The Advantages (to Al Qaeda) of Native-Born Jihadists
". . . should another attack occur in Italy, Britain or the United States, the perpetrator likely
will be someone who was born and raised in the country and lived among his victims . . .
STRATFOR
Intelligence Brief
August 25, 2005
The devices used by the four perpetrators of the July 7 London Underground bombings were triggered by a switch similar to a button, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported Aug. 24, citing Senior British police officials. The July 21 attackers also used bombs designed for manual detonation, although those malfunctioned, the sources reported. In other words, in both cases, those who carried the backpack bombs were willing suicide bombers -- and completely cognizant of their actions.
The fact that these bombers were willing and anxious to die for the jihadist cause demonstrates that jihadist ideology has no regional boundary and that its power can supersede the Western cultural imprint. Of the four bombers, all but one was born in Britain. The other, Germaine Lindsay, was born in Jamaica, but became a long-time British resident. All four -- Lindsay, Hasib Hussain, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer -- grew up in working-class Britain, were well-liked by their neighbors and, like many young British men, were football fans. Lindsay was married and reportedly expecting his second child.
The U.S. population includes many young men with similar backgrounds: Muslims, or converts to Islam, who where born in the United States, often to immigrant parents from the Middle East or South Asia. The so-called Virginia Jihad Network centered around Falls Church, Va., included such members. Of its 11 members, several have been prosecuted and convicted of terrorism-related activities. Other U.S. citizens, such as John Walker Lindh, a young man from California who joined the Taliban in Afghanistan, have demonstrated willingness to die for the jihadist cause. Lindh was captured by U.S. forces during combat operations in Mazar-e-Sharif during 2001. In February, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a 23-year-old from Falls Church, was indicted by the U.S. government in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate U.S. President George W. Bush. According to the indictment, Abu Ali joined al Qaeda around September 2002 after traveling to Saudi Arabia. Abu Ali had been extradited from Saudi Arabia, where he was being held in connection with terrorist activities in the kingdom. Given Ali's grandiose aspirations, it is almost certain that he would have died for the jihadist cause if the opportunity presented itself.
The London bombers, Lindh, Ali and others such as Jose Padilla, Richard Reid and Jack Roche are disaffected members of Western society operating on the periphery of al Qaeda, which has been known to latch on to ne'er-do-wells and lone wolves. Some, like Lindh and Padilla, were relatively recent converts to Islam and were not raised as Muslims, but took on the jihadist cause for their own reasons, possibly derived from feelings of alienation from their peers or society. Such native-born jihadists are attractive to al Qaeda for suicide missions in Europe or the United States because of their ability to blend in with their victims until the end.
Jihadist groups have demonstrated the ability to recruit willing suicide bombers from Western capitals -- the core of Western society -- and the conditions that are conducive to such recruitment are unlikely to change significantly in the near future. Moreover, as Western governments tighten security on immigrants -- and expel problematic foreigners -- native-born sympathizers are becoming even more attractive to jihadist planners.
Therefore, should another attack occur in Italy, Britain or the United States, the perpetrator likely will be someone who was born and raised in the country and lived among his victims -- until the last second.
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