MUST READ: AL-QAEDA'S AMERICAN RECRUIT RELEASES SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW

Al-Qaeda's American Recruit Releases Something Entirely New
By Michael Scheuer

As the 19th anniversary of al-Qaeda's founding nears later in 2007, Western analysts have accumulated an enormous body of primary-source material upon which to base judgments, assessments and predictions. While it is a truism to say that al-Qaeda is a "learning organization"—in the sense that it studies failed operations and adapts—it is not often enough remembered that al-Qaeda is also an organization that devotes large amounts of time and resources to teaching, informing and warning. Needless to say, much of this latter activity is directed to the Muslim world, but not since the United States confronted Ho Chi Minh and General Giap during the Vietnam conflict have they had a foe as eager as al-Qaeda to educate them about its motivations, war aims and intentions. Indeed, al-Qaeda has taken the passion of the North Vietnamese to inform and warn a step further by recruiting a U.S. citizen to serve as an English-speaking, Islamist mentor for the American audience. The American Adam Gadahn—now known as Azzam al-Amriki (Azzam the American)—has emerged as the third most important spokesman among al-Qaeda leaders, following Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri [1]. While officially only a member of al-Qaeda's media committee, Gadahn has joined bin Laden as the only other al-Qaeda member who has devoted entire statements to directly addressing the U.S. president and American citizens. To be sure, al-Zawahiri has ridiculed the president and talked to Americans, urging conversion and warning of coming attacks, but for the most part these statements have been in the context of regional issues—such as Iraq—for which he is the group's lead spokesman. Gadahn, therefore, is at the core of al-Qaeda's most important U.S.-oriented communication projects—although this does not necessarily mean he is fully involved in military operations—and seems to serve as the speaker responsible for ensuring that there is no way Americans can misunderstand what bin Laden is talking about. Speaking in the idiom of American English, and often using contemporary slang, Gadahn is the sledge that drives home the spike of bin Laden's messages for Americans.

...



Pertinent Links:

1) Al-Qaeda's American Recruit Releases Something Entirely New