"In conclusion, we can say that there is no single channel that we could rely on for our messages," Gadahn wrote. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/352976-obl04.html AL-QAIDA'S TARNISHED IMAGE: Bin Laden was under pressure to reform al-Qaida's image. One unidentified confidants wrote a letter to bin Laden saying the terrorist group was losing support in the Muslim world. The letter-writer urged that al-Qaida not conduct operations in the Arabian peninsula, which includes Yemen, even when they are directed against U.S. interests. "We think that the best places and most effective places for attacking the head of the snake are the locations in which it explicitly got involved militarily, such as Afghanistan and Iraq," the letter reads. "Concentrating efforts in those areas is better than dispersing them and prevents the harm that could accompany them." Attacks inside Muslim countries, the letter-writer says, have hurt many innocent Muslims. Governments have responded swiftly by locking up supporters, cracking down on jihadi finances and even hurting legitimate charities. "The jihadi stream lost many of its honest and faithful scholars and preachers who defended jihad and adopted it causes," the letter-writer wrote. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/352690-obl16.html https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/352691-obl03.html |