As Zach Chesser prepares to plead guilty today, there’s another curious story flying just below the radar. The crack jihadi cyber sleuths over at ADL released this report that is one of just handful to concentrate on Chesser’s wife (Umm Talhah).
Money quote:
Like her husband, Nzabanita has an extensive online footprint that dates back as early as December 2008 – before they were married – when she posted comments on Anwar al-Awlaki‘s now-defunct blog. Not only did she use Awlaki’s blog to explore issues surrounding how to be a woman and still fulfill the obligation of “jihad,” but she also communicated with Chesser about various related issues.
Look at your title for this post…
You try to portray yourself as engaging with jihadis and trying to provoke debate with them and within their circles. You do so as if you care for them and as if you have some higher moral conscience driving your efforts.
But in truth, you care nothing for these people who you study and analyze. You aren’t really interested in trying to engage with them because you know that they will either persistently argue with you (which feeds your self) or that they may (as Abdullah as-Sayf Jones did) change their views and that is when it becomes clear that you don’t give a hoot about them anyway.
It is very clear from your debates here with Abu Talhah/Zach Chesser, that you were consistently trying to portray yourself as some kind of objective, guided-by-a-higher-good analyst who was – despite his strong disagreement with Abu Talhah – keen to show Abu Talhah a better way.
You use this “sincere-humanist” thread in your debates with people like Abdallah as-Sayf Jones and Abu Talhah to try and paint a good image of where your arguments are coming from (i.e a good source).
You are not concerned in the slightest for these people, either when they disagree with you or when they eventually change their views and try to reconstruct their lives. They are nothing but pieces of dough with a conscience that you enjoy kneading and feeling.
So, what would happen if within the next 6 months, a number of Western converts to extremist Islam contacted you to reach out and share their experiences and ideas? It’s just an example, but the truth is that there are many, including the one who produces the pixels in this comment, who turned their backs on Salafi-Jihadism; And it is a poison that affect the person’s entire life and social structures. After you get out of it, how do you reconnect with your family, your friends (those who you made takfir of) and even your own self?
If willing escapees of their own self-enslavement to Salafi-jihadi thought do not see a better, comprehensive alternative, they may very well strap on a death vest, but simply to escape this confusing world
Dismounted – thanks for your thoughtful reflection. You’re absolutely right. I am not a soup kitchen, a halfway house, rehab facility or a charity. I do not have sympathy for people who support al-Qaeda nor do I care about them when they get arrested. I run this blog to stimulate critical thinking among my readers and as a way to advance my own analysis on the topic. The subjects that I profile are just that, subjects for examination – not my compadres.
Now, with regard to your other question, about what compels Western converts to Salafi-Jihadism and then away from it, that’s a whole different story. I’d be thrilled to let my blog serve as a stage for you and/or a number of individuals who have something substantive to share about their experiences that helps my readers better understand who is, and just as importantly, who isn’t a threat.
I care about processes, mechanics, dynamics – I want to know how the gears works. If you want to share your story or know of those who do, contact me direct through the blog and let’s try to work out a way to showcase it.
thanks again for your comment –
jb
Dismounted Knight,
Whoever you are very well said and thank you.
Sincerely,
Yousef al-Khattab