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Image that accompanied Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's audiotape announcing the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The flag was originally al Qaeda in Iraq's banner, but has been adopted by other al Qaeda affiliated and associated groups. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group. The emir of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (also known as Abu Dua), has announced a new brand for his organization's efforts: the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant." The new name replaces all previous brands used by al Qaeda's affiliates in Iraq and Syria, including the...

In Ron Suskind’s book Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President, the White House is described as a playpen with children running amuck, with little if any adult supervision. Larry Summers, part of Obama’s former economic “dream team,” is reported to have said “We’re home alone. There’s no adult in charge.” (I love this part!) In preparation for the propaganda film Zero Dark Thirty, the intelligence community hemorrhaged classified information about the Osama Bin Laden raid to mega-director Kathryn Bigelow, expecting a hagiographic ode to Obama. But Obama and Hollywood blacklisted the movie for portraying torture...

The raid on bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, netted more than the death of bin laden. SEAL teams members in the compound collected hard drives and other electronic media regarding al-Qaida activities and connections. During the analysis of that media, Intelligence analysts found that bin laden had files which were downloaded from WikiLeaks, that is, the information stolen by Pfc Manning was in the hands of al-Qaida. Apparently, Bradley Manning “knowingly gave intelligence to the enemy through indirect means”. Army prosecutors are planning to use one of the SEALs to testify at Manning’s court-martial. The evidence will show that...

It’s been nearly a year since the death of Osama bin Laden, and the American public has become accustomed to hearing about an al Qaeda no longer under his leadership, be it in Yemen, Mali, or elsewhere. However, even while bin Laden was in hiding, al Qaeda was dominated by his micromanagement skills, whether it was the decision not to institute Anwar al-Awlaki head of Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) or suggestions on how to avoid drone strikes. In his book, Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad, Peter L. Bergen argues that al...

On the eve of Sunday's Academy Awards presentation, former George W. Bush CIA Director Michael Hayden has made a strong statement about the hunt for Osama bin Laden film "Zero Dark Thirty." In an interview to be aired on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS Sunday, Hayden said, "If you look at the movie, it was artistically true, not factually true. Artistically, it portrayed the CIA interrogation program, but factually it was overwrought and inaccurate" (video follows with transcript and commentary): Bush CIA Director: 'Zero Dark Thirty' Portrayal of Interrogations 'Not Factually True' FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST: Did enhanced interrogation techniques, specifically waterboarding,...

For example, one will virtually never hear that the Palmer Raids, Prohibition, or American eugenics were thoroughly progressive phenomena. These are sins America itself must atone for. Meanwhile, real or alleged “conservative” misdeeds — say McCarthyism — are always the exclusive fault of conservatives and a sign of the policies they would repeat if given power. The only culpable mistake that liberals make is failing to fight “hard enough” for their principles. Liberals are never responsible for historic misdeeds because they feel no compulsion to defend the inherent goodness of America. Conservatives, meanwhile, not only take the blame for events...

New light is being shed on the 2001 anthrax attacks in a fascinating open letter to Ayman al Zawahiri of al Qaeda, written by a jihadi living in London. Numan Bin Uthman, a former leader of an armed Islamic group in Libya, provides yet more evidence that the global Islamic jihad movement is losing its resolve.  But the letter contains a startling admission. Uthman tells us of a conversation he had with al Qaeda leaders before the 9/11 attacks in which he urged them not to use WMD. From AKI News: Uthman also said that he had taken part in...

For the first time, the Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden tells his story — speaking not just about the raid and the three shots that changed history, but about the personal aftermath for himself and his family. And the startling failure of the United States government to help its most experienced and skilled warriors carry on with their lives. Read more: Man Who Killed Osama Bin Laden - Treatment of Veteran Who Shot bin Laden - Esquire http://www.esquire.com/features/man-who-shot-osama-bin-laden-0313#ixzz2Kgh5erQB

The Navy SEAL who claims he shot and killed Osama bin Laden in the famous raid which captured America's most wanted terrorist has spoken for the first time about the moment he shot the al Qaeda three times in the head and watched him take his last breath. The Team Six member - who is referred to as 'The Shooter' for the safety of his family - described in unforgettable detail the days leading up to the kill, the moment he shot bin Laden three times and the fallout from the raid. Once they were given their mission, the woman...

The Navy SEAL Team Six "shooter" who put two rounds into Osama bin Laden's forehead May 2, 2011, is jobless, struggling to pay basic bills and has been offered no protection from the retaliation he anticipates from al Qaeda, according to his first interview. Only described as "the shooter" by Esquire, he also charges that the SEAL who recently wrote a book about the raid, celebrated in the new movie Zero Dark Thirty, wrongly took credit for killing the 9/11 mastermind. The shooter said that the other SEAL simply shot the corpse of bin Laden in the chest. The long...

Move over Orlando, here comes Abbottabad. Pakistan's tourism officials have announced plans to build a $30 million amusement park on the outskirts of the Himalayan foothills town that gained worldwide attention as the place where U.S. Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden. The 50-acre site will include a zoo, restaurants, water sports, miniature golf as well as rock climbing and paragliding, officials said. Officials in north Kyber Pakhtunkwa province denied to Sky News that the project was a way to improve the town’s image after the bin Laden raid, saying the goal is simply to boost tourism. "This project has...

(Crappy muslim amusement park- Gaza children celebrated Eid al Adha in an amusement park in Gaza City; but they didn't look happy about it.) Amusement park planned in Pakistan town where bin Laden lived (Reuters) - Pakistan plans to build a $30 million amusement park and outdoor activity centre on the edge of the northwestern town of Abbottabad, where U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden, an official said on Monday. The private venture in the foothills of the Himalayas will include a zoo, water sports, a mini-golf course, rock climbing and paragliding, said Jamaluddin Khan, the deputy provincial...

Defense Secretary Panetta admits that CIA used the information from waterboarding to capture Osama Bin Laden • Controversial film Zero Dark Thirty has graphic waterboarding scene • Director Kathryn Bigelow says all information in the film was based on 'first hand accounts' of what happened but now Senator disputes theory Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that some of the information that was used to locate and kill Osama bin Laden was attained using torture. The admission comes after months of speculation about the role that waterboarding plays in CIA interrogations following its graphic depiction in the Oscar-nominated film Zero Dark...

A banner showing al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri and former emir Osama bin Laden is placed outside the French Embassy in Cairo, Egypt during a protest organized by Mohammed al Zawahiri. Image from Euronews. Within the past few days, Mohammed al Zawahiri, the younger brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, has threatened France and the West while condemning the intervention in Mali. The younger Zawahiri promised that if France and its allies continue to fight in Mali, then Westerners will be the "first to burn." During an interview broadcast by Euronews on Jan. 22, Mohammed al...

During George W. Bush's presidency, it was a matter of liberal faith that the use of enhanced interrogation techniques on al-Qaida members "undermine our moral authority and do not make us safer," as Barack Obama once put it. According to Obama, "enhanced interrogation techniques" are wrong, and -- no matter what common sense tells you -- they never work. Asking nicely works best with terrorists. "Zero Dark Thirty" -- Kathryn Bigelow's new thriller about the decadelong quest to bring Osama bin Laden to justice -- doesn't cleave to that liberal orthodoxy. At a preview Thursday, I saw a steely homage...

This doesn't quite qualify as breaking news for those who tracked the extraordinary labyrinth of intelligence that emerged in the days following the 2011 Abbottabad raid, but the subject of US interrogation policy is again generating controversy in advance of the release of 'Zero Dark Thirty,' a film that dramatizes the bin Laden mission.  Writing in today's Washington Post, a former top CIA counter-terrorism officer sets the record straight on what measures were, and were not, employed to help bring down the world's most infamous terrorist.  Jose Rodriguez -- who made headlines last year when his book exposed Nancy Pelosi's...

THE daughter-in-law of former al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden is a keen member of the Royal British Legion... Zaina — previously known as Jane Felix Browne — married the terror mastermind’s son Omar in 2007 a month after she met him on a trip to Egypt’s pyramids. ... Zaina converted to Islam before she wed Omar, her sixth husband. ... A military source said: “The Legion can’t deny her membership purely on the basis of her surname — that would be discrimination. But many members will be appalled.”

I just saw Zero Dark Thirty, and I thought I'd give a quick review of it for the benefit of those of you who might consider seeing it in the coming weeks. I'll try not to give away too many spoilers, but obviously it's a true story, so it shouldn't be too hard. First off, I don't think it's pro-Obama propaganda. The hero of the movie is the CIA agent who made it her personal decade-long mission to track down bin Laden, and then secondarily, Seal Team Six of course, but also the other CIA personnel who participated in the...

After the successful May 2011 raid that took down Osama bin Laden, President Obama said that “his [bin Laden’s] demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.” Pakistan’s treatment of CIA informant Dr. Shakil Afridi tells a different story, however. The country’s spy agency (Inter-Services Intelligence) promptly arrested the doctor for helping Americans identify OBL’s compound. In addition to a fine and his entire bank account being looted, Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison for high treason and is now reportedly being tortured: ... According to Afridi, ISI “regards America as its “worst...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Alabama Men Arrested on Terrorism Charges U.S. Attorney’s Office December 11, 2012 Southern District of Alabama MOBILE, AL—U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama and Stephen E. Richardson, Special Agent in Charge of the Mobile Division of the FBI, announced that Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair, 25, and Randy Wilson, also known as Rasheed Wilson, 25, both U.S. citizens living in Mobile, were arrested today on terrorism charges filed in the Southern District of Alabama. A criminal complaint signed on December 10, 2012, charges Abukhdair and Wilson with conspiring to...