Jan 17 2014

Glimpsing Into the Minds of Terrorists

Feature Stories | Published 17 Jan 2014, 10:49 am | Comments Off on Glimpsing Into the Minds of Terrorists -

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The man who has taken credit for masterminding the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, has issued part 1 of a 3 part manifesto from his detention in Guantanamo to members of the military court where he is being tried. The chapter, written by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, entitled “The Road to Real Happiness,” was obtained by the Huffington Post and made public and provides a window into the thought process of a man at the center of the most high-profile act of terrorism in modern history.

In his writings, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad backtracks from earlier statement about conversion to Islam, saying, “The Holy Quran forbids us to use force as a means of converting.” This led to news outlets like the LA Times to call his writing a “‘non-violence’ manifesto.” The work also expresses disapproval of homosexuality in the West, and the behavior of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Two more chapters are forthcoming.

The writing follows from the recently leaked diaries of Abu Zubaydah, also housed in Guantanamo and considered one of the US’s highest level prisoners. A set of six diaries written by Zubaydah starting at the age of 20 were found after he was captured by US forces in Pakistan in 2002. While US officials in Guantanamo have had the diaries for years, they were recently obtained by journalist Jason Leopold of Al Jazeera English and published and analyzed online.

GUEST: Jason Leopold is an investigative reporter for Al Jazeera English covering Guantanamo, counter terrorism, national security, human rights, open government, and civil liberties issues. He has been called a “FOIA Terrorist” by Federal employees for his aggressive use of the Freedom of Information Act, which included suing the FBI and Department of Defense and forcing those agencies to change their policies. He’s the author of the memoir, News Junkie, and the e-book From Hopeful Immigrant to FBI Information: The Inside Story of the Other Any Zubaydah

Click here to read the Huffington Post’s article about Khalid Shaikh Mohammad.

Click here to read Leopold’s analysis of Abu Zubaydah’s diaries.

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