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Do you know where is Derna?

The Libyan port city of Derna has become a hell of apocalyptic violence as jihadists increase their grip. Ansar al-Sharia opened offices there a few months ago and now Sufian al-Quma (he used to chauffeur for Osama bin Laden) is running most of the city. Other terrorists are also active there, including Ahmed Boutkhtala who is accused of taking part in the U.S. Embassy Benghazi attack.

Young people of Derna are increasingly recruited and then shipped to Syria to fight against Assad. Ironically, some join with al-Nusra and others with ISIL. This means that they have been tricked into travelling to Syria to kill each other.

That movement we call al-Qaeda (AQ) has become a tangle of serpents often fighting with each other. Their shared dream of a world unified under Sharia is not theirs alone. Other groups wish for such a world. Within all major religions you can find people who wish the world would become one under their banner. But AQ groups are different.

One thing that distinguishes AQ groups is their commitment to killing anyone who does not agree with them. Each AQ group has their own interpreters of Sharia and their own definition of who is allowed to be called a Muslim. They seek a mythic world of the past which never existed, and apocalyptic violence is the only way the can conceive of its creation.

The impossibility of achieving their unrealistic goal only seems to drive them further into their commitment. They cover their internal frustration of not getting what they want in adrenalin fueled violence, drowning self-doubt in the blood of innocents.

Derna, now infected with jihadist poison, is rotting. It did not have to be this way. The neighboring cities Al Qubah and Martouba resisted terrorist incursions by quickly forming local self-defense militias and creating strong checkpoints at the first signs of trouble. Perhaps the initial forces arrayed against Derna were too strong to overcome without outside help. Unfortunately the central Libyan government was poorly and ineffectively represented.

Once again AQ has taken advantage of a weak state to insert itself and create the chaos it thrives on.

March 3, 2014 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

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Al-Qaeda—while you were sleeping.

The decimated al-Qaeda ‘core’ may in fact be seriously weakened since the death of its charismatic leader Osama bin Laden but still we see daily reports of violence by al-Qaeda and  its offshoots, affiliates, and wannabes. The core ideology, on the other hand, is quietly spreading its tendrils.

While the ISIS (or ISIL-the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Levant) focus on training adult fighters (who are encouraged to return to carry jihad back to their homelands), al-Nusra Front (more closely allied with al-Qaeda Core) schools have opened to teach the Salafist ideas of Ibn Tamiya. Children, whose regular schools have been closed by the chaos, are taught the path of jihad, learning that Islam will prevail “with god’s book and a sword.” Along with free food and supplies come exercise, entertainment, and studies of Koran. The 10-15 year-olds study mathematics ‘and some other subjects.’ There is also, for select students, light-weapons training and an indoctrination into the importance of following the orders of the mujahidin. Young bodies are fed and young minds are steered into the path of violence. Child warriors have already been found among the anti-Assad forces.

Meanwhile, in the desert tracts of the Sahara, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has launched preaching convoys to visit villages and spread a jihad-focused version of Islam.

In spite of the excited reports of al-Qaeda’s use of videos, Face Book, Twitter, and their own social networks the most effective means of radicalization to violence is simple face-to-face conversation. And al-Qaeda is aware of this.

February 7, 2014, by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

Participatory democracy is forbidden for pious Muslims

August 28, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

Obama’s failure to support democratically elected President Morsi of Egypt lit the jihadist web with news, mostly views really, about recent events in Egypt and America’s hypocritical response. Bending the law to make believe there was no military coup in Egypt is only the most recent exposure of a nation saying one thing and doing another. Faced now with selecting actions to fulfill his promise to respond now that Syria’s Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons, he is being watched closely by jihadists ready to pounce on any sign of hypocrisy and weakness in American foreign policy.

A critical element of modern jihadist doctrine is the absolute rejection of Democracy. Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, viewed by al-Qaeda’s al-Zawahiri as a “teeming ocean of knowledge and scholarship.” A study carried out by the Combating Terrorism Center of the United States Military Academy concluded that al-Maqdisi "is the most influential living Jihadi Theorist" and that "by all measures, Maqdisi is the key contemporary ideologue in the Jihadi intellectual universe".

So as we carefully thread our way through options in Syria, Egypt, and the rest of the restless Islamic world, we must be mindful of this fundamentalist notion, clearly stated by al-Maqdisi: “Participatory democracy is forbidden for pious Muslims.” Jihadists view laws built by men as an insult to Islam since the only legitimate lawgiver is the Koran (as interpreted by the jihadists).

Choosing who to kill in Syria

As the American administration tries to pick its way through the minefield of foreign affairs, we are reminded that al-Nusrah Front is not the totality of the Salafist forces fighting to unseat Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Western media keeps trumpeting their importance, and you can’t deny their impact and influence. With a force of some 7,000 and the crown of being labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S., they play an important role in the current fighting. They are not alone, of course. The insurgency holds within it many groups. Some are Salafist and some, like the Free Syrian Army coalition, claim more secular goals. 

Hassan Aboud’s Ahrar al-Sham (Free Men of Syria) is a growing force of unapologetic Salafists seeking a Syria ruled by Sharia. With perhaps 20,000 fighters they are the largest such group, and they are growing. Unlike al-Nusrah, who brag of having murdered FSA officers, the Ahrar al-Sham has rejected internecine warfare. Where al-Nusrah clearly states its connections to al-Qaeda’s world conquering narrative, Ahrar al-Sham has publicly stated that it has no interests beyond the borders of Syria. They have at times fought side by side.

It is ludicrous to think that the American public want to put boots on the ground in Syria, but that is one of the options the administration is considering.

An al Himam News correspondent interviewed two people about what they ask of God. One man said, "I ask Allah the Almighty to grant relief to Muslims and victories to the Syrian revolution and jihad in the cause of Allah, and I pray to Allah the Glorified and Exalted to make the Islamic Shariah rule in the whole country." [SITE]

We think that’s a clear representation of the feeling of many, if not a majority, of Syrians. The Obama administration should allow Syria decide its own fate, and not choose who to kill based political expediency.

 August 25, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

Ahrar al-Sham

The Angry Serpent of Tunisia’s Salafists

Like an angry serpent, the hissing beast of Tunisia’s Salafist movement slithers across the revolution's path.

Enter stage right: a preacher from the hardline Tunisia Salafist movement. He urges Tunisians (in his mind he thinks this is a Fatwa) not to exchange New Years greetings. “Sharing the feast days of the infidel or even sending them greetings to mark them is a big sin,” Sheikh Beshir Ben Hassine said in sermon posted on Facebook. His speech is indicative of one of the challenges the Tunisian revolution faces. [AFP] Enter stage left: Alaya Alani, a professor of contemporary history at Manouba University. He  told Radio Tataouine today that imams in mosques were encouraging Tunisian youths to participate in jihad in Mali and Syria. He urged the government to put an end to this "indoctrination". [magharebia]

About a year ago we began to hear of a rise in Salafist activity. In the tobacco farming community in Bizerte people spoke of sharia tribunals, secret jails and attacks by sword-wielding mobs on wedding photographers, beer drinkers, statuette-makers, wine vendors and young men who fail to attend prayers. Even schoolgirls who refuse to wear the veil are subject to assault. This is serious stuff and has aroused the interest of international human rights groups as well as Tunisia’s own Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH). "The Salafist phenomenon is present throughout the country. The reason it was able to proliferate in Sejnane is due to the lack of security or functioning government institutions in the area," LTDH chief Abdessatar Ben Moussa said.

Some think the poverty and lack of central government presence in the area is enabling the extreme Salafists to recruit and impose their will on the people. Education levels seem not to matter as some unemployed university graduates are part of the Salafist movement.

Meanwhile there is another conflict emerging over the freedom of expression. There have been a number of journalists, bloggers, and artists accused of ‘security infractions’ and worse. Some of their work pointed to corruption in government and other works, like the controversial art show at the Palais Abdellia in La Marsa were modernist expositions of cultural focus. [The art show generated three days of Salafist protests led to rioting that forced the government to order curfews in several Tunisian cities. Over a dozen Salafists have been arrested.

Tunisians are divided on the free speech issue. Travel bans and threats of jail face several journalists and bloggers. Journalist Mona Bouazizi was charged with slander. "The article revealed administrative corruption in the co-operative for school and university accidents (MASU)," Bouazizi said. "I was surprised to be summoned for investigation.”

On the other side, prosecutor Mostafa Dalleji, "Prosecuting those who attempt to distort the actions of the government is an obligation so the perpetrators can be used as examples for others."  "The corrupt and leftist media want to bring down this government by fabricating false charges. Therefore we must stand against the enemies of the revolution," he concluded.

In these first years of hope there are many ways to navigate the new-found freedoms. Let us pray that Tunisia finds the path to more peaceful tomorrows. Inshallah.

January 21, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact