1. Some facts about 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, who committed the terrorist attack in Pensacola last Dec. He was in contact with al Qaeda "two years before coming to the United States for training" & "remained so up until the night before the shooting." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/us/politics/saudi-gunman-vetting.html

2. Alshamrani remained "in contact with leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula while he was living in the United States" & "remained in regular touch with Al Qaeda as he finalized meticulous plans for the attack."

He sent a copy of his will to AQAP in Sept. 2019.

3. These facts and others place him firmly within AQAP's orbit. The Times cites officials as saying he "was not directed start to finish by Al Qaeda, nor was he simply inspired by online jihadist ideology." But that shouldn't be construed as he wasn't really AQ.

4. There are plenty of examples of AQ operatives being partly or largely "self-directed" going back to the 1990s. AQ has repeatedly relied on entrepreneurs in this regard. See, for example, Chapter 5 of the 9/11 Commission Report.

5. Even Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the 9/11 mastermind, fit the terrorist "entrepreneur" model. Again, see Chapter 5 of the 9/11 Commission Report:
https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf

6. The reason I bring this up is that it is easy to fall into false dichotomies. We've seen it regularly with analyses of AQ for many years. The Charlie Hebdo terrorists did a lot of the legwork themselves, but they were clearly facilitated, financed, trained & inspired by AQAP.

7. So, I don't see Alshamrani as a "new kind of terrorist," as the officials in the piece say. Also, the officials say he "was not directed start to finish by Al Qaeda" - but that doesn't mean AQAP was uninvolved. He took the time to communicate with AQAP over years.