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A RECENT HISTORY OF AL-QA'IDA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2014

R. KIM CRAGIN*
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation
*
1200 S. Hayes Street, Arlington VA, 22202, USAcragin@rand.org

Abstract

Scholars, journalists, and government officials have tried to understand al-Qa'ida and its predecessor, Maktab al-Khidamat, since the early 1980s. These efforts increased significantly after the 11 September 2001 attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. Yet, despite this attention, questions remain unanswered. What factors have influenced al-Qa'ida leaders over time as they have made and executed strategic decisions? How have they defined their relationship with affiliated groups in the context of these decisions? This present article utilizes private al-Qa'ida documents, captured by United States Navy Seals during a raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, and recently released to the public, to answer these questions. In doing so, it casts doubt on some of the conventional explanations for al-Qa'ida's trajectory between 2004 and 2013.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

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58 Ibid., p. 7.

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60 See, for example, the discussion on the blog ‘jihadology’ dissecting this potential relationship. This discussion can be found online at jihadology.net/2012/02/11/as-saḥab-media-presents-a-new-video-message-from-al-qaidahs-dr-ayman-al-ẓawahiri-onward-oh-lions-of-syria, last accessed 29 Sept. 2013; see also Rita Katz and Adam Raisman, ‘Special report on the power struggle between al-Qa'ida branches and leadership’, SITE Intelligence Group, 1 July 2013; and Jim Muir, ‘al-Nusra pledges allegiance to al-Qa'ida’, BBC News, 10 Apr. 2013.

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63 Muir, ‘al-Nusra pledges allegiance to al-Qa'ida’; and Stephanie d'Arc Taylor, ‘Jabhat al-Nusra's Rising Stock in Syria’, al-Jazeera News, 19 May 2013.

64 Ibid.

65 See, for example, ‘Himam news video shows al-Nusra fighters distributing food in Homs’, posted and translated by SITE Intelligence Group, 16 Aug. 2013.

66 Hussein Jemmo, ‘Al-Qaeda's internal divide grows in Syria’, al-Hayat, 12 Aug. 2013, trans. and re-posted by al-Monitor, 19 Aug. 2013.

67 Ayman al-Zawahiri, ‘Letter to Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini and Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani’, 23 May 2013, trans. Aymenn Jawwad al-Tamimi, 9 June 2013, available online at www.aymennjawwad.org, last accessed 10 Sept. 2013.

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69 Ibid.

70 Abu Mohammed al-Adnai, ‘So leave them alone with their fabrications’, posted 19 June 2013, trans. and released by SITE Intelligence Group, 19 June 2013; see also Jemmo, ‘Al-Qaeda's internal divide grows in Syria’, al-Hayat, 12 Aug. 2013.

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