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Constructing “al-Qaeda:” The Coding, Weighting, and Narrating of an Enemy

Constructing “al-Qaeda:” The Coding, Weighting, and Narrating of an Enemy. William Jawde Department of Sociology, University of Florida. Constructing “al-Qaeda”. 1. “Al-Qaeda,” as popularly conceived, is taken for granted and appears inevitable.

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Constructing “al-Qaeda:” The Coding, Weighting, and Narrating of an Enemy

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  1. Constructing “al-Qaeda:”The Coding, Weighting, and Narrating of an Enemy William Jawde Department of Sociology, University of Florida

  2. Constructing “al-Qaeda” • 1. “Al-Qaeda,” as popularly conceived, is taken for granted and appears inevitable. • 2. “Al-Qaeda” is not determined by the nature of things, and needs not exist.

  3. A Cultural-Sociological Theory of Trauma • Takes a constructionist perspective: Events, in and of themselves, do not create collective trauma. • Trauma is a socially mediated attribution • Occurs when patterned meanings and identity of the collectivity are dislodged

  4. A Cultural-Sociological Theory of Trauma • Gap between event and representation: “Trauma Process” • Agents, rather than collectivities, make trauma claims • Representation of trauma depends on constructing a compelling framework: • The nature of the pain • The nature of the victim • Relation of the victims to a wider audience • Attribution of responsibility

  5. Constructing Trauma: How did “al-Qaeda” come about? • Coding: Event becoming evil, coded as such • Evil as an arbitrary construction; necessary for defining “good” in our time • Weighting: How evil is it? • Degrees of evil • Narrating • What were the evil acts in question? • Who was responsible? • Who were the victims? • What are the immediate and long-term effects?

  6. Constructing Trauma • Uniqueness • A trauma can not function as a metaphor of archetypal tragedy unless it is regarded as radically different from any other evil act in our times • Meaning-making, representing a cultural idea

  7. Symbolizing 9/11: Coding • Coding Evil after 9/11 • President Bush: • “This is a monumental Struggle of good versus evil. But good will prevail.” 9/12/01 • “The people who did this act on America, and who may be planning further acts, are evil people.  They don't represent an ideology, they don't represent a legitimate political group of people. They're flat evil.  That's all they can think about, is evil.” 9/25/01

  8. Symbolizing 9/11: Weighting • Degree of evil and uniqueness of events • President Bush: • “The American people need to know that we’re facing a different enemy than we’ve ever faced…” 9/12/01 • “On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country.  Americans have known wars -- but for the past 136 years, they have been wars on foreign soil… All of this was brought upon us in a single day -- and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack.” 9/20/01

  9. Symbolizing 9/11: Narrating • Framing the events • President Bush: • “The deliberate and deadly attacks…against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war….Freedom and democracy are under attack.” 9/12/01 • “Al Qaeda is to terror what the mafia is to crime.  But its goal is not making money; its goal is remaking the world -- and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere.” 9/20/01

  10. What is “al-Qaeda?” • A name given by U.S. investigators to a group believed to be headed by bin Laden • First used in 1998, after the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania • Used to define an organization in order to be able to prosecute under anti-mafia laws • Prior to 9/11, the term “al-Qaeda” was used in 20 congressional testimonies • Since 9/11, the term has been cited in hundreds of testimonies

  11. What is “al-Qaeda?” • 1979 Abdullah Azzam, Peshawar • 1979-1989: Mujahadeen • 1989 Azzam assassinated, Mujahadeen fragments • The 1991 Gulf War led to bin Laden and others to publicly denounce Saudi Arabian alliance with US

  12. What is “al-Qaeda?” • Bin Laden and associates: Sunni extremists who want to reestablish the caliphate • “International Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders:” Group formed by bin Laden and al-Zawahiri • 1998 fatwa: “to kill Americans and their allies, civilians, and military is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able.”

  13. What is “al-Qaeda?” • nobody really knows what “al-Qaeda” is. Experts continue to disagree • Bin Laden, 2002: “I am a part of what you call al-Qaeda”

  14. How elaborate is al-Qaeda? • General Shelton: “…the al Qaeda organization, which operates out of 55 different countries or more…” 5/3/01 Congressional Testimony • Jessica Stern (terror analyst): “U.S. government officials estimate that bin Laden's organization, al Qaeda, has thousands of operatives who are active, or suspected to be active, in 34 countries, including in the United States.” 9/20/01 Congressional Testimony • Bush: “There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries.” 9/20/01 Speech

  15. How organized is al Qaeda? • “By early 1999, al-Qaeda was already a potent adversary of the United States…Within [the] structure, al-Qaeda’s worldwide terrorist operations relied heavily on the ideas and work of…strong-willed field commanders.” 9/11 Commission Report • “The al Qaeda organization, and others like it that I've studied, have wings that handle finance, documents, public-relations and intelligence. They run businesses. They conduct surveillance of enemy targets. They cultivate journalists to ensure favorable coverage in the press. They have sophisticated websites for both fund-raising and recruiting.”Jessica Stern , Testimony for Congress, 9/20/01 • Bush: “First, what we've seen is these terrorists are very sophisticated, and so are their communications.” 9/25/01

  16. How organized is al Qaeda? • Al-Qaeda is widely believed, by most terror experts, to be a bottom-up collection of loosely affiliated rogue groups rather than a top down organization (pre and post 9/11) • Evan Kohlmann, counter-terrorism expert: “If I had a nickel for every No. 2 and No. 3 they’ve arrested or killed…I’d be a millionaire.” 9/25/05

  17. Al-Qaeda: the Creation interacts with the Creators • Retroactive attribution: (Congressional Testimony, October 3, 2001) • Somalia 1992 • WTC 1993 • Planned attacks against multiple targets in NY 1993 • Planned assassination of Pope John Paul II in Philippines 1994 • Planned assassination of President Clinton in Philippines 1994 • Planned bombings of 11-13 American Airliners over Pacific Ocean 1995 • Car bombing of U.S. military mission in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 1995 • Truck bombing of U.S. Air Force housing area Khubar Towers, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 1996 • Truck Bombing U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 1998 • Plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, Y2K, New Year 2000 • Plot to bomb East Coast target, Y2K, New Year, 2000 • Plot to attack U.S. Naval Ship in Yemen, January 2000 • Suicide boat attack on USS Cole, Yemen October 2000

  18. Al-Qaeda: the Creation interacts with the Creators • Post 9/11 Plots, in the US, according to Mueller, FBI Director, 2/11/03: • In Portland, where six have been charged with providing material support to terrorists. • In Buffalo, where we arrested seven al-Qaeda associates and sympathizers indicted in September 2002 for providing material support to terrorism. • In Seattle, where Earnest James Ujaama (also known as Bilal Ahmed) has been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and suspected of establishing a terrorist training facility in Bly, Oregon. • In Detroit, where four have been charged with document fraud and providing material support to terrorists. • In Chicago, where Global Relief Foundation Director Enaam Arnaout has been charged with funneling money to al-Qaeda

  19. Al-Qaeda: the Creation interacts with the Creators • Other attributions: • Rumors of meetings between 9/11 pilot Mohammed Atta and Iraqi Intelligence agents • Richard Reid (Shoe Bomber) • Spain 3/11 train bombings • Iraq Insurgency • Bali nightclub bombings • Casablanca bombings • London subway and bus bombings (2005)

  20. Al-Qaeda: the Creation interacts with the Creators • False Alarms: • Anthrax attacks of 2001 • Beltway snipers in Washington, DC area, 2002 • 2003 Northeastern Blackout

  21. Conclusions • Al-Qaeda is now an arbitrary label, being used by many disenfranchised and disconnected extremists, as well as those who pursue them • The classification of al-Qaeda, and the generous attribution of crimes thereto, has created and perpetuated this ideology or movement, where bin Laden now has unprecedented fame and influence

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