Sheikh Adam: our worst enemy or our best friend?

I say he's our best friend, and will explain why in a moment, but first a brief overview of his latest video.

"Sheikh" Adam Gadahn in his shagadelic pad

---

---

---

Gadahn plays the shame card

I reckon there are two reasons why this video is in Arabic - first to reach out to the Arab core of the jihad, which evidently is not as supportive as it used to be. The second is to increase the perceived legitimacy of the message among the non-Arabic speakers for whom subtitles are provided. Of course, it might just be because Adam and Anwar are tired of being described as English-speaking and belittled by Western analysts on account of that. Speaking of Sheikh Anwar, he talks a lot about chasing kitty cats into corners in order to frighten them...

---

---

---

---

---

---

In a future life Adam will sell mops on late night TV

---

---

---

The 9-11 attack, a classic example of jihadi improvisation...

---

---

---

The 7-7 bombers - trained by al-Qaida

---

---

---

All three of these attacks were successful because our side screwed up. Also, Umar was a trained al-Qaida operative

---

---

---

Faisal was a trained operative (albeit a rotten student). I count 27 so far Adam, not "hundreds"

---

---

---

Glad you mentioned that - I was going to suggest the same thing

Yes folks, I *want* you to read that epistle from Sheikh Adam. In fact I've got a copy of it posted for your convenience right here...

Leaderless jihad AKA leaderless resistance - which is what al-Qaida has been advocating for the better part of a year - is a recipe for failure. To the extent that Sheikh Adam advocates it he's working for us. Being inclined to think of the leadership of al-Qaida as relatively intelligent, I can't help but wonder if all this talk about such an approach isn't a smoke screen for more organized effort, as in the oft-cited Mumbai attack. On that note, I'm not sure how switching to squads of trained commandos from single trained bomb makers increases the likelihood of success. Sailing down the coast to Mumbai was relatively easy. Infiltrating an entire team of gunmen into Copenhagen or Paris is another matter altogether.

See also: Adam Gadahn makes the case for the weakness of al-Qaida Central

Posted on 25 October 2010 @ 00:43