Conflict Blotter

Al Qaeda’s Internet communications system went suddenly dark to American intelligence after the leak to ABC News of Osama bin Laden’s September 11 anniversary speech inadvertently disclosed the fact that the US had penetrated the enemy’s system, Eli Lake reports in today’s NY Sun. The Washington Post also has the story, though with somewhat less […]

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In the past year I’ve had dozens of conversations with colleagues, experts, politicians, analysts, etc, about whether or not Al Qaeda is present in Gaza, especially foreign, non-Palestinian jihadis. As such, this news caught my eye today.
Hamas has extradited a wanted Al-Qaida militant to Egypt in exchange for Cairo’s agreement to allow dozens of stranded […]

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A 90-page report by the New York Police department called “Radicalization in the West” breaks down the process that turns an otherwise ordinary Muslim youth into a violent jihadist. It’s nothing new or groundbreaking, but it brings together a series of eight or nine fairly detailed case studies that look at how well-known terror […]

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A pro-Lebanese army propaganda video denounces Fatah al-Islam as terrorists and defilers of Islam.
As the Lebanese Army’s battle with Fatah al-Islam militants in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp winds to a close, there is much chatter here about the long term ramifications of the over two-month long siege.
The initial take on the […]

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Here’s the declassified summary of the National Intelligence Estimate. Pretty much a waste of time and nothing we didn’t already know. The seven page document consists of five pages on how to read the NIE and just two pages rehashing what we already know: Al Qaeda is out to get us and thus “the United […]

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The Army of Islam and other fringe radical groups in Gaza are reportedly seizing on Hamas’ rise to power to exploit their own agendas. Last week there was an attack on a church school in Gaza City in which the attackers decapitated Jesus on the crucifix, burnt icons, and looted computers. Today there were reports […]

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