: Terrorism's cause and cure: the rhetorical regime of democracy in the US and UK
Authors: Fahed Al-Sumait;  Colin Lingle; David Domke

Title: Frontiers of blame: India's ‘War on Terror’
Author: Ted Svensson

Title: Propaganda and the subversion of objectivity: media coverage of the war on terrorism in Iraq
Authors: Michael Ryan; Les Switzer

Title: Pre-mediating guilt: radicalisation and mediality in British news
Authors: Andrew Hoskins; Ben O'Loughlin

From the current issue of The Journal of North African Studies (Volume 14 Issue 2):

Title: The Algerian Civil War: Washington's new counterinsurgency model
Author: Fouzi Slisli

Title: Migrants, weapons and oil: Europe and Libya after the sanctions
Author: Derek Lutterbeck

Title: The Islamists in Tunisia between confrontation and participation: 1980-2008
Author: Alaya Allani

Title: The shifting sands of revolutionary legitimacy: the role of former mūjāhidīn in the shaping of Algeria's collective memory
Author: Thomas DeGeorges

From the April issue of Comparative European Politics (Volume 7 Number 1):

Title: Headscarf Regimes in Europe: Diversity Policies at the Intersection of Gender, Culture and Religion
Author: Birgit Sauer

From the current issue of Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs (Volume 29 Issue 1):

Title: Between Enlightened Exclusion and Conscientious Inclusion: Tolerating the Muslims in Germany
Authors: Bican Sahin; Nezahat Altuntas

Title: Collective Memory and Violence: The Use of Myths in the Chechen Separatist Ideology, 1991–1994
Author: Aurélie Campana

From the current issue of Israel Affairs (Volume 15 Issue 2):

Title: Saudi Arabia and the Arab-Israeli Conflict in the Last Years of the Bush Presidency
Author: Gawdat Bahgat

From the current issue British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (Volume 36 Issue 1):

Title: ‘With the Islamists?—Sometimes. With the State?—Never!’ Cooperation between the Left and Islamists in Egypt
Author: Maha Abdelrahman

From the current issue of European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research (Volume 15, Numbers 1-2 / June, 2009):

Title: Criminal Punishment in Islamic Societies: Empirical Study of Attitudes to Criminal Sentencing in Iran
Author: Ghassem Ghassemi

From the current issue of The Information Society: An International Journal (Volume 25 Issue 3):

Title: Networked Individuals and Institutions: A Cross-Sector Comparative Perspective on Patterns and Strategies in Government and Research
Authors: William H. Dutton; Rebecca Eynon

From the current issue of Journal of Beliefs & Values Studies in Religion & Education (Volume 30 Issue 1):

Title: Maximising the overlapping area: multiculturalism and a Muslim identity for madrasahs in Singapore
Author:  Charlene Tan

House Cleaning

Summer is here.  Nothing tells me it's summer more than the usual drop in traffic.  Family trips, graduations, projects, etc will keep traffic low until September. 

Since traffic has calmed a bit, I'll be doing a little "house cleaning" around the blog.  Perhaps a new picture of my favorite mosque.  Perhaps a font change.  Don't know yet, really. 

I do know that I'll be writing a booklet on OSINT.  I'll also be catching up on some professional reading -- not intel analysis, librarianship.  To be more specific, I'll be reading up on the latest research on information-seeking behavior and integrating any relevant lessons learned into OSINT information collection.  This and jihad, of course. 

Everything I Ever Learned About Analysis, I Learned From....

Sources and Methods continues to be an excellent source of training and information on the discipline of intelligence analysis.  However, this recent post lost me.  The EC's Joint Research Center has taken the discipline into the realm of post-modern abstraction with one of the more obtuse tables I've ever seen.

I have no idea what any of this stuff actually means, and more important, unless someone pays for me to attend formal classes, I guess I won't be learning about "S & T" events and "Creativity Methods."

Quite frankly, everything I ever learned about analysis I learned from Bob Ross.

Some Thoughts on Ancient History (And on reaching 11,000)

Back in March 2002, I was working on an R&D project for Raytheon in a desolate industrial park off the Dulles Toll Road.  It was a temporary job, designed to buy me time until I could find something more permanent. I was working on an emerging OSINT data-mining tool called Genesis.  After telling the program lead that I was interested in pursuing OSINT in the intel community, she warned me to be prepared to be ignored.  OSINT wasn’t taken seriously.  My cynical response was something along the lines of: Hey, I’m a librarian.  No one takes me seriously.  I might as well be paid more to be ignored.

After fleeing an analytical position at the FBI in the summer of 2003, I landed a contract position at DOE.   I was in part responsible for bringing more OSINT into the department’s small, specialized counterterrorism program.  I consider myself lucky. The management was good, and they were opened to open source.  I went on to work with OSINT in even greater depth in another DOE program.  Yet,  there were general problems that I saw across agencies that made my job more challenging than I expected. 

When I began briefing my clients on emerging OSINT issues, particularly terrorist use of the internet, most of them had no idea what I was trying to explain to them.  It wasn’t that the concept of forum or blog was difficult, it was the simple fact that practically all of these men and women had never used the Internet for more than e-mail and the occasionally Amazon purchase or <ahem> soft core <fill in the blank>.  It may be a challenge to explain the significant role Forum A has on, say, an operational tempo in country Z.  It’s a whole different animal when the decision-makers simply cannot conceive of what a forum is and how it works.

Add to that the omnipresent “terrorism” experts (geezers with experience in 70s-era Athens or 80s-era Belfast, given too much credibility and often possessing too much ego) who dismissed all jihadi media as “propaganda” and thus meaningless.  The word "propaganda," conjuring up images of Mao posters, was used too often by people who had little to no experience with jihadi media.   I was working in a toxic mix of ignorance and bad information that was nearly impossible to break through.  Aaron and SITE Institute were the first to sound the alarm, and I was following their work closely at this point, because they were the only ones really integrating the jihadi virtual world with real world analysis.  The first signs of awareness within the policy-making community came after Irhabi007 "hosted" jihadi material on the website of the Arkansas Department of Transportation.  Then, and only then, did you have the first signs of intellectual life within the policy-influencing community.

It’s been slow going ever since; however, I’m heartened by what I see.  Conversations are less clueless and rudimentary; conclusions are based on better information and more nuanced understanding of online dynamics.   The recent blog discussions (example) on Andrew Exum’s TNR article lifted my sprits even more.  There is finally a cadre of bright young (and not so young) analysts, familiar in the languages of the enemy, and with operational experience in both the physical and the virtual jihads. 

Sheikh Maqdisi has reason to be concerned. 

I began this blog back in 2004 as a means of sharing primary source material – jihadi documents – with anyone who knew enough to appreciate it.  I received practically no hits and no attention for the first three years.  Granted, I didn’t keep track of my traffic, but last year I began tracking stats with Sitemeter. Recently, I noticed that my hit count passed 10,000 – it’s now passed 11, 000.  It’s safe to say that the number only counts for the time Sitemeter has been working its magic, and that the actual hit count is much higher. 

Though I’m not the best at analyzing user stats, I can tell you that a substantive portion of these 11,000 hits have come from regular readers who share my posts with others.  I am grateful for each and every one of my readers, but particularly the regular ones.

Thank you, folks.  And G-d bless you.

Feel the Love

The Pest excitedly posted this earlier today.  It's a GIMF translation of an article/whatever by that most prolific of online jihadi "sheikhs," Atiatallah.  According to the ansarnet.info forum post, it's a translation of an Arabic post/article from November 2008.   The "sheikh" supposedly died a few years ago in Iraq, but that apparently hasn't stopped him from posting to jihadi forums.

The following text comes from the first page of the translation, and crystalizes the global Salafist-Jihadist image (caricature, actually)  of their mortal enemy, ie. the United States:

The Criminal Americans are Fumbling About, Carrying Out a War of Atrocities
by: Sheikh Atiatullah ‐ may Allah protect him ‐

This phenomenon not something strange coming from them, nor is something surprising to us; a phenomenon which is a result of its true identity is not unusual. They and their state of affairs are known to us from the start. They are the scum of humanity, having no religion nor God‐consciousness, no ethics nor standards for that matter, except what they boast about – as they must – from their hollow and deceitful slogans and expressions which only trick those who have no sense of morality and true religion.

Indeed they are the Americans, the leaders of humanity today.

… the immoral criminals, teachers of debauchery and filth, those who spread corruption across earth.

… a criminal, homosexual, shameless, dissolute people, worshippers of lusts and Satan.

… a tyrannical, conceited, impudent, and oppressive people hostile to others.

… a gluttonous, selfish, greedy, lustful, and animal‐like people.

… a people who reject Allah, the Magnificent, His laws, and His right of absolute authority.

… those who have haughtily refused the worship of Allah ()!

… those who deny of the Messengers of Allah and their Messages, those who abuse and mock the Messengers of Allah.

Are they not the ones who reviled Muhammad (), siding with and protecting those who cursed and mocked him? Do not the president of America and its masses believe that the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (), was a liar – that he lied to humanity in his claim that he was a Prophet of Allah to all people? Do they not believe that he was not sent by Allah nor was he sent revelation, and that this Quran brought by Muhammad () is a lie and fabrication which he himself put together?!

Do the American masses not believe that this Quran is backwards, callings to digression and what they call violence and terrorism, criticizing it, saying it to be the foundation of transgression against human and women’s rights?

Woe be to humanity if the likes of these people are its leaders, and woe be to humanity if they do not rebel against these likes and return to their Lord and submit the role of leadership to its best, the followers of the Messengers of Allah, Allah’s beloved, those who follow His Guidance, His Books and His Messages!

Due to the unawareness, rather the deep sleep of the people of Truth (the Islamic Nation), these people and their predecessors assumed leadership of the world. They built a materialistic and lustful society based on the disbelief of religion and the Last Day, drowning in entertainment and opulence: seeing the world as nothing but a source of entertainment, by any means or ends, without any of the curbs or restrictions of religion or the fear of the Lord, the Great and High Creator.

Here's a screen cap of the page:

Reports and Articles Roundup

Recent Reports

Title: Khobar Towers: Tragedy and Response (2008)
Author: US govt
Source: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/actions/GetPublication.do?stocknumber=008-070-00809-2

Title: Does International Terrorism Spread along Civilizational Lines?
Author(s): Eric Neumayer; Thomas Pluemper
Source:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1347949

Title: Iraq: A Political History from Independence to Occupation
Author: Adeed Dawisha
Source: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8887.html

Title: Afghanistan Report 2009
Author: NATO
Source: http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-1207830A-5C4F2DA6/natolive/news_52204.htm

Recent Articles

Title: Headscarf Regimes in Europe: Diversity Policies at the Intersection of Gender, Culture and Religion
Author: Birgit Sauera
Source: Comparative European Politics (2009) 7, 75–94.
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/cep/journal/v7/n1/abs/cep200841a.html

Title: HuJI in India: An Assessment
Author: T. Khurshchev Singh
Source:  Strategic Analysis, Volume 33, Issue 2 March 2009 , pages 182 - 190
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909699334~db=all?jumptype=alert&alerttype=new_issue_alert,email

Title: Rethinking Military Intelligence Failure - Putting the Wheels Back on the Intelligence Cycle
Author: Geraint Evans
Source:  Defence Studies, Volume 9, Issue 1 March 2009 , pages 22 - 46
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909931775~db=all~jumptype=rss

Title: Measuring Political Mobilization: The Distinction Between Activism and Radicalism
Author(s): Sophia Moskalenko, Clark McCauley
Source:  Terrorism and Political Violence, Volume 21, Issue 2 April 2009 , pages 239 - 260
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909856899~db=all~jumptype=rss

Title: Foreign Fighters in Iraq: A Cross-National Analysis of Jihadism
Author(s): Christopher Hewitt, Jessica Kelley-Moore
Source:  Terrorism and Political Violence, Volume 21, Issue 2 April 2009 , pages 211 - 220
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909854617~db=all~jumptype=rss

Title: The Islamization of the Social Movements and the Revolution, 1963–1979
Source: Moazami Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East; 29: 47-62
http://cssaame.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/29/1/47?rss=1

Title: We're All Terrorists Now: Critical—or Hypocritical—Studies “on” Terrorism?
Author(s): David Martin Jones a; M. L. R. Smith b
Source:  Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Volume 32, Issue 4 April 2009 , pages 292 - 302
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909959026~db=all?jumptype=alert&alerttype=new_issue_alert,email

Title: De-Radicalization Initiatives in Egypt: A Preliminary Insight
Author(s): Rohan Gunaratna a; Mohamed Bin Ali a
Source:  Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Volume 32, Issue 4 April 2009 , pages 277 - 291
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909957569~db=all?jumptype=alert&alerttype=new_issue_alert,email

Title: The Quest to Understand Global Jihad: The Terrorism Industry and its Discontents
Author: Madawi Al-Rasheed
Source:  Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 45, Issue 2 March 2009 , pages 329 - 338
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909877797~db=all?jumptype=alert&alerttype=new_issue_alert,email

Title: Oil Funds: Perils and Opportunities
Author: Gawdat Bahgat
Source: Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 45, Issue 2 March 2009 , pages 283 - 293
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909877970~db=all?jumptype=alert&alerttype=new_issue_alert,email

Title: The Death of the PLO
Author: Hillel Frisch
Source:  Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 45, Issue 2 March 2009 , pages 243 - 261
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909878150~db=all~jumptype=rss

Title: Democratic Ideology in Islamist Opposition? The Muslim Brotherhood's 'Civil State'
Author(s): Chris Harnisch; Quinn Mecham
Source:  Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 45, Issue 2 March 2009 , pages 189 - 205
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a909877964~db=all~jumptype=rss

Title: Afghanistan: Imperatives of Stability Misperceived
Author: Ahmad Shayeq Qassem
Source:  Iranian Studies, Volume 42, Issue 2 April 2009 , pages 247 - 274
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a910164303~db=all?jumptype=alert&alerttype=new_issue_alert,email

OSINT Essay in the Works

I'm in the middle of an essay on OSINT collection, but it's been slow going.  I've been very busy with more pressing concerns.  However, I did want to share the essay's working title, inspired by Wayne Gretzky:

"skate where the puck's going, not where it's been."

Right Up Out of the Soil

Scribd is quickly becoming my new favorite open internet cesspool of information.  Alas, there are only a few hard core Salafist-Jihadists use the site, and for the most part, their material is dawah, rather dull and redundant material at that. 

There's an American, "Abu Noah"

http://www.scribd.com/Abu_Noah

And the rather persistent "Muwhideen," or as I like to call him, "Mr Mu."

http://www.scribd.com/muwahideen

But there is also an astonishing amount of pop Islam (characterized by innumerable copies of the works of Harun Yahya).  Thrown into this mix is a persistent strain of pop antisemitism and the inevitable paranoia and various "studies" supporting various conspiracy theories.  It's a 21st century hybrid of contemporary Arab pop culture and In Search Of...

One strange example comes from someone who has been sharing both safety process guidelines for drilling rigs and other upstream activities and antisemitic literature.  All in English, despite having less than perfect command of the language.

http://www.scribd.com/people/documents/4144415-talaat?page=1

There's nothing jihadi here.  As far as I can tell it's all perfectly legal, though I really wonder whether Saudi Aramco and Lufkin would appreciate their corporate security documents on the web.  It's just another example of the slow, but seemingly inevtiable seep, of once-controlled information finding its way onto the internet.  It's as if it  just bubbles up from out of the soil.

Ever Wonder What Government-Sponsored OSINT Looks Like?

Well, look no further than Scribd:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13900466/DHS-Daily-Report-20090402

Keywords, Anyone

I recently did a copy and paste from the Keywords field of an Archive<dot>org record. Keyword lists like the one below hint at the user's (ie, the online jihadi's) original intentions for sharing the file, such as their intended audience or purpose, and hint at their command of English. This collection is unusual, because it reflects accurate spelling and coupling of concepts that suggests this Archive user is a native English speaker.  Their UK-based yahoo account also suggests this, too.  

For context, see the file record here, http://www.archive.org/details/UsaCrusaders

USA Crusaders


"Fighting is prescribed for you & ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you & that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows & ye know not."(2.216)


Keywords: Allah God Creator Muhammad Mohammed Islam Deen Religion Muslim Holy Qur'an Quran Koran Recitation Recital Reciter Qari Revelation Mushaf Scripture Sunnah Jihad Fisabilillah Mujahid Mujahideen Islamic Army Awakening Revival Revivalism Revolution Salaf Salafi Pious Predecessors Khalifah Khilafah Fighting Battle War Conflict Jizya Shariah Sharia Law Resistance Nasheed True Truth Reality Fact Shaheed Shuhadah Martyr Ulema Sheikh Shaykh Scholar Mullah Osama Bin Laden Ayman Zawahiri Al-Qaeda Taliban Death Prophet Messenger Apostle Anbiyah Da'wah Naseeha Sahabah Victory Conquest Glory Crusades Crusaders Taghout Kafir Kufar Kufr Disbeliever Unbeliever Infidel Soldier Saracen Warrior Fighter Struggle Masjid Mosque Haraam Haramain Makkah Mecca Madinah Medina Nabawi Al-Quds Al-Aqsa Baitul Maqdis Jerusalem Palestine Iraq Afghanistan Chechnya Kashmir Gujarat Bosnia Somalia Algeria Ummah Brotherhood Imam Amir Leader General Commander Prisoner Captive Education Genocide Slaughter Massacre Israel America

Around the Web – “Extra Big A**” Edition

This edition of Around the Web is dedicated to my favorite movie.  “Now with more molecules!”

We start off with a bit of Tim, or more accurately, the excellent work of ICSR, Countering Online Radicalisation: A Strategy for Action.

Looking for nasheeds in Urdu? (Go ahead, admit it, I know you are) Well, look no further, http://bintulislam.wordpress.com/taranay/

Michael over at The Opposite End of China needs your help: Who is on his carpet?

Staying in the region, here are two posts on Islam in China: One on the Persian influence, and one on the cultural divide between Malay and Chinese Muslims

Reviewing the reviewer: Kilcullen’s review of a review of his book. (via SWJ)

What is it about HTS that makes functional academics go off their rockers?  Just asking.

Good news for Yanni’s evil twin, Ali al-Marri, and bad news for us:  Al-Marri detention case ended from (via SCOTUSBlog)

And then there’s this from MEMRI: An In-Depth Summary of Sayyid Imam's New Polemic against Al-Qaeda, 'Exposing the Exoneration'

That from BBC Monitoring (via Lexis-Nexis): Al-Arabiya programme on dispute between Al-Zarqawi's followers, Al-Maqdisi. BBC Monitoring International Reports (March 4, 2009)

Ulema matter.

So do jihadi forums.

A little polemic here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12662613/Shaykh-Albani-explains-why-we-should-ascribe-to-the-SalafusSalih

A little dawah guidance there: http://ii-muflihah.blogspot.com/2009/02/10-tips-for-muslim-activists-to-deal.html

Much needed skepticism (via Axe)

But much more needed here.  [Poor bloke.  He wasn’t a terrorist, just really good friends with Abu Zubaydah]

Found via Aaron: Jihadi video and auto-radicalisation: evidence from an exploratory YouTube study

The DORAS subject bibliography has links to more studies in this area, including interesting results from a search of “Islamic law.”

A review of The Islamist at Abu Muqawama, that includes this passage:

The image of easy going weed-smoking free love (Islamic style) Sufis has always appealed to some in the West. After 9/11, it has gained new supporters who see it as a “form of Islam that we can live with”. Quite a few Muslims seem to have become drawn to Sufistic approaches to Islam precisely because it seems more West-friendly.
 
But politics is not the right reason to adopt or support an ascetic and esoteric religious path. It’s also misguided. Sufis can fight when they want to.

More nuance here with an article on Egypt’s evolving Islamism

Meanwhile, Ganesh Sitaraman advocates a reconsideration of the laws of war. (via SWJ) [Not a bad idea]

Two from the current issue of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism

Fighting Cosmic Warriors: Lessons from the First Seven Years of the Global War on Terror
Author: Heather S. Gregg a
Volume 32, Issue 3 March 2009 , pages 188 – 208

The 9/11 Attacks—A Study of Al Qaeda's Use of Intelligence and Counterintelligence
Author: Gaetano Joe Ilardi a
Volume 32, Issue 3 March 2009 , pages 171 - 187

In the OSINT corner

My post on the Revelation

A new book to get the OSINT juices flowing: The Fat Tail: The Power of Political Knowledge for Strategic Investing by Ian Bremmer and Preston Keat

Something called Elastic Lists, a new data-mining tool

And a new intel platform for the EU? (via IntelliBriefs)

"French military intelligence and European security agencies appear keen to acquire WebLab, a platform designed by EADS to extract and disseminate all types of information"

And now for something completely different

Honoring Jacques Barzun

Reviewing George Steiner

Not Weird At All

Kristan at Sources and Methods recently spoke to students of library and information science in New York:

One of the most interesting things was to have a chance to compare notes with what amounted to some really great OSINT collectors. Not sure if you could hire any of these people (there is a job, apparently, waiting for most if not all of them when they are done -- the average age of a librarian is close to 50 and some enormous number of them are retiring in the next 36 months) but, boy, if you did, you would acquire some unique and very impressive talent.

Kristan isn't the first to have what I call "the Revelation." This is the moment when a career IC manager notices that librarians -- those whose career it is to manage and exploit information -- are in fact good at managing and exploiting information.  I saw the Revelation occur numerous times when I was a CT analyst.  No matter where I worked I was eventually known as "She Who Can Find Stuff."

With every Revelation comes the increasing awareness within the IC that librarians have something to offer.  It's my hope that eventually OSINT and the unique skill set required to do it well will be taken seriously enough that its practitioners are recognized as the professionals they are. 

For those unfamiliar with my creds: I hold a MSLS from Catholic University (1995).  I also wrote a book on the future of the profession in 1999-2000 entitled, Developing Information Leaders: Harnessing the Talents of Generation X.

Save Open Access Policies

From American Libraries Association (via InfoToday):

Library Associations Oppose Repealing Public Access Bill, Urge Action

The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act, H.R. 801 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.801:), recently introduced by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., would repeal the NIH Public Access Policy and prevent other federal agencies from enacting similar open access policies. In response, 10 library associations and advocacy groups.. have sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee members opposing the bill..and expressing their long-standing and strong support for the NIH Open Access Policy...

The library groups say that the bill would amend the U.S. Copyright Code, prohibiting federal agencies from requiring, as a condition of funding agreements, public access to the products of the research they fund. "This will significantly inhibit our ability to advance scientific discovery and to stimulate innovation in all scientific disciplines. Most critically, H.R. 801 would reverse the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy, prohibit American taxpayers from accessing the results of the crucial biomedical research funded by their taxpayer dollars, and stifle critical advancements in life-saving research and scientific discovery."

The groups are calling all supporters of public access—including librarians and libraries, researchers, campus administrators, patient advocates, publishers, and others—to please contact their members of the U.S. House of Representatives House Judiciary Committee no later than Feb. 28, 2009, to express their support for public access to taxpayer-funded research and to ask the members to oppose H.R. 801. (See the ALA call to action, http://capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=12715186.)

Around the Web

What wrong with this headline? [Answer below]

Welcome to the club.  Three new blogs of interest:

Waq al-Waq
Islam in China, and its promising related website: http://islaminchina.info/)
Maghreb Politics Review

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross asks a good question:  Will Afghanistan awake?

Did AQIM recently issue a fatwa on the legitimacy of attacking army suppliers? It's not clear from the CBS News blog post.  It reads like they're describing a fatwa.

Zero Intelligence Agents has an interesting post on how the IC policy-sausage is being remade. 

Ubi has a new article: ‘Cyberspace and Security: Issues and Concerns.’ Congratulations, dude.

KOW looks at "The Coming Swarm."

Reading this Thomas Hegghammer review of a French language study of the current of Apocryphal theology in Islam, I was reminded of a particular columnist's hilarious jab at "Kyoto cultists:" that the problem with said global warming fanatics is that the "end of the world's nighness is never quite nigh enough." I think that could be said for most millenarians. 

Hegghammer has also been busy browsing the periodicals section of the jihad and recently brought us an update.

In other book reviews, there's a look at a little known attempt at an African caliphate: http://ibnayyub.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/the-african-caliphate/

And speaking of periodicals:

Al-Aqsa Journal (autumn 2007): http://www.scribd.com/doc/2742257/ALAQSA-JOURNAL-ON-PALESTINE-Autumn-2007

Al-Aqsa Magazine: http://www.scribd.com/doc/414559/AlAqsa-MAgazine

In another part of the Scribd universe, Azzam speaks to the "yutes" of the world
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12704461/A-Message-to-Every-Youth-Abdullah-Azzam

In Rome, a move to isolate radicals.

Of course they do. One of them is using it as a footrest in the safe house rec room.  It's by the new HDTV and the Wii Fit. (via the Pest, http://revolution.thabaat.net/?p=904)

An assessment of the recent policy changes in Saudi Arabia, at Crossroads Arabia.

Is this jihadi "propaganda" or is this dawah?  http://www.55a.net/firas/arabic/index.php.  You decide.

Londonstani takes a stab at the jihadi "life cycle."

What's most disturbing aspect of this image?  yeah, you guessed it:  it's the chunky clear plastic bracelets. 

When in doubt, get them on immigration.  Note, too, that the report includes the usual: "but they were such a quite family, kept to themselves, seemed normal" quote from the neighbors.

In the OSINT corner

The European Library gets an update

Twitter is tedious, I'm not a fan.  but Roderick Jones has a point about its value in information dissemination.

Don't laugh, I agree with Secrecy News about something:

In a recent meeting with the Director of CIA Information Management Services, we reiterated our view that all unclassified, non-copyrighted publications of the Open Source Center (which is managed by CIA) should be made freely available to the public.

Oh, and that BBC News piece: The "schism" that that say is "evolving" in Pakistan has actually been around for, oh, about 1500 years.  You can't have "sectarians" until you have schism.  Shouldn't the Brits know something about this?

Around the Web - Catch Up Edition

I was shocked to notice that I hadn't placed Jane Novak's essential Armies of Liberation blog on my list of Reliable Sources.  It's there now, as is CT analyst Jarrett Brachman's website.

Registan.net has also been added. It focuses on news from Central Asia news.

Mountainrunner has a list of must-read books, and one of them stood out for the purposes of this blog (and this blogger):  Al-Qaida's Doctrine for Insurgency: Abd al-Aziz al-Muqrin's "A Practical Course for Guerrilla War"

So apparently Sheikh Qaradawi's IslamOnline.net has opened a DC office.  The first question that pops into my mind: who's funding this?  Second question: was the location in the National Press Building, intentional?  The Press building is about five blocks from FBI's HQ, and perhaps 5 or 6 from the OEOB.

The Mumbai Terror Attacks Dossier (via The Hindu)

And a Mumbai summary report. (via RAND)

Tell us how you really think, Thomas.  (excellent post at jihadica on the plague of bad psy-ops)

Bemoaning the problem of too many fatawa at Al Masry al Ayoum

The health of the king matters (via The Washington Institute for Near East Policy)

The inevitability of new leadership in Egypt also matters. (via the Shack)

Also via the Shack: Brotherhood is planning to participate in 2010 Parliamentary elections in Egypt.  Let's get ready to rumble!

A short history of Islamic banking (via Asharq Alawsat)

OSINT Corner

A new source for internet journalism: Global Post, http://www.globalpost.com/

Three from Zero Intelligence Agents

The IC and 'Knowlege Ecosystems'

How Will Modern Warfare Change Academic Reserach?

Political Networks Working Papers Archive