Fear and Loathing in Waziristan
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the myth that Al Qaeda is a far more superior practitioner of the war of ideas because it has proven that it knows far less about the “American street” than supposedly the U.S. does about the “Arab street.” This is highlighted by Al Qaeda’s use of an American convert to be their voice to the U.S. The question that is open to interpretation is of what use is such a person at all to Al Qaeda given that it is doubtful that he is able to gather any significant following amongst Muslims in the Arab world and is considered nothing more than a “bloated buffoon” in the United States?
Al Qaeda’s use of Adam Gadahn is little more than an opportunistic publicity stunt designed to garner as much media exposure as possible because the spokesman is an American. So who is this Adam Gadahn? He is not a mystery. He is not an enigma. Rather Adam Yahiye Gadahn is really Adam Pearlman born in Oregon and raised in Orange County, California. Phil Pearlman (Adam’s father) was a 1960’s radical who suffered an identity crisis (much like Adam) that resulted in the change of the Pearlman surname to “Gadahn”.