'Countering Individual Jihad: Perspectives on Nidal Hasan and Colleen LaRose'

Penn State Live, IST researchers examine online networks used to recruit terrorists relates to article by Peter K. Forster, “Countering Individual Jihad: Perspectives on Nidal Hasan and Colleen LaRose,”, CTX Journal

Anwar al-Awlaki

A couple of related articles:

Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, NYTimes.com, Anwar al-Awlaki - From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad, 9 May 2010 "His mix of scripture and vitriol has helped lure young Muslims into a dozen plots. He cheered on the Fort Hood gunman and had a role in prompting the attempted airliner bombing on Dec. 25, intelligence officials say. And last week, Faisal Shahzad, who is charged in the attempted bombing in Times Square, told investigators that Mr. Awlaki’s prolific online lectures urging jihad as a religious duty helped inspire him to act."

Ian Black and Hugh Macleod, Guardian, YouTube Islamist: how Anwar al-Awlaki became al-Qaida's link to local terror, 7 May 2010 ""Awlaki has a huge internet following among Muslims all over the world," said Faisal Gazi, a British Muslim blogger. "His sermons, delivered in word perfect English and Arabic, are downloaded and shared by vast numbers of people in the Middle East and in the west.""

Anwar al-Awlaki

Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal, US-born cleric Awlaki 'proud' to have taught al Qaeda operatives, 27 Apr 2010 "Anwar al Awlaki, an American citizen who is based in Yemen and serves as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's mufti, said he was "proud" to have trained Major Nidal Hasan, the US Army doctor who murdered 13 soldiers at a deployment center at Fort Hood, Texas, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who failed to detonate a bomb on an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day."

The screenshot of al-Awlaki has the www.alwasatiyyah.com address; the site itself is still up, with limited open content.

al-Awlaki

Robert F. Worth, NYT, Cleric in Yemen Admits Meeting Airliner Plot Suspect, Journalist Says, 31 Jan 2010 "Mr. Awlaki’s new call to kill American officials here illustrated once again his radicalism, which has led counterterrorism officials to watch him closely for at least a decade. Born in New Mexico, Mr. Awlaki had contacts with three of the Sept. 11 hijackers at mosques where he worked in San Diego and Falls Church, Va. His eloquent defenses of violent jihad in sermons and on the Internet are widely believed to have radicalized many young Muslims."

Umar Faruk Abdul Mutallab

Hugh Macleod, Guardian, Yemen is fertile territory for extremism as it tears itself apart: Al-Qaida able to exploit tribal tensions in Yemen just as it does in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 28 Dec 09

Telegraph, Al-Qaeda warned of imminent bomb attack, 28 Dec 09 "An al-Qaeda terrorist in Yemen warned the United States "we are carrying a bomb" in a video posted online four days before the attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit."

Newsweek, Do We Need 30,000 Troops in Yemen, or A Better Counter-Terror Strategy?, 28 Dec 09

The Canadian Press, Internet posts suggest Nigerian terror suspect was 'depressed and lonely', 28 Dec 09 "Internet postings purportedly written by a Nigerian charged with trying to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day suggest a fervently religious and lonely young man who fantasized about becoming a Muslim holy warrior.

"Throughout more than 300 posts, a user named "Farouk1986" reflects on a growing alienation from his family, his shame over sexual urges and his hopes that a "great jihad" will take place across the world."

Washington Post, In online posts apparently by Detroit suspect, religious ideals collide, 28 Dec 09 "On Facebook, Abdulmutallab's profile features a photo of him smiling, standing alongside two friends and wearing a sharp-looking pink polo shirt and sunglasses. He has 287 friends."

Facebook: We Condemn Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's Action: Nigerians are NOT Terrorists

Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, Asharq Alawsat, In Search of the Instructor in Yemen, 29 Dec 09 "Al Awlaki is now most wanted and the source of the problem with regards to at least two crimes; that of Nidal Hasan charged for killing 13 people and Farouk Abdulmuttalab charged with attempting to blow up a plane and attempted murder of the 279 passengers on board. Al Awlaki is an important character and it seems he is the Bin Laden of the internet, the leader of an organization that brings together thousands of young men who are communicated with firstly via websites and then dealt with on the ground later. He became a leader and a Mufti who communicated with his students electronically, and he takes part in extensive Daawa [Islamic preaching] through the World Wide Web. Just like Bin Laden, a cat with nine lives, he was targeted in two similar raids a few days ago and it is possible that he escaped despite news reports of his death. "

Fort Hood Updates

Op-ed: The New American, Radical Imam's Website Encouraged the Killing of American Soldiers, 30 Nov 09 "The sum of al-Awlaki’s internet evangelism and his unquestionable dedication to the cause of radical Islam and the deadly methods employed to promote it is a frightening figure that should have set off a deafening din of alarm bells throughout the American intelligence community that had already classified al-Awlaki as “an example of al-Qaeda’s reach” into America. Those bells never sounded, however, or if they did, they were never heeded by those whose timely response perhaps could have prevented the murders committed by al-Awlaki acolyte, Major Nidal Hasan, on November 5.'

Ansar al-Mujahideen on Fort Hood

Views from the Occident (Twitter Specials), Ansar al-Mujahideen English Forums' Statement on Fort Hood Attack, 24 Nov 09

al-Oudah on Fort Hood

wired.com, Danger Room, Bin Laden’s Spiritual Mentor Condemns Ft. Hood Attacks, 16 Nov 09

"Salman Al-Awdah, a Saudi cleric who played an influential role in Bin Laden’s early radicalism, made the statement during an appearance on his “Life is a Word” show on MBC, a Saudi-owned news and entertainment satellite TV channel, later posting his remarks on his website, Islam Today."

Fort Hood Updates

MEMRI, Popular Jihadist Forum: We Hope Other Muslims in the U.S. Army Will Take Nidal Hasan as a Role Model, Nov 24, 2009 Analysis "The Ansar Al-Mujahideen jihadist forum issued a communiqué on November 24, 2009 in praise of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan. The communiqué aimed in particular to defend Hasan's actions against the condemnations that have been voiced by Muslim associations in the U.S."

Nidal Hasan Powerpoint

Washington Post, Hasan on Islam "Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the Army psychiatrist believed to have killed 13 people at Fort Hood, was supposed to discuss a medical topic during a presentation to senior Army doctors in June 2007. Instead, he lectured on Islam, suicide bombers and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting wars in Muslim countries."

Fort Hood Updates

Washington Post, Authorities scrutinize links between Fort Hood suspect, imam said to back al-Qaeda, 9 Nov 09 "Federal investigators are examining possible links between Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal M. Hasan and an American-born imam who U.S. authorities say has become a supporter and leading promoter of al-Qaeda since leaving a Northern Virginia mosque, officials said. "

Fort Hood Shooting - Nidal Malik Hasan

Observer, Fort Hood massacre investigators focus on suspect's internet activity: Computers belonging to army major examined as chief of staff warns against anti‑Muslim backlash, 8 Nov 09 "Detectives from the FBI and the US military's internal police force have taken away for forensic examination the computer used by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who is now in a coma having been shot in the gun rampage on Thursday. They have also seized a computer that he often used in a neighbour's house.

"They hope that by tracing Hasan's internet activities, including postings and conversations that may have been erased before the killing spree, they can gain some insight into his actions."

Also see Naveed Ali Shah, washingtonpost.com, In Iraq, the Ft. Hood attack hit home, 8 Nov 09 interesting article: Naveed Ali Shah also has a blog: aCitizenSoldier

TechCrunch, NSFW: After Fort Hood, another example of how ‘citizen journalists’ can’t handle the truth, 7 Nov 09 op-ed

Fort Hood Updates

Talk Islam, Latest Updates: Fort Hood attack

Fort Hood Shooting - Nidal Malik Hasan

Guardian, Fort Hood gunman shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as he opened fire, 6 No v09

"Family and fellow officers said Hasan had complained of harassment by other troops about his Middle Eastern ethnicity and Muslim faith.

"The FBI was last night going through Hasan's phone and computer records to see if a motive could be identified. Agents were checking back on website postings by a man who identified himself as Nidal Hasan that appeared sympathetic to suicide bombings."

Times Online, Web post by Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan could shed light on motives, 6 Nov 09, "Investigators trying to understand why a US army psychiatrist launched into a shooting spree on a military base in Texas will be poring over an internet posting he is thought to have made comparing the sacrifice of Islamist suicide bombers and American military heroes."

Obviously, this event has been picked up by various jihadi oriented sites, which I'm looking at at present.