Documents recovered from bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad

More than a dozen de-classified documents recovered from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad were released today by CTC at West Point. A few highlights I found interesting:

Bin Laden would like to see Anwar al-Awlaki's resume:

How excellent would it be if you ask brother Basir to send us the resume, in detail and lengthy, of brother Anwar al-'Awlaqi, as well as the facts he relied on when recommending him, while informing him that his recommendation is considered. However, we would like to be reassured more.

In a letter from bin Laden to Mukhtar Abu al-Zubayr, the head of Al Shabaab in Somalia, bin Laden rejects al-Zubayr's request to formally link Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab. Instead, he requested that they keep the definition of the relationship ambiguous:

But there remains the situation of the brothers on your side and their talking about their relationship with al-Qa'ida, if asked. It would be better for them to say that there is a relationship with al-Qa'ida which is simply a brotherly Islamic connection and nothing more, which would neither deny nor prove. 

Interestingly, in February 2012, less than a year after bin Laden's death, Zawahiri announced a formal unity between Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab. 

Finally, in an extremely long rant about media plans for the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, American-born Al Qaeda leader Adam Gadahn expresses dislike for jihadi forums:

As for the Jihadi forums, it is repulsive to most of the Muslims, or closed to them. It also distorts the face of Qa'ida, due to what you know of bigotry, the sharp tone that characterizes most of the participants in these forums. 

Inspire Magazine Is Back

Seven months after Samir Khan, the creator of Inspire Magazine, was killed in a drone strike along with Anwar al-Awlaki, the oh-so-famous English-language jihadi magazine has been resurrected. Issues 8 and 9 were released today, the first dated Fall 2011 and the second dated Winter 2012. The Fall 2011 issue was clearly written, compiled and edited by Khan before his death. It has all the usual Khan trademarks, which is made even more obvious when looking at the Winter 2012 issue, which is nothing even close to a Khan original. Though little credit was given to Khan for his mediocre at best graphic design and editing skills, issue 9 of Inspire is full of spelling and grammar mistakes - the worst one right on the cover of the magazine... can you spot it?? 

An additional note about timing: Though dated Winter 2012, the ninth issue of Inspire was released on May 2, 2012 - exactly one year after the death of Osama bin Laden. This may very well be a coincidence, and not much attention is paid to bin Laden in the issue, but it seems to be a convenient date to release. As for why they waited until now to release the Fall 2011 issue, my best guess is that AQAP wanted to release two issues together - as a way of showing that Inspire Magazine did not die along with Khan, as many analysts and media outlets suspected. 

A few other things to note about the issues: 

The focus, as always, is still on individual jihad, but the ninth issue takes it a step further than ever before. In a feature called "The Convoy of Martyrs," AQAP encourages individuals to act alone in gathering information, preparing and ultimately executing an attack. BUT - there must be an operational leadership, which AQAP will provide as long as you email their military committee. Essentially AQAP outsources all of the dirty work, while still having overall control and knowledge of operations. The military committee helps individuals who qualify (you must be a mature Muslim that listens and obeys) select a target and train, and after an attack is carried out the committee is in charge of media coverage of the attack. 

Also interesting is the article that explains step-by-step how to build a remote control detonator for a bomb. Skill Level: Novice. Of course, the author of the article explains later: "Follow the instructions carefully in the explosives field. The first mistake can be the last."

In line with focusing on individual jihad is the presence of Abu Musab al-Suri's articles in both issues (this is not unusual for Inspire). What many may find shocking though – unless you are an expert on all things al-Suri like my colleague Jarret Brachman – is that al-Suri provides a prioritized target list with Western interests in Arab countries first, and America itself last. This largely contradicts AQAP's target list according to priority laid out in issue 9 (see right). 

Finally, both issues released today, along with all other issues of Inspire, are interested in recruitment, reader participation and wide distribution. Issue 8 mentions they are looking for volunteers to preserve Internet links of the magazine, translators, researchers, and women who can write about women-related issues for the magazine. Issue 9 encourages readers to upload the magazine on both jihadi and non-jihadi forums. Furthermore, a footnote explains that one of the articles was included because a reader contributed it, encouraging others to provide articles and see their contributions in print. 

The Power of Social Media for Terrorists

A bomb exploded earlier today in Mogadishu as the Somali Prime Minister addressed guests during a ceremony at the National Theater. At least six people were reportedly killed, though the Prime Minister was not hurt. While officials claim the attack was carried out by a female suicide bomber, a Somali terrorist group denies this claim and says that they planted explosives in the venue prior to the event.

In fact, Al Shabaab - the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia - claimed responsibility for this bombing on Twitter.

Prior to the emergence of social media, terrorist groups were forced to claim responsibility through video, audio or written messages which they sent to media outlets, or more recently messages posted on jihadist message boards. The fact that terrorist groups can now tweet their claim of responsibility, and in turn supporters can "follow" a terrorist group while at the same time "following" their favorite comedian or sports team, breaks down the barriers that used to make terrorist groups so exclusive and elite. Twitter, along with Facebook and YouTube, have made inaccessible far-reaching terrorist groups feel as if they are in your backyard. Social media has allowed anyone to be a member of a terrorist group, without really being a member - once someone decides to retweet or repost a terrorist message, they can feel as if they are part of the movement, whether or not they have any actual contact with anyone else.

Al Shabaab in particular has been very successful at recruiting Westerners into their group - at least 40 Americans have traveled from the US to Somalia to join Al Shabaab since 2007. Their active use of Twitter - and tweeting in the English language - can only help their movement grow as more and more Westerners sympathize with their cause.

Putting Down the Keyboard and Picking Up a Weapon

Earlier this week I spoke at The Government Security Conference and Expo (or GovSec) about online extremism and the online behaviors that may potentially lead to an individual abandoning their avatar and carrying out violence in the real world. 

For a more thorough summary of my talk, check out Government Computer News (GCN) and their article on it here: When Does Online Radicalism Become Real-World Terrorism?  

For a more detailed description, or for inquiries about speaking engagements, contact me. 

Virtual Behavior Can Predict Real Life Behavior

The more I explore the online behaviors of extremists, the more I am reassured that my work has some meaning. Yesterday, a young boy shot and killed three high school students and injured two others at Chardon High School, incidentally a school very close to where I grew up. Thomas "TJ" Lane, 17, the alleged shooter, reportedly tweeted prior to the attack that he would be bringing a gun to school that day. Furthermore, he has also made some questionable remarks on Facebook. In December 2011, for instance, Lane reportedly wrote a poem on Facebook about a lonely man who nobody paid attention to. In the middle of the poem he declares:

I'm on the lamb but I ain't no sheep. I am Death. And you have always been the sod. So repulsive and so odd. 

He then ends the poem by saying:

Now! Feel death, not just mocking you. Not just stalking you but inside of you. Wriggle and writhe. Feel smaller beneath my might. Seizure in the Pestilence that is my scythe. Die, all of you. 

Lane clearly had some troubling thoughts, but what is more important is that fact that he posted these thoughts publicly on Facebook. An article in the New York Times last week discusses the issue of posting intimate thoughts on Facebook. The article, Trying to Find a Cry of Desperation Amid the Facebook Drama, explains that people who publicly post troubling thoughts on Facebook are looking for an intervention of some sort.


The reality is, it is often difficult to know when someone is actually looking for help, or when someone just really had a bad day and needed to vent a little. But perhaps in this era where outsourcing safety procedures to citizens is the norm (i.e. the "See Something, Say Something" campaign or the recent DARPA challenge to track down signs and post them on a social networking site), maybe it is time for citizens - particularly parents and teachers - to be educated on spotting problem posts on social media. In light of Lane's tweet that he was bringing a gun to school, I think the "See Something, Say Something" campaign should be applied to more than just a suspicious package. Suspicious posts must be taken more seriously. Of course some will inevitably sneak through the cracks, but concerned citizens can play a bigger role in policing social media, not just by reporting problematic videos, but individual behaviors as well.

Interview on Counterterrorism and Social Media

Check out my interview yesterday on counterterrorism and social media on My Technology Lawyer Radio. Want to hear even more? Come to the GovSec 2012 Conference in DC April 2-4, or contact me for a speaking engagement.

NSA Email Addresses Posted on Jihadi Forum

Just a couple of days after the hacking network Anonymous revealed that they intercepted phone calls between the FBI and Scotland Yard, another government agency has been compromised. More than 200 email addresses, many of them accompanied by full names, of NSA employees has been published on a jihadi forum. The post explains that this list was previously posted on a different site a few days ago.

I cannot confirm that the email address and names are authentic, but it definitely demonstrates the extremists' interest in getting these emails.  Between hacking and spamming, 2012 certainly has experienced a great deal of activity so far.

Two Americans indicted in separate plots, both influenced by the Internet

Two Americans indicted in the US today could not be more different. Craig Benedict Baxam, a former US soldier who grew up in Maryland, was arrested in Kenya after trying to travel to Somalia to join the terrorist group Al Shabaab. He converted to Islam in July 2011 while serving in the army. Sami Osmakac, who was born in the former Yugoslavia and lived in Pinellas Park, Florida, planned to go on a bombing and shooting rampage in Florida. Why would I write about these men together, then? For one simple reason: The Internet played a role in the progression from regular guy to alleged terrorist for both of these men.

Baxam first learned about Islam while surfing the web and reading an article about the Day of Judgement on an Islamic religious website, according to the criminal complaint. After learning about Islam online, he secretly converted to Islam, which he could only have learned how to do from the Internet. Prior to traveling abroad to join Al Shabaab, Baxam destroyed his computer so that law enforcement could not obtain any of his online history.

Osmakac, on the other hand, was not as careful to hide his online posts. He was very active on YouTube, where he recorded a number of videos about converting to Islam, the importance of pleasing Allah and the issues surrounding assimilating in America and enjoying American life.

Both Baxam and Osmakac followed very different paths of radicalization and mobilization, but in the end it was the Internet that facilitated much of this progression.

Terrorist leader's son instructs American on YouTube propaganda video

A legal US resident pleaded guilty last week to providing material support to the Pakistani-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) by making a propaganda video and distributing it on the Internet. Jubair Ahmed, who moved from Pakistan to Virginia at the age of 19, attended LeT terrorist training camps as a teenager. After moving to the US, he made a propaganda video with guidance from Talha Saeed, the LeT leader’s son, and posted the video to YouTube.

It is interesting that the son of a high profile terrorist leader is spending his time instructing some lowly recruit on how to create a propaganda video. Just goes to show how important terrorist groups find the use of social media to propagate their ideology.

The video, titled “Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Qunoot e Nazila Very Emotional,” consists of a prayer by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the leader of LeT, calling for the support of jihad and the mujahideen. Email me if you’d like a copy of the video.

Awlaki is (reportedly) dead... So does it matter?

Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric turned Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) member with immeasurable influence on Western jihadists, was reportedly killed today by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen. Equally as important, but less widely reported in the media, is that along with him was Samir Khan, another American who joined AQAP in Yemen two years ago. Khan was the primary editor of the famous Inspire Magazine, an English-language online magazine that taught Westerners how to be a part of the jihadist movement. The seventh issue of the magazine was released just two days ago.  

Awlaki and Khan – though not key leaders of AQAP as has been reported – were crucial for the production of AQAP’s English language propaganda. If they are dead, this is a huge loss for all English (and Arabic) speaking jihadists that were inspired by these individuals. 

While these individuals (particularly Awlaki) can never be replaced – they way everyone tried to decide who would replace Osama bin Laden – the ideology propagated by these men will continue to live on.  This is why, much like with the death of bin Laden, the movement will not die with its leaders. Instead, Al Qaeda and its affiliates have managed to create an ideology that is supported by its grassroots movement, ensuring its survival. 

For an in depth analysis of how Awlaki became the most likeable terrorist among Western supporters, read: You Too Can Be Awlaki!

The Dangerous Side of Online Gaming

Last week I spoke at the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania’s “For the Win” conference. I focused on how extremist Internet users are increasingly adopting the marketing trend known as “gamification,” in order to fuel deeper and more dedicated user engagement. Knowledge @ Wharton, the online business journal at the Wharton School, wrote the following article about my presentation (read online here).  

The Dangerous Side of Online Gaming

Posted on August 17, 2011

Gamification has taken off as a phenomenon in U.S. business and social policy circles, but now it seems to have infiltrated the world of terrorism as well. One of the more unexpected uses of gamification — or the application of online game design techniques in non-game settings — to arise in discussions at Wharton’s recent “For the Win” conference is by Al Qaeda and Islamic extremist groups in their engagement with new members. Conference panelist Alix Levine, director of research at security consulting firm Cronus Global, analyzes Al Qaeda and Islamic extremist propaganda for a living. “I had never heard of gamification until February, but I’ve seen game mechanics in [Muslim extremist] propaganda, videos, lectures and websites,” she said.

For example, Levine noted that Inspire, the colorful English-language online magazine reportedly published by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, featured in its summer 2010 issue an article entitled, “How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom,” which detailed how to make a pipe bomb out of commonplace ingredients. Authors of the article laced game-like devices throughout the story, asking readers playful questions, such as, “How many ingredients can you find in your kitchen?” Several extremists arrested by Western authorities have been found in possession of this article, according to Levine.

Al Qaeda uses online game techniques, in particular, to draw new recruits into deeper engagement. By playing on recruits’ competitiveness and desire to build status and recognition within the extremist community, Al Qaeda websites allow “you to earn points for the quantity and quality of your posts,” Levine noted. “When you post and when people thank you for your post, you level up,” eventually earning promotions from peasant to VIP, for example. Users can then earn rewards for their status and accrued points, such as changing the color of their user names or gaining permission to use an avatar.

The ultimate reward is admission to a password-protected Al Qaeda website, where more serious terrorist actions are discussed and there is greater potential to turn a committed online jihadist into a real-world weapon of terror. To attain entry, users must prove they are committed to the movement by attaining high status within the starter website and obtaining the recommendation of a respected member of the community.

Almost every hard-line Islamic extremist site offers a point system to users, wrote Jarrett Brachman and Levine in an April 13 Foreign Policy article on the world of gamification among extremists. The article cited a Britain-based website called Salafi Media, which measures a user’s status by a “fundamentalism meter.” The higher a user is ranked on this meter, the more power he or she wields in the online community.

While for the most part, the Wharton conference focused on how to use gamification to increase engagement in legitimate business and other contexts, Levine appealed to attendees to “turn everything backwards” in their consideration of gamification in terrorism and to offer suggestions on how to disrupt engagement. Levine offered one example of the successful disengagement of a 22-year-old member of the Revolution Muslim Group in New York City. He had been admitted to a coveted password-protected site and was even made interim president of his group, but suddenly left the movement. The reason: He lost a very public theological debate with a higher-status colleague online. He was kicked off all forums and never reentered the community, because the process of rebuilding his online identity and status would be too painstaking.

For more coverage of the “For the Win” conference visit our special section.

Inspire #6: Making Jihad Fun

The long awaited sixth issue of Inspire Magazine, an Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) production, was released on hardline websites last night. This is the first issue released since Osama bin Laden was killed over two months ago. What took so long, you ask? Well, they explain the delay:

 “Things have been quite hectic over here. The country is falling apart and our brothers are busy picking up the pieces.” 

Hmmmm, sounds like a roundabout way of saying drone attacks.

All in all, this issue is the same as the previous ones. It includes essays/speeches written by Al Qaeda leaders, instructions on how to use an AK-47 and build an explosive (this time acetone peroxide) and encourages Westerners to join the jihadi movement.

Just like in previous issues, the sixth edition of Inspire uses humor to gain readership and encourage engagement among its readers. Inspire has truly become a gamified space - in other words game-like attributes are used in this clearly non-game environment to make light of the situations discussed in the magazine and engage with readers who may otherwise not be interested. For more information on how Al Qaeda uses online game theory to recruit the masses, see the article that Jarret Brachman and I wrote in Foreign Policy: The World of Holy Warcraft.

Below are a few excerpts from Inspire #6 using humor or making light of the situations they are discussing:

The Online Postings of Emerson Begolly

Emerson Begolly, a Pennsylvania man with an extensive extremist online history, was indicted today for soliciting extremists to engage in acts of terrorism. He was previously arrested and charged in January for allegedly assaulting two FBI agents and firearms-related charges.

The indictment outlines a number of Begolly’s problematic postings on Ansar al-Mujahideen English Forum (AMEF) in 2010, including his support for 9/11 and his encouragement of others to carry out violent acts of terror. The indictment, however, just merely touches on the hundreds of posts that Begolly posted online since at least 2005.

Begolly - called “The Nasheed Master” by the Al Shabaab-linked message board Al Qimmah - wrote and recorded a number of Islamic songs, which he and others posted on an array of extremist message boards. Some of his more radical songs include “When the Jew’s Blood Reds my Knife, then my Life is Free from Strife” and another nasheed written as a tribute to Taimour Abdulwahab, the Iraqi who carried out a suicide attack in Sweden in December 2010. 

In addition to his anasheed, Begolly expressed support for an array of gruesome terrorist attacks, including the November 2009 Fort Hood attack.

While it may seem shocking that this young American-born Penn State student could produce such gruesome posts, comments and songs, the reality is that Begolly is just one of almost 200 Americans arrested and charged for their involvement in this type of terrorist activity.

Please feel free to contact me for an archive of Begolly's anasheed, additional information on Begolly, or other Americans involved in terrorist-related activities.

Google’s Response to Keeping Extremism out of Social Media

Over the past couple of months, Google’s role in countering violent extremism has been the topic of much debate. On the one hand, Google has taken the initiative to help in this endeavor by organization a Summit Against Violent Extremism (which I attended, see my review of the conference here).  On the other hand, YouTube (owned by Google) contains hundreds of extremist and terrorist videos. In addition, other Google owned subsidiaries, like Blogger, also contain extremist content. 

Below is Google’s response to Senator Joseph Lieberman’s questions: 

Google’s Summit Against Violent Extremism

**See below for comment by Charles Cameron**

Last week I joined Google, the Council on Foreign Relations and Tribeca Film Festival as an invited delegate at their Summit Against Violent Extremism (SAVE). The delegates consisted of 80 former extremists (right wing, gang, Islamist etc.), a number of survivors, as well as professors, leaders of non-profits and other analysts in the field. 

In the aftermath of the conference there have been many critics, but not many enthusiasts. Some of the critiques include: 

-- It is impossible to understand extremism when you look at each different type of extremist ideology as a whole.

-- Google proposes using technology to counter extremism, but technology also facilitates the spread of extremist ideologies.

-- The government and academic programs have been working to solve this problem for years, so how can Google now take on this initiative and expect to succeed?

I agree, but.... 

Nobody else has taken on this initiative in this way. As somebody who attended the summit, I can say first hand that the emotions and enthusiasm at the conference were powerful enough to overcome many of the obstacles. Former extremists across the spectrum identified with each other in a way I never thought possible - one highlight of the conference was when a former gang member from LA taught a former Muslim extremist a new handshake. 

Throughout the conference, delegates had breakout sessions where we were tasked with coming up with a new idea to help combat violent extremism. At the end of the conference, delegates voted on their favorite idea. While the ideas were enlightening, what struck me was the excitement and enthusiasm in the room during the vote. Leaders of groups were parading around explaining their ideas with such genuine passion that it was impossible to be in this room and not be inspired by Google’s effort. 

Instead of critiquing Google’s effort, it will be more productive and valuable to  work in unison with Google on their mission to “initiate a global conversation.” There is no real downfall to having another avenue at which to approach this problem, and while I understand some of the pessimism surrounding the debate, I hope that more people will join in on the conversation in a meaningful and (gasp) positive way. We all have the same end goal, so maybe it’s time to stop critiquing each other and start working together.

Comment by Charles Cameron:

I'm comparing Will McCants' response to the Google Ideas conference on FP [http://goo.gl/lVIO2] with yours, and I'm glad you wrote as you did. 

McCants – whose work I generally admire -- opens his comments by quoting Jared Cohen to the effect that the purpose of the conference was to "initiate a global conversation". McCants then more or less dismisses the conference itself a couple paragraphs later with the words "If these are indeed the conclusions of the conference, Google Ideas needs more thinking and less doing in its approach". 

Conclusions? How does he get so quickly from "initiate" to "conclusions"?

Okay, we all know that a conference can lead to a volume of proceedings read mostly by the authors themselves and a few aspiring students eager to follow-my-leader and dead end there – but this conference was very clearly intended to be the start of something, not the wrap-up. 

So your comment, "Instead of critiquing Google’s effort, it will be more productive and valuable to work in unison with Google on their mission to 'initiate a global conversation'" seemed to me to bring us back to the actual intent Google had announced for the conference, and you reinforce that when you write, "I hope that more people will join in on the conversation in a meaningful and (gasp) positive way."

My questions are: how and where do we do this?

There will have been contacts made at the conference that will lead to an exchange of emails, no doubt – but that's not a global conversation.

Here are some of the problems I foresee:

(a) siloing: the conversation limiting itself to a few constituences, each of which talks mainly among its own members, leading to (b) group think: in which the widely assumed gets even more firmly entrenched as "wisdom", with (c) secrecy: meaning that potentially relevant information is unavailable to some or all participants, all of which add up to (d) blind spots: topics and approaches that still don't get the attention and exploration they deserve.

The solutions would need to include:

(a) networked diversity: by which I mean a structured means of getting the unpopular or minority opinion front and center (compare business brainstorming in which a facilitator ensures even the "quiet ones" get heard, and that even poor ideas are expressed without critique until a later, evaluative stage), (b) contrariety: meaning that whatever ideas are "easily dismissed" get special attention, with (c) transparency: meaning that whatever could be redacted and made partially available is made available, not (as in US Govt "open source" material, closely held), so that (d) oddballs and outriders get to participate…

Jami Miscik who was Deputy Director for Intelligence at the time, caught my attention when she said in 2004, "Embrace the maverick". Oddballs aka mavericks make the best contrarians, because they start from different premises / different assumption bases. Miscik accordingly invited science fiction and film writers to interact with her analysts at CIA, and found that when they did, they produced 80% already known ideas, 10% chaff, and 10% new and "valid" scenarios (http://goo.gl/qzQXq). But even then, "science fiction and screen writers" is a box...

Cross-fertilization, questioning of assumptions, passion, reverie, visualization, scenario planning, play – the number of strategies that could be employed to improve the chances of a successful new insight emerging are many and various – unkempt artists probably know some of them better than suits with high IQs and clearances, and Google clearly knows this, too…

But where?

I mean, what Google+ circles do any of us join to join this global conversation? What twitter hashtag brings us together under one roof? When's the follow up in my neck of the woods, or yours? 

What's the method for getting the conversation widespread, well-informed – and scaleable, so the best of the grass roots and local ideas can find their way to the influential and informed, and the best insights of the influential and informed can percolate through to the grass roots and local?

Lastly, I'd like to thank Google for getting a dialog going between those with a range of subjective experiences of radicalization, and those whose job it is to understand and thus be able to interdict it. Demonization never got the situation in Northern Ireland anywhere near peace – listening did.

And thank you too, Alix, for your own contribution. Let's move the conversation onwards.