As readers might guess, the discussions on the Jihadi forums are almost entirely devoted to Gaza (there’s some on Somalia–more on that later this week). I’ve culled the most representative posts from the Faloja forum: The forum administrators warn that anyone who is unduly critical of Hamas will be kicked off during this time of [...]
Archive for the ‘Saudi Arabia’ Category
Reactions To Israel’s Gaza Campaign
Posted: 29th December 2008 by Will McCants in Israel, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, UncategorizedTags: Gaza, Palestinian Territories, Qarni
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The Denudation Of The Exoneration: Part 10
Posted: 29th November 2008 by Will McCants in Afghanistan, AQ Leadership, Bin Laden, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, ZawahiriTags: Sayyid Imam, Zawahiri
Amidst the personal attacks on Zawahiri in part 10, Sayyid Imam mentions a few more interesting historical tidbits. First, he notes the opposition of two prominent Jihadis, Abu Mus`ab al-Suri and `Abd al-Rahman al-Kindi (died in 2003), to the attacks on the U.S. He also discloses that Zawahiri’s imprisoned brother, Muhammad, has been trying [...]
The Denudation Of The Exoneration: Part 8
Posted: 28th November 2008 by Will McCants in AQ Leadership, Bin Laden, Egypt, Hamas, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, WMD, ZawahiriTags: Bin Laden, Sayyid Imam, Zawahiri
In part 8, Sayyid Imam continues to hammer al-Qaeda for bringing disaster to the Middle East and for the hypocrisy of its leaders. He puts forward the odd claim that AQ lied to the U.S. about WMD in Iraq and about AQ ties with Iraq to push the U.S. to invade observes that Iran and [...]
The Strategic Effects of 9/11, Part 5: The Jihadi Domino Theory
Posted: 23rd September 2008 by Will McCants in AQ Leadership, Kuwait, Nuclear, Oil, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, StrategyTags: al-Qaeda, nuclear weapons, Oil, Strategy
Continuing… Why did al-Qaeda attack the U.S.? Was it to drive the U.S. out of the Middle East? Or was it to strike the far enemy for the sake of destroying the near enemy (i.e. regimes in the Arab and Islamic world)? Regardless of the intent of al-Qaeda’s leaders, the sequence of events gives weight [...]
Two Major Steps Forward in Studying al-Qaeda
Posted: 29th July 2008 by Will McCants in Saudi Arabia, Western mediaTags: al-Qaeda, COMOPS, Hegghammer, Saudi Arabia
First, Thomas Hegghammer has written a very valuable article on the rise and fall of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia (more properly, “al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula” or QAP). Thomas’ study is valuable because he draws on a deep well of empirical research to challenge the three major explanatory models of Islamist militancy: ideological (as they [...]
Scheuer and the Salafi Stew
Posted: 20th July 2008 by Will McCants in Saudi Arabia, Western AnalystsTags: Salafism, Saudi, Scheuer
In a new Jamestown article, Michael Scheuer has refined some of the arguments he made in May in response to the al-Qaeda-is-almost-defeated meme that has been going around since April. He and I had a brief exchange about it here (look in the comments), so I won’t reprise all of it. But I do want [...]
Saudi Terror Arrests Summary, Government Points Finger at Iran
Posted: 29th June 2008 by Will McCants in Afghanistan, AQ Leadership, Jihadi media, Mauritania, Oil, Recruitment, Saudi Arabia, Strategy, tactics, Yemen, ZawahiriTags: financing, Iran, media, Oil, Recruitment, Saudi Arabia
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 [...]
Mauritania Again
Posted: 28th June 2008 by Will McCants in Mauritania, Saudi ArabiaTags: Mauritania, Saudi Arabia
In the news surrounding the Saudi statement on its capture of suspected terrorists over the past six months (see Marisa’s links here and here and here), one thing stood out: 40 Mauritanians were arrested in Saudi’s oil-rich Eastern Province, some (all?) of whom were part of a cell that planned to attack oil installations in [...]
Managing Savagery in Saudi Arabia
Posted: 26th June 2008 by Will McCants in Saudi Arabia, Strategy, UncategorizedTags: Management of Savagery, Naji, Saudi Arabia, Strategy
In the past six months, Saudi Arabia has arrested around 700 suspected terrorists. Yesterday, the Interior Ministry released a statement which claimed that many of those arrested were trying to implement the blueprint laid out by Abu Bakr Naji in his Management of Savagery. Naji argues that if Jihadis want to take power, they need [...]