August 29, 2014
The ISIS Laptop Of Doom: Lessons For Making Bubonic Plague Bombs, And Missives On Using Weapons Of Mass Destruction (WMD)
Still not convinced that ISIS is a threat to the West and America? Harold Doornbos, and Jenna Moussa, in an August 28, 2014 article on the website Foreign Policy, reveal that “buried on a Dell computer recently seized in Syria — were lessons on making bubonic plague bombs, and missives on weapons of mass destruction (WMD).” According to the two authors, a Syrian rebel commander, Abu Ali, “took the laptop this year from an ISIS hideout.” The laptop was captured after Ali’s rebels attacked an ISIS hideout in the Syrian province of Idlib, close to the border with Turkey — as part of a larger anti-ISIS offensive occurring at the time. “We found the laptop and a power-cord in a room,” Ali said. “I took it with me; but, I have no clue if it still works, or contains anything interesting.”
But, the laptop soon disclosed just how evil and threatening ISIS desires to be. “Buried in hidden files,” on the laptop’s hard-drive, was 146 gigabytes of material, containing a total of 35,347 files and 2,367 folders,” wrote Mr. Doornbos and Ms. Moussa. Abu Ali allowed the two Foreign Policy journalists to copy the files — which included documents in French, English and Arabic — onto an external hard drive.”
Mr. Doornblos and Ms. Moussa write that “the laptop’s contents turned out to be a treasure trove of documents that contain the ideological justifications for these militant Islamic groups; and, practical training on how to carry out the Islamic State’s deadly campaigns.” These hidden files also contained “videos of Osama bin Laden and manuals on how to make bombs, instructions for stealing cars, and lessons on how to use disguises…in order to avoid getting arrested while traveling from one jihadi hotspot to another.” More than just grandiose musings, Mr. Doornbos and Ms. Moussa write that “the laptop’s owner was teaching himself about the use of biological weaponry, in preparation for a potential attack — that would have shocked the world.”
Foreign Policy adds that “the information on the laptop makes clear that its owner is a Tunisian national who joined ISIS in Syria; and, had studied chemistry and physics at two universities in northeast Tunisia.” “Even more disturbing,” they write, “is how he planned to use that education: The ISIS laptop contains a 19-page document in Arabic on how to develop biological weapons; and, how to weaponize bubonic plague from infected animals.” “The advantage of a biological weapon is that they do not cost a lot of money, while the human casualties can be huge,” the document noted. “Use small grenades with the virus and throw them in closed areas like metros, or soccer stadiums, or entertainment centers,” the 19-page document on biological weapons advises.” “Best to do it near air conditioning. It can also be used in suicide operations.”
Mr. Doornbos and Ms. Moussa add that “the document includes instructions on how to test the weaponized disease safely, before it is used in a terrorist attack.” “When the microbe is injected into small mice, the symptoms of the disease should start to appear within 24 hours,” the document stated.
“The laptop also contained a 26-page fatwa, or Islamic ruling on the usage of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).” “If Muslims cannot defeat the kafir, [unbelievers] in a different way, it is permissible to use WMD,” states the fatwa by Saudi cleric Nasir al-Fahd, who is currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. “Even if it kills all of them; and, wipes them and their descendants off the face of the Earth.”
Mr. Doornbos and Ms. Moussa emphasize that “nothing on the ISIS laptop suggests the jihadists already have a WMD; and, any jihadi organization contemplating a bio-terrorist attack will face many difficulties.” “The real difficulty in all of these weapons…[is] to actually have a workable distribution system that will kill a lot of people,” said Magnus Ranstorp, Research Director for the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College. “But, to produce quite scary weapons is certainly within [the Islamic State's] capabilities.”
“In short,” write Mr. Doornbos and Ms. Moussa warn, “the longer the ‘caliphate’ exists, the more likely it is that members with a science background will come up with something horrible.”
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