Penalty for crossing an Al Qaeda boss? A nasty memo

LONDON - Mohammed Atef was furious.

The Al Qaeda leader had learned that a subordinate had broken the rules repeatedly. So he did his duty as the feared military chief of a global terror network: He fired off a nasty memo.

In two pages mixing flowery religious terms with itemized complaints, the Egyptian boss accused the militant of misappropriating cash, a car, sick leave, research papers and an air conditioner during "an austerity situation" for the network. He demanded a detailed letter of explanation.

"I was very upset by what you did," Atef wrote. "I obtained 75,000 rupees for you and your family's trip to Egypt. I learned that you did not submit the voucher to the accountant, and that you made reservations for 40,000 rupees and kept the remainder claiming you have a right to do so. . . . Also with respect to the air-conditioning unit, . . . furniture used by brothers in Al Qaeda is not considered private property. . . . I would like to remind you and myself of the punishment for any violation."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...,5988255.story

A very interesting read that gives a bit of insight to Al Queda's day-to-day ops and admin. I am not a middle east scholar, but this all sounds very ancient Arab to me, with the meticulous record-keeping and squabbling.

with tennis shoes on, and a smile as you submit your TDY voucher :D

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In a brief letter from the late 1990s, a militant wished Atef "Peace and God's mercy and blessings" and "praise to the Lord and salvation to his prophet." Then he got down to business: "I have not received my salary in three months and I am six months behind in paying my rent. . . . You also told me to remind you, and this is a reminder."

A stern Egyptian bean-counter set the austere policies. Mustafa Ahmed Al Yahzid, a 52-year-old trained as an accountant, ran the network's finance committee between 1995 and 2007, said Rohan Gunaratna, author of "Inside Al Qaeda."

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In all this chaos, the bean counter, APO clerk and mess sergeant still rule :rolleyes:

At least they have some of the same self-inflicted burdens that we do...

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Originally Posted by AdamG

At least they have some of the same self-inflicted burdens that we do...

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I would call that progress in the war on terror. Before this thing's over, AQ may find itself so paralyzed by an overweening bureaucracy that it finds itself much like us - lethargic, slow, and ponderous to respond.

Now if we could only encourage the development of such entropy within AQ's C2 apparatus...wait a minute! Now if a Personnel System were to be established, complete with Personnel Evaluation Records - to improve efficiency and to promote the best people of course...;)

And what's this? Someone with a cave address somewhere in the Hindu Kush has just won a lifetime's supply of office supplies courtesy of Staples?:eek: A pack-mule train loaded for bear with said supplies arriving on a weekly basis at said address...(ooooh, spin in your graves XX-Committee members).

If only we had people clever enough, and they people dim enough, to make such a plan work (sigh).:wry: