Why is ISIS bad? It’s a basic question that I encounter a lot, along with the related question, why is ISIS so evil? Good and evil are value judgments, so everyone will have a different opinion about what deserves the labels. But we can at least say that ISIS (aka the Islamic State) is out […]
Posts Tagged ‘al-Qaeda’
Why Is ISIS So Bad?
Posted: 15th September 2015 by Will McCants in UncategorizedTags: al-Qaeda, Baghdadi, ISIS, ISIS Apocalypse, Islamic State, Qaeda
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New Issues Of Al-Qaeda In Yemen Journal
Posted: 9th November 2008 by Will McCants in Jihadi journals, Uncategorized, YemenTags: al-Qaeda, Sada al-Malahim, Yemen
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Since July al-Qaeda in Yemen has not released its monthly journal, Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Glorious Battles).  This period of silence included the September attack on the U.S. embassy, which made it hard to confirm if al-Qaeda in Yemen had carried it out. Now the group has published issues 5 and 6 of Sada al-Malahim […]
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 […]
Attacks in Yemen: Claimant May Be Lying
Posted: 17th September 2008 by Will McCants in YemenTags: al-Qaeda, Yemen
[Gregory D. Johnsen] Details are still coming in about this morning’s attack on the US Embassy in Yemen, and it will likely be a couple of days before a complete and accurate picture of the attack can be drawn. But in my conversations very early this morning what seems to be clear is that the […]
Cyber attack and Ineptitude Delay Release of al-Qaeda 9/11 Video
Posted: 17th September 2008 by Will McCants in AQ Leadership, Jihadi mediaTags: 9/11, al-Qaeda, cyber attack, Jihadi Forums
Major Jihadi forums have been down for almost a week now, which ruined al-Qaeda’s release of its 9/11 anniversary video. The video is now out, but those who prepared it for distribution included the wrong password and it probably won’t be until tomorrow that the problem is corrected. Even when it finally sees the light […]
The Strategic Effects of 9/11, Part 3: Striking the Enemy at the Center of Gravity
Posted: 14th September 2008 by Will McCants in AQ Leadership, Strategy, UncategorizedTags: 9/11, al-Qaeda, Strategy
Continuing… It is no accident that the World Trade Center was the main object of the 9/11 attacks since it was the symbol of U.S. economic hegemony. Bear in mind that the attacks had been planned in the ’90s during the height of U.S. economic power. The strikes were meant to polarize Muslims as well […]
Map of Recent Strikes on al-Qaeda Leadership in Pakistan
Posted: 12th August 2008 by Will McCants in AQ Leadership, PakistanTags: Abu Khabab, Abu Layth al-Libi, Abu Sulayman al-Jaza'iri, al-Qaeda, leadership, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, Pakistan
Reuters reports, on the authority of a Pakistani security official, that an “Abu Saeed al-Masri” was killed. The official said Masri is “among the top leadership of al Qaeda.” The identity of Masri is unknown, but the news media is claiming that it’s Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, a close Egyptian friend of Zawahiri’s from the Sadat […]
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
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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 […]
Abu Khabab Killed in Missile Strike
Posted: 28th July 2008 by Will McCants in AQ Leadership, Pakistan, UncategorizedTags: al-Qaeda, Pakistan
This morning Reuters reported that U.S. missiles had struck a madrasa in Wana, South Waziristan and killed six people. At that time, the reporters did not know who had been killed. On the forums this afternoon, there were several rumors that Abu Khabab, a senior al-Qaeda bomb maker and chemical weapons expert, had died in […]
Economist Article on al-Qaeda
Posted: 22nd July 2008 by Will McCants in AQ Leadership, Western AnalystsTags: al-Qaeda, Economist
If you only have time to read one article on the current state of al-Qaeda, read the new special report in the Economist. Not only does the author, Anton La Guardia, have great taste (Jihadica and some CTC products I worked on are listed in the sources), but he has done a masterful job of […]