Media Appearances
Media Appearances
Associated Press: Prosecution Calls Terrorism Expert in Ore. Trial
Written by Administrator Tuesday, 31 August 2010 11:21
The prosecution's terrorism expert has taken the stand in the trial of an Oregon man accused of trying to smuggle money to support Muslim fighters in Chechnya. Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann was called Tuesday to explain to the jury the nature of the conflict in Chechnya, which fought to win independence from the former Soviet Union and later Russia. Pete Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty, is on trial in federal court in Eugene on charges he conspired to send $150,000 to fighters hoping to establish an Islamic government in Chechnya. Prosecutors say the money came from an Egyptian donor and was channeled through the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation chapter in Oregon to Saudi Arabia in hopes it would eventually get to Chechnya.
Evan Kohlmann in Washington Post: Bitter Religious Fighting over Mosque Plays Right into al-Qaeda's Hands
Written by Administrator Friday, 27 August 2010 11:44
Indeed, al-Qaeda's leaders understand better than most that their own twisted political philosophy is terribly unpopular, amongst the vast majority of both Muslims and non-Muslims. This being the case, al-Qaeda and its global affiliates have embarked on a desperate search for English-speaking envoys who can successfully reach out to Muslims and somehow convince them to abandon their American homeland. Jihadist pundits including Adam Gadahn and Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki have attempted to paint a gloomy and foreboding future for Muslims in the U.S.--forcibly corralled into "concentration camps" and otherwise treated like errant Jews under a revived Nazi regime. These militants have scoffed at the election of a supposedly transformational figure like President Barack Obama and instead urge Muslim Americans to withdraw from a society that refuses to accept them in order to become the next "heroic" iteration of Nidal Hassan or Faisal Shahzad. Essentially, the mission of Americanized al-Qaeda spokesmen like Gadahn and al-Awlaki is quite simple: to provoke us into tearing ourselves apart.
Voice of America: Radical Islamists Try to Exploit Islamophobia
Written by Administrator Thursday, 26 August 2010 08:40
Counterterrorism analysts who monitor jihadist Internet chat rooms and websites say that there is modest but growing chatter in those forums about the opposition to the New York City Islamic center plan. Evan Kohlmann, senior partner of the New York-based security consulting firm Flashpoint Global Partners, says radical Islamists see a propaganda and recruitment opportunity in the New York mosque controversy as well as other manifestations of anti-Muslim feeling. "The reaction is, at least on the part of extremists, fairly gleeful - that America is playing into our hands, that America is revealing its ugly face, and that even if it doesn't further radicalize people in the Middle East, there's no doubt that it will radicalize a kind of a key constituency that al-Qaida and other extremists are seeking to covet, seeking to court, which is the small number of homegrown extremists here in the United States," Kohlmann said.
The Gainesville Sun: Officials, Experts Fret Over Violence that Quran Burning Could Incite
Written by Administrator Wednesday, 25 August 2010 12:05
And while Mayor Craig Lowe and city religious leaders have said they hope to calm the situation by showing the world Gainesville doesn't support Dove World, threats are pouring in. Evan Kohlmann, who tracks militant websites for the New York-based firm Flashpoint Global Partners, said a suicide bomber has threatened to drive a truck into the church and that others have talked about burning down the building. "It's hard to tell how serious the discussions are, but they're talking about it," Kohlmann said....Kohlmann said the anti-Islam rhetoric in the debate over the so-called "ground zero mosque" and Jones' Quran burning is being used as propaganda for al-Qaida and other extremists, and he urged Jones to back off. "If drawing a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad was enough to generate suicide bombings and an offer by al-Qaida to give money to go assassinate these people, what do you think burning a Quran is going to do?" Kohlmann said. "It may not be in Gainesville. It may not be in Tallahassee. It may not be in Florida. But a price will be a paid for this."
NPR: Rancor Over Mosque Could Fuel Islamic Extremists
Written by Administrator Wednesday, 25 August 2010 11:55
The supercharged debate over the proposed center has attracted the attention of a quiet, underground audience — young Muslims who drift in and out of jihadi chat rooms and frequent radical Islamic sites on the Web. It has become the No. 1 topic of discussion in recent days and proof positive, according to some of the posted messages, that America is indeed at war with Islam. "This, unfortunately, is playing right into their hands," said Evan F. Kohlmann, who tracks these kinds of websites and chat rooms for Flashpoint Global partners, a New York-based security firm. "Extremists are encouraging all this, with glee. "It is their sense that by doing this that Americans are going to alienate American Muslims to the point where even relatively moderate Muslims are going to be pushed into joining extremist movements like al-Qaida. They couldn't be happier."
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