Online terror magazine trains next generation of terrorists

Inspire is an online magazine reported to be published by the organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Published in the English language, the magazine is as slickly designed as any U.S. magazine. The content is gruesome, however, as it mostly deals with how to make bombs with ease, how to use rifles and how to maximize the effect of a terror attack. The magazine advises potential terrorists to prepare enough bombs in case of a failed attacked or to install swords on the front and rear of a truck and charge toward the crowd.

As Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26-year-old bombing suspect in last week’s Boston Marathon bombing who was killed after a shootout with police, is found to have read the instructions in Inspire, U.S. media are highlighting the magazine. MSNBC reported that the U.S.-style magazine is attracting Western youth, calling for active response to the al-Qaeda’s media tactics.

Since its first publication in June 2010, Inspire has been released 10 times. On average, it is published once every three months with around 70 pages. As the magazine is published in the PDF form, anyone can have free access to it.

The nature of the magazine is close to a “how-to guide on terrorism.” Over half of the publication is about teaching readers how to learn terror attacks from their homes. For instance, the magazine advises that narrow and crowded places are fit for terror attacks and that one can kill important people by spraying bullets at a Wall Street restaurant in lunchtime.

One recurring section of the magazine, titled “Open Source Jihad,” provides instructions, with pictorials, on how to make bombs by using empty plastic bottles, watches, nails, pressure cookers or sand. The pressure cooker used on the Boston Marathon bombing is reported to have been made in a similar method introduced in Inspire.

The magazine also promotes ideology encouraging terrorism. As many of homegrown terrorists around the world are found to have been deeply influenced by Inspire, concerns are growing. Jose Pimentel, an Algerian immigrant, and Naser Jason Abdo, a U.S. army private, who plotted terror attacks in the U.S. were also found to have copies of the magazines on their computers. MSNBC warned that although al-Qaeda’s claims are affecting young Westerners, there is no way to prevent the spread of the online terror bible.

snow@donga.com