According to a captured Al-Qaeda manual, the jihadist should appear to be a secular, assimilated Muslim with no interest in religion. Speaking of ID documents, it says: “The photograph of the brother in these documents should be without a beard. It is preferable that the brother’s public photograph [on these documents ]be also without a beard. If he already has one [document ]showing a photograph with a beard, he should replace it.” And in renting an apartment, “It is preferable to rent these apartments using false names, appropriate cover, and non-Moslem appearance.” And in general: “Have a general appearance that does not indicate Islamic orientation (beard, toothpick, book,[long] shirt, small Koran)….Be careful not to mention the brothers” common expressions or show their behaviors (special praying appearance, “may Allah reward you”, “peace be on you” while arriving and departing, etc.)…Avoid visiting famous Islamic places (mosques, libraries, Islamic fairs, etc.).”
And yet tomorrow on the talking head shows the learned analysts will still be saying that Assem Hammoud was obviously not an observant Muslim, because of this behavior. Of course, it’s a long stretch from looking non-Muslim to engaging in behaviors Muslims consider immoral, isn’t it? Not really. It’s all part of the deception mandated by the prophet who taught that “war is deceit.”
“Playboy’s life: Girls & booze,” from the New York Daily News, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
…Assem Hammoud, 31, even fooled his mother, if Lebanese police and U.S. anti-terror officials are correct.
His mother, Nabila Qotob, said Hammoud drinks alcohol, had girlfriends, traveled widely and showed no similarities to Islamic militants….
To prove her son was no jihadi, Qotob showed off photos yesterday of Hammoud with his father and lounging shirtless on a speeding motorboat in Germany.
There were also very un-Islamic pictures of Hammoud with three smiling women – none of them wearing veils – on his arm during an undated stay in Canada….
But Lebanese police, who arrested Hammoud on April 27, said in a statement that the suspect claimed he had been ordered to maintain a fun-loving, secular lifestyle to hide his Islamic militancy.
“He did just that with perfection,” the police statement said….
FBI Assistant Director Mark Mershon said, “We know that he has acknowledged pledging a bayat or allegiance to Osama Bin Laden, and he proclaims himself to be a member of Al Qaeda.”
Hammoud also told his captors that he was acting “on a religious order from Bin Laden and said, ‘I am proud to carry out his orders,’ ” a Lebanese official said.
To carry out those orders, Hammoud planned to go to Pakistan for four months for training and had already undergone some light weapons instruction with a Syrian man who came to Lebanon this year, Lebanese cops said.
The Lebanese government said that instruction took place in the Ein Alhulwa camp, a Palestinian refugee camp that Middle East expert Nimrod Raphaeli called “an incubator of terrorism and a fountainhead of Islamist extremism.”
Hammoud wouldn’t be the first Islamic terrorist to live the good life to fool possible investigators.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, believed to be the mastermind of the 9/11 plot, had developed a reputation as a charming womanizer even as he plotted to blow up airplanes flying to the U.S. from Asia.
And some of the 9/11 attackers were known to frequent topless bars and pay for lap dances to keep their covers from being blown.