Posted on 06/19/2007 4:43:36 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Terror Groups Swim in Global Sea of Saudi-Funded Wahhabi Institutions (back)
August 23, 2007
by David Rubenstein
Al Qaeda, Other Terror Groups Swim in Global Sea of Saudi-Funded Wahhabi Institutions
Majority of American Mosques Touched by Saudi Effort to Entrench Movement’s Harsh Views
Saudi Arabia’s pervasive influence on Islamic education in the United States has led to the development of a new breed of American: the jihadist. Since the 1970s, the Saudi government has been aggressively promoting Wahhabism, the country’s dominant branch of Islam, in America and across the globe. Today, it has been estimated that 80 percent of American mosques are under Wahhabi influence, described by both scholars and U.S. officials as a radical, violent philosophical platform used by terrorists and their supporters to justify violence against Christians, Jews and other ‘non-believers.’
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia from 1982 to 2005.
‘Al Qaeda has taken advantage of state-supported proselytizing around the world,’ the Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Juan Zarate, declared four years ago. Zarate’s office has taken a leading role in designating terrorist financiers and is pressing the Saudi government to crack down on them, as well, according to The Washington Post, October 2, 2003. Zarate later moved to the White House where he serves as Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism. American officials have described as a
Wahhabism, known as an intolerant, ascetic movement, was developed by theologian Mohammed ibn Abd Wahhab in the 18th century to purge what he saw as corrupting influences and return Islam to its original orthodoxy. Wahhab’s ideas became dominant due to an alliance he formed with Mohammed ibn Saud, a Bedouin chief whose conquests spread Wahhabism throughout nearly the entirety of the Arabian Peninsula . Ibn Saud’s descendants, the House of Saud, conquered the entirety of what is today known as Saudi Arabia by the early 1920s.
In 2006, Bernard Lewis, arguably the leading western scholar on Islam, called Wahhabism ‘the most radical, the most violent, the most extreme and fanatical version of Islam.’
$75 Billion Spent by Riyadh Over 30 Years
As to how much money Saudi officials have spent since the early 1970s to promote Wahhabism worldwide, David D. Aufhauser, a former Treasury Department general counsel, told a Senate committee in June 2004 that estimates went ‘north of $75 billion.’ The money financed the construction of thousands of mosques, schools and Islamic centers, the employment of at least 9,000 proselytizers and the printing of millions of books of religious instruction.
According to a major investigation by Washington Post reporter David B. Ottaway published on August 19, 2004, the Saudi government’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call and Guidance pays the salaries of 3,884 Wahhabi missionaries and preachers, who are six times as numerous as the 650 diplomats in Saudi Arabia ’s 77 embassies. Saleh Sheik, a direct descendant of Ibn Abdul Wahab, leads the ministry - the most important Saudi institution for exporting Wahhabism. Ministry officials in Africa and Asia often have had more money to dispense than Saudi ambassadors, according to several Saudi sources. The Islamic affairs officials also act as religious commissars, keeping tabs on the moral behavior of the kingdom’s diplomats, Ottaway reported. In the United States , a 40-person Islamic Affairs Department established in the Saudi Embassy in Washington acted autonomously from the ambassador.
Edward L. Morse, an oil analyst at Hess Energy Trading Co. in New York , told Ottaway that King Fahd tapped a special oil account that set aside revenue from as much as 200,000 barrels a day - $1.8 billion a year at 1980s oil prices. The Saudis also pursued this outreach through the creation of multiple organizations such as the al-Haramain Foundation, the International Islamic Relief Foundation (IIRO) and the World Assembly for Muslim Youth (WAMY). All of these groups have been investigated for links to terrorism; the U.S. government subsequently declared al-Haramain and IIRO supporters of terror in March 2002 and August 2006, respectively.
Sheik estimated the Islamic affairs ministry’s budget at $530 million annually and said it goes almost entirely to pay the salaries of the more than 50,000 people on the ministry payroll, Ottaway reported. That figure does not include the hundreds of millions of dollars in personal contributions made by King Fahd and other senior Saudi princes to the cause of propagating Islam at home and abroad, according to a Saudi analyst who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The real total spent annually spreading Islam is between $2 billion and $2.5 billion, he said.
80 Percent of U.S. Mosques Wahhabi Influenced
Eighty percent of major mosques in America are under Saudi-Wahhabi influence, according to Stephen Schwartz, Director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism, an organization that ‘challenges the dominance of American Muslim life by militant Islamist groups’ including control of property, buildings, training and appointment of imams, content of preaching, literature distributed in mosques and charitable solicitation.
Most of the Wahhabi mosques work closely with Saudi state funded organizations such as the Muslim World League (MWL) and the World Association for Muslim Youth (WAMY), institutions identified as participants in the funding of al Qaeda. The Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a main Wahhabi ideological institution in America with a well-documented network of support for radical Islam, has received at least $750,000 from the Saudi government and its officials, including a donation by the Islamic Development Bank, a Saudi government-controlled financial institution, to purchase their headquarters in Washington D.C.
According to Schwartz’s testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security on Thursday, June 26, 2003, the official Saudi government website stated in 2000, ‘In the United States, the Kingdom has contributed to the establishment of the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C.; the Omer Bin Al-Khattab Mosque in western Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Islamic Center, and the Fresno Mosque in California; the Islamic Center in Denver, Colorado; the Islamic center in Harrison, New York; and the Islamic Center in Northern Virginia.’
A U.S. member of al-Qaeda, believed to be Adam Gadahn, delivers a message shown on ABC’s Good Morning America program on September 11, 2005.
The Kingdom is also affiliated with the Bilal Islamic Primary and Secondary School and the King Fahd mosque, both in California, according to Nina Shea in her 2005 Freedom House Report ‘Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Invade American Mosques’. Shea, an international human-rights lawyer, is the director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute. Additionally, the previously-mentioned official website of the Saudi Arabian government reported a donation of $4 million for the construction of a mosque complex in Los Angeles named for Ibn Taymiyyah, a historic Islamic figure whose works influenced Mohammed ibn Abd Wahhab. In his testimony, Schwartz estimated that the Saudis have spent a minimum of $324 million on Islamic institutions in America by 2003.
The Saudi influence in America is far from benign. ‘From Islamic centers to student associations, from relief organizations to bookstores, an ideology committed to the destruction of Western civilization is being offered as the only solution to the plight of the ummah [Islamic nation],’ Epstein testified. The materials that the Kingdom has distributed to American schools and mosques in particular, have been proven to be pro-jihad, anti-Semitic, and anti-American. ‘In thousands of public school districts across the United States, without ever knowing it, taxpayers pay to disseminate pro-Islamic materials that are anti-American, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish… teaching programs funded by Saudi Arabia make their way into elementary and secondary school classrooms,’ a 2005 Jewish Telegraphic Agency staff report ‘What Your Kids are Learning about Israel, America and Islam,’ noted.
Saudi-Provided Texts Full of Hate
In the Freedom House report, materials found in mosques across America have been shown to be virulent and hate-filled. A book found in the King Fahd mosque, distributed by the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C., and published by the Saudi government, read: ‘Be dissociated from the infidels, hate them for their religion, leave them, never rely on them for support, do not admire them, and always oppose them in every way according to Islamic law.’ A recurring theme is the idea that a peaceful coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims is impossible. A Saudi-government text for tenth-grade students entitled ‘Science of Tawheed’, copies of which were obtained at the Al-Farouq Mosque in Houston, teaches that if a Muslim ‘thinks it is permissible to be under their [infidels] control, and he is pleased with the way they are, then there is no doubt that he is no longer a Muslim.’
Democracy in particular is demonized in Wahhabi ideology. In one book published in Riyadh by the Al-Nahawi Printing House, collected by Freedom House from the Abu Bakr Mosque in San Diego, it is written, ‘Satan and his soldiers have found a home for themselves there… Democracy is in need of someone to save it from itself.’ In order to rectify the evils of democracy, the Wahhabi American mosques advocate for jihad and terror, teaching that, ‘[we] will pursue this evil force [modernist civilization] to its own lands, invade its Western heartland, and struggle to overcome it until all the world shouts by the name of the Prophet and the teachings of Islam spread throughout the world. Only then will Muslims achieve their fundamental goal, and there will be no more ‘persecution’ and all religion will be exclusively for Allah…’ That quote comes from ‘To Be a Muslim’, published by Saudi Arabia’s International Islamic Publishing House and collected from the Al-Farouq Mosque in Houston.
The hate-filled materials distributed by ‘American mosques and…spread, sponsored or otherwise generated by Saudi Arabia…demonstrates the ongoing indoctrination of Muslims in the United States in the hostility and belligerence of Saudi Arabia’s hard-line Wahhabi sect of Islam’ Shea noted.
Tablighi Jamaat Penetrates the U.S.
Saudi-affiliated proselytizers also spread the Wahhabi message. The Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) is an Islamic missionary organization based in Pakistan that preaches an almost identical ideology to the Wahhabi jihadist ideology. TJ has a headquarters located at the Al-Falah mosque in Queens, New York. ‘We have a significant presence of Tablighi Jamaat in the United States, and we have found that al Qaeda used them for recruiting, now and in the past,’ Michael J. Heimbach, then a deputy chief of the FBI’s international terrorism section, said according to The New York Times, July 14, 2003.
The Saudis have made TJ’s penetration into non-Muslim societies such as America’s possible. The late Sheikh ‘Abd al ‘Aziz ibn Baz, who was appointed Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia in 1993, recognized the Tablighis ‘good work’ and encouraged his Wahhabi followers to participate in proselytizing missions with them; TJ has received large scale Saudi financing, benefiting from the huge budget of organizations like the World Muslim League, wrote Alex Alexiev in ‘Tablighi Jamaat: Jihad’s Stealthy Legions’ that appeared in the Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2005. The WML is known to have financed TJ’s Western Europe headquarters and, according to Alexiev, the Wahhabis pay the TJ missionaries better than the European Union pays some of their teachers. Tablighi missionaries are also known to operate out of Wahhabi mosques and Islamic centers.
‘The vision of Islam defeating and subjugating the west is a major element in the appeal of the jihadists, supported by the Wahhabi clerics in Saudi Arabia, to their mostly-young followers around the world,’ Schwartz said in an interview.
The cases of American Islamist terrorists are ‘incidents that reflect the general tone in the Muslim community, and they have been here, and dominant, through the 1980s and 1990s,’ stated Schwartz. John Walker Lindh (a California native convicted of aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan), the Lackawanna Six (a group of six American citizens convicted of materially supporting al Qaeda), Iyman Faris (an American citizen born in Kashmir, discovered to be plotting an attack on the Brooklyn Bridge), Jose Padilla (a Brooklyn native known as the ‘dirty bomber’ designated an ‘enemy combatant’ by the Justice Department), Hassan Akbar (a Los Angeles native convicted of killing two fellow U.S. soldiers in Iraq in 2003), and Adam Yahiye Gadahn (the American-born English-language spokesman for al-Qaeda), have revealed an unpleasant truth. As Schwartz said, ‘Jihadist ideology in American Islam was financed by Saudi Arabia…Wahhabi and related Pakistani and Muslim Brotherhood propaganda is the basis of it… The money comes from Saudi, the preachers from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and various Arab states, and the donations go to Hamas. That is life in institutional American Islam today,’ declared Schwartz.
Islamist Spokeswoman Runs for Danish Parliament (back)
August 22, 2007
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid has made clear what she thinks of the Danish soldiers stationed in Iraq: They are occupying Iraq exactly like the Nazis occupied Denmark in the Second World War. Those who fight against them are, consequently, not terrorists, but freedom fighters, and their combat is absolutely justified.
Abdol Hamid, who only appears in public with head and hair carefully veiled, is a candidate on the unified list formed by Socialists and Greens for the upcoming Danish Parliamentary elections. Her remarks in late July had immediate and wide-ranging consequences: The conservative politician Rasmus Jarlov filed charges against her for treason. Since then, the debate has been raging in Denmark over whether she has in fact broken the law or Jarlov is simply a ‘Nazi’ who does not want immigrants to enjoy the right to free expression.
This is not the first time Abdol-Hamid has made headlines. Two years ago, she demonstratively refused to shake hands with male colleagues in the municipal assembly of the city of Odense. Contrary to some media reports, however, Abdol-Hamid is not a television announcer by profession, but rather a social worker. In Spring 2006, she was hired by the Danish television network DR2 to co-host an eight-part series on the Mohammed cartoon controversy with the atheistic journalist Adam Holm. She had come to the network’s attention as the spokeswoman of the radical Islamic associations that filed charges against Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that first published the cartoons.
Abdol-Hamid’s party colleagues were likewise mistaken when they sought to explain her refusal to shake hands by the Muslim custom that forbids a woman from being touched by any men other than her husband. It may well be that Abdol-Hamid follows this precept, but she also strictly avoids physical contact with non-Muslim women. As a consequence, the Danish author Lars Hedegaard has described her as a ‘fundamentalist with a strong belief in a totalitarian social order and an advocate of strict Apartheid between pure and impure persons.’ The Socialists and Greens, on the contrary, celebrate Abdol-Hamid as an engaged opponent of xenophobia and a pioneer of multiculturalism.
In interviews, Abdol-Hamid likes to present herself as a confident young woman who freely chose to adopt the veil and whose fundamentalist convictions spring from her profound Muslim faith. Details on her family background are only to be found on her Web site and remain sketchy. The then five-year-old Asmaa arrived in Denmark in 1986 with her mother and five siblings, all of them enjoying the status of ‘Palestinian refugees.’ Her father, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, followed some months later, after being released from prison in the United Arab Emirates. The father had moved to the U.A.E. with his Saudi-born wife, but, as Abdol-Hamid explains on her Web site, he there ‘ran into problems with the secret service and was arrested and tortured.’ The reasons for his arrest remain unclear. Abdol-Hamid alludes to them with a nebulous ‘and all this just because he was a stateless Palestinian.’
On her own account, as a young girl Asmaa wanted to be allowed to wear the veil. After finishing high school, she trained to be a social worker, completing her studies in 2004. One year later, she became known around the world as the front woman for the Danish Muslim protests against the Mohammed cartoons. In this capacity, she worked closely with fundamentalist organizations. Among them were to be found people like the — since deceased - Islamist preacher Abu Laban, who made no secret of his sympathies for Jihadism, or Ahmed Akari, the spokesman for the European Committee for Honoring the Prophet.
Abdol-Hamid has never explained how she became the spokeswoman for the protests in the first place or if she had already had contact with the 11 Islamic associations. The latter — some of whose aims are incompatible with the Danish constitution — were able to generalize their protests to the whole Islamic world via their good contacts to Pakistan. Whenever the question of the associations comes up, Abdol-Hamid prefers to present herself as a naïve idealist. When, in April 2006, she was asked by Jyllands-Posten about her relationship to the fundamentalist organization Minhaj-ul-Quran (The Way of the Quran), she responded, ‘Until just recently, I had no idea what kind of organization that is.’ As it happens, Minhaj-ul-Quran, which calls for the introduction of the Shariah in Denmark, was one of the 11 associations. Abdol-Hamid has not said what she thinks of its aims.
In an interview she recently gave to the newspaper B.T., however, she expanded upon her own political ideas: ‘I support the struggle of the Iraqi popular movement against the occupying powers. Like everyone else, the Iraqis have the right to live in a country where they govern themselves.’ Asked whether she would take her distance from the armed struggle, she responded: ‘I am not against armed struggle. It is a matter of resistance and resistance is justified.’ Earlier, in a June interview with the socialist paper Socialistisk Arbejderavis, she explained: ‘Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon are occupied by foreign troops. Denmark is part of the occupying power in Iraq and is 100 percent obedient to Bush and the U.S.A. This is another reason why we have to get rid of the Fogh [Rasmussen] government. Moreover, we need to support the struggle of the Iraqis against the occupiers.’
In response to her remarks, Naser Khader, the founder of the New Alliance party, described Abdol-Hamid as a ‘confused young woman’ who talks so much nonsense and contradicts herself so constantly that one ‘gets completely dizzy.’ That the Iraqi government was elected in free elections and is recognized by the United Nations apparently escaped her attention, Khader pointed out, concluding that Abdol-Hamid is not to be taken seriously politically.
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid does not appear to care about such criticisms. She says she is likewise ‘completely unworried’ about the treason charges against her. After all, she did not call for anyone to kill her Danish compatriots stationed in Iraq.
Source: www.worldpoliticsreview.com/Article.aspx?id=1056
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1885336/posts
CAIR Goes Back to School—Islamic extremists run two publicly-funded Ohio charter schools
FrontPageMagazine.com ^ | 8/23/2007 | Patrick Poole
Posted on 08/23/2007 5:38:41 AM PDT by SJackson
CAIR Goes Back to School
By Patrick Poole
FrontPageMagazine.com | 8/23/2007
As children all over the country prepare for the annual American rite of the beginning of school, hundreds of school children and their parents from the Columbus, Ohio Somali refugee community may be getting far less than they bargained for, as well as Ohio taxpayers.
Amanpour’s War (back)
August 22, 2007
by Richard Baehr
I slogged through one episode of Christiane Amanpour’s CNN series Warriors for God last night, this one on Israel’s Holy Warriors, those awful religious settlers in the occupied territory. I tried to count the number of times the word ‘occupied’ was used, and it was many dozens by the time I turned away.
By devoting two hours each to Jewish, Muslim and Christian warriors for God, it is clear that the message of this series is that all fundamentalism is bad and the Muslim version is no worse than the others. But Muslims do lead in the all important murder, suicide bombing and terrorism counts.
In last night’s show, there were so many lies, it is hard to know which to point out. George H.W. Bush and James Baker are identified as heroes for resisting the all-powerful Israel lobby AIPAC on the issue of settlements, or as Amanpour calls them ‘illegal settlements in the occupied territories’ by denying loan guarantees for Israeli housing construction. (Professor John Mearsheimer is extensively interviewed to support the claim of the lobby’s great power). But even Bush and Baker are seen as caving-in on loan guarantees eventually, demonstrating the lobby’s power. .
Nonsense! Rabin was elected Prime Minister in mid 1992, replacing Yitzhak Shamir, and was far more conciliatory on the issue of settlements than Shamir had been. Bush was way behind in the polls at the time, and doing terribly with Jewish voters, and looking to do some deal with Israel after Rabin’s election so as to improve his election prospects . It was Rabin, however, and not Bush, who caved-in and agreed to slow down the settlement building and allow offsets to the loan guarantees for any housing built in the territories (excuse me, the ‘occupied territories’). And for the record, it is not as if the Russian immigrants were moving to the West Bank or Gaza in any case (maybe 2% were). That was a straw man: the guarantees were to build housing for the new Russian immigrants within the green line, not for settlement expansion, as Amanpour falsely claimed. .
Another whopper was the supposedly terrible plight of the Palestinian ‘refugees’ dispersed to make way for the plaza adjoining the Western Wall in’ the old city’ section of Jerusalem. Amanpour utters not a word about how for 19 years, from 1948 to 1967, the Jordanians used Jewish graves on the Mount of Olives as latrines, or how they destroyed all the synagogues in the old city, and that they prohibited Jews from praying at their holiest sites.
And for good measure Amanpour interviews one Jewish woman who works with Evangelical groups and spins her comments to suggest that Jews are craftily using the support of Evangelical Christians for Israel for their own nefarious reasons - to expand settlements in the occupied territories (let’s get that word in again) and steal Palestinian land. Amanpour is married to James Rubin, who was Madeline Albright’s press secretary when she was Secretary of State. She has a long history of hostility to Israel.
All those Jews lauding how wonderful Bill Clinton was on Israel and who are certain that Hillary will be too, should not forget the cold shoulder Clinton, Albright and Rubin offered to Bibi Netanyahu in his three years as Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999. Clinton proved he could get along with an Israeli leader from the left, and could be hostile to one from the right (much like Bush the elder who warmed to Rabin, but loathed Shamir). Is this a measure of friendship to Israel? The current President Bush was a friend of Ariel Sharon when much of the rest of the world treated him like a war criminal.
Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/08/amanpours_war.html
ISLAM
The Quranic Concept of War (back)
August 23, 2007
‘The universalism of Islam, in its all-embracing creed, is imposed on the believers as a continuous process of warfare, psychological and political, if not strictly military. . . . The Jihad, accordingly, may be stated as a doctrine of a permanent state of war, not continuous fighting.’2
— Majid Khadduri
Political and military leaders are notoriously averse to theory, but if there is a theorist about war who matters, it remains Carl von Clausewitz, whose Vom Kriege (On War) has shaped Western views about war since the middle of the nineteenth century.’3 Both points are likely true and problematic since we find ourselves engaged in war with people not solely imbued with western ideas and values or followers of western military theorists. The Hoover Institution’s Paul Sperry recently stated, ‘Four years into the war on terror, US intelligence officials tell me there are no baseline studies of the Muslim prophet Muhammad or his ideological or military doctrine found at either the CIA or Defense Intelligence Agency, or even the war colleges.’4
Would this be surprising? When it comes to warfighting military audiences tend to focus on the military and power aspects of warfare; the tangibles of terrain, enemy, weather, leadership, and troops; quantifiables such as the number of tanks and artillery tubes—the correlation of forces. Analysts steer toward the familiar rather than the unfamiliar; people tend to think in their comfort zones. The study of ideology or philosophy is often brushed aside, it’s not the ‘stuff of muddy boots;’ it is more cerebral than physical and not action oriented. Planners do not assess the ‘correlation of ideas.’ The practitioners are too busy.
Dr. Antulio Echevarria recently argued the US military does not have a doctrine for war as much as it has a doctrine for operations and battles.5 The military has a deficit of strategic, and, one could add, philosophic thinking. In the war against Islamist terrorism, how many have heard of the Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘Project’?6 Is the political philosophy of Ayatollah Khomeini, who was in fact well-grounded in western political theory and rigorously rejected it, studied in our military schools? Are there any implications to his statement in 1981 that ‘Iran . . . is determined to propagate Islam to the whole world’?7
108-09
To understand war, one has to study its philosophy; the grammar and logic of your opponent. Only then are you approaching strategic comprehension. To understand the war against Islamist terrorism one must begin to understand the Islamic way of war, its philosophy and doctrine, the meanings of jihad in Islam—and one needs to understand that those meanings are highly varied and utilitarian depending on the source.
With respect to the war against the global jihad and its associated terror groups, individual terrorists, and clandestine adherents, one should ask if there is a unique method or attitude to their approach to war. Is there a philosophy, or treatise such as Clausewitz’s On War that attempts to form their thinking about war? Is there a document that can be reviewed and understood in such a manner that we may begin to think strategically about our opponent. There is one work that stands out from the many.
The Quranic Concept of War
The Quranic Concept of War, by Brigadier General S. K. Malik of the Pakistani Army provides readers with unequalled insight. Originally published in Pakistan in 1979, most available copies are found in India, or in small non-descript Muslim bookstores.8 One major point to ponder, when thinking about The Quranic Concept of War, is the title itself. The Quran is presumed to be the revealed word of God as spoken through his chosen prophet, Mohammed. According to Malik, the Quran places warfighting doctrine and its theory in a much different category than western thinkers are accustomed to, because it is not a theory of war derived by man, but of God. This is God’s warfighting principles and commandments revealed. Malik’s attempts to distill God’s doctrine for war through the examples of the Prophet. By contrast, the closest that Clausewitz comes to divine presentation is in his discussion of the trinity: the people, the state, and the military. In the Islamic context, the discussion of war is at the level of revealed truth and example, well above theory—God has no need to theorize. Malik notes, ‘As a complete Code of Life, the Holy Quran gives us a philosophy of war as well. . . . This divine philosophy is an integral part of the total Quranic ideology.’9
Historiography
In The Quranic Concept of War, Malik seeks to instruct readers in the uniquely important doctrinal aspects of Quranic warfare. The Quranic approach to war is ‘infinitely supreme and effective . . . [and] points towards the realization of universal peace and justice . . . and makes maximum allowance to its adversaries to co-operate [with Islam] in a combined search for a just and peaceful order.’10 For purposes of this review, the term ‘doctrine’ refers to both religious and broad strategic approaches, not methods and procedures. Malik’s work is a treatise with historical, political, legalistic, and moralistic ramifications on Islamic warfare. It seemingly is without parallel in the western sense of warfare since the ‘Quran is a source of eternal guidance for mankind.’11
The approach is not new to Islamists and other jihad theorists fighting according to the ‘Method of Mohammed’ or hadith. The lessons learned are recorded and form an important part of Quranic surah and jihadist’s scholarship.12 Islamic scholars both Muslim and non-Muslim will find much to debate in terms of Malik’s view of jihad doctrine and Quranic warfare. Malik’s work is essentially modern scholarship; although he does acknowledge the classical views of jihad in many respects.13
Malik’s arguments are clearly parochial, often more editorial than scholarly, and his tone is decidedly confident and occasionally supremacist. The reach and influence of the author’s work is not clear although one might believe that given the idealism of his treatise, his approaches to warfare, and the role and ends of ‘terror’ his text may resonate with extremist and radicals prone to use terroristic violence to accomplish their ends. For that reason alone, the book is worth studying.
Introduction
The preface by Allah Bukhsh K. Brohi, the former Pakistani ambassador to India, offers important insights into Malik’s exposition. In fact, Brohi’s 13-page preface lays the foundation for the books ten chapters. Malik places Quranic warfare in an academic context relative to that used by western theorists. He analyzes the causes and objects of war, as well as war’s nature and dimensions. He then turns attention to the ethics and strategy of warfare. Toward the end of the book he reviews the exercise of Quranic warfare based on the examples of the Prophet Mohammed’s military campaigns and concludes with summary observations. There are important jus en bellum and jus ad bellum implications in the author’s writings, as well as in his controversial ideas related to the means and objectives of war. It is these concepts that warrant the attention of planners and strategist.
Zia-Ul-Haq (1924-88), the former President of Pakistan and Pakistani Army Chief of Staff, opens the book by focusing on the concept of jihad within Islam and explaining it is not simply the domain of the military:
Jehad fi sabilallah is not the exclusive domain of the professional soldier, nor is it restricted to the application of military force alone.
This book brings out with simplicity, clarity and precision the Quranic philosophy on the application of military force within the context of the totality that is JEHAD. The professional soldier in a Muslim army, pursuing the goals of a Muslim state, cannot become ‘professional’ if in all his activities he does not take the ‘colour of Allah,’ The nonmilitary citizen of a Muslin state must, likewise, be aware of the kind of soldier that his country must produce and the only pattern of war that his country’s armed forces may wage.14
General Zia states that all Muslims play a role in jihad, a mainstream concept of the Quran, that jihad in terms of warfare is a collective responsibility of the Muslim ummah, and is not restricted to soldiers. General Zia emphasizes how the concept of Islamic military professionalism requires ‘godly character’ in order to be fully achieved. Zia then endorses Malik’s thesis as the ‘only pattern of war,’ or approach to war that an Islamic state may wage.
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Battling Counter-initiatory Forces
In the preface Ambassador Brohi details what might be startling to many readers. He states that Malik has made ‘a valuable contribution to Islamic jurisprudence’ or Islamic law, and an ‘analytic restatement of the Quranic wisdom on the subject of war and peace.’ Brohi implies that Malik’s discussion, though a valuable new version, is an approach to a theme already well developed.15
Brohi then defines jihad, ‘The most glorious word in the Vocabulary of Islam is Jehad, a word which is untranslatable in English but, broadly speaking, means ‘striving’, ‘struggling’, ‘trying’ to advance the Divine causes or purposes.’ He introduces a somewhat cryptic concept when he explains man’s role in a ‘Quranic setting’ as energetically combating forces of evil or what may be called, ‘counter-initiatory’ forces which are at war with the harmony and the purpose of life on earth.16 For the true Muslin the harmony and purpose in life are only possible through man’s ultimate submission to God’s will, that all will come to know, recognize, and profess Mohammed as the Prophet of God. Man must recognize the last days and acknowledge tawhid, the oneness of God.17
Brohi recounts the classic dualisms of Islamic theology; that the world is a place of struggle between good and evil, between right and wrong, between Haq and Na-Haq (truth and untruth), and between halal and haram (legitimate and forbidden). According to Brohi, it is the duty of man to opt for goodness and reject evil. Brohi appeals to the ‘greater jihad,’ a post-classical jihad doctrine developed by the mystical Sufi order and other Shia scholars.18
Brohi places jihad in the context of communal if not imperial obligation; both controversial formulations:
When a believer sees that someone is trying to obstruct another believer from traveling the road that leads to God, spirit of Jehad requires that such a man who is imposing obstacles should be prevented from doing so and the obstacles placed by him should also be removed, so that mankind may be freely able to negotiate its own path that leads to Heaven.’ To do otherwise, ‘by not striving to clear or straighten the path we [Muslims] become passive spectators of the counter-initiatory forces imposing a blockade in the way of those who mean to keep their faith with God.19
This viewpoint appears to reflect the classic, collective duty within jihad doctrine, to defend the Islamic community from threats—the concept of defensive jihad. Brohi is saying much more than that; however, he is attempting to delineate the duty—the proactive duty—to clear the path for Islam. It is necessary not only to defend the individual believer if he is being hindered in his faith, but also to remove the obstacles of those counter-initiatory forces hindering his Islamic development. This begs the question of what is actually meant by the initiatory forces. The answer is clear to Brohi; the force of initiative is Islam and its Muslim members. ‘It is the duty of a believer to carry forward the Message of God and to bring it to notice of his fellow-men in handsome ways. But if someone attempts to obstruct him from doing so he is entitled as a matter of defense, to retaliate.’20
111/12
This formulation would appear to turn the concept of defense on its head. To the extent that a Muslim may proclaim Islam and proselytize, or Islam, as a faith, seeks to extend its invitation and reach—initiate its advance—but is unable to do so, then that represents an overt threat justifying—a defensive jihad. According to Brohi, this does not result in the ‘ordinary wars which mankind has been fighting for the sake of either revenge or for securing . . . more land or more booty . . . [this] striving must be [is] for the sake of God. Wars in the theory of Islam are . . . to advance God’s purposes on earth, and invariably they are defensive in character.’ In other words, everywhere the message of God and Islam is or can be hindered from expansion, resisted or opposed by some ‘obstruction’ (a term not clearly defined) Islam is intrinsically entitled to defend its manifest destiny.21
While his logic is controversial, Brohi is not unique in his extrapolation. His theory in fact reflects the argument of Rashid Rida, a conservative disciple of the Egyptian Muhammad Abduh. In 1913 Abduh published an article evaluating Islam’s early military campaigns and determined that Islam’s early neighbors ‘prevented the proclamation of truth’ engendering the defense of Islam. ‘Our religion is not like others that defend themselves . . . but our defense of our religion is the proclamation of truth and the removal of distortion and misrepresentation of it.’22
No Nation is Sovereign
The exegesis of the term jihad is often debated. Some apologists make clear that nowhere in the Quran does the term ‘Holy War’ exist; that is true, but it is also irrelevant. War in Islam is either just or unjust and that justness depends on the ends of war. Brohi, and later Malik, make clear that the ends of war in Islam or jihad are to fulfill God’s divine purpose. Not only should that be a holy purpose, it must be a just war in order to be ‘Holy War.’23
The next dualism Brohi presents is that of Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb, the house of submission and the house of war. He describes the latter, as ‘perpetuating defiance of the Lord.’ While explaining that conditions for war in Islam are limited (a constrained set of circumstances) he notes that ‘in Islam war is waged to establish supremacy of the Lord only when every other argument has failed to convince those who reject His will and work against the very purpose of the creation of mankind.’24 Brohi quotes the Quranic manuscript Surah, al-Tawba:
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.25
Acknowledging western critics who believe that Islam is in a state of perpetual struggle with the non-Islamic world, Brohi counters in a clearly dismissive tone by explaining that man is the slave to God, and defying God is treason under Islamic law. Those who defy God should be removed from humanity like a cancerous growth. Islam requires believers ‘to invite non-believers to the fold of Islam’ by using ‘persuasion’ and ‘beautiful methods.’ He continues, ‘the first duty’ of a Muslim is dawa, a proclamation to conversion by ‘handsome ways.’ It is only after refusing dawa and the invitation to Islam that ‘believers have no option but in self-defense to wage a war against those threatening aggression.’
Obviously, much turns on how threats and aggression are characterized. It is difficult to understand, however, based on the structure of his argument, that Brohi views non-believers and their states as requiring conversion over time by peaceful means; and when that fails, by force. He is echoing the doctrine of Abd al-Salam Faraj, author of Al-Farida al-Ghaibah, better known as The Neglected Duty, a work that is widely read throughout the Muslim world.26
Finally, Brohi examines the concept of the ummah and the international system. ‘The idea of Ummah of Mohammad, the Prophet of Islam, is incapable of being realized within the framework of territorial states.’ This is a consistent view that underpins many works on the concept of the Islamic state.27 For Muslims, the ummah is a transcendent religious and cultural society united and reflecting the unity (tawhid) of Islam; the idea of one God, indivisible, one community, one belief, and one duty to live and become godly. According to the Prophet, ‘Ummah participates in this heritage by a set pattern of thought, belief and practice . . . and supplies the spiritual principle of integration of mankind—a principle which is supra-national, supra-racial, supra-linguistic and supra-territorial.’28
With respect to the ‘law of war and peace in Islam’ Brohi writes it ‘is as old as the Quran itself. . . . ‘ In his analysis of the law of nations and their international dealings, he emphasizes that in ‘Islamic international law this conduct [war and peace] is, strictly speaking, regulated between Muslims and non-Muslims, there being, from Islamic perspective, no other nation. . . . ‘ In other words, war is between Muslims and non-Muslims and not in actuality between states. It is transnational. He adds, ‘In Islam, of course, no nation is sovereign since Allah alone is the only sovereign in Whom all authority vests.’29 Here Brohi is echoing what Islamic scholars such as Majid Khadduri have described as the ‘dualism of the universal religion and universal state that is Islam.’30
The Divine Philosophy on War
General Malik begins by categorizing human beings into three archetypes: those who fear Allah and profess the Faith; those who reject the Faith; and those who profess, but are treacherous in their hearts. Examples of the Prophet and the instructions to him by God in his early campaigns should be studied to fully understand these three examples in practice. The author highlights the fact that the ‘divine philosophy on war’ was revealed gradually over a 12 year period, its earliest guidance dealing with the causes and objects of war, while later guidance focused on Quranic strategy, the conduct of war, and the ethical dimensions of warfare.31
In Chapter Three, Malik reviews several key thoughts espoused by western scholars related to the causes of war. He examines the ideologies of Lenin, Geoffery Blainey, Quincy Wright, and Frederick H. Hartman each of whom spoke about war in a historical or material context with respect to the nature of the state system. Malik finds these explanations wanting and turns to the Quran for explanation, ‘war could only be waged for the sake of justice, truth, law, and preservation of human society. . . . The central theme behind the causes of war . . . [in] the Holy Quran, was the cause of Allah.’32
The author recounts the progression of revelations by God to the Prophet that ‘granted the Muslims the permission to fight . . . .’ Ultimately, God would compel and command Muslims to fight: ‘Fight in the cause of Allah.’ In his analysis of this surah Malik highlights the fact that ‘new elements’ were added to the causes of war: that in order to fight, Muslims must be ‘fought first;’ Muslims are not to ‘transgress God’s limits’ in the conduct of war; and everyone should understand that God views ‘tumult and oppression’ of Muslims as ‘worse than slaughter.’33 This oppression was exemplified by the denial of Muslim’s right to worship at the Sacred Mosque by the early Arab Koraish, people of Mecca. Malik describes the situation in detail, ‘. . . the tiny Muslim community in Mecca was the object of the Koraish tyranny and oppression since the proclamation of Islam. . . . The enemy repression reached its zenith when the Koraish denied the Muslims access to the Sacred Mosque (the Ka’aba) to fulfill their religious obligations. This sacrilegious act amounted to an open declaration of war upon Islam. These actions eventually compelling the Muslims to migrate to Medina twelve years later, in 622 AD. . . .’34
Malik argues that the pagan Koraish tribe had no reason to prohibit Muslim worship, since the Muslims did not impede their form of worship. This historical example helps to further define the concept that ‘tumult and oppression is worse than slaughter’ and as the Quran repeats, ‘graver is it in the sight of Allah to prevent access to the path of Allah, to deny Him, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and drive out its members.’ Malik also notes the Quran distinguishes those who fight ‘in the cause of Allah and those who reject Faith and fight in the cause of evil.’35 In terms of Quranic just war theory, war must be waged ‘only to fight the forces of tyranny and oppression.’36
Challenging Clausewitz’s notion that ‘policy’ provides the context and boundary of war; Malik says it is the reverse, ‘‘war’ forced policy to define and determine its own parameters’ and since that discussion focuses on parochial issues such as national interests, and the vagaries of state to state relations it is a lesser perspective. In the divine context of the Quran war orients on the spread of ‘justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere.’ According to the author war is to be fought aggressively, slaughter is not the worst evil. In the course of war every opportunity for peace should be pursued and reciprocated. That is every remonstrance of peace by the enemies of Islam, but only as prescribed by the Quran’s ‘clear-cut philosophy and methodology’ for preserving peace.37
Understanding the context in which the Quran describes and defines ‘justice and peace’ is important. Malik refers the reader to the battle of Badr to elucidate these principles. There is peace with those pagans who cease hostilities, and war continues with those who refuse. He cites the following surah, ‘as long as these stand true to you, stand ye true to them, for Allah doth love the righteous.’38 Referring to the precedent setting Hodaibayya treaty in the ninth year of the hijra, or pilgrimages to Mecca, Malik outlines how Allah and the Prophet abrogated those treaties with the pagan Meccans.
Pagans who accepted terms voluntarily without a treaty were respected. Those who refused, the Quran directed, were to be slain wherever found. This precedent and ‘revelations commanded the Muslims to fulfill their treaty commitments for the contracted period but put them under no obligations to renew them.’39 It also established the precedent that Muslims may conclude treaties with non-believers, but only for a temporary period.40 Commenting on western approaches to peace, Malik views such approaches as not standing the ‘test of time’ with no worthwhile role to play even in the future.41 The author’s point is that peace between states has only secular, not divine ends; and peace in an Islamic context is achieved only for the promotion of Islam.
As the Prophet gained control of Mecca he decreed that non-believers could assemble or watch over the Sacred Mosque. He later consolidated power over Arabia and many who had not yet accepted Islam, ‘including Christians and Jew, [they] were given the option to choose between war and submission.’ These non-believers were required to pay a poll-tax or jizya and accept the status of dhimmitude [servitude to Islam] in order to continue practicing their faith. According to Malik the taxes were merely symbolic and insignificant. In summarizing this relationship the author states, ‘the object of war is to obtain conditions of peace, justice, and faith. To do so it is essential to destroy the forces of oppression and persecution.’42 This view is in keeping with that outlined by Khadduri, ‘The jihad, it will be recalled, regarded war as Islam’s instrument to transform the dar al-harb into dar al-Islam . . . in Islamic legal theory, the ultimate objective of Islam is not war per se, but the ultimate establishment of peace.’43
The Nature of War
Malik argues that the ‘nature and dimension of war’ is the greatest single characteristic of Quranic warfare and distinguishes it from all other doctrines. He acknowledges Clausewitz’s contribution to the understanding of warfare in its moral and spiritual context. The moral forces of war, as Clausewitz declared, are perhaps the most important aspects in war. Reiterating that Muslims are required to wage war ‘with the spirit of religious duty and obligation,’ the author makes it clear that in return for fighting in the way of Allah, divine, angelic assistance will be rendered to jihad warriors and armies. At this point The Quranic Concept of War moves beyond the metaphysical to the supernatural element, unlike anything found in western doctrine. Malik highlights the fact that divine assistance requires ‘divine standards’ on the part of the warrior mujahideen for the promise of Allah’s aid to be met.44
The author then builds upon the jihad warrior’s role in the realms of divine cause, purpose, and support, to argue that in order for the Muslim warrior to be unmatched, to be the bravest and the most fearless; he can only do so through the correct spiritual preparation, beginning with total submission to God’s will. The Quran reveals that the moral forces are the ‘real issues involved in the planning and conduct of war.’45 Malik quotes the Quran: ‘Fighting is prescribed for you . . . and ye dislike a thing which is good for you and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.’
The Quran instructs the jihad warrior ‘to fight . . . with total devotion and never contemplate a flight from the battlefield for fear of death.’ The jihad warrior, who dies in the way of Allah, does not really die but lives on in heaven. Malik emphasizes this in several Quranic verses. ‘Think not of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead. . . . Nay, they live finding their sustenance in the Presence of the Lord.’ Malik also notes that ‘Not equal are those Believers . . . Allah has granted a higher grade to those who strive and fight . . . .’46
The Quranic dimensions of war are ‘revolutionary,’ conferring on the jihad warrior a ‘personality so strong and overbearing as to prove themselves equal to, indeed dominate, every contingency in war.’47 This theme of spiritual preparation and pure belief has appeared in the prolific jihad writings of Usaman Dan Fodio in the early 1800s and repeated by the Saudi writer Abdallah al-Qadiri in 1992, both emphasizing the role of the ‘greater jihad.’ Becoming a purer and more disciplined Muslim serves the cause of Islam better in peace and war.48
Malik, like Brohi, acknowledges critics who say that Islam has been ‘spread by the sword,’ but he responds that Islam is spread through restraint in war and in ‘the use of force [that] have no parallel.’ He then argues that restraint in warfare is a ‘two-sided affair.’ Where the enemy (not defined) fails to exercise restraints and commits ‘excesses’ (not defined) then ‘the very injunction of preserving and promoting peace and justice demands the use of limited force . . . . Islam permits the use of the sword for such purpose.’49 Since Malik is speaking in the context of active war and response to the ‘excesses of war’ it is unclear what he means by ‘limited force’ or response.
The author expands on the earlier ideas that moral and spiritual forces are predominate in war. He contrasts Islamic strategic approaches with western theories of warfare oriented toward the application of force, primarily in the military domain, as opposed to Islam where the focus is on a broader application of power. Power in Malik’s context is the power of jihad, which is total, both in the conduct of total war and in its supporting strategy; referred to as ‘total or grand strategy.’ Malik provides the following definition, ‘Jehad is a continuous and never-ending struggle waged on all fronts including political, economic, social, psychological, domestic, moral and spiritual to attain the objectives of policy.’50 The power of jihad brings with it the power of God.
The Quranic concept of strategy is therefore divine theory. The examples and lessons to be derived from it may be found in the study of the classics, inspired by such events as the battles of the Prophet, e.g., Badr, Khandaq, Tabuk, and Hudaibiyya. Malik again references the divine assistance of Allah and the aid of angelic hosts. He refers to the battles of Hunain and Ohad as instances where seeming defeat was reversed and Allah ‘sent down Tranquility into the hearts of believers, that they may add Faith to their Faith.’ Malik argues that divine providence steels the jihadi in war, ‘strengthens the hearts of Believers.’ Calmness of faith, ‘assurance, hope, and tranquility’ in the face of danger is the divine standard.51
Strike Terror into their Hearts
Malik uses examples to demonstrate that Allah will strike ‘terror into the hearts of Unbelievers.’52 At this point he begins to develop his most controversial and conjectural Quranic theory related to warfare—the role of terror. Readers need to understand that the author is thinking and writing in strategic terms, not in the vernacular of battles or engagements. Malik continues, ‘when God wishes to impose His will on his enemies, He chooses to do so by casting terror into their hearts.’53 He cites another verse, ‘against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts) of the enemies of Allah . . . .’ Malik’s strategic synthesis is specific: ‘the Quranic military strategy thus enjoins us to prepare ourselves for war to the utmost in order to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies, known or hidden, while guarding ourselves from being terror-stricken by the enemy.’54 Terror is an effect; the end-state.
Malik identifies the center of gravity in war as the ‘human heart, [man’s] soul, spirit, and Faith.’ Note that Faith is capitalized, meaning more than simple moral courage or fortitude. Faith in this sense is in the domain of religious and spiritual faith; this is the center of gravity in war. The main weapon against this Islamic concept of center of gravity is ‘the strength of our own souls . . . [keeping] terror away from our own hearts.’ In terms of achieving decisive and direct decisions preparing for this type of battlefield first requires ‘creating a wholesome respect for our Cause’—the cause of Islam. This ‘respect’ must be seeded in advance of war and conflict in the minds of the enemies. Malik then introduces the informational, psychological, or perception management concepts of warfare. Echoing Sun Tzu, he states, that if properly prepared, the ‘war of muscle,’ the physical war, will already be won by ‘the war of will.’55 ‘Respect’ therefore is achieved psychologically by, as Brohi suggested earlier, ‘beautiful’ and ‘handsome ways’ or by the strategic application of terror.
When examining the theme of the preparatory stage of war, Malik talks of the ‘war of preparation being waged . . . in peace,’ meaning that peacetime preparatory activities are in fact part of any war and ‘vastly more important than the active war.’ This statement should not be taken lightly, it essentially means that Islam is in a perpetual state of war while peace can only be defined as the absence of active war. Malik argues that peace-time training efforts should be oriented on the active war(s) to come, in order to develop the Quranic and divine ‘Will’ in the mujahid. When armies and soldiers find limited physical resources they should continue and emphasize the development of the ‘spiritual resources’ as these are complimentary factors and create synergy for future military action.
Malik’s most controversial dictum is summarized in the following manner: in war, ‘the point where the means and the end meet’ is in terror. He formulates terror as an objective principal of war; once terror is achieved the enemy reaches his culminating point. ‘Terror is not a means of imposing decision upon the enemy; it is the decision we wish to impose . . . .’ Malik’s divine principal of Islamic warfare may be restated as ‘strike terror; never feel terror.’ The ultimate objective of this form of warfare ‘revolves around the human heart, [the enemies] soul, spirit, and Faith.’56 Terror ‘can be instilled only if the opponent’s Faith is destroyed . . . . It is essential in the ultimate analysis, to dislocate [the enemies] Faith.’ Those who are firm in their religious conviction are immune to terror, ‘a weak Faith offers inroads to terror.’ Therefore, as part of preparations for jihad, actions will be oriented on weakening the non-Islamic’s ‘Faith,’ while strengthening the Islamic’s. What that weakening or ‘dislocation’ entails in practice remains ambiguous. Malik concludes, ‘Psychological dislocation is temporary; spiritual dislocation is permanent.’ The soul of man can only be touched by terror.57
Malik then moves to a more academic discussion of ten general categories inherent in the conduct of Islamic warfare. These categories are easily translatable and recognizable to most western theorists; planning, organization, and conduct of military operations. In this regard, the author offers no unique insight. His last chapter is used to restate his major conclusions, stressing that ‘The Holy Quran lays the highest emphasis on the preparation for war. It wants us to prepare ourselves for war to the utmost. The test . . . lies in our capability to instill terror into the hearts of our enemies.’58
Evaluation of The Quranic Concept of War
While the extent and reach of Malik’s thesis cannot be confirmed in the Islamic world neither can it be discounted. Though controversial, his citations are accurately drawn from Islamic sources and consistent with classical Islamic jurisprudence.59 As Malik notes, ‘Quranic military thought is an integral and inseparable part of the total Quranic message.’60 Policy planners and strategists striving to understand the nature of the ‘Long War’ should consider Malik’s writings in that light.
Malik makes clear that the Quran provides the doctrine, guidance, and examples for the conduct of Quranic or Islamic warfare. ‘It gives a strategy of war that penetrates deep down to destroy the opponents’ faith and render his physical and mental faculties totally ineffective.’61 Malik’s thesis focuses on the fact that the primary reason for studying the Quran is to gain a greater understanding of these concepts and insights. The Prophet Mohammed, as the Quran attests, changed the intent and objective of war—raising the sphere of war to a Godly plane and purpose; the global proclamation and spread of Islam. This obviously rejects the Clausewitizian politics and policy dyad: that war is simply policy of the state.
Quranic warfare is ‘just war.’ It is jus en bellum and jus ad bellum if fought ‘in the way of Allah’ for divine purposes and the ends of Islam. This contradicts the western philosophy of just war theory. Another important connotation is that jihad is a continuum, across peace and war. It is a constant and covers the spectrum from grand strategy to tactical; collective to the individual; from the preparatory to the execution phases of war.
Malik highlights the fact that the preservation of life is not the ultimate end or greatest good in Quranic warfare. Ending ‘tumult and oppression,’ achieving the war aims of Islam through jihad is the desired end. Dying in this cause brings direct reward in heaven for the mujahid, sacrifice is sacred. It naturally follows that death is not feared in Quranic warfare; indeed, ‘tranquility’ invites God’s divine aid and assistance. The ‘Base’ of the Quranic military strategy is spiritual preparation and ‘guarding ourselves against terror.’62 Readers may surmise that the training camps of al-Qaeda (The Base) were designed as much for spiritual preparation as military. One needs only to recall the example of Mohammed Atta’s ‘last night’ preparations.63
The battleground of Quranic war is the human soul—it is religious warfare. The object of war is to dislocate and destroy the [religious] ‘Faith’ of the enemy. These principals are consistent with objectives of al-Qaeda and other radical Islamic organizations. ‘Wars in the theory of Islam are . . . to advance God’s purposes on earth, and invariably they are defensive in character.’64 Peace treaties in theory are temporary, pragmatic protocols. This treatise acknowledges Islam’s manifest destiny and the approach to achieving it.
General Malik’s thesis in The Quranic Concept of War can be fundamentally described as ‘Islam is the answer.’ He makes a case for war and the revitalization of Islam. This is a martial exegesis of the Quran. Malik like other modern Islamists are, at root, romantics. They focus on the Quran for jihad a doctrine that harkens back to the time of the Prophet and the classical-jihadist period when Islam enjoyed its most successful military campaigns and rapid growth.
The book’s metaphysical content borders on the supernatural and renders ‘assured expectations’ that cannot be evaluated or tested in the arena of military experience. Incorporating ‘divine intervention’ into military campaigns, while possibly advantageous, cannot be calculated as an overt force multiplier. Critics may also point to the ahistorical aspect of Malik’s thesis; that Islam is in a state of constant struggle with the non-Islamic world. There are examples of Muslim armies serving side by side with Christian armies in combat and campaigns are numerous, with Iraq being but a recent example.65
Malik’s appraisal of the Quran as a source of divine revelation for victory in war can likewise be criticized by historical example. Were it fully true and operationalized then the 1,400 years of Islamic military history might demonstrate something beyond its present state. War and peace in Islam has ebbed and flowed as has the conduct of war across all civilizations, ancient and modern. Islam as an independent military force has been in recession since 1492, although the latest jihadist’s threat of terror against the international system is, at least in part, a possible reaction to this long recession. Malik’s thesis essentially recognizes this historical pattern; indeed, Malik’s book may be an attempt to reverse this trend. The events of 9/11 may be seen as a validation of Malik’s thesis regarding the spiritual preparation and the use of terror. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were intended to seed ‘respect’ (fear) in the minds of Islam’s enemies. These acts were not only directed at Western non-believers, but also the Muslim leaders who ‘profess the faith but are treacherous in their hearts’ (allies and supporters of the United States). The barbarity of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and others in Iraq reflect a focus on extreme terror designed to wilt the will of Islam’s enemies.
Malik and Brohi both emphasize the defensive nature of jihad in Islam, but this position appears to be more a defense of a manifest destiny inevitably resulting in conflict. In their rendering of jihad both, not surprisingly, owe an intellectual debt to the Pakistani Islamist theorist, Abu al-Ala al-Mawdudi. Al-Mawdudi is an important intellectual precursor to the Muslim Brotherhood, Sayyid Qutb, and other modern Islamic revivalists. As al-Mawdudi notes, ‘Islamic jihad is both offensive and defensive’ oriented on liberating man from humanistic tyranny.66
The author’s most controversial and, perhaps, most noteworthy assertion, is the distinction of ‘terror’ as an ends rather than as a means to an end. The soul can only be touched by terror. Malik’s divine principal of war may be summarized in the dictum ‘strike terror; never feel terror.’ Yet, he does not describe any specific method of delivering terror into the heart of Islam’s enemies. His view of terror seems to conflict with his earlier, limited, discussion of the concept of restraint in warfare and what actually constitutes ‘excesses’ on the part of an enemy. It also conflicts with the character and nature of response that the author says is demanded. Malik leaves many of these pertinent issues undefined under a veneer of legitimating theory.
In spite of certain ambiguities and theoretical weaknesses, this work should be studied and valued for its insight and analysis relate to jihadists’ concepts and the asymmetric approach to war that radical Muslims may adapt and execute. With respect to global jihad terrorism, as the events of 9/11 so vividly demonstrated, there are those who believe and will exercise the tenets of The Quranic Concept of War.
NOTES
1. Brigadier S. K. Malik, The Quranic Concept of War (Lahore, Pakistan: Associated Printers, 1979). Quranic War or Quranic Warfare refers to Malik’s treatment in his book.
2. Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (Baltimore, Md.: John Hopkins Press, 1955), p. 64.
3. R. D. Hooker, ‘Beyond Vom Kriege: The Character and Conduct of Modern War,’ Parameters, 35 (Summer 2005), 4.
4. Paul Sperry, ‘The Pentagon Breaks the Islam Taboo,’ FrontPage Magazine, 14 December 2005, www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp
?ID=20539.
5. Antulio Echevarria, Towards an American Way of War (Carlisle, Pa.: US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, March 2004).
6. Patrick Poole, ‘The Muslim Brotherhood ‘Project,’’ FrontPage Magazine, 11 May 2006, www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?
ID=22415.
7. Farhand Rajaee, Islamic Values and World View: Khomeyni on Man the State and International Politics,’ (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1983), p 71.
8. Irfan Yusuf, ‘Theories on Islamic Books You Wouldn’t Read About,’ Canberra Times, 21 July 2005, http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?
class=your%20say&subclass=general&category=
editorial%20 opinion&story_id=410105&y=2005&m=7.
9. Malik, pp. I-ii.
10. Ibid., p. 1.
11. Ibid., pp. I-ii.
12. See for example the discussion by Dr. Mary R. Habeck, ‘Jihadist Strategies in the War on Terrorism,’ The Heritage Foundation, 8 November 2004,
http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/
hl855.cfm.
13. David Cook, Understanding Jihad, (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 2005). There is approximately 1,400 years of jihad scholarship beginning with Mohammed and his military campaigns. Classical approaches to jihad as described by Mohammed’s successors, Abu Bakr for example, and the challenges presented by the struggles of succession to Mohammed.
14. Malik ‘Forward.’
15. Ibid., ‘Preface,’ p. I.
16. Ibid., p. I. Note the Christian concept of the Trinity contained in the Nicene Creed is considered polytheistic according to Islam. The Trinity is not tawhid.
17. John Esposito, Islam, the Straight Path (3d ed.; New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998), pp. 12-14, 89.
18. Bernard Lewis, The Political Language of Islam (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1988), p. 72; Khadduri, pp. 65, 70-72; Cook, Understanding Jihad, pp. 35-39.
19. Brohi, ‘Preface,’ p. ii.
20. Ibid., p. iii.
21. Ibid., p. iii.
22. Cook, pp. 95-96. Cook places these concepts of jihad doctrine in the lineage of contemporary and radical theory.
23. The indexed term for jihad is redirected to the term ‘Holy War’ in this classic book of Islamic law or sharia by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Reliance of the Traveller, ed. and trans. Nuh Ha Mim Keller (Beltsville, Md.: Amana Publication, 1997).
24. Malik, ‘Preface,’ p. v.
25. Ibid., p. vii.
26. Cook, p. 107; Christoper Henzel, ‘The Origins of al-Qaeda’s Ideology: Implications for US Strategy,’ Parameters, 35 (Spring 2005), 69-80.
27. Ishtiaq Ahmed, The Concept of an Islamic State: An Analysis of the Ideological Controversy in Pakistan (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987).
120/21
28. Malik, ‘Preface,’ p. x. While in the Western tradition the state is viewed as a territorial and political body, based on ‘temporal elements such as shared memory, language, race, or the mere choice of its members.’ Khomeini rejected this view, seeing the secular, political state and nationalism as Western constructs of imperialistic design to damage the cohesion of the ummah and impede the ‘advancement of Islam.’ Rajaee, pp. 7, 67-71.
29. Ibid., p. x.
30. Khadduri, p. 63.
31. Malik, p. 6.
32. Ibid., p. 20.
33. Ibid., pp. 20-21. (Baqara: 190).
34. Malik, p. 11.
35. Ibid., p. 22. (Baqara: 217) and (Nissaa: 76).
36. Ibid., p. 23.
37. Ibid., p. 29.
38. Malik, p. 29. (Tauba: 7).
39. Ibid., p. 31.
40. Khadduri, p. 212. Jurists disagree on the allowable duration of treaties, the operative concept is that the dar al-Harb must be reduced to dar al-Islam over time.
41. Malik, p. 27.
42. Ibid., pp. 33-34.
43. Khadduri, p. 141.
44. Malik, p. 40
45. Ibid., pp. 37-38. (Baqara: 216).
46. Ibid., pp. 42-44. (Al-I-Imran: 169-70) and (Nissa: 95).
47. Ibid., pp. 42-44.
48. Cook, pp. 77, 124.
49. Malik, p. 49.
50. Ibid., p. 54.
51. Ibid., p. 57.
52. Malik, p. 57.
53. Ibid., p. 57.
54. Ibid., p. 58.
55. Ibid., p. 58.
56. Ibid., pp. 58-59.
57. Ibid., p. 60.
58. Ibid., p. 144.
59. Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton, N.J.: Markus Weiner Publishers, 1996), pp. 44-51, 128.
60. Malik, p. 3.
61. Ibid., p. 146.
62. Ibid., p.58.
63. ‘In Hijacker’s Bags, a Call to Planning, Prayer and Death,’ Washington Post, 28 September 2001.
64. Malik, ‘Preface,’ p. iii.
65. Four notable examples are the Crimean War where French, British and Ottoman Forces allied against the Russians; Fuad Pasha of the Ottoman Army served as a coalition partner with French Army during the 1860 Rebellion in Syria; more recently Muslim Arab and Kabyle soldiers served in the Harkis of the French Army in the French-Algerian War; and, of course, today in Iraq. Malik would address some of these events as alliances of convenience serving Islam’s interests in accord with the Quran and Sharia Law, others as takfir or treason.
66. Cook, pp. 99-103. Peters, p. 130.
Source: www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/06winter/win-ess.htm
Mullahs and Opiates (back)
August 22, 2007
America and her quasi-backboned ‘allies’ have a huge problem that grows by the day. Expectedly, there are as many analyses of our problem as there are ‘experts’ to tell us what to think. A deluge of Western analysts have their diverse expert opinions regarding the ‘Mullah Problem’ and what do about it. Some strategists advocate a military solution that ranges from full invasion of Iran to selective bombardment of its burgeoning nuclear centers and related facilities. Others are proponents of imposing economic sanctions of various types and severity. Still others feel that we simply have to learn to live with the inevitable-those ‘crazy’ Mullahs with the bomb.
Perhaps there are no easy answers. But we should still take the time to understand the millstone that hangs around our collective necks. Perhaps within the problem is a solution. So what are the forces at work? What is the source of power that positions the Mullahs to be such a large threat?
Iran’s economy is a basket case. The ruling party has eviscerated productivity, employment, and consumer power, all while destroying personal freedom, and buying every weapon the Russians and Chinese can deliver. The Islamic Republic of Iran represents the cutting edge for the newly petrodollar-invigorated Islam. This energy exporter/arms importer is not popular at home, but its rulers couldn’t care less. Iran is as far from a democracy as a country can get. No wonder it is adored by the ex-Soviets, and regional dictator-wannabes like Hugo Chavez.
But Iran is no ordinary tyranny. It has a special zeal that gives it an edge: Islam. Iran is ruled by the mullahs, who are zealously determined to complete their Allah-appointed task of ending the world of ‘Dar-ul-Harb’-the non-Muslim world to be warred upon-and establishing the ‘Dar-ul-Solh,’ or ‘Dar-ul-Salam’-the Muslim world of the Ummeh under the rule of the ‘Mahdi.’ If achieving this aim hinges on the conflagration of a Third World War, the mullahs are more than eager to make it happen. This is their self-proclaimed destiny.
Karl Marx once said derisively that ‘religion is the opiate of the people.’ If so, the militant Islam of Iran is more like crack cocaine than opium. Islam is the foundation for the Iranian theocracy’s ideology of hate and destruction, but it is not the only force propelling it. Therefore, do not dismiss these vicious destroyers as mere ‘religious fanatics,’ therefore harmless old cranks who are disconnected to reality, soon to be replaced by sane moderates. They are nowhere near the point of being forced out by a natural revolution. They know what they are doing, and they are playing a very long game of chess.
Likewise do not doubt their steadfastness to their cause even if it means their own annihilation. If invoking catastrophe will compel their precious Mahdi’s coming, their sentiment is ‘bring it on.’ We should rid ourselves of the ‘happy talk’ we tranquilize ourselves with by reasoning that these doddering old-world religious fools may be mischievous, but they could never do real harm. Oh, sure, they might be arming some Iraqi Shiites, killing a few US soldiers, providing a little support for Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine-but they have no global destructive capacity. After all, we pacify ourselves that we’re not exactly talking about criminal masterminds like Hitler. Or are we?
Such optimistic self-delusions fully misunderstand the evil genius of the Mullahs. The mullahs’ method of staying in power relies heavily on oil for arms... and arms for power. They have a sizable but otherwise insufficient cadre of true-believing Shiites, but popular support is not needed in their situation. To remain in power, their apparatus relies on ‘preventive’ measures. They don’t bother much with due process of law. Their ‘revolutionary guard’ dispenses with the ‘due’ and gets right to the ‘process.’ On the slightest suspicion, they arrest, convict and execute. They let Allah in the next world take the time to determine the person’s guilt or innocence.
Presently, the Mullahs have been doing all they can to imprison and kill with impunity the internal opposition, and want the rest of the world to keep its nose out of their ‘family’ business. Executions in Iran have skyrocketed.
This bunch of miscreants has the full support of Syria, Venezuela, and Russia. They have enthusiastic support from many terrorist organizations in the region and drug-running organizations worldwide. They have tacit support from China, Cuba, and France because the power structures of these countries resent the USA, and Iran is the leader in the expression of threats against the US ‘superpower.’ The Mullahs receive relatively little criticism from semi-socialist democracies like Western Europe and Canada who seem obsessed with anti-Bush, anti-US diatribes. Certainly the UN could care less about their bomb-building, and would be holding ‘talks’ after the first detonation because ‘everybody knows war never solved anything.’ The Mullahs have nothing but support and few distractions. They’re not going anywhere without a very big push.
The mullahs have their job to do on God’s earth: to cleanse it of all infidels. When one has a tall order like that to fill, he can’t be bothered with the tedious due process the Western democracies ‘waste’ so much time and resources on.
But these high priests of Iran are not exactly living up to their brand. The mullah mafia has a great scam going. They promise the ignorant Islamic devotees the phony ‘paradise’ of afterlife while they themselves enjoy their paradise of women, wealth and wine on this earth. They are unraveled in duplicity and heartlessness. So in nearly perfect emulation of Muhammad and his leadership 1400 years ago, the pious Mullahs go about plotting earthly destruction as they enrich themselves and enjoy earthly pleasures on the backs of their people. Nice work, if you can get it.
Lest you think these men should at least be admired for their self discipline and abstention from personal sins, know that a sizable chunk of the mullahs are heavy opium smokers. No one can prove it, of course, but I don’t doubt it. In that land, opium smoking is still very popular with people who can afford the fruit of the Poppy. It is the Muslim’s alcohol. Although its use is prohibited by law, with stiff penalties on the books, the use of opium continues and has become more endemic than ever under the mullahs’ rule. This is in part because many of the mullahs as well as the law-enforcement officials are users and many officials make a personal fortune by getting their cuts from the traffickers. Opium is the drug of choice in the countryside, and heroin is primarily used by the more affluent city dwellers. Moreover, this is the drug that is used to calm the restless people. And don’t think that a little of their stash doesn’t make its way to the west.
The mullahs take pleasure and pride in their lavish lifestyle and power, and they want to bequeath it to their children, not to the people of Iran. So they assure their minions that Allah does not approve of the anti-Islamic practice of democracy, an invention of ‘western devils.’ Be sure to remember that these crafty, evil men are also long-term planners. They have messianic plans to rule the world some day. And with their lifestyle, they can have their cake and eat it too: leisure, power, and destruction, insulated from the corrective forces of the political marketplace.
The mullahs are superb practitioners of the art of making a deal. In this practice, like in the game of poker, much depends on how one plays their hand. In the game of deal-making, beating around the bush is a standard operating procedure. They know that weak-willed Westerners feel productive when they ‘talk,’ and engage in ‘negotiations.’ These activities do nothing; but then again, accomplishing anything other than advancing their own careers and generating an undeserved sense of self-importance is never the goal of careerist diplomats.
As for the ‘Great Satan,’ going after the mullahs seems completely out of the question. We have no stomach for it; the Ayatollahs know it. Even Bush’s most loyal sidekick, ex-UK PM Tony Blair, was opposed to it. I hope that the Iraq misadventure has taught them an old lesson they seem to have had difficulty learning: it is a terrible mistake to go half way across the world and invade a country, unless you are able and willing to bulldoze the whole thing from one end to the other, with all the people bar none buried under the rubble.
The reason this rule is so important for us to learn is that having and displaying overwhelming power usually means you will not have to use it. But because the West has forgotten how to overwhelm the enemy, the war of attrition persists, and the people of the West become disheartened. They can’t even interrogate presumed terrorists; they have to send them to Egypt to get the job done!
It’s no wonder that recent military undertakings have been by-and-large busts- in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and even Afghanistan. This same policy of weakness has been successfully replicated in Israel, where the West ties Israeli hands behind their back so they don’t ‘over-react’ to missiles hitting their towns and cities, tunnels dug under their borders, and soldiers being captured by terrorists! The Mullahs know this game very, very well. They persist, and we pretend the worst can’t happen. Whose opiate is the more effective, theirs or ours?
In the meantime, Iran’s illegitimate regime will, with ever greater peace of mind, pursue their quest for the nuclear bomb, by hook or by crook, and the mullahs of mass destruction will keep the corrupt, yawning, toothless UN ‘watchdog’ content and distracted by throwing it a bone or two from time to time. Eventually, these suicidal, homicidal followers of Muhammad will have their WMD. In time, they will use it. Future historians will ask: how could the entire world have seen it coming and done nothing about it? What kind of opiate were these people on?
Source: www.americanthinker.com/2007/08/mullahs_and_opiates.html
SUV Explodes in Edinburg
Friday , August 24, 2007 Posted: 05:47 PM
SUV Explosion at 6
Driver, pregnant wife, children made it to safety
EDINBURG - A family escaped a car moments before it exploded.
It happened at the intersection of I Road and Freddy Gonzalez.
Edinburg Deputy Fire Chief Ubaldo Perez says smoke started coming out of the engine and the driver quickly parked the SUV.
Perez says the driver noticed the fire in the engine and got his pregnant wife and four children to a safe area.
A NEWSCHANNEL 5 crew heard the explosion. A big black cloud billowed into the air following the blast.
We were on the scene as firefighters put out the flames and the family was watching with a great deal of relief.
The deputy fire chief says, “They did the right thing when he opened up the hood. He saw the fire. Then he closed it back down to try to keep as little air going to the fire, so he could slow it down a little bit. The fire did travel pretty fast.”
Perez says the explosion is under investigation. The family tells us they’re shaken but doing fine.
http://www.newschannel5.tv/2007/8/24/978314/SUV-Explodes-in-Edinburg
NW Florida
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/7721
Bomb threat briefly shuts down local hospital
Staff Reports
Thursday August 23rd, 2007
Comment on this Story | Read Comments
Nothing suspicious was found at a DeFuniak Springs hospital after a male caller phoned in a bomb threat Wednesday evening.
The man called HealthMark Regional Hospital at about 6:30 p.m. and after a brief silence, said only that there was a bomb in the building and hung up, according to Walton County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Eddie Farris.
The hospital, which had 12 patients at the time, did not evacuate but no one else was allowed in.
“We recommended evacuation but they (administrators) decided not to,” Farris said.
The Sheriff’s Office and Walton County Fire Rescue personnel searched the entire grounds, from every room in the facility to the cigarette bin outside.
“Everything was checked. The vehicles sitting in the parking lot, we checked them too,” Farris said, adding that the search took a little more than an hour.
Farris said the staff and patients in the building remained calm.
Anyone who knows anything about the caller is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 892-8186. Calling in a bomb threat is a felony offense.
“Investigators are going to be working on it. Hopefully someone will come forward who knows something about it,” Farris said.
Date: Thu 23 Aug 2007
Source: Reuters UK News [edited]
http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKN2327118820070823
About 4000 customers could be at risk after a worker at a Jamba Juice
store in San Jose, California, developed hepatitis A, the chief
medical officer for Santa Clara County said on Thursday [23 Aug 2007].
“During the time she was infectious, she was also working at Jamba
Juice, so we were concerned that even though there is a corporate
policy of good hand washing, you can’t be 100 percent sure,” Martin
Fenstersheib said in an interview. “There is a potential risk for
people who were in that facility drinking the Jamba juice during the
time she worked,” he added.
Hepatitis A, a rare occurrence in food service workers, is
transmitted through oral and fecal contact. It can cause jaundice,
fatigue, stomach cramps, and other ailments. Medical officials are
advising anyone who may have been affected to get a vaccination.
Fenstersheib based his number of potentially affected customers on
data provided by the company for the time the unidentified worker was
on the job during the 1st 16 days of August [2007].
The worker’s doctor reported the case to county health officials on
Wednesday [22 Aug 2007]. Because the disease takes about a month to
incubate, there are no other known cases from exposure to the worker
at present, according to health officials. The store was closed
briefly for cleaning and disinfection and has since reopened.
“Jamba Juice will pay eligible individuals, who satisfy the
reimbursement requirements, their reasonable, out-of-pocket medical
expenses related to the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis A,” Paul
Clayton, Jamba Juice’s chief executive, said in a statement. “We
acted quickly to resolve this situation and the store is now open.
[Byline: Adam Tanner, editing by Jeffrey Benkoe]
—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett
[San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County, which can be
located on the map at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County%2C_California -
CopyEd.MJ]
Memphis Controllers Under Investigation By FAA For Excessive Errors
Controllers Blame Staff Shortages
The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into several errors made
by
air traffic controllers at the Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center
(ZME), including six incidents in one week where aircraft were allowed
to
get too close together.
In one day, August 14, a King Air and and ExecJet corporate plane were
allowed to come within 3.6 miles of each other during final approach at
Nashville International airport. Later on, an American Airlines MD-80
came
within 2.5 miles of a commuter jet flying at 600 feet above it at
Memphis
International Airport.
FAA spokesperson Laura Brown said the errors were “not what we would
call
the highest-severity category errors. On an A, B, C scale, they were
C-level
errors.”
Controllers blame all the errors to short staffing, as well as radio
static
interfering with communication and just plain miscommunication,
according to
the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“We have never had this many mistakes at one time in Memphis,” said Ron
Carpenter, head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
“What
caused a lot of this, in my opinion, is that we are working so short
right
now.”
“We believe we are 101 controllers short of the journeyman controllers
we
were allotted,” he added. That means a shift that is supposed to be
staffed
by 13 to 14 journeyman controllers now has eight or nine, according to
Carpenter.
Two of the six errors made in a week’s time were made by trainees while
being monitored by senior controllers.
The Memphis center will add 15 more controllers this October to augment
the
current 63 trainees there currently. Even though they are not fully
certified as controllers, they are qualified to work the positions
where
they have been trained, Brown said.
“They become part of staffing even though they are not fully certified.
It
does not mean they are not functional in some respect,” she said.
The FAA says it hired 1,100 new controllers in 2006, and will hire
1,400
this year.
According to the new FAA staffing plan for the next 10 years, the range
of
allotted controllers at the Memphis center is 244-298. Brown said these
new
ratios were agreed upon by controllers during negotiations, and should
help
accurately reflect actual workloads and lead to more precise staffing.
NATCA responds that in the past, most areas were staffed on a daytime
shift
with 13-14 veteran controllers. If there were not that many controllers
on
duty, overtime was called in and leave for personal or vacation time
was
prohibited. The union says now, most shifts are beginning with 8-9
controllers who are still tasked with training duties.
At the beginning of the summer vacation period, overtime was scheduled
and
controllers were working six-day weeks. This overtime was used to cover
training new controllers along with training veteran controllers on a
new
procedure. Fatigue set in, but “at least the coverage was there for the
shifts,” Carpenter said.
However, he added, “during the week of August 5th, scheduled overtime
was
cancelled. Those same controllers are now forced to work with less
people
and sectors combined. Combining sectors means the controller is working
twice the airspace they normally would be responsible to control.”
On the morning of August 18, Carpenter said, there were five people
scheduled to start the day in Area 6, with a total of 8 certified
controllers by the end of the day. “In the past,” Carpenter said, “if
there
were not 11-12 controllers starting the day, overtime was called. In
this
case, management refused.”
FMI: www.faa.gov, www.natca.org
aero-news.net
Pilots stood down after low-fuel flight error
TWO Qantas pilots and an engineer have been stood down after they
failed to
report immediately a mistake that led to a low-fuel warning on a flight
from
Perth to Sydney.
Qantas denied initial reports that suggested the aircraft landed on
August
11 with only minutes of fuel to spare.
However, the airline confirmed that the 737-400 left Perth with only
four of
six pumps servicing the plane’s three fuel tanks turned on. This meant
that
fuel was drawn from the wing tanks and not the centre tank, which is
normally the first to be used.
The pilots did not realise their oversight until they received a
low-fuel
warning light for the wing tanks. They then turned on the centre tank,
giving the plane another 80 minutes of fuel, and landed safely.
A Qantas investigation found the pilots and an engineer had breached
protocol by not reporting the incident.
http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,23483,22292965-27977,00.html
Russian jet crashes in Far East, pilots alive
A Su-24 bomber crashed in the Far East on Thursday. Both pilots ejected
and
survived the crash, the Interfax news agency reported.
“The plane disappeared from radar screens and contact with it was lost
at
6:35 a.m. Moscow time (0235 GMT). Two Mi-8 planes, sent out on a search
and
rescue flight, discovered the crash site and the pilots, both of them
alive,
115 km southwest of the Khurba airfield in Khabarovsk Region,” Russian
air
force spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky said.
The Su-24 was on a routine training mission, he said.
Source: Xinhua
Thanks to Milford421
Rage Ibrahim - Somali - Sexually Assaults and Beats Woman - Neighbors Ignore
E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A security video from an apartment hallway shows
at least 10 witnesses ignored a woman’s cries for help for more than
an hour as a man beat and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors in
Minnesota said.
The surveillance video clearly showed men and women looking out
their apartment doors or starting to walk down the hallway before
retreating as the woman was assaulted for nearly 90 minutes, police
spokesman Tom Walsh said.
Police said they responded to a call of drunken behavior and found
Somali immigrant Rage Ibrahim, 25, and a woman lying unconscious in
the hallway early Tuesday. The woman’s clothing had been pulled up
and she had fresh scratches on her face and blood on her thigh,
according to the criminal complaint.
• Click here to visit FOXNews.com’s Crime Center.
Ibrahim says he is innocent and that the incident was a
misunderstanding, according to Omar Jamal, the executive director of
the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, who spoke on Ibrahim’s behalf.
Ibrahim was charged with several counts of first-degree criminal
sexual conduct, prosecutors said.
Walsh said police were shocked by the behavior of the bystanders.
“(The video) shows one person looking out of her door probably three
times,” Walsh said. “It shows another person walking up, observing
what’s going on, then turning and putting up the hood of his
sweatshirt.”
At one point, the 26-year-old woman knocked on a door, yelling for
the occupants to call police. A man inside that apartment told
police he did not open the door or look out, but said he did call
police — although they have no record of his call, according to
court documents.
Minnesota law makes it a petty misdemeanor to not give reasonable
help to a person in danger of “grave physical harm.”
Walsh said it is unlikely police would pursue charges against
witnesses in this case because authorities would have to show that
witnesses knew the woman was in extreme danger.
Jamal said Ibrahim went into the hallway after the woman because he
thought she was too drunk to drive. They struggled over car keys,
and “he is saying there was a huge misunderstanding,” Jamal said,
adding that the police report does not show “the truth of what
happened that night.”
“He did not rape her,” Jamal said.
www.foxnews.com
August 24, 2007
St. Paul, MN police shocked as witnesses ignore woman’s cries for
help during assault by Somali man; Somali advocacy group speaks on
behalf of alleged perpetrator
The attack occurred in an apartment hallway and lasted over an hour.
While the report does not make clear the background of the
witnesses, their reaction, or lack thereof, seems culturally
inconsistent with American behavior.
Additionally, while the executive director of the Somali Justice
Advocacy Center spoke on the alleged perpetrator’s behalf, and
claimed the police report “does not show ‘the truth of what happened
that night,’” what are they doing for the victim?
“Cops: Tape Shows at Least 10 Witnesses Ignoring Minnesota Woman’s
Cries for Help During Sexual Assault,” from the Associated Press:
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A security video from an apartment hallway shows
at least 10 witnesses ignored a woman’s cries for help for more than
an hour as a man beat and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors in
Minnesota said.
The surveillance video clearly showed men and women looking out
their apartment doors or starting to walk down the hallway before
retreating as the woman was assaulted for nearly 90 minutes, police
spokesman Tom Walsh said.
Police said they responded to a call of drunken behavior and found
Somali immigrant Rage Ibrahim, 25, and a woman lying unconscious in
the hallway early Tuesday. The woman’s clothing had been pulled up
and she had fresh scratches on her face and blood on her thigh,
according to the criminal complaint.
Ibrahim says he is innocent and that the incident was a
misunderstanding, according to Omar Jamal, the executive director of
the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, who spoke on Ibrahim’s behalf.
Ibrahim was charged with several counts of first-degree criminal
sexual conduct, prosecutors said.
Walsh said police were shocked by the behavior of the bystanders.
The best outcome from this incident (along with the successful
prosecution of the attacker) would be a larger inquiry into the
welfare of women in the Somali immigrant community, from domestic
violence to genital mutilation.
“(The video) shows one person looking out of her door probably three
times,” Walsh said. “It shows another person walking up, observing
what’s going on, then turning and putting up the hood of his
sweatshirt.”
At one point, the 26-year-old woman knocked on a door, yelling for
the occupants to call police. A man inside that apartment told
police he did not open the door or look out, but said he did call
police — although they have no record of his call, according to
court documents.
Minnesota law makes it a petty misdemeanor to not give reasonable
help to a person in danger of “grave physical harm.”
Walsh said it is unlikely police would pursue charges against
witnesses in this case because authorities would have to show that
witnesses knew the woman was in extreme danger.
Jamal said Ibrahim went into the hallway after the woman because he
thought she was too drunk to drive. They struggled over car keys,
and “he is saying there was a huge misunderstanding,” Jamal said,
adding that the police report does not show “the truth of what
happened that night.”
“He did not rape her,” Jamal said.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/017886.php
Thanks to Milford421
Update: 4 Who Ran Customs Checkpoint - Found and Fined $500
Here’s an update from the Peninsula Daily News:
Four who ran Customs checkpoint found in Port Angeles hotel, fined
$500
By Randy Trick, Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES - Four people who failed to stop at a Customs
checkpoint when disembarking from the MV Coho were found in a Port
Angeles hotel after midnight.
The car carrying the four people - who officers declined to
identify - got off the ferry from Victoria at about 9:20 p.m.
Wednesday.
Mike Milne, a spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection, said
the group -all American citizens - had been pre-screened by Customs
and Border Patrol agents in Victoria before boarding the ferry.
Citizenship verification is done in Victoria.
On the U.S. side, in Port Angeles, Customs officers check all
vehicles disembarking the Coho in covered lanes between the ferry
landing and Railroad Avenue.
Wrong lane
P The driver of the car, who was from Seattle, either thought he had
been cleared in Victoria or mistakenly got in the wrong lane at the
checkpoint in Port Angeles and drove through, Milne said.
The vehicle, a 2005 Toyota 4Runner, did not speed through the
checkpoint to avoid officers, contrary to initial reports to the
Port Angeles Police Department, Milne said.
“The guy came off the ferry after being cleared by pre-clearance
officers in Victoria, then apparently, either inadvertently or not,
took a lane that was not really an exit lane,” Milne said.
“Anecdotally, it doesn’t happen very often. ‘Rare or seldom’ is a
better description.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found the four registered
at a Port Angeles hotel.
Shortly after midnight, federal agents contacted the group,
interviewed them and determined they were not a terrorist or
smuggling threat, Milne said.
Driver fined
But the driver broke a federal law by failing to report his entrance
to the United States, Milne said. The Customs agents filled out the
paperwork to seize the man’s car, then fined him $5,000.
The agents then reduced the fine to $500. The man paid the reduced
fine and the agents filled out the paperwork to return his car,
Milne said.
But initial reports to and from the PenCom dispatch center did not
specify whether the car was considered a threat or not.
The Port Angeles Police Department was alerted shortly after 9:20
p.m. and searched for the car as it headed east away from the ferry
terminal.
Officers could not find it and after a short time figured it had
left town.
The State Patrol was alerted, but no troopers were in the area, said
Lt. Clint Casebolt, spokesman for the agency.
Milne said that after the car exited the checkpoint, the Port
Angeles Customs office contacted the Customs Security Center in
Blaine, which records the video feeds from the checkpoints, and the
prescreening office in Victoria, Milne said.
The border officers in Canada said the driver and passengers were
prescreened and did not appear on any criminal or watch lists, Milne
said.
Had their names raised any red flags, they either would not have
been allowed to board the ferry, or officers on the Port Angeles
side would have been waiting, Milne said.
________ Reporter Randy Trick can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at
randy.trick@peninsuladailynews.com.
National Post Dave Gordon: Hamas’ New Kid on the block
http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/08/23/
dave-gordon-hamas-new-kid-on-the-block.aspx
Full Comment
Dave Gordon: Hamas’ New Kid on the block
If you thought Iran or Syria were the next enemies for Israel to fight,
think
again. No, it’s not Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah or the al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigade
either. There’s a children’s militia - that’s right, children -
indoctrinated to
be the next generation of homicide bomber.
News out of the Palestinian Territories reports on the latest in the
recurring
problem of state-sponsored hate-filled television broadcast to young
impressionable minds.
11-year-old Saraa Barhoum is the sweet new face of “Tomorrow’s
Pioneers,” a
weekly, hour-long Hamas children’s television show.
Saraa’s newest chum is Nahool, a grownup in a bee costume, replacing
the Mickey
Mouse-like character named Farfur that caused a stir several months
ago. Nahool
encourages children to be “holy warriors” against the “criminal Jews.”
“During the show, Saraa fields calls from Palestinian children who
warble songs
about Islam, taking control of Jerusalem and finding answers in the
barrel of a
machine gun,” reports AP.
In other words: no need to attend mosque or school - all the message of
hate
comes directly to Palestinian living rooms.
It’s not new. It’s not surprising. Hamas realizes the face of kids’
Jihad-TV
should be someone cute, female, and young. How can the face of hate be
a little
girl?
Hamas has a multi-pronged approach. They attempt to divert attention
away from
militancy by telling the international community about their hard-won
“democratic” elections and their work on developing Palestinian
infrastructure.
Then, they recruit brainwashed children who will be let loose into the
Middle
East with explosives around their belt. Or if they prefer a less
dramatic role,
those kids will be future Hamas policy makers and propagandists for
their
genocidal cause.
Upon touring the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles last year, I
discovered a
recurring pattern used in teaching hate. Nazis printed schoolchildrens’
textbooks with messages of hate. Kids’ board games featured Jews as
rodents in
need of extermination. Comic books for youngsters indoctrinated a
nation of
youth to demonize the “untermenschen” (sub-humans).
Today, Palestinians have the chance to send their children to summer
camps where
they are taught paramilitary tactics. It’s Hitler Youth all over again,
with
their Jewish neighbours as targets.
So when the world sees these red flags again, reminiscent of 1938
Germany, are
we desensitized and numbed by virtue of its recurrence? Outraged but
helpless?
Or do we figure it’s Israel’s responsibility, and they know best how to
deal
with its lunatic neighbours?
Thanks to organizations like MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch, who
have been
reporting and chronicling these events in fine detail for over a
decade, the
world knows more about Hate-TV. But that still doesn’t stop the
Palestinian
Authority, who grants television licenses to these stations, which
unabashedly
air shows that incite genocide.
Can one imagine a democratic nation spewing such filth? Why are Muslim
countries
given a free pass to say and do things that other countries wouldn’t
dare? Where
is Amnesty International or the United Nations? As you may already
know, the
world doesn’t concern itself with such details.
To its credit, however, even the EU is getting fed up. On Monday,
hundreds of
thousands of Gaza residents were forced to make do without electricity.
European
donors stopped paying electricity aid, concerned that Hamas is
embezzling
revenue. Nonetheless, their resolve lasted mere hours, and the EU
money was
soon flowing again.
Here in the West, we’re just as flip-floppy. What’s Prime Minister
Harper doing
about all of this? Canada became one of the first countries in the
world in to
cut off funding to Hamas last year. One of Harper’s first acts as Prime
Minister
was the immediate suspension of financial assistance. Last month,
though, Harper
announced he’d lift the freeze on $30 million in aid, coincident to a
visit from
Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Reports said that the aid came with a ‘private exhortation’ to the
Palestinians
to clean up their rampant corruption. Mere words. They got their money.
Where is
this aid going? To pay the salaries of government officials like the
producers
of the state-run television.
Any aid at this point should be heavily scrutinized, if not completely
removed.
It’s money landing in the hands of terrorists, directly or indirectly,
presently
or for the future. The funding ends up in the bureaucratic equivalent
of the
Bermuda Triangle: lost where no one can find it, but most certainly
ending in
death.
Published Thursday, August 23, 2007 4:49 PM by John Turley-Ewart
Filed under: Dave Gordon
Update: Nitrate contamination kills wild horses - Nevada
Nitrate contamination kills wild horses
Friday, August 24, 2007
[oas:casperstartribune.net/news/regional/top:Middle1]
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal officials say they believe nitrate
contamination killed 71 wild horses last month along a dry lake bed
near a desert airfield, but they’re uncertain of source of the
pollution.
In an Aug. 10 statement from Bureau of Land Management
cited “nitrate toxicity” as the most likely cause of death for the
horses found about a mile south of the Tonopah Test Range.
“High levels of nitrates were found in some water samples taken from
a pond the horses used for drinking on a dry lake bed,” the
statement said. The levels were at least 66 times the safe drinking
standards for humans and 30 times acceptable levels for livestock.
The Tonopah range, a high desert airfield 210 miles northwest of Las
Vegas, has been a destination for commuter aircraft that shuttle
workers from Las Vegas to remote sites where tests of stealth
aircraft and other high-tech aircraft have been conducted.
A Nellis Air Force Base spokesman, Capt. Justin McVay, said civil
engineers who are probing the horse deaths along with the BLM don’t
know the nitrate’s source.
“Until the investigation is complete, I don’t think they’ll
speculate on what the root cause is,” he told the Las Vegas Review-
Journal in Wednesday editions.
One former worker at the test site told the newspaper he believes
the contamination came from illegal dumping of nitrate compounds
used in the de-icing of planes and a nearby runway.
“I know what the root cause was,” said former Air Force tech
sergeant Kevin Dye. “It was runway de-icing fluid because that’s
what we used to put on the runways up there, ammonium nitrate.”
Dye said dumping of ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate and other
chemicals was routine when he worked there from 1990 to 1998.
“This time of year is when they clean out the de-icing tanker
trunks. They just pull them up to the fence and wash them out and
let it run off into the desert,” Dye said. He noted that there
is “no water reclamation system up there.”
He reported the environmental compliance issue to the Environmental
Protection Agency in 1996 but the EPA took no action, the newspaper
reported.
Dante Pistone, a spokesman for the Nevada Division of Environmental
Protection, said the division’s staff hasn’t received any
information from Nellis and the BLM, the lead agencies in the
investigation.
Airports that use de-icing fluids must apply to the division’s
Bureau of Water Pollution Control for an industrial storm-water
permit.
“Before that permit is issued, they would have to submit ... a plan
detailing how they plan to handle the de-icing fluids to keep them
out of the waters of the state,” he wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.
He confirmed that the Nellis Air Force Base has a permit covering de-
icing fluids.
Email this story
Cogent: Cable was attacked with saw and gun
Network blackout not caused by gunshot, as originally suspected
By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
August 23, 2007
Guns, saws, and some very dim-witted thieves were all apparently involved in a network blackout that affected Internet users, primarily in the northeastern United States, earlier this week.
Cogent Communications said Thursday that a cable cut that occurred near Cleveland on Sunday night was caused by a saw, not by gunshot as first thought, but technicians struggling to replace the cut cable used a replacement cable that had been shot.
Cogent was one of several operators affected through Monday evening when two-thirds of a mile of cable was cut between Cleveland and the tiny town of Montville, Ohio. With more than 32,500 miles of fiber, Cogent is one of the largest network operators in the United States.
Crews rushed in to fix the problem only to discover that their replacement cable had been damaged by gunshots. “The original cable was not shot, it was the replacement cable,” Cogent said Thursday. “The original cable was cut with a saw of some sort. Police are speculating that the thieves thought the cable was made of copper.”
Copper prices have spiked in recent years, spurred in part by increased demand from China, and theft of all kinds of copper, including wires, has become common. Unfortunately for the Cleveland thieves, fiber-optic cable is made of glass fibers, not metal.
Cogent did not name the service provider whose lines had been cut, but a source familiar with the situation said the lines are owned by Level 3 Communications. Level 3 did not return calls seeking comment.
TeliaSonera lost the northern leg of its U.S. network to the cut, the company said.
Grant Gross in Washington contributed to this story.
The Monster.com mess
How did so many job searchers victim to identity thieves? Here’s what happened and what it all means
By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
August 24, 2007
The last thing you need when you’re unemployed is a bank account that’s suddenly emptied. But that’s exactly what some unwary users of employment search site Monster.com faced after identity thieves made off with the personal information of more than a million people looking for jobs.
This still-developing story has enough nooks and crannies to confuse a gumshoe, but some facts are clear: Monster’s resume database was looted, and the personal information taken was used to forge convincing messages that deposited password-stealing Trojans and ransomware on users’ PCs.
Calculated and ambitious, the attack is striking for how it blended several elements — stolen credentials of legitimate users, phishing e-mails, Trojan horses, money mules and more — into a slick assault. Here’s what we know so far.
Was Monster.com hacked? No, as Symantec said immediately. Instead, the attackers accessed the resume database with legitimate usernames and passwords, probably stolen from professional recruiters and human resource personnel who use the “Monster for employers” section of the site to look for job candidates. But it wasn’t until Thursday that Monster.com admitted as much. “By gaining unauthorized access to employer accounts, the software was obtaining job seeker contact information,” a new alert said.
What was snatched from the database? Names, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers and resume IDs, said Symantec. Yesterday, Monster.com added that only about 5,000 of the people whose data was filched live outside the U.S. That squares with what Symantec’s Amado Hidalgo said in an e-mail: The information-stealing Trojan was hard-coded to dig through only the “hiring.monster.com” and “recruiter.monster.com” domains, limiting their theft to the Monster USA site’s database. “They only targeted the U.S. Monster site and not any other international Monster [Worldwide] Inc. sites, such as those in the U.K., Spain, etc.,” said Hidalgo.
How was the information stolen? The Infostealer.Monstres Trojan runs batch searches by sending HTTP commands to the Monster Web site to navigate through folders, said Hidalgo. The malware then parses the output that appears in a pop-up window that holds the job seeker profiles that match the search criteria. Essentially, the Trojan worked as an automated search bot that located candidates, captured their contact information and sent it to a remote server controlled by the criminals. Symantec said that the server, though located in Russia, was hosted by a company out of Ukraine.
By using Infostealer.Monstres to do their harvesting, the attackers also covered their tracks — the Trojan could be planted on any computer previously compromised, with the search seemingly originating with that computer’s owner — and could easily spread the work out among a number of IP addresses, probably to slip under any Monster radar potentially watching for unusually large numbers of search requests coming from any one location. (There is no evidence at the moment that Monster deploys such radar.)
How many people are affected? Initially, Symantec’s researchers played it vague, saying only that “several hundred thousand” were at risk. Thursday, though, Monster said that it had found contact information on the hackers’ server for about 1.3 million people who had posted resumes. The other number that’s been bandied about — 1.6 million — represents the tally of contact entries Symantec counted on the server last week; a significant number of Monster users apparently post more than one resume.
How did the hackers manage to grab so many contract records without Monster.com noticing? That’s a good question. Monster itself hinted at one explanation: automated searches like the ones Infostealer.Monstres ran aren’t unusual. “Many of our customers use automatic or semiautomatic means to search our database,” said Monster spokesman Steve Sylven last Sunday. “Moreover, many of our larger customers rely heavily on our database, and their use may be similar to programmatic or scripted access.” Translation: The searches conducted by the bigger Monster customers are as bot-like as those run by the Trojan.
The thieves also probably relied on some standard tactics to avoid detection, including running the searches from innocent PCs and spreading out the work (see “How was the information stolen?” above). Spammers and malware spreaders use zombies to send junk mail and malware for the same reasons.
What did the criminals do with the Monster data once they had it? No one’s arguing the facts: personal information purloined from the Monster resume database was used to create, then send, targeted phishing e-mails — the term is “spear phishing” — that spread other malicious software or recruited “money mules,” the middlemen who transfer money from a phished bank account to a foreign bank account. It’s the emphasis where Monster and Symantec part.
Monster has focused on the mule-recruiting angle or even depicted those e-mails as run-of-the-mill phishing. “The purpose of gathering this information appears to be sending email disguised as Monster in order to gain recipients’ trust, and then attempting to convince users to engage in financial transactions,” the company now says on its revised security alert. Only in passing does it also call out “or lure them into downloading malicious software.”
That, however, is the prime use of the stolen information, said Symantec’s Hidalgo, who traced connections between Infostealer.Monstres and at least two other Trojans. The first, Banker.c, watches for, steals, then transmits back to hacker HQ online banking log-in information for accounts at Bank of America and the German arm of Citibank. The second, Gpcoder.e, is “ransomware,” a Trojan that encrypts files on the infected PC’s hard drive, then informs its owner that the files will be unusable until a fee is paid. In Gpcoder.e’s case, the ransom was $300.
What good does the other stolen information do the thieves? Two words: response rate. According to research conducted by an Indiana University team in 2005, people are much more likely to click or give up information if the message contains clues of legitimacy, as when the message appears to come from a close friend. In fact, 72 percent of the people in the study who received phishing mail from someone in their social network took the bait and divulged their log-on information, four and a half times the number in the control group.
Spear phishing, then, can be incredibly effective, at least from the criminals’ point of view. By using the Monster resume data to target the recipient and flesh out the e-mail with the recipient’s real name — often usually difficult or impossible to guess from the e-mail address itself — the crooks can expect more people to let down their guard and actually launch the attached file. (In the case of Gpcoder.e, the file posed as Monster Job Seeker Tool, fictitious software of course, but likely enough to get people to click; when they did, they installed the Trojan, not a job search assistant.)
So the goal of the attackers is...what? Bank account log-ons, clearly. Ransomware, though not uncommon, usually flops because someone — often one or more security vendors — cracks the encryption used to lock up the files and makes that public, eliminating the need to pay up.
Another clue that bank accounts are the endgame is the effort spent on recruiting money mules. The group wouldn’t need mules unless it had, or anticipated having, access to bank accounts.
When did this start? We don’t know, and so far, Monster has not talked about this. But one self-described Monster user claimed here to have received money-mule messages between June 3 and June 13, and had reported them to Monster. “Monster only said it was not from them and did not admit that they had let my information get away from them,” said “Anonymous.” Symantec first alerted Monster of its findings last Friday, Aug. 17, both the security company and Monster have said.
Evidence of the Gpcoder.e seeding — using phony Monster messages touting a nonexistent tool — goes back at least as far as early July, according to analysis by U.K.-based security company Prevx Ltd. It may have started days or even weeks before that.
Some reports, in fact, have claimed users started seeing phishing mail built atop the stolen personal information as early as February of this year.
What can Monster users do to protect themselves? For the 1.3 million whose resumes have been pillaged, it’s too late; the horse has left the barn. Even so, some users decided to cancel their accounts as a way to block any future malware-based searches. “I can still search for jobs and submit my resume to postings, but employers/recruiters cannot find me in their searches,” said a Chicago user identified as “Greg” in a comment on a Computerworld story that ran Thursday. “I certainly would encourage others to protect themselves and delete their Monster accounts as well.”
Monster hasn’t disabled batch or automated searches, or if it has, it’s not said as much. (On Sunday, company spokesman Steve Sylven seemed to say that because large corporate customers of the service used automated searches, banning them would be out of the question.) It has, however, shut down the server that the gang was using to store its stolen data and presumably disabled the legitimate accounts used to access the database. (Symantec’s Hidalgo said last week that his team had forwarded those accounts to Monster.) We say “presumably” because while we have asked Monster if those accounts have been closed, the company has not explicitly acknowledged doing so.
Other than that, the only advice being given by Monster or Symantec is the usual: Be suspicious of all unsolicited, unanticipated e-mail, run up-to-date antivirus software — to stop Trojans such as Banker.c or Gpcoder.e at the door — and refuse to give out personal information.
I forwarded the photos, let me know if you get them.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1886301/posts
Analysis: Russia-China military cooperation on the rocks
United Press International-Asia ^ | Aug. 24,2007 | ANDREI CHANG
Posted on 08/24/2007 9:01:43 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Analysis: Russia-China military cooperation on the rocks HONG KONG, Aug. 24
ANDREI CHANG
Column: Military Might
China is running into problems in its military technology dealings with Russia. The country has postponed high-level military talks on defense technology and stopped all new military contracts until Russia delivers an overdue shipment of aircraft, according to industry sources in both countries.
China has also complained about the quality of Russian weapons. Russian dealers, on the other hand, are upset about blatant Chinese imitations of their products, built from designs supplied in the understanding that the weapons were to be purchased.
continued.
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