“The Terrorism Industry”: An Al-Qaeda Course in Security and Intelligence - Part Five

This is the fifth segment in the series “The Terrorism Industry” by Sheikh Abu Ubaydah Abdallah al-Adam, who was until his death a prominent leader of Al-Qaeda responsible for its intelligence and security operations. The series was published by the Al-Fajr Media Institution, which is responsible for disseminating the written, audio and visual materials of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates.

Recruiting People to the Organization

We will now discuss the most important topic in the field of personal security – the stages through which every comrade vying to take part in the jihad activities of an organization, group or faction must pass. These stages are progressive and designed to prevent the enemy from infiltrating the organization; the regimes that control Arab states and their intelligence agencies recruit many people in order to gather information and protect the regime.

The First Stage: Initial Screening

In this stage, one must examine the characteristics and attributes necessary for jihadist group activities, and look for these traits in the relevant person. If the said individual does display these traits, then he should move on to the second stage and if not, he should not continue past the initial stage.

The Second Stage: Research and Information Gathering

Information must first be collected about a person’s past, since past behaviors can be an indication for the future. For instance, it is important to find out if a person took part in political or criminal activities in the past, if his behaviors would be suitable for a member of the group, and if he experienced a problematic past that the government could use to blackmail him in order to recruit him as a spy.