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| Al Qaeda Strategy Book Online: what they intend and why |
| 2005-03-22 |
| An interesting new publication to hit the web gives insight into the thinking of an al-Qaeda strategist on the next stages of the struggle. Posted on the al-Ikhlas jihadi forum [http://ekhlas.com/forum] the work is entitled Idarat al-Tawahhush, "The Management of Barbarism," further defined as "the phase of transition to the Islamic state." Due to the strategic importance of the document, Terrorism Focus has undertaken an in-depth examination of the Arabic text. Published by the Center of Islamic Studies and Research (an al-Qaeda affiliate), the 113-page work 'Management of Barbarism' aims to map out the progressive stages of establishing an Islamic state, from early beginnings in defined areas in the Arabian Peninsula, or Nigeria, Jordan, the Maghreb, Pakistan or Yemen, and its subsequent global expansion. The author is Abu Bakr Naji, a name familiar from his contributions to the Sawt al-Jihad online magazine (which are republished at the end of this book). By "Management of Barbarism" the author refers to the period just after the collapse of a superpower, the period of "savage chaos". It appears pointedly to be a method of not repeating the experience of Afghanistan prior to the rule of the Taliban, and of improving controls over the periods experienced, for instance, in Somalia after the fall of Siad Barre. Contents After ample prolegomena on Middle East history and the causes of the rise and fall of superpowers, the book substantially falls into five broad themes: 1) Definition of 'Management of Barbarism' 2) The Path of Empowerment 3) The Most Important Principles and Policies 4) The Most Pressing Difficulties and Obstacles 5) Conclusion — demonstrating jihad as the ideal solution Jihadi strategy The 'Path of Empowerment' theme constitutes the strategy of the mujahideen. In this the author further sub-divides into three distinct phases: 1) The Disruption and Exhaustion phase 2) The Management of Barbarism phase 3) The Empowerment phase In the first "Disruption and Exhaustion" phase, the mujahideen are to a) exhaust the enemy's forces by stretching them through dispersal of targets and b) "attract the youth through exemplary targeting such as occurred at Bali, Al-Muhayya and Djerba." At the "Management of Barbarism phase", the mujahideen are to "establish internal security, ensure food and medical supplies, defend the zone from external attack, establish Shari'ah justice, an armed force, an intelligence service, provide economic sufficiency, defend against [public] hypocrisy and deviant opinions and ensure obedience, and the establishment of alliances with neighboring elements that are yet to give total conformity to the Management, and improve management structures." The "Empowerment" phase is an extension of the above. The policy is to continue Disruption and Exhaustion activities, at the same time establishing logistic links with the various Management zones. A conspicuous example of this phase is the series of events leading up to the September 11 attacks on the United States, which "destroyed the peoples' awe of America and of the lesser ranking Apostate armies." The fall of Afghanistan, the author explains, was either planned to happen, or was due to happen even without the September 11 events, and had as the result the multiplication of jihadi groups bent on revenge. RTWT - this is a long review of the book, which is currently only available in Arabic. The sections on the manipulation of the international press and the exhaustion of Western popular resistance to the jihadis is important. |
| Posted by:too true |
| #2 Must be that time of year. In Chechnya, Basaev (great mujahid of Breslan planning fame)has got his own ebook on Jihad out titled something like "Book of a Muhjihadeen for Dummies." http://www.kavkaz.org.uk/eng/ |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-03-22 3:42:38 PM |
| #1 This approach worked so well for them in Fallujah. /sarc |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2005-03-22 3:20:07 PM |