ADAM GADAHN AND AL-QAEDA'S INTERNET STRATEGY

Middle East Policy, Fall 2009 by Michael, George

In May 2004, the FBI announced that it was searching for Adam Yahiye Gadahn, a 25-year-old American, for his suspected role as an al-Qaeda operative. A few months later, a 75-minute videotape was released in which a masked man calling himself "Azzam the American" claimed to be a member of al Qaeda and threatened that "the streets of America" would "run red with blood."1 In an interview on the tape, he explained his motivation for joining the terrorist organization.2 In recent years, Gadahn, a modern-day Tokyo Rose of sorts, has become somewhat of a celebrity on Internet sites such as YouTube and has emerged as one of the leading voices of As-Sahab, al-Qaeda's media arm.

Amazingly, the young native of California and convert to Islam was able to ingratiate himself into the highest echelons of al-Qaeda. A seemingly alienated youth, he underwent a radicalization process and made his way to Pakistan, where he was recruited and served as a translator. Over the years, his various video pronouncements suggest a change in al-Qaeda's strategy. Al-Qaeda has effectively been transformed from a centralized hierarchy to more of a communications hub that exhorts jihadist cells and Islamist lone wolves to commit acts of terrorism and resistance on their own initiative without central direction from the organization.

EARLY LIFE

Adam Gadahn was born on September 1, 1978, in Oregon and raised in California. His parents were products of the 1960s counterculture. Settling on a 40-acre goat farm in a remote part of Riverside County, they decided to abandon the American consumerist lifestyle in favor of austere isolation and self-sufficiency. Their home had no running water, and they produced their own electricity from solar panels. For years, they did not own a telephone or have a mailing address.3 They learned how to slaughter goats according to Islamic halal strictures.4 Adam's father, bom Philip Pearlman, later changed his surname to Gadahn, which is derived from the biblical name Gideon. Presumably, the Arabic-sounding name would be more palatable to his local Muslim customers in the region to whom he sold meat.

Although Philip Pearlman was bom a Jew, he was a non-believer. Adam's mother, Jenifer, was a Catholic from Pennsylvania. Together, they raised their children as agnostics, but Phillip Gadahn later embraced Christianity after undergoing a spiritual experience. Adam Gadahn's paternal grandfather, Carl Pearlman, was a prominent surgeon and urologist. Carl's wife, Agnes Branch, was an editor for The Christian Chronicle newspaper. In 1 948, they and their two small children arrived in Santa Ana from the East Coast. Although he did not practice his religion, Pearlman was very active in Jewish causes. He once sat on the Board of Directors of the AntiDefamation League, a prominent Jewish defense organization. Later, he served as chairman of the United Jewish Welfare Fund and was an avid supporter of Israel. He once won a humanitarian award for promoting peace among religions; yet, he encouraged his children to think freely and raised them as agnostics.5

Music runs deep in the family. Carl Pearlman played the violin, and Agnes Branch was an accomplished pianist. While a student at the University of CaliforniaIrvine, Philip Pearlman brought rock bands to campus. For a while, he dabbled in the psychedelic rock scene, playing guitar for a band called Beat of the Earth. The band recorded an underground classic titled "Relatively Clean Rivers," which was released in 1967. After he converted to Christianity, some of his new religious ideas were reflected in an album he recorded in 1975 titled "Relatively Clean Rivers."6 As an adolescent, Adam Gadahn also developed an abiding interest in music. He once wrote for an online death-metal magazine called "Xenocide." Ironically, he is now affiliated with Osama bin Laden, who eschews music, calling it "the flute of the devil."7

Adam's parents gave him the middle name Yahiye after the Arabic name for John the Baptist, whom Muslims consider to be a prophet.8 By all accounts, Adam was an exceptionally bright child. Described as bookish, shy, gentle and conscientious, the young Gadahn enjoyed both rock guitar and classical music.9 His parents homeschooled him and his three siblings, and they joined several Christian home-school support groups.10 A former associate, Spinoza Ray Prozak, who operated a weekly radio show on a student-run station at Pomona College, recalled that Gadahn was often withdrawn and interested in things external.11 In 1 995, at the age of 16, Adam Gadahn moved in with his paternal grandparents in the Floral Park neighborhood of Santa Ana, California. He soon found a job in a computer store and became interested in the Internet. A seemingly alienated youth, Gadahn converted to Islam when he was 17 years old.

CONVERSION AND RADICAL1ZATION

In a sense, Gadahn's conversion to Islam was emblematic of his family's tradition of personal and spiritual exploration.12 In an online testimonial titled "Becoming a Muslim," which was posted on the University of California's Muslim Students Association's website in 1995, he recounted his upbringing and spiritual development.13 As he explained, his father, a nonbelieving Jew, later adopted Christianity after he picked up a Bible he found on the beach. The Bible left a deep impression on him and influenced his subsequent spirituality. During his homeschooling with other children, Adam was exposed to fundamentalist Christianity, which he described as an "eye-opening experience."