The man who inspired the Fort Hood shooter, the Christmas Day attacker, and the Times Square bomber is launching an online magazine in English aimed at aspiring jihadists. Lloyd Grove on why it has American officials worried.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known by the acronym AQAP at the CIA, is about to release its first English-language magazine. It’s a Web-based journal of propaganda aimed at inciting violent acts among would-be terrorists living in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and other Western countries.
[…]
It’s apparently the project of New Mexico-born jihadist Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemen-based former imam who is said to have “inspired” three of the 9/11 hijackers; the perpetrator of the Fort Hood massacre, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan; the Christmas Day underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab; and the Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad. The 39-year-old Awlaki—dubbed “the bin Laden of the Internet”—is a prime target of U.S. counterterrorism operations.“The U.S. government is aware of this new propaganda vehicle by al Qaeda in Yemen and Anwar Awlaki,” a counterterrorism official told The Daily Beast on Wednesday. “AQAP and Awlaki are clearly trying to incite terrorist activity overseas, and to recruit new extremists. The packaging of this magazine may be slick, but the contents are as vile as the authors.”
For real? Since when have ‘slick magazines’ recruited terrorists?
Yeah who in the hell would read this rag and choose to be a terrorist all of a sudden?
As if reading the anarchist cookbook suddenly makes you an anarchist.
Reading Harry Potter makes you a wizard.
Reading Twilight makes you a metro-sexual glittery vampire.
Shall I go on?
Sometimes freedom of speech bites.
So how many DU regulars would be willing to fight for their right to publish? I suspect it would be far fewer than claim they love their Constitution.
Fusion! Publishing sedition/call to revolution/death, murder, and mayhem has never been protected speech under the 1st Amend. Freedom of speech is about “ideas” not calls to action.
I for one would not fight for such a publication even if it only occasionally walked up to the line of criminal activity.
The question is should the GOVERNMENT prohibit its distribution on the net? Our government? The hypocrisy doesn’t bother me. Life isn’t fair and its only a limited balance then the some violations of the Bill of Rights actually might be a good thing.
Absolutism is simplistic thinking, but that complex of ideas isn’t even reached by this issue.
If it was published in America I would support it’s freedom of speech / expression intentions. I would also monitor it’s readers and act if they were a provable threat.
I would not support the government acting criminally and violating the Bill of Rights. I would accept the peoples right to change the Bill of Rights (by referendum) if that was thought necessary and beneficial. Thoughts and words are not illegal some actions are (unless the law is changed).
P.S. This prick doesn’t scare me.
Leave it be. Not only would blocking it be a violation of our sacred principles, but the NSA can track readers! Maybe Osama will put it in his RSS feed and we can drop in for a surprise visit!
Besides, don’t you think we, and the Brits, and the Israelis and just about everyone else will be hacking the site within minutes of it’s appearance?
Read the magazine and you’re not gonna know if the propaganda comes from Al Qaeda or Vladimir Putin or that 12 year old geek down the street.
#1. FRAGaLOT. “Shall I go on?” Please stop.
Waiting for AlQ ‘Teen Magazine. “90 Virgins, But Are the Over rated? He Has A Grey Beard and is like, 30 – Do I Need to Pretend? Pimples – Because You Listened to Lady Gaga! Twelve Dowry Goats – Nice, but Not in the Bedroom!!”
Am I the only person thinking this is a scam and is being put up to;
a) Collect a IP’s of those people who look at it.
b) Make them appear foolish.
Obviously, I’m avoiding going to the site.
Is it iPad friendly?
I’m willing to bet this will be revealed as a hoax.
It’s a CIA honeypot.
But I agree with Animby…the spy agencies could run this thing down pretty quickly.
Remember who makes all the routers….
#11 Olo
If it is a CIA honeypot, is a pretty stupid one. Right up there with monitoring the mailbox Osama@alqaeda.com.
#12 h-man…you’re right, but I wouldn’t overestimate the intelligence of the wanna-be terrorist.
#11 Olo Baggins
“Remember who makes all the routers….”
Ummm…. the Chinese? If they make all the routers does that mean they own the Internet? Or is that still secret?
It would be funny if the CIA made this magazine and they used bacon grease for ink.
The only thing needed to contravene the site is derisive satire. No spooks necessary.
% % % % % % % %
support it’s freedom of speech sb its
monitor it’s readers sb its
within minutes of it’s appearance sb its
the peoples right sb people’s
overrated is one word
The United States is pursuing a path of total nuclear annihilation. We need to stop supporting Israel.
This is such BS. This was made by the CIA as a see we told ya so!
Talk about a honey pot set up..
You people need to listen to No Agenda, In the morning.
So, the terrorists hire a web designer to convert their old propaganda machine sites into a full-blown “propaganda vehicle.” Aside from the update and some new artwork, isn’t this just the same old stuff that was on the propaganda forums, and other less, slick publications? Whatever…
I’m going to check it out to see what the big deal. Just because I support the right to free speech that provides a channel for this schlock doesn’t mean I don’t also support the idea of sticking a big western boot up his guy’s ass.
Nor does it mean I should be afraid of seeking ANY information from ANY source.
Since it appears they are making a call for people to go out and kill people including children then the NSA had better be checking who is reading this crap. On the other hand if you go check it out they will most likely be checking you out.
It they can’t arrest this fine young man for inciting murder I don’t actually care if he runs into a hellfire missile fired by a drone.
I believe in freedom of speech but when your speech includes making bombs and setting them off at the local court house, school, sporting event, or 7-11 then it’s time to do more than take down your web site. The web site can stay up for all I care but they need to take you down.
Definitely a CIA honeypot.
With respect to the media reporting, this is completely frustrating because one news story about an Al Qaeda magazine will potentially destroy the incredible goodwill a positive magazine such as ALO Hayati has accomplished over the past five years. The great achievement of ALO in this post 9-11 society, such as being in VIP airport lounges for American-based airlines is put into jeopardy with this ignorance. It sounds like a complete hoax to hoodwink the American media.