In a Feb 2009 interview I did with Fox News about murmurings within the al-Qaida community that forest fires could be a viable tool of individual violent jihadism, I came under some fire (pardon the pun) from colleagues who were skeptical about AQ ever officially sanctioning, much less advocating, this tactic.

Here’s what I said in 2009,

Nonetheless, he said, the majority of terrorists are likely seeking ways to create the most destruction with the least amount of effort. A wildfire doesn’t yield “as much fruit” as an inner-city bombing, he said.

But Brachman said the “Al Qaeda armies of one” approach has several benefits for terrorists, including more overall acts of violence and additional opportunities to become involved in new geographical areas. It also means less operational control for Al Qaeda’s senior commanders, he said.

“We’re definitely going to see more of calls for these kinds of operations in the future,” he said. “The question that American security professionals and first responders will have to wrestle with is whether anyone will be answering these calls.”

Here’s some clips from the recently released Inspire 9: