The London bombers as "self-starters": A case study in indigenous radicalization and the emergence of autonomous cliques

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism

Volumn 30, Issue 5, 2007, Pages 415-428

  Kirby, Aidan ^a  

^a Hicks and Associates Inc   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 33947712375     PISSN: 1057610X     EISSN: 15210731     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10576100701258619     Document Type: Article

References (55)

1. The term "self-starter" was pioneered in The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror and Strategy for Getting it Right (New York: Henry Holt, 2005), by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon. They develop the concept in their analysis of various attacks in the post-9/11 period, including discussion of the London bombers.
2. These concepts are developed in the work of Marc Sageman, Olivier Roy, and Michael Scheuer.
3. Craig Whitlock, "Trail from London to Leeds Yields Portraits of 3 bombers," Washington Post, 15 July 2005.
4. Interviews of Nasreen Suleaman, BBC, in Tom Hundley, "Attacks Spur Identity Crisis for Britain," Chicago Tribune, 16 December 2005.
5. Ian Herbert, "Documentary Reveals London Bomber's Westernized Youth," The Independent (London), 18 November 2005.
6. Ian Herbert, "Khaka' and 'Sid,' the Committed Jihadists who Turned to Murder," The Independent (London), 17 December 2005.
7. Olga Craig, "Bowling for Paradise," Sunday Telegraph, 17 July 2005.
8. Lizette Alvarez, "New Muslim at 15, Terror Suspect at 19," The New York Times, 18 July 2005.
9. For additional discussion of the bombers' profiles see Russell Jenkins, Dominic Kennedy, David Lister, and Carol Midgley, "The London Bombers," Times Online, 15 July 2005, available at (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1693739,00.html).
10. Petter Nesser, "Profiles in Jihadist Terrorists in Europe," published in Cheryl Bernard, A Future for the Young, Options for Helping Middle Eastern Youth Escape the Trap of Radicalization (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2006).
11. Investigations into Iqra Islamic bookshop revealed connections with Scottish born James McLintock who became Mohammed Yacoub upon his conversion and Martin "Abdullah" McDaid, an ex-UK Special Forces operative and fellow convert. (Paul Tumelty, "New Developments Following the London Bombings," Terrorism Monitor, 3(23). http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/ article.php?articleid=2369752 [accessed 7 March 2006]).
12. Craig, "Bowling for Paradise."
13. Jason Burke, Antony Barnett, Mark Townsend, Tariq Panja, Martin Bright, and Tony Thompson, "The London Bombs: Three Cities, Four Killers," The Observer (London), 17 July 2005.
14. The Observer, "A Terrorist in Our Midst," 20 November 2005;
15. Tumelty, "New Developments Following the London Bombings,"
16. and The Independent, "Documentary Reveals London Bomber's Westernized Youth," 18 November 2005.
17. Raymond Whitaker, Francis Elliot, and Sophie Goodchild, "The Attacks on London: Part Two," The Independent on Sunday, 31 July 2005.
18. Daniel McGory and Michael Evans, "Net Widens as al-Qaeda Bomb Link is Confirmed," The Times (London), 15 July 2005.
19. Michael Evans, "New Clues Support al-Qaeda Theory for London Bombing," The Times (London), 30 January 2006.
20. Daniel McGory and Zahid Hussain, "Bomber Told Cousin of Suicide Plan," The Times (London), 22 July 2005.
21. Roger Woods, David Leppard, and Michael Smith, "Tangled Web that Still Leaves Worrying Loose Ends," Sunday Times, 13 July 2005.
22. Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7th July 2005, 11 May 2006.
23. Jason Bennetto, "July 7 Bomber Argued with Cashier Shortly before Blast," The Independent, 31 October 2005.
24. Jonathan Calvert and Nick Fielding, "Tape Links Al-Qaeda to London," Times Online, 4 September 2005.
25. Jason Burke, "Secrets of Bomber's Death Tape," The Guardian, 4 September 2005.
26. David Leppard, "MI5 Admits: We've Run Out of Leads on Bombers," Sunday Times, 29 January 2006.
27. For example, unclassified accounts of the 9/11 network appeared in "The Plot: A Web of Connections," Washington Post, 24 September 2001
28. and in Thomas A. Stewart, "Six Degrees of Mohammed Atta," Business 2.0, December 2001.
29. Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7th July 2005, 11 May 2006.
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid.
32. Mark Townsend, "Leak Reveals Official Story of London bombings: Al-Qaeda not Linked, Says Government; Gang Used Internet to Plan 7/7 Attack," The Observer, 9 April 2006.
33. According the Home Office's Official Account, the district of Beeston, where three of the bombers were raised, is a highly populated but poorly maintained residential area. (Over 10,000 of the 16,300 residents' living standards are among the worst 3% in the country.)
34. Daniel Benjamin, Testimony before the Senate ForeignRelations Committee, Subcommittee on European Affairs, "Islamic Extremism in Europe," 5 April 2006.
35. Anthony King, "One in Four Muslims Sympathises with Motives of Terrorists," The Telegraph, 23 July 2005.
36. Farhad Khosrokhavar, Suicide Bombers: Allah's New Martyrs (London: Pluto Press, 2005).
37. Ibid., see pp. 152-157.
38. Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).
39. This is consistent with Marc Sageman's findings that cliques are built on a foundation of human similarities including background, education, and beliefs (and in the case of the London bombers - interest in sport), but it is through a process of face-to-face interaction that ideological affinity develops.
40. The term, as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, is: "a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially: One held together by common interests, views, or purposes."
41. Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks, p. 154.
42. Sageman discusses this phenomenon with respect to the Montreal cell and the Hamburg cell in terms of a spiraling intensity of beliefs, p. 108.
43. McGory and Hussain, "Bomber Told Cousin of Suicide Plan."
44. For a clear and thorough articulation of control theory, see Travis Hirschi, The Causes of Delinquency (Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2001).
45. Robert Leiken as cited in: "Currents and Crosscurrents of Radical Islam, A Report of the Transatlantic Dialogue on Terrorism," Center for Strategic and International Studies, April 2006.
46. Olivier Roy, Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Umma (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004).
47. For further discussion see Michael Scheuer, "Assessing London and Sharm al-Sheikh: The Role of Internet Intelligence and Urban Warfare Training," Terrorism Focus, 2(15) (5 August 2005). http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369764 [accessed 6 March 2006].
48. BBC News, "London Bombers Staged 'Dummy Run,'" 20 September 2005.
49. McGory and Evans, "Net Widens"
50. and Michael Evans, "Explosives Match Al Qaeda Blueprint for Bombmaking," Times, 16 July 2005.
51. Reuters, "London Bombers used Everyday Materials - US Police," 4 August 2005.
52. Fareek Zakaria, The Future of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2004).
53. Michael Scheuer, "The London Bombings: For al-Qaeda, Steady as She Goes," Terrorism Focus, 2(14) (22 July 2005). http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369752 [accessed 7 March 2006].
54. For a thorough explanation of this concept see Michael Scheuer's Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam and the Future of America, chapter 4, "Getting to Know Bin Laden: Substantive Themes of the Jihad" (Washington, DC: Brassey's Inc., 2003). The role of inspiring and inciting is explored here and Scheuer cites commentators as realizing that bin Laden's "strategy may be to create the leadership and motivation that might galvanize individual independent units into action," p. 61.
55. Government Response to the Intelligence and Security Committee's Report into the London Terrorist Attacks on 7 July 2005, May 2006.