The Terrorist Argument by Christopher C. Harmon

Author:Christopher C. Harmon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

NINE

The E-Magazine: Al-Qaeda’s Inspire

Inspire is an electronic magazine, of which sixteen issues have appeared between Summer 2010 and Autumn 2016. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is the publisher. Three factors suggest it is more than an AQAP organ and a voice of the central al-Qaeda organization: strategic-level advice in many articles, demonstrated interest in global al-Qaeda actions, and the heavy use of propaganda by Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri. The purpose of this remarkable e-zine is to Inspire believers to action, organization, and violence—specifically including terrorism—in order to defeat enemies and the state system while advancing Islamist governance throughout the umma (worldwide community of believers). As the Autumn 2016 issue declared, “We know that Islam is coming, and will rule over the people. Our role as Muslims is to accelerate the pace by destroying the evil that America is leading. Establish our religion in its righteous place.”

Inspire appears only on the internet. That is one of the ways this remarkable magazine put out by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has accomplished a small revolution in terrorist media. With its office based in Yemen, its run has lasted seven years, with sixteen issues since the first issue appeared in July 2010.1 Given the apparently inexhaustible capacity of the web to store and recirculate, the e-zine’s issues will thrive in cyberspace for many years to come—as a public discussion issue, and as a tool for terrorists. New issues’ references back to past articles encourage this sense of an extensive catalogue of tactics, procedures, and ideological advice.

The colors and other production values of Inspire are striking, attractive to all readers, featuring ethereal greens, mystical blues, and bloody reds. Layout is well organized and notably professional. Initially there were virtually no typos. After a U.S. drone strike killed the two most celebrated editors—Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan—errors in grammar and typos increased, to perhaps one per page, but overall quality remains impressive.2 Newer issues show fewer errors in English than the academic papers of some American undergraduates. And if an issue appeared electronically scrambled—as one did in 2013—readers might well blame their own printers, or an intervening intelligence service.

Inspire appears in English, although after several years, issues also began appearing in Arabic.3 This emphasis parallels the clear intention of producers and editors: Inspire is for Westerners. The language is idiomatic for Americans, clever, and laced with inside jokes, while also normally proper enough for readers who are more strict about English. Examples of direct, informal appeals to American readers include use of quotations from Malcolm X, a Sunni militant who for a time served at senior levels of the Nation of Islam. Issue 5 used the word “bamboozled,” which Malcolm X used to refer to the trickery of the political and racial establishment. Issue 10 contains another Malcolm X line.

Usually running sixty to seventy pages, this e-zine can also run to ninety or more, as was the case with issue 15 (Spring 2016). Each issue carries original artwork—one of its advantages

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