The Alienation of Akram Masud...an American Jihadist

Akram Mohammad Musad an American jihadist. Alienated and angry at the US, he is recruited by an al Qaeda agent at his mosque in Washington DC. In just a few months Akram goes from living his American dream to participating in jihad.

This is the story of Akram Mohammad Musad and his dream that became a nightmare. Akram, relocated at age 16 from Egypt to the Washington DC area by a family tragedy, embraces American culture and the ‘American Dream’ by jumping through the hoops of hard work and college. He hopes to get a good job, success and money, and maybe someday a wife. After college, trivial jobs and brief periods of happiness are his only rewards. He shares his dreams with Judith, his Jewish ‘sort of’ girl friend. Finally, he finds his dream job only to have 9/11 and America’s own prejudice extinguish the dream. He loses his job because he is Muslim and born in Egypt. Alienated and angry at the US, he is recruited by an al Qaeda agent at his mosque in Washington DC. In just a few months Akram goes from living his American dream to participating in jihad. Akram’s story is fiction but is based upon the time line and details of the actual anthrax event, named Amerithrax by the Department of Justice. Just days after 9/11, unknown persons mailed at least five letters laced with anthrax spores to news media offices and two US Senators at the Hart Office building in Washington DC. Seventeen people became sick and five died from exposure to the anthrax spores. Millions of dollars were spent removing the anthrax spores from offices and postal facilities and investigating the attack. To date, the FBI has failed to find, charge or convict those responsible. This is a story about how this might have happened.

Michael J. Reagan is an Anthropologist. And as a US government employee he worked as an Archaeologist, an Anthropologist, and a telecommunications specialist. During international disaster responses, he served as part of the disaster assessment teams as a cross-cultural specialist for humanitarian and civil strife issues for the United States Department of Agriculture, the Department of State, the World Bank, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the United State Agency for International Development. He has published papers and reports including several technical publications on telecommunications, disaster response and anthropology. His personal insight into the 2001 anthrax terrorist attack was gained as member of a multi-agency government team assembled by the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary to marshal the government’s medical response to the attack. He was also a member of the Iraq War Planning Team in 2003 at US Agency for International Development. USAID was responsible for the humanitarian and human rights issues of the civilian population in the last Iraq war. This story is fiction based upon information available to the general public but enhanced by his personal experiences. He currently resides in Roseburg, Oregon.