Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released the fourth edition of its Inspire magazine online in recent days. As with the previous three editions, the PDF publication is a combination of deadly serious threats and the comical, with American street slang mixed with jihadist ideology. For instance, a piece written by a self-described “Al Qaeda Chef” and entitled, “Destroying Buildings,” has the words “Jihad 4 eva” scrawled in the background.
As in past editions, there is a lot of rambling about the “Jews and Christians” who supposedly pose a mortal threat to Muslims everywhere. And, as I’ve written previously, we should never forget that at the heart of al Qaeda’s terrorism lies a completely irrational conspiracy theory centered on a cabal of “Zionists and Crusaders.” It is not that different from the Nazis’ insistence that Jews were an eternal enemy to the Aryan race, or the Communists’ belief that capitalists were out to get members of the proletariat everywhere they may work. Much blood has been spilled in the name of absurdity.
