Is it wrong to prefer the West to the rest?
On various occasions and beginning decades before he was elected president, Ronald Reagan warned that “freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.” He understood, and h...
Mauritania
Boko Haram’s Buyer’s Remorse
When Boko Haram pledged loyalty to the Islamic State in March 2015, it seemed to signal that the jihadi world was bending in the direction of the self-proclaimed caliphate. At the time, Boko Hara...
Op-eds
Osama bin Laden’s ‘Bookshelf’ Reveals al Qaeda’s Long Game
When 113 new documents recovered in 2011 during the fatal raid on...
Op-eds
Extreme Makeover, Jihadist Edition: Al-Qaeda’s Rebranding Campaign
Since the Islamic State made its dramatic military advance from Syria into Iraq more than a year ago — capturing...
Op-eds
“Terrorism in Africa: The Imminent Threat to the United States”
Download full testimony here ...
Legislative Testimonies
How America Was Misled on al Qaeda’s Demise
Co-authored by Stephen F. Hayes In the early-morning hours of May 2, 2011, a small team of American military and intelligence professionals landed inside the high white walls of...
Op-eds
New Docs Reveal Osama bin Laden’s Secret Ties With Iran
This week, prosecutors in New York introduced eight documents recovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan as evidence in the trial of a terrorism suspect. The U.S. government accuse...
Op-eds
The Cuban in the Desert
In April 2011, a post appeared on the leading jihadist web forum Shumukh al-Islam authored by a little known writer called Abu As...
Op-eds
France Confirms Death of Senior AQIM Commander Abou Zeid
French President François Hollande issued a statement confirming the death of Abdel Mejid Abou Zeid, a top al Qaeda commander who served as the deputy to Yahya Abu Hammam, the head of al Q...
Op-eds
Confusion Reigns in Confirming Deaths of Senior AQIM Leaders in Mali
By LWJ Staff The fate of fugitive al Qaeda affiliate Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the mastermind of the deadly terrorist assault against an Algerian gas plant in January, remains uncerta...
Op-eds
Chadian Forces Claim Raid Killed Top Algerian Jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar
By LWJ Staff Chadian military forces in Mali claimed to have killed fugitive al Qaeda affiliate Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the...
Op-eds
US Adds Senior AQIM Commander to Terrorist List
The US added the head of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's operations in the Sahel region of North Africa to the list of global terrorists yesterday. Yahya Abu Hammam, whose real na...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda in Mali Sought to Hide Foreign Designs
A "confidential letter" from Abdelmalek Droukdel, the emir of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, to his fighters in northern Mali shows that the group sought to use the country to wage a global jih...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al Qaeda’s Senior Leadership
With recent events in Mali and Algeria, there is a notable uptick in interest in Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). One question commentators are asking is what the relationship is between A...
Op-eds
Belmokhtar Claims Algerian Raid, Slaying of Hostages for al Qaeda
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the head of the jihadist brigade that launched the deadly suicide assault on the In Amenas gas facility in southeastern Algeria, has claimed the attack in al Qaeda's name...
Op-eds
The War’s in Mali, But the Danger is International
Since France began aerial bombardment of Islamist rebels in Mali last week, the larger worry has shifted from within the beleaguered country’s borders to the wider world. There are concerns...
Op-eds
US Adds West African Group, 2 Leaders, to Terrorism List
The US government has added the al Qaeda-linked Movement for Tawhid [Unity] and Jihad in West Africa and two of its leaders to the list of global terrorists and entities. The Movement for Tawhid...
Op-eds
The Real Rules of the U.N. Human Rights Council
High-profile genocide is a no-no—but dictatorship, slavery, and anti-Semitism are A-OK.
Op-eds
Senior al Qaeda Ideologue Freed in Mauritania
Family members of top al Qaeda ideologue Abu Hafs al Mauritani have confirmed that he was freed this past weekend. Abu Hafs was transferred from Iran, where he had lived since late 2001, to Mauri...
Op-eds
Senior al Qaeda Ideologue Leaves Iran for Mauritania
Abu Hafs al Mauritani, a senior al Qaeda religious thinker known as "Mr. Theology," has reportedly left Iran for his home country. According to some press accounts, the Iranians "extradited" Abu...