In late 2003, the collective American conscious disregarded the war in Afghanistan and observed with intense focus the happenings of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as the militant determined to … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – A Lion Emerges
Unsurprisingly, Nashwan Abdulrazzaq Abdulbaqi al-Tamir, the leader of Brigade 55, known as Abdulhadi al-Iraqi, commanded the al-Qaida paramilitary response to the American invasion. His frontline lieutenants in the north, Abdulsalam … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Dawn of the Insurgency
The captures of Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and his nephew Ammar al-Baluchi thoroughly disrupted the current and potential mechanics of al-Qaida external operations. Now the two represented an abundant wealth of … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Parrying The Pakistanis
The Karachi raids deprived Khalid Sheikh Mohamed of an adequate cell of men, facilitators, two of his best lieutenants, an enormity of supplies, and of course a series of viable … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Collapse Of The External Structure
After the debacle of Damodola, it seemed unlikely that the US would engage in another unilateral airstrike operation in the populated regions of the FATA in sovereign Pakistan. Thus far … Continue reading SERIES: Predators Of The Khorasan – Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah
Khalid Sheikh Mohamed struggled to maintain an al-Qaida momentum in 2002, yet still had well placed assets both local and beyond. His subordinates the Rabbani brothers, continued to manage safehouses … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – The Perfume Letter Plot and Failaka Island
Unyielding dedication to intricate plots to match or supplement the 9/11 attacks left Khalid Sheikh Mohamed in a quagmire of half-constructed conspiracies and idealized, yet inept operatives. In addition to … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – External Structure and Early Misfortunes
Having examined the state of al-Qaida internal management in the immediate aftermath of the US invasion into their haven and stronghold of Afghanistan, we must shift to the jihadist network’s … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – External Structure Under KSM
In order to chronicle the initial CIA drone strikes in Pakistan during the early aughts in a separate series, Predators of the Khorasan, it is imperative that we examine and … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Internal Structure Post-2001
After the strike that killed Hamza Rabia proved that the drone campaign could actually track and assassinate major al-Qaida figures successfully, the efforts were focused to remove larger numbers of … Continue reading SERIES: Predators Of The Khorasan – The Damadola Incident; A Portent of the Future Drone Campaign
Chronicles in Zealotry 