Posts Tagged al qaeda

Fanning the Flames of Jihad

By Scott Stewart

On July 11, 2010, al-Malahim Media, the media arm of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), published the first edition of its new English-language online magazine “Inspire.” The group had tried to release the magazine in late June, but for some reason — whether a technical glitch, virus (as rumored on some of the jihadist message boards) or cyberattack — most of the initial file released was unreadable.

The magazine was produced by someone who has a moderate amount of technological savvy, who speaks English well and who uses a lot of American idioms and phraseology. We did not note any hint of British or South Asian influence in the writing. A government source has suggested to us (and we have seen the claim repeated in the media) that Inspire was produced by a U.S citizen who was born in Saudi Arabia named Samir Khan. Khan is a well-known cyber-jihadist — indeed, The New York Times did an excellent story on Khan in October 2007. Given Khan’s background, history of publishing English-language jihadist material and the fact that he reportedly left the United States for Yemen in 2009 and has not returned, it does seem plausible that he is the driving force behind Inspire.

“This report is republished with the permission of STRATFOR: www.STRATFOR.com.”

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Female suicide bombers: Al-Qaeda intends to send 25 Female suicide bombers to Diala

Diala, Jun 15, (VOI) – An Iraqi local official warned that al-Qaeda intends to send 25 female suicide bombers to Diala, one day after a deadly bombing that struck soccer fans who were watching their national team win a big match.

14 female suicide bombers blew themselves up in Diala in the last six months according to intelligence tips and the province statistics Ibrahim al-Bajalan, chief of Diala’s provincial council, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

The local official noted some of the 14 female suicide bombers were not Iraqi nationals.

The announcement came one day after a female suicide bomber targeted a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Iraq’s win in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday, killing two persons and wounding least 37 people near a cafe in Qara Taba, Diala province.

http://patdollard.com/2008/06/no-women-in-aq-al-qaeda-to-send-25-female-suicide-bombers-to-diala/

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The 30-Year War in Afghanistan

This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR

By George Friedman

The Afghan War is the longest war in U.S. history. It began in 1980 and continues to rage. It began under Democrats but has been fought under both Republican and Democratic administrations, making it truly a bipartisan war. The conflict is an odd obsession of U.S. foreign policy, one that never goes away and never seems to end. As the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal reminds us, the Afghan War is now in its fourth phase.

The Afghan War’s First Three Phases

The first phase of the Afghan War began with the Soviet invasion in December 1979, when the United States, along with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, organized and sustained Afghan resistance to the Soviets. This resistance was built around mujahideen, fighters motivated by Islam. Washington’s purpose had little to do with Afghanistan and everything to do with U.S.-Soviet competition. The United States wanted to block the Soviets from using Afghanistan as a base for further expansion and wanted to bog the Soviets down in a debilitating guerrilla war. The United States did not so much fight the war as facilitate it. The strategy worked. The Soviets were blocked and bogged down. This phase lasted until 1989, when Soviet troops were withdrawn. Read the rest of this entry »

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