Read Online American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us by Steven Emerson - Free Book Online
Authors: Steven Emerson
Tags: Non-Fiction, Politics
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Khartoum.”
In 1996, according to intelligence reports, Mohammed helped move bin Laden back from Sudan, which wanted to maintain an official arm’s-length relationship with Afghanistan (yet keeping its close connections secret). Mohammed continued working for bin Laden in 1997 and 1998, maintaining his role as one of bin Laden’s top lieutenants.
In 1998, Mohammed was finally arrested on charges that he was part of al Qaeda, which had been indicted following the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in that year. On October 20, 2000, Ali Mohammed rendered a guilty plea to all charges filed against him. In his admission, Mohammed admitted his involvement with both the al Qaeda organization and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization. He admitted that he had been involved in conducting military and explosives training for al Qaeda in Afghanistan; that he had conducted surveillance of various American, British, French and Israeli targets in Nairobi; that he had trained bin Laden’s personal bodyguards to prevent any assassination attempts; and that he arranged security for a meeting between bin Laden and Hizballah military leader Imad Mughniyeh.
* * *
As Mohammed’s example shows, America is part of an interconnected world of terrorists. The lessons of Mohammed’s story are twofold: As noted, a small number of key individuals provide links to many parts of the sprawling network, and the motives of the terrorists are not simply religious fanaticism. Some operatives, like Mohammed, appear to do it for the sake of the intrigue; others do it for the money; some are genuine fanatics; others are unbalanced. The men who shot tourists in the Empire State Building and Hasidic students on the Brooklyn Bridge have been classified as terrorists by the government because they perpetrated violence on civilians for ideological purposes, trying to strike a blow against American society.
In 1993, I only dimly understood these mixed motives. It was not clear to me whether American targets were a top priority of the terrorists. I knew I had to meet them face to face to understand them better. To do so, I had to travel to the fountainhead.
Chapter Four
The Source
A Journey to Jihad Headquarters
I DON’T THINK THERE’S A WAR HERE, A WAR FRONT HERE IN
THE U NITED S TATES AT THIS POINT. I THINK IF THE WHOLE
SCENARIO CONTINUES THE WAY IT HAS, INEVITABLY THE
U NITED S TATES IS GOING TO BE REACHING A TYPE OF WAR
FRONT. Y EAH. B UT NOT RIGHT NOW.
—Mohammad al-Asi, of the Islamic Education Center in Potomac, Maryland, in a 1994 interview with the author, from the television documentary “Jihad in America”
W HAT ARE THE ULTIMATE GOALS OF THE TERRORISTS? What makes them tick? Why do they hate us so powerfully? The international jihad movement is loose and decentralized, but it does flow around the world from certain fertile sources. The sources themselves move—from, for example, Pakistan to Sudan to Afghanistan—yet wherever they are, they inspire and direct hundreds and thousands of followers.
In 1994 I had the chance to meet some of the leaders who at that time were using Pakistan as a base. I was accompanied on this trip by my colleague Khalid Duran.
Before teaching in Germany and America, Khalid spent seven years—1967–1974—teaching Islamic law in Pakistan. He knows the country well. In 1994 Khalid went along with me to meet Hudaifa Azzam, the son of Abdullah Azzam, the legendary Palestinian mullah who was the first to conceive of Islam’s international holy war. The visit was arranged through Azzam’s nephew, who lives in Chicago. Azzam had begun preaching worldwide jihad from a secure base in Pakistan. As the Afghan war with the Soviets was dying down, he asked, why stop here? The Middle East was full of corrupt secular rulers who had abandoned the true faith. The military training the volunteers from those many countries had received in the hills of
In 1996, according to intelligence reports, Mohammed helped move bin Laden back from Sudan, which wanted to maintain an official arm’s-length relationship with Afghanistan (yet keeping its close connections secret). Mohammed continued working for bin Laden in 1997 and 1998, maintaining his role as one of bin Laden’s top lieutenants.
In 1998, Mohammed was finally arrested on charges that he was part of al Qaeda, which had been indicted following the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in that year. On October 20, 2000, Ali Mohammed rendered a guilty plea to all charges filed against him. In his admission, Mohammed admitted his involvement with both the al Qaeda organization and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization. He admitted that he had been involved in conducting military and explosives training for al Qaeda in Afghanistan; that he had conducted surveillance of various American, British, French and Israeli targets in Nairobi; that he had trained bin Laden’s personal bodyguards to prevent any assassination attempts; and that he arranged security for a meeting between bin Laden and Hizballah military leader Imad Mughniyeh.
* * *
As Mohammed’s example shows, America is part of an interconnected world of terrorists. The lessons of Mohammed’s story are twofold: As noted, a small number of key individuals provide links to many parts of the sprawling network, and the motives of the terrorists are not simply religious fanaticism. Some operatives, like Mohammed, appear to do it for the sake of the intrigue; others do it for the money; some are genuine fanatics; others are unbalanced. The men who shot tourists in the Empire State Building and Hasidic students on the Brooklyn Bridge have been classified as terrorists by the government because they perpetrated violence on civilians for ideological purposes, trying to strike a blow against American society.
In 1993, I only dimly understood these mixed motives. It was not clear to me whether American targets were a top priority of the terrorists. I knew I had to meet them face to face to understand them better. To do so, I had to travel to the fountainhead.
Chapter Four
The Source
A Journey to Jihad Headquarters
I DON’T THINK THERE’S A WAR HERE, A WAR FRONT HERE IN
THE U NITED S TATES AT THIS POINT. I THINK IF THE WHOLE
SCENARIO CONTINUES THE WAY IT HAS, INEVITABLY THE
U NITED S TATES IS GOING TO BE REACHING A TYPE OF WAR
FRONT. Y EAH. B UT NOT RIGHT NOW.
—Mohammad al-Asi, of the Islamic Education Center in Potomac, Maryland, in a 1994 interview with the author, from the television documentary “Jihad in America”
W HAT ARE THE ULTIMATE GOALS OF THE TERRORISTS? What makes them tick? Why do they hate us so powerfully? The international jihad movement is loose and decentralized, but it does flow around the world from certain fertile sources. The sources themselves move—from, for example, Pakistan to Sudan to Afghanistan—yet wherever they are, they inspire and direct hundreds and thousands of followers.
In 1994 I had the chance to meet some of the leaders who at that time were using Pakistan as a base. I was accompanied on this trip by my colleague Khalid Duran.
Before teaching in Germany and America, Khalid spent seven years—1967–1974—teaching Islamic law in Pakistan. He knows the country well. In 1994 Khalid went along with me to meet Hudaifa Azzam, the son of Abdullah Azzam, the legendary Palestinian mullah who was the first to conceive of Islam’s international holy war. The visit was arranged through Azzam’s nephew, who lives in Chicago. Azzam had begun preaching worldwide jihad from a secure base in Pakistan. As the Afghan war with the Soviets was dying down, he asked, why stop here? The Middle East was full of corrupt secular rulers who had abandoned the true faith. The military training the volunteers from those many countries had received in the hills of
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