The new category, Terrorist Profiles, could be placed in "Know Your Enemy" but separating the leaders from the culture and bigger picture, each will be more readily available.
Our first addition is Adam Gadahn, a seemingly unlikely islamist. Gadahn grew up in California to far left liberals, living in austere conditions. Straight To It has done a significant history of this American Al-Qaeda member. He has gone into greater depth of Gadahn's youth than will I, particularly since there is no need for me to re-create the wheel.
The story of his conversion is striking and fast-paced. Once he found a religion, he went straight to the extremes of it, in the heart of American Capitalism: Orange County, CA. And his story goes directly against what I would have concluded in 2001. He is very much an American, who not only gained entrance to Al-Qaeda, but has risen to a senior leadership role in it.
Though his speeches are more akin to those of an evil villain in cartoons, it is clear that he delivers
Like many teenagers, he rebelled against his upbringing, but unlike most he never moderated past the blanket hatred of all things parental. A bit of his timeline:
- Born to Counterculture, Anti-Consumers, he grew up without running water, without conventional electricity, without telephone, and without an address.
- 1995, at 16 years old, he moved to Santa Ana to live with his grandparents.
- 1995, he began searching for a religion on the internet.
- 1995, he began attending the Orange County Mosque.
- November 17, 1995, he converted to Islam.
- In direct conflict with the "free love" ideals of his parents 60's style generation, Gadahn came to embrace even a short skirt as haram, a cardinal sin, and women as 2nd Class citizens.
- Ended his communications with his non-muslim family.
- May 1997: Gadahn punched a senior Muslim leader who he considered too tolerant of non-muslims and who he routinely called "Danny the Jew."
- His daily routine became going to the Mosque for the 5 daily prayers and spending the rest of the day in his apartment.
- Post 9/11, Gadahn popped up as the Head of As-Sahab, the propaganda wing of Al-Qaeda.
- 2006/7: Gadahn publically renounced his American Citizenship, while tearing up his US Passport.
Gadahn has most notably used the IT skills he learned as a Southern California Teenager to create Al-Qaeda propaganda videos which continue to be spread widely on the internet. As dedicated as his parents were to all things far left anti-capitalism, he has swung to the far islamist extreme. This is as much a rebellion from the ideals of his parents as an extreme of some of their ideals.
Upcoming in Terrorist Profiles: Prominent Residents of Gitmo.
Stumble It!
