A New Look Inside al-Qaeda

Update #1: Austin Bay has continued his look at the Al Qaeda documents: The Oil Spot Strategy and Al Qaeda's Plans to Assassinate Saudi Leaders. (02/25/06)

Continuing my look at Islamofascism (previous posts on the topic can be found in the sidebar), I thought I should make readers aware of a new treasure-trove of translated al-Qaeda documents made available last week by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. The Army has had these documents in their possession for several years (probably obtained in Afghanistan after 9/11). A report has also been issued by the Center analyzing these documents: Harmony and Disharmony: Exploiting Al-Qa'ida's Organizational Vulnerabilities. The Center also provides summaries of the letters between al-Qaeda leadership, which detail the strategy, logistics, and goals of the terrorists. If you're interested in the topic, there is plenty of good reading here.

What these new documents reveal is an organization that is fractured, contentious, and lacking substantive direction. This doesn't mean, however, that they're not lethal; what it does demonstrate is that they are vulnerable. These documents also give Americans an interesting look into the operational details of al-Qaeda. Did you know, for instance, that al-Qaeda features health benefits for jihadis? And that it provides one month of leave every year, not including Islamic holy days?

Austin Bay has been doing a great job of analyzing these documents to point out the really important (and sometimes, funny) details. A recent column of his, Jihad: With Medical Benefits, is worth reading just for the sheer humor value. Here are links to a few of his posts on the newly-released documents:

Army releases Captured War on Terror Documents (02/17/06)

Another declassified document: The failed jihad in Syria (02/20/06)

How Al Qaeda Sizes Up a Target: Another Declassified Al Qaeda Document (02/21/06)

The Al Qaeda Documents: Al Qaeda Operations in Somalia, thoughts about Chechyna, plus a view of Bill Clinton (02/22/06)

An Al Qaeda Terrorist Disses Bin Laden (02/23/06)

Their strategists pretty well summed up the situation with reference to Bill Clinton:

I believe that the buffoonClinton was motivated by election considerations and a personal inclination toward flamboyance, as if for a fleeting moment he believed the falsehood that he was the leader of the most powerful country in the world.

And what they gathered from our rapid withdrawal from Somalia should give us warning about the potential consequences of following the "cut and run" coalition's position on Iraq:

The Somali experience confirmed the spurious nature of American power and that it has not recovered from the Vietnam complex. It fears getting bogged down in a real war that would reveal its psychological collapse at the level of personnel and leadership. Since Vietnam America has been seeking easy battles that are completely guaranteed. It entered into a shameful series of adventures on the island of Grenada, then Panama, then bombing Libya, and then the Gulf War farce, which was the greatest military, political, and ideological swindle in history. The outcomes were 100 percent guaranteed. Even so, the Americans brought with them forces from 30 countries to take the blows on their behalf, should events not turn out the way they were supposed to. In the end, the Arabs, the Europeans, and Japan paid the costs of the war, plus fees! America wanted to continue this series of farces. It assumed that Somalia was an appropriate space for another ridiculous act. But the Muslims were there—so the great disaster occurred. They fled in panic before their true capabilities could be exposed.

Again, this makes very interesting reading.