Al Qaeda Gets Online

March 4, 2005 10:45 AM

Al Qaeda Posts Online Magazine
Al Qaeda has, reportedly, published the first issue of an online magazine aimed at recruitment of Muslims to get rid of the infidels and apostates (Americans and Iraqi aides) in Iraq.
Washington-based counterterrorism specialist Evan Kohlmann said the magazine aims at 'conveying the sense that the organization is professional, capable, and really understands what they're doing."
It was designed as 'an attempt to refute the idea that Zarqawi and these people are desperate. . . . It shows that these people have time on their hands and don't have to worry about mobility," he said.
posted by fenriq (47 comments total)

But do they have a good business model?

I wonder what the URL is.
posted by inksyndicate at 10:46 AM on March 4, 2005

From the article, it appears to have been posted to a couple of Al Jazeera sites but they don't say which ones. I'd be curious to take a look at it.

And their business model is murder on the interns.
posted by fenriq at 10:49 AM on March 4, 2005

Next us, the live journal user "al_queda"

Mood: Hating Great Satan.
posted by eriko at 10:49 AM on March 4, 2005

fenriq posted "the magazine aims at 'conveying the sense that the organization is professional, capable, and really understands what they're doing.' "

So they're going to hire Gannon to ask Osama softball questions?
posted by orthogonality at 10:51 AM on March 4, 2005

Will they be releasing a swimsuit edition?
posted by xmutex at 10:52 AM on March 4, 2005

Does this mean there will be a little stamp for "Jihad Aficianado" in my next Publisher's Clearing House envelope?
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:59 AM on March 4, 2005

Mayor Curley, that's classic!

Orthogonality, yes, only this time his name will be changed to Jazeer Gonads.

I saw clips of Gannon asking questions at the White House on The Daily Show last night. How did the rest of the Press Corps not just laugh out loud at this moron?
posted by fenriq at 11:04 AM on March 4, 2005

I don't always agree with the politics, but their society coverage is great, very snarky and "with it" and the cartoons can be really funny.
posted by Divine_Wino at 11:08 AM on March 4, 2005

Now Al Qaeda members will have a bona fide excuse for looking at Internet porn. Just blame it on the Great Satan's spyware for hijacking their browser's home page button.
posted by DaShiv at 11:11 AM on March 4, 2005

I love that W is on the cover...
posted by freebird at 11:13 AM on March 4, 2005

Especially enjoy Al Qaeda Forums. It's amazing the things you can do with 72 virgins!
posted by Man O' Straw at 11:16 AM on March 4, 2005

al-Qaida's finally getting their own magazine? Allah must truly be smiling on them these days.

Meanwhile, Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader of al-Qaida's "regional branch" Jemaah Islamiyah, was sentenced yesterday to just 2 1/2 years for his role the Bali bombings which killed 200+. "I'm being oppressed by people from abroad and at home," Bashir said of the sentence, surrounded by hundreds of cheering supporters. "They consider Islamic law to be a shackle and are slaves to immoral behavior. Allah, open their hearts or destroy them." Jemaah Islamiyah has said they'd establish a pan-Islamic state across SE Asia by any means necessary.

Hopefully Tip O' The Camel's Hump will be available in the prison library, along with all the amenities of a Hilton Hotel. Poor fella has been oppressed.
posted by dhoyt at 11:19 AM on March 4, 2005

I'll bet they run it on IIS the bastards.
posted by spock at 11:27 AM on March 4, 2005

The great irony to me is that under the First Amendment this is totally legal for Americans to read, but it is illegal for Americans to pay money for it because that would be giving financial support to terraists.

[Insert snarky DMCA comment]
posted by ilsa at 11:30 AM on March 4, 2005

Better Homes and Jihads.
posted by bardic at 11:35 AM on March 4, 2005

Popular Malfeasance.
posted by jonmc at 11:49 AM on March 4, 2005

still no link?
posted by ruelle at 11:53 AM on March 4, 2005

Your search - Zurwat al-Sanam - did not match any documents.

Did you mean: Zirwat al-Sanam ?

Your search - Zirwat al-Sanam - did not match any documents.

Thanks google!
posted by odinsdream at 11:55 AM on March 4, 2005

Martyr Stewart Living.
posted by Divine_Wino at 11:56 AM on March 4, 2005

I hear it's the bomb.
posted by SisterHavana at 11:59 AM on March 4, 2005

I'd guess it's somewhere at ansarnet.ws (found via some Googling for some of the names in the article), but I can't read Arabic. And I got a little nervous surfing it at work.
posted by VulcanMike at 12:00 PM on March 4, 2005

Playbomber (disclaimer: I only read it for the articles, not the decapitation pictures).
posted by pardonyou? at 12:19 PM on March 4, 2005

Bravo, Divine-Wino! I almost read right through that!
posted by Man O' Straw at 12:28 PM on March 4, 2005

GQ (Gentlemen Quartered)
posted by notmydesk at 12:37 PM on March 4, 2005

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:38 PM on March 4, 2005

Vanity Lair.
Martyrmoiselle.
Wired (To Go Off).
Jihad Illustrated For Kids.
Good Cavekeeping.
posted by Asparagirl at 12:55 PM on March 4, 2005

posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 1:01 PM on March 4, 2005

"Good Cavekeeping" is funny


Will they be releasing a swimsuit edition?

No: Burqa Edition
posted by matteo at 1:03 PM on March 4, 2005

Al Qaeda Posts Online Magazine
Al Qaeda has, reportedly, published the first issue of an online magazine aimed at recruitment of Muslims to get rid of the infidels and apostates (Americans and Iraqi aides) in Iraq.

That's a little imprecise, fenriq.

You're linking to a story called "Al'Qaeda group said to post online magazine." But you've changed it to "Al'Qaeda Posts Online Magazine." The first sentence of your link reads in part "A new online magazine purportedly posted by Al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq..." Yet you've changed that to "Al Qaeda has, reportedly, published the first issue of an online magazine..."

As your linked article's headline says, this isn't from Al'Qaeda, it's from an Al'Qaeda group. This isn't coming from Osama bin Laden's faction. It's from "Al'Qaeda in Iraq," Zarqawi's group, which is really a separate--albeit affiliated--band of terrorists. The only bin Laden content in the magazine is a hash of quotes from previous speeches.

The way you've phrased the post, one might easily misapprehend the article's meaning, and assume that Osama's terrorist group is running a PR campaign on behalf of Zarqawi's. Rather, the AP is describing self-promotion by a group trading on the Al'Qaeda name.

America's enemies aren't monolithic, and pretending they are just makes them more difficult to defeat and blinds us to their weaknesses.
posted by jbrjake at 1:07 PM on March 4, 2005

DarAlHarb'er's Bazaar
posted by Asparagirl at 1:16 PM on March 4, 2005

Rolling Grenade
posted by jonmc at 1:20 PM on March 4, 2005

You mean we can defeat them if we just get the taxonomy right? Relax guy, lean into it a little.
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:21 PM on March 4, 2005

brought to you by Condé Nasti
posted by dhoyt at 1:22 PM on March 4, 2005

Don't you mean Condi Nasti?
posted by Man O' Straw at 1:26 PM on March 4, 2005

Wired (To Go Off).

I prefer Timer. It's a faster read.

Also: Car & Bomber.
posted by gompa at 1:27 PM on March 4, 2005

Jewsweek - which actually already exists...

And if you think you have trouble telling apart Mary Kate and Ashley now, just wait until they're wearing the latest fall burkas...
posted by Asparagirl at 1:35 PM on March 4, 2005

jbrjake, you're right, I did change it slightly apologize for not making it more clear that this isn't necessarily an Al Qaeda group, just one that claims to be affiliated with them. Its a valid complaint.

As for other names for the magazine, I'd like to offer:
Better Holes and Bunkers
Ladies Stay at Home and Keep Covered from Head to Toe Journal
Hole & Dirtpatch

But I like Asparagirl's Martyrmoiselle best!
posted by fenriq at 1:35 PM on March 4, 2005

Timer
posted by WinnipegDragon at 1:46 PM on March 4, 2005

Sources say that you can download it here.
posted by Count Ziggurat at 2:39 PM on March 4, 2005

This post is total viral marketing.

Or, if you will, Pepsi Blew Up.
posted by stet at 3:03 PM on March 4, 2005

posted by AlexReynolds at 3:06 PM on March 4, 2005

I hear that for only $30 you can become a jihad micropatron.
posted by Krrrlson at 7:14 PM on March 4, 2005

The New Caliphate
posted by thecaddy at 1:17 AM on March 5, 2005

Amazing what a FBI fabrication develops into!

American Geopolitic
Jihadi Night Live (Ok, that's not a magazine)
The Washington Post-apocalypse
Hair Turban Magazine Of course, Bin laden only wears a turban for his image.
posted by asok at 4:20 AM on March 5, 2005

donald duck and cover

you know, for kids
posted by mr.marx at 9:44 AM on March 5, 2005

Barely Lethal.
posted by IndigoJones at 11:05 AM on March 5, 2005

Here's the link to the specific post Count Ziggurat refers to at Internet Haganah, which has a screen shot. I like AlexReynolds' color scheme better.

The mag's called Thurwat Assanam, apparently, and is "available from the usual suspect locations":

.doc
http://www.tetsuson.org/2001/tetsuon/tmp/up0999.zip
http://wansan.ddo.jp/up/img/272.zip
http://dprkorea.co.uk/upload/source/up0125.zip

.pdf
http://www.tetsuson.org/2001/tetsuon/tmp/up0999.zip
http://wansan.ddo.jp/up/img/273.zip
http://dprkorea.co.uk/upload/source/up0126.zip
posted by mediareport at 8:11 AM on March 6, 2005