Al-Qaeda Courts African-American Accomplices

As previously reported, al-Qaeda headman Ayman al-Zawahiri has issued a video statement in which he urges African-Americans, among others, to rise up against their country. Having examined this message, FBI analysts have determined that al-Qaeda is actively recruiting black Americans to engage in suicide attacks. Fearing that al-Qaeda may be looking to glide under a security radar long-accustomed to watch for Arabs, a new Homeland Security report stresses to law enforcement that "al-Qaida terrorists may not appear Arab" and that "non-Arab operatives could find it easier to avoid unwanted scrutiny …" Zawahiri, in his latest diatribe, uses clearly provocative language when he calls African-Americans "house slaves" if they do not fight with al-Qaeda. It remains to be seen whether this appeal presages a strategic shift for al-Qaeda.