Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
appeared to be nerve gas; in 2003, a Saudi cleric affiliated with Al-Qaeda issued a
fatwa justifying the deployment of weapons of mass destruction against those he
called “enemies of Islam;”
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in 2008, a 39-minute Al-Qaeda video called for the use
of CBRN materials against the West; and in February 2009, an Al-Qaeda video
discusses the potential use of anthrax against the United States.
In 2004, Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, also known as Abu Musab al-Suri, pub-
lished a 1600-page treatise titled “The Call for Global Islamic Resistance,” which
attempted to lay the groundwork for the generation of Al-Qaeda members. al-Suri's
thoughts follow the lines laid out by the thinkers of fourth-generation warfare, dis-
cussed earlier, that there is a “decreasing dependence on centralized logistics,” that
the onus on supplying the materials needed for an operation is on the respective cell
members. al-Suri's slogan is
nizam, la tanzim
or “system, not organization.”
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al-
Suri's thoughts on the importance of Al-Qaeda central leadership aside, the system
is already in place. Using the fourth-generation model, terrorists are taking it upon
themselves to acquire their own weapons and build them in place without having
to rely on a central hub not only for materials but also for the construction of the
device, thus lowering the risk factor.
The July 2009 Jakarta hotel bombers reportedly used a florist, Ibrohim
Muhharm, to smuggle in the bomb components. Using his position as an employee,
Muhharm allegedly smuggled the components through the hotels loading dock in
packages addressed to the florist. The bombs were later constructed in a room inside
the hotel.
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As with all other elements of tradecraft, the terrorist is looking to exploit vul-
nerabilities in the defense, whether it is in deriving financing, acquiring weapons,
or conducting the actual attack. Due diligence on the part of the defenders is a
given, but so is the effort to build a public-private partnership. The tip that led
to the arrests of the 2006 airline plotters was started by a phone call made by
neighbors living in the same complex where the safe house was located.
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Rick
Schlender and Jerry Showalter were the employees on duty the two days that Terry
Nichols bought the ammonium nitrate from the Mid-Kansas Co-Op. Although
the two men did nothing wrong, they suffered anguish at the thought that they
unknowingly supplied the key ingredient for the bomb. Educating and training not
only law enforcement but also the multitude of public-private partners, hardening
soft targets such as explosive storage sheds, and enacting legislation that will make
it more difficult to acquire specific precursors will go a long way in thwarting this
fourth generation of warfare—by making the key decisions needed to counter the
chaos of the current threat environment.
Modes of Attack
One of the requirements for an effective counterterrorism strategy is an under-
standing of the enemy's tactics. The diffuse nature of terrorist groups, especially in
