Replies

Pre-9/11, the term "al-Qaeda" was not even mentioned publicly and the term most often used by al-Qaeda recruiters was mujahideen, which, in Muslim thought, provokes imagery roughly similar to that with which we Westerners associate with the term "knight" or "paladin."

The basic gist of known al-Qaeda recruiting in US was either to ship members to either to virtual communes (al-Fuqra) or to overseas training camps, generally under the auspices of living holier lives or going to fight oppressed Muslims in your geographic region of choice. In either case, all prospective recruits are randomly paired up into partnerships. This is an excellent way both to build up loyalty to the organization by personalizing it as well as to root out any backsteppers or prospective spies (al-Qaeda even has its own internal intelligence wing led by Amin al-Haq for that very purpose).

The CIA and FBI don't have a prayer of joining al-Qaeda unless they manage to "turn" a a mid to high-ranking member still active within the organization. And even then, any turned member risks death should al-Qaeda learn of his activities.