Posted on 08/03/2006 10:03:58 PM PDT by FairOpinion
A 2004 al-Qaeda Strategy Manual can now be downloaded at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center website here.
The translation of this manual by al-Qaeda strategist, Abu Bakr Naji, was completed in May by the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University.
PING
"One reason for the neglect of works in this genre is that they are written in Arabic and they are often quite lengthy. Moreover, they are much more difficult to translate than the usual diatribes by Bin Ladin and other prominent jihadi leaders. Unlike the latter, which are meant for popular consumption, jihadi strategic texts require translators to have a familiarity with Western strategic studies (from which they draw heavily), medieval Islamic history and theology, and contemporary developments in the jihadi movement. The reward for overcoming these obstacles is immeasurable—these works are brilliant (if diabolical) studies of global insurgency written by its most intellectually-gifted participants. While it is still an open question as to whether these texts guide the actions of foot soldiers, they are certainly read by the jihadi intelligentsia and they remain the best source for understanding the nature of the jihadi movement."
Bump!
Good gravy, the damn thing is 268 pages! I guess when you're sitting in a cave brushing the flies from your nostrils all day you don't really have much else to do than write diatribes spanning hundreds of pages.
(sigh) But I have to read it anyway I reckon. Thanks for the link.
Once you are done, or even before you can read the much shorter ( 25 pages) and interesting
Stealing Al Qaeda's Playbook
also from the same link ( at the bottom)
Never underestimate the enemy. The fact that these guys are intelligently, rationally approaching the conflict from their perspective (beheadings, killings, and bombings as part of a grand strategy including directed propaganda, and worldwide strategic studies), implies one and only thing to me - these people are monsters that must be eradicated, by any and all means available. We are at war for our very survival. When will the western world realize this ? But then - most of us here have known this for a while. Seems to me the more pressing enemy is liberalism, socialism, communism and associated PC among our own ranks. Take that away, and the rest of us will muster the will to do what must be done, just as the WWII generation did, without question. The enemy is counting on elements within our own societies to constrain us from using the full capability at our disposal. That is the only way they have a chance of winning. Unsheath the sword, show them the true face and meaning of war as western world invented and perfected over the centuries, and I am willing to say that within 6 months we would not have this problem anymore.
There seems to be a lot of superfulous veribiage.
bttt
Your assessment is excellent.
While they may employ not very bright expandable people, they have a well crafted strategy, to achieve particular goals, and they are going about that with deliberation.
I'll end up reading both. The longer one is actually pretty interesting. I got into it a good ways and then realized that it reads like one of the many history textbooks I read in college. At the very least the worldviews are the same, not to mention the warped sense of world events and faulty notions of causality.
Try the shorter 25 page version as an appetizer. I obviously haven't read the 268 pg version, but a great many of the steps detailed early on in the 25 pager have indeed been implemented (by the other side) Veracity? Authenticity? Who knows.
Savages, that's what they are alright.
Clearly they understand the strategic value (to them) of a Ted Kennedy or a Hillary Clinton or a John Kerry or a John Murtha or the New York Times undermining the US war effort and resolve from within.
This confirms your assessment:
"In his 2004 work, The
Management of Barbarism,* Naji urges fellow jihadis to study Western works
on management, military principles, political theory, and sociology in order
to borrow strategies that have worked for Western governments and to
discern their weaknesses.2 For example, Naji urges his readers to study
works on administration so that they will be able to administer regions that
fall into political chaos (see below).3 Military principles should be studied
so that the jihadis may better engage in asymmetrical warfare.4"
From the work analyzing it, "Stealing AQ's Playbook) (link on same page)
Thanks a bunch Fair Opinion.
I'll add it to my other manual links.
Got it already, but thanks for the link.
I appreciate it.
I'm only on the 20th page of the longer one but it is positively jarring. What might be most alarming is that I find myself agreeing with the critiques made on western (American) society - the ones they propose to exploit, and indeed are exploiting already.
"Clearly they understand the strategic value (to them) of a Ted Kennedy or a Hillary Clinton or a John Kerry or a John Murtha or the New York Times undermining the US war effort and resolve from within."
===
Very definitely. I didn't read the long manual, but I read the 25 page analysis/assessment -- which I recommend highly to give people a general idea, it can be scanned pretty quickly. In that they do mention the importance of public perceptions:
"Furthermore, the U.S. must recast its ineffectual public diplomacy efforts." -- of course it's kind of hard to "recats the public diplomacy efforts", when US Senators, Congressmen and the Media is acting as mouthpieces for the terrorists and undermine our efforts in the War on Terror.
Related article -- it would be interesting to read that in full:
The Present and Future Scenario of al-Qaeda by Abu Jandal al-Azdi
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1677514/posts
A document presenting a present and future scenario of al-Qaeda, including strikes within the United States, written by Saudi scholar and al-Qaeda ideology Abu Jandal al-Azdi AKA Fares Ahmad al-Shuwayl al-Zahrani, who was imprisoned by Saudi authorities in November 2004, was recently distributed to the password-protected al-Qaeda-affiliated forum, al-Boraq.
direct link to the article:
http://www.siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications200906&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
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