Word: qaeda
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...Iraq - come to be perceived as part of a general war against Islam. The feeling of being under attack may be amplified by personal experience of discrimination, and then validated by exchanges with like-minded friends, family members and Internet users, before being converted into action by "al-Qaeda." Not, as Sageman puts it, "al-Qaeda Central" (made up of those who have sworn an oath of loyalty to Osama bin Laden), but al-Qaeda the informal network, mobilizing radicalized Islamists around the world without any contact with bin Laden...
...Qaeda Central, says Sageman, is on the wane, its leaders on the run or dead and increasingly isolated. It is the informal al-Qaeda - born after the attacks on September 11, 2001, and exploding into raging adolescence after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 - that is the real threat, waging the "leaderless jihad" of the book's title chapter. Poverty and lack of opportunity are not necessarily the factors that drive young men to commit violence in its name. Middle-class and educated at a private school, Sheikh exemplifies another kind of motivation. "They view themselves as warriors willing...
...None of Sageman's solutions are new, nor are they achievable soon. The problems of Palestine and Iraq are of mind-numbing complexity, and as for depriving al-Qaeda of publicity, many would argue that successful prosecution of the war on terror actually makes visible battles and results necessary. But it isn't a forensic psychiatrist's job to come up with counterterrorist strategy. It is their job to offer a cogent alternative to the "Why do they hate us?" hand-wringing that dominates much writing about the terrorist mind-set, and Sageman has done that with great clarity...
...Iraq--come to be perceived as part of a wholesale war against Islam. This feeling of being under attack may be amplified by personal experience of discrimination and then validated by exchanges with like-minded friends, family members and Internet users before being converted into action by "al-Qaeda." Not, as Sageman puts it, "al-Qaeda Central" (made up of those who have sworn an oath of loyalty to Osama bin Laden) but al-Qaeda the informal network, mobilizing radicalized Islamists around the world without any contact with bin Laden...
...Qaeda Central, says Sageman, is on the wane, its leaders dead or on the run and increasingly isolated. It is the informal al-Qaeda--born after the attacks on Sept. 11 and exploding into raging adolescence after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003--that is the real threat, waging the "leaderless jihad" of the book's title chapter...