For those interested in more information on Abu Talah, check out my interview with him two weeks prior to his arrest: http://azelin.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/exclusive-interview-with-abu-tal%E1%B8%A5ah-al-amriki-of-revolution-muslim/

Srudying the terrorism dropout cases (Michael Jacobson, Learning From Dropouts, FP Feb 1, 10) evidently offers helpful clues - if done on a timely basis, with the results not lost on the way to hopelessly saturated decision-makers (Dana L. Priest and William M. Arkin, A hidden world, growing beyond control, Washington Post, July 19, 10). More promising avenues to effectively drain the terrorism swamp are seen to take place within that community - and indeed within the global Muslim community, if helped from without.

With interest and concern, I have thus taken note of the persistant and commendable efforts of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and his associates to raise the awareness of the humanitarian, political and social dimensions of political and Jihadist prisoners, notably in Libya. I join others congratulating all those involved in this truly humanitarian enterprise for their magnificent achievements to date (e.g. Libya frees more than 200 Islamist prisoners, BBC, 23 March 2010). And I encourage them all to pursue their often miunderstood and indeed difficult undertakings, and to do so particularly off worn-out tracks.
With interest, because as a student of history and the humanities, in these times it is not often that uncustomary and visionary - and whats more, repeatedly successful - approaches to dealing with politically motivated detainees appear and stay on one's radar screen (e.g. Camille Tawil, Libya closes the case of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, March 30, 2010; Former militants now wage battle within Libya to discredit al-Qaeda, Washington Post, May 29, 2010: www.solami.com/jihadrevisited.htm).
With concern, because the release of political and Jihadist prisoners is one thing. However, their lasting re-integration into civil society is an alltogether different ball game. And effectively addressing the causes underlying the actions which brought them into prison is, of course, yet another, and perhaps the more difficult subject as religious.matters are involved. In each case, public awareness and benevolant tolerance if not support, particularly among the decision-makers, is seen to be crucial for any related program's more than superficial success.
Saif's visionary approach is understood to have afforded the detainees self-discovery and dialogue among themselves which brought them genuine new insights into the true meaning of key motivating terms, such as Jihad. It remains to be seen how lastingly effective these new insights will be. But we all are contributors to the ultimate success - or failure - of this novel approach, in that we either join in the related discussion, or ignore its very existence.
The Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation and others involved in the arduous task of draining the terrorist swamp rwill thus have a unique opportunity to promote said - indispensable - global discussion by publishing in other languages as well, and by promoting the debate over the former detainees' ground-breaking analysis "Corrective Studies in Understanding Jihad, Accountability and the Judgment of People" .

Jihad revisited
With my current-life Western upbringing, I have been an occasional observer but not a serious student of Islamism and its multiple violence-based outgrowths. But I now think insiders have it about right when they come to share the insights of Ben Otman, Said al-Islam Gaddafi of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development, and the Quilliam Foundation’s Maajid Nawaz (www.solami.com/jihadrevisited.htm#Nawaz): "I turned away from Islamism, because I recognized it as the curse of Islam." And ever since my long-term friend and tutor, Egypt’s Ibrahim Kamel, the co-founder of the Good Offices Group of European Lawmakers (…/a33a.htm), convincingly offered me his interpretation of the term Islam as meaning nothing more and nothing less than submission to the Almighty One God, I’ve been able to recognise this Islam as the prophesied universal all-inclusive «religion» - somewhat analoguous to Einstein’s yet-to-be found unified field theory. That said, those preaching and practicing Islamism and its characteristic neglect of the sanctuity of life may also yet evolve to recognise themselves as being indeed not the promoters but rather the self-defeating adversaries of true Islam.

Noman Ben Otman’s insightful interview of last October with Frank J. Cilluffo and F. Jordan Evert of the Homeland Security Policy Institute (Reflections on Jihad: A Former Leader’s Perspective) is a commendable illustration of the above. Of course, as is quite normal among truly open-minded intellectuals with different backgrounds and life experiences, differences of opinion are thus not excluded but often mutually enriching, if handled properly. E.g. his mention of the «right» felt by some Muslims to «build a Nation State based on Sharia law» would seem to be in contrast with the concept of modern nation states – as opposed to the Ummah, the Caliphate of bygone times. On the other hand, I for one fully share most of his other views thus expressed, notably:
„There are many lessons one can take from this [revision] process, but the most important one is sometimes we face problems which appear to be unsolvable because our minds have been set by default. And when we start to think of the unthinkable we find that those unsolvable problems are actually solvable, and the main problem was our way of thinking, not the problem itself.“ (see also: …/puzzle.htm)

Other noteworthy insider pearls which - to the layman like myself - appear to hold the road:
„The main three different points here between Al-Qaeda and the Sunni sect of Islam are:
- First; the issue of loyalty. Al-Qaeda practically transformed this concept from its traditional understanding—which is that all Muslims are loyal to each other—to the notion that all Muslims should be loyal to Al-Qaeda and if you're not, that means there is something wrong with your faith, belief, and creed, and you may end up being identified as a non Muslim from Al-Qaeda's point of view. This understanding is one of the main sources of bad and sometimes evil reactions committed by Al-Qaeda members.
- Second; their understanding of Jihad, which has been transformed from ethical and moral action based on justice to be nonsense terrorist activities.
- Third; traditionally Muslim leaders are of two characters. One is people with authority and power, like presidents, kings, and princes. They are the source of political legitimacy. The other is people who have the moral power, the Scholars (Ulama), and they are the source of religious legitimacy. Traditionally this is the structure of power in the Muslim society.“

Finally, Ben Otman’s general observation: „And if under any circumstances you begin considering war, you should first stop to think of peace.“ reflects, of course, a well-moored yet idealistic concept which may well hit the wall of reality (…/NPT.htm). Take the case of the apparently endless Palestinian/Israeli gridlock (…/gridlock.htm) or the equally poisoning Kashmir conflict. Here, as in other cases, the lessons drawn from the nine-stars puzzle (…/puzzle.htm) may be helpful. In as much as the worn-out tracks of Jihad and other violence-based strategies manifestly lead nowhere. And as only out-of-the-box thinking of visionary, principled and courageous personalities offer a chance of lasting solutions and genuine peace. To be sure, those worthwhile objectives may indeed be effectively promoted also by a serious study – both among Muslims and non-Muslims – of the ground-breaking analysis „Corrective Studies in Understanding Jihad, Accountability and the Judgment of People“ (…/jihadstudy.pdf). Also recommended are Aldeeb’s original landownership research „Common goods in Islamic and Arab law - Question of fire (oil)“ (…/aldeeb08.htm), and other fundamental studies sponsored by the Al Azhar-supported SLM Center (…/slm.htm).

This article was very enlightening. It is interesting to think about the impact western culture has had on this particular jihadist. He uses very western methods and ideologies as he pushes militant Islamic goals. He is tech savvy, fiercely independent, and sees himself as an expert in every way. I found it made perfect sense that he became absorbed in goth culture and rap earlier, as these are both cultures that generally focus on self absorption and independence from cultural norms or laws. It appears to me that those traits are simply aspects of his personality and he is now simply applying them to Islam. Perhaps these traits are what led him to Islam in the first place- to be a non conformist.

I found this article disturbing for several reasons.

First, it demonstrates the speed with which a person, particularly a young person, can be radicalized. However, it seems that this individual was always a radical, and that he simply settled on radical Islam as being the cause which would give his life most meaning.

A psychological profile of this Chesser would be very interesting to read. The excerpts of his online writing shown here speak with such assuredness and with such a tone of command that the characterization of a narcissistic or megalomaniac personality might be in order. Mr. Brachman's own analysis- that despite his youth, the boy was positioning himself as al Qaeda's propaganda minister or envisioned himself as a possible regional strategist- would seem to affirm this.

There are so many men who give their support to the Al Qaeda group. Until now, I don't expect that this war will end in the near future. As long as none of them surrender, war will continue to happen.Andrew Wallace
Daniel Woods

- Mirc indir - Mirc yükle - thank you for blog.

Yeah, interesting story. I hope these young people very little. Unnecessary problems we do not need. Cornelia from hidden object games news, crazy taxi tips, best mahjong solitaire clubs, hidden object games free.

"He argued in one post that jihadists should use terms like, "5 Western pigs sent to Hellfire in sha'a Allah." According to him, "there needs to be a clear bias in every story . . . Unbiased journalism is a myth and we should not seek to operate by it." Yet he also counseled his colleagues to, "Make sure you publish the truth. Lies are counterproductive. Do not invent successes like the kuffar [infidels] do. If you do this it might build temporary momentum, but it will eventually backfire when it is shown to be false." "

This part just struck me as amusing, since the author words it so that seems Chesser as a hypocrite, contradicting himself. But "bias" and "lies" aren't equivalent. Neither are "un-bias" and "truth".

There are too many emotions attached to words. To find/ write a truly unbias article is extremely challenging. So in this particular bit, I agree with Chesser.

...but everything else scares me. Especially how he grew up in a developed Western country and can just turn around to support the destruction of his home...

well. I suppose he's trying to make it better. But still...

He could easily destroy his home simply by leaving it. It would then be gone from his sight.

The Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation and others involved in the arduous task of draining the terrorist swamp rwill thus have a unique opportunity to promote said - indispensable - global discussion by publishing in other languages as well, and by promoting the debate over the former detainees' ground-breaking analysis "Corrective Studies in Understanding Jihad, Accountability and the Judgment of People" .

HGH