Al-Qa'ida terrorizes Muslims

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, which consistently produces fantastic research on terrorist threats, has done a great service with its new report. Deadly Vanguards: A Study of Al-Qai'da's Violence Against Muslims uses exclusively Arabic-language news sources to estimate how many Westerners vs. non-Westerners have died at the hands of al-Qa'ida. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is the key chart:


The report's conclusion says, "Al-Qa'ida represents itself as the vanguard of the Muslim community, committed to upholding Islamic values and defending Muslim people against Western forces, but its behavior represents a callous attitude toward the lives of those the group claims to protect."

This is a message that needs to get out in the Muslim world as frequently and loudly as possible. None of my friends or colleagues here in Jordan like al-Qai'da (my Muslim friends tell me that al-Qa'ida members are not true Muslims, and my secular friends just dismiss them with an angry "f**k al-Qai'da"), but I'm still going to throw a copy of this report in my backpack. I'm looking forward to the day I can pull it out in a classroom discussion.