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1. Describe the history of computers.

2. Describe the history of the Internet.

3. Describe the three Internet categories.

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Radical Islamist English-Language Online Magazines Research Guide, Strategic Insights, and Policy Response U.S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE Robert J. Bunker Pamela Ligouri Bunker The United States Army War College The United States Army War College educates and develops leaders for service at the strategic level while advancing knowledge in the global application of Landpower. The purpose of the United States Army War College is to produce graduates who are skilled critical thinkers and complex problem solvers. Concurrently, it is our duty to the U.S. Army to also act as a “think factory” for commanders and civilian leaders at the strategic level worldwide and routinely engage in discourse and debate concerning the role of ground forces in achieving national security objectives. The Strategic Studies Institute publishes national security and strategic research and analysis to influence policy debate and bridge the gap between military and academia. CENTER for STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP U.S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE The Center for Strategic Leadership contributes to the education of world class senior leaders, develops expert knowledge, and provides solutions to strategic Army issues affecting the national security community. The Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute provides subject matter expertise, technical review, and writing expertise to agencies that develop stability operations concepts and doctrines. The School of Strategic Landpower develops strategic leaders by providing a strong foundation of wisdom grounded in mastery of the profession of arms, and by serving as a crucible for educating future leaders in the analysis, evaluation, and refinement of professional expertise in war, strategy, operations, national security, resource management, and responsible command. The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center acquires, conserves, and exhibits historical materials for use to support the U.S. Army, educate an international audience, and honor Soldiers—past and present. i STRATEGIC STUDIES INSTITUTE The Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) is part of the U.S. Army War College and is the strategic-level study agent for issues related to national security and military strategy with emphasis on geostrategic analysis. The mission of SSI is to use independent analysis to conduct strategic studies that develop policy recommendations on: • Strategy, planning, and policy for joint and combined employment of military forces; • Regional strategic appraisals; • The nature of land warfare; • Matters affecting the Army’s future; • The concepts, philosophy, and theory of strategy; and, • Other issues of importance to the leadership of the Army. Studies produced by civilian and military analysts concern topics having strategic implications for the Army, the Department of Defense, and the larger national security community. In addition to its studies, SSI publishes special reports on topics of special or immediate interest. These include edited proceedings of conferences and topically oriented roundtables, expanded trip reports, and quick-reaction responses to senior Army leaders. The Institute provides a valuable analytical capability within the Army to address strategic and other issues in support of Army participation in national security policy formulation. iii Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press RADICAL ISLAMIST ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ONLINE MAGAZINES: RESEARCH GUIDE, STRATEGIC INSIGHTS, AND POLICY RESPONSE Robert J. Bunker Pamela Ligouri Bunker August 2018 The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. Authors of Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) and U.S. Army War College (USAWC) Press publications enjoy full academic freedom, provided they do not disclose classified information, jeopardize operations security, or misrepresent official U.S. policy. Such academic freedom empowers them to offer new and sometimes controversial perspectives in the interest of furthering debate on key issues. This report is cleared for public release; distribution is unlimited. ∗∗∗∗∗ This publication is subject to Title 17, United States Code, Sections 101 and 105. It is in the public domain and may not be copyrighted. v ∗∗∗∗∗ Comments pertaining to this report are invited and should be forwarded to: Director, Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press, U.S. Army War College, 47 Ashburn Drive, Carlisle, PA 17013-5238. ∗∗∗∗∗ This manuscript was funded by the U.S. Army War College External Research Associates Program. Information on this program is available on our website, http://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/, at the Opportunities tab. ∗∗∗∗∗ All Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) and U.S. Army War College (USAWC) Press publications may be downloaded free of charge from the SSI website. Hard copies of certain reports may also be obtained free of charge while supplies last by placing an order on the SSI website. Check the website for availability. SSI publications may be quoted or reprinted in part or in full with permission and appropriate credit given to the U.S. Army Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA. Contact SSI by visiting our website at the following address: http://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/. ∗∗∗∗∗ The Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press publishes a quarterly email newsletter to update the national security community on the research of our analysts, recent and forthcoming publications, and upcoming conferences sponsored by the Institute. Each newsletter also provides a strategic commentary by one of our research analysts. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, please subscribe on the SSI website at the following address: http://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/newsletter/. vi ∗∗∗∗∗ The authors would like to express their thanks to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) for providing access to copies of some of the lesser-known online magazines for research support purposes. ISBN 1-58487-784-7 vii FOREWORD This unique Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) resource, authored by Robert J. Bunker and Pamela Ligouri Bunker—both of whom possess considerable counterterrorism analytical expertise—required many months of sustained research, analysis, and writing to produce. Simply collecting and cataloging the initial publication dataset itself represented a time-consuming process. As a result, this new research guide constitutes the most comprehensive work done to date on radical Islamist English-language online magazines for U.S. military educational and applied response purposes. This topical area is of great importance to the U.S. Army—and our national security posture in general—due to the association these magazines have with radical Islamist propaganda and recruitment, migration (hijrah) to Syria and Iraq, and attacks on the West utilizing “open source jihad (OSJ)” and later “just terror” techniques. This book discusses and analyzes the more wellknown radical Islamist English-language online publications—al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine, the pro-Taliban Azan magazine, and the Islamic State’s (IS) Dabiq magazine—as well as a number of lesser-known publications associated with al Shabaab (Gaidi Mtaani and Amka) and al-Nusrah Front (Al-Risalah). Additionally, early Islamist works such as Benefit of the Day, Jihadi Recollections, and Defenders of the Truth are highlighted. Further, Inspire guides and special theme publications and IS reports, news, and little-discussed eBooks—the Black Flags, Shudada (Martyrs), Islamic State, and The West series—are addressed. It next offers a comparative analysis of basic narratives found in 30 combined issues of Inspire and Dabiq magazines. Al-Qaeda and ix IS online magazine clusters are then provided along with a discussion of the differing strategic approaches of these transnational terrorist organizations. Finally, policy response options are offered as a counter to the emergence of these publications, a detailed radical Islamist online magazine chronology has been constructed, and a glossary of Arab terms found in the two dominant magazines is provided. SSI hopes this unique research guide focusing on radical Islamist English-language online magazines (and many lesser-known guides and eBooks), and the strategic insights and policy response recommendations found within it, will be of great interest to U.S. Army organizations engaged in offensive and defensive operations against these terrorist entities as well as to the broader U.S. strategic community, especially within counterterrorism and homeland securityfocused agencies. DOUGLAS C. LOVELACE, JR. Director Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press x ABOUT THE AUTHORS ROBERT J. BUNKER is an international security and counterterrorism professional and is presently an adjunct research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) of the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) and an instructor with the Safe Communities Institute, University of Southern California. Past associations include Futurist in Residence, Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Academy in Quantico, VA and Distinguished Visiting Professor and Minerva Chair at SSI, USAWC. Dr. Bunker holds university degrees in political science, government, social science, anthropology-geography, behavioral science, and history and has undertaken hundreds of hours of specialized counterterrorism and counternarcotics training. He has delivered hundreds of presentations—including U.S. Congressional Testimony—and has hundreds of publications including numerous books, booklets, reports, papers, articles, response guidance, and research notes. Radical Islamist-focused publications and activities include co-editorship of a recent five-volume Small Wars Journal anthology series on this topical area as well as earlier works ranging from the weaponization of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), use of teleoperated sniper rifles and machine guns, and suicide bombers (including internal body cavity), along with related efforts extending back to pre-9/11 research on al-Qaeda doctrine, later published for U.S. law enforcement counterterrorism purposes, as well as pre- and post9/11 Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group (LA TEW) activities. xi PAMELA LIGOURI BUNKER is a researcher and analyst specializing in international security and terrorism—with a narratives analytical focus—and is presently a non-resident fellow in terrorism and counterterrorism, TRENDS Research and Advisory, Abu Dhabi and an associate with Small Wars Journal—El Centro. She is a past senior officer of the Counter-OPFOR Corporation and has professional experience in research and program coordination in university, non-governmental organization (NGO), and city government settings. She holds undergraduate degrees in anthropology-geography and social sciences from California State Polytechnic University Pomona, an M.A. in public policy from the Claremont Graduate University, and an M.Litt. in terrorism studies from the University of Saint Andrews, Scotland. She is a co-editor of Global Criminal and Sovereign Free Economies and the Demise of the Western Democracies: Dark Renaissance (Routledge, 2015) and has published a number of referred and professional works—individually and co-authored—in Small Wars & Insurgencies, Small Wars Journal, FBI Library Subject Guides, and in various edited book projects including Narcos Over the Border (Routledge, 2011) and Criminal-States and Criminal-Soldiers (Routledge, 2008). She is currently engaged in research projects related to the Islamic State (IS) online magazine Rumiyah and “just terror” activities, strategies to mitigate IS foreign fighters from returning to their homelands, and the effects of rising economic inequality in the United States and the United Kingdom and its Armed Forces employment implications. xii SUMMARY Radical Islamist online magazines first appeared in November 2003 with the publication of Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad) in Arabic. This magazine discontinued publication in April 2005 after 29 issues, having been shut down by the Saudi security services. The magazine was produced by the Saudi branch of al-Qaeda that later evolved into al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). It called upon other al-Qaeda groups to develop and franchise their own magazines. Besides the plethora of radical Islamist online magazines in Arabic that has been produced since 2003—along with those in many other languages including Urdu, Russian, German, French, and Turkish—English-language editions have been in existence since April-May 2007. There have been a number of these magazines published at varying dates and for varying periods of time. Some, such as Al Rashideen and Ihya-e-Khilafat, were initiated but fell by the wayside, victim to a lack of audience, the capture or death of an editor, or their initiating group’s evolution. In the cases of al-Qaeda’s Inspire and Islamic State’s Dabiq magazines, the publications have been ongoing—until very recently with the demise of Dabiq—with over a dozen issues each, and have notably been cited in relation to terrorism cases by law enforcement. Beyond their propaganda potentials, each magazine can be said to promote a specific jihadi culture, to be embraced in total by followers of the particular group in question in order to achieve its desired utopian vision. Toward that end, components of these online magazines address the group’s successes and legitimacy, offer a vision of a desirable end state, encourage recruitment into their ranks, direct violent action against stated enemies, xiii and provide instructional materials and advice with regards to its enaction. The fact that an online magazine-style format has been used across groups over a notable period of time and the availability of a comprehensive data set of the issues of these magazines, both current and archived, is believed to provide a unique opportunity for evaluation of the nature of the threat these organizations potentially pose. It is not surprising, then, that the appearance and ongoing publication of English-language based magazines have caught the attention of scholars and counterterrorism researchers who have analyzed the better-known series of these magazines in numerous manuscripts, reports, and articles. Where useful, these works have been cited in the magazine database that follows. In reviewing the work done to date on radical Islamist English-language online magazines, however, efforts toward the analysis of online radical jihadist media in general—and online English-language magazines in particular—have been piecemeal. The results fall into three main categories: single magazine generalizations, comparisons between magazines, and those—largely popular media—pieces connecting these magazines to violent action. In investigating these radical Islamist English-language online magazines and the body of work surrounding them, the authors determined that there was no document available in open-source form providing a comprehensive overview of this magazine genre, along with their predecessors and offshoot English-language periodicals. In addition, none of the existing studies provided a thorough look at the entire contents of Inspire and Dabiq—as the two then-primary ongoing publications—in a way that would be useful xiv to U.S. military and governmental researchers and policymakers. The focused analysis of these magazines in this book, both chronologically and comparatively in their entirety, has not been done before, and provides essential insights into both the development and ebb and flow of the publications themselves, as well as how the narratives related to the important aspects of these terrorist groups have differed, overlapped, and adapted over time. In the following sections, the authors have provided a broad in-depth overview and analysis of the subject matter that they believe will provide invaluable information to researchers as well as useful insights to policymakers in this area. First, the authors have constructed an informational database of the radical Islamist English-language online magazine genre. In it, they have identified a wide breadth of precursor works that exist in a magazine or similar format to the online English-language magazines in question along with more tactically focused works of these or similar groups. The authors then present a profile of each magazine in terms of its editor, contributors, the region of publication, target group, length, and dates and numbers of issues. Information on each specific issue of a particular magazine, including its stated topic, date, length, and main articles, as well as offshoot documents, is also included. Next, the authors undertake an in-depth analysis identifying the basic narratives found among and between issues of the two main radical Islamist English-language magazines—Inspire and Dabiq—with regard to four primary topics: the desired end state of the group; the “enemy” relevant to that particular issue; statements made related to recruitment strategies; and any particular tactics, techniques, and procedures advocated—along with the narratives xv supporting them within each magazine data set by issue and as a whole. They further determined what specific themes arose per issue and between groups along with changes and trends over time. Finally, the authors provide preliminary recommendations toward an appropriate U.S. policy response given those trends that have been identified within. In addition, a glossary of all Arabic terms used in Inspire and Dabiq is included herein, plus a master listing of all radical Islamist English-language online magazines (see appendix I), and a listing of those magazines’ allegiance and foreign terrorist organization (FTO) affiliation (see appendix II) are provided. Two strategic insights can be readily gained from the research and analysis conducted on radical Islamist English-language online magazines. First, such magazines exist in distinct clusters or groupings, revolving around either al-Qaeda or the Islamic State terrorist organizations. Second, these competing terrorist organizations have very different strategic approaches that they are promoting in their core magazines Inspire and Dabiq, respectively. Some of the narratives related to these differing strategic approaches were analyzed in this book; however, some additional narratives can also be tentatively surmised. The strategic approaches related to these terrorist organizations and promoted in their supporting online magazine clusters are presented in table form in this book. This table represents an extension of the four themes—pertaining to end state, enemy, recruitment, and tactics—found in the Inspire and Dabiq datasets analyzed earlier. To this table has been added a wide range of additional attributes related to the differing strategic approaches of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. These additional attributes have been deduced by xvi means of a close reading of the magazine datasets as well as the other magazines and eBooks in their respective English-language publication clusters. A suggested generic policy response to the emergence of radical Islamist English-language magazines has been provided in this manuscript. It draws upon a targeting schema that identifies five stages in the magazine life-cycle process: environmental motivators, production, end product, distribution, and outcomes. Each of these life-cycle stages represents target sets that can be influenced by the U.S. Army, joint force, intelligence community, and ultimately whole-of-government response activities. These magazine lifecycle stages, as well as the desired response end state and the response measures required to achieve that response end state, are highlighted in a table provided in the book. Given the research project boundaries of this book, only a generalized response template and analytical discussion will be provided. Further, a “Blue Sky” response measures approach has been taken so as not to initially narrow the policy options that may be explored. There is hope that these elements will provide a form of “intellectual program starter” upon which U.S. agencies can build in order to respond to the emergence of Islamist English-language online magazines. Of course, for implementation purposes, two distinct programs—one focused on the Inspire (al-Qaeda) and the other focused on the Dabiq (Islamic State) magazine clusters and the inherent differences in their strategic approaches—must be specifically developed in order to respond to their emergence effectively. xvii CONTENTS Foreword........................................................................... ix About the Authors........................................................... xi Summary......................................................................... xiii Radical Islamist English-language Online Magazines: Research Guide, Strategic Insights, and Policy Response..........................1 Online Magazine Profiles..................................................6 Jihad Recollections (al-Qaeda Affinity)...................7 efenders of the Truth (Al Mosul Islamic D Network; al-Qaeda)...................................................10 Inspire (AQAP)...........................................................12 Gaidi Mtaani (al Shabaab).......................................18 Azan (Taliban/Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan).............22 Dabiq (Islamic State)..................................................26 Resurgence (AQIS).....................................................32 Amka (al Shabaab—al-Muhajiroun component)...34 Al-Risalah (al-Nusrah Front)...................................36 Additional Online Magazines..................................38 I slamic State News (ISN) and Islamic State Reports (ISR) and eBooks.........................................54 xviii Comparative Analysis.....................................................68 Al-Qaeda (Inspire) Narratives.................................69 Islamic State (Dabiq) Narratives..............................91 Strategic Insights............................................................123 l-Qaeda and Islamic State Online A Magazine Clusters...................................................123 l-Qaeda and Islamic State Strategic A Approaches...............................................................129 Policy Response..............................................................135 Environmental Motivators......................................137 Production.................................................................137 End Product..............................................................138 Distribution...............................................................139 Outcomes...................................................................139 Endnotes..........................................................................143 Glossary of Arabic Terms.............................................165 Appendix I......................................................................191 Radical Islamist Online Magazine Chronology.........191 Appendix II.....................................................................197 xix Radical Islamist English-Language Online Magazine’s allegiance and Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) affiliation......197 Endnotes – Appendix II................................................198 xx RADICAL ISLAMIST ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ONLINE MAGAZINES: RESEARCH GUIDE, STRATEGIC INSIGHTS, AND POLICY RESPONSE Increasingly, the primary threats to U.S. security have involved hybrid warfare challenges including the use of irregular tactics and the rise of nonstate actors. Hybrid warfare merges conventional warfare with non-traditional military approaches including terrorism, insurgency, and information and cyber warfare, and the U.S. Army has had to adapt its role in responding to these new and varied threats.1 In the post-9/11 period, the nature of its global counterterrorism and counterinsurgency response has necessitated shifting its information operations focus in order to deal with the impact of radical jihadist organizations’ skillful use of social media and the internet at large, particularly as these are used to propagate narratives supporting the employment of tactics, techniques, and procedures hostile to the United States and its allies and interests around the world. One innovative way in which these radical jihadist organizations have attempted to promote their narratives is through the use of online radical Islamist English-language magazines that draw upon that method of publication in order to reach out to a broader cohort of existing constituents and affinity groups in the West while maintaining an internet presence that intimidates outsiders. The magazine format allows an organization to present a coherent and encompassing vision of their status and mission without the distortion found in more interactive forms of online media such as chat rooms and forums, which are subject to questions and commentary from outside 1 the established “party line.” In addition, they provide the ease of access of an online resource with the ability to print out and circulate the magazine to those without access or those who are simply more comfortable with an older media format—something the publishers have actively encouraged. While the singular effectiveness of an online magazine in achieving a group’s intentions is outside the scope of this paper—and, ultimately, very difficult to ascertain—the ideals set forth in terms of the narrative presented and the tactics, techniques, and procedures promoted can be seen as representing the desired means and ends of these groups in question. Radical Islamist online magazines themselves first appeared in November 2003 with the publication of Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad) in Arabic. This magazine discontinued publication in April 2005 after 29 issues, having been shut down by the Saudi security services—although a 30th issue may have been published in February 2007.2 The magazine was produced by the Saudi branch of al-Qaeda that later evolved into al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). It called upon other al-Qaeda groups to develop and franchise their own magazines.3 Besides the plethora of radical Islamist online magazines in Arabic that has been produced since 2003—along with those in many other languages including Urdu, Russian, German, French, and Turkish—English-language editions have been in existence since April-May 2007. There have been a number of these magazines published at varying dates and for varying periods of time. Some, such as Al Rashideen and Ihya-e-Khilafat, were initiated but fell by the wayside, victim to a lack of audience, the capture or death of an editor, or their initiating group’s evolution. In the cases of al-Qaeda’s Inspire and Islamic State’s 2 Dabiq magazines, the publications have been ongoing—until very recently with the demise of Dabiq— with over a dozen issues each, and have notably been cited in relation to terrorism cases by law enforcement. Beyond their “propaganda” potentials, each magazine can be said to promote a specific jihadi culture, to be embraced in total by followers of the particular group in question in order to achieve its desired utopian vision. Toward that end, components of these online magazines address the group’s successes and legitimacy, offer a vision of a desirable end state, encourage recruitment into their ranks, direct violent action against stated enemies, and provide instructional materials and advice with regards to its enaction. The fact that an online magazine-style format has been used across groups over a notable period of time and the availability of a comprehensive data set of the issues of these magazines, both current and archived, is believed to provide a unique opportunity for evaluation of the nature of the threat these organizations potentially pose. It is not surprising, then, that the appearance and ongoing publication of the English-language based magazines have caught the attention of scholars and counterterrorism researchers who have analyzed the better-known series of these magazines in numerous manuscripts, reports, and articles. Where useful, these works have been cited in the magazine database that follows. In reviewing the work done to date on radical Islamist English-language online magazines, however, efforts toward the analysis of online radical jihadist media in general—and online English-language magazines in particular—have been piecemeal. The results fall into three main categories: single magazine generalizations, comparisons between magazines, 3 and those—largely popular media—pieces connecting these magazines to violent action. In the first case, some works have looked at individual (or even several) issues of a single online English-language magazine to make generalizations on its overall content.4 There is often great interest at the onset of a new magazine’s publication, falling off in the attention-cycle after that point unless an issue is particularly sensational in nature. With Inspire and Dabiq in particular, the focus is often upon their glossy and Western style of presentation contrasted with the emphasis on radical Islamist ideology. Many authors rely largely upon the title to discern the issue’s primary content and emphasis. Much in particular is made of the potentials for radicalization and recruitment of Western Muslims without any in-depth study evidencing those effects. Most of what is written about the publications primarily focus upon specific issues of academic interest or else paint the collection of issues with a broad stroke. A few of these, however, have made a note of the strategic and tactical insights to be found.5 The next common type of analysis of these online magazines are those which focus on two or more in comparison, largely Inspire and Dabiq— with particular note of their rivalry—although early attempts considered Azan and others in the mix.6 The last type are largely popular media pieces which mention a magazine in relation to its presumed connection with inciting violent acts—these crop up most often just after a specific terrorism-related event or just after publication of a specific issue promoting such an act.7 In investigating these radical Islamist English-language online magazines and the body of work surrounding them, the authors determined that there was no document available in open-source form 4 providing a comprehensive overview of this magazine genre, along with their predecessors and offshoot English-language periodicals. In addition, none of the existing studies provided a thorough look at the entire contents of Inspire and Dabiq—as the two then-primary ongoing publications—in a way that would be useful to U.S. military and governmental researchers and policymakers. The focused analysis of these magazines in this book, both chronologically and comparatively in their entirety, has not been done before, and provides essential insights into both the development and ebb and flow of the publications themselves, as well as how the narratives related to the important aspects of these terrorist groups have differed, overlapped, and adapted over time. In the following sections, the authors have provided a broad, in-depth overview and analysis of the subject matter that they believe will provide invaluable information to researchers as well as useful insights to policymakers in this area. First, the authors have constructed an informational database of the radical Islamist English-language online magazine genre. In it, they have identified a wide breadth of precursor works that exist in a magazine or similar format to the online English-language magazines in question along with more tactically focused works of these or similar groups. The authors then present a profile of each magazine in terms of its editor, contributors, the region of publication, target group, length, and dates and numbers of issues. Information on each specific issue of a particular magazine, including its stated topic, date, length, and main articles, as well as offshoot documents, is also included. Next, the authors undertake an in-depth analysis identifying the basic narratives found among and between issues of 5 the two main radical Islamist English-language magazines—Inspire and Dabiq—with regard to four primary topics: the desired end state of the group, the “enemy” relevant to that particular issue, statements made related to recruitment strategies, and any particular tactics, techniques, and procedures advocated— along with the narratives supporting them within each magazine data set by issue and as a whole. They further determined what specific themes arose per issue and between groups and changes and trends in these over time. Finally, the authors provide preliminary recommendations toward an appropriate U.S. policy response given those trends that have been identified within. In addition, a glossary of all Arabic terms used in Inspire and Dabiq is included herein, plus a master listing of all radical Islamist English-language online magazines (see appendix I), and a listing of those magazines’ allegiance and foreign terrorist organization (FTO) affiliation (see appendix II) are provided. ONLINE MAGAZINE PROFILES The online English radical Islamist magazines that will be profiled in the initial part of this section are the better-known ones. They are Jihadi Recollections, an al-Qaeda affinity magazine initially published in April 2009, Defenders of the Truth, an al-Qaeda linked magazine initially published in July 2009, Inspire, an AQAP magazine initially published in June 2010, Gaidi Mtaani, an al Shabaab magazine initially published in April 2012, Azan, a Taliban magazine initially published in March (or possibly May) 2013, Dabiq, an Islamic State magazine initially published in July 2014, Resurgence, an al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) magazine initially published in October 6 2014, Amka, an al Shabaab—al-Muhajiroun magazine initially published in February 2015, and Al-Risalah, an al-Nusrah Front magazine initially published in July 2015. Of these nine magazines, Inspire and Dabiq are by far the most influential, have had the greatest impact on radical Islamist thinking, and have the most digital issues, 16 and 15 respectively. The profiles of all of these magazines follow. In addition to a short overview of each magazine, tables have been provided that list all of the issues of these digital publications, images of their covers, and the main articles contained within them (see tables 1-9). Jihad Recollections (al-Qaeda Affinity) The first widely known online English-language magazine to be published is Jihad Recollections, whose initial issue came out in April 2009.8 Four issues of the magazine were produced with the last one appearing in September 2009 (see table 1). The magazine was published by Samir Khan—a U.S. citizen born in Saudi Arabia—who produced the magazine in the basement of his father’s home in Charlotte, North Carolina. As a teenager, Khan increasingly became radicalized through ties to a local branch of the Pakistani Tanzeem-e-Islami. Two years prior to publishing the magazine, he initially established an online blog called Revival and was later followed by the blogs Inshallahshaheed (A Martyr, God Willing) and Revolution.9 Given Khan’s expanding extremist ties, his magazine was distributed by al-Qaeda’s al-Fursan Media. This brought him increased notoriety in the radical Islamist community. He then left North Carolina in October 2009 and traveled to Sana’a, Yemen to join AQAP. There he continued his online magazine editorship under the new 7 al-Qaeda flagship magazine that he founded, Inspire.10 The first three issues of Jihad Recollections averaged 75 pages in length, with thematic clusters such as politics and economy, religion and biography, strategy and lessons, social technology, and health evident in issue 2. The fourth issue produced was much smaller at 49 pages and dropped the thematic clusters with only a features section, possibly attributable to the fact that Khan was preparing to move to Yemen. One critique of the work said, “The magazine was overproduced— slick but too busy and at times unreadable, loosely inspired by popular American magazines.”11 The magazine provided original jihadi-inspired material up to the master’s degree level of writing to Englishspeaking Muslims—per the editor’s introduction in the first issue— to begin to get them caught up to what their brothers in the Arabic jihadi media were reading. Besides the usual jihadi rhetoric, the articles on technology are of note. Some of them explain practical items such as generations of night vision technology and how mobile shooter detection systems work, while others focus on esoteric areas of little present utility for jihadists, such as electromagnetic pulse devices and sixth sense computer interfaces. No method of contacting the editor of the magazine is listed in any of the issues. Jihad Recollections does provide links to various videos and a few speeches as well as recognized jihadist websites. 8 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 1 The Predications of the Conquering of Rome Rabi’ al-Thani 1430H (April 2009) 70 pp. The Predications of the Conquering of Rome; The Emphasis for an Identity in the Storm of the Kufr; Staying in Shape Without Weights; Obama’s Questionable Economic Stimulus Package; The Warrior Trainer; The Siege of Tawheed Al-Hakimiyyah; The Political Implication of the CIA’s Scandal in Algeria; Four Practical Steps to Expand the Global Jihad; The Science Behind Night Vision Technology. Issue 2 Obamaturk: The Secular Phenomenon Jumada al-Awwal 1430H (May 2009) 73 pp. Obamaturk: The Secular Phenomenon; Western reaction to Abu Mansoor al-Amriki; Infaq: The forgotten deed; A critical look into Dr. Israr’s ‘Tanzeem-e-Islami’; America: Bully among bullies and Columbine’s Macrocosm; Forget cell phones—the sixth sense is coming; Tips on making your exercises realistic. Issue 3 From Uncle Sam to AllahuAkbar Sha’aban 1430H (August 2009) 82 pp. From Uncle Sam to AllahuAkbar: My life in Iraq and Journey to Islam; Defending Afghanistan: Is it defending Islam or defending al-Qa-idah?; Tableeghi Jama’ah on the strategic spectrum; Assessing the Role and Influence of As-Sahab Media; Islamic Demonstrations and their relationship with the Mujahideen; The Techno-Tawqa age. Issue 4 The Men Behind 9/11 and The Motives That Bound Them Ramadan 1430H (September 2009) 49 pp. The Men Behind 9/11 and The Motives That Bound Them; Letter from Michael Scheuer to Usama bin Laden; The Hidden Reasons for 9/11: US Foreign Policy and the Islamic World; An unforgotten Sentiment; The Last Moments before the world changed; Is 9/11 Directly Responsible for the US & Global Financial Crisis? Table 1. Jihad Recollections Online Magazine. 9 Defenders of the Truth (Al Mosul Islamic Network; al-Qaeda) This online magazine was produced by the Al Mosul Islamic Network—an al-Qaeda linked group. No individual or individuals claimed editorship of this five issue magazine that was published from July 2009 through January-February 2010 (see table 2). Very little analysis has been written on Defenders of the Truth with the primary Al Mosul website—which also provided jihadist videos, news, and press releases—shutting down by April 2010.12 An internet search found one defunct English site, which was established as early as April 2009—a few months before the magazine’s publication—apparently as an affiliated site.13 Their primary Al Mosul Media website and a secondary site have also since been shuttered.14 The magazine was predominantly written in English with some Arabic script present. Articles are presented in a two-column format like Jihadi Reflections, but the type of font and line spacing gives this magazine a less polished feel. Graphic color pictures—especially of armed mujahid and martyrs—are peppered throughout the issues with many advertisements for links to jihadi videos.15 Writers associated with the magazine include: Hamzah al Farooq (also spelled Hammzah Farooq), a frequent contributor; Abu Hazma; Abu Thareef (also spelled Thareer); and Ibrahim Abdul-Wahid with the spelling variations suggesting that author pseudonyms are being utilized. The magazine attempted to appeal to the global al-Qaeda ummah of interest with stories and imagery spanning the globe including accounts of jihadist groups in the Caucuses, Pakistan, Thailand, Yemen, Somalia, and the Maghreb while still somewhat remaining focused on activities in Iraq. 10 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 1 No Title Rajjab 1430 (July 2009) 57 pp. The reason behind the Declaration of the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus; Slaying and Striving in Allah’s Cause—A Glimpse into Jihad; Jihad in the light of Ahadith; The Islamic personality; The reason 9/11 attacks were a justified attack; Islamic Fundamentalism in Southern Asia. Issue 2 No Title Sha’baan 1430 (August 2009) 65 pp. Theoretical Notes on Snipers; The Rewards of Martyrdom (Part 1); Notes on Program[m] ing; Jihaad in the light of the Ahadith, The Truth about Jihad—Part I; Islamic Fundamentalism in Central Asia; The Blessed Month of Sha’baan. Issue 3 Death of Nationalism Shawwaal/ Dhul Qa’dah 1430 (October 2009) 51 pp. The Truth about Jihad (Part II); The Western Muslim Complex—A Short Introduction; Jihad in the light the Ahadith; The Islamic Maghreb; Exploits in Jihad by Women Companions; Death of Nationalism— The Signs of Calamity over the Despotic Regimes. Issue 4 The place for Shariah: Amongst the causes of Islam Dhul Qa’dah/ Dhul Hijjah 1430 (November/ December 2009) 36 pp. Introducing the Salafi Jihadi Movement; The Rewards of Martyrdom (Part 2); The Place for Shariah amongst the causes of Islam; Salaah (prayer) in Islam; Friends of Allah; Hamas. Table 2. Defenders of the Truth Online Magazine. 11 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 5 Battle Ground Iraq, The Post Graduate University of Muslim Mujhahid Muharram/ Saffar 1431 (January/ February 2010) 39 pp. A Glimpse into the Lives of the Women Companions; The Acquisition of knowledge in Islam; Al-Mosul Media Exclusive Interview with a Mujahid of the Tareek-e-Taliban in Swat; Battle Ground Iraq, The Post Graduate University of Muslim Mujhahid. Table 2. Defenders of the Truth Online Magazine. (cont.) Inspire (AQAP) The flagship al-Qaeda English-language magazine Inspire is published by al-Qaeda Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) via its propaganda arm Al-Malahem Media. Given the high profile nature of the magazine, a number of reports and studies have been written about it.16 The magazine has been publishing since June 2010 and has recently come out with its 16th issue in November 2016 (see table 3). The magazine was founded and edited by Samir Khan, who was discussed earlier concerning his publication of Jihad Recollections. Along with Sheik Anwar al-Awalki—another American who went over to join al-Qaeda and became an enemy of the United States—they were involved in the publication of the initial seven issues of Inspire until both of them were killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen at the end of September 2011. No issues of the 12 magazine were published until May 2012 when issues 8 and 9 under the new editorship of Yahya Ibrahim appeared. This new editor has consistently provided a very short “Editor’s Letter” since taking over publication of the magazine—it is unknown, however, if this is the editor’s real name or likely a pseudonym, given the inherent danger involved in being the editor of this magazine. This slick, professional magazine, which contains minimal Arabic script, varies in length from 23 to 102 pages with about 60 to 70 pages being an average issue size with wide page fluctuations taking place. Numerous articles are published in each issue with some advertisements for jihadi audio messages and videos provided. One of the most important components of the magazine is its “open source jihad (OSJ)” section that is meant to promote lone jihad attacks. A comprehensive overview of certain narratives found within this magazine will be covered later in this book. Starting with the initial issue, the explanation of how to use encrypted messages by means of the Asrar al-Mujahideen program was described in the magazine.17 This program could then be used with a changing 2048-bit public key to contact the magazine editor and staff by means of various email addresses.18 This resulted in “Letters to the Editor” becoming a regular feature of the publication. By issue 3, email communication difficulties appeared which were fixed by the next issue with these email addresses changing over time as accounts were either compromised or closed down.19 By March 2014, in issue 12, reader email communications with the magazine were permanently suspended due to technical and security reasons, though a “temporary notice” has been utilized to this effect for over 2 years now.20 13 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 1 May Our Souls Be Sacrificed For You! Summer 1431 67 pp. May our souls be sacrificed for you!; Abu Basir Interview; Make a bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom; Six calls of al-Anfal; How to use Asrar al-Mujahideen: Sending & Receiving Encrypted Messages; The Jihadi Experiences [The Schools of Jihad]. Issue 2 Photos from the Operations of Abyan Fall 1431 (October 2010) 74 pp. The Operations of Abyan in Images; I am proud to be a traitor to America; The New Mardin Declaration; Interview with Shaykh Abu Sufyan al-Azdi; My life in Jihad; Obama’s ploy and the peak of Islam; A Call to Islam; Legitimate Demands 2. Special Issue 3 $4,200 Fall 1431 (November 2010) 23 pp. $4,200; The Objectives of Operation Hemorrhage; Technical Details; Exclusive Images. Issue 4 The Ruling on Dispossessing the disbelievers wealth in Dar al-Harb Winter 1431 (January 2011) 67 pp. The Ruling on Dispossessing the disbelievers wealth in Dar al-Harb; Q&A with Shakyh Adil al-Abbab on targeting non-Muslim civilians and Yemeni soldiers; The Jihad in Abyan; The Central Issue; Which is better: Martyrdom or Victory?; Why did I choose al-Qaeda?; Roshanara & Taimour: Followers of the borderless loyalty. (June 2010) Table 3. Inspire Online Magazine.21 14 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 5 The Tsunami of Change Spring 1431 (March 2011) 70 pp. The Tsunami of Change; The short & long-term plans after protests; The Overlooked Backdrop; Al-Saud: Lodging a Criminal; The Oppressor’s End; The Egyptian; The way forward; Individual Terrorism Jihad; The Middle path & the Enemy’s plot; What to expect in Jihad?; My Life in Fallujah. Issue 6 Sadness, Contentment & Aspiration Summer 1432 (August 2011) 61 pp. Sadness, Contentment & Aspiration; The Martyrdom of Shakyh Usama; An Address to the Revolutionaries; Progeny of the exceptional; Shuhada’s Special; A Question on takfir; It is either Jihad or Disgrace. So Choose.; Why did I choose al Qaeda? [part 3]; Conditions for the Resistance to use individual jihad; Making Acetone Peroxide; Training with the AK. Special Issue 7 The Greatest Special Operation of all time Fall 1432 (September 2011) 36 pp. The Greatest Special Operation of all time; The Media Conflict; Iran & the Conspiracy Theories; A Decade in Pictures from 9/11 Till Today. Issue 8 Targeting Dar alHarb Populations Fall 1432 (May 2012) 63 pp. Targeting Dar al-Harb Populations; The Jihadi Experiences: The main arenas of operation for individual jihad; Lust and Fear: An insight into the Pakistani Army & its role in the Crusades; Take from their guidance for there is no refuge from jihad; Freedom from blind following; Shuhada Arabian Peninsula; Training with the handgun; Remote Control Detonation. Table 3. Inspire Online Magazine. (cont.) 15 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 9 Win[n]ing on the Ground Winter 1433 (May 2012) 62 pp. Win[n]ing on the Ground; The convoy of martyrs; It is of your freedom to ignite a firebomb; Qualities of an Urban Assassin; My story with Al Awlaki; Samir Khan: The Face of Joy; Was Al Awlaki justified in his dislike of America?; The Jihadi Experiences: The most important enemy targets aimed at by the individual jihad. Issue 10 We Are All Usama Spring 1434 (March 2013) 60 pp. We Are All Usama; Inspire Exclusive: From Adam Gadahn; Torching Parked Vehicles; Causing Road Accidents; The Jihadi Experiences: The Strategy of Deterring with Terrorism; Woman of the Glorious Ummah. Special Issue 11 Who & Why Spring 1434 (May 2013) 39 pp. Who and Why?; The Inevitable; America’s Bitter Harvest; Inspired by Inspire; Allah will restrain the evil might of those who disbelieve. Issue 12 Shattered: A Story About Change Spring 1435 (March 2014) 72 pp. Shattered: A Story About Change; Car Bombs Inside America; Car Bombs: Field Data; Rumbling Blaze Under Calm Ash; The Crusade and The Swap of Stances; Palestine: Betrayal of Human Conscience; 24/7 Terrorism. Table 3. Inspire Online Magazine. (cont.) 16 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 13 Neurotmesis Winter 1436 (December 2014) 102 pp. Neurotmesis: Cutting the Nerves & Isolating the Head; Exclusive Interview with the AQ-Chef; The Hidden Bomb; Letter to the America People; Strike the Sea with Your Stick; Independence & Courage; The Story of Abu Rawi AsSway’Ari; The Glad Tidings of Victory; The Virtues of Inghimaasi; Between Yesterday & Tomorrow; Al-Malahem’s Q&A Session. Issue 14 Assassination Operations Summer 1436 (September 2015) 88 pp. Assassination Operations; Making a Timed Hand Grenade; Assassinations—Field Tactics; The Blacks in America; Conditions of the Word of Tawheed; Charlie Hebdo Military Analysis; If You Return, We Too Shall Return; Remembering Boston. Issue 15 Professional Assassinations Spring 1437 (May 2016) 90 pp. Professional Assassinations; Making explosives for home assassinations; Exclusive Interview: Abu Khubeib As-Sudani; Jihad Upon Clear Insight; O Knife Revolution, Head Towards America; The Coner: Inside Obama’s Rationality; Jihad Profiles: Khalid Sheikh Muhammad; Natural Calamities or Terror. Issue 16 The 9/17 Operations Autumn 1438 (November 2016) 48 pp. Inspire Guide #4; The Successful Pressure Cooker Bomb; Those Who Defy Justice; A Thousand Times Greater than the USS-Cole; Echoes of Events; Rulings of Lone Jihad; The Issue of African Americans; A Message to Our Muslim Brothers in America; The American Globalization is Falling. Table 3. Inspire Online Magazine. (cont.) 17 Gaidi Mtaani (al Shabaab) The magazine Gaidi Mtaani published by al Shabaab loosely means “Terrorist on the Street” or “Street Terrorism” in Swahili.22 Its seven issues (see table 4) were published from April 2012 through February 2015 with issue size widely fluctuating between 14 pages in issue 1, to 65 pages in issue 7. The initial editor of the magazine was listed as Abu-Saif (also spelled Abu-Sayf) with Abu Usama al-kenyi listed as the later editor. Of note was the increasingly English content of the magazine, which also featured articles in Swahili, from one or two articles in the initial issues to multiple ones in the later issues. The choice of using Swahili itself is of note because that language is not widely spoken in Somalia. It was said that al Shabaab chose that language because it would allow for better access to Muslims in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania where it has official status and is greatly utilized.23 This is in line with an expert who analyzed the magazine in the context of al Shabaab’s then-activities: This Swahili publication, with the occasional English language item, is explicitly targeted at the Kenyan Ummah. Launched three months after al-Shabaab declared it [sic] intentions to mount war within Kenya, four issues were produced up to November 2013. The articles are well written, and show a good understanding of Kenya’s history and the particular concerns of its Muslim population. Professionally produced, with multiple illustrations and eye-catching slogans, Gaidi Mtaani is visually powerful and clearly intended to appeal to a younger audience. The magazine provides a powerful insight into the organisation’s public relations mission, revealing important aspects of al-Shabaab’s recruitment and propaganda strategy. Articles link current oppression to Kenya’s long-history Muslim marginalisation, portraying 18 the Kenyan state as being in collaboration with foreign powers that wish to attack Muslims.24 From a U.S. homeland defense perspective, this focus on Kenyan Muslim populations and those in surrounding African states, rather than actual clusters of Somalia expatriates in the United States—such as in Minnesota—is welcome news. This is especially true given the fact that the English content of the magazine rose over time, since this would mean that English-speaking audiences in Africa were the primary targets of the al Shabaab propagandists rather than individuals living in the United States. Still, some converts from the Twin Cities were identified in the magazine.25 Some additional limited analysis of Gaidi Mtaani has taken place noting that occasional Arabic script is also included in the magazine as well as the typical selective usage of Quranic passages supporting jihadist narratives. The magazine’s stance in later issues that “democracy is blasphemy and jihad is the solution” was also noted with calls for readers to remove themselves from the unbelievers and seek martyrdom.26 Additionally, one of the more practical articles in the magazine focused on cell phone security as a counter to the capabilities of Western security forces.27 While the layout of the magazine increased professionally over time with a glossy feel and plenty of images, the few supporting links mainly pointed to YouTube videos and a file-sharing site rather than dedicated jihadist websites. However, by issues 3 and 4, more web resources were listed.28 A contact email was also provided as well as a Twitter account, which had no activity and only a handful of followers.29 19 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles (In English) Toleo No. 1 Operation Linda Uislamu Rabi al-Thani 1433 (April 2012) 14 pp. Leveling the Scales. Toleo No. 2 The Long Road to Kismayu Rajab 1433 (June 2012) 27 pp. The Long Road to Kismayu; Operation Linda Ukafiri. Toleo No. 3 Sheikh Aboud Rogo Rabi al-Thani 1434 (March 2013) 41 pp. A Greater Scheme of Things; What is Democracy and what is the Islamic verdict on democracy; Molotov Cocktail; Mobile Phone Security. Toleo Special Edition No. 4 #Westgate Dhul Hijja 1434 (November 2013) 45 pp. Westgate Operation; #Westgate; Was the Badru Nairobi Operation A Cowardly Act?; The Basis of the Defeatist Movement; More Than Just A Thousand Words. Table 4. Gaidi Mtaani Online Magazine. 20 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles (In English) Toleo Special Edition No. 5 Muslims of Bangui & Mombasa: A Tale of Tragedy Not listed (November 2014) 30 pp. Muslims of Bangui & Mombasa: A Tale of Tragedy; On Bangui; On Events in Mombasa; To the Believers in the Levant; On Chechyna; More Than Just A Thousand Words. Toleo No. 6 My Journey of Hijra & Jihad Dhul Qaada 1435 (December 2014) 57 pp. My Journey of Hijra & Jihad; The Path to Paradise: From the Twin Cities to the Land of Two Migrations; Fight for the Sake of Allah Not For Democracy; More Than Just A Thousand Words; Who Was Gary Schroen? Toleo No. 7 May Our Mothers Be Bereaved Of Us Should We Fail to Avenge Our Prophet Jumada alUla (February 2015) 65 pp. War with peace.; Diary of Mujahid: The Battle; From the ‘hood’ to an Eternal Paradise; May Our Mothers Be Bereaved Of Us Should We Fail to Avenge Our Prophet; Perplexed Propaganda; More Than Just A Thousand Words. Table 4. Gaidi Mtaani Online Magazine. (cont.) 21 Azan (Taliban/Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) The name of Azan magazine in Arabic script means “A Call to Prayer,” though its unknown editor was also attempting to associate the word with “A Call to Jihad” as the cover of the first issue of the magazine suggests.30 Hence, the initial issue editorial states that: the call of mankind has always been the same: to be free of the servitude of created beings to the servitude of The One, The Almighty, The Law-Giver, The Creator of the heavens and the earth, Allah. It is this very call that Azan aims to invite mankind to.31 By engaging in this call—that requires the actions of the Mujahid against the forces of Satan—the salvation of mankind will take place. Azan is produced by the pro-Taliban Abtalul Media Group and is linked to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. It is one of the better-known examples of the English-language radical Islamist online magazines in addition to the much larger Inspire and Dabiq series. As a result, two focused products—an initial short report in 2014 and a more detailed scholarly article in 2015—have been produced pertaining to this magazine.32 Six issues and one special report were published from March 2013 through August 2014 (see table 5) with the issues roughly 50 pages in length with their length steadily dropping over time. Similarities between Azan and Inspire are evident—although it is devoid of an OSJ section—with some writers suggesting it helped to fill the jihadist publication gap while the AQAP magazine ceased publication from mid-2013 for about 10 months.33 Analysts state that the magazine focuses on promoting domestic Western attacks over joining jihadi groups overseas, though some of the groups in the al-Qaeda cluster—specifically 22 al-Nusrah Front and al Shabaab—had now been promoting Western recruitment over such attacks during late 2013.34 The magazine had a professional feel with a good use of imagery and colors, with Arabic script occasionally mixed in as a supporting Islamic cultural archetype. Cover titles maximized their propaganda value with statements such as “You’ll Never Be Safe,” “An Awakened Ummah,” and “To the Jihadis in the West” meant to send continued threatening messages to the United States and Europe.35 A number of articles across the issues focused on the United States’ use of armed drones, which is a preoccupation of the Taliban given the ongoing leadership losses that they have suffered from such attacks over the years. Also of interest is the special issue/report focusing on the American security firm Blackwater (renamed Xe, now Academi) and Pakistani intelligence—the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)—supposedly working together based on the debriefing of a young teenager who was captured by the Taliban mujahideen. In the initial issue of Azan, an email contact address was provided for the magazine; however, issue 2 provided a different contact email, and later issues saw further address iterations.36 Asrar-ul-Mujahideen Version 2 website links to download encrypted software belonging to that program as well as updated public keys were provided in the various issues, although only one reference to jihadist videos for download was made in the entire series, suggesting that the editor thought the readership might have had broadband download or streaming limitations or simply did not see the value of such videos.37 23 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 1 A Call to Jihad Jamadi-ul Awwal 1434H (March 2013) 80 pp. The Road to Khilafah; The Drone Chain; Malala, Education and an Unruly Media; The Pakistan Army Doctrine U-Turn; Prison Break: Adnan Rasheed; All the more reason to Rise…; The Religion of Democracy; Nationalism and Islam. Issue 2 You’ll Never Be Safe Jamadi II/ Rajab 1434H (April/May 2013) 97 pp. The Last Night; Boston Special: The Victorious Strangers; Let’s understand “Suicide Bombing…”; Secular Education; Disavowal of the Kuffar: A Quranic Perspective; Fatwa: “The Islamic Ruling on Media”; My Story: A Mujahid’s journey; 3rd World War and Dajjal. Issue 3 An Awakened Ummah Sha’ban/ Ramadan 1434H (June/July 2013) 84 pp. Destroying the “Country” idol; An Address to the Ummah; An Open Letter to Malala Yousafzai; An Interview with Brother Abu Adam; The Real Freedom; To the Muslims of India; The Emergence of Imam Mehdi. Issue 4 To the Jihadis in the West Autumn 1434 (December 2013) 74 pp. To the Jihadis in the West; The Grave; Destroying the Country Idol (Part 2); Around the World; Pharoahs: Today & Yesterday; Dajjal (Part 1); The Wisdom and Goals of Jihad, Steeds of War. Table 5. Azan Online Magazine. 24 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 5 Those Who Bow Down To Allah Do Not Bow Down to Anyone Else! Winter 1435 (March 2014) 37 pp. The Life after Death: “Reward and Punishment in the Grave”; Counter-Drone Strategy (Cover Story); Destroying the “Country” Idol (Part 3); Establishing Islam through Democracy?; Conflict of Definitions: “Peace”; The Mir Ali Massacre; Third World War and Dajjal: “The Fitan of Dajjal.” Special Issue Blackwater & ISI Sha’aban 1435 (June 2014) 18 pp. Atif Khan captured and debriefed by the Mujahideen related to Blackwater and ISI working together in Pakistan. Issue 6 The Scales Have Turned! Sha’aban 1435 (August 2014, Summer) 43 pp. The Resurrection; The Rise and Fall of America (Cover Story); Dajjal and The World Today; Rulings on the Participants of the Democratic System; The Fundamentals of the Islamic Khilafah; My Story: A Scholar, A Veteran, A Mujahid; From the Pages of History: Scholars of Resolve. Table 5. Azan Online Magazine. (cont.) 25 Dabiq (Islamic State) The Islamic State magazine Dabiq—which refers to the site where the End of Days battle will be fought as forecasted in radical Islamist eschatology—was initially published in July 2014, just weeks after the proclamation that the Caliphate had been reestablished. Since that time, 15 total issues of the magazine have been published with the last and final one being released in July 2016 (see table 6). The magazine is thought to be published in Raqqa, Syria, which is the capital of the Islamic State. As with Inspire, numerous papers and reports have been written about what was the Islamic State’s flagship English-language online magazine. One of the best and earliest analysis was written in August 2014 by the Institute for the Study of War.38 Other writings have been produced by The Clarion Project as well as in academic journals and related articles with more narrow research foci.39 Dabiq, which is published by the Islamic State Al Hayat Media Center, can be considered an extension of the earlier Islamic State News (ISN) and Islamic State Reports (ISR), which had existed for a short time prior to its launching.40 The intent of the magazine is to specifically promote hijrah (emigration) by Western recruits to the Caliphate with in-place lone jihadist attacks being a secondary consideration. It is also being used as a vehicle to launch direct criticism against al-Qaeda and its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. It differs from Inspire in that no editor is identified and contributors to the articles are typically not listed. While this gives the magazine a slightly impersonal feel, it provides a united and somewhat monolithic magazine voice and further helps to protect the magazine staff from being specifically targeted for elimination by means of drone 26 strikes or other methods.41 The magazine is professional in appearance with its use of colors and imagery and with Arabic script kept to a minimum. Weapons and action shots are common as are numerous advertisements for Islamic State action and execution videos. The magazine also contains highly controversial imagery, including the destruction of cultural sites and artifacts, slaves for sale, and graphic executions.42 The magazine averages about 60 pages with 42 to 83 representing the lower and upper issue lengths. Recurring contents which have appeared over the course of a number of issues include ISRs, Among the Believers are Men, To Our Sisters, In the Words of the Enemy, mujahideen interviews across the globe, statements from John Cantlie, a British war photographer and correspondent who was kidnapped in Syria in November 2012. Reader communication with the magazine editors was attempted in the third issue of Dabiq in September 2014, with three initial email addresses using the Asrar El Moujahedeen 2048-bit public key system.43 No letters to the editor were generated in the magazine from this outreach attempt, and no further reader outreach was ever attempted again in future issues. As with Inspire, an overview of specific narratives found within Dabiq are addressed later in this manuscript. It is then comparatively analyzed against it. With the Caliphate in decline and the foreseen loss of the actual town of Dabiq coming, this magazine has now been superseded by the new Islamic State magazine Rumiyah that began publication in September 2016 and is promoting a different narrative strategy. 27 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 1 The Return of the Khilafah Ramadan 1435 (July 2014) 50 pp. Dabiq Magazine; Khilafah Declared; Islamic State Reports; Imamah is from the Millah of Ibrahim; The Islamic State in the Words of the Enemy; From Hijrah to Khilafah; Islamic State News. Issue 2 The Flood Ramadan 1435 (July 2014) 44 pp. Foreword; It’s Either the Islamic State or the Flood; Islamic State Reports; The Flood of the Mubahalah; The Islamic State in the Words of the Enemy; Islamic State News. Issue 3 A Call to Hijrah Shawwal 1435 (September 2014) 42 pp. Foreword; The Islamic State Before Al-Malhamah; Islamic State Reports; Hijrah from Hypocrisy to Sincerity; The Islamic State in the Words of the Enemy; Foley’s Blood is on Obama’s Hands; The Complete Message from Foley. Issue 4 The Failed Crusade Dhul-Hijjah 1435 (October 2014) 56 pp. Foreword; Indeed Your Lord is Ever Watchful; My Provision was Placed on Me in the Shade of My Spear; The Revival of Slavery Before the Hour; Islamic State Reports; Reflections on the Final Crusade; In the Words of the Enemy; A Message from Sotloff; Hard Talk. Table 6. Dabiq Online Magazine. 28 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 5 Remaining and Expanding Muharram 1436 (November 2014) 40 pp. Foreword; Yahya Lessons from a Shahid; Islamic State Reports; Hikmah; Remaining and Expanding; In the Words of the Enemy; If Cantlie were the US President Today. Issue 6 Al-Qaidah of Waziristan: A Testimony from Within Rabi’ al-Awwal 1436 (December 2014) 63 pp. Foreword; Advice from the Soldiers of the Islamic State; The Qa-Idah of Adh-Dhawahiri, Al-Harari, and An-Nadhari, and the Absent Yemeni Wisdom; Islamic State Reports; Al-Qa’Idah of Waziristan—A Testimony from Within; In the Words of the Enemy; Meltdown—John Cantlie. Issue 7 From Hypocrisy to Apostasy: The Extinction of the Grayzone Rabi’ al-Akhir 1436 (February 2015) 83 pp. Foreword; The Burning of the Murtadd Pilot; Advice for the Leaders of the Islamic State; Islam is the Religion of the Sword Not Pacifism; Islamic State Reports; Among the Believers are Men; The Extinction of the Grayzone; The Good Example of Abu Basir Al-Ifriqi; Interview with Abu Umar Al-Baljik; The Anger Factory—John Cantlie. Table 6. Dabiq Online Magazine. (cont.) 29 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 8 Shari’ah Alone Will Rule Africa Jumada al-Akhirah 1436 (March 2015) 68 pp. Foreword; The Allies of AlQa’idah in Sham; From the Pages of History; Islamic State Reports; Hikmah; Among the Believers are Men; To Our Sisters; Irja’ the Most Dangerous Bid’Ah; In the Words of the Enemy; Interview with Abu Muqatil At-Tunusi; Paradigm Shift—John Cantlie. Issue 9 They Plot and Allah Plots Sha’ban 1436 (May 2015) 79 pp. Foreword; The Allies of AlQa’idah in Sham: Part II; The Virtues of Ribat for the Cause of Allah; Conspiracy Theory Shirk; From the Pages of History; Islamic State Reports; Hikmah; Among the Believers are Men; From Our Sisters; And Allah is the Best of Plotters; In the Words of the Enemy; Interview with the Amir of the Yarmuk Camp Region; The Perfect Storm—John Cantlie. Issue 10 The Law of Allah or the Laws of Men Ramadan 1436 (July 2015) 79 pp. Foreword; The Allies of AlQa’idah in Sham: Part III; Tawhid and Our Duty to Our Parents; A Fatwa for Khurasan; From the Pages of History; American Kurdistan; The Qawqazi Caravan Gains Pace; Hikmah; Among the Believers are Men; From Our Sisters; The Law of Allah or the Laws of Men; In the Words of the Enemy; Interview with Abu Samir Al-Urduni. Table 6. Dabiq Online Magazine. (cont.) 30 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 11 From the Battle of Al-Ahzab to the War of Coalitions Dhul-Qa’dah 1436 (September 2015) 66 pp. Foreword; The Allies of AlQa’idah in Sham: Part 4; The Evil Division and Taqlid; The “Mahdi” of the Rafidah: The Dajjal; Wala and Bara Versus American Racism; The Danger of Abandoning Darul-Islam; From the Pages of History; Islamic State Reports; Hikmah; Among the Believers are Men; To Our Sisters: A Jihad Without Fighting; From the Battle of Al-Ahzab to the War of Coalitions; In the Words of the Enemy; Interview with Abul-Mughirah Al-Qhtani. Issue 12 Just Terror Safar 1437 (November 2015) 65 pp. Foreword; The Allies of AlQa’idah in Yemen; The Allies of Al-Qa’idah in Sham: The End; To Our Sisters: Two, Three, or Four; Hikmah; Military Operations by the Islamic State; And as for the Blessing of Your Lord, Then Mention It; O You Who Have Believed, Protect Yourselves and Your Families from Fire; The Revival of Jihad in Bengal; You Think They are Together, but their Hearts are Divided; Paradigm Shift Part II— by John Cantlie; In the Words of the Enemy; Amongst the Believers are Men; Interview with Abu Muharib As-Sumali. Issue 13 The Rafidah: From Iban Saba’ to the Dajjal Rabi’ al-Akhir 1437 (January 2016) 56 pp. Foreword; Kill the Imams of Kufr; From the Pages of History: The Safawiyyah; Military Reports; Hikmah; Among the Believers are Men; To Our Sisters: Advice on Ihdad; Do They Not Then Reflect on the Qur’an; The Rafidah: From Ibn Saba’ to the Dajjal; In the Words of the Enemy; Interview with the Wali of Khurasan. Table 6. Dabiq Online Magazine. (cont.) 31 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 14 The Murtadd Brotherhood Rajab 1437 (April 2016) 68 pp. The Murtadd Brotherhood; Foreword; Operations; From the Pages of History; Among the Believers Are Men; In the Words of the Enemy; Interview; The Knights of Shadadah in Belgium; Kill the Imams of Kufr in the West; Do They Not Then Reflect on Qur’an; The Blood of Shame. Issue 15 Break the Cross Shawwal 1437 (July 2016) 82 pp. Break the Cross; Foreword; Contemplate the Creation; From the Pages of History; The Fitrah of Mankind; Words of Sincere Advice; Why We Hate You & Why We Fight You; Wisdom; How I Came to Islam; Operations; Interview; Among the Believers Are Men; In the Words of the Enemy; By the Sword. Table 6. Dabiq Online Magazine. (cont.) Resurgence (AQIS) Resurgence is one of two al-Qaeda associated magazines—along with Al-Risalah mentioned in the following section—ideologically targeting the Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.44 Reports state that this online magazine is produced by As Sahab, al-Qaeda’s propaganda arm tied into its senior leadership.45 Adam Gadahn, a U.S. citizen who later joined al-Qaeda, in an interview in the second issue, said that it was conceived of by Jama’at Qa’eda al-Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), who produced and published it under the editorship of Hassan Yusuf.46 Prior to the magazine’s release, a video with an audio clip of Malcolm X over various images including the Boston marathon bombing was utilized to advertise it.47 The 32 intent of the magazine, according to the editorial in the first issue, was to extend the wave of jihad originating in Afghanistan into the Subcontinent (i.e., Al Hind) which includes India and Bangladesh as well as Pakistan and Burma. The Word of Allah is to be made supreme and the archenemy of Islam and Muslims— the United States—is to be targeted. The liberation of the Muslims in Palestine and Gaza is also mentioned. The magazine (see table 7) is only composed of two issues, with the first issue produced in October 2014 and the second issue produced in June 2015.48 Each issue averaged about 105 pages in length. The first issue has a number of articles that are well-footnoted, giving the magazine an academic feel. While this magazine is written in English, the use of Arabic script and short Quranic passages is utilized to tie it to al-Qaeda’s cultural foundations. Given the great volume of Gadahn material utilized in the magazine, his death in January 2015—prior to the release of his second special issue interview—may have contributed to its limited existence. Reader contact with the magazine publishers was facilitated by email utilizing a public key for the Asrarul Mujahideen computer program.49 33 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Besiege Them! Fall 2014 (October) 117 pp. A Step Towards Unity of Ranks; Keys with the Imam; The Land of the Prophets Awaits You; Besiege Them!; The Other Side of the Story; Land of the Other; The Future of Muslims in India; Islamization of a Declining System?; On Targeting the Achilles Heel of the Western Economies; Strategic Overstretch in Guerrilla Warfare. An Exclusive Interview with Adam Yahiye Gadahn Summer 2015 (June) 92 pp. Adam Yahiye Gadahn Interview. Issue 1 Special Issue 2 Table 7. Resurgence Online Magazine. Amka (al Shabaab—al-Muhajiroun component) This online magazine is issued by al-Muhajiroun (Emigrants of East Africa) and was meant to be periodic in nature. It began publication in February 2015, a month after the January founding of al-Muhajiroun from the merger of Ansar al-Mujahideen and al Hijra (formerly the Muslim Youth Center).50 The magazine (see table 8) was not sustainable, with only two issues created and the second issue published in July 2015. The editor, Abu Salim Al-Kenyi, has been identified as Ahmed Iman Ali, a Kenyan, who is al-Muhajiroun’s senior leader.51 The group is composed of 34 members mostly from Kenya as well as Canada, Australia, and France. Al-Muhajiroun is subordinate to al Shabaab—and its leader Sheikh Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah—until it matures and then it will become an independent al-Qaeda sanctioned terrorist group operating in Kenya.52 In the initial issue, the editor states that the magazine is supportive of al Shabaab (a terrorist group in Somalia) and swears “irrevocable Baya’-ah” (loyalty) to Ayman al-Zawahiri (current leader of al-Qaeda).53 In addition to English articles, which are the dominant focus of the magazine, the two issues also contain articles and notices written in Swahili and Arabic. Average issue size based on its two issues is about 26 to 27 pages in length. Amka provided their readership with email accounts to get more information and for correspondence purposes with the editor.54 Al-Muhajiroun’s organizational objectives are as follows: Though the group[‘s] main focus of operation is [in] Kenya, its chief objectives are to spread jihad in East Africa as well as recalibrating Islamic discourse in the region so that it aligns to a strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islamic teachings.55 The magazine appears to be published in Kenya. The second issue specifically noted readership in the Mahenge region of Tanzania and Mombasa, Kenya, as well as the area of interest including Uganda and Somalia.56 35 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles (English Only) Toleo No. 1 East Africa’s Baya’ah Rabi’ul Thani-Jamadil Awal 1436 (February 2015) 23 pp. Statement from HSM Leadership; Charlie Hebdo (Attack); Message to the Ummah of East Africa; East Africa’s Baya’ah. Toleo No. 2 East Africa: Jihad’s Homecoming Shawaal 1436 (July 2015) 30 pp. Defying the Kuffar: Sheikh Makaburi; Eid Greetings from Amir Sheikh Abu Ubaidah; East Africa: Jihad’s Homecoming; Nusseyba—Islam’s Woman Warrior: Part I. Table 8. Amka Online Magazine. Al-Risalah (al-Nusrah Front) Al-Risalah, like Resurgence profiled earlier, is published by an al-Qaeda associate, and is meant to discredit the Islamic State and the ideology of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.57 The publisher—the Mujahideen in Bilad Ash Shaam (al-Nusrah Front or Jabhat al-Nusrah)—is primarily located in Syria with some of its personnel also operating in Lebanon. The first issue of Al-Risalah came out online in July 2015; the second issue in October 2015 (see table 9). An exclusive article on “Jihad: A Life Time” for the planned third issue was advertised in the second issue and eventually published 36 in two parts in the July 2016 issue.58 The editor of the magazine is not identified, with the high-quality publication thought to be produced somewhere in Syria. The average magazine issue is about 50 pages long with many of the pages composed of images. One analysis of the work states that: The magazine presents to its readers Jabhat al-Nusra’s achievements, along with its partners in Jaysh al-Fath (‘Army of Conquest’)—a coalition of seven jihadist organizations which cooperate with each other to liberate Syria from the regime of President Bashar Assad, and work together to battle the Islamic State in Syria.59 In addition to hostility expressed toward the Islamic State and the Assad regime, animosity toward the Iranian proxy terrorist group Hezbollah—that has sent fighters to support the Assad regime—is noted in the online magazine. Abu Qatada, the preacher and al-Qaeda sympathizer deported from Britain, also has an article (The Markets of Faith) in the second issue, although he later disavowed that he wrote the article.60 The first issue of this online magazine was released independently of any jihadi media groups with the second issue linked to the larger Global Islamist Media Front (GIMF), which released a promotional video supporting it.61 The GIMF also later defended the independent status of the magazine and its authenticity.62 The third issue is larger than the earlier issues and is self-sacrifice—imprisonment and martyrdom—as well as tactical combat clothing (i.e., jihadi cool) focused. Smartphone security and cell tower triangulation dangers are also highlighted in the issue. No email means exist to contact the magazine editor, but SureSpot and Media on Telegram (encrypted chat messengers) and a Twitter account are listed for online encryption queries. 37 No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Issue 1 Al-Risalah Ramadan 1436 (July 2015) 43 pp. Jaish Al Fatah; Army of Victory; The Battle of Victory; The Keys of Jannah, Hijra—My Story; Ramadan: The Month of Striving; Khilafa One Year On; This is Al Qaeda; An eulogy for Shiek Abu Baseer al Wuhayshi; Halab Under Fire; An Exclusive Interview with Amir Muslim Shishani; Everlasting Reward. Issue 2 Victory Loves Preparation Muharram 1437 (October 2015) 48 pp. Abu Tomahawk; A Call From Usama; And There is No Victory Except from Allah; The Mountains of Turkestan; The Markets of Faith: Sheik Abu Qatada; Legacy—Amer Deghayes; The Mountains of Turkestan— Part 2; Exclusive: Interview with Sheikh Abu Firas; The Progress of Jaish Al-Fath: Sheikh Abdullah Al-Muhaysini; Judg[e]ment is for None But Allah; Encryption—Online Security; Everlasting Reward: Abu Hamza Sudani. Issue 3 Has The Time Not Come 1437 (July 2016) 58 pp. Dougma: Self Sacrificial Operations; Jihad A Life Time: Journey to Guantanamo (Part I & II); Bilad Al Hijratayn: Abu Bushra Birtani; Has The Time Not Come; Everlasting Reward: Abu Baseer Al Birtani; Utopia: Smart Phone Security; Incite The Believers. Table 9: Al-Risalah Online Magazine. Additional Online Magazines In addition to the nine better-known radical Islamist English-language online magazines profiled above, a number of other more minor and lesser 38 known ones exist. These tend to be more specialized or niche publications, very early and unknown series, relatively unsuccessful ones, or very recent ones with limited information currently existing on them. They are chronologically listed as follows with supplemental information on these magazines provided in table 10. Benefit of the Day (al-Qaeda Affinity) This is the earliest identified English-language online magazine to be published. It predates the publication of Samir Khan’s Jihad Recollections magazine by 2 years, with the first issue appearing in April-May 2007. The magazine has been mostly forgotten with little analysis or reporting existing on it. It was produced by At-Tibyan Publications, which was a website earlier administered by Aabid Hussain Khan—a British al-Qaeda supporter—who was sentenced by UK authorities in August 2008 for distributing terrorism-related materials online.63 The major difference between Benefit of the Day and Jihad Recollections is that the former one essentially only contained translations of pre-existing jihadi material.64 This material is provided in daily readings for each day of the month of that magazine issue. The magazine also has a less sophisticated—almost amateurish—desktop publishing feel to it and relies upon stock, clip-art type imagery, reminiscent of greeting cards or basic website designs with numerous nature scenes, although the al-Qaeda flag occasionally appears in some of the article headers. Numerous short essays promoting martyrdom and supporting the mujahideen interspersed with more mainstream Islamic tenants are hidden behind its benign veneer.65 Still, the more subtle orientation of the magazine, some of the topical foci, and the 2nd year series, which carried a “Dar At-Tibyan Sisters” banner 39 cover on two of the issues suggest that women were a targeted audience for readership.66 Twelve issues have been identified as being published from April 2007 through roughly October 2008, with issue gaps acknowledged. The typical issue size is about 22 to 32 pages in length with Arabic script interspaced within the dominant English text. No editor or group contact information is provided in any issues of the magazine. The magazine’s original website is no longer available; however, some of the issues are presently available on a few file-sharing sites.67 In Fight (Taliban) The English-language online magazine is published by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that is linked to Ansar al-Mujahideen, which hosts an English Forum known as the Ansar-Al Mujahideen English Forum (AMEF).68 In 2012, this forum was “considered the primary English-language jihadi forum, disseminating the majority of al-Qaeda’s propaganda for the English-speaking West.”69 The magazine focuses on pro-Afghan Taliban military operations and propaganda related to Afghanistan. Images and listings of United States, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and allied Afghan troop causalities are heavily focused upon in this publication. Forty-one issues of In Fight can be readily accessed spanning issue number 20 “War on Roads” posted in August 2010 (with no issue month or year designation) through number 60 “Retrospective NIMROZ…” listed as the December 2013 issue.70 This English-language magazine originally dates back to June 2009 and was initially posted “on the website of the Taliban’s Arabic-language monthly magazine, ‘al-Samoud’” before it later migrated to the 40 AMEF site. Paywall research access exists from issue number 60 to pre-number 20 issues.71 Images of an In Fight issue number 67 dating to September 2014 and an issue number 68 dating to November 2014 are the last ones that were identified, which suggests that this magazine is no longer being published.72 Al Rashideen (Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan [SSP]) The English-language magazine Al Rashideen (The Righteous) was published in February 2013 by “Sipahe-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Pakistani Salafist-jihadist group.”73 The first issue, which is not numbered, has the title “Iran Must Fall Before Palestine Can Be Liberated.” The magazine is anti-Shi’a and, interestingly, has “Free Syrian Army News” written on part of the cover.74 The Special (March 2013) issue is titled “The Iranian Revolution” while the third (also March 2013) issue has no specific featured theme. The magazine had a news Twitter account that was active from April 2013 through February 2015, as well as a now-defunct supporting website and contact email address.75 The magazine was published by Saad Aziz—who attended the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi— and some of his former classmates.76 Saad Aziz and his associates were later arrested by Pakistani authorities in May 2015 for their involvement in a large-scale attack on Ismaili (Shi’a sect) adherents on a bus.77 While the magazine issues can no longer be accessed from their original Scribd.com digital location, they all currently exist behind a for-profit intelligence group paywall.78 41 Lone Mujahid Pocketbook (AQAP) This to-date single-issue 63-page periodical was published in March 2013 by AQAP. It was distributed by Al-Malahem Media with the cover designation “Spring 1434 | 2013 | OSJ Special.” The publication represents a compendium of OSJ articles from issues 1-10 (June 2010 to March 2013) of Inspire magazine.79 It may be considered an addendum to it.80 Instructions are provided in the magazine for lone jihadists to torch parked vehicles, cause road accidents, start forest fires, drive a large pickup truck to run people down, use propane gas to blow up a building, make bombs (including acetone peroxide explosives and remote detonators), train and employ small arms, and send and receive encrypted messages for basic operational security requirements. A communication method to Al-Malahem Media is provided at the end of the document utilizing email accounts by means of a 2048-bit public key cryptosystem.81 Palestine (AQAP) In August 2014, a single-issue 47-page English magazine was published by AQAP. The magazine, Palestine: Betrayal of the Guilty Conscience is derived from past content from earlier Inspire issues as well as from new writings created for this special publication. It was produced under the Al-Malahem Media banner and initially released via Twitter.82 In support of its focus on liberating Gaza and the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, it calls for attacks on the United States and Great Britain—as supporters of Israel—rather than upon Israel itself. This was to be accomplished by lone wolf terrorists utilizing such methods as a pressure cooker 42 bomb or car bomb, both of which are detailed in stepby-step articles drawn from earlier Inspire issues.83 Azbiru (al-Nusrah Front) The existence of this alleged al-Nusrah Front magazine was made known in September 2014. The first issue was roughly 18-pages long per the table of contents and said to be leaked by a Dutch Islamic State member who was mocking it for being so amateurish vis-à-vis Dabiq. The magazine was never officially published on radical Islamist websites and has a July 2014 date on the cover. Much of the issue is said to be focused on “the personal story of a jihadist in Syria named Abu Ali al-Kiswaani.”84 This, however, is in variance to the table of contents that has numerous jihad-themed articles listed. It is unknown if this magazine—which appears to only have appeared in a single issue—was a forerunner of or in any way linked to the later al-Nusrah Front publication Al-Risalah which emerged about 10 months later. Ihya-e-Khilafat (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar [TTPJA]) This magazine, the title of which means Revival of the Caliphate, first appeared in English in October 2014 with “Re-structuring of Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan” listed as the dominant article on the cover. It is published by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has been publishing this online magazine in the Urdu language. Apparently, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan split into factions with TTPJA arising under the leadership of Omar Khalid Khorasani. The TTPJA faction was prompted to discuss their split from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in this first-ever English-language version of 43 the magazine. Additionally, it is thought that by publishing in English, TTPJA may be able to draw recruits from the West. In an article in the inaugural issue, it was explained how public opinion on the jihadi movement had become a major challenge for the Taliban.85 Issue 2 of the magazine appeared in December 2014 with the cover story “Who kills innocent people?” dominant.86 The opening editorial of the issue shows that the group is positioning itself as an ally of the Islamic State and gives Abu al-Baghdadi an honorific title. No further issues have since been published. Inspire Guides (AQAP) Two Portable Document Format (PDF) files, each four-pages long, were published in June and July of 2016, focused on the active shooter “Orlando Operation” and the use of a truck in the “NICE Operation, France,” respectively.87 Evolution between the guides is evident, with the initial one having a less articulated and structured outline than the second. The first guide is broken down into a dedication to Allah, an overview (To Proceed:), a mention of the most important characteristics and advantages of the operation, and detractions related to targeting minorities (Latinos) as opposed to the Anglo-Saxon community even though the grouping was composed of “homosexuals.” Advice to make the attack more effective—that is, using explosives—referencing Inspire issues 1 and 12 were made. The second guide has a delineated summary (and dedication to Allah), events of the operation, analysis of the operation, operation guide, and conclusion (Finally). It was critiqued as a much more effective attack than the earlier one and was directly linked to instructions for such actions published in 44 Inspire issue 2. Both of these operational reviews were written by what is known as the “Lone Jihad Guide Team.” A third shorter one—“Comment on arresting our Muslim sisters in France”—has since appeared in September 2016.88 This has been followed by a fourth guide published in November 2016 in Inspire issue 16 as well as a standalone publication published September 20, 2016.89 It is titled “New Jersey, Minnesota, and Chelsea Operations” with tactical points mentioned as operational critiques of the three attacks. The guides appear to be a novel method to quickly link OSJ promoted in Inspire to real-world al-Qaeda terrorism outcomes. They also serve as an instructional critique and rating of how the operation was carried out, giving AQAP members a publicly interactive means of reaching out to their readership and congratulating them on their lone wolf attacks—albeit posthumously. Such interaction may have become even more important since reader email communications with the Inspire publishing staff were terminated by March 2014. Rumiyah (Islamic State) This new series is the Islamic State’s follow-on publication to Dabiq. Recognizing that the city of Dabiq, Syria would eventually fall to the coalition aligned against it—which subsequently happened in mid-October 2016—the Islamic State refocused its premier English-language online magazine on Rumiyah, which in classical Arabic means Rome. The new propaganda mythos is that the fall of Rome now needs to be focused upon instead of the End of Days battle at Dabiq.90 The first issue (issue 1: Dhul-Hijjah 1437) of this magazine was published in September 2016, the second issue (issue 2: Muharram 1438) published a month later, and the third issue (issue 3: Safar 1438) published in November. The first two issues are 37 pages long, and 45 the third issue is 45 pages long. They do not have issue titles. Instead, they list the issue’s contents and a cover picture of a mujahideen (holy Islamic fighter) in ranks, that of a bloody combat knife being held up, and the front of a bombed out building along with responder personnel, respectively. The publication of this new magazine fully signifies a shift in Islamic State strategy from extending the Caliphate in Syria and Iraq to one of engaging in lone wolf and small cell attacks primarily in the West but also in locales such as Kenya and Bangladesh. Rumiyah is a shorter and inferior product to Dabiq and is illustrative of the mounting pressure the Islamic State is now under financially and militarily as it continues to lose cities and territories within its shrinking Caliphate.91 The third issue, however, has grown in size and appears to be increasing in overall quality. Name /No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Benefit of the Day /Issue 1 No Title Rabee’ al-Awwal 1428 April-May 2007) 51 pp. Tawheed is the Most Trusty Handhold; Virtues of the Martyrs; Account Yourself; Another Day, Another Mission; Reflecting on Death; The Seven Blessings of a Martyr. Benefit of the Day /Issue 2 No Title Jumaad al-Awwal 1428 (May-June 2007) 32 pp. The Virtues Of Encouraging Jihad; The Conditions of “Laa Ilaaha Illaa Allah”; Death; Advice from a Mujahid; The Muslims Must Unite; The Assemblies of Faith. Table 10. Additional Radical Islamist Online Magazines.92 46 Name /No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Benefit of the Day /Issue 3 No Title Jummad ath-Thanni 1428 (June-July 2007) 30 pp. The Conditions of “Laa Ilaaha Illaa Allah”; Support the Mujahideen; O Christ Worshipers!; Beware of the Vulture Culture!; A Qur’anic Formula of remaining hidden from enemy sight; How to recognize if you are allied with the Kuffar. Benefit of the Day /Issue 4 No Title Rajab 1428 (July-August 2007) 30 pp. “…Then know…you are in the middle of a battle…”; The Straight Path; True Love of A Mujahid; “The Prophet was Sent with 4 Swords…”; Dead Hearts; Justifying Sins By Intention. Benefit of the Day /Issue 5 No Title Sha’baan 1428 (AugustSeptember 2007) 31 pp. Malcom X: This is what I believe in…; The Two Faced Person; Letter from a Muslim Captive; The Muslims are all one Hand against those that Oppose them…; An Imprisoned Mujahid’s Dream that ‘Isaa (‘alayhi assalam) is coming soon. Benefit of the Day /Issue 6 No Title Ramadan 1428 (SeptemberOctober 2007) 22 pp. Allah is Sufficient as Witness; The Death of the People of Hell; Like Chickens in the Fields; “Before He was Taken to Prison”; How To Seek Laylatul-Qadr; The Winners in Ramadan. Table 10. Additional Radical Islamist Online Magazines. (cont.) 47 Name /No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Benefit of the Day /Issue 7 No Title Shawwaal 1428 (OctoberNovember 2007) x pp.* Unknown. Benefit of the Day /Issue 2, No. 1 No Title Muharram 1429 (JanuaryFebruary 2008) 22 pp. One Sin led to his Repentance; A Great Lady in the Battle of Jalalabad; Take Pride in Islam; Why We Should Migrate; The Severity of the Test Causes Elevation of Rank; Heroic Woman. Benefit of the Day /Issue 2, No. 2 No Title Safar 1429 (Febrary-March 2008) 23 pp. Umar’s Exile of the Jews…; “This day I have completed your religion,”; How to Benefit From the Qur’aan; Shari’a and Islam; Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taiymiya on Apostates; I Saw Fire!; There is No Bachelorhood in Islam. Benefit of the Day /Issue 2, No. 3 No Title Rabi’ al-Awwal (March-April 2008) x pp.* Unknown. Table 10. Additional Radical Islamist Online Magazines. (cont.) 48 Name /No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Benefit of the Day /Unknown No Title Ramadan 1429 (~SeptemberOctober 2008) 33 pp. Ramadan in History (Parts 1-3); Darkness & Its Lamps; Piety; Wisdom Behind Fasting (Parts 1-7); Sharh As-Siyaam Wa Al-Qiyaam (Parts 1-4); The Majority of Hellfires Inhabitants. Benefit of the Day /Unknown No Title Shawal 1429 (~OctoberNovember 2008) x pp.* Unknown. Al Rashideen /Issue 1 Iran Must Fall Before Palestine Can Be Liberated February 2013 x pp.* Unknown. Al Rashideen /Special Issue The Iranian Revolution March 2013 x pp.* Unknown. Table 10. Additional Radical Islamist Online Magazines. (cont.) 49 Name /No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Al Rashideen /Issue 3 No Title March 2013 x pp.* Unknown. Lone Mujahid Pocketbook Lone Mujahid Pocketbook March 2013 63 pp. Torching Parked Vehicles; Causing Road Accidents; Starting Forest Fires; the ultimate mowing machine (Using pick trucks to run down people); Destroying Buildings; Bomb Making: Kitchen Fun; Making Acetone Peroxide; Remote Control Detonation; Training with the Handgun; Training with the AK (I & II); Special Consultancy; How to use Asrar al-Mujahideen. Palestine Palestine August 2014 47 pp. Palestine in Focus; Palestine Betrayal of the Guilty Conscience; Hatred Has Already Appeared From Their Mouths; Irrational Alliance; Blood for Blood and Destruction for Destruction; Timeline; Fighting…Our Obligation; Palestine…Now The Battle Has Reached Its Pinnacle; Liberating Palestine; O Hesitant One: It’s an Obligation; OSJ: Preparing a Pressure Cooker Bomb; OSJ: Car Bombs inside America. Table 10. Additional Radical Islamist Online Magazines. (cont.) 50 Name /No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Azbiru /Issue 1 No Title (Jihad Theme) Ramadan 1435 (July 2014)** 18 pp. Jihad Theme: Abu Qatadah Al Filistini; Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi; Giants of Jihad; Shaheed Stories; Journey to Jihad; Sahaba Stories; Sham; Shahda; Sahaba Stories, Wake Up; Ibn Qayyim Aljawzia. Ihya-e-Khilafat /Issue 1 Re-structuring of Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan Safar-1436 (October 2014) 55 pp. Stat[e]ments of the leaders regarding the restructuring of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan; Operation Zarb-E-Azb; Nationalism: An Old Concept & A New Religion; In Pursuit of Territory; An Exclusive Interview of Respected Ameer Omar Khalid with Ihya-e-khilafat; Why I chose to join Jihad-e-Pakistan; Still Not Time to Wake Up; How Would Pakistan Look Under Shariah; Public Opinion: Major Challenge Faced In Jihad Of Pakistan. Ihya-e-Khilafat /Issue 2 Who kills innocent people Safar-1436 (December 2014) 47 pp. Muhammad Ali Jinnah: Hero or Traitor; Our Right to Spread Terror; Who Kills Innocent People; Army Proposed, Allah Disposed (Part 1); Interview with Ameer Omar Khalid Khorasani (Part 2); Naseeha from Frontline; Imam Izzudin; Mufti Nizammudin Shamzaee Fatwa; Obstacles in Jihade Pakistan (Part 1); Jihad— The Solution of Pakistan’s Problems; Dream of Mujahida; Mujahid Kids; 2014—What Was Gained and Lost. Table 10. Additional Radical Islamist Online Magazines. (cont.) 51 Name /No. Issue Name Date Length Main Articles Inspire Gu...

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