Radicalization

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Radicalization

• Section II

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The Threat of Homegrown Terrorism

• Homegrown Terrorism. Ex. Daniel Patrick Boyd.
• Growing importance. Intelligence services and
  experts see homegrown terrorism as a growing
  threat due to the increasing number of Westerners
  embracing militant Islam, coupled with the
  operatives familiarity with the societies they
  are targeting and ease of mobility.

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What Doesnt Make a Terrorist?

• Conventional wisdom Poverty as root cause.
• Hate crimes analogy.
• Public opinion surveys Higher education levels
  more likely to say suicide attacks justified
  against Americans and Westerners.
• Participation in terrorist groups.
• Marc Sageman Not crazy, not suffering from
  personality disorders.

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NYPD Study on Radicalization

• In August 2007, the NYPD released an important
  study on radicalization
• Four phases homegrown terrorists go through
• Pre-Radicalization
• Self-Identification
• Indoctrination
• Jihadization
• Like a funnel

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NYPD Study Phases

• Pre-Radicalization Individuals life before
  accepting radical beliefs. Apparent normalcy.
• Self-identification Begin to explore Salafi
  Islam and associate with the like-minded often
  caused by cognitive opening.
• Indoctrination Where an individual
  progressively intensifies his beliefs, wholly
  adopts jihadi-Salafi ideology and concludes,
  without question, that the conditions and
  circumstances exist where action is required to
  support and further the cause. That action is
  militant jihad.
• Jihadization Action phase.

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Do Ideas Matter?

• Sageman, Post Its not how they think, its how
  they feel.
• April 2009 study, Homegrown Terrorists in the
  U.S. and U.K. An Empirical Examination of the
  Radicalization Process.
• Examines external signs in 117 homegrown
  terrorists.
• Steps
• - Adopting a legalistic interpretation of the
  faith
• - Trusting only select, ideologically rigid
  religious authorities
• - Perceived schism between Islam and the West
• - Low tolerance for perceived theological
  deviance
• - Attempts to impose religious beliefs on others
• - Political radicalization

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Case Study Adam Gadahn
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Gadahns Early Life

• Countercultural upbringing.
• Gadahns parents decided to eschew Americas
  consumerist lifestyle in favor of austere
  isolation and self-sufficiency.
• Gadahns family lacked (by choice) a telephone,
  mailing address, and even a toilet in their home.
• In his teens, Gadahn became obsessed with death
  metal.
• Gadahn My entire life was focused on expanding
  my music collection. I eschewed personal
  cleanliness and let my room reach an unbelievable
  state of disarray.
• Formed a one-man death metal band called Aphasia.
• After going through a period where he felt
  empty and explored evangelical Christian radio,
  Gadahn became Muslim.

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Small Group

• Small group Gadahn soon fell in with a small
  group of men who held evening discussion groups
  in the mosque.
• These men wore turbans, long robes and long
  beards, and they spent a lot of time criticizing
  other members of the mosque.
• Legalistic. Zena Zeitoun Everything was haram
  to them in the United States. If they saw a girl
  walking down the street in a short skirt, thats
  haram. If they saw you with a beer bottle in your
  hand, thats haram. If they saw a man and a woman
  holding each other, thats haram.
• Gadahn began to adopt legalism early on.

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Legalism

• Gadahns outward signs
• Stopped shaving.
• Gave up music.
• Began to wear sandals with Saudi style robes or
  an Afghan-style shalwar kameez
• Gadahn complied with group members instructions
• Told Gadahn to stop wearing jeans
• Women making tea.
• Hisham Diab and Khalil Deek called Gadahn their
  little rabbit.
• He took everything they said as the Holy
  Grail. -Saraah Olson, Diabs ex-wife

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Gadahns Political Radicalization

• Gadahn began to radicalize politically during
  this period.
• Legalsim blended into his political
  radicalization, as his companions lectured just
  as naturally about global politics as about the
  need to stop wearing jeans.
• Olson and her son Ryan described a cult-like
  atmosphere in which Gadahn was not even allowed
  to speak with his own family, and was told that
  if youre a good believer, youll kill them.

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Gadahn v. BundakjiLow Tolerance for Perceived
Deviance

• The small group called mosque leader Haitham
  Bundakji Danny the Jew because of his moderate
  practice of Islam Hes a weak Muslim, hes
  friends with Jews, he goes to Baptist churches,
  he hangs out with the police departmenthes just
  an awful Muslim.
• When Bundakji mildly reprimanded Gadahn, Gadahn
  punched Bundakji in the face. Later pled guilty
  to misdemeanor assault and battery.

Haitham Bundakji, President of the Islamic
Society of Orange County
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Gadahn, Schism between Islam and West

• As he radicalized, Gadahn came to see Islam and
  the West as irreconcilably opposed. He isolated
  himself from non-Muslim family members, tried to
  block out the Western world.
• Gadahns small apartment near the mosque was
  symbolic of this. Described as a dungeon by
  Zena Zeitoun, the apartments only decorations
  were Islamic sayings of the Prophet on the
  walls, and a timetable for salat.Walked to the
  mosque for prayers, did little else.
• Gadahn later expressed the idea of a fundamental
  schism in his first video for al-Qaeda, saying
  that the allegiance and loyalty of a Muslim is
  to Allah, his Messenger, his religion and his
  fellow believers before anyone and anything
  else. If there is a conflict between his
  religion and his nation and family, then he must
  choose the religion every time.

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NYPD Model and FDDs Study
NYPD Study Radicalization Timeline
ATTACK
Jihadization
Time Lapse
Indoctrination
Self-Identification
Pre-Radicalization
When viewed in the context of the NYPD Study, our
model focuses primarily on activity taking place
in the self-identification and indoctrination
stages.
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Adopting a Legalistic Interpretation of the Faith

• Legalistic interpretation generally comes in step
  2 of the NYPD study, self-identification.
• A legalistic interpretation of Islam refers to
  how believers interpret their rights and
  obligations in relation to Islams holy texts. An
  individual who has a legalistic interpretation of
  the faith has adopted a rules-based approach to
  the religion, in which the Quran and sunnah
  provide strict guidelinesnot just for the
  practice of the faith, but also for virtually
  every aspect of ones daily life.
• For many homegrown terrorists, developing a
  legalistic interpretation of the faith is the
  foundational step for other movements toward
  radicalism.
• High degree of prevalence. About half of the
  homegrown terrorists examined in our study
  exhibited this aspect of the radicalization
  process of the 117 individuals surveyed, 57
  (48.7) had adopted a legalistic interpretation.
  We could only determine that individuals had not
  embraced a legalistic interpretation in four
  cases.

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Legalism Fort Dix Six, Lackawanna Six

• Lackawanna Six Kamal Derwish, Juma al-Dosari.
• Fort Dix Six. Duka brothers became much more
  legalistic two or three years before their plot
  began.
• A cousin They were praying different, they were
  talking different, they were telling people what
  to believe. The cousin refused to attend Eljvir
  Dukas wedding when he learned that no music
  would be played.

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Trusting Only Certain Religious Authorities

• Between stages 2 and 3 of the NYPDs model
  (self-identification and indoctrination),
  individuals frequently begin to trust only a
  certain set of Salafi-jihadi religious scholars,
  and see other Islamic scholars as inauthentic.
• Trusting only certain scholars also implies the
  inverse step of rejecting many scholars (more
  liberal) as not conveying true Islam.
• FDDs study found evidence of this manifestation
  of the radicalization process in nearly one-third
  of the homegrown terrorists surveyed (30.8),
  with only seven instances where it was clearly
  not present.

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Trusting Only Certain Ideologues Maldonado,
Bouyeri

• Daniel Maldonados blog spoke of his admiration
  for Abdul Wahhab, Ibn Taymiyya, Safar al-Hawali
• Mohammad Bouyeri confronts his old imam Ive
  come to tell you what the real Islam is. You
  dont tell the truth.

Daniel Joseph Maldonado
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Low Tolerance for Deviance Bilal Talal Samad
Abdullah

• Doctor, 2007 Glasgow bombings
• Shiraz Maher, former member of Hizb ut-Tahrir
  Bilal said Look, youd better start praying and
  stop playing. He was adamant about it and put on
  this DVD of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi beheading a
  hostage. He said If you dont change, this is
  what we do. We slaughter.

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Attempting to Impose Religious Beliefs Degauque,
Walters

• Muriel Degauque Would not allow her visiting
  parents to watch TV, drink alcohol. Separation of
  gender.
• Jason Walters (Netherlands) and brotherliving
  with their motherwould not allow her to drink or
  watch TV. In the summer of 2003, she felt so
  threatened that she called the police.

Muriel Degauque
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Trends in Terrorism

• Section III

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Trends

• I. Centralized vs. Decentralized
• II. Transnational Crime and Terror
• III. Oil and Terror
• IV. Somalia
• V. Terrorism as Political Protest

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I. Centralized vs. Decentralized Terrorism

• These opposing trends are occurring
  simultaneously.
• Centralized command Decisions filter from top to
  bottom. Examples IRA, pre-9/11 al-Qaeda.
• Decentralized Little control from the top, more
  autonomy.
•  

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Al-Qaeda Case Study

• Before 9-11, al-Qaeda was centralized with a
  supreme leader (bin Laden), a shura
  (consultation) council, various committees, and a
  cadre of lieutenants in charge of regions or
  cells.
• HARMONY documents
• After losing its safe haven in Afghanistan and
  operating in a decentralized manner for several
  years, al-Qaedas senior leadership regrouped in
  Pakistan. It is now acting more like a
  centralized organization again.
• Importance of central leadership.

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Lone Wolf Terrorism

• The ultimate example of decentralized action.
• Examples of lone wolf terrorism in the U.S.
• July 4, 2002 Hesham Mohamed Hadayet.
• March 3, 2006 Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar.
• July 2006 Naveed Haq, Seattle Jewish Federation
  building. He said that he was upset about U.S.
  support for Israel and the Iraq war.
• 2009 Holocaust Museum shooting.

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II. Transnational Crimeand Terror

• Connections between transnational crime and
  terrorism are deepening.
• Roots in Soviet Unions collapse.
• Advantages to terrorists converse advantages to
  law enforcement. Al Capone model.

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Types of Criminal Activity

• Drug trafficking Hizballah
• Financial scams identity theft, bank fraud (i.e.
  credit card fraud), cigarette smuggling,
  counterfeiting (clothes, cigarette rolling
  papers, Viagra)
• Immigration fraud (i.e. sham marriages)
• Money laundering/illegal money transfers

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Charlotte, NC Cigarette Smuggling

• Aribtrage scheme.
• Bob Fromme, deputy sheriff, JRs Tobacco.
• One day he noticed four olive-skinned young men
  were buying huge numbers of cigarettes. There was
  nothing wrong with this, except that each bought
  exactly 299 cartons, one less than the number
  that would require paperwork. One man paid for
  everything in cash entire transaction cost close
  to 30,000.
• This became a regular pattern.
• Fromme tailed the vans to the state line, and
  watched as the drivers crossed north into
  Virginia, or west into Tennessee.
• Fromme called a friend and ATF. His friend told
  him that the men were smuggling cigarettes.

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Charlotte, NC Cigarette Smuggling

• ATF began around-the-clock surveillance. Soon the
  ATF established that the smuggling ring involved
  more than a dozen Arabs who had settled into
  middle-class Charlotte neighborhoods.
• Each smuggling van led a secret motorcade of five
  ATF cars. The cars would take turns following so
  that no vehicle was in the smugglers rearview
  mirror for too long. The agents sometimes changed
  clothes, switched license plates.
• Investigators found that the smugglers didnt
  seem to spend much of the money. Where were all
  the profits going?
• Brothers Mohamad Hammoud and Chawki Youssef
  Hammoud would buy van loads of cigarettes in
  North Carolina, where the tax was 5 cents/pack,
  and sell them in Michigan, where the tax was 75
  cents/pack. Profits to Hizballah.
• Also sham marriage.

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Illegal Money TransferAl Haramain Foundation

• At its peak, Al Haramain had offices in more than
  fifty countries and an annual budget of 3080
  million.
• Al Haramains U.S. branch and two of its
  directors were indicted in January 2005 for
  illegally moving money out of the country.
  Central to the prosecution was the requirement
  that anyone who transports more than 10,000 in
  or out of the U.S. is required to provide details
  in Form 4790.

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Al Haramain

• In February 2000, an Egyptian man wire
  transferred about 150,000 to an Al Haramain bank
  account in Ashland. In an e-mail, the donor
  stated that the money was designed to
  participate in your noble support to our muslim
  brothers in Chychnia.
• Shortly after, Al Haramain director Soliman
  al-Buthe flew from Saudi Arabia to the U.S.,
  where he met another director, Pete Seda.
• On March 10, the two men went to a branch office
  of Bank of America and bought 130 American
  Express travelers checks, all in the 1,000
  denomination. Seda also collected a 21,000 Bank
  of America cashiers check.
• Left without declaring inflated value of
  building purchased in New Jersey.
• Lessons
• Why did al-Buthe fly from Saudi Arabia to Oregon
  to pick up the check?
• Example of Al Capone model at work.

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III. Oil and Terror

• Bin Ladens shift. From declaring it off limits
  to urging operatives focus your operations on
  it.
• Zawahiri, Sawt al-Jihad.
• Actual targeting Feb. 2006 Aramco attack using
  Aramco uniforms and vehicles.
• Impact Prices, wars, ripple effect. (And funding
  terrorists.)
• Can we change oil as currency?

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IV. Somalia

• Many young Somalis living in the U.S. and
  elsewhere have left and joined al-Shabaab.
  Minneapolis-St. Paul.
• Shirwa Ahmed, October 2008. Came to the U.S. in
  1995, graduated from Roosevelt High School in
  1999.
• September 2009 Troy Kastigar sixth American
  killed in Somalia.

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V. Is Violence Becoming Normalized?

• Following bombings that targeted gas pipelines
  operated by Canadian company EnCana, one observer
  noted that such attacks are almost like the
  price of doing business.
• Do some segments of the population accept that
  violence is a justifiable response to views or
  actions with which they strongly disagree?
• And will it grow deadlier over time?

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Conclusion

• Understanding ideology, radicalization, emerging
  trends important.
• Were all on the front lines now.