KNOW THY ENEMY II A Look at the World’s Most Threatening Terrorist Networks and Criminal Gangs Edited by Michael T. Kindt Jerrold M. Post and Barry R. Schneider USAF Counterproliferation Center 325 Chennault Circle Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama 36112-6427 November 2007 Disclaimer The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, or the USAF Counterproliferation Center. ISBN 978-0-9747403-7-9 ii Contents Disclaimer ..............................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments.................................................................................................. v Introduction..........................................................................................................vii Section One: Broader Non-state Actor Issues 1 Suicide Terrorism: Are There Important Counterterrorist Lessons to be Learned?.................1 James E. Winkates 2 Al Qaeda’s Modus Operandi: Anticipating Their Target Selection........................................................37 Barry R. Schneider 3 The Mind of the Terrorist: The Spectrum of Terrorism and Terrorist Psychologies .........................65 Jerrold M. Post 4 Political Islam and Radical Islam: The Cases of Pakistan and Bangladesh...................................................85 Stephen F. Burgess 5 Why Women Kill: A Look at the Evolutionary Role of Muslim Female Fighters..............113 Farhana Ali 6 “Like Glitter of the Sun”: Iran and Terrorism......................................167 Gregory F. Giles 7 Terrorist use of WMD...........................................................................197 James J.F. Forest Section Two: Specific Non-state Actor Groups 8 Hezbollah: A State Within a State ........................................................233 Michael T. Kindt iii Contents 9 Hamas: The Islamic Resistance Movement ..........................................263 Jerrold M. Post 10 Al Qaeda 2.0 and the Global Salafi Jihad .............................................289 Jerrold M. Post 11 Jemaah Islamiyah Remains Active and Deadly ....................................307 James C. “Chris” Whitmire 12 The Mexican Drug Cartels: At War for Control of the U.S.–Mexico Border ...................................349 Dario E. Teicher 13 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).............................385 Jerrold M. Post 14 Mara Salvatrucha: A Threat to U.S. and Central American Security..................................401 Tina S. Strickland Contributors ..........................................................................................437 Index .....................................................................................................445 iv Acknowledgments his volume is the second in the USAF Counterproliferation Center’s Know Thy Enemy series. The first book by that title T dealt primarily with states that posed serious concerns to U.S. national security. This book picks up that theme but focuses on sub-state actors, terrorist organizations, and criminal gangs that are of serious security concern to the United States. To complete a major conference and book on this subject requires the work of many hands and a widely diverse expertise. We, the editors of this book, thank the sponsors who provided the resources to make this possible and the many dedicated researchers and staff that have contributed to the final production. The authors are particularly indebted to the Air Force Culture and Language Center, and its Director, Dr. Dan Henk, who provided the funding that allowed this project to move from vision to reality. We hope by highlighting the backgrounds and motivations of international terrorist and criminal groups that this volume contributes to the Culture and Language Center’s critical mission of enhancing the cultural awareness of Airmen at all ranks. We are also grateful to the outstanding subject matter experts who have provided their keen insights into the critical issues addressed in this volume. Their willingness to work with us in improving understanding of the dangerous and shadowy worlds of terrorists and criminals have made this book what it is. Generous financial support and expert contributions were transformed into this volume by our exceptional team of editors and administrators. The patient acceptance of multiple revisions and continual editing and formatting by Mrs. Abbey Plant was essential to the smooth completion of this effort. Mrs. Jo Ann Eddy’s editing and publication efforts and Col. Susan Wassermann’s able management of the money were also critical to our efforts. Finally, the editors thank their spouses, Lindsey Kindt, Carolyn Post, and Judith Keegan for their continued love and support and the many sacrifices that allowed us the time to complete this volume. Michael T. Kindt Jerrold M. Post Barry R. Schneider v Introduction nternational terrorist groups and criminal gangs are presently capable of inflicting great harm on the United States and its allies I if not adequately countered. The more potent of these sub-state actors, such as Al Qaeda, are in the hunt for weapons of mass destruction and, should they acquire them, are considered to be more likely to use them than state adversaries that have clear return addresses. That being the case, we appear to be entering into an era when sub-state actors armed with unconventional weapons may be able to inflict the level of damage that was previously only within the capability of great power countries. Each of the sub-state groups discussed in this book offer a substantial threat to neighbors in their regions and to Americans. Each deserves to be fully understood, and kept from inflicting serious harm if possible. Not all of these threatening terrorists and criminals are front and center on our radar screens at present, but they deserve serious attention, and that is the purpose of this book, to provide detailed information on the looming sub- state threat. As the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the potential conflict with Iran, demand much attention from the military, the government, and the citizenry at large, it is important that we not become too focused on today’s immediate challenges and fail to consider threats and obstacles that may be lurking off in the future. This book is an effort to expand that perspective beyond these state actor conflicts demanding today’s headlines, and to shine a light on other issues and sub-state groups whose potential challenge to our nation may not be adequately appreciated. In the same way that failure to adequately assess the risk of insurgency in Iraq contributed to the security dilemma the nation faces today, failure to look ahead at other potential dangers may lead us to be ill-prepared when these threats become apparent. In keeping with the motto of the USAF Counterproliferation Center, “We cannot afford to be the unready confronting the unthinkable,” this volume is an effort to both shed light on existing terrorist and criminal gang challenges, as well as to prepare the nation to confront the “unthinkable” threats they may present. We have directed our effort primarily toward those in the military and government community who, while tasked to fight and win our current vii Introduction conflicts, must also be able to think beyond today to the challenges of tomorrow. This book is intended to provide an easily accessible reference point from which to begin to reframe both our present challenges and to prepare for the future. The chapters that follow should be of value to those encountering the concerns these groups pose from the strategic down to the tactical levels. In 2003, the USAF Counterproliferation Center published a well- received book entitled Know Thy Enemy, which, drawing on Sun Tzu’s guidance on the importance of knowing your enemy in order to be successful in battle, focused on expanding the knowledge of the reader regarding nation states that may present threats or challenges to the United States. This book expands the scope of possible enemies and explores the challenges presented to national security by non-state actors. Of course, for most readers, the first thoughts of non-state threats to U.S. security are terrorists groups such as Al Qaeda. Certainly, Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Jemaah Islamiyah are well- represented in this work, but we have worked to cast a wider net on threats to the nation. Toward this we have included chapters on criminal gangs within and near our borders which pose real, yet often unnoticed, challenges both to the security of our country and also to the security of our neighbors. We begin this work with several chapters that explore key issues that cut across many different terrorist and criminal groups, or that help to clarify the threats these groups represent. Understanding each of these issues will help the reader to better understand the global challenges that the United States faces as we continue to try to resolve the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chapters in this opening section include a focus on the development of the tactic of suicide terrorism, by James Winkates, an examination of the targeting tendencies of Al Qaeda, by Barry Schneider, an exploration of the psychology of the terrorist mind by Jerrold Post, a review of interactions and conflict between political and radical Islam as displayed