Anger on Iraq Seen as New Qaeda Recruiting Tool
By DON VAN NATTA Jr. and DESMOND BUTLER
LONDON, March 15
Officials have relied on information from the interrogations of hundreds of suspected Islamic terrorists captured in Europe in the last two years. They have provided a more detailed portrait of the people who are most susceptible to these groups' recruitment techniques.
According to some, the profiles have changed somewhat in recent months.
"Many of these people are younger than before � between 20 and 30," Judge Brugui�re said. "They are mostly converts. The threat of war in Iraq could have a tangible effect."
Mr. Brugui�re also noted that French investigators had seen a puzzling increase in the number of women, often ethnic European converts, who were playing an important role within European networks, as wives of cell members. The women have auxiliary roles, but provide immigrant radicals with cover and ease their naturalization.
Investigators also say Al Qaeda and affiliated groups have successfully sought young educated Muslim men, often within European universities. Three of the Sept. 11 suicide pilots, investigators believe, were members of a larger cell based in Hamburg, Germany, made up of young men attending local technical colleges. Officials say that recruiters continue to operate in universities because they prefer to recruit intelligent, skilled operatives.
According to Mr. von Bauer, the student recruits are more likely to convert to extreme religious views after arriving in a new environment.
He said the recruits were "alienated because they don't speak thelanguage or understand the culture."
"Then they find community in Arab clubs or societies," Mr. von Bauer said. "This often brings them to the Friday Prayers."
Mr. von Bauer said feelings of alienation also contributed to some young Muslims' anger and feelings of disenfranchisement. "Imagine how it must feel for an educated Arab to come here," he said. "They see sex everywhere, on the television, on the newsstands, and it offends them. They immediately see this as the decadence of the Western world. They feel morally superior, and this fuels their outrage."
Despite an apparent increase in potential recruits, many analysts say that the American-led campaign in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001 had shut down Al Qaeda's primary training camps and dealt an enormous blow to the network's ability to recruit and train new members. But officials believe that terrorist groups have established new bases of operation, especially in the Caucasus. "I fear that Chechnya could become the new Afghanistan," Judge Brugui�re said. "The threat is moving to the Caucasus, because the jihad system needs a battleground."
By DON VAN NATTA Jr. and DESMOND BUTLER
LONDON, March 15
Officials have relied on information from the interrogations of hundreds of suspected Islamic terrorists captured in Europe in the last two years. They have provided a more detailed portrait of the people who are most susceptible to these groups' recruitment techniques.
According to some, the profiles have changed somewhat in recent months.
"Many of these people are younger than before � between 20 and 30," Judge Brugui�re said. "They are mostly converts. The threat of war in Iraq could have a tangible effect."
Mr. Brugui�re also noted that French investigators had seen a puzzling increase in the number of women, often ethnic European converts, who were playing an important role within European networks, as wives of cell members. The women have auxiliary roles, but provide immigrant radicals with cover and ease their naturalization.
Investigators also say Al Qaeda and affiliated groups have successfully sought young educated Muslim men, often within European universities. Three of the Sept. 11 suicide pilots, investigators believe, were members of a larger cell based in Hamburg, Germany, made up of young men attending local technical colleges. Officials say that recruiters continue to operate in universities because they prefer to recruit intelligent, skilled operatives.
According to Mr. von Bauer, the student recruits are more likely to convert to extreme religious views after arriving in a new environment.
He said the recruits were "alienated because they don't speak thelanguage or understand the culture."
"Then they find community in Arab clubs or societies," Mr. von Bauer said. "This often brings them to the Friday Prayers."
Mr. von Bauer said feelings of alienation also contributed to some young Muslims' anger and feelings of disenfranchisement. "Imagine how it must feel for an educated Arab to come here," he said. "They see sex everywhere, on the television, on the newsstands, and it offends them. They immediately see this as the decadence of the Western world. They feel morally superior, and this fuels their outrage."
Despite an apparent increase in potential recruits, many analysts say that the American-led campaign in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001 had shut down Al Qaeda's primary training camps and dealt an enormous blow to the network's ability to recruit and train new members. But officials believe that terrorist groups have established new bases of operation, especially in the Caucasus. "I fear that Chechnya could become the new Afghanistan," Judge Brugui�re said. "The threat is moving to the Caucasus, because the jihad system needs a battleground."
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