What is terrorism and how is it so closely tied to Islam? “Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy and forgiveness, and most of them do not have anything to do with the violent events somebody has associated with Muslims. If a Muslim commits an act of terrorism, this person is guilty of violating the laws of Islam. ”
This is what we read on a website that introduce itself as a guide to Islam. Ideas which any human being agrees with.
Jihad Vs What is Terrorism
However, on the Internet it is possible to find an English guide on how to become a perfect terrorist and how to export the creed of Al Qaeda to the West. A handbook for Western converts to jihad, in other words, written by Samir Khan, an American who worked for the Yemeni cell of Al Qaeda and who was killed by a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle) together with the radical Imam Anwar Al Awlaki.
There are several chapters in the guide and all deal with different aspects of a terrorist life. He is given, for example, some advice about personal hygiene in precarious situations, “a daily shower is ideal but in many cases is not possible.” Terrorists are encouraged to keep in order the environments in which they live, and they hide, often shared with other “brothers”.
The handbook even discusses the possibility for a terrorist to take along his family. However, he is discouraged, to avoid seeing their loved ones raped and tortured, if they were discovered.
In the section entitled “Air Bombing”, Khan describes the sound of the drones, “as the buzzing of a bee,” and advises his potential disciples, in the case of fear, to think about the virgins of Heaven and the prophets that they are going to meet once dead.
Surely the most important and interesting chapters are those in which he gives practical advice on what is terrorism targets and guidelines to be complied with in order to avoid being detected.
He writes about what is terrorism and “attacking America in his own backyard” because in this way the resonance, the effect and consideration that they would get, is much stronger, especially if the attack is carried out by a single individual, more difficult to control.
So, with the spread of the Web, it is even easier for terrorists in general to disseminate their ideas and get emulated in and against Western countries. They have moved, in fact, from the initial face to face indoctrination to pamphlets and books, up to the Network, Youtube for example, and dissemination of guides on it.
Fortunately, however, the technology is not always in favor of terror. For this purpose, in fact, Khan emphasizes the importance of not using cell phones for communication, to avoid being wiretapped in some way. Who knows whether he has considered or not the fact that maybe intelligence service can monitor potential terrorists through state-of-the-art eavesdropping devices and video surveillance systems, such as 3G spy camera which allows you to see, with a simple video call,what is going on in the place where it is concealed or, in the case there is no UMTS network coverage, enables at least unlimited and high sound quality remote listening.