Wanted: Loyal Jihadi Others Need Not Apply

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point released a report last week analyzing 29 al-Qaeda documents. Among them is an employment contract that outlines for potential recruits the need for loyalty concerning “legitimate duties like jihad” and also details such matters as vacation time (five days a month for bachelors), salary (700 rupees extra for every wife)–even sick days. Is the document authentic? The Department of Defense and West Point have studied it carefully and believe it is. “It has the same characteristics that you’d expect to see on Jobs.com, says the center’s director, Lieut. Colonel Joe Felter. “But their product is death and destruction.”