Red Team Intelligence Project:
Outline Part 1

Please read through the Project Instructions before completing this outline.

Reminders:

• Be sure to answer each question with one or more complete sentences (some questions require more thorough answers). Each question is applicable to this assignment and the use of “n/a” or “none” is not an acceptable answer.
• Answer the questions in your own words and cite the sources where you obtained the information (use in-text citations in APA format). 
• Explain or describe your answers as if you were giving a briefing to your class of fellow analysts about the project.
• Make sure all in-text citations are included in the References section at the end.

Tasking Order

Red Team Intelligence Project for a documented terrorist attack. Use Red Team Intelligence Analysis (i.e., think like a terrorist), as necessary, to complete this project. 

Topic (DTO/FTO/Lone Wolf)

Lone Wolf - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Background Summary

1. Explain the recruiting steps used by this organization or how this individual was radicalized. Include the role of social media, extremist literature, recruiters/enabler(s), or other means to recruit and radicalize the organization's members and the individual.
   1. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was a master of stealth. He used a variety of strategies, including preaching fraudulent doctrines to his followers. He used technology to communicate with and command his followers (Hamoudi, 2018). He encouraged them to launch lone-wolf strikes against Western countries. He had handlers who pushed his message and maintained constant communication routes with his juniors when he was in hiding.
2. Identify and explain the “triggering” event(s) which propelled this organization—or Lone Wolf—to carry out a terrorist attack. Explain the “why” for the attack.
   1. The jihadist world was turned upside down by the birth of the Islamic State (Lakomy, 2021). Following its capture of large swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014, the Islamic State lured tens of thousands of people eager to construct a new Islamic civilization in a modern caliphate.
3. What was the target or potential target(s) (i.e., location, people, places, or things)?
   1. ISIS' primary targets were the United States and European countries, owing to their anti-terrorist policies (Ilardi, 2021). Non-Muslims were primarily targeted, particularly those who gathered in large groups in markets, airports, and malls.
4. Explain the ideological significance of the target or potential target selections. How does the selection of this target tie into their ideological beliefs? What were they trying to achieve?
   1. ISIS' main targets were non-Muslims and any other person who disagreed with their ideology (Ilardi, 2021). As a result, they were met with reprisal in Syria and Iraq, and they fought a war against their own people in the places they called home (Ilardi, 2021). They also created profiles for their potential targets based on skin color and ethnicity.
5. Explain the intended impact of the attack or potential attack in terms of the deliberate creation of fear through violence, or threat of violence, in pursuit of social, religious, or political change, and linked to the well-defined ideology.
   1. The group intended to create fear amongst its enemies. It also intended to rule all the Islamic nations in the world (Ganor, 2021).
6. Describe the attack strategy against the target. What was the terrorist organization or Lone Wolf attempting to accomplish? Alternatively, if there was no attack, what is their potential strategy?
   1. Suicide bombings were part of the attack plot, with one of the terrorists walking into a large gathering with bombs strapped to the body (Ganor, 2021).
7. Explain the tactics for the attack (What was their attack plan?). How was the terrorist organization or Lone Wolf going to accomplish the strategy? Personnel requirements? Special training or skills required? Alternatively, what would they potentially use or need for future attacks?
   1. They would always dress in explosives to deter potential reprisal by threatening suicide bombings (Ganor, 2021). They also carried firearms.
8. Explain how the terrorist organization or Lone Wolf is financed or could have financed the terrorist attack (see pp. 51-54 in your text). Specify the sources, or possible sources, for terrorism financing.
   1. The group targeted countries with known oil reserves, hoping to sell and gain money to fund their operations (Ganor, 2021).

Select-Analyze-Research-Attack (SARA)

Select the Target

Analyze the Target/Target Assessment