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Borderless World, Boundless Threat:Online Jihadists and Modern

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Borderless World, Boundless Threat:Online Jihadists and Modern BORDERLESS WORLD, BOUNDLESS THREAT: ONLINE JIHADISTS AND MODERN TERRORISM A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Security Studies By Spencer O. Hayne, B.A. Washington, DC November 19, 2010 Copyright © 2010 by Spencer O. Hayne All Rights Reserved ii BORDERLESS WORLD, BOUNDLESS THREAT: ONLINE JIHADISTS AND MODERN TERRORISM Spencer O. Hayne, B.A. Thesis Advisor: Justine A. Rosenthal, Ph.D. ABSTRACT The online jihadist community represents a new phenomenon in the global spread of Islamic radicalism. Many terrorism experts largely ignore the fact that the Internet is more than just a tool for established terrorist organizations—it can be a platform for the evolution of the jihadist social movement itself. While the majority of this movement’s members are casual supporters of a global Islamist jihad against the West, a number of the community’s members have already proven willing to take their virtual beliefs into the real world through terrorist acts. Many of these terrorists have attracted significant media attention—Jihad Jane, the Christmas Day Bomber, the Fort Hood Shooter, the attack on CIA agents in Afghanistan, the Times Square Bomber, and a number of other “homegrown” terrorists. The individuals perpetrating these terrorist acts are as diverse as they are dangerous, presenting a significant challenge to counterterrorism officials and policymakers. This study profiles 20 recent cases of online jihadists who have made the transition to real-world terrorism along a number of characteristics: age, ethnicity, immigration status, education, religious upbringing, socio-economic class, openness about beliefs, suicidal tendencies, rhetoric focus, location, target, terrorist action, offline and online activity, and social isolation or the presence of an identity crisis. The analysis shows that today, it is much less important how al-Qaida or any other jihadist group expresses its ideology, because any individual may self-radicalize and interpret the jihadist social movement in their own way and carry out terrorist attacks based on this understanding. When the jihadist social movement becomes borderless, the threat presented by the terrorists it inspires is no longer limited by the artificial boundaries of the real world. Counterterrorism officials must recognize this and adopt a long-term strategy for combating this movement. iii CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 1 2. METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1. DATASET .................................................................................................................................................. 3 2.2. DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 4 2.3. ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS .............................................................................................................. 5 3. RELEVANT LITERATURE .......................................................................................................................... 7 3.1. TERRORIST USE OF THE INTERNET ............................................................................................................. 7 3.1.2. Problems with Current Analyses ..................................................................................................... 10 3.2. TERRORIST MOTIVATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 11 3.2.1. Psychology of Terrorism ................................................................................................................. 11 3.2.2. Profiling the Modern Terrorist ........................................................................................................ 12 3.3. CURRENT “TYPICAL” VIOLENT JIHADIST ................................................................................................. 14 4. ARE ONLINE JIHADISTS DIFFERENT? ................................................................................................ 16 4.1. PROFILES OF RECENT ONLINE JIHADISTS ................................................................................................. 16 Mirsad Bektašević .................................................................................................................................... 16 Ehsanul Sadequee and Syed Ahmed .......................................................................................................... 17 Fahim Ahmad and Zakaria Amara ............................................................................................................ 19 Bryant Vinas ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Nicky Reilly .............................................................................................................................................. 22 Abdel Shehadeh ........................................................................................................................................ 22 Michael Finton ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Hosam Smadi ........................................................................................................................................... 24 Colleen LaRose ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Jamie Paulin-Ramirez .............................................................................................................................. 27 Nidal Hasan ............................................................................................................................................. 28 Umar Abdulmutallab ................................................................................................................................ 29 Humam al-Balawi..................................................................................................................................... 30 Faisal Shahzad ......................................................................................................................................... 31 Paul Rockwood ......................................................................................................................................... 32 Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte....................................................................................................... 33 Zachary Chesser ....................................................................................................................................... 35 4.2. ANALYZING THE DATA ........................................................................................................................... 37 4.2.1. Explanation of the Data .................................................................................................................. 38 4.2.2. Comparing the Cases ...................................................................................................................... 39 4.2.3. Is There a Typical Online Jihadist? ................................................................................................. 46 4.2.4. The Appeal of the Online Jihadist Community ................................................................................. 46 4.2.5. Comparison to Existing Analyses .................................................................................................... 49 4.3. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? ....................................................................................................................... 52 5. POLICY IMPLICATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 54 5.1. NO ONE LIVES ONLINE ........................................................................................................................... 55 5.1.1. What’s in a Screen Name? .............................................................................................................. 56 5.1.2. Public-Private Partnerships ............................................................................................................ 57 5.1.3. Understanding the Enemy ............................................................................................................... 57 5.2. BORDERS NO LONGER MATTER (TO TERRORISTS) ................................................................................... 58 5.3. THEIR GREATEST STRENGTH IS ALSO THEIR GREATEST WEAKNESS ........................................................ 59 5.4. GLOBAL JIHADISM HAS GROWN BEYOND AL QAIDA ............................................................................... 61 6. CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 64 6.1. FURTHER RESEARCH NEEDS ..................................................................................................................
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