Inside the Mind of a Terrorist

An Australian journalist - a woman, no less* - was able to open a line of communication through email to a jihadist in Afghanistan, who had fought with the Mooj, and was able to keep him corresponding.

In September, I rather cheekily requested a dialogue with a prominent Islamic militant. Egyptian-born Abu Walid al-Masri is a legendary figure in mujaheddin circles.

A 30-year veteran of jihad, he was known during the Soviet-Afghan war for his prowess as a military strategist. Years later, he became the first foreigner to swear allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

He counts among his old friends Osama bin Laden and the senior leadership of al-Qa'ida, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan as well as Taliban-linked military commander Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Abu Walid is also a prolific author. He began writing in 1978 after leaving southern Lebanon, where he fought against Israeli forces. When he joined the Afghan jihad in 1979, he reported on the conflict for several publications. He became committed to the idea of establishing an Islamic state in Afghanistan.

Wow. This guy is quite a score. And she was able to keep him on the hook for a while, too.

When I asked to talk to him, I hoped he might share his views on the history of foreign fighters in Afghanistan and explain the nature of al-Qa'ida's relationship with the Taliban, as well as his relationship with these two groups. Asking him was a long shot.

Especially since he was aware I am a former counter-terrorism analyst turned academic who specialises in al-Qa'ida. To my amazement, he agreed. For the past two months we have engaged in a dialogue, much of which has played out publicly via our respective blogs.

He recently told me he "never thought for a second this might happen one day". Neither did I. But getting to this point was not easy. In the war on terror it has become commonplace to dehumanise our adversaries and disregard their grievances. A fear of moral contagion means talking to militants legitimises their cause. Understanding what drives them has taken second place to eradicating them, even in the academic world.

Our dialogue started with this baggage. Abu Walid was, for good reason, distrustful of my motives. He believed I was seeking information to allow me "to better understand and target my enemy". After I explained it was for my PhD on al-Qa'ida and that I was trying to cut through pervasive myths about the group, he agreed to answer my questions.

In the process, we have discovered we agree on some things: most notably that al-Qa'ida has done its dash in the Islamic world. Abu Walid believes al-Qa'ida's actions have caused more harm than good. The terrorism war, he tells me, has proven "to be far from the mood of the Muslim people and the result has been popular hatred towards it".

He laments that "jihad has become synonymous with the explosive belt and the car bomb . . . and this is a real disaster because war is not indiscriminate killing".

According to Abu Walid, the dominant mood within the jihadist milieu is that "guns and bombs are the only approved means for change". He questions this, asking "who said that carrying the weapon is the only choice and is inevitable?" And he says al-Qa'ida's reliance on suicide attacks leads observers to think it has "a surplus of fighters' lives and would like to get rid of them".

When I ask him about al-Qa'ida's objectives, he tells me it lacks strategic vision and instead relies on "shiny slogans" around which to rally its troops. He also thinks it is an authoritarian organisation, telling me bin Laden runs al-Qa'ida with "absolute individual leadership". This makes it "the first private sector jihad organisation in Muslim history".

He is concerned the "extremely negative" outcome of this experience "may be replicated in the future" with other groups and draws an analogy of jihadi groups operating in the future in a similar way to Western mercenary organisations. Such criticism of al-Qa'ida is virtually unheard of among jihadists. Especially from someone who still considers its leaders his friends, has not been excommunicated by them and continues to write for Taliban's publications.

Abu Walid has also railed against allegations he has been a member of al-Qa'ida and that his criticism of the organisation represents a split in the movement.

She's still translating the emails, and as they are completed, they are posted online in an archive. Follow the links on the right side.

* I've got nothing against female journalists - it's just remarkable that a female was able to gain/maintain contact with someone in one of the most misogynistic organizations in world history

By: Brant