ji·had·ica

How Online Recruitment Works

In a feeble attempt to live up to Jihadica’s new billing as the “most dangerous” website monitoring Jihadis online, I thought I’d post some thoughts on what role Jihadi forums play in recruitment and radicalization. The usual characterization of online recruitment goes like this: some hapless Sunni Muslim starts poking around online, discovers Jihadi propaganda, and upon watching or reading it becomes radicalized and ready to fight. It is certainly the case that some Sunni Muslims see or read online Jihadi propaganda about Muslim suffering at the hands of the West and decide they need to do something about it.  Why some respond and not others is a complicated issue that I won’t deal with here.  What I’m interested in is the mechanics of the propaganda’s delivery and how its effects are sustained. Firstly, we don’t have a lot of examples of Muslims who were radicalized online and remained radicalized

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Will McCants September 18, 2008

Walking the Talk: Forum Members Travel to Afghanistan and Iraq (Part 1)

On the Firdaws forum yesterday, a member posted a message informing fellow Firdawsians that one of their own, asdasd99, had joined the caravan of jihad in Afghanistan. Asdasd99, who also goes by al-Miskin al-Muhajir (The Lowly Emigrant) on the Ekhlaas forum, had tried to go to Iraq a month ago with a group from Kuwait that I’ll be profiling this week.  However, unnamed “personal circumstances” kept him from going.  Looks like he resolved them. Document (Arabic): 6-29-08-firdaws-member-of-ekhlaas-and-firdaws-joins-jihad-in-afghanistan

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Will McCants June 30, 2008

Saudi Terror Arrests Summary, Government Points Finger at Iran

I’ve been collecting news stories on the terror suspects arrested in Saudi Arabia. Much of the reporting relies on Saudi security personnel and the Interior Ministry’s statement last week, so it should be read with due skepticism. There’s a lot to discuss, but I’ll save my comments for later. For the moment it’s worth noting that, as of today, the Saudis are now injecting a new piece of information into the story: the network was taking orders and receiving money from someone in Iran: The funding for the AQ cells in Saudi came from one of the major countries in the region in the form of Euros. (al-Qabas, “Oil Cell”) Instructions for the cells came from the same major country in the region in which leaders of AQ sought refuge, like the Egyptian Sayf al-Adl who is currently living there. (al-Qabas, “Oil Cell”) Below is my summary of all the

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Will McCants June 29, 2008

How Do You Become a Member of al-Qaeda?

Wali al-Haqq on Ekhlaas asks the provocative question, “how do you become a member of al-Qaeda?” He answers his question with four points: 1. Understand the nature of AQ’s organization, creed, and goals – The aspirant must recognize that there is an inevitable confrontation between true Sunnis and everyone else. A dialogue of civilizations is impossible; fighting is the only solution for the ills that confront Sunni Muslims. 2. Do what you can, trust in God, and be certain of victory 3. Be steadfast and patient, and cling to the Book and the Sunna in every matter 4. Be faithful to God and God will be faithful to you – Despite the wishy-washy title of the final section, it’s actually the most interesting. Wali al-Haqq says that if people want to join the organization of AQ, they should join another Salafi-Jihadi group or start their own. Eventually, they will reach

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Will McCants May 11, 2008
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