High_Gravity
Belligerent Drunk
Al Qaeda's Young Extremists
Al Qaeda's Young Extremists
LONDON -- Even before Osama bin Laden's death a month ago, a young generation of would-be terrorists had turned away from the al-Qaida leader toward a new breed of brash, charismatic ideologues.
For many of these extremists, the 54-year-old bin Laden was a man of decades past aging, longwinded and increasingly out of touch as he remained in hiding. One former jihadist compared him to a grandfather, while others have little memory of the 9/11 attacks and no interest in his history in the Soviet-Afghan war.
"We respected him ... but ... no one has seen him as much of a figure for a long time," said a 28-year-old former extremist from east London, who insisted on anonymity because of fears of reprisals. He was 18 when he began associating with extremists, he said.
Young jihadists prefer the bluntly violent rhetoric of clerics like Abu Yahya al-Libi, a Libyan-born hard-liner and rising figure within al-Qaida, and newcomer Khalid bin Abd al-Rahman al-Husaynan, whose most famous video mocks President Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" campaign slogan. Investigators fear that the hardline tone of such videos, along with a tougher atmosphere in online forums, could increase the number of young people radicalized online.
Al-Qaida itself has recognized the need to promote new voices in place of leaders such as bin Laden and his closest deputy, 59-year-old Ayman al-Zawahri. In recent months, al-Qaida's media arm, As-Sahab, has heavily promoted al-Libi, in his late 40s, and al-Husaynan, whose age isn't known.
Both offer a bullish tone and uncompromising message. In contrast, bin Laden occasionally attempted to explain his group's actions and once, in a 2006 audiotape, even discussed a long-term truce with the United States.
"The younger ideological figures can relate much better to some of the younger guys," said Aaron Zelin, who runs the Jihadology website tracking extremist activity online. "For those who are 16 to 25 now, they've grown up with a different world view."
It is the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the plight of Muslims in Gaza that strike a chord with young extremists now, he said, just as the Soviet-Afghan war of the late 1970s and 1980s did for bin Laden's generation.
Al-Libi in particular is feted, not least for his audacious 2005 escape from custody at the U.S. Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. He is seen as bringing "youthful energy and a fresh perspective" to al-Qaida, said Jarret Brachman, a terrorism expert who has spent a decade monitoring al-Qaida's media operations and advises the U.S. government.
Al Qaeda's Young Extremists