The jihadist media group Fursan al-Balagh released an Arabic translation of a US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) handbook on terrorist groups and their tactics.

Then-Deputy Secretary of State Armitage’s famous description of Hezbollah is a cautionary tale for those who argue either that terrorism never works or that it is an irredeemably failed strategy. Not only has Hezbollah not been taken down, but to the contrary it is today the most politically powerful party in Lebanon. With formidable parliamentary representation, a rock solid constituency that extends even beyond its core Lebanese Shi’a base, and the new-found legitimacy provided militarily by its performance in the 2006 Second Lebanon War and politically by developments like the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s decision to open discussions with its political wing——Hezbollah provides an example of how a terrorist movement can effectively transform itself from an international pariah to a respected political powerhouse.

Introduction:After the U.S.-led coalition forces intervened in Afghanistan in October 2001, multiple threat groups in Afghanistan including the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda relocated to tribal Pakistan. Nearly seven years after, Pakistani security forces, primarily the army, is fight a high intensity insurgency in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), the tribal belt separating Afghanistan from Pakistan. The insurgent and terrorist groups located on that rugged border mount attacks against U.S. led coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan and against Pakistani forces and other targets in Pakistan. The spillover effect of the insurgency in FATA into mainland Pakistan is profound.

Regardless of whether Lashkar-e Toiba (LeT), now operating under the name Jama'at Ud-Da'wa, did have a pivotal role in the Mumbai attacks, the group nevertheless poses a severe threat to India and the rest of the world.  Though traditionally the group's theater of conflict is considered to be in Kashmir and executing terrorist attacks against Indian targets, LeT must be treated as a global, rather than local, concern. 

The vulnerability of cities worldwide to terrorism was highlighted when ten terrorists willing to kill and die brought India’s commercial and entertainment capital to its knees from November 26-29, 2008. Within two hours of landing in Mumbai, the terrorists seized landmark targets beginning a prolonged siege that would last three days. While Indian security forces failed to subdue the attackers and rescue the hostages during the first 60 hours, a world in shock watched the terrorists systematically kill 171, maim and injure 300, and damage and destroy ten targets.

Introduction 

August 11, 2008 marks 20 years since the founding of al-Qaeda. Today, the terrorist threat has transformed from a single group to the Global Jihad Movement, consisting of al-Qaeda and its operationally associated groups in Asia, Africa, Middle East, and the Caucuses, as well as the self-radicalized homegrown cells.