"He is probably the first to spell out a doctrine for a decentralised global jihad," said Brynjar Lia, a counterterrorism researcher at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, who is writing a book on Nasar.

"In my humble opinion, he is the best theoretician among the jihadi ideologues and strategists out there. Nobody is as systematic and comprehensive in their analysis as he is. His brutal honesty and self-criticism is unique in jihadi circles."

Revealed: the mastermind behind al-Qaeda's plan to wage global jihad

There can be little doubt that Abu Mus‘ab al-Suri has played an important role in international jihadist terrorism, if not as an active operative, then at least in terms of providing practical training, and preparing jihadist terrorists with the theoretical and intellectual foundation for their violent campaigns. The centrality of al-Suri in the jihadist movement in recent years highlights the importance of uncovering his biography: where does he come from, what is his political and ideological background, how did he become involved in al-Qaida, what are his contributions to and role in the jihadist movement over the past decade, and what can his life-story tell us about al-Qaida and global jihadism today?

The following paper will shed light on Abu Mus‘ab al-Suri’s biography and give a brief glimpse into his most recent writings.

The al-Qaida Strategist Abu Mus‘ab al-Suri: A Profile

Back in 2004, Stephen Kappes left his job at the Central Intelligence Agency as Deputy Director for Operations after a personnel disagreement with then Director Porter Goss. But in the spy game, as in life, things can change quickly. Now Goss has resigned as director and Kappes, a respected CIA veteran, has agreed to return to Langley to serve under the new director, Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden.

Kappes Will Return as CIA Deputy

Only a paranoid solipsist could feel threatened by the calling analysis program.

Information Please

Not much good news trickles out of Iraq these days.

The Haditha Factor - Council on Foreign Relations

LAST WEEK the Washington Post featured a story on Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, the Spanish-Syrian al Qaeda strategist who wrote the 1,600 page Call for a Global Islamic Resistance. The Post story provided a revealing look at Nasar who, despite his capture, remains the leading ideological architect of al Qaeda's war against the United States. But the Post also missed a number of important points in Nasar's career.

An Omission of Note

Supporters of the war have engaged in a vigorous debate, in these pages and elsewhere, about how better to fight this war. It would be encouraging if more people at senior levels of the military seemed to be engaged in this kind of serious thinking and rethinking. It would be encouraging if more civilians high up in the Pentagon were engaged in such a debate. It would be encouraging if a single person in the White House seemed to be engaged in a real effort to learn from mistakes, so as to adjust our policy to make success more likely.

Haditha Handwringing

"Afghanistan is the sleeper crisis of this summer."

The number of roadside bombs is up 30 percent over a year ago, with insurgents getting designs off the Internet.

"Has Pakistan done enough? I think the answer is no.

"I'm more concerned in the long term about the results of the drug war in Afghanistan than I am about resurgent Taliban," said the NATO military commander. The government and its NATO allies have not lost the people yet, officials say. But it is getting close to that."

Springtime for Killing in Afghanistan

Sunni forces working for the Ministry of Defense who were supposed to be guarding Iraq's oil pipeline were instead freelancing as death squads, assassinating people who cooperated with the same government that paid the gunmen's salaries.

The Price of Iraq

PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD of Iran wrote a letter to President Bush last weekend — the first formal letter from an Iranian leader to an American president since Iran's Islamic revolution of 1979. The letter has a familiar ring. In tone and structure, it is eerily reminiscent of a letter sent in January 1989 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of Iran's revolution, to Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the leader of a collapsing Soviet Union.

This might be of interest to those who blogged about the recent letter.

From Iran, With Something Less Than Love