http://www.investigativeproject.org/3565/the-end-of-the-inspire-era
Al-Qaida has released two new issues of its English-language magazine eight months after a drone strike eliminated the American jihadi leaders behind it. The latest editions of Inspire magazine reinforce al-Qaida's promotion of lone wolf attacks, but each is aimed at a very different audience.
Inspire was known for cultivating
English-language jihadis, contributing to more than a dozen plots
against American and Western targets. The sophisticated magazine
combined all the elements necessary to motivate would-be terrorists,
from the justifying theology to detailed suggestions for new attacks in
the West. It was also critical for al-Qaida's shift from large, top down
directed attacks to small, individualistic terror.
The newly-released eighth issue carrying
the cover headline, "Targeting Dar al-Harb Populations," promotes the
lone wolf trend for non-Muslim lands in the same way as previous
editions. It details plans for new attack methods in the "Open Source
Jihad" section, and presents the culmination of American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki's justification for killing American civilians.
But the ninth issue, "Winning on the
Ground," reads more like an address to Western audiences and the
moderate Muslims that al-Qaida despises. It was written after Awlaki and
Inspire editor Samir Khan – a fellow American – were killed in the September U.S. drone strike.
Although it contains suggestions to burn
down Western forests and cities, it spends more time eulogizing fallen
fighters like Awlaki and trying to explain al-Qaida's ideology to
outsiders. Its quality is noticeably worse without Khan, lacking the
polished style and graphics of previous editions, and is further limited
by contradictory articles and barely readable translations.
The difference between the two magazines is
striking, and perhaps hints at the new direction for future al-Qaida
English-language publications.
Issue 8's update in the "Open Source Jihad" series reinforces Inspire's hallmark methods of lone wolf terrorism
by showing how to use small handguns and to build remote-controlled
detonators for explosives. This effort clearly builds on articles from
previous issues, like "How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom."
Its ideological articles also mirror those
in previous issues. In a lengthy feature article, "Targeting the
Populations of Countries that Are at War with the Muslims," Awlaki lays
out his most sophisticated argument for killing American civilians.
Such arguments arguably are his most important contribution to al-Qaida's ideological longevity. This role was so important that Osama bin Laden called him "qualified
and capable of running the matter in Yemen," according to documents
captured from bin Laden's compound after his assassination.
In "Targeting the Populations of Countries
that Are at War with the Muslims," Awlaki argued that Islam's
prohibition against killing civilians doesn't hold up for modern-day
Westerners.
"… In no way does it mean that Islam
prohibits the fighting against the disbelievers if their men, women and
children are intermingled. This understanding is very dangerous and
detrimental to jihad and awareness on this issue is very important," he
wrote. "To stop the targeting of disbelievers who are at war with the
Muslims just because there are women and children among them leads to
constraints on today's jihad that make it very difficult, and at times,
impossible to fight and places the Muslims at a great disadvantage
compared to their enemy."
Although it was intended to be released last fall, most of the issue's ideological material remains relevant and dangerous.
In "Blended Duality: Muslim and American?" Khan argued that being Muslim and American are inherent contradictions.
"To say one is proud of being American is
not merely a cultural declaration but one of allegiance," he wrote.
Being American is "to undertake that which Allah detests," and all
attempts to create a "moderate" Islam are just "Muslims throwing the
Qur'an behind their backs."
Would-be warriors should help al-Qaida
create a real Islamic state instead, and throw off the shackles of
Western secularism, he argued.
Stark Contrast
The ninth issue looks and reads like a
different publication, complete with notes explaining Islamic
terminology to the uninitiated. It also presents contradictory arguments
about what al-Qaida really wants and who it is willing to kill to get
there.
Khan's final testament is published in the
issue. He initially portrays al-Qaida's fight as a defensive battle
against American hegemony, which will ultimately lead to a renewed
Islamic Caliphate that will defend Muslims. "As long as they continue to
kill our people, occupy our lands, support Israel, fund the tyrannical
puppets in the Muslim lands and try to re-interpret Islam, we will
punish them and their nation severely," Khan wrote.
But in the article, "This is How We Win and
This is How You Lose," Abu Hurairah as-Sana'ani states that al-Qaida's
fight is about offensive domination of non-Muslims. "So contemplate…
perhaps you [will be] guided to Islam, recognizing it as sovereign over
you and give the jizyah willingly while you are humbled," he wrote,
referring to the obligatory tax on non-Muslims living under Islamic
supremacy.
While Khan and as-Sana'ani's arguments are
essentially two sides of the same coin, each promoting the victory of
Islam and the defeat of the West, they clash in explaining why al-Qaida
is fighting.
Similar contradictions exist in the issue's approach to killing civilians.
In "They Killed Father, They Killed Son,"
writer Um Ahmed takes issue with separate drone strikes killing Awlaki
and his eldest son. "One should wonder what Obama will do, what Obama
would feel if Muslims kill his daughters only for being his daughters?
We are sure that not only the Americans but the whole world would
condemn such murder," she wrote. "But Muslims would never intentionally
killed (sic) children, no matter who their parents are. No matter if
they are the worst enemy of Islam, if they are children it is prohibited
to target them intentionally."
But 20 pages later, the article "Do the
Mujahideen and Christian terrorist have similar goals?" celebrates a
recent terror attack by an al-Qaida wannabe in France. In March, French
terrorist Mohammed Merah viciously murdered three young Jewish children and a rabbi on their way to school, chasing them down and killing them execution-style.
The same article states that al-Qaida
terrorists "do not deliberately target women and children," but refers
to the deliberate murder of all civilians as entirely justified revenge.
"If someone says that our bombings in
London and Madrid, for example, are proof that we target women and
children, then we say that we purposely target specialized institutions
to not only send political messages, but to damage their economies, and
[do] revenge for the Muslims they have massacred over the years by
repeating the same to their own citizens so that they may taste what we
taste on a near daily basis," the author claimed.
He concedes that, "Our war with America and
the West may appear to some that we are out to kill for the sake of
killing, since all we do to them is just that. The reason behind it is –
as we've previously stated – because of the crimes these governments
have perpetrated on our lands and continue to perpetrate."
Other themes in the ninth issue contradict
either prominent articles from previous issues or al-Qaida's standard
operating procedures.
"The Jihadi Experiences: The Most Important
Enemy Targets Aimed at by the Individual Jihad," calls for striking
Jews but not synagogues or other places of worship. That goes against
the entire third edition of Inspire, which promoted an attempted mail bombing attack on two Jewish houses of worship.
The article also warns against targeting
civilians not involved in conflict with Muslims, and advises individual
attackers to be sensitive to al-Qaida's reputation. That point doesn't
jibe with the policy of al-Qaida's North African and Yemeni branches,
which have regularly kidnapped and executed foreign tourists.
The new Inspire issues represent different expressions of al-Qaida's message, and alternative summaries of Inspire
magazine's legacy. Like past editions, they are likely to remain highly
relevant to future plots, and may provide fertile ideological ground
for the next generation of al-Qaida propaganda.
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