In what follows, we shed light on how Al-Qaeda perceives matters related to oil and how it believes the oil conflict should be managed. Further insight into the Al-Qaeda mindset will be offered in future issues, as reported to us from informed sources.

The Oil Fortune

The First step

A media group including specialists in political economy conducts a study aimed at gauging the value of petroleum resources and the real prices of crude oil in order to prove that, despite the failure of vigorous research in finding alternatives to oil for the time being, the prices of this substance remain negligible as compared to others, to the point that a joke by a comedian on stage was said to be more expensive than a thousand barrels of oil. The study should specify the real or approximate price of a barrel of oil according to the proper economic standards while pinpointing the importance of the oil industry in politics as well as the injustice that the nation has suffered for tens of years due to low price rates. The study would then be handed to a committee member adept at formulating justificatory statements so that he may devise a statement free from all excuses against any claim purporting to assert that we are disturbing the oil sector because it is being sold to infidels, especially since this matter is susceptible to numerous interpretations that might expose us to a media controversy that would derail our work. The statement must include the following:

1- A concise summary of the study prepared by the economic cadre with special focus on the extent of the abuse inflicted on the nation due to underpriced petroleum products and a demonstration revealing that, however scanty, the amounts yielded from the oil industry throughout the decades, were not employed to build the nation but were transferred into the bank accounts of a bunch of Western puppets from Arab and Islamic regimes. Only leftovers were given to the nation in a bid to throw dust in the people’s eyes. The new prices to be set per barrel must be mentioned and it is to be understood that these prices have been arrived at as the result of a careful economic study distributed to several economists, politicians and media elites in our Islamic world.

2- An announcement to all the countries importing oil from Muslim countries urging them to abide by the prices dictated by both the study and the statement, with Muslims retaining their right to claim for the difference between the previous and the current prices for all the past years. Let those seeking to negotiate prices know that these are the prices that Muslims want in exchange for their possessions and those unwilling to pay these rates had better refrain from purchasing altogether. As of this day, the returns yielded from selling Muslims’ oil will no longer land in regime treasuries pierced with holes that allow revenues to flow straight into bank accounts in Switzerland. Rather, popular committees would be responsible for the disposition of funds, distributing them to needy nations once they have paid the salaries of the industry’s workers. These committees would consist of Muslim traders and dignitaries who had proved themselves worthy of trust.

3- Allowing a sufficient stretch of time to weigh up the levels of responsiveness to the statement and to pave the way for earnest steps to be taken by the concerned parties. Should no positive response be forthcoming, attacks will be launched on petroleum facilities, more precisely on pipelines so as to avoid human casualties, or on the oil tankers operated by the infidels. In order to shun injuries among Muslims, refineries will be targeted only when vacated. Guards affiliated with puppet and apostate regimes will be treated as traitors and shown no mercy. As for those employed by security companies, they will come under attack only if they try to kill or detain a jihadist in order to hand him over to the infidel regimes.

4- It is worthwhile reassuring our people that, should things deteriorate and should the petroleum sector cease to operate, they would not lose out. First, the bulk of our petroleum income is piling up in the bank accounts of the puppet rulers and their henchmen, and the scanty part assigned to our people is aimed at misleading them. Second, when sales stop, we will still have plenty of petroleum reserves to sell later at a multiple of times the current price. The difference in prices would be more than sufficient to cover the reparation of any damage that might befall the facilities. This, in the short term if Allah wills. In the long term, we hope that the status quo of the nation will change and that it will restore its volition and the rights and aspirations that the West and its treacherous agents have plundered will be restored. We are doing all this for no other sake than that of the nation and we expect our people to challenge and silence all the trumpets that the injured regimes might blow to distort our purpose and disrupt our mission. With a little bit of patience, the nation could redeem its decision-making and its dignity.

The Second Step

We will make it sure that the study reaches the largest segments of the economic, political and media elites, both inside and outside the Islamic world, so that everybody can learn how oppressed our poor nation has been. This would also encourage oil-rich countries elsewhere in the world to follow suit by increasing petroleum prices. As for the concise summary, it must be delivered to every nook and corner of every house in our nation by any means necessary, even if we have to kidnap a Christian crusader- preferably a petroleum engineer or director- and stipulate, as a condition for his release, that the statement in its entirety be carried by all newspapers and TV channels. The abduction may be carried out in Nigeria or Senegal or any Islamic oil country, even elsewhere if future operations are scheduled to take place in other regions such as the Gulf region. Should the abduction of a Western crusader falter, we can replace him with a Christian Arab or a foreign journalist or whatever person whose abduction might serve our purpose, even if they were from outside the petroleum sector. The abduction scheme may be dropped altogether should an alternative operation emerge to draw the world’s attention to our statement.

Many would be taken aback, however, if I were to say that our primary goal is not the demands contained in the statement. The chances are that the West and its puppet regimes will not respond to any of the demands and might even play down the threats.

It is also likely that our small-scale operations scheduled to begin at the expiry of the ultimatum present in the statement, will fail to stop the pumping of oil to the West. But at least, they are guaranteed to push up oil prices, even if just enough to cover the expenses of the electronic security systems and the guards and soldiers who will be deployed all along petroleum pipelines and on the premises of huge petroleum facilities and their ancillaries. The prices will most probably soar a little further following the political crisis that the operations will trigger. However, the best-case scenario predicts an immediate rise in prices even before the operations kick-off, upon the mere issuance of the study and the statement. This may grant us favorable media advantage by proving us capable of hiking oil prices twice: once through a simple statement and once through minor operations against petroleum targets lacking in security.

Some of you would be further amazed to hear that all of the above- be it the foreseen negativity or the unexpected response to our demands- matters little to us. What we care about most is to have the enemy rally its forces, in overwhelming numbers, towards the protection of economic sites. Stationing the most capable troops to guard thousands of petroleum and economic hubs inside a country would vacate its peripheries and overcrowded cities or, at best, leave them with feeble forces that are easy to confront when needed, thus enabling us to seek out the people in those areas and recruit them by virtue of a verbal agreement, for we refuse to sign any pledge or agreement with the officers of apostate regimes. These officers would be spared should they grant us the liberty to call on the Muslims of the populated cities and the peripheries to join Al-Qaeda and to train and recruit them. Otherwise, we would pursue them with our swords. In such a way, we would be taking huge strides towards the management of savagery phase, which begins by allowing the impotent apostate troops stranded in the outskirts and the populated areas- since elite fully-equipped troops would be deployed to protect rulers, crusaders and economic and tourist hubs, to choose one of three possible options: die, join our lines or give up their arms and flee. We would then be left to govern those powerless areas infiltrated by gangs and unrest.

P.S: The hostility and insecurity elicited by some gangs, are de facto-and by Sharia- better than allowing the dominion of certain powers over the status quo and placing people under the humiliation of police departments and coercing them to accept blasphemy or resort to humanly posited laws or succumb to tyrants, for these wreak far more havoc on security. Furthermore, the presence of gangs will not go unrestrained and people will start rallying towards armament to defend themselves, rather than yielding to the former state of capitulation to the troops of tyrants. Citizens will act on the advice of Muslim scholars by regulating their affairs in accordance with Sharia following the judicial vacuum, which will inevitably surface when powers collapse or wane.

To those taking pity on us because of the media distortions and campaigns that we may encounter in response to our operations against economy or petroleum resources, I say that they need to take it easy and to gear up for worse news that is yet to come. Without this resolve, our jihad will never rise up. If we start to wail and lament so soon, we had better confine ourselves at home. We must shut our eyes to these distortive campaigns and prepare for the enemy, for if not now there will never be a right time.

Let him who sets foot on the path for jihad know that there will come a day when battles will flare up- Oh Allah, we ask you for your pardon and well-being in our religious and worldly affairs, in this life and the next- and we will see millions of displaced mortals fleeing the fierce fighting against infidel regimes or against the crusaders or the Jews, just as in the cases of Afghanistan and Chechnya, when the battles intensify, erudite scholars from among the leaders of Islamic movements will come on board. Fingers may be pointed at us for causing this frenzy and bombings by infidel and crusader troops may kill thousands, so we had better be ready. While one of the Afghan leaders was sitting with the late Sheikh Abdullah Azzam- may the mercy of Allah be upon him- he learned of the death of more than 20 members of his family during a raid on their town. Unfazed, he passed the news on to the Sheikh as if he was speaking to him of how Haroun al-Rashid used to be a pilgrim one year and a raider the next and picked up the conversation normally as if nothing had happened. This is war and peoples should get used to it, or else when and how will we resist being led astray? We must be prepared as far as is feasible to ward off tarnishing campaigns. If we were fully devoted to our work, our words would touch the hearts of people and they would be patient with us provided that we were patient with ourselves. But if we started to complain and lament right now, the people would have the full right to be frightened.

I bring to your attention once more that what I have mentioned here regarding petroleum is intended to only hone the mind. However, the strategy of targeting the enemy in general is well-thought out at both political and military levels and it has been emphasized by jihadist leaderships in several studies and statements.