Category Archives: Osama Bin Laden

New Threats from Al Qaeda: Inspire 17 Magazine

1 AugpmSun, 13 Aug 2017 12:11:15 -06002017-08-13T12:11:15-06:0012 2009 – 12:11

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by Christopher W. Holton

Al Qaeda has issued its latest edition of Inspire magazine, Inspire 17.

The magazine is published by the media arm of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but it covers Al Qaeda operations worldwide. In particular, Inspire 17 features the emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Abu Musab Abdel al-Wadoud.

However, this latest issue of Inspire is noteworthy in that the most prominent personality in the magazine is Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden. Hamza bin Laden is emerging as a global leader of Al Qaeda and has specifically vowed to take revenge on the U.S. for killing his father.

Here is a brief summary of the highlights of Inspire 17:

Al Qaeda claims that they will be concentrating on targeting Western nations’ transportation infrastructure, seeking to disrupt the movement of people and cargo.

While Al Qaeda says that they will be targeting all aspects of transportation, air, sea and land, as well as local and international, Inspire 17 focuses on rail transport.

As implied by the name “inspire” Al Qaeda seeks to inspire individual Jihadis to take action. They suggest attacking transport vehicles such as trains and aircraft, lines of transport, such as railways, and stations, terminals and transit points, such as train stations, subway terminals and airports.

Bin Laden specifically states: “I urge my Mujahideen brothers everywhere, especially Lone Jihad heroes; I say to them: Target America.”

But America is not the only target mentioned in the magazine. It sets a priority order for targets in the following order: “everyone who transgresses against our religion,” Jewish interests, US, NATO, Russia.

Al Qaeda specifically instructs its followers to target civilians, as opposed to military targets: “In targeting civilians, there is much advantage and benefit for attaining goals of Jihad that cannot be attained when targeting the military.”

The emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abu Musab Abdel al-Wadoud is quoted as singling out France for attack: “France! Do you know time for settling debts has approached? Do not think you will escape punishment! Start preparing to pay what you owe to Muslims, in cash and in kind.”

France has conducted a robust military campaign against AQIM for several years now.

The impact on Western and American lifestyles from increased security measures is not lost on Al Qaeda: “O Mujahideen, it is time we instill fear and make them impose strict security measures to trains as they did with air.”

Concentrating on rail, the magazine describes a austere technique for attacking trains by derailing them from railroad tracks by positioning an item on them that will alter the course of the train’s wheels.

Unlike previous terror attacks on rail infrastructure, such a technique would not require explosives.

The magazine points out the merit of derailing high speed trains and lists Acela in the US, Class 395 Javelin in the UK and TGV in France as high speed trains to attack.

The magazine also suggests prioritizing derailing trains with HAZMAT cargo in cities and towns in the USA.

The following passenger trains are listed as specific targets: Lake Shore Limited, Empire Builder, Coast Starlight, Acela Express, Amtrak Cascades, Cardinal, Carolinian, City of New Orleans, Crescent, Pacific Surfliner, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle. It also depicts a map of US rail lines by Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX, BNSF and Amtrak.

By terrortrends | Also posted in Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Hamza Bin Laden, Inspire magazine, Jihad, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Reminder: Why All The Jihadi Attacks? Why Now?

1 ApramFri, 21 Apr 2017 09:57:25 -06002017-04-21T09:57:25-06:0009 2009 – 09:57

by Christopher W. Holton

Way back in February of 1998, Osama Bin Laden declared a Jihad against Jews and Crusaders in a written document entitled the “World Islamic Front Statement.”

In that document he specifically stated:

The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies — civilians and military — is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it

Despite this, with just a few notable exceptions over the years, few Muslims answered Bin Laden’s call to kill Americans.

Bin Laden was of course killed by U.S. Special Operations forces in May 2011.

Since then, we have seen many more attacks here in the U.S.

Why? If Osama Bin Laden was not able to inspire Muslims to attack and kill Americans, why are we seeing so many such attacks in recent years? Such as:

• The 15 April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

• The Orlando night club massacre on 12 June 2016.

• The San Bernardino massacre on 2 December 2015

• The Chattanooga massacre on 16 July 2015

• The failed Garland, Texas attack on 3 May 2015.

• The Queens, New York hatchet attack on police officers standing on a street corner on 23 October 2014.

• The Philadelphia attack on a police officer sitting in his squad car on 7 January 2016

• The Moore, Oklahoma beheading of a grandmother at the hands of a Muslim co-worker on 26 September 2014

• The 28 November 2016 terrorist vehicle attack on Ohio State University campus.

• The September 17-19 2016 bombings in New York and New Jersey.

• The Fresno, California shooting on 18 April 2017.

These are just a few of the incidents in recent years, here in the United States, that have, unfortunately, been categorized as “lone wolf” terrorist attacks by our recalcitrant news media.

In fact, the term “lone wolf” does not exist in Islamic doctrine. What DOES exist in Islamic doctrine is the fact that Jihad is an individual as well as a collective obligation.

What we are seeing are in fact individual acts of Jihad–acts of war, not criminal acts. We continue to deny this at our peril. There is a doctrinal basis for the enemy that is waging war against us. This form of warfare does not require formal ties between fighters or units (organizations) waging the war.

The concept of Jihad being an individual obligation is longstanding and has its basis in mainstream Islamic law (Shariah). We can see this from a widely-read and used text of Shariah sold annually at the convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the largest Muslim organization in the United States, which was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing prosecution in U.S. history: the U.S. v the Holy Land Foundation. In that trial, ISNA was identified as a Muslim Brotherhood front group. Interestingly, ISNA’s Canadian wing was shut down in 2013 for funneling money to a Jihadist terrorist group in Kashmir.

The name of the Shariah text is A Summary of Islamic Jurisprudence by Dr. Salih Al-Fawzan and published by Al-Maiman Publishing House in Saudi Arabia. Al-Fawzan is a member of the Board of Senior Ulema in Saudi Arabia and also a member of the Permanent Committee for Fatwa and Research in the kingdom.

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Volume One of this work has a chapter devoted to Jihad. On page 473, the basis in Shariah for individual Jihad is explained in detail and reveals for us why we are seeing this escalation of attacks:

For a Muslim, there are certain cases in which jihad is an individual duty:

1) When a Muslim is present at the battlefield, it is obligatory for him to fight and he is prohibited to leave the battlefield and flee.

2) When enemies attack a Muslim country…

3) When a Muslim is needed to help his fellow Muslims fight their enemies.

4) When a Muslim is called by the ruler (or the one in authority) to fight in the Cause of Allah, for the Prophet (PBUH) said:

Whenever you are called for fighting in the cause of Allah, you should go immediately.

As you can see, these four circumstances are quite broad and all could be interpreted as existing right now. But numbers 2, 3 and 4 are particularly relevant right now and serve as the doctrinal basis for why Muslims have suddenly begun rising up in violent Jihad in the West:

• The Islamic State has called on Muslims to wage Jihad because the Islamic State is under attack. This applies to 2 and 3 above.

• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State has issued calls on Muslims in the West to rise up in Jihad. This applies to 4 above and is the key difference between the days of Bin Laden and today.

Bin Laden may have been admired by many Muslims, but he never declared himself as a Caliph and his calls for Jihad were mostly ignored. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s calls are being answered because he has declared himself as the Caliph and many Muslims recognize him as such. That is why were are seeing acts of individual Jihad that we mostly did not see before.

And that is why the U.S. and the West cannot tolerate the existence of the Islamic State over the long-term. It has become the flame attracting moths. It will only gain more legitimacy and strength if it is allowed to persist. In short, it must be destroyed.

 

HERE ARE TWO IMPORTANT PASSAGES THAT APPLY TO WHAT WE ARE SEEING TODAY. The news media and our elected officials seem to take comfort when an attacker was “merely inspired” by the Islamic State (ISIS) and were not directed by the Islamic State. The opposite should actually be the case, as reflected by the two remaining passages below from two important Jihadi ideologues:

Individual jihad has recurred throughout Islamic history. In the time of the Crusades…groups of mujahideen responded to the crisis. Many isolated expeditions and groups carried out the obligation of jihad.

Individual jihad using the method of urban or rural guerilla warfare is the foundation for sapping the enemy and bringing him to a state of collapse and withdrawal. It will pave the way for the desired strategic goal.

What mandates these methods as a strategic opinion is the imbalance of forces between the resistance and the large invading alliance of unbelievers, apostates and hypocrites.

We fight them for the sake of incidents to cause political pressure and psychological collapse, so that they leave our lands. Carrying out a small operation every month against the enemy will have more of an impact on him than a big operation every year or two.

Toward a New Strategy in Resisting the Occupier
Muhammad Khalil al-Hakaymah
Al Qaeda Chief of External Operations
Killed by US air strike in Pakistan in 2008

Successful jihad will only happen within an ummah [Islamic nation or community] in which the fighting creed is firmly established and clarified. This must happen in order to attain the “Revolutionary Jihadist Climate” that will spontaneously give rise to instruments of resistance.

Violent jihad is as an individual duty obligatory upon every Muslim. All the ulema have said this…”

The Call to Global Islamic Resistance
Abu Musab al-Suri
Al Qaeda propagandist
Captured in Pakistan 2005

These two passages reflect what we are seeing today, not just in the USA, but even more so in Europe, as evidenced by the March 2017 London parliament shooting and the 20 April 2017 police shooting on the Champs Elysees.

Over a decade ago Al-Hakaymah called for frequent, small-scale attacks rather than big 9/11 type attacks. What we are seeing today was clearly part of the Jihadists’ plans.

Again, well over a decade ago, Al-Suri foresaw an environment in which individual Jihadis would rise up spontaneously in resistance without specific direction and planning from a higher, central authority. Again, that is clearly what we are seeing today.

This “Revolutionary Jihadist Climate” spontaneously giving rise to instruments of resistance is NOT something to take comfort in at all. It is problematic for law enforcement and the intelligence community and dangerous for Americans.

A terrorist cell connected directly in some way to Al Qaeda leadership can be detected, infiltrated and taken down as it communicates with and receives orders from commanders overseas. But individual Jihadis or Jihadi couples who have the intention of carrying out attacks are much more difficult to detect and are very nearly impossible to infiltrate.

The “Revolutionary Jihadist Climate” spontaneously giving rise to instruments of resistance is a relatively new, dangerous phase in the global Jihadist movement.

By terrortrends | Also posted in 5th Column, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Al Qaeda, Boston Marathon bombings, Caliphate, Europe, Holy Land Foundation, Homegrown Jihad, ISIS, Islamic State, Jihad, knife jihad, New York, San Bernardino terror attack, Tsarnaev brothers, Uncategorized, United Kingdom | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Moronic Analysis of the Islamic State from Bloomberg News

1 AugamWed, 10 Aug 2016 08:11:20 -06002016-08-10T08:11:20-06:0008 2009 – 08:11

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by Christopher W. Holton

Linked below is a video from Bloomberg News about the expanding global threat from the Islamic State.

While the video acknowledges that attacks attributed to supporters of the Islamic State or Islamic State Jihadis themselves have accelerated and expanded around the world, it totally ignores Islamic doctrine in drawing a conclusion based upon the spin of the Obama administration.

That spin, echoed by the video, maintains that the reason the Islamic State is carrying out attacks in places like San Bernardino, California and Paris is because the Islamic State is losing in Iraq and Syria. So, the absurd narrative goes, the more attacks around the world that occur, the closer we are to victory.

This is but the latest miscalculation from the Obama administration in failing to deal with the threat of the Islamic State since June 2014 and we hear it all the time from Obama’s hapless Secretary of State, John Kerry.

Numerous and frequent attacks in the West are far from a sign of weakness. They aren’t being carried out because the Islamic State is on the cusp of defeat. These are not acts of desperation.

What the attacks in places like Nice, Stuttgart and Orlando reflect is the growing and expanding influence of the Islamic State caliphate. Individual Muslims are rising up and committing acts of Jihad in the name of the Islamic State and in response to calls from the Islamic State.

Before the caliphate was declared in June of 2014, such calls for Jihad went mostly ignored. Osama Bin Laden, for all his notoriety and fame in the Islamic world in the wake of 9/11, was not able to inspire Muslims to rise up and commit acts of Jihad.

Today, the once obscure Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has proclaimed himself the caliph and in so doing has, by Islamic law, been able to inspire individual Muslims to commit horrible acts of violent Jihad.

It has nothing to do with what is going on in Iraq and Syria. They mean to bring the war to us and they are doing so. That is not a sign of defeat and no matter how much Obama, Kerry and Bloomberg News try to spin current events, the truth shows up in the form of another Jihadi attack somewhere in the West every 3 days or so–an unprecedented pace.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-08-09/the-widening-threat-of-islamic-state

By terrortrends | Also posted in Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Caliphate, ISIS, Islamic State, Jihad, Obama, Paris Jihadi attack, San Bernardino terror attack, Sharia, Shariah | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Homeland Security Advisory Council: Covering for the Enemy Threat Doctrine

1 JunpmSat, 18 Jun 2016 18:19:59 -06002016-06-18T18:19:59-06:0006 2009 – 18:19

by Christopher W. Holton

America is at war and we continue to be prevented from identifying and understanding our enemies as a result of influence operations targeting our bureaucratized counterterrorism apparatus.

The latest evidence of this long-standing and, unfortunately, very effective influence campaign comes from the revelation that the “Countering Violent Extremism Subcommittee” of the Homeland Security Advisory Council to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued a recommendation that urges rejecting use of Islamic terms such as “jihad” and “shariah” in communications about the threats that we face….

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/homeland-security-report-calls-rejecting-terms-jihad-sharia/

This is nothing new. We have heard CIA director John Brennan reject the term “jihadist” and the State Department under Condoleezza Rice rejected the use of the term as well.

We have covered the damaging efforts by our enemies to prevent the actual correct use of the term “jihad” extensively here on Terror Trends Bulletin in the past…

https://terrortrendsbulletin.com/2013/01/13/cairs-new-disinformation-campaign-on-jihad/

But the effort to suppress even mere mention of the word “shariah” is actually much more damaging than the suppression of the word “jihad.” That’s because shariah is THE enemy threat doctrine.

To understand our enemies, their motivations, their intentions and their strategy, one must study shariah. Shariah is everything to the jihadists. It is the code that they follow and its full implementation is their goal.

Forbidding the use of the term shariah, much less suppressing study of shariah in the present conflict is the equivalent of forbidding intelligence agencies from studying Mein Kampf in World War II or the works and words of Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao during the Cold War.

Anyone who would recommend that we avoid studying and talking about shariah simply must have a nefarious purpose.

By way of review, shariah is Islamic law. The terms shariah and Islamic law are completely interchangeable; they refer to exactly the same thing. Shariah is an immutable theo-political-legal-military code derived from the Islamic doctrinal trilogy, made up of the Quran, the Sirah (the biography of the prophet Mohammed) and the Hadith (traditions, sayings and stories compiled about the life of Mohammed).

Every single Jihadist terrorist group in the world–without exception–has as its stated goal the imposition of shariah: the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, HAMAS, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Lashkar e Taiba, Abu Sayyef, Jemaah Islamiyah, Boko Haram, the Taliban, Al Shabaab–all of them.

So, while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be carefully avoiding the use of the term shariah, our enemies have been using it quite commonly, frequently and prominently, as if to illustrate the absurdity of the DHS recommendation.

What follows is a compilation of quotes from jihadi leaders and Al Qaeda and Islamic State documents that reveal the central importance of shariah to their movement. This is why Americans must familiarize themselves with shariah.

SHARIAH ACCORDING TO THE JIHADISTS THEMSELVES

• The sharia has forbidden us from taking infidels as confidants, inducting them into our secrets.
• The sharia forbids us from appointing infidels to important posts.
• The sharia forbids us from adopting or praising the beliefs and views of the infidels.
• The sharia forbids us from assisting infidels against Muslims; even the one who is coerced has o excuse to fight under the banner of infidels.
• The sharia commands us to battle infidels—both original infidels and apostates, as well as hypocrites. As for waging jihad against the infidels who have usurped the lands of Islam, this is a duty considered second only to faith, by ulemaic consensus.
• The sharia does not accept the excuses made by hypocrites—that they befriend the infidels because they fear the vicissitudes of time.
• We are duty-bound by the sharia to help Muslims overcome the infidels.

Ayman al-Zawahiri
Al Qaeda leader

Osama bin Laden (L) sits with his eventual successor Ayman al-Zawahiri

Osama bin Laden (L) sits with his eventual successor Ayman al-Zawahiri

Democracy is based on the principle of the power of creatures over other creatures, and rejects the principle of God’s absolute power over all creatures; it is also based on the idea the men’s desires, whatever they may be, replace God absolutely, and on the refusal to obey God’s law. In Islam, when there is a disagreement or a difference of opinion, one refers to God, his Prophet, and the commands of sharia.

Ayman al-Zawahiri
Al Qaeda leader

Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah

Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah

From the point of view of ideology and sharia, we are required to establish God’s rule over any part of this earth, regardless of particularities and details. This can only happen, however, if the nation adopts this ideology and safeguards it.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Leader of Hezbollah

quote-when-anyone-studies-a-little-or-pays-a-little-attention-to-the-rules-of-islamic-government-ruhollah-khomeini-65-37-66

The laws of the shari’a embrace a diverse body of laws and regulations, which amounts to a complete social system. In this system of laws, all the needs of man have been met: his dealings with his neighbors, fellow citizens, and clan, as well as children and relatives; the concerns of private and material life; regulations concerning war and peace and intercourse with other nations; penal and commercial law; and regulations pertaining to trade and agriculture.

Ayatollah Khomeini
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
Of Iran 1979-1989

Reason also dictates that we establish a government in order to be able to ward off aggression and to defend the honor of the Muslims in case of attack. The shari’a, for its part, instructs us to be constantly ready to defend ourselves against those who wish to attack us.

Ayatollah Khomeini
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
Of Iran 1979-1989

It will be the duty of the Muslims to engage in an armed jihad against the ruling group in order to make the policies ruling society and the norms of government conform to the principles and ordinances of Islam.

Ayatollah Khomeini
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
Of Iran 1979-1989

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Regarding which shared understandings, exactly, is it possible that we agree with the immoral West?… What commonalities, if our foundations contradict, rendering useless the shared extremities—if they even exist? For practically everything valued by the immoral West is condemned under sharia law. As for this atmosphere of shared understandings, what evidence is there for Muslims to strive for this? What did the Prophet, the Companions after him, and the righteous forebears do? Did they wage jihad against infidels, attacking them all over earth, in order to place them under the suzerainty of Islam in great humility and submission? Or did they send messages to discover “shared understandings” between themselves and the infidels in order that they may reach an understanding whereby universal peace, security, and natural relations would spread—in such a satanic manner as this? The sharia provides a true and just path, securing Muslims, and providing peace to the world.

… Offensive Jihadis (are) an established and basic tenet of this religion. It is a religious duty rejected only by the most deluded. So how can they call off this religious obligation [Offensive Jihad], while imploring the West to understandings and talks “under the umbrella of justice, morality, and rights”? The essence of all this comes from right inside the halls of the United Nations, instead of the Divine foundations that are built upon hating the infidels, repudiating them with tongue and teeth till they embrace Islam or pay the jizya [tribute] with willing submission and humility… Muslims, and especially the learned among them, should spread sharia law to the world—that and nothing else. Not laws under the “umbrella of justice, morality, and rights” as understood by the masses. No, the sharia of Islam is the foundation.

They say that our sharia does not impose our particular beliefs upon others; this is a false assertion. For it is, in fact , part of our religion to impose our particular beliefs upon others.

Thus whoever refuses the principle of terror[ism] against the enemy also refuses the commandment of Allah the Exalted, the Most High, and His sharia.

Osama Bin Laden

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Succession, establishment, and safety – a promise from Allah reserved for the Muslims…is not simply kingship, subjugation, dominance, and rule. Rather, succession is to utilize all that for the purpose of compelling the people to do what the Sharia (Allah’s law) requires of them concerning their interests in the hereafter and worldly life, which can only be achieved by carrying out the command of Allah, establishing His religion, and referring to His law for judgment.

“This is the Promise of Allah”
Islamic State Al Hayat Media Center
2014

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…terrorism is to disbelieve in those slogans and to believe in Allah. Terrorism is to refer to Allah’s law for judgment. Terrorism is to worship Allah as He ordered you.

“A Message to Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah in the Month of Ramadan”
Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

So seek shelter – after Allah – with the Islamic State. What do you wait for after the truth has become clearer than the day and after the spiteful Rāfidah exposed their reality? Here they are today slaughtering everyone considered from Ahlus-Sunnah in Baghdad and elsewhere. No one was saved from them, even their allies, supporters, aids, tails, and dogs from the apostates who had once belonged to Ahlus-Sunnah, those in the Sahwah, army, police, and elsewhere, those whom the evil scholars confused into fleeing the implementation of Allah’s law in the territory of the Islamic State. So they became homeless, humiliated, fearful, and worrisome of the Rāfidah’s cruelty, whereas the Muslims live in the territory of the Islamic State with might and honor, secure by Allah’s bounty alone, with a life of comfort, going about the affairs of their business, livelihood, and trade, enjoying the grace of living under the rule of their Lord’s law, and all praise and grace is Allah’s. Therefore, O Muslims, seek shelter – after Allah – with the Islamic State.

Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Speech recorded on 14 May 2015

Indeed, every Muslim is intended by this war. And he is obliged to defend the religion of Allah and His Sharī‟ah…There is no good in living if we do not live under the rule of Allah and in the shade of His Sharī‟ah. And how sweet a death it is to die while supporting Allah‟s religion and defending His Sharī‟ah and His rule.

Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Speech delivered December 2015

The religion of Allah, the Exalted, will not be implemented, and this goal cannot be achieved, for which Allah created us, except by the implementation of the Sharia of Allah, and appealing to him, and the application of Islamic law. This can only be achieved by force and power.

Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Sermon delivered July 2014

dabiq-14

The death of a single Muslim, no matter his role in society, is more grave to the believer than the massacre of every kāfir on earth. And while the Sharī’ah calls for the invasion of all kāfir lands, certainly the aggressors are dealt with before those nations not actively waging war against the Khilāfah. This is an obvious reality. Any disbeliever standing in the way of the Islamic State will be killed, without pity or remorse, until governance is entirely for Allah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

Democracy is a religion that gives supreme authority to people rather than Allah In it, the right to legislate is distributed amongst mankind so that they thereby determine what laws are to be ruled by in the lands. If the majority decide sodomy is legal, it is legalized even though it contradicts Allah’s Sharī’ah. And if the majority decide to illegalize sodomy, it is made illegal, not because it is Allah’s legislation, but because supreme power is that of mankind, above and beyond the authority of Allah! How wicked a religion is one where all its members consider themselves “gods” besides Allah!

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

Jihad in this era is an obligation upon each and every Muslim as numerous
lands of the Muslims have been usurped by the kufār and numerous parties of apostasy have arisen therein. Until all these lands are retaken, cleansed of apostates, and ruled by the Sharī’ah, the obligation does not drop.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

We clarify to all that the Islamic State’s position is clear concerning the ruling on these factions, and it is that they are groups that have apostatized from the religion of Allah and have committed numerous deeds that have nullified the fundamentals of the religion. From amongst these deeds is that they fight a state that rules by the Sharī’ah of Allah while these factions are in one trench and one coalition with other factions that have resisted the implementation of the Shari’ah and declared their efforts to build a ‘democratic, civil, pluralistic’ state that removes the law of Allah from the lands of the Islamic State and replaces it with jāhilī laws. All this is done with support and direct air cover from the American-led crusader coalition that only strives to destroy the mission of the Khilāfah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 13

So adhere to and be diligent in obedience and don’t get tired. Listen both in times of dislike and delight, Unless the leader’s order is against the Sharī’ah, for there is no obedience to the leader in such.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

We likewise renew our call to the soldiers of the factions in Shām and Libya. We call on them to think long before embarking to ght the Islamic State, which rules by that which Allah revealed. Remember, O you afflicted by fitnah, before embarking to fight the Islamic State, that there is no place on the face of the Earth where the Sharī’ah of Allah is implemented and the rule is entirely for Allah except for the lands of the Islamic State. Remember that if you were able to capture one hand span, one village, or one city from it, the law of Allah in that area would be replaced with the laws of men. Then ask yourself, ‘What is the ruling on someone who replaces or is a cause for the replacement of the law of Allah with the law of man?’ Yes, you commit kufr by such. So beware, for by fighting the Islamic State you fall into kufr whether you realize it or not.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

Then the Sharī’ah of Islam came and deemed a specific number of wives that no Muslim is allowed to exceed, that number being four. As for concubines, then there is no limit.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

dabiq-issue-12-cover

And isn’t polygamy a part of this Sharī’ah? Know then that the One who has honored the Muslim woman and has given her rights that protect her from the plots of the wicked is the very One who has permitted for the man to marry those that please him of women. And based on that, it is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to argue concerning the Sharī’ah of Allah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

…the Islamic State will continue to strike Russia until Sharī’ah returns to all the lands of the Muslims usurped by the crusader Russians and until Russia pays the jizyah in humiliation.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

…we reassure the Muslims in the eastern and western extents of the Earth that Libya will not be ruled except by Allah’s Sharī’ah and that the Islamic State by Allah’s grace will pave its way quickly towards consolidation and expansion.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 11

dabiq_11

…apostate forces wage war against Allah’s religion by abandoning the Sharī’ah laws and replacing them with manmade laws in addition to waging war against the people… dragging them to prisons, and handing them over to the crusaders. Due to their war against Allah’s religion…the Islamic State rose to repel their attacks against the Muslims and to implement the Sharī’ah, spread justice, and save the prisoners from harm.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 11

The call to defend the Islamic State – the only state ruling by Allah’s Sharī’ah today – continues to be answered by sincere Muslims and mujāhidīn around the world prepared to sacrifice their lives and everything dear to them to raise high the word of Allah and trample democracy and nationalism…Thus we renew our call to the sincere Muslims around the world to march forth and wage war against the crusaders and apostates who seek to wipe out the Sharī’ah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

We call all sides to reason, prioritize the general good, and adopt the principles of our Sharī’ah and great revolution in word and deed…

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

…it is obligatory to appoint a single imām and khalīfah for the Ummah who will govern the people in accordance with Allah’s religion and make them follow the laws of the Sharī’ah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

We are fighting for the cause of Allah and will establish His Sharī’ah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

…there is no place on the face of the Earth where the Sharī’ah of Allah is implemented and the rule is entirely for Allah except for the lands of the Islamic State.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

dabiq_10a

…the only thing that prevents one from being fought and killed is to rule by the Sharī’ah, adhere to its laws, and disassociate oneself from those who forcefully resist the Sharī’ah and its laws.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

So detonate your explosive belt in their midst. Shoot their soldiers in the chest. Dissuade whoever you can from fighting those who rule by the Sharī’ah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 10

They fight us under the name of Democracy, they wage war at the very core of our Islamic culture and identity, they consider everything contradicting Democracy as radical and fundamental. It is of course impossible for them to just allow us to rule by Shariah. Therefore, the eventual result is that fighting will continue until we remove this oppressive and dominant plague, America, upon the Muslims.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

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May the blessings of Allāh be upon you, as you abide to the Shariah of your Lord in your jihãd and actions. May the blessings of Allāh be upon you, as you strive earnestly and as you wage your jihãd and strike the enemies of Allāh and your enemies. May Allāh accept our heroes the knights of Azawad and grant them Jannatul-Firdaus, join us with them while we are steadfast upon this path. And may He make their blood water the tree of Islam and spread the Laws of Allāh on earth.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

We will fight tirelessly and we will keep sacrificing upon this path until the word of Allah is the highest and the Islamic Shari’a be our laws in life. We will not deviate from it nor accept anything else to replace it.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

They are the lions of this Al Qaeda. They are the guardians of Shariah.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

One must know that Allah rewards for His obedience and punishes for His disobedience. Secondly – What is intended in knowing Allah; it is the knowledge of the shariah rulings.”

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 15

And it is evident enough that (the Western people) participate in this war by electing their governments, paying taxes that fund their governments in its aggression towards Muslims, and helping the Zionist oppressors in Palestine. Their silence or participation in crimes and aggression towards Muslims living in their countries; imprisonment, persecution, house arrests and the vicious immoral media campaign in defaming the prophet and the Sharia.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 14

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It is the ruling in the Islamic principles that he who denies or rejects a definite law, and he who does contrary to it rebelliously, stubbornly, by legitimizing or disdaining it, is a kafir (who has disbelieved) in Allah and the pure Shari’ah, which Allah the Exalted has chosen for His Slaves.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 14

Stand, revenge on America the enemy of Islam and Muslims. Remind us of the glories of Nairobi, Dar-es-salam, Aden, New York, Washington, Fort Hood, Benghazi and Boston. Defend your religion, Ummah and honors from America and the crusaders, by hitting their interests in our countries and theirs. The war with the crusaders and Jews is global; it does not acknowledge boundaries and there are no restrictions except those brought by the just Shari’ah or those advantegeous to Islam and Muslims as seen by the trusted Ummah scholars and Mujahideen leaders.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 12

What is it that detaches you from the rest of the Ummah!? We have to struggle to establish the Shari’ah of Allāh. It’s not something that you get for free, or just by praying the 5 prayers and make du’aa, it is established through blood and sacrifice of everything … everything!

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 12

Inspire-Spring-2014-Issue-Cover-Artwork

Democracy is a contrary idea because it calls to shirk of masses’ ruling instead of worshiping Allah (swt) Alone in legislation and ruling by Sharia law.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 12

The Mujahideen – may Allāh protect them – are the raisers of the mighty flag of Tawheed, the followers of the Islamic Shari’ah, the followers of the path of our beloved Prophet, the ones uniting the Muslim Ummah.

Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine
No. 12

By terrortrends | Also posted in 5th Column, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), appeasement, Brennan, Caliphate, Hezbollah, Homeland Security, Inspire magazine, Iran, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, Islamic Supremecism, Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood, Quran, Salafi Islam, Sharia, Shariah, Zawahiri | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

The Declaration of War that was Largely Ignored

1 SeppmSun, 27 Sep 2015 12:09:14 -06002015-09-27T12:09:14-06:0012 2009 – 12:09
Osama bin Laden (L) sits with his eventual successor Ayman al-Zawahiri

Osama bin Laden (L) sits with his eventual successor Ayman al-Zawahiri

We still do not understand why Congress was not asked for a formal declaration of war against these organizations after September 11, 2001…

And ulema [Muslim legal scholars] have throughout history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty…On that basis, and in compliance with Allah’s order, we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims: The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it…We, with Allah’s help, call on every Muslim who believes in Allah and wishes to be rewarded to comply with Allah’s order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it.

 

Osama Bin Laden

Ayman al-Zawahiri, Amir of the Jihad Group, Egypt

Abu-Yasir Rifa’I Ahmad Taha, Egyptian Islamic Group

Mir Hamzah, Jamiat ul Ulema-e-Pakistan

Fazlur Rahman, Jihad Movement in Bangladesh

23 February 1998

By terrortrends | Also posted in Al Qaeda, Jihad, Zawahiri | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Terror Alert Sign of Resurgent Al Qaeda

1 AugpmSun, 04 Aug 2013 12:59:21 -06002013-08-04T12:59:21-06:0012 2009 – 12:59

The terror alerts issued by the US State Department, Interpol and the foreign offices of Great Britain, France and Germany should worry Westerners very much.

US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen

US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen

 

If there is indeed specific information about a credible threat that closed down US embassies in 22 nations, grounded 6 international airline flights (so far) and resulted in the most serious global travel advisory put out by the US State Department in several years (covering an entire month) then it is an indication that Al Qaeda is not only NOT “on the run,” but is evidently more prolific than ever in terms of its reach.

Under such circumstances, it’s not a question of “if” Western targets will be struck again, but “when.”

We have been lied to about the magnitude and scope of the Jihadist terrorist threat. That is the unmistakable conclusion.

Some cynics and skeptics seem to think that the whole issue has been contrived by the Obama administration for political purposes, but this makes no sense at all.

Obama has repeatedly declared victory over Al Qaeda. He essentially declared that the killing of Osama Bin Laden placed the terrorist organization on the ropes and all but announced an end to the war on terror, complete with a re-orientation of the US military toward a significantly smaller force primarily focused on the Asia-Pacific region.

Moreover, his policy of drone strikes was supposed to have decimated Al Qaeda’s leadership structure.

Apparently none of what Obama told us was correct.

So for Obama now to use that same terrorist threat to improve his political fortunes makes no sense at all.

Think about it: So when Obama repeatedly says Al Qaeda is on the run and for all practical purposes defeated—-it’s regarded as propaganda for the masses. And then when the State Dept issues a global travel advisory and closes 22 embassies because of a threat from Al Qaeda, that’s also propaganda for those same masses?

It doesn’t add up.  I think Obama lied about Al Qaeda in the first place. It was in his best interests to remove a major national security threat from the public sphere and, with the aid of a compliant media, he successfully did so. But it was never anything more than words on paper and talk in pretty speeches.

Al Qaeda isn’t on the run. They aren’t defeated. And this terror alert, unfortunately, isn’t phony.

The alert coincides with the end of Ramadan, a holy month in Islam in which America has often restrained itself in fighting Islamic enemies, but during which Jihadists have actually escalated their attacks. The closure of the embassies comes on the Ramadan “Night of Power.” Without getting into obnoxious detail about Islamic doctrine, all you really need to know about the “Night of Power” is that it was the day on which the USS Cole was attacked in Aden harbor in Yemen in 2000. And this is the same week during which the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in east Africa were bombed back in 1998.

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So, when intelligence emerges suggesting that US targets will come under attack at this time, it is something to take seriously, especially given the fact that Al Qaeda leader Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri released a statement in the past week instructing Al Qaeda’s followers to attack US targets now.

Perhaps the most significant evidence that this terror alert should be taken seriously comes from the fact that France, Germany and Great Britain have all shut their embassies in Yemen down as well and issued travel advisories to their citizens. Unless they’re in on some scheme to help Obama’s approval rating, my guess is there is a real threat out there.

German diplomatic post in Yemen

German diplomatic post in Yemen

Al Qaeda is real, folks. They’ve been real for decades now and they’re deadly. To assume otherwise is suicidal. To make matters worse, there is evidence to indicate that they are now as capable as they have been at any time since 1998.

Consider the fact that in the past month there have been large-scale prison breakouts in nine Islamic nations, including Iraq, Libya, Pakistan and Yemen. The timing and scale of these breakouts in which mostly Jihadi fighters made their escapes, is unprecedented. Interpol suspects Al Qaeda involvement and coordination and has issued an advisory to that effect. On 22 July, 500 Jihadis, including senior level Al Qaeda operatives, escaped from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Five days later, on 27 July, 1100 inmates escaped from a prison near Benghazi, Libya. And four days after that, on 31 July, the Taliban led a breakout from a prison in Pakistan in which an unknown number of Jihadis escaped.

Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq

Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq

These operations were almost certainly orchestrated and coordinated, most probably with help from the inside in each country. This was a massive undertaking that demonstrates Al Qaeda’s military as well as political power in the Islamic world. With so many Jihadis back on the loose, Westerners better brace themselves.

 

 

 

 

By terrortrends | Also posted in Africa, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), escape, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iraq, Islam, Jihad, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Obama, Pakistan, Possible terror attack, Taliban, Tanzania, terrorist plot, United Kingdom, Yemen, Zawahiri | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Obama Doubles Down on His “Al Qaeda is Defeated” Meme, Sort Of

1 FebamSun, 10 Feb 2013 00:38:56 -06002013-02-10T00:38:56-06:0012 2009 – 00:38

Despite the fact that Al Qaeda is conducting active operations around the world, including recent operations in which Americans were killed in Libya and Algeria, President Obama continues to spread the myth that Al Qaeda is defeated.

He has, however, changed his tune a little bit.

Ever since the killing of Osama Bin Laden, Obama has been declaring that Al Qaeda has been defeated or is “on the run.”

Now he qualifies his statement: he now says that the “core” of Al Qaeda is “on the path to defeat,” what ever that means.

Actually, it means nothing. It is meaningless political babble.

Judging from the article linked below, Obama seems to think that if the US withdraws from combat with the Jihadists, the war will be over. This attitude isn’t just naive, it’s downright dishonest and dangerously irresponsible…

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/core-of-al-qaeda-on-path-to-defeat-barack-obama/articleshow/18414243.cms

By terrortrends | Also posted in Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Algeria, Jihad, Libya, Obama | Comments (0)

CAIR’s New Disinformation Campaign on “Jihad”

1 JanpmSun, 13 Jan 2013 14:58:31 -06002013-01-13T14:58:31-06:0002 2009 – 14:58

1347800307_jihad-humaidjpg__35180_zoom

By Christopher Holton

The internet has literally been littered with news reports about a new propaganda campaign being waged by the head of the Council on American Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) Chicago director.

The man’s name is Ahmed Rehab and his methodology has been to run advertising on buses to change the public perception of the word “Jihad.”

Rehab has chosen two of the most liberal cities in America in which to conduct his campaign so far: Chicago and San Francisco.

The name of the campaign is “MyJihad” and it aims to convince Americans that Jihad only means “to struggle” or, more specifically, an internal, personal struggle. Rehab claims that this is the “true” meaning of Jihad.

Unfortunately for Rehab, he is only partially correct and any campaign that claims that the term Jihad only means an internal, personal struggle amounts to disinformation. The dualistic nature of Islam, in this case as it applies to the meaning of “Jihad,” is well documented both in historical Islamic doctrine and in contemporary use of the term.

And Jihad definitely does not only mean an internal, personal struggle. In fact, the most widespread meaning of the term that is of particular interest to Westerners who are threatened by Jihad does in fact entail violence.

A false and misleading statement has been attributed to the San Francisco chapter head of CAIR, Zahra Billoo:

“A common misconception of the word jihad is that it means armed struggle or holy war, and that is something that has been perpetrated by many who’ve made careers out of pushing anti-Muslim sentiment.”

Such a meaning for Jihad has nothing to do with anyone with an “anti-Muslim sentiment.” It has everything to do with Islam itself.

Let us examine definitions of Jihad from two authoritative sources.

 Jihad According to the Quran

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The first is the Quran itself. In this case, specifically The Noble Qu’ran, translated into English by two scholars: Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali, PhD, professor of Islamic Faith and Teachings at the Islamic University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia and Dr. Muhammad Mushin Khan of the same institution. The Noble Qu’ran was published by Darussalam Publishers and Distributors, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It has been catalogued by King Fahad National Library. On page 818, in a glossary accompanying the text of the Quran, The Noble Qu’ran provides the following definition of Jihad:

“Jihad: Holy fighting in the Cause of Allah or any other kind of effort to make Allah’s Word superior. Jihad is regarded as one of the fundamentals of Islam.”

Can the Quran itself be promoting “anti-Muslim sentiment” as CAIR’s Zahra Billoo asserts?

Jihad According to Shariah

Our second source is Reliance of the Traveler: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law.

RELIANCE OF THE TRAVELLER

Reliance of the Traveler is one of the world’s most widely read manuals of Shariah law. It has been endorsed by a variety of Islamic authorities, including Al Azhar University in Cairo, IIIT (International Institute of Islamic Thought) in Herndon, Virginia, the Fiqh Council of North America, the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Mufti of the Jordanian Armed Forces andthe Imam of the Mosque of Darwish Pasha in Damascus, Syria.

These can hardly be termed as those pushing “anti-Muslim sentiment” as Billoo claims.

On page 599 of Reliance of the Traveler, readers can find the following passage:

o9.0 JIHAD

(O: Jihad means to war against non-Muslims, and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion…

The scriptural basis for jihad, prior to scholarly consensus is such Koranic verses as:

(1) “Fighting is prescribed for you” (Koran 2:216);

(2) “Slay them wherever you find them” (Koran 4:89);

(3) “Fight the idolators utterly” (Koran 9:36);

and such hadiths as the one related by Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and perform the prayer, and pay zakat. If they say it, they have saved their blood and possessions from me, except for the rights of Islam over them. And their final reckoning is with Allah”;

and the hadith reported by Muslim,

“To go forth in the morning or evening to fight in the path of Allah is better than the whole world and everything in it.”

Jihad According to Terrorists

If Jihad truly means to “struggle” and not warfare to establish the religion, how does CAIR explain the names of all these terrorist organizations?

Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Pakistan, Bangladesh, India)

Islamic Front for Armed Jihad (Algeria)

Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine (Lebanon)

Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (Israel)

Islamic Jihad Organization (Lebanon)

Islamic Jihad Union (Uzbekistan)

Jama’at al-Jihad al-Islami (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Russia)

Laskar Jihad (Indonesia)

United Jihad Council (India)

Contemporary Video Evidence of Widespread Use of the Term “Jihad”

Finally, there is a mountain of video evidence which illustrates vividly the widespread contemporary use of the term Jihad:

First, we have a 10 minute video from a Palestinian Authority TV children’s show using the term Jihad:

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Next we have a 1-minute video of female terrorists from the group Islamic Jihad:

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Here is a 2-minute news report on Taliban fighters vowing to continue to wage jihad after the death of Osama Bin Laden:

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Then there’s this 6-minute tribute to the “Lion of Jihad,” Osama Bin Laden:

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A 24-second sound byte from British-based Imam Amjen Choudary on Jihad in Islam:

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More from Choudary; in this case a 2-minute warning that Jihad is on its way.

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A 2-minute segment from Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of Al Qaeda, on Jihad:

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A 40-second call by Zawahiri to Pakistanis to rise up in Jihad:

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A 3-minute news report on Somali Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab using Social Media to call Muslims to Jihad:

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A 4-minute posthumous call to Jihad by American-born Anwar al Awlaki. Keep in mind that, before he became head of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Awlaki had been an Imam at mosques in San Diego, Denver and northern Virginia and was regarded as a great “moderate” who was a favorite show pony for “outreach” programs. He was invited to the Pentagon. He delivered sermons to the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association on Capitol Hill. Prominent CAIR officers, employees and members attended these sermons. At least one former CAIR employee who attended Awlaki’s sermons on Capitol Hill in Washington DC is now in jail on terrorism charges:

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A call to Jihad by Yasir Arafat–three years after signing the Oslo Accords…

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A 5-minute call to Jihad by the Chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Syria:

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A 4-minute call to Jihad from the Sudanese Minister of International Cooperation:

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By terrortrends | Also posted in 5th Column, Afghanistan, Africa, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al Shabaab, Al Shahab, Anwar Al-Awlaki, CAIR, Europe, Great Britain, Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad Union, Israel, Jihad, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestinian terrorism, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taliban, terrorist group listings, United Kingdom, Yemen, Zawahiri | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (11)

So, the Obama State Department declares the “War on Terrorism” Over

1 MayamFri, 04 May 2012 10:24:19 -06002012-05-04T10:24:19-06:0010 2009 – 10:24

Late last week a State Department spokesman uttered “The war on terror is over.”

That utterance was followed  up by President Obama’s surprise trip to Afghanistan (“coincidentally” on the anniversary of the operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, or so we are told…). While in Afghanistan, Obama gave a political speech aimed at folks back home in America in which he echoed the sentiments of his State Department spokesman in essentially declaring Al Qaeda beaten.

Before we deconstruct this politically motivated fantasy, we should probably point out that we are not now, nor were we truly ever engaged in a “war on terrorism.” We don’t want to belabor the point because many observers have pointed out this reality over the years. Terrorism is a method, not an enemy. As the late philosopher and columnist Jeff Cooper said shortly after President Bush named this struggle the “war on terrorism:” “Give us an enemy we can shoot at, Mr. President.”

But it was not to be. Obama stopped referring to the war on terrorism as soon as he came into office, his administration floating the term “overseas contingency operations” instead.

That drew instant and widespread ridicule and we haven’t heard the term mentioned much since it was originally floated after Obama got into office.

We should have paid closer attention. This wasn’t just about changing names. This was about ending the war effort. The goal in changing the name was to prepare the American people for an end to the war. Obama came into office knowing he was going to end the war–unilaterally. The fact is, the war and the threat of terrorism don’t help liberals get elected. There was a reason why the word “terrorism” was never uttered at the 2004 Democratic National Convention when the Democrats nominated Senator John Kerry.

The DNC did the polling and the focus groups and found out that the issue was a loser for them. Ever since, the hard left has been hell bent for leather on ending the war effort.

Obama’s State Department spokesman claimed last week that “since most of Al Qaeda’s is now dead” Islamists have other places to turn for legitimate inclusion in the political process.

There is so much to comment on here that we hardly know where to begin.

First of all, most of the original members of Al Qaeda were dead before Obama even got into office. Most estimates were that some 75% of Al Qaeda’s leadership had been killed or captured in Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. The killing of Osama Bin Laden just over a year ago likely did not add much to the operational degradation of Al Qaeda. Despite claims to the contrary, it is highly unlikely that Bin Laden still exercised operational control over Al Qaeda around the globe at the time of his death. So, this is hardly a new development as the Obama State Department spokesman implies.

We now know from seized documents and from former intelligence operatives that Bin Laden had, for years, limited his communications with the outside world, including Al Qaeda, to a single human courier. There is simply no way he could possibly have maintained operational authority or control over the organization in such circumstances.

This suggests that his death did not add substantially to the degradation of Al Qaeda’s operational capability.

Bin Laden was barely involved any more. He wasn’t even in a position to raise money–his chief role for years in the past. Nor did he find it necessary to issue frequent videotaped messages to his followers or to the world at large, something he took great pride in doing earlier in Al Qaeda’s war against the West.

Because of this, Bin Laden’s death cannot be accurately  described as ending Al Qaeda. Perhaps we are on the cusp of defeating Al Qaeda in the Afghan-Pak theater of operations, but that is not due to Bin Laden’s death. Bin Laden’s death was in reality a byproduct of the campaign against Al Qaeda in that region over a period of years, starting way back in 2001.

Moreover, Al Qaeda globally is far from finished. The organization has evolved into an umbrella group for Jihadists around the globe. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is active in Africa. Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula is locked in an active, violent insurgency in Yemen. Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden’s successor and always the organization’s ideologue, is still at large. His Jihadist brother, released from prison in the so-called “Arab Spring” is back in operation in Egypt.

Then there are the Al Qaeda affiliates that don’t identify themselves as Al Qaeda, but certainly operate in a similar fashion. There’s Aby Sayyaf in the Philippines, which has kidnapped and murdered Americans in the past. There’s Al Shabaab in Somalia, which recruits heavily from the Somali refugee community here in the USA. There’s Boko Haram, which is making life in Nigeria a living hell for Christians. There’s Jemaah Islamiyah in Malaysia and Indonesia, which has attacked Westerners, including the 202 deaths in the Bali, Indonesia bombing in 2002. And of course, the Taliban themselves, who are allied with Al Qaeda and gave them a launching pad for operations in the 1990s.

All of these organizations still exist. We are told now that Bin Laden did not have a high regard for these affiliates, but that doesn’t necessarily make them any less of a threat.

But let’s not forget the Jihadist terrorist organizations that operate and who are not overtly aligned with Al Qaeda. These serve as a reminder that the enemy isn’t just “Al Qaeda,” despite what the Obama administration wants you to believe. We should not take too much comfort in the fact that most of these organizations operate overseas and don’t regularly target Americans. They don’t view Americans any differently than they view other Westerners or kafirs.

There is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, which, like Abu Sayyef, has targeted Americans in the past. There’s Lashkar-e-Taiba, which carried out the horrific Mumbai attacks in 2008. Keep in mind that LeT used an American to conduct reconnaissance for that operation and their captured literature showed plans to target the American homeland. There are the Islamic Jihad Union in Uzbekistan and Jaish-e-Mohammed in Kashmir. There’s Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has known operatives in the US. And, along those same lines, we have HAMAS, which currently only targets Israel, but which has an extensive network in the US.

Most ominously, given the threat from Iran, is Hezbollah, described by more than one US official as the “A” team of terrorism. Congressional investigations estimate that they have thousands of supporters and hundred of operatives here in the US. A very recent report indicates that Hezbollah has a network centered on Shia mosques here in the US as well.

But this all misses the basic point. We are on the receiving end of a global Islamic insurgency. It’s not a homogenous insurgency by any stretch. Many of the insurgent groups are completely unrelated and some even hate each other. But they are all united in one goal: establishment of Islamic rule under Shariah law.

This war did not start on September 11th, 2001, with Al Qaeda’s attacks on the US homeland; it had been raging on a lower level overseas for decades. And the war will not end with the death of Osama Bin Laden, or the outright defeat of Al Qaeda, or the inevitable NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The declaration of victory is purely for domestic political consumption, which is very sad and dangerous indeed.

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Center for Security Policy Vice President Christopher Holton is available for speaking engagements on the subjects of terrorism, terrorism financing, Shariah, Shariah-Compliant Finance and Jihad. For more information, contact him at chris@christopherholton.com

By terrortrends | Also posted in Abu Sayyaf, Afghanistan, Africa, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al Shabaab, Al Shahab, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Boko Haram, Egypt, HAMAS, Hezbollah, Indonesia, Iran, Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad Union, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Jemaah Islamiyah, Jihad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, Taliban, Uncategorized, Yemen, Zawahiri | Comments (1)

Osama Bin Laden moved around a lot while on the run

1 MaramSat, 31 Mar 2012 09:33:36 -06002012-03-31T09:33:36-06:0009 2009 – 09:33

We have always been skeptical that Osama Bin Laden maintained operational control over much of Al Qaeda while he was on the run, dodging US forces.

When US Special Operations forces caught up with Bin Laden and killed him in a compound in Pakistan, it was initially assumed, or at least reported, that he had been laid up there for almost the entire time he was on the run.

It was also widely reported that because Bin Laden was in a secure location for so long, he likely maintained operational control over Al Qaeda globally. That simply did not ring true to us then and it doesn’t now that it has been revealed that Bin Laden in fact lived a vagabond life, moving to five safe houses in widely separated parts of Afghanistan and then Pakistan.

The meme that Bin Laden maintained operational control over Al Qaeda while he was evading US forces was touted to essentially turn the killing of the terrorist leader into an “end-game” event in the so-called “war on terror.”

The Left in particular has promoted that narrative, but some neo-isolationists on the right have subscribed to it as well.

We buy into that rubbish at our peril. Assuming that the Jihadists will end their war against the West in general, and the US in particular, because the SEALs killed Bin Laden is irresponsible.

It defies belief that Bin Laden could possibly have maintained operational control over Al Qaeda given the conditions which he was forced to endure post 9/11.

Al Qaeda has become decentralized and its followers and admirers around the world, such as Mohammed Merah in France, will continue to act with brutal violence. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda “affiliates” continue to be active in Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Libya, Mali and Niger to name a few.

The death of Bin Laden at the hands of US Navy SEALs was a great thing. But to assign “victory” to that single act would in fact be to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2122752/Osama-living-version-Kardashians-Abbottabad-Bin-Laden-fathered-FOUR-children-lived-houses-years-run-Pakistan-9-11.html

By terrortrends | Also posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al Shabaab, Al Shahab, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, France, Libya, Mali, Mohammed Merah, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, terrorist group listings, Uncategorized, Yemen | Comments (0)