Three Elements of Al-Qaeda.Discuss

Three Elements of Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaida is an international terrorist group that orchestrates and funds terrorist activities across the globe. This organization emerged out of the war between Afghanistan and the Soviets, and its core members were the Afghan war veterans drawn from the entire Muslim world. A Saudi militant called Osama bin Laden started Al-Qaida in 1988. Based in Afghanistan, he used an extensive international network to maintain a close connection between various Muslim extremist groups in different regions of the globe. By employing high-tech means, such as satellite telephones, internet, and faxes, Osama was in touch with a considerable number of his followers in the Arab world, as well as Asia, Canada, Europe, and the United States. Al-Qaida’s primary mission was to propagate an international Jihad against the West as well as other western-supported Muslim regimes around the world. While Al-Qaida’s primary mission and objectives have remained constant, it has evolved in its recruitment, finance, and tactics/ strategy before and after 2001.
Before 2001, Al-Qaida was interested in recruiting Muslim and Arab youngsters who resided in Arab and Western countries, with the objective of conscripting them to fight under the flag of Islam. The liaison operative sent by Al-Qaida for the recruitment mission was usually a former member of the organization who had gone through primary ideological and military training in one of the mujahidin camps. Many of the liaison officers were sent back to their mother countries where most of them took positions in mosques that allowed them to identify potential candidates for recruitment and further initiate their training process. After training and evaluation, the new recruits were then invited to become Al-Qaida members.
After 2001, Al-Qaida, by many accounts, transcended its traditional strategy, which sought to recruit actively on a regular basis. It has attained a level of notoriety, which provides the group with the opportunity to allow prospective recruits to ask them for acceptance and recruitment, due to group’s success in promoting its ideology and methods, on a broad scale, via global communication platforms such as the internet, amongst others. In fact, the group has been able to endure sustained applied by coalition forces since 2001 because of such a strategy. With contemporary technological advancements, militant groups have sought to use communications technology in order to spread their messages the their admirers and followers all around the world. In the last decade, Al-Qaida is undoubtedly one of the most successful groups in this regard. Al-Qaida has successfully utilized mediums such as televisions and social media to recruit members, to spread propaganda, and to spread its ideologies. In most cases, these mediums are not only used to convert memebrs, but also to radicalize and recruit new recruits.
Earlier, Al-Qaida set up terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and established an international communications and financing system to provide support for affiliated terrorists around the world. Al-Qaida’s leadership utilized the global financial systems in shifting assets as it prepared for attacks against targets in the West, as well as the Muslim world. The roots of Al-Qaida’s financial network trace back directly to the extensive recruiting and financing systems that were originally established to support anti-Soviet Jihad activities in Afghanistan. These systems grew in sophistication during and after the Bosnia War. Al-Qaida established and infiltrated several international Muslim charities, using them to collect and mask their funds. These charities disbursed funds not only to legitimate humanitarian relief groups, but also for Al-Qaida activities, including the establishment, operation, and maintenance of radical Islamic centres. Such centres propagated virulent theologies and advocated strong opposition to Western values and cultures. In addition, they provided Al-Qaida with the means to undertake extensive worldwide indoctrination and recruitment activities. Al-Qaida also relied heavily on sympathetic financial facilitators and any other deep-pocket donors to obtain and channel funds necessary to meet its logistical and operational requirements. Moreover, the Al-Qaida network received millions of dollars for the production and distribution of opium, which was smuggled into the neighbouring Central Asian states or transported to distribution networks in East Africa. According to a UN report on Terrorism Financing of 2002, the past venues for the organization to receive funds are still in place. In other words, the collaborative relationship between wealthy sponsors, businesses, and charity fonts is still functioning today, as the group uses such strategies to conceal its funds movements. Just like before, Al-Qaida still employs the strategy of using sympathizers and loyalists to disburse funds on its behalf.
When it comes to strategy, Al-Qaida used to spread propaganda through the distribution of pamphlets, television, and video tapes before 2001. After 2001, the organization realized the importance of self-radicalization and started using the internet, especially social media, which allows members to trade ideas with one another without being noticed. Further, Al-Qaida traded the importance of collaborating with a state-based regime for the advantages of existing as an underground and stateless organization that relies on a global support network and conducts its activities in areas state control. The organization decentralized and established franchises and merged with local jihadist groups, thereby increasing its global presence.
In sum, there is no doubt that Al-Qaida has evolved in its recruitment, financing, and tactics over the years. Currently, the organization is recruiting members through progressive screening, whereby recruiter travel to various mosques where they spot and befriend potential candidates. Such candidates are sponsored to travel to countries such as Pakistan, Iraq, and Yemen, where they are radicalised. This is a shift from the past recruitment process whereby members were identified and trained in military camps. In regards to financing, Al-Qaida initially relied on fundraisings from prominent businesspersons and leaders in the Arab world. However, this had changed over the years as the organization now relies on illegal activities to raise money for its operations. In addition, the organization is according local groups additional capabilities, and it to inspire independent and insurgent jihadist actions through elaborate propaganda campaigns that reach the audience directly. Despite the United States intervention in the operations of Al-Qaida, its new adaptive strategies help it in pursuing its institutional goals or objectives.