Al Qaeda publishes an English language magazine

cover.PNGMarc Ambinder reports at The Atlantic Al Qaeda is now publishing an English-language magazine.

As the U.S. struggles to manage its efforts to influence opinion about Al Qaeda abroad, Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula has produced its first English-language propaganda magazine.

The table of contents teases an interview with the leader of AQAP who promises to "answer various questions pertaining to the jihad in the Arabian Peninsula."  It includes a feature about how to "make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom."
AQAP’s first effort to post the magazine to jihadist websites failed Wednesday, as many of the pages were contaminated with a virus. (I half seriously believe that U.S. cyber warriors might have had a hand in that little surprise.)
The US is quite worried about Al Qaeda’s new publishing ambitions, which mark a more sophisticated effort to engage the English-language world and to recruit English-speaking Muslims to join the cause.

This is a logical – and surprisingly overdue – next step by the largely information-savvy Al Qaeda. It will be interesting to see how the magazine is received, if and how Al Qaeda adapts to feedback, and ultimately if Al Qaeda can adhere to a regular publishing schedule.

One thought on “Al Qaeda publishes an English language magazine

  1. True/Slant had a piece a while back about the Arabic version of Al-Q’s mag, including a pdf version of it on their site: http://trueslant.com/nealungerleider/2009/11/04/new-issue-of-al-qaeda-magazine-sada-al-malahim-released/Hasn't anyone explained to Al-Q that getting into the publishing biz these days is suicide? But I can only imagine the names on the masthead. And the adverts in such a mag must be interesting, to say the least. If it doesn’t include an Editor’s Note from Osama, I’m not subscribing….

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