ji·had·ica

Walking the Talk: Forum Members Travel to Afghanistan and Iraq (Pt. 3)

Today we continue our look at a Kuwaiti cell and how its members transitioned from forum fighters to foreign fighters. When we left off, Badr al-Harbi and Bawasil had returned to Kuwait from the front in Afghanistan via Iran, entrusted with a special mission by Abu al-Layth al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda leader. They were delayed in carrying out their task by Iranian, and then Kuwaiti, security forces. The latter, according to al-Furqan al-Junubi’s account, had tortured them and confiscated their passports. After being released, Harbi and Bawasil stayed in Kuwait a full year to complete their special mission: gathering money, clothes, and food for the Jihadis in Afghanistan. In this, they relied on their network of friends, many of whom were already committed to the cause. Yet Harbi and Bawasil’s efforts aroused the suspicions of other Jihadis, who wrote the brothers in Afghanistan and told them that they were spies.

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Will McCants July 6, 2008

Walking the Talk: Forum Members Travel to Afghanistan and Iraq (Pt. 2)

On Monday, we looked at the case of al-Miskin al-Muhajir/asdasd99, who finally made his way to Afghanistan. Miskin had hoped to go to Iraq in April with a group from Kuwait, but unnamed obstacles stood in his way. We don’t yet know the fate of Miskin, but we do know what happened to this earlier group. The story begins with Abu `Umar Badr al-Harbi, 36, from Kuwait. According to a friend of his, al-Furqan al-Junubi, Harbi was the oldest of his brothers and very close to his mother. He became “committed to the path (of jihad)” at the age of 14. During his military service in Kuwait, Harbi met his best friend, al-Bawasil. Bawasil was at the beginning of his commitment to jihad when 9/11 happened. Both men rejoiced at the attack and were impressed that someone had been able to strike so deep inside the U.S. One day, Harbi

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Will McCants July 2, 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

New Iraq Foreign Fighter Study

Clint Watts of PJ Sage has released part two of his study of the foreign fighter data from Sinjar, Iraq.  The CTC at West Point  was the initial conduit for the data and they wrote a useful accompanying report.  Clint has gone further by recoding the data (all of which he makes freely available on his site).  His new look at the numbers led him to some important findings, including: Al-Qaeda does little of its own top-down recruitment in Middle Eastern and North African countries. The Internet plays a limited role in radicalizing, recruiting, and coordinating young men in many Middle Eastern and North African countries. Returning veteran fighters play a crucial role in radicalizing, recruiting, and coordinating young men to fight in foreign countries. A handful of cities (what he calls “flashpoint cities”) produce a disproportionate number of foreign fighters. Based on Clint’s findings in part two of his

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Will McCants June 25, 2008

Jihadi Curriculum, Part 1: Ideology

A blogger by the name of Shamil al-Baghdadi has created a curriculum titled “Method for Building the Personality of a Terrorist Mujahid.” The curriculum is divided into three parts: ideology, physical training, and ops. I’m only interested in the ideological bit, but those who are interested in the rest can easily find it on Shamil’s blog. Shamil begins by explaining how to find a good recruit. First, you need to study the potential recruit before speaking freely with him. Make sure he is serious before approaching him or allowing him to approach you, even if he already knows about the aims and beliefs of the global Jihadi community. Training is divided into three parts: Sharia, physical, and technical. Begin with the Sharia training. The first thing to do is make sure your recruit has a good command of classical Arabic, not just colloquial Arabic. He should study one of the

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Will McCants June 5, 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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