Lydia Khalil in Foreign Policy bolsters the realistic idea that no one really knows how a terrorist looks like, and that not even airport scanners can identify the real culprits. However, Khalil gives us the roster of terroristic talents that comprises al-Qaeda’s moving force. It is a rogue’s gallery of organized crime in global proportions.

Khalil makes ‘a scan of the current jihadi landscape’ and finds out ‘that there are roughly six degrees of al Qaeda affiliation, each of which poses its own threat and requires a different response.’

The central and original al-Qaeda leadership is a thinning core of once near-legendary names, albeit infamous. Alarmist propagandists and the terror nightmare they used to scare the global publics with were wont to mouth these names trippingly on their tongue: the bearded billionaire bogeyman whose name is Osama bin Laden, and his equally bearded sidekicks in the highest order named Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Abu Yahya al-Libi. They are said to be living among rocks, thin air, and in very cold caves somewhere in the boondocks of Pakistan.

If the highest powers live among mountain wildlife, it is said that their tentacles have a strong hold on regional franchises of the terror group. These regional subsidiaries pledge allegiance to the billionaire bogeyman in what seems like extremely fundamentalist fervor. The franchises include such terror-wielding owners of high-powered firearms as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ansar al-Sunnah in Iraq, al-Shabab in Somalia, and a few terrorist-cum-insurgents among the Taliban ranks.

Next come the ambiguous associations. Largely, they use the label ‘al-Qaeda’ for marketing purposes. If they are nothing but cheap and ordinary bandits and hoodlums but wish to ride on the religious and patriotic label, they conveniently append the tag. One such multimillionaire group is a motley crew of kidnappers and megarobbers called Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines whose carry-all backpacks contain a few designer shirts and suntan lotion, along with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). No one is exactly certain if these proxy groups are, indeed, in touch with base camp Pakistan.

Further into the jihadist megamillion business are the so-called ‘entrepreneurial jihadists.’ They share the same gripes with the original group, are quick to claim the jihadist rationale for existence, and might have received training from certain affiliated terror cells. Khalil calls them ‘radicals from outside conflict zones who nurse simmering grievances and conceive small-bore plots, rather than attempting spectacular attacks. These groups exist mostly in Europe, but also in the United States, Canada, and Australia.’

Finally, there is a smattering the world over of particular individuals who seem to share the jihadist wrath. Sufficiently radicalized or smartly brainwashed, these persons act alone. On the other hand, there are those individuals who do the radicalizing and brainwashing, mostly over the Internet. Khalil calls these the “armchair jihadists” or ‘jihadist pundits.’

Via