Al-Qa’ida Central’s Ascendant Battlefield Theologian, Khalid bin ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Husaynan

For those interested, a new article of mine was published yesterday at Foreign Policy magazine’s AFPAK Channel on Khalid bin ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Husaynan, a rising but relatively little known Al-Qa’ida Central (AQC) ideologue.  The article provides a biographical sketch of the Kuwaiti preacher and an analysis of his role in AQC’s media campaign as well as his battlefield role as a missionary preacher and warrior theologian:

“The last two years have not been kind to al-Qaeda Central (AQC). U.S. drone strikes over Pakistan’s Pashtun tribal regions have decimated its leadership ranks, killing a number of senior operational leaders and ideologues. These killings have eroded the ability of AQC and the transnational Sunni jihadi current to propagate its message.  Despite these losses, however, AQC still has a number of charismatic voices that it is able to, and frequently does, deploy.  One of these is the group’s chief juridical voice, Abu Yahya al-Libi. A second is the Kuwaiti preacher Khalid bin ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Husaynan, a much lesser-known ideologue who has played an increasingly prominent role in AQC’s media productions since his debut in an often comedic “quiet dialogue.” This “dialogue” was actually a rhetorical monologue aimed at U.S. president Barack Obama, released by the group’s al-Sahab Media Foundation in August 2009.   Since then, al-Husaynan has emerged as both the spiritual guide to AQC’s armed cadres in the AfPak region and the group’s missionary ambassador tasked with wooing new recruits from abroad.”

Read the rest of the article HERE.