by Bill Roggio - March 1, 2013. - LWJ
AQAP released the current addition of Inspire "nine months after the release of the eighth and ninth issues" of the magazine, the SITE Intelligence Group noted. SITE obtained a copy of Inspire, which was released yesterday on Jihadist Internet forums.
The latest edition of Inspire focused on al Qaeda's view of the so-called Arab Spring. Inspire promoted two articles on the topic that are written by Gadahn and Yahya Ibrahim, a cleric who has been featured in the magazine in the past.
Both Gadahn and Ibrahim focus on al Qaeda's ability to capitalize on the Arab Spring. Gadahn calls for the US to end all involvement in the upheavals in the Middle East, and says a failure to do so "will result in a backlash which will make you regret the day you put your hands where they don't belong."
Gadahn also advises jihadists in the West to continue "direct engagement [attacks] at home and abroad with America and its NATO parents, particularly France and Britain."
"The enemies' economic and military hemorrhage must not stop until the day comes when the people of the West are forced to make a choice: either the continuation of the Crusade against the Muslims and the continuation of their backing Israel, or the continuation of viable governments and basic public services," Gadahn writes.
Ibrahim focuses on the assaults on the US Consulate in Benghazi and the US embassies in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen in September 2012. Jihadists raised al Qaeda's flag at the US installations, and killed the US's ambassador to Libya and three personnel in Benghazi. Ibrahim notes that the so-called protesters chanted "Obama! Obama! we are all Osama!" He also claims that despite bin Laden's death at the hands of US special operations forces in May 2011, bin Laden continues to inspire old and new jihadists alike.
The release of the latest edition of Inspire shows that al Qaeda's core in Pakistan is not cut off from its affiliates, and that AQAP retains the ability to produce the magazine despite the loss of two Americans who were thought to be important to its continuation.
AQAP touted Gadahn's article as an "exclusive," which means the group was either able to contact Gadahn to solicit and receive it, or that Gadahn contacted the publishers of Inspire to offer the article. Gadahn is believed to be based in Pakistan and is known to work with As Sahab, al Qaeda's primary propaganda production outfit. He also releases propaganda via As Sahab on occasion.
The Obama administration has claimed that al Qaeda's "core" leadership cadre in Pakistan is cut off and disconnected and isolated from its affiliates, and that the terror group is on the verge of defeat. But as Gadahn's latest article and numerous propaganda tapes and communiques by al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and other top leaders show, the terror group is intact and capable of producing propaganda and communicating with its affiliates worldwide.
Additionally, it was unclear if AQAP would continue to produce Inspire after the deaths of American jihadists Samir Khan and Anwar al Awlaki, both of whom are thought to have greatly influenced the magazine's publication. Al Awlaki and Khan were killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in September 2011. As the release of the 10th edition of Inspire shows, AQAP clearly maintains the capacity to produce the magazine, and still remains committed to attacking the West.
Read more at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/03/aqap_releases_10th_c.php#sthash.6neDVVMe.dpuf
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