Al Qaeda uses the same web gimmicks as games and social networks to rally its base.
Al Qaeda Has Its Own “Superusers” and “Badges”
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Terrorism
Letter from Maguindanao
Outside the old municipal hall of Datu Piang, in the conflict-torn province of Maguindanao in southern Philippines, Lieutenant Colonel Benedict Arevalo stood on the riverbank and pointed to the marshland and hills. There, he said, was the Muslim rebels’ stronghold. In late October, the monsoon rains had swollen the river, cutting off Datu Piang’s bridge from the road on the other side. A marshy field with a lone hut, banana shrubs, and a derelict mosque lay directly across from where Arevalo stood briefing journalists on developments on the Philippine Army’s battle with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. “This is lawlessness,” he said.
Rights Groups Deplore Order to Try 9/11 Suspects at Guantanamo
U.S. human rights groups reacted angrily to the Justice Department’s announcement Monday that the self-acclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on Lower Manhattan and the Pentagon will be tried before a military commission at the Guantanamo detention facility in Cuba.
U.S.-Algeria Counterterrorism Partnership a Marriage of Convenience
Algeria was able to extend its influence over its southern neighbors. The U.S. was able to “piggyback” on Algeria’s concerns, real and imagined, to create a security network extending from Algeria to Nigeria.
Japan Nuclear Crisis Obscures Greatest Nuclear Energy Threat of All
On 9/11 Flight 111 flew over New York’s Indian Point power plant.
Interview with Wajahat Ali
Wajahat Ali is a playwright, lawyer, and political commentator. His play, The Domestic Crusaders, made its Off Broadway premiere at the Nuyorican Poets Café in 2009 and was published by McSweeney’s last year. He is currently doing research on Islamophobia for ThinkProgress and preparing a pilot for HBO. In our special focus on Islamophobia, he talks with FPIF about the Homeland Security Committee hearings on Muslim extremism, the “threat of sharia,” and the reception of his play.
DC Film Premiere Will Depict Terrorism No One Speaks Of
A controversial film by award-winning filmmaker Saul Landau will premiere in Washington, DC on April 6 at the West End Cinema. Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up addresses a terrorism campaign against Cuba orchestrated from U.S. soil, with complicity from the U.S. government. A discussion with Landau will follow. His documentary juxtaposes the history of violence by CIA-trained Cuban exiles and five Cubans, serving long sentences in U.S. prisons, for attempting to thwart their efforts.
Interview with Raed Jarrar and Niki Akhavan
Raed Jarrar is an Iraqi-American blogger and political analyst based in Washington, DC. Niki Akhavan is an Iranian-American professor of media studies at Catholic University. They talked with FPIF about the roots of Islamophobia, how anti-Islamic sentiment has shaped U.S. foreign policy, and the relationship between faith and violence.
Dirty Bombs, Despite Their Name, Not Sexy Enough
The threat of the dirty bomb is overshadowed by that of terrorists acquiring a nuclear weapons.
Raymond Davis Incident Shows How Tangled U.S.-Pakistan Web Is
Raymond Davis’s shootings in self defense shoot went beyond not only preventive, but preemptive. Conn Hallinan at the Foreign Policy in Focus blog Focal Points.