Al Qaeda Paid Ransom Again, Kidnapping Business is Thriving/Growing

AQIM Flag: Globe set against a black background. AK-47 rifle and a black flag rise from the globe. Gray lettering below the globe: “In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” Yellow lettering at the bottom is the name of the group.

Spain recently welcomed home two citizens/aid workers kidnapped in Mauritania and held for 9 months in northern Mali by  AQIM. Reportedly, Spain paid almost $5 million for their release, one of a string of countries paying ransom for the return of its kidnapped citizens. I'll explore the wisdom of this practice later, but first, some history on AQIM...

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) formed in 2006, but has a long, violent past:

- AQIM evolved from the Algerian militant group, the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)
  -- GSPC formed in 1998 from the powerful and extremely violent Groupe Islamique Armée (GIA)
  -- The GIA grew out of a 1992 decision by Algeria's military government to cancel an election after realizing  that a moderate, mainstream Muslim party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), was headed for victory
  -- GIA was best known for its brutal massacres of thousands of Algerian civilians in the 1990s

In September 2006, the GSPC officially joined forces with Al Qaeda, which terrorist leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called a “blessed union". AQIM named France and the U.S. as their enemies, and announced the goal to turn Algeria in a caliphate, or Islamic ruled state.

With al Qaeda's money, resources and training, AQIM quickly expanded its operations beyond Algeria and is now a formidable force in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Senegal, and Nigeria. They attempted to kill Algeria's president in 2007 with a car bomb - he lived, but 22 died and 107 were injured in the blast. Modus operandi includes car bombs, attacks against civilians and kidnapping/ransom schemes. AQIM reportedly sent trained combat personnel to Iraq to assist al Qaeda elements in the country fighting coalition forces. The June 4, 2008 document entitled "Here We Come, O' Sister" , issued in response to the beating of a Muslim woman in Morocco by an "apostate", provides insight into the group's ideology.


Regarding the radical Islamist ideology and kidnapping for ransom - according to a Muslim reporter at the Money Jihad website:
 

It must be recognized that the central role of ransoms in jihadist finance would not be possible without the Koran’s express authorization of the taking of ransoms.

Here is the specific verse:

"Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself); but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah,- He will never let their deeds be lost." Quran - 047.004

Fueled by these words and repeated success extorting large sums of money from governments, kidnappings by AQIM are on the rise. Tens of millions of dollars have been reportedly secured in the last 2 years from Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Germany and the UK. In recent days, reports from Mali indicate strikes against AQIM camps by a joint force of French and Mauritanians. Mali seems to be the "softest" when dealing with AQIM, as a result, it is becoming their home base.

It is only a matter of time before a U.S. citizen is kidnapped in one of the African countries where AQIM roams freely. Will our government's position of not negotiating with terrorists and terrorist groups stand firm? Should it be up to each country how to respond, or should we have a blanket policy or rule set among UN (or at least NATO countries) on how we will deal with a terrorist-led kidnapping situation in terms of paying ransom?

These are financial attacks and county options will not work. AQIM's coffers are now full and the money will surely lead to a strengthening of the group and increased sophistication in weaponry, training and communication methods. Diplomatic pressure on the countries harboring this group will only go so far - the ransom paying needs to end and citizens warned that if they venture into these areas, despite their overwhelmingly honorable work and intentions, their government will not come to their rescue if captured. To win the war against extremism and terror, we must cut off financial pipelines and a concerted international effort is mandatory.

A New Endeavor

I apologize for my sporadic blog posts, but it has been a very busy couple of weeks! In addition to my ongoing teaching, lecturing and writing efforts, I am now a student in the doctoral program of Higher Education & Organizational Change at Benedictine University, Illinois. This is an innovative "hybrid" program that combines online education, in residence lectures, an internship and of course, a dissertation!

Benedictine is a private university built in 1887 and their mission is to...."Prepare our students for a lifetime as active, informed and responsible citizens and leaders in the world community" - outstanding!  Plus the university mascot is a bald eagle, so how could I resist?!

I would like to publicly thank Leslie Benzion for her assistance - I had just 2 weeks to pull the lengthy application package together, while on the road in 3 different states. Without Leslie's encouragement, I would certainly not be a part of this innovative program -- which is only a year old and highly sought after.

I hope to focus my research on 1) military veterans returning from/impacted by their service in combat zones - their unique needs and how the higher education community can best support, and 2) how to use emerging methods/technologies to support cutting edge training for the CT, CI and LE communities.

Yes, more work,  less sleep -- but this is all truly a labor of love. It is an honor to support our unsung heroes on the front lines (the battlefield and our communities) who do the heavy lifting to keep us safe and secure.

DHS Announces New Initiatives to Counter Violent Extremism in Communities

Six months ago, the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s (HSAC) “Countering Violent Extremism” Working Group--comprised of chiefs of police, sheriffs, community leaders and homeland security experts--made a series of recommendations to the DHS leadership.

 HSAC Recommendations

The overarching goal was to incorporate efforts to counter violent extremism into pre-existing, community-oriented violent crime reduction efforts.

There were many great ideas in this report aimed at increasing public awareness of the threat:

- Develop case studies on recent events (Zazi, Ft Hood, Jihad Jane, etc) and use them to train local law enforcement
- Create public service ads to educate public on the threat and how to recognize characteristics of dangerous behavior
- Share threat info and assist with better security practices for faith-based communities
- Create a web sites for parents, caregivers, educators on human trafficking, hate crimes and predators.
- Develop a comment lexicon and definitions for "radicalization", "extremism", etc
- More focus on community-oriented policing


Six months later, DHS released the follow on guidance: Next Steps: Supporting Community-Based Efforts to Reduce Violent Crime (dated August 2, 2010)  DHS Fact Sheet
- DHS is developing standardized curriculum for state and local  LE
- Will host regional summits to discuss best practices
- More focus on educating the community on recognizing threats and how to report (expand the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign)
- More partnering with communities and sharing threat info

In my opinion, these efforts are late to need, but critical now that more Americans are answering the call to jihad.

I am hopeful this program will better educate our citizens on the threat--and make them force-multipliers for resource constrained law enforcement agencies.

Taliban Murder of 10 Aid Workers Should Be A Wake Up Call

The 10 medical aid workers killed by the Taliban were on a trek through Northern Afghanistan to provide eye care to poor, remote villagers. The group was sponsored by the International Assistance Mission, a Christian non profit organization that does not proselytize. IAM operated in the country for over 40 years without incident. This particular group turned down Afghani security escorts because they'd moved around the country without problems, and a false sense of security and resulting complacency had set it. Sadly, these wonderfully talented and idealistic people were lined up and executed by the Taliban, which used AK 47s to carry out their "sentence" - carrying a bible apparently equates to being a spy. Their final moments must have been terrifying, although as people of great faith, I hope they found solace and realized their lives had so much purpose and good.

Americans were outraged by the news, and rightly so. The barbarity of this crime is upsetting and is truly indicative of the ruthlessness of our enemy. However, the shock that defenseless, unarmed medical personnel were targeted is worrisome.  It tells me our country isn't mentally prepared for asymmetric warfare. That our citizens believe everyone adheres to the Geneva Convention. That we would never purposely target certain buildings or people, so why would they? 

Bottom line - For the radical Islamist jihadists who have put our country in their crosshairs everything is on the table as a target. For instance:

- Your church on Sunday morning when it is packed with thousands of people.
- The Kennedy Center, any Broadway theater in New York City, a sold out concert or sporting event you are attending.
- Your hospital --especially after the first enemy attack, when it is full of patients and first responders.
- Your child's school. 
- Your child's daycare center.

Unwilling participants that could be used in a suicide bombing include:
- The elderly
- The disabled
- A young child

Looking at terrorist events around our world in the last few years - we've already seen terrorist attacks at all of the above venues and the use of elderly, disabled and children as both suicide bombers and human shields.

We absolutely must secure, harden and protect transportation nodes,  utilities and key installations and buildings. But we have to do a better job thinking like the enemy and protecting ourselves. Our flank is exposed - do you agree?

Terrorism is a grand marketing campaign and a major product is fear. What strikes more strongly at the hearts of Americans? A train explosion?  Times Square bombing? Or a terrorist attack a school where the bad guys take 1,100 hostages, including over 700 children. An hold them for days, forcing a bloody confrontation and show down with law enforcement that results in the deaths of the children they were trying to save.  I strongly recommend everyone read the book  Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools for an inside look at a terrorist operation that could easily take place in any of our schools.


Our country is not somehow immune to asymmetric attacks. It doesn't just happen "somewhere on the other side of the world."  It is coming to your community, and now is the time to prepare.

State Department Issues 2009 Country Reports on Terrorism

This annual document is a "must read" for anyone in the CI, CT and LE fields as it provides in depth analysis of nation states and their associated threats, discusses terrorist safe havens and reviews the 44 officially designated terrorist organizations.


Country Reports on Terrorism

The Foreword was written by Dan Benjamin, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at State, former director for transnational threats on the National Security Council (1994-1999) and author of The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America. I highly recommend his book, which is a detailed, but extremely "readable" account of the history of al Qaeda from its very beginnings through the 9/11 event. Mr. Benjamin was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies during my 2003-2004 fellowship year.  I was fortunate to attend lunch roundtable sessions and other events where he gave his inside accounting of the rise of al Qaeda and how many sounded the alarm before 9/11,  but were ignored.

Mr. Benjamin's foreword sets the stage for the document with a few key points:

- Transnational terrorism remains the foremost security threat the United States faces
- The administration is formulating policies that seek to shape and constrain the environments where terrorists operate
   -- Central to this approach is taking steps to undermine the appeal of al-Qa’ida’s world view and to isolate violent extremists
- Our actions are guided by a recognition of the phenomenon of radicalization and the need to prevent more people from committing themselves to violence
- In every country where extremism has taken root, three questions guide our approach: Are our actions going to result in the creation of more terrorists? What can we do to shrink the potential pool of recruits? And what is necessary to minimize the near term as well as the long term threat to the United States?
- The administration is looking to address the “upstream” factors of radicalization. We are working to confront the political, social, and economic conditions that our enemies exploit to win over recruits and funders. 
 
I believe that if we truly want to understand, address and counter jihadist recruiting and radicalization, we need to harness the "soft sciences"  -- and these efforts are long overdue. Theology, sociology, history, economics, geography, demographics and psychology all play a role in this fight, one which simply can not be won on the battlefield with firepower.

Complicating our understanding of radicalization issues: we have not only the despondent populace in declining countries joining the fight, but U.S. citizens willing to leave their homes, families and jobs to take up arms abroad and fight coalition forces. Even more worrisome is the latest group of Americans-turned-jihadists which sought to commit violent acts here at home.

I feel the threat of domestic radicalization should be our primary focus, and the administration must address the political, social, and economic conditions that our enemies exploit to win over recruits and funders here at home, not just in foreign lands. A little introspection is needed at this point.

Few would argue that the call to jihad is powerful.  This video, produced by an American to recruit Americans for al Shabaab, perfectly illustrates how terrorists will use pop culture to reach out to our youth. U.S. citizen Omar Hammami left the United States for Somalia in 2006 and is now known as Abu Mansour al Amriki and he joined with several other Shabaab members to create this recruitment video. I think you will agree the music is almost mesmerizing and the message clear and compelling. As we continue to study how the jihad switch gets turned from "off" to "on" in the human brain, these videos provide insight into how the enemy is tapping into certain messages and themes to persuade and encode.


al Shabaab Recruitment Video

Clearly an "upstream factor" for radicalization not covered in the Foreword is the Internet and cyberspace in general, which lacks any international laws, protocols or a governing body to enforce them. The terrorists are expert marketers, and we should never underestimate their savvy or technical expertise.  I've watched the al Shabaab recruitment video bounce around You Tube between "channels" owned by radical organizations. As it is pulled it from one channel, another one publishes it. Certainly, policing cyberspace to counteract recruitment, radicalization and fund raising efforts is necessary, as is addressing all of the other factors.

I will continue to provide analysis of the State Department's document in the coming weeks. Next up: a strategic assessment of the state of al Qaeda - its shifting base and newest franchises. Or how the military tenet of decimation won't work against this enemy.