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Syria's Growing Jihad

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 55; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00396338.2013.823034

1468-2699

Seth G. Jones,

Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

Abstract Syria is becoming a training ground for foreign fighters and a microcosm of sectarian conflict. The quicker the Assad regime falls, the better. Notes Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Join the Caravan (London: Azzam Publications, 2001). Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman, Al Qa'ida's Foreign Fighters in Iraq: A First Look at the Sinjar Records (West Point, NY: Harmony Project, Combating Terrorism Center, 2007). Brian Fishman, ed., Bombers, Bank Accounts, and Bleedout: Al Qa'ida's Road In and Out of Iraq (West Point, NY: Harmony Project, Combating Terrorism Center, 2008), pp. 50, 70. Audio statement by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, 10 April 2013. Thomas Joscelyn, 'Al Nusrah Front Leader Renews Allegiance to al Qaeda, Rejects New Name', Long War Journal, 10 April 2013. Shaykh ul-Islaam Taqi-ud-Deen Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah, The Religious and Moral Doctrine of Jihad (Birmingham: Maktabah al Ansaar Publications, 2001). The author thanks Bruce Hoffman for these points. Video statement by Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, 24 January 2012. Bill Roggio, 'Al Nusrah Front Imposes Sharia in Eastern Syrian Town', Long War Journal, 30 January 2013. Sayyid Qutb, Ma'alam fi al-Tariq (New Delhi: Islamic Book Service, 2007). The Koran, 5:50. On Qutb's work see Gilles Kepel, The Prophet and Pharaoh: Muslim Extremism in Egypt (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1985); Olivier Carré, Mystique et Politique (Paris: Presses de la FNSP and Cerf, 1984); Ibrahim M. Abu Rabi, Intellectual Origins of Islamic Resurgence in the Muslim Arab World (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1996). See, for example, Qutb, Ma'alam fi alTariq, p. 57. The term 'Salafi-jihadist' initially began to appear in the literature of the Islamic Armed Group in Algeria. See, for example, Alain Grignard, 'La Littérature Politique du GIA, des Origines à Djamal Zitoun – Esquisse d'Une Analyse', in F. Dassetto, ed., Facettes de l'Islam Belge (Louvain-la-Neuve: Academia-Bruylant, 2001). Also see Assaf Moghadam, 'The Salafi-Jihad as a Religious Ideology', CTC Sentinel, vol. 1, no. 3, February 2008, pp. 14–16; Moghadam, 'Motives for Martyrdom: Al-Qaida, Salafi Jihad, and the Spread of Suicide Attacks', International Security, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 46–78. Author interview with government officials from Europe and the Middle East, April and May 2013. Letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, 9 July 2005. Released by the Harmony Project, Combating Terrorism Center, West Point. Ibid. Ibid. Audio statement by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, April 2013. Audio statement by Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, 10 April 2013. On the broader debate between Jabhat al-Nusrah and al-Qaeda in Iraq also see Thomas Joscelyn, 'Al Nusrah Front Leader Renews Allegiance to al Qaeda, Rejects New Name', Long War Journal, 10 April 2013. 'Treasury Sanctions Al-Nusrah Front Leadership in Syria and Militias Supporting the Assad Regime', US Treasury Department, 11 December 2012. On Syrian opposition groups see Elizabeth O'Bagy, Jihad in Syria (Washington DC: Institute for the Study of War, September 2012); Aron Lund, Syrian Jihadism (Uppsala: Swedish Institute of International Affairs, 2012); Joseph Holliday, Syria's Maturing Insurgency (Washington DC: Institute for the Study of War, 2012). Elizabeth O'Bagy, The Free Syrian Army (Washington DC: Institute for the Study of War, 2013). Bill Roggio, 'Al Nusrah Front Poised to Take Over Last Major City on Euphrates River', Long War Journal, 13 March 2013. Colonel Riad al-Asaad made the comments in an undated YouTube video. See, for example, Bill Roggio, 'Free Syrian Army Commander Praises Al Nusrah Front as "Brothers"', Long War Journal, 30 March 2013. 'Syrian Opposition Urges U.S. to Reconsider Al-Nusrah Move', Hurriyet Daily News, 12 December 2012. Video statement by Jabhat al-Nusrah, 27 February 2012. 'Terrorist Designations of the al-Nusrah Front as an Alias for al-Qa'ida in Iraq', US Department of State, 11 December 2012. 'Report: Police Foil al-Nusra Bomb Attack Planned for Adana', Zaman, 30 May 2013; 'Explosives Seized at Syria Border', Hurriyet Daily News, 2 June 2013; Barbara Starr, 'Al Qaeda Affiliate in Syria Now Best-Equipped of the Group', CNN, 17 June 2013. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Facebook page, February 2013; Bill Roggio, 'Al Nusrah Front Spearheads Capture of Syrian Dam, Claims Suicide Assault', Long War Journal, 11 February 2013. See, for example, Bill Roggio, '"Islamist" Factions Seize Syrian Airbase', Long War Journal, 12 February 2013. Eric von Hippel, Democratizing Innovation (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005). Author interview with government officials from Europe and the Middle East, April and May 2013. Statement from Ayman al-Zawahiri, 11 February 2012. Author interview with government officials from Europe and the Middle East, April and May 2013. 'Iraq Says al-Qaeda Flowing Into Syria', al-Jazeera, 5 July 2012. Thomas Hegghammer, 'The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters: Islam and the Globalization of Jihad', International Security, vol. 35, no. 3, Winter 2010–11, pp. 53–94. See, for example, Robin Simcox and Emily Dyer, Al-Qaeda in the United States: A Complete Analysis of Terrorism Offenses (London: Henry Jackson Society, 2013). Anne Barnard and Hania Mourtada, 'Rocket and Gun Attacks Add to Fears that Syria's Strife is Reaching Lebanon', New York Times, 28 May 2013. 'Ahrar al-Sham Brigades Says Al-Nusrah Front "Must Focus on Fighting Regime"', Al-Hayah,6 May 2013; 'Islamic Ahrar al-Sham Movement Reacts to Call for Islamic State, Allegiance to Al-Qa'ida', Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television, 8 May 2013. Daniel Byman, et al, Trends in Outside Support for Insurgent Movements (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2001). Seth G. Jones, Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2008), pp. 21–24; Ben Connable and Martin C. Libicki, How Insurgencies End (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2010), p. 62. Author interview with government officials from Europe and the Middle East, April and May 2013. 'On Anniversary of bin Laden's Death, Little Backing of al Qaeda', Pew Research Center, 30 April 2012. Thomas Hegghammer, Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism Since 1979 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010). Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, 2 October 2007. The editor of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Tareq Al-Humaid, commented that the fatwa 'called a spade a spade' since some Saudi youth 'have become enslaved by Al-Qaeda and its ideology', making it important that the fatwa was directed at Saudi youth and, just as significant, their fathers and mothers. Author interview with US government official deployed to Saudi Arabia during this period, 9 August 2012. 'Muslim Cleric Slams Lebanese Hezbollah for Sending Men to Fight in Syria', BBC, 2 June 2013. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, 'Exploding the Danish Embassy Is Distortion of the Image of Islam', Al-Arab Online, 3 June 2008. Additional informationNotes on contributorsSeth G. Jones Seth G. Jones is Associate Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at RAND, Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies, and author most recently of Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of Al Qa'ida Since 9/11 (New York: Norton, 2012).