Global jihadism after the Iraq war

Middle East Journal

Volumn 60, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 11-32

  Hegghammer, Thomas ^a,b  

^a NORWEGIAN DEFENCE RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT FFI   (Norway)

^b SCIENCES PO   (France)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

IDEOLOGY; ISLAMISM; TERRORISM;

ASIA; EURASIA; IRAQ; MIDDLE EAST;

EID: 33644745269     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3751/60.1.11     Document Type: Article

References (107)

1. Richard Norton-Taylor, "Iraq War Has Swollen Ranks of al-Qaida," Guardian, October 16, 2003.
2. Dana Priest, "Iraq New Terror Breeding Ground," Washington Post, January 14, 2005.
3. Notable exceptions include Fawaz Gerges, The Far Enemy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005);
4. Guido Steinberg, Der Nahe und Der Ferne Feind [The Near and the Far Enemy] (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2005);
5. Gilles Kepel, The War for Muslim Minds (Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2004);
6. Olivier Roy, Globalized Islam (New York: Columbia, 2004);
7. Dominique Thomas, Les Hommes d'al-Qaïda [The Men of al-Qa'ida] (Paris: Michalon, 2005);
8. Anonymous (Michael Scheuer), Imperial Hubris (New York: Brassey's, 2004).
9. See also Reuven Paz' numerous PRISM papers (available at http:// www.e-prism.org) for excellent shorter analyses of ongoing ideological developments.
10. Usama bin Ladin, "Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Two Holy Places," signed August 23, 1996
11. (Reproduced in Thoma Hegghammer, Dokumentasjon om al-Qaida [Documentation on al-Qa'ida], Kjeller: FFI/Rapport01393,2002 [Available at http://rapporter.ffi.no/rapporter/2002/01393.pdf], pp. 123-140).
12. Ayman al-Zawahiri, "Fursan taht Rayat al-Nabi" ["Knights under the Prophet's Banner"), published as an article series in al-Sharq al-Awsat, December 2-12, 2001.
13. For an overview of texts by Usama bin Ladin and Ayman al-Zawahiri in English translation, see Thomas Hegghammer, Dokumentasjon om al-Qaida [Documentation on al-Qa'ida] Kjeller: FFI/Rapport 01393, 2002 (Available at http://rapporter.ffi.no/rapporter/2002/01393.pdf),
14. and Thomas Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, Kjeller: FFI/ Rapport 01428, 2005 (available at http://rapporter.ffi.no/rapporter/2005/ 01428.pdf);
15. See also Kepel et al., Al-Qaïda dans le texte.
16. Since this article was originally written, two new compilations of quality translations of Bin Ladin texts have been published: see Bruce Lawrence (ed.), Messages to the World (New York: Verso, 2005);
17. and Randall B. Hamud (ed.), Osama bin Laden: America's Enemy in His Own Words (San Diego: Nadeem, 2005).
18. There has been a certain amount of debate over when, and if at all, al-Qa'ida ever constituted a coherent, self-aware organization. According to one version of history, al-Qa'ida was founded as Continued from previous page organization in the late 1980s, as an offshoot of the Services Bureau and the brainchild of 'Abdallah Azzam (see 9/11 Commission Report; Rohan Gunaratna, Inside al-Qaida (London: Hurst, 2002)).
19. Critics, (see Jason Burke, Al-Qaeda (London: IB Tauris, 2003)) have rightly pointed out that there are extremely few indications pre-9/11 that the nam "al-Qa'ida" was ever in use by the people whom we assume to be its members. What is clear, however, is that the organizational structures around Bin LadiD became markedly more extensive, complex, and hierarchical after his move to Afghanistan in 1996. There is no doubt that by 1998-99, Bin Ladin presided over a sophisticated organization, whether the name al-Qa'ida was used internally or not.
20. The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 67.
21. It must be emphasized that national and regional "clusters" have always existed within the al-Qa'ida network. See Marc Sageman, Understanding Terrorist Networks (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2004).
22. Hegghammer, Dokumentasjon om al-Qaida
23. and Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004.
24. Reuven Paz, "Al-Qa'idah's Interpreters," PRISM Occasional Papers 1, 1 (Available at http://www.e-prism.org.il).
25. Radical Islamist ideologues themselves use the term "scholars of jihad" ['ulama'al-jihad], in opposition to the "scholars of the palace" [Ulama'al-balat] who side with the oppressive rulers. See Ayman al-Zawahiri, Knights under the Prophet's Banner.
26. Examples of prominent scholars imprisoned in 2002 and 2003 include the Palestinian-Jordanian Abu Qatada al-Falastini (aka 'Umar Mahmud Abu 'Umar), held in the United Kingdom, and the Saudi Nasiral-Fahd and 'Ali al-Khudayr (imprisoned in Saudi Arabia). Some important figures were imprisoned in the mid-1990s, such as the Egyptian 'Umar 'Abd al-Rahman (imprisoned in the US) and the Palestinian-Jordanian Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi (aka 'Isam al-Barqawi). Al-Maqdisi regularly releases texts, presumably smuggled out from his Jordanian prison by visitors. One of the last remaining "jihad shaykhs" is the Syrian Abu Basir al-Tartusi (aka 'Abd al-Mu'nim Halima) who is based in the UK.
27. Yusuf al-'Ayiri was a Saudi ideologist and veteran of the first Afghan War in the 1980s. From about 2000 until his death in late May 2003, he was Usama bin Ladin's main contact in Saudi Arabia. He played an important ideological role as administrator of the website Markaz al-Dirasat wa'l-Buhuth al-Islamiyya [Center for Islamic Studies and Research] and as author of several innovative strategic studies. He is also believed to be the architect behind the terrorist campaign launched in Saudi Arabia in May 2003. Abu Mus'abal-Suri (aka Mustafa Sitmariam Nasir, aka'Umar Abd al-Hakim) is a Syrian veteran from the first Afghan War who played an important role on the European jihadist scene in the 1990s, notably as Editor of the jihadist magazine al-Ansar [The Supporters] in London. He later disappeared from the ideological scene, only to reemerge with a much publicized "come-back statement" in December 2004. He is said by intelligence sources to have strong links to jihadists in Spain as well as to Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi in Iraq. He lived in Spain for several years in the 1990s and acquired Spanish citizenship by marrying a Spanish convert. See Lorenzo Vidino, "A Suri State of Affairs," National Review Online, May 21, 2004. Al-Suri's large ideological production is very influential and he was reportedly arrested in the Pakistani city of Quetta in early November 2005. Abu 'Umar al-Sayf is a Saudi-born ideologist who is based in or near Chechnya. He is said to be one of the main ideological guides of Shamil Basayev's radical faction of the Chechen resistance. His books are signed "Head of the High Court of cassation in Chechnya" [Ra'is Mahkamat al-Tamyiz al-'Ulya fi al-Shihan] and he is described in the Jihadist literature as "Mufti of the Mujahidin in Chechnya" [Mufti al-Mujahidinfi al-Shihan] or "Chief Judge and Leader of the Courts in Chechnya" [Al-Qadi al-Awwal wa Amir al-Mahakim fi al-Shishan]. At the end of November 2005, there were credible reports on jihadist message boards that Abu'Umar had been killed by Russian troops. Al-Sayf is very well respected in the global jihadist movement.
28. See for example "Maqalatuhu Tatalaqqafuha Andiyat al-Hiwar," ["His Articles are Taking over the Discussion Forums"] al-Quds al-Arabi [London], July 23, 2002.
29. There has been much speculation about 'Atiyat Allah's identity; for a recent theory, see al-Sharq al-Awsat, October 2, 2005.
30. Al-Qa'ida on the Arabian Peninsula published three different magazines: Sawt al-Jihad [Voice of Jihad] (published in 29 issues), Mu'askar al-Battar [Camp of the Sabre] (22 issues) and al-Khansa [named for a seventh century female poet who converted to Islam and urged her sons to wage jihad] (one issue). Al-Qa'ida in the Land of the Two Rivers publishes a magazine called Dharwat al-Sanam (Peak of the Hump], while the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC publishes al-Jama'a. Several other magazines have been published by various groups in the past two years. Many of them are available at http://www.e-prism.org.il.
31. Other important forums at the time of writing include Al-ikhlas, Al-hikma, Al-ma'sada Al-jihadiyya, Mufakkarat usama, Al-hisba, Al-tajdid, and Al-saqifa. There may be as many as 100 jihadist discussion forums, but the majority of them attract relatively few visitors. The Internet addresses of most of these websites change so often that it would not be useful to include them here.
32. Hegghammer, Dokumentasjon om al-Qaida, p. 185.
33. Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 12.
34. See Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004.
35. Nasir al-Fahd, al-Hamla al-Salibiyya fi Marhalatiha al-Thaniyya: Harb al-'Iraq [The Crusader Campaign in its Second Phase: The Iraq War], available at http://www.tawhed.ws. Nasir al-Fahd is a prolific and influential Saudi scholar who was the leading figure in the so-called Saudi salafi-jihadist current which emerged in Burayda and Riyadh from the late 1990s onward and which included scholars such as 'Ali al-Khudayr, Ahmad al-Khalidi, 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Jarbu, and several others. They were all imprisoned in late May 2003.
36. Nasir al-Fahd et al., Fatwa fi Kufr man 'Ana al-Amrikan 'ala al-Muslimin fi'l-'Iraq [Fatwa on the Infidelity of Whoever Helps the Americans Against Muslims in Iraq], posted October 12, 2002 on http:// www.alkhoder.com, now available on http://www.tawhed.ws;
37. see Stéphane Lacroix, Le Champ Politico-Religieux en Arabie Saoudite après le 11 Septembre [The Political-Religious Field in Saudi Arabia after September 11] Master's degree thesis, Institut Études Politiques de Paris, 2003.
38. See for example Abu Basir al-Tartusi, Bayan hawla Ghazuw al-Salibiyyin 'ala al-'Iraq [Statement Regarding the Crusaders' Invasion of Iraq], available on http://www.tawhed.ws;
39. Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, Risalat Munasara wa Munasaha li-Ikhwanina Ah al-Sunna wa'l-Jama'a fi'l-'Iraq [Letter to Our Sunni Brothers in Iraq], available on http://www.tawhed.ws;
40. Ahmad al-Khalidi, Wa-Intaqalat al Ma'raka ila Ard al-'Iraq [The Battle Has Moved to Iraq], available on http://www.tawhed.ws;
41. Sulayman al-'Ulwan, Risala ila Shab al-Iraq [Letter to the People of Iraq], available on http://www.tawhed.ws.
42. Hamid al-Ali is a Kuwaiti scholar and former leader of one of the two main moderate Islamist parties in Kuwait. His discourse turned noticeably more radical in 2002. Al-Ali has emerged as the most important mufti for jihadist groups operating in Iraq. He was put under house arrest in the summer of 2004, and imprisoned in May 2005. See http://www.h-alali.net.
43. The very first strategic analysis of Washington's ambitions in Iraq appeared in August 2002 in Abu 'Ubayd al-Qirshi's, Kharif al-Ghadab al-'Iraqi [The Iraqi Autumn of Wrath], Majallat al-Ansar 16 (August 24, 2002). Later in the autumn of 2002, a larger and more influential work appeared, namely Yusuf al-'Ayiri's al-Harb al-Salibiyya ala al-'Iraq [The Crusader War on Iraq], which was published as a series of 11 articles on the website "Centre for Islamic Studies and Research."
44. Abu 'Umar al-Sayf, Al-Iraq wa Ghazuw al-Salib: Durus wa Ta'ammulat [Iraq and the Crusader Invasion: Lessons and Expectations], available on http://www.tawhed.ws;
45. Sayf al-Din al-Ansari et al., Al-Iraq: min al-Ihtilal ila al-Tahrir [Iraq - From Occupation to Liberation], Kitab al-Ansar June 3,2003, available on http://www.tawhed.ws;
46. Anonymous, 'Iraq al-Jihad: Amal wa Akhtar [Iraqi Jihad - Expectations and Dangers], posted on the website Global Islamic Media on December 10, 2003, now available on http://www.mil.no/multimedia/archive/ 00038/_Jihadi_Iraq_Hopes_38063a.pdf.
47. One might also mention Yusuf al-'Ayiri, Mustaqbal al-'Iraq wa'l-Jazira al-'Arabiyya ba'd Suqut Baghdad [The Future of Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula After the Fall of Baghdad];
48. and Anonymous, Al-Khasa'ir al-Amrikiyya: mundhu Ghazwat Manhattan wa hatta al-'Iraq [American Losses: From the Manhattan Raid to Iraq] originally published by al-Nida Website, now available on http:// www.tawhed.ws. Among the many interesting articles on Iraq in the jihadist magazine Majallat al-Ansar, one might mention Abu Ayman al-Hilali, "Al-Hujum 'ala al-'Iraq: bayna Khalt al-Awraq wa Tartibiha" ["The Attack on Iraq: From Mixing the Papers to Organizing Them"], Majallat al-Ansar 19 (October 22, 2002);
49. Abu Ubayd al-Qirshi, "Al-Marhala al-Qadima" ["The Coming Phase"], Majallat al-Ansar 22 (December 5, 2002);
50. Abu Ubayd al-Qirshi, "Amrika wa Mabadi'al-Harb: bayna al-Nazariyya i1a al-Tatbi" ["America and the Principles of War: from Theory to Practice"], Majallat al-Ansar 24 (January 2, 2003);
51. Abu Ayman al-Hilali, "Al-Muqawama al-'Iraqiyya wa Fashl al-Dhari' al-Mukhattit al-Amriki" ["The Iraqi Resistance and the Failure of the American Planning Arm"], Majallat al-Ansar 28 (April 3, 2003);
52. and Abu 'Ubayd al-Qirshi, "Limadha Saqatat Baghdad?"["Why Did Baghdad Fall?"], Majallat al-Ansar 29 (April 17, 2004).
53. The address of this Website is relatively stable: http://www.tawhed.ws.
54. See for example Muhammad Al-Salim, "La Tadhhabu li'l-ilraq" ["Do Not Go to Iraq"], Sawt al-Jihad 7 (December 2003).
55. Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 30.
56. Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 67.
57. Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 60.
58. Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 17.
59. Anonymous, Jihadi Iraq - Expectations and Dangers, p. 2.
60. Hegghammer. Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 63.
61. Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 80.
62. Lacroix and Hegghammer, Saudi Arabia Backgrounder: Who are the Islamists?
63. "Al-Qa'ida Leader Calls for Attacks on Americans in Iraq Rather Than on the Saudi Government in Saudi Arabia," MEMRI Special Dispatch 635 (available at http://www.memri.org).
64. See for example Al-Salim, "Do not go to Iraq!";
65. Muhammad al-Salim, "Labayka ya 'Iraq" ["Woe to you, Iraq"], Sawt al-Jihad 11 (February 2004);
66. Anonymous, Tasa'ulat hawla Jihad al-Salibiyyin fi Jazirat al-'Arab ["Questions Regarding the Rhad Against the Crusaders on the Arabian Peninsula"], Sawt al-Jihad 11 and 12 (February/March 2004).
67. Al-Hayat, December 14, 2004.
68. See http://www.ribaat.org/services/forum/showthread.php?t=17206.
69. "Terror Recruitment on the Rise in Europe," MSNBC, January 25, 2005. Available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com.
70. Abu Mus'ab al-Suri, Bayan Sadir'an Maktabal-Shaykh Abu Mus'abal-Suri [Statement by the Office of Abu Mus'ab al-Suri], dated December 27, 2004 and published on Islamist websites;
71. See also Abu Mus'ab al-Suri, Da'wat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya al-'Alamiyya [The Call for Global Islamic Resistance], published on Islamist websites in December 2004, p. 1,392.
72. Abu Basir al-Tartusi, Bayan hawla al-Tafjirat allati Hasalat fi Madinat Lundun [Statement About the Explosions Which Took Place in London], posted July 9, 2005 on his website http://www.abubaseer.bizland.com.
73. For a good summary of the debate, see Reuven Paz, "Islamic Legitimacy for the London Bombings," PRISM Occasional Papers 3,4 (July 2005).
74. See Petter Nesser, Jihad in Europe (Kjeller: FFI/Rapport, 2004), available at http://www.ffi.no;
75. and Petter Nesser, "Post-Millenium Patterns of Jihadist Terrorism in Western Europe" in Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, May 31, 2005, available at http://www.janes.com.
76. This is clear from the bombers' own words; see "Full text: al-Qaida Madrid claim," http://www.bbcnews.com, March 14, 2004;
77. Vikram Dodd and Richard Norton-Taylor, "Video of 7/7 ring-leader blames foreign policy," Guardian, September 2, 2005.
78. The Shi'ite Islamist group Hizbullah carried out many high-profile kidnappings of Western citizens in Lebanon in the 1980s. Some of the hostages were killed, though not by decapitation. The Algerian group GIA kidnapped and decapitated seven French monks in Algeria in the spring of 1996. In January 2002, the American journalist Daniel Pearl was abducted and beheaded by Sunni militants in Pakistan.
79. Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, Al-Zarqawi: Munasara wa Munasaha ["Al-Zarqawi: Support and Advice"], published July 2004 on http://www.tawhed.ws. On July 3,2005, after being temporarily released from prison, al-Maqdisi appeared in an interview on the Qatari television network al-Jazeera and criticized al-Zarqawi for his indiscriminate use of suicide bombings and mass-casualty attacks against civilian Iraqi Shi'ites.
80. See Bernard Haykel, "Among jihadis, a rift over suicide attacks,"New York Times, October 12, 2005.
81. Brynjar Lia, "Internationalist Jihadist Groups in Iraq" conference paper presented in Oslo Militære Samfund, January 25, 2005.
82. Brynjar Lia, "The Rise of Salafi-Jihadi Groups in Iraq: Some Preliminary Observations," unpublished manuscript from lecture at the University of Oslo, November 20, 2003;
83. The correspondence between al-'Ali and the jihadists was posted on the now-defunct website of the "Salafi Fighting Group of Iraq" [Al-Jama'a al-Salafiyya al-Mujahida - al-'Iraq] in the late summer of 2003.
84. Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 46.
85. Author's interview with Miriam Abou Zahab, Paris, October 26, 2005.
86. In January 2004, al-Zarqawi allegedly wrote a letter to Bin Ladin and al-Zawahiri proposing a new strategy that involved provoking civil war in Iraq by launching large-scale terrorist attacks on Shi'ites ("U.S. Says Files Seek Qaeda Aid in Iraq Conflict" New York Times, February 9,2004). We do not know Bin Ladin's precise position on this proposal, but if al-Zarqawi did indeed write such a letter, it would indicate that he knew the content was controversial. However, the clearest indication of a disagreement on this issue was the so-called "Letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi," allegedly written in July 2005, in which al-Zawahiri expressed strong reservations about the anti-Shi'ite strategy in Iraq (see http:// www.dni.gov/release_letter_101105.html).
87. Critics on the radical forums use two kinds of arguments: either that attacks on Shi'ites divert attention from the fight against the Crusaders (see for example http://www/islah200.org/vboard/ showthread.php?t=120251);
88. or that it is difficult to distinguish between Iraqi Sunnis and Shi'ites, hence such attacks run the risk of killing Sunni civilians (see for example http://www.qal3ati.net/vb/showthread.php?t=122778).
89. Al-Maqdisi, Al-Zarqawi: Support and Advice;
90. See also the television interview with al-Maqdisi on al-Jazeera, July 3, 2005.
91. This genre is also to be distinguished from the vast literature on paramilitary tactics that circulates on the Internet. See for example the Saudi jihadist magazine Mu'askar al-Battar.
92. "Centre for Islamic Studies and Research" (Markaz al-Dirasat wa'l-Buhuth al-Islamiyya) was a radical Islamist website, which became known after 9/11 as one of the Internet sites with the closest links to the senior al-Qa'ida leadership. It ceased to exist shortly after the death of its administrator, Yusuf al'Ayiri, in late May 2003. Majallat al-Ansar was a jihadist magazine issued regularly in PDF format on the Internet between early 2002 and mid-2003. The most prominent contributors to this magazine were Sayf al-Din al-Ansari, Abu 'Ubayd al-Qirshi, Abu Ayman al-Hilali, and Abu Sa'd al-Amili. The real identity and geographical base of these writers remains unknown.
93. Sample titles include Abu 'Ubayd al-Qirshi, "al-qa'ida wa fann al-harb [Al-Qa'ida and the Art of War], Majallat al-Ansar 1 (January 15, 2002);
94. Abu 'Ubayd al-Qirshi, "hurub al-jil al-rabi"' [Fourth Generation Warfare], Majallat al-Ansar 2 (January 28,2002);
95. Abu 'Ubayd al-Qirshi, "hasad murr: al-hamla al-salibiyya ba'd sitta shuhur" [Bitter Harvest: The Crusader Campaign After Six Months], Majallat al-Ansar 6 (March 29, 2002);
96. Abu 'Ubayd al-Qirshi, "Amrika wa'l-Hamla al-Salibiyya: i1a Ayna?" [America and the Crusader Campaign: Where Now?], Majallat al-Ansar 11 (June 12, 2002);
97. Abu Ubayd al-Qirshi, "Dars fi al-Harb" ["Lesson in Warfare"], Majallat al-Ansar 23 (December 19, 2002).
98. See for example Abu 'Ubayd al-Qirshi, "Harb al-Athir" ["Information Warfare"], Majallat al-Ansar 21 (November 20, 2002). It should be mentioned that the tactical jihadist literature has undergone a similar development toward a greater emphasis on psychology in warfare. For example, 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Muqrin (the leader of al-Qa'ida in Saudi Arabia until his death in June 2004) wrote extensively on how to handle and exploit the media in connection with kidnappings.
99. See 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Muqrin, Al'Ulum al-'Askariyya ["Military Science"], published on the Sawt al-Jihad website in September 2004, pp. 55-60.
100. Anonymous, Iraqi Jihad - Expectations and Dangers.
101. Brynjar Lia and Thomas Hegghammer, "Jihadi Strategic Studies," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism Vol. 27, No. 5 (2004), pp. 355-75.
102. Michael Scheuer, Through Our Enemies' Eyes (Washington DC: Brassey's, 2002), pp. 228-36.
103. Hegghammer, Al-Qaida Statements 2003-2004, p. 64.
104. See for example http://www.al-qal3ah.net/vb/showdiread.php?t=114188.
105. See for example Yusuf al-'Ayiri, Al-Tawajud al-Amriki fi al-Khalij: Haqiqatuhu wa Ahdafuhu [The American Presence in the Gulf: Truths and Aims], published in May 2003 on al-Nida Website, now available on http:// www.tawhed.ws.
106. See for example Anonymous, "Al-Wujud al-Amriki fi al-Khalij: Tarikh wa Dalalat," ["The American Presence in the Gulf: History and Evidence"], Sawt al-Jihad 2 (October 2003);
107. Muhammad Al-Salim, "Ya ahl al-Kuwaif' ["O Kuwaiti People"], Sawt al-Jihad 13 (March 2004).