Making Terrorists: Best Practices

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Making Terrorists Best Practices
James J.F. Forest, Ph.D.Director of Terrorism
StudiesWest Point, NYAugust 9, 2006
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Making Terrorists Best Practices

• What do we know about the transformation of an
  ordinary person into a terrorist?
• A terrorist needs to develop the will to kill
  motivational learning
• A terrorist needs to develop the skill to kill
  operational learning
• We can counter the will to kill (indoctrination,
  radicalization), but not the skill to kill (can't
  "unlearn" how to drive a car)
• Thus, it is important to identify, recognize
  symptoms of the radicalization process, the
  development of violent intentions, and find
  opportunities to effectively intervene in that
  process

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What do we know about radicalization in the
terrorist world?

• Because these are learning organizations, we know
  that they learn from each other.
• If I were a member of this terrorist world, I
  would seek out whatever learning resources I
  could find about best practices of radicalization
  and terrorist recruitment.
• And, lucky me, there are literally thousands of
  terrorist group websites and publications
  available throughout the world, some offering
  their messages in multiple languages, and all of
  which demonstrate effective ideological marketing
  practices.
• In general, these materials seek to establish a
  rationale for their use of violence in pursuit of
  particular goals and objectives.
• In addition to written appeals for action,
  images, music, speeches and videos are also used
  to persuadeor at least connect witha website
  visitor on an emotional and intellectual level.

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If I were to write a central reference volume of
radicalization, what would it look like?

• Table of Contents
• PART I Means and Places of Radicalization
• PART II Case Studies
• PART III Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Radicalizing New Members A Compilation of Best
Practices and Guidance for Terrorist Organizations
Published by the Global Terrorism Media Front
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Radicalizing New Members

• PART I Means and Places of Radicalization
• 1 Places of Worship (mosque, church,
  synagogue) special importance because of
  interpretation power
• 2 Places of Political Ideas and Learning
  (school, madrasa, university)
• 3 Places of Shared Purpose and Bonds (places of
  work, community centers, soccer leagues, prisons)
• 4 Communities, Families, Social Networks
  (dinner table, local picnic)
• 5 The Internet (open access to publishers and
  seekers of info)
• 6 Unique Places (training camps, secret
  facilities, al Manar)
• As Marc Sageman and other researchers have
  observed, all of these produce groups of
  like-minded individuals whose shared purpose and
  experiences build lifelong trust and a sense of
  us, together against the world among its
  members.

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• PART II Case Studies

Irish Republican Army Hizballah ETA (Basque
Separatists) LEHI, Stern Gang and Zvi Irgun
(Jewish extremists) Tamil Tigers (LTTE) Sendero
Luminoso FARC MRTA (Tupac Amaru movement) Al
Qaida Jemaah Islamiya Aum Shinrikyo Moro Islamic
Liberation Front Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Algerian GIA and GSPC Syrian Muslim
Brotherhood Hizb ut-Tahrir Al Qaeda in
Iraq Lashkar-e Taiba (and other Kashmir
groups) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Italian
Red Brigades Red Army Faction (Baader Meinhof
Gang) U.S.-based militia groups The Order, the
Aryan Brotherhood, Christian Identity, The Sword,
the Covenant Arm of the Lord Others?
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• PART III Best Practices and Lessons Learned
• Start the radicalization process when young
• So-called "seekers" of any age are prime
  candidates for becoming radicalized (you know
  what a seeker is you know a seeker, looking for
  something that is not in his or her life
  searching for meaning, purpose, etc.)
• Family radicalization is more effective than
  focusing on a single individual (bonds of blood)
• Radicalization of any kind requires local context
  (but not necessarily local hardships) e.g.,
  London vs. Kashmir

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Radicalizing New Members

• PART III Best Practices and Lessons Learned
• Radicalization involves a new or different vision
  of the future (a future that cannot be achieved
  w/out violence)
• Radicalization is rooted in information, beliefs
  and perceptions, and interpretation (hence the
  important role of churches, schools)
• Emotions are more powerful than intellectual
  appeals (motivated by feelings, not rationale)
• Images are often more powerful than words

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Radicalizing New Members

• PART III Best Practices (Cont.)
• All insurgencies require some form of
  radicalization
• A government can radicalize its people (e.g.,
  Nazi Germany)
• Effective radicalization typically needs a
  charismatic leader or figurehead (However,
  he/she might not necessarily be the source of
  ideology, but the key transmitter/interpreter of
  it)
• Radicalization requires funding
• Radicalization requires purpose

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Radicalizing New Members

• PART III Best Practices (Cont.)
• Religious ideologies are the most powerful
  radicalization agents, because they
• Explain the state of the world, particularly why
  believers are continuously persecuted, oppressed
  or discriminated
• Explain how and why violence may be condoned and
  necessary
• Are often theologically supremacist - meaning
  that all believers assume superiority over
  non-believers, who are not privy to the truth of
  the religion
• Are exclusivist - believers are a chosen people,
  or their territory is a holy land
• Are absolutist - it is not possible to be a
  half-hearted believer, and you are either totally
  within the system, or totally without it (and
  only the true believers are guaranteed salvation
  and victory, whereas the enemies and the
  unbelievers - as well as those who have taken no
  stance whatsoever - are condemned to some sort of
  eternal punishment or damnation, as well as
  death)
• Overall, religious ideologies help foster
  polarizing values in terms of right and wrong,
  good and evil, light and dark - values which can
  be co-opted by terrorist organizations to convert
  a "seeker" into a lethal killer.
• (JP Larsson, Religious Ideologies, in The
  Making of a Terrorist, Volume 1 Recruitment,
  edited by James JF Forest. Westport, CT Praeger,
  2006)

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Counterterrorism Strategy

• So, from this brief exploration into the world of
  terrorist radicalization, what can we learn that
  informs our counterterrorism efforts against the
  global jihadist movement?
• Our ability to intervene in these radicalization
  processes requires the ability to
• identify certain kinds of information (ideas,
  messages, images)
• identify the sources of this information (who is
  seen as a legitimate source of knowledge/interpret
  ation within a particular group or movement?)
• disrupt the radicalization process any way we can
• understand (and if possible, avoid) actions which
  can be interpreted as justification for radical
  ideology

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Counterterrorism Strategy

• The problem is global in scope, yet local in
  context
• There is a universal strategy behind the current
  Islamist militant threat jihadi terrorism is
  about thinking globally and acting locally.
• Local groups learn strategies and tactics from
  other groups anywhere in the world, regardless of
  ideological vision
• It is thus important for counterterrorism
  professionals to understand the global terrorism
  knowledge base
• We must understand the global spectrum of
  interpreters and responders, and their role in a
  radical movements trajectory

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Think global, act local

• I and thousands like me are forsaking everything
  for what we believe. Our driving motivation
  doesnt come from tangible commodities that this
  world has to offer. Our religion is Islam
  obedience to the one true God, Allah, and
  following the footsteps of the final prophet and
  messenger Muhammad Your democratically elected
  governments continuously perpetuate atrocities
  against my people all over the world. And your
  support of them makes you directly responsible,
  just as I am directly responsible for protecting
  and avenging my Muslim brothers and sisters.
  Until we feel security, you will be our targets.
  And until you stop the bombing, gassing,
  imprisonment and torture of my people we will not
  stop this fight. We are at war and I am a
  soldier.
• Mohammad Sidique Khan, participant in the July 7,
  2005 suicide bomb attacks in London, in a video
  message released by the British authorities Sept.
  1, 2005.

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Counterterrorism Strategy

• There is a vital Information Warfare/Strategic
  Communications dimension to the current terrorist
  threat
• How long a radicalization process might take will
  vary from individual to individual, but there
  seems to be some evidence that it can happen
  relatively quickly if the interpreters are
  recognized as authoritative, credible and
  commanding of obedience.
• We need to develop the ability to counter radical
  ideologies with alternative kinds of information
  (ideas, messages, images)
• The lack of countervailing influences within
  societies, communities, families, and other
  institutions to which individuals belong will
  also have an impact on how quickly an individual
  makes the journey towards radicalization and
  extremism, including the desire for martyrdom
  through suicide attacks.

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Counterterrorism Strategy

• Focus on places of ideological interpretation
• We must establish a presence inside the places of
  radicalization (institutions of worship,
  learning, shared purpose, etc. as well as the
  Internet) in order to reach the audiences that
  are being radicalized from within.
• Further, we must have the active assistance of
  individuals who are already established as
  credible peers within those institutions . . .
• Coming at this problem from the outside, where
  our messages and ideas are already discredited,
  does very little.
• Local law enforcement personnel play an important
  role as the intelligence sensors within
  communities of concern
• They should know where the hotspots are in their
  city, and have some sense of the cultural
  dimensions of certain neighborhoods

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Counterterrorism Strategy

• Multiple dimensions required in our CT approach
• Focus on where youth might be exposed to radical
  ideas(including clubs, youth groups, video
  games, Internet, etc.)
• Identify and target the funding streams
• Radical charismatic leaders must be identified
  and dealt with (e.g., discrediting their radical
  ideas as unsupported by core values)
• Interagency and multinational cooperation will be
  critical to our success.

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Counterterrorism Strategy

• Tackling radicalization requires a multi-agency
  effort
• The FBI plays an important role in the
  information warfare/strategic communications
  aspects of countering radicalization
• Through extensive knowledge assets, investigation
  techniques and national perspective
• By your ability to detect regional patterns and
  activities that local law enforcement agencies
  would likely not be aware of
• By your ability to identify linkages among key
  interpreters in various parts of the country as
  well as globally
• Overall, FBI brings an important nationwide
  perspective to identifying the spread of radical
  ideologies and other symptoms of a terrorist
  threat . . So, thank you for all that you do to
  help protect this great nation.

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• Questions?