by
Finn, Melissa.
Call Number
363.325 23
Publication Date
2012
Format:
Electronic Resources
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3.3162
by
Wade, Alan.
Call Number
823.92 22
Publication Date
2010
Summary
Al Qaeda knew before the 9/11 bombings that their mission to destroy Western capitalist culture would become extremely difficult if they continued to use the same methods as those deployed on the World Trade Centre, Spanish Trains and the London Underground. Their decisions would have a profound effect on terrorist operations for the next fifty years and would include the recruiting of disaffected white non-Muslim men and women; the limited use of electronic communication and previously unused.
Format:
Electronic Resources
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2.6934
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by
Al-Muqrin, ʻAbd Al-ʻAziz, 1973-2004.
Call Number
355.425 22
Publication Date
2009
Summary
"Norman Cigar the first English translation of 'Abd Al-Aziz Al-Muqrin's A Practical Course for Guerrilla War. Saudi security forces killed Al-Muqrin, Al-Qa'ida's leader in the Arabian Peninsula, in June 2004. Published posthumously, his Arabic-language manual provides a window into Al-Qa'ida's strategic thinking and into how these terrorists operate. Accompanying the text's translation is material on Al-Muqrin's life and Cigar's cogent and detailed analysis of the key ideas in the jihadist's doctrine and the results of Al-Qa'ida's insurgency efforts on the Arabian Peninsula."--Jacket.
Format:
Electronic Resources
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2.0394
by
Bahney, Benjamin.
Call Number
363.32509567 22
Publication Date
2010
Summary
This monograph analyzes the finances of the militant group al-Qa'ida in Iraq (AQI) in Anbar province during 2005 and 2006, at the peak of the group's power and influence. The authors draw on captured documents that give details on the daily financial transactions of one specific sector within Anbar province and of the financial transactions of the AQI provincial administration. Some of their conclusions are: AQI was a hierarchical organization with decentralized decisionmaking; AQI in Anbar was profitable enough to send substantial revenues out of the province in 2006; AQI relied on extortion, theft, and black market sales to fund its operations in Anbar; AQI needed large, regular revenue sources to fund its operations, but its administrative leaders did not hold much cash on hand. The authors' interpretation of data on compensation practices and participants' risk of death indicates that AQI members were poorly compensated and suggests that they were not motivated primarily by money to join the group. The authors also find that mounting attacks required organizational expenditures well beyond the cost of materiel used in attacks. One major conclusion is that disrupting AQI's financial flows could disrupt the pace of their attacks.
Format:
Electronic Resources
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2.0256
by
Gerges, Fawaz A., 1958-
Call Number
363.325 22
Publication Date
2011
Summary
In this concise and fascinating book, Fawaz A. Gerges argues that Al-Qaeda has degenerated into a fractured, marginal body kept alive largely by the self-serving anti-terrorist bureaucracy it helped to spawn. In The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda, Gerges, a leading authority on Islamic extremism, argues that the West has become mired in a "terrorism narrative," stemming from the mistaken belief that it is in danger of a devastating attack by a crippled Al-Qaeda. To explain why Al-Qaeda is no longer a threat, he provides a briskly written history of the organization, showing its emergence from the disintegrating local jihadist movements of the mid-1990s--not the Afghan resistance of the 1980s, as many believe--in "a desperate effort to rescue a sinking ship by altering its course". During this period, Gerges interviewed many jihadis, gaining a first-hand view of the movement that Bin Laden tried to reshape by internationalizing it. He reveals that global jihad has attracted but a small minority within the Arab world and possesses no viable social and popular base. Furthermore, he shows that the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a major miscalculation--no "river" of fighters flooded from Arab countries to defend Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, as Bin Laden expected. Gerges concludes that the movement has splintered into feuding factions, neutralizing itself more effectively than a Predator drone. Forceful, incisive, and written with extensive inside knowledge, this book will alter the debate on global terrorism.
Format:
Electronic Resources
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1.9650
by
Davis, Paul K., 1943-
Call Number
363.32 21
Publication Date
2002
Summary
Historical experience has shown that successful strategies to combat terrorism that is spawned by serious, deep-rooted problems have involved first crushing the current threat and then bringing about changes to make terrorism?s reemergence less likely. While deterrence of terrorism may at first glance seem to be an unrealistic goal -- concepts such as co-optation and inducement cannot be expected to be effective for dealing with terrorists who have the unshakable commitment of an Osama bin Laden -- it may be possible to influence some members of terrorist groups. Such groups are not simply single entities; rather, they are systems, with diverse elements, many of which could be amenable to influence. Thus, to sustain its counterterrorism efforts for the long term, the United States must develop a multifaceted strategy that includes attempting to influence those elements of terrorist systems that may be deterrable, such as state supporters or wealthy financiers living the good life while supporting terrorists in the shadows. The U.S. strategy should comprise not only military attacks, but also political warfare; placing at risk the things that terrorists hold dear; a credible threat of force against any state or group that supports the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction for terrorist uses; and maintaining cooperation with other nations that are also engaged in the war on terror. At the same time, the strategy must preserve core American values, including discriminate use of force and maintaining due process in the provision of speedy justice.
Format:
Electronic Resources
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1.8138
by
Springer, Devin R.
Call Number
363.325 22
Publication Date
2009
Summary
An accessible overview of the philosophical foundations, strategic vision, organizational dynamics, and tactics of the modern jihadist movementspecifically Al-Qa'ida.
Format:
Electronic Resources
Relevance:
1.7151
by
Jenkins, Brian Michael.
Call Number
363.325 23
Publication Date
2012
Summary
More than ten years after 9/11, there is still remarkable lack of consensus among analysts' assessments of al Qaeda's current condition and future capabilities. Almost every issue is debated: Whether America has won the operational battle but lost the ideological contest; whether homegrown terrorism is a growing threat; whether maintaining American troops in Afghanistan is essential; whether the United States ought to declare on its own an end to the war on al Qaeda. Part of the debate is driven by political agendas, but the arguments derive from the fact that al Qaeda is many things at once and must be viewed in all of its various dimensions. This essay examines a number of these issues in light of recent developments--the death of Osama bin Laden, the Arab Spring, and the American withdrawal from Iraq. In each case, it drives toward a bottom line. In the final analysis, it is a personal view.
Format:
Electronic Resources
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1.5761
by
Jones, Seth G., 1972-
Call Number
363.32516 22
Publication Date
2008
Summary
All terrorist groups eventually end. But how? Most modern groups have ended because they joined the political process or local police and intelligence agencies arrested or killed key members. This has significant implications for dealing with al Qa'ida and suggests fundamentally rethinking post-9/11 U.S. counterterrorism strategy: Policing and intelligence, not military force, should form the backbone of U.S. efforts against al Qa'ida.
Format:
Electronic Resources
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1.4811
by
Jenkins, Brian Michael.
Call Number
363.320973 21
Publication Date
2002
Summary
Having achieved its initial goals in the war on terrorism, the United States is now in a second, more complex phase of the campaign. This monograph reviews events since the attacks of September 11, 2001, and discusses the current state of the al Qaeda organization and the kinds of actions that can be expected of it in the foreseeable future. Because al Qaeda constitutes the most serious immediate threat to the security of the United States, it is imperative that the campaign against terrorism remain focused and pragmatic. This monograph outlines and describes the essential, central elements that must be emphasized in this campaign, the ultimate aim of which is the destruction of a terrorist enterprise that threatens American security and, by extension, the security of the world.
Format:
Electronic Resources
Relevance:
1.4683
by
Williams, Brian Glyn, author.
Call Number
327.1273054911 23
Publication Date
2013
Summary
Predators is a riveting introduction to the murky world of Predator and Reaper drones, the CIA's and U.S. military's most effective and controversial killing tools. Brian Glyn Williams combines policy analysis with the human drama of the spies, terrorists, insurgents, and innocent tribal peoples who have been killed in the covert operation -- the CIA's largest assassination campaign since the Vietnam War era -- being waged in Pakistan's tribal regions via remote control aircraft known as drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles. Having traveled extensively in the Pashtun tribal areas while working for the U.S. military and the CIA, Williams explores in detail the new technology of airborne assassinations. From miniature Scorpion missiles designed to kill terrorists while avoiding civilian "collateral damage" to prathrais, the cigarette lighter-size homing beacons spies plant on their unsuspecting targets to direct drone missiles to them, the author describes the drone arsenal in full. Evaluating the ethics of targeted killings and drone technology, Williams covers more than a hundred drone strikes, analyzing the number of slain civilians versus the number of terrorists killed to address the claims of antidrone activists. In examining the future of drone warfare, he reveals that the U.S. military is already building more unmanned than manned aerial vehicles. Predators helps us weigh the pros and cons of the drone program so that we can decide whether it is a vital strategic asset, a "frenemy," or a little of both.
Format:
Electronic Resources
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1.4146
by
Rabasa, Angel.
Call Number
363.32512 22
Publication Date
2006
Summary
Five years after September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups continue to threaten the lives and well being of Americans and the security of our friends and allies. This study first examines how al-Qaeda has changed since September 11. It then turns to an analysis of the broader global jihadist movement-al-Qaeda and affiliated or associated terrorist groups or groups that may not be formally part of the al-Qaeda network but that have assimilated its worldview and concept of mass-casualty terrorist attacks. These groups, the authors believe, are where the center of gravity of the current global terrorist threat now lies. They conclude by setting out a four-pronged strategy against terrorist groups: Attack the ideological underpinnings of global jihadism; seek to sever the links-ideological and otherwise-between local and global jihadists; deny sanctuaries to terrorists; and strengthen the capabilities of front-line states to counter local terrorist threats.
Format:
Electronic Resources
Relevance:
1.3259
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