http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/06/very-odd-al-qaeda-hit-list/38967/
“A Very Odd Al Qaeda ‘Hit LIst’”
JOHN HUDSON
07:49 PM ET186
SNIPPET: “Today, The Atlantic Wire obtained the list of 179 names...”
SNIPPET: “A post first appeared on the password-protected Jihad discussion site Shumukh, Fox News reports, “from someone identified as Al-Assad Al-Thaer urging supporters to compile the list of executives and officials who supported the ‘war on our nation,’ calling them part of the ‘Zionist Crusaders Alliance.’”
SNIPPET: “We reached out to the Middle East Media Research Institute to ask if they had a copy of the list that had prompted the warnings. They provided it to us and MEMRI president Yigal Carmon explained how it was created. On June 6, a jihadist operating under the handle Yaman Mukhadad asked fellow users to contribute names of U.S. targets he would then provide to Al Qaeda leaders. This all took place on the web forum Shumoukh al-Islam. “The web site is accredited by Al Qaeda but the list did not come from Al Qaeda,” Carmon explained. Apparently, users in the forum were so enthusiastic about contributing names, Mukhadad asked them to stop. “He said ‘enough, enough’” explained Carmon. Then, on a second jihadist forum called Ansar al-Mujahideen, another user began soliciting names for a target list. According to Carmon, that was the 40-member list ABC News reported about yesterday. Carmon said the list he provided to The Atlantic Wire is the sum total from both crowdsourcing efforts.”
“’Send explosive mail to the best target’: Al Qaeda hit list of U.S. officials posted on website”
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 8:49 AM on 17th June 2011
SNIPPET: “Former New York State Homeland Security Director Michael Balboni said: ‘Whats scary about this is how specific the individual information is. What you don’t know is, when does aspirational become operational in cases like this, involving a possible lone actor here inspired by a website.”
SNIPPET: “Counterterrorism consultant Patrick Poole told FoxNews.com the list appears to be an unprecedented attempt to go ‘into the heartland’ and target individuals in America.
He said: ‘I can’t recall anything this specific. I think these guys are serious. The threat could come from anywhere.’
Though the posts reference ‘leaders of Jihad’, Poole said the authors appear to be calling on anyone willing to take up the cause to carry out assassinations - preferably those who are already in the U.S.
He said it appears to be linked to Gadahn’s recent video, in which he called for Muslims in America to individually arm themselves and wage jihad.”