Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone Needs to Know®

305 Pages·2015·1.93 MB·English

by  Daniel Byman

AL QAEDA, THE ISLAMIC STATE, AND
THE GLOBAL JIHADIST MOVEMENT
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW®

AL QAEDA, THE ISLAMIC
STATE, AND THE GLOBAL
JIHADIST MOVEMENT
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW®
DANIEL BYMAN
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file at the Library of Congress
ISBN 978–0–19–021725–9 (hbk.); 978–0–19–021726–6 (pbk.)
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  XI
Introduction  1
1 History  3
What Was the Impact of the Anti-Soviet Jihad on the Jihadist
Movement?  3
Did the United States Fund Bin Laden and Al Qaeda?  6
Why Was Al Qaeda Founded?  7
What Did Al Qaeda Do in Sudan?  10
What Were Al Qaeda’s Initial Goals?  13
Why Did Al Qaeda Focus on the United States?  15
What Was the Role of Egyptian Militants during Al Qaeda’s
Formative Years?  17
What Was Al Qaeda’s Relationship with the Taliban before 9/11?  21
2 Key Attacks and Plots  25
Why Were the 1998 Embassy Attacks So Important?  25
What Were Al Qaeda’s Most Important Attacks before 9/11?  28
How Did Al Qaeda Carry Out the 9/11 Attacks?  31
vi Contents
Could the 9/11 Attacks Have Been Prevented?  35
How Did Al Qaeda Justify the 9/11 Attacks?  39
What Was the Fallout from the 9/11 Attacks for Al Qaeda?  41
What Attacks Has Al Qaeda Done Since 9/11? 43
3 Strategy and Tactics  47
What Are Al Qaeda’s Goals Today?  47
Does Al Qaeda Have a Strategy?  51
How Did Al Qaeda Become a Suicide Bombing Factory?  54
How Dangerous Are Lone Wolves?  57
What Do You Learn in an Al Qaeda Training Camp?  60
Could Al Qaeda Get a Nuclear Weapon?  63
Should We Laugh at Al Qaeda?  66
4 Ideas and Influences  69
What Are the Key Schools of Thought That Influence Salafi-Jihadism?  69
Salafism  69
Wahhabism  70
Deobandism  70
Ahl-e Hadith  71
Who Are the Key Thinkers Jihadists Admire and Read?  72
How Does Al Qaeda Differ from the Muslim Brotherhood?  77
Why Do Other Jihadists Criticize Al Qaeda?  78
How Does Al Qaeda Justify Killing Civilians?  82
What Themes Does Al Qaeda Push in Its Propaganda?  84
5 Organization and Recruitment  89
Why Was Bin Laden Such an Effective Leader?  89
How Does Ayman al-Zawahiri Differ from Bin Laden?  92
Contents vii
How Is Al Qaeda Organized?  95
Why Does Al Qaeda Make So Many Mistakes?  98
What Is the Profile of a Typical Al Qaeda Member?  101
How Does Al Qaeda Recruit?  102
What Is the Role of War?  104
What Is the Role of the Internet?  106
Where Does Al Qaeda Get Its Money?  109
How Does Al Qaeda Spend Its Money?  111
6 Friends and Enemies  115
How Did the 2003 Iraq War Shape Al Qaeda?  115
How Does Al Qaeda View Iran and the Shi’a?  119
Is Saudi Arabia Secretly Supporting Al Qaeda?  122
Why Does Pakistan Support Jihadists?  125
What Is the Relationship Between Pakistan and Al Qaeda?  128
Why Doesn’t Pakistan Cooperate More with the United States?  131
How Important Is Israel?  132
How Do Muslims Perceive Al Qaeda and Why Does It Matter?  135
How Did the Arab Spring Affect Al Qaeda?  137
7 Beyond the Al Qaeda Core  141
What Are the Key Al Qaeda Affiliates?  141
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula  142
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb  144
Al Shabaab  145
Jabhat al-Nusra  147
What about Like-Minded but Unaffiliated Groups?  148
What’s in It for Al Qaeda? What’s in It for the Affiliates?  150
What Are the Limits of Cooperation?  152
viii Contents
Does the Al Qaeda Core Control the Salafi-Jihadist Movement
Anymore?  155
So What Do We Talk about When We Talk about Al Qaeda?  157
8 The Islamic State  163
What Should We Call This Group?  163
Who Is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?  164
Where Did the Islamic State Come From?  166
Why Did the Islamic State Fight with Al Qaeda?  168
What Does the Islamic State Want?  170
How Strong Is the Islamic State?  172
How Does the Islamic State Publicize Its Cause?  177
What Are the Islamic State’s Relations with the Syrian Government?  179
What Is the Khorasan Group?  180
Is the Islamic State a Terrorist Threat to the American Homeland?  181
Why Did the United States Go to War with the Islamic State?  183
9 Counterterrorism  187
Isn’t Diplomacy Worthless When It Comes to Fighting Terror?  187
What Role Does the Legal System Play?  188
What about Military Tribunals, Guantanamo, and Other Post-9/11
Legal Measures?  191
What Is Rendition and Why Is It So Controversial?  192
How Do We Go After Al Qaeda’s Money? 194
What Is the Role of US Military Force?  197
What about Drones and Other Air Strikes?  199
Do Drones and Other Controversial Tools Result in “Blowback”?  203
How Do We Collect Intelligence on Al Qaeda?  206
How Do Tools Change When Fighting Affiliated Movements?  209
How Do We Win the War of Ideas?  211
Contents ix
What Is the Role of Allied Governments Threatened by Terrorists?  213
How Does Al Qaeda Adapt?  216
How Do You Counter Radicalization?  218
What Threat Does Al Qaeda Pose Today to the United States
and Europe? 220
Can We Defeat Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Broader
Jihadist Movement?  223
How Is Fighting the Islamic State Different from Fighting Al Qaeda?  225
10 Suggestions for Further Reading  229
NOTES  233
INDEX  261