Inspire is an English-language online magazine published by the organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The magazine is one of the many ways AQAP uses the Internet to reach its audience. Numerous international and domestic extremists motivated by radical interpretations of Islam have been influenced by the magazine and, in some cases, used its bomb-making instructions in their attempts to carry out attacks.“Inspire Magazine: A Staple Of Domestic Terror” Anti-Defamation League, 22 April 2013 The magazine is an important brand-building tool, not just of AQAP, but of all al-Qaeda branches, franchises and affiliates.
History The magazine is aimed at young British and American readers and provided translated messages from Osama bin Laden. The first issue appeared in July 2010. Various articles in the second issue encouraged terror attacks on U.S. soil, suggesting that followers open fire at a Washington, D.C. restaurant or use a pickup truck to "mow down" pedestrians.“Al Qaeda English Magazine Calls for Terror Attacks in the U.S.” Anti-Defamation League, 13 October 2010
The October 2010 issue included an article penned by Samir Khan, in which he wrote, "I am proud to be a traitor to America".“Samir Khan: American Blogger and Al Qaeda Propagandist” Anti-Defamation League, 13 October 2010 Khan was killed on 30 September 2011, in the U.S. targeted killing Predator drone attack in Yemen.
Purpose The magazine's aim is to inform and persuade a committed audience by distributing internal communications called "auto-propaganda" to strengthen morale, reduce dissent, or justify and legitimize an attack or controversial doctrine. It was also used to target an uncommitted audience to eventually win sympathy and support. Therefore, AQAP has the ability to represent themselves and their actions exactly as they wish. The controlled message is unfettered from the scrutiny of the local and international media."The Use of the Internet by Islamic Extremists" Bruce Hoffman, May 4, 2006
Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution described the magazine as "clearly intended for the aspiring jihadist in the U.S. or U.K. who may be the next Fort Hood murderer or Times Square bomber". It was described by Michelle Shephard, author of Guantanamo's Child, and a reporter for the Toronto Star, as being an extension of the online Arabic magazine Sada al-Malahim (Echo of the Battle).
The magazine was thought to be the work of Anwar al-Awlaki, an English-speaking cleric and al-Qaeda leader based in Yemen. Awlaki was on the United States' "kill or capture list". An editorial by al-Awlaki, entitled "May Our Souls Be Sacrificed For You", appeared in the first issue. In the article, al-Awlaki called for attacks against all those who had slandered the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, including all Western targets.“Al Qaeda Releases First-Ever English Terror Magazine” Anti-Defamation League, 15 July 2010
The magazine stated that its title came from a verse in the Qur'an, "Inspire the believers to fight"Qur'an 8:65 and described itself as "A special gift to the Islamic Nation". The magazine was first "discovered" online by the SITE Institute. When the first issue of the magazine was initially released, a technical error prevented most of the magazine's pages from loading properly.
The magazine encouraged its readers to submit their own material for publication: "We also call upon and encourage our readers to contribute by sending their articles, comments and suggestions to us." The magazine's production users were able to use multiple third-party sources (photos, videos, etc.) to create content with ease. The use of mass media was also capable of doctoring content. The separation of form and content of the media and then the ability to "mash" content together with little effort had the ability to create persuasive presentations that would catch the attention of the intended audience.Aidan Kirby Winn and Vera L. Zakem: "Jihad 2.0", Influence Warfare Ed. James J.F. Forest (14 May 2009).
This sort of crowd-sourcing has been influential in motivating extremists. Mohamad Osman Muhammed, for example, who was implicated in a plot to bomb the Portland Christmas tree lighting ceremony in 2010, had previously been published in a different English-language magazine called Jihad Recollections.
Common themes Defensive jihad Declarations were made for Muslims to rise in defense of their Muhammad, families, justice, and the umma. AQAP propagated the U.S. bombing of Yemen and categorically targeting women and children. Thus they used this alleged targeting as justification of Omar al-Faruq's attack as retaliation. "Al-Qaeda says that violence is just retribution for Western injustices and that Islam authorizes this position."Raymond Ibrahim, The Al Qaeda Reader, 6.
Call to individual jihad The articles in Inspire were designed to incite hostility toward non-believers and the West. Its recruitment strategy was rooted in conspiracy theories and the ideology of defensive jihad. The magazine outlined expectations for jihad, discussing both open-front and individual jihad. It argued that engaging American forces directly or traveling overseas for jihad was increasingly difficult. As a result, it promoted individual obligatory (fard'ayn) jihad as the necessary course of action while the Islamic nation remained strategically weak.
[S]pontatenous [sic] operations performed by individuals and cells here and there over the whole world, without connections between them, have put the local and international intelligence apparatus in a state of confusion, as arresting the members of aborted cells does not influence the operational activities of others who are not connected with them.Abu Mus Ab Al-Suri, "The Jihadi Experience: The Open Fronts and The Individual Initiative", Inspire (Fall 2010): 20.
"Open source jihad" Inspire promoted "open source jihad". This shifted away from al-Qaeda's traditional terrorist attacks to simple attacks by individuals using common items for weapons. The Summer 2010 issue advised making a pressure cooker bomb using everyday materials ("How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom").
The Fall 2010 issue encouraged using one's car to "mow down" people in crowded places ("The ultimate mowing machine"). The Winter 2010 issue discussed how to blow up buildings. These provided individuals with simple ideas for terror attacks, without direct ties to al-Qaeda or its affiliates. It had become too great a threat to travel abroad and receive training in al-Qaeda training camps, and direct contact with al-Qaeda members endangered the member and the aspiring terrorist. Therefore AQAP's "open source jihad" promoted attacks without the support of a physical community. Marc Sageman, a leading expert in the field, described this phenomenon as "leaderless Jihad".Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century, (Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008). While he considered this threat as "self-limiting" and one that would quickly die out, the difficulties in stopping the lone wolf attackers were great.
"Open source jihad" emerged as a necessary tactic as al-Qaeda leadership steadily vanished in the ten years since 9/11. With leaders either dead or in jail, al-Qaeda had to consider new ways to attack its enemies. Al-Qaeda first splintered into "franchises" by country or region, then further degenerated into solo operators, mostly of dubious capabilities. Inspire became an important al-Qaeda brand tool for recruiting, informing, and motivating these open source jihadis.
Authenticity Some scholars, such as Thomas Hegghammer (of the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment) and Jarret Brachman, argued that the magazine was an unexceptional example of jihadist online literature and did not deserve the media attention it received.Jarret Brachman (11 July 2010). "AQAP Inspire Magazine Released (in full this time)". Hegghammer wrote that "there is nothing particularly new or uniquely worrying" about the magazine's content, and its connection to AQAP is likely weak: "Without signals intelligence it is extremely difficult to determine the precise nature of the link between the editors and the AQAP leadership. Judging from the amount of recycled material in Inspire, I would be surprised if the AQAP connection is very strong."Hegghammer, Thomas (6 July 2010). "Un-Inspired". Jihadica.
While the SITE Institute and at least one senior U.S. government official described Inspire as authentic, there was some speculation on jihadist websites and elsewhere that the magazine, due to its low quality, may have been a hoax. This theory was advocated, in particular, by Max Fisher, a writer for The Atlantic. Fisher listed five reasons to suspect the publication was a hoax. According to Fisher, the portable document format (PDF) file that contained the first issue also contained a computer virus. Fisher noted that the magazine contained an article by Abu Mu'sab al-Suri, noting that al-Suri had been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay since 2005, and that whether he was actually tied to al-Qaeda remained unclear. The article attributed to al-Suri was the beginning of a series that appeared in the next five issues of Inspire. These excerpts were all copied from a translation of Abu Musab al-Suri's "The Global Islamic Resistance Call", which was published in a 2008 biography of him.
Peter Bergen, the national security analyst for CNN, describing it as "a slick Web-based publication, heavy on photographs and graphics that, unusually for a jihadist organ, is written in colloquial English", on 31 March 2011 discussed the column of Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of AQAP, in its fifth issue.Al Qaeda responds to CNN, CNN, 31 March 2011
Audience Inspire is a unique terrorist publication in that it is very specific in the audience in which it targets instead of publishing general ideological arguments to all Muslims. Studies in terrorism"A Strategy for Fighting International Islamist Terrorists", The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, July 2008, 225.).Mitchell D. Silber and Arvin Bhatt: "Radicalization in the West: The Home Grown Threat", New York City Policy Department (2007). have noted that most Islamic terrorist attacks on the West are perpetrated by well-educated men living in the West, with an average age of 26 years. AQAP also is aware of this, and Inspire magazine targets this demographic.
One example is in the use of imagery and text in the operations of Abyan in the Fall 2010 edition. The images are of operations directed against Yemeni troops at checkpoints, base ambushes, explosions, and "cleaning the streets" (killing the enemy). The photos show images of actions performed by the mujahid against the murtad. The captions tell a story of victory for the holy warriors with few casualties. The images and text portray a story of invincibility and of defeat of Yemen's Special Forces.
Issues Issue 1, released July 2010, provides bomb-making directions. Issue 2, released October 2010, calls for attacks on the U.S. Issue 3, released November 2010, calls for explosive devices to be put on U.S. bound aircraft. Issue 4, released January 2011, continues to call for attacks on the U.S. Issue 5, released March 2011, focuses on the "Arab Spring". Issue 6, released July 2011, focuses on the death of Osama bin Laden. Issue 7, released September 2011, focuses on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Issue 8, released May 2012, renewed calls for attacks on the U.S. Issue 9, also released May 2012, emphasizes suicide missions. Issue 10, released March 2013, calls for lone wolf attacks on the U.S. Issue 11, released May 2013, celebrates the Boston Marathon bombing. Issue 12, released March 2014, calls for car bomb attacks in U.S. cities.