At the time of the attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, West Point's counterterrorism curriculum consisted of a single elective class.[2] In order to fill this gap and provide greater educational resources in terrorism-related issues, the academy welcomed the creation of the Combating Terrorism Center and included it in its Department of Social Sciences on 20 February 2003. Though thus a part of the United States Military Academy, the CTC was established with private funding and is an independent research group.[3] Primary funding for the founding of the CTC was contributed by Vincent Viola, a 1977 graduate of the United States Military Academy and former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange; significant initial support was also provided by Ross Perot, George Gilmore Jr. and Major (ret.) George Gilmore Sr.[4] The center's first Distinguished Chair was General (Retired) Wayne A. Downing until his death in 2007. Ambassador Dell L. Dailey presently holds the Distinguished Chair. The current director, LTC(P) Sean Morrow, began his tenure in January 2021.[5]
Research and analysis products
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In addition to providing counterterrorism education, the CTC also regularly publishes a wide range of analyses and reports in its subject-specialty areas. Some of the most significant and large-scale of these research and analysis products are detailed below.
The Militant Ideology Atlas[6] used citation analysis to provide the first systematic mapping of the ideologues most influential in the global jihadi movement.[7] Analyzing the most downloaded jihadi literature from one of al-Qa'ida's online libraries and cataloging more than 11,000 citations from these texts, the Militant Ideology Atlas found that the most influential living jihadi thinkers are not – as is commonly supposed – senior leaders of al-Qa'ida itself, but rather a handful of primarily Saudi and Jordanian clerics; the most widely cited writer is the Palestinian-Jordanian Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi.[8] The Atlas was published in November 2006.
Harmony Database Reports are works of analysis and policy recommendation produced by the CTC on the basis of documents declassified for this purpose by the Defense Department from the latter's Harmony Database, which houses al-Qa'ida-related documents captured throughout the world in the course of the War on Terror. The CTC's first Harmony report, Harmony and Disharmony: Exploiting al-Qa'ida's Organizational Vulnerabilities, was published in February 2006 and, along with extensive analysis, made primary source documents from the Harmony Database available to the public for the first time.[9] According to the CTC, Harmony and Disharmony "includes a theoretically informed analysis of potential opportunities to exploit al-Qa'ida's network vulnerabilities, a case study of jihadi operational failure, and specific recommendations for effectively addressing the evolving al-Qa'ida threat."[10] The CTC's second major Harmony report focussed on the Horn of Africa. Released in May 2007 al-Qa'ida's (Mis)Adventures in the Horn of Africa.[11] provides a detailed picture of al-Qa'ida's efforts to establish itself in East Africa, what its successes and failures were in the region, and how conditions in weak and failed states affect the ability of jihadi groups to function. The report also included a second batch of declassified documents from the Harmony Database, with full English translations, and in-depth profiles of key figures and groups. The entire report can be downloaded.[12] The third Harmony report explores al-Qa'ida's internal conflicts over the course of its history. Released in October 2007, Cracks in the Foundation: Leadership Schisms in al-Qa'ida from 1989–2006[13] analyzes further declassified Harmony documents in order to tease out the issues that have divided al-Qa'ida's leadership and details the factions that have struggled for control of the organization.
Islamic Imagery Project published the first complete catalog of important, recurring images used in violent jihadi propaganda with explanations to enhance the understanding for students, teachers, and policy makers.[14]
CTC Sentinel
CTC Sentinel is a monthly, interdisciplinary journal that covers research and news.[15]The Atlantic describes it as "a leading practitioner-oriented journal on terrorism and counterterrorism issues."[16]
↑ "Cracks in the Foundation". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. 11 September 2001. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
Mohamed Salah al-Din al-Halim Zaidan, commonly known by his nom de guerreSaif al-Adel, is a former Egyptian Army officer, explosives expert, and the de facto leader of al-Qaeda. Al-Adel fought the Soviets as an Afghan Arab before becoming a founding member of the al-Qaeda organization. He is a member of al-Qaeda's Majlis al-Shura and has headed the organization's military committee since the death of Mohammed Atef in 2001. He is currently known to live in Iran along with several other senior members of the group.
Joseph Cofer Black is an American former CIA officer who served as director of the Counterterrorism Center in the years surrounding the September 11th attacks, and was later appointed Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department by President George W. Bush, serving until his resignation in 2004. Prior to his roles combatting terrorism, Black served across the globe in a variety of roles with the Directorate of Operations at the CIA.
The Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations were based on false claims by the United States government alleging that a secretive relationship existed between Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and the Sunni pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda between 1992 and 2003. U.S. president George W. Bush used it as a main reason for invading Iraq in 2003.
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi —Abu Muhammad Assem al-Maqdisi, in full—is the assumed name of Assem ibn Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Barqawi, an Islamist Jordanian-Palestinian writer and Salafi jihadi ideologue. Al-Maqdisi is known for popularizing a handful of significant themes within radical Islam, including the theological concept of Al-Wala' wal-Bara'. He is regarded as one of the earliest public Islamists to openly denounce the Saudi royal family as apostates from Islam. Al-Maqdisi believes that democracy functions as a religion in its own right and has accused Muslim advocates of democracy of apostasy. Additionally, he is recognized as the spiritual mentor of Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who served as the initial leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. In 2004, a significant ideological and methodological divide emerged between al-Maqdisi and al-Zarqawi due to the latter's proclamation of takfir against all Iraqi Shīʿites. Al-Maqdisi took a more cautious approach: he preferred targeted killings of Shīʿites, aiming to prevent al-Zarqawi's ideology from becoming counterproductive.
Jihadism is a neologism for modern armed militant Islamic movements that seek to establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation is a theologically legitimate method of socio-political change towards an Islamic system of governance.
Abu Talha al-Sudani also known as Tariq Abdullah, was a Sudanese member of Al Qaeda terrorist organization, an explosives expert and a close aide of Osama bin Laden.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Mission Center forCounterterrorism is a division of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, established in 1986. It was renamed during an agency restructuring in 2015 and is distinct from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which is a separate entity. The most recent publicly known Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Mission Center was Chris Wood who led the organization from 2015 to 2017.
Evan F. Kohlmann is an American terrorism consultant who has worked for the FBI and other governmental organizations.
After the Central Intelligence Agency lost its role as the coordinator of the entire United States Intelligence Community (IC), special coordinating structures were created by each president to fit his administrative style and the perceived level of threat from terrorists during his term.
Salafi jihadism, also known as Salafi-jihadism, jihadist Salafism and revolutionary Salafism, is a religiopolitical pro-Sunni Islamist ideology that seeks to establish a global caliphate through armed militant means. In a narrower sense, jihadism refers to the belief that armed confrontation with political rivals is an efficient and theologically legitimate method of socio-political change. The Salafist interpretation of sacred Islamic texts is "in their most literal, traditional sense", which adherents claim will bring about the return to "true Islam".
Jarret Brachman is an American terrorism expert, the author of Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice and a consultant to several government agencies about terrorism.
Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, was an Islamist militant organization that aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state. To that end, it was then engaged in an insurgency campaign in the Maghreb and Sahel regions.
Richard Martin Donne Barrett CMG OBE is a former British diplomat and intelligence officer now involved in countering violent extremism. Barrett is a recognised global expert on terrorism who frequently appears as a panellist in related conferences and whose commentary is regularly featured in the press.
Terrorism, in some of its definitions, serves to communicate a message from terrorists to a target audience (TA). By extension, symbols play an important role in such communication, through graphics that the organizations use to represent themselves, as well as the meaning and significance behind their choice of targets.
Islamic extremism in the United States comprises all forms of Islamic extremism occurring within the United States. Islamic extremism is an adherence to fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, potentially including the promotion of violence to achieve political goals. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Islamic extremism became a prioritized national security concern of the U.S. government and a focus of many subsidiary security and law enforcement entities. Initially, the focus of concern was on foreign Islamic terrorist organizations, particularly al-Qaeda, but in the course of the years since the September 11 terror attacks, the focus has shifted more towards Islamic extremist radicalized individuals and jihadist networks within the United States.
James J. F. Forest is an American author and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Al-Qaeda is understood to have operated a number of safe houses, some of which were used as training centres.
The Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) is an Islamist propaganda organization that is associated with the terrorist group, al-Qaeda, and other jihadist groups. The GIMF is known by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as an "underground media" organization. The GIMF specializes in production of jihadist material for distribution. It is one of several organizations that jihadists use to spread information via the Internet, including the well-known As-Sahab. Their slogan that is used on their materials is "Observing Mujahideen News and Inspiring the Believers." There is no indication who the leader of this organization is.
Edwin Bakker is head of the knowledge and research department of the Netherlands Police Academy and professor of Terrorism Studies at Leiden University.
Abu Sulayman al-Utaybi was a Saudi Arabian Islamic militant who is noted as a critic of the leadership of the Islamic State of Iraq.
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