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What do you get for the young jihadist who has everything?
How about an online subscription to Inspire, a new online magazine that purports itself as al Qaeda’s lifestyle-oriented, English-language publication?
It answers explosive questions like “how to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.” It also features an article on “how to save the earth” by Osama bin Laden and a “message to the people of Yemen” from Ayman al-Zawahari, al Qaeda’s No. 2 leader.
The U.S. government is taking no chances. A former CIA officer says its target audience is the next “Fort Hood murderer or Times Square bomber,” according to the Associated Press.
Even though officials say it appears legitimate, there are some indications that it might be a hoax. Among other errors, the logo on the cover is incorrect and the author of one of the essays has been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for five years, says Max Fisher of The Atlantic.
Some speculate that it is a prank by U.S. residents. Be warned, those who might be tempted to search out the original PDFs. The files contain a computer virus, which may have been an attempt to infect jihadist online forums.
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