Al Qaeda

First it was the Taliban who jumped on the social media bandwagon and now it seems Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are joining in and going through a bit of a re-branding exercise to try to lose the negative "baggage" associated with the larger terror organization's identity.

The group is increasingly going by the name, “Ansar al Sharia” which means Army of Islamic Law. Apparently the al-Qaeda name doesn’t garner too much good will following the death of former leader Osama bin Laden, and to make matters worse for the group,  jihadi recruitment is down (except for the number of foreign fighters heading to Yemen - that’s on the upswing according to sources). 

Rick "Ozzie" Nelson, director of Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News that "moving away from the larger al Qaeda brand is something I think we're starting to see more of."  

With the death of bin Laden, it makes sense for groups to become more diffused from centralized leadership so they can focus on regional issues rather than brand-building, he said.

Would-be recruits are "finding that the al-Qaeda core is no longer beneficial to be associated with ... because their main leader is gone," Nelson said, noting that Osama bin Laden was a charismatic leader who offered a lot of financial backing and Ayman al-Zawahiri "is not an effective replacement."

Poor al-Zawahiri. He just doesn’t have that effervescent, je ne sais quoi, leader quality about him. Maybe he should take a leaf out of Ansar al Sharia’s book and consider getting himself a publicist to boost his public image a little. 

Far from our image of the Taliban living a more or less medieval existence, shunning all modernity, especially technology which was considered an evil creation of the West, it seems that the Taliban of 2011 has changed its perspective somewhat. Instead of breaking down television sets or declaring the internet as ‘immoral’, the group has come to use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter with a remarkable degree of sophistication.

Their Facebook sites promote jihad in several different languages accessible to people both in Pakistan and Afghanistan, in a manner that is educative as well as emotive. The sites are well maintained and have obviously involved specialists. Experts who have been watching developments believe help may have been obtained from al Qaeda, which is well known for its technological abilities and the use of these to spread its message around the world. 

The use of internet sites obviously helps get the Taliban message of Jihad and militancy to a wider range of people, including the educated young elite, in the country. This is in many ways a dangerous development. The real risk we face is not just from the militant outfits with their bombs and suicide jackets but also from their increasing ability to affect the mindsets of a growing number of people everywhere in the country.

This ability needs to be countered. How can this be achieved? In the first place, in this age of the computer, the authorities battling the Taliban and other groups like it may need to replicate their use of technology and to borrow a page from the book they are using. This can be done by using the state or even privately-owned media more effectively, as well as by using websites and other means to challenge the use of violence. Efforts must begin immediately to deliver a different message to the masses.

Bin Laden’s successor and the new head of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri has posted a new video on jihadist websites describing bin Laden as a sensitive man who cried when his friends lost family members, remained close to his children despite the hard life of an international jihadist, and fondly remembered — by name — the 19 men who carried out the deadliest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil.

Throughout the 30-minute, conversational video, apparently the first in a series, al-Zawahri emphasizes what he calls the "nobility" of bin Laden's character — as well as his own proximity to him.

"People don't know that this man was tender, gentle, kind, with refined feelings, even when life was hard," he said, wearing a white robe and turban and sitting in front of a green curtain. "We never saw a man like him."

Next thing you know, he’ll be telling us that poor bin Laden was just “misunderstood”.

A new al-Qaeda terror training manual tells Islamic extremists to pretend to be gay in order to avoid detection. The reason given is that approaching women may be “honey trap” spies sent by security services. 

Another alternative provided is for a jihadist to pretend he has a serious girlfriend to whom which he is loyal. It also recommends extremists wear sunglasses to make themselves harder to identify. 

The guide, produced by Taliban warlords in Afghanistan for radicals in the UK, was written to try to prevent police from uncovering the identity of terrorists plotting attacks in Britain. 

So not only do Islamic extremists target homosexuals, but they dress up as them also. 

British intelligence has hacked into al-Qaeda’s English-language online magazine and replaced instruction on how to make bombs, with a recipe for cupcakes. 

The magazine, produced by Anwar al-Awlaki for terrorist-recruitment, originally included instructions on how to “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom” by “The AQ Chef”. Yet when followers tried to download the instructions, they were presented with recipes for “The Best Cupcakes in America” published by the Ellen DeGeneres chat show.

Read more here. 

Osama Bin Laden's sons have lashed out at President Obama over the death of their father saying the U.S. violated basic legal principles by killing an unarmed man. 

They added that "arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems."

Maybe they should have shared that thought with their father.

See below. 

During his announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden, President Obama commented that this is not a war on Islam, as Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader and only represented a small extremist minority. 

So we would expect Muslims to join in the celebrations, and pass out candy because the “Hijacker of the Religion of Peace” is dead. Yet events this past week paint quite a different picture.

• Hundreds gathered in Pakistan to honor Bin Laden as a hero.
• The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt condemned what they called the “assassination” of the al Qaeda leader by U.S. forces. 
• Muslims in Silwan, next to the City of David neighborhood in Jerusalem rioted over Bin Laden’s death, while Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya denounced the killing of the “freedom fighter”. 
• Meanwhile, radical Muslims in Indonesia hailed Bin Laden as a “martyr”. 

Seems like this small extremist minority is not so small after all…

While Americans celebrate in the streets over the death of the 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, we must remind ourselves that the "War on Terror" is in no way over. 

Al Qaeda, as well as the countless other global jihad players, will continue operating against the U.S. and the Western world, with or without Bin Laden. 

Go out and celebrate, but remember that global jihad is driven by radical Islamic ideology, and the demise of one (albeit evil) individual will not change this fact. 

Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and the terrorist responsible for the murder of thousands, was shot to death by U.S. military fire in Pakistan Sunday night.

Watch President Obama’s announcement about the killing of Bin Laden:

And watch U.S. reaction HERE.

And discussions of possible reactions from Pakistan:

Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key U.S. ally against al Qaeda, announced he will not extend his presidency at the end of this term (which ends in 2013). 

Saleh is trying to avoid mass protests, similar to those in Egypt and Tunisia.

While Yemen under Saleh has slowly become a "failed state", with extreme poverty, hunger, and unemployment, leaving the country open to an al Qaeda take-over does not really seem like the ideal solution. 

Read more here.