Loyal reader Mitch tipped me off to Inshallahshaheed’s newest threats against New York and Washington posted at his new site. In case they take it down, as Jihadists are wont to do when their sites get noticed by non-Muslims, here’s a screen shot:

The screen in the above flashes several images, but my feeling is that the words above has some import that we may want to consider. Mitch came through again with a tentative translation of the term Ghazwat as meaning a battle in which Allah takes part. He should really get the byline on this.

Ghazwat has several variations and connotations, all having to do with the battles Mohammed himself led to expand Islam. Most worrisome is the Wikipedia entry on the operational usage of the term:

When performed within the context of Islamic jihad warfare, the ghazw’s function was to weaken the enemy’s defenses in preparation for his eventual conquest and subjugation. Because the typical ghazw raiding party often did not have the size or strength to seize military or territorial objectives, this usually meant sudden attacks on weakly defended targets (e.g. villages) with the intent of terrorizing/demoralizing their inhabitants and destroying material which could support the enemy’s military forces. Though rules of war in Islam’s rules of warfare offered protection to non-combatants such as women, monastics and peasants (in that, generally speaking, they could not be slain), their property could still be looted or destroyed, and they themselves could be abducted and enslaved (Cambridge History of Islam, p. 269)

The precise term Ghazwatul has been used by Jihadists to describe their operations on various forums. The Taliban’s planned offensive to retake Kabul is referred to by the operational name “Ghazwatul Badr”, a reference to the Battle of Badr in which Mohammed commanded the Islamic forces. Jihadist forums call the terror campaign against India Ghazwatul Hind. In this context, “Ghazwatul New York and Washington” seems to imply some sort of demoralizing raid on the cities with the intent of preparing them for long term Jihad. Perhaps some sort of Intifada?

Glen Beck is reporting that Islamic Militants are planning multiple coordinated attacks against soft targets like schools, malls and movie theaters. It’s a week long program called Exposed: The Perfect Day and now I regret not watching it.

Inshallahshaheed has also waxed philosophic about the appropriateness of assassination and is collecting an email contact list of fellow Jihadists. I say he’s up to something, as is Mujahid, whose new site, a G.I.M.F. site by the way, is now “protected” from the public.