Islamism, Al-Qaeda, and the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Week 6

HISTORY Modern Islamic revival predicated upon: Arab defeat by Israel in Six Day War (1967) Arab defeat by Israel in 1973 Oil boom of the 1970s Origins of al-Qaeda: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, US and Pakistan-funded Afghan mujāhidīn

TIMELINE 1988: AQ formed by OBL 1991: Expelled from Saudi Arabia 1992: Aden bombings? 1993: Battle of Mogadishu? 1993: First WTC attack 1996: Moved from Sudan to Afghanistan Publication of first ‘fatwa’ 1996: Khobar Towers bombing 1998: Merger with EIJ & World Islamic Front fatwa (Feb.) 1998: Embassy bombings in Nairobi & Dar-es- Salaam (Aug.) 2000: USS Cole attack

IDEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND Hassan al-Banna ( ) Sayed Qutb ( ) Abu Ala Madudi ( ) Abdullah Azzam ( ) Revolutionary theorists (esp. Lenin & concept of the vanguard party, e.g. in Qutb’s Milestones & Madudi)

RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND Wahhabis = followers of Md. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703 – 1791) Salafis = ‘ancestors,’ refers to the companions of the Prophet Don’t view themselves as a sect, but simply followers of pure monotheistic Islam (monotheism = tawhid) Regard Sufis and Shias as heretics Literal readings of the Koran and the hadith Disagree as to the status of the Saudi government and the necessity of violent jihad More radical salafis/Wahhabis (i.e. those associated with AQ) are known as takfiri Jihad: internal (itjihad) vs. external (defensive vs. offensive)

CONTEMPORARY POLITICS Macro-level: To beat back West and its aggressive imperialistic project begun with the crusades (the Zionist-Crusader alliance) Establishment of caliphate (exact details vague) Micro-Level: OBL = Saudi Arabia (Land of the Two Mosques) Zawahiri = Egypt Zarqawi = Jordan (& Iraq/Land of the Two Rivers)

PERSISTENT JIHADI THEMES Hizbollah’s victory over US in Lebanon in 1980s Victory over Soviets in Afghanistan in 1980s 9/11 as victory over US on home territory Iraq as quagmire for US and potential victory for Islamists Duty of defensive jihad Targeting of children (esp. in Palestine) Near enemy (Arab governments) vs. Far enemy (US, the ‘West’ incl. Israel)

STRUCTURE OF A.Q. Pre-9/11 -Hierarchical structure (Gunaratna) -Never established ‘network’ in ways commonly conceived, but acted as venture capital firm (Burke) Post-9/11 - Loss of Afghan base, more loosely structured (Burke refers to “al Qaedism,” Bergen to “al Qaeda 2.0”)

THE 9/11 ATTACKS 2,986 deaths (incl. hijackers) Targets = two towers of WTC (hit 18 mins apart), Pentagon (HQ of DoD), White House/Capitol (came down in Pennsylvania) Nationalities? Saudi Arabia (15), UAE (2), Egypt (1), Lebanon (1) Principal architect of the 9/11 attacks = Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (captured in Pakistan in 2003) Purpose/functions of 9/11 attacks: To provoke response from US (intended) (Sedgewick) Didn’t foresee magnitude of US response (unintended)

ZARQAWI & A.Q. IN IRAQ First mention by Powell at UN SC on 5 Feb., 2003 Responsible for many attacks: Truck bombing of UN HQ, Baghdad Imam Ali Mosque Red Cross HQ Assorted police stations Only linked after Zarqawi took responsibility in audio recording (April 2004) Group came to be known as al-Qaeda in Iraq or al-Tawhid (i Jihad) Named ‘emir’ of al-Qaeda in Iraq by Bin Laden in December 2004

HOW ZARQAWI’S POSITION DIFFERED FROM A.Q.’S? Near enemy = Shi’as, Kurds, US troops Far enemy = US & allies, the ‘West’ AQ wanted focus on US & allies only to avoid fitna (discord) Also fell out with al-Maqdisi on targeting of civilians Zarqawi killed by Americans 7 June, 2006

Contemporary Situation? First Wave of AQ all but eliminated (Gilles Kepel, Scott Atran) Second Wave = younger, less well educated, ‘born again’ Muslims, no formal ties to ‘AQ- central’ (Atran, also Sageman in his new book Leaderless Jihad) Stratfor = AQ Core/Prime, Franchises, Grassroots; two battle spaces: physical + ideological

Muslim Public Opinion