World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.

VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.

From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.

One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.

MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.

Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.

Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.

Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.

He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.

Conservatives Push for Counter-Terror Divestment (back)

January 2, 2007

by Nathan Burchfiel

The United Nations Security Council has voted to impose sanctions on Iranian nuclear and missile programs, but some American conservatives argue that U.S. state governments can have a greater impact on Tehran 's nuclear activities by pulling money out of companies that do business with the terror-sponsoring nation.

'Security Council sanctions on Iran are virtually useless, they're so watered down,' Christopher Holton told Cybercast News Service on Friday.

'Iran's revenue stream from various economic activities, especially oil and gas, enables it to have those programs and there's been nothing done to put any pressure on Iran to ... in terms of economic sanctions, which is really what needs to be done.'

Holton is the Director of DivestTerror.org, a project of the conservative Center for Security Policy that urges U.S. public pension systems to divest from companies that do business in terrorist-sponsoring nations.

'What the effect of the Divest Terror initiative would be would be far more comprehensive than anything that the U.N. Security Council came up with,' Holton said.

Holton said many pensioners do not realize that their money is invested in companies that do business in nations recognized by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terror.

' U.S. investors in general are heavily invested in foreign companies that do business with our enemies,' he said. ' Iran is the world's foremost sponsor of jihadist terrorism.'

According to a 2004 Divest Terror report, the top 100 public pension systems in the United States invest more than $188 billion in countries listed as state sponsors of terrorism.

The average top pension systems invests in 73 companies doing business in Iran, 26 companies doing business in Sudan, 31 doing business in Syria, nine doing business in North Korea, and 24 doing business in Libya, which was removed the state sponsors of terror list in May 2006.

Divest Terror says public pension systems should require companies that operate in terror-sponsoring nations to make a choice 'between doing business with the American people and capital markets on the one hand or, alternatively, doing business with terrorists' friends and this country's enemies.'

Among the 12 companies that do the most business in terrorist-sponsoring countries - dubbed 'the dirty dozen' by DivestTerror.org - are German telecommunications giant Siemens AG and South Korean automaker Hyundai.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia are listed on the report has having pension systems invested in companies that do business with terror-sponsoring nations. But since the report's release in 2004, at least a few states have taken steps to divest.

Efforts to Divest

In 2005, Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman began efforts to divest that state's money from companies doing business with terror-sponsoring nations, including the New York Branch of Arab Bank, which in August was fined $24 million by the U.S. Treasury after an investigation into money laundering and financial support of terrorist groups.

In July 2005, Steelman successfully changed Missouri investment policy to prohibit investments in such companies.

The policy now says that the state 'seeks to promote and support the objectives of U.S. foreign policy regarding terrorism. Accordingly, investments in companies ... that are known to sponsor terrorism or aid the government in countries that are known to sponsor terrorism are prohibited.'

In July 2005, the Swiss America Trading Corporation launched 'Operation Divest Terror,' a program that allows investors to check their holdings against a list of companies known to do business with terrorists or state sponsors of terrorism.

The corporation checks clients' investments against a list of companies connected to terrorism provided by the Conflict Securities Advisory Group, which says there are 'about 400 U.S. and foreign publicly traded companies that have business activities in or with terrorist-sponsoring states.'

Investment in terrorism-sponsored companies or governments was even an issue in the 2006 midterm election campaign. In his unsuccessful bid to keep his Senate seat, Pennsylvania Republican Rick Santorum accused his Democratic challenger, then-State Treasurer Bob Casey, of allowing Pennsylvania pension funds to invest in companies linked to terrorism.

Santorum accused Casey of 'aiding and abetting terrorism and genocide,' a charge Casey said reflected 'a really desperate campaign.'

Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/ archive/200701/POL20070102a.html

Terror Case Lingers 3 Years (back)

January 1, 2007

by Randy Furst

Three years after Mohammed Warsame was arrested in Minneapolis and jailed for alleged ties to al-Qaida and lying to FBI agents, a defense attorney is calling the case a 'travesty' and has filed a brief in U.S. District Court demanding charges be dismissed because of delays in the case.

'The wheels of justice have not ground slowly in this case,' wrote Chicago lawyer David C. Thomas in the brief filed last week. 'Instead they have ground to a halt.'

Warsame, 33, a Canadian of Somali descent, remains among a handful of people arrested in Minnesota since 2001 in connection with terrorism allegations.

Warsame was a student at Minneapolis Community College when he was arrested on Dec. 9, 2003. He remains in solitary confinement at the Oak Park Heights prison in Stillwater , Minn.

In court papers, prosecutors say some delays in the case were caused by continuances sought by the defense and prosecution, time needed to find classified documents, plus additional time to grant security clearances for Warsame's first attorney and the one who replaced him.

The prosecution argued that 'the defendant has not been prejudiced by the delay.'

But Warsame's trial delays puzzle some legal observers. 'His attorneys are absolutely correct (in asking) for the case to be dismissed because the rules set up in our court system are for a speedy trial,' said William Michael, an attorney with Dorsey & Whitney who was terrorism coordinator for the U.S. attorney's office in Minneapolis from 1996 to 2000.

'I haven't looked at their motions, but if he is sitting for three years, they probably have a very valid argument that the government try this case a lot quicker, or the remedy is to dismiss the case,' Michael said.

He said 'there is a chance' that a trial court or an appeals court might determine there was an inappropriate delay and that dismissal is required, but he could not comment on how likely that would be. He said terrorism cases don't fit well within the criminal justice system because the evidence is often classified or inadmissible under federal rules and witnesses are hard to locate.

Joshua Muravchik, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a self-described right-of-center group in Washington , D.C. , said he is a strong believer that in wartime, and particularly in the current war against terrorism, the government must take actions that it would not take in peacetime in order to detain people who are dangerous and protect the identity of sources.

He conceded that he knows no details of the Warsame case. 'From my point of view, which is to give the government a lot of latitude, it still seems to me incumbent on the government to explain the status for the case and the reason for delay,' he said.

The prosecution said it took time to dig out hundreds of pages of classified documents, which were turned over to the defense in 2004. It said the defense did not object to extending the period to search for more materials and for filing new motions in 2005, and that the defense conceded in a phone conference that the earliest potential trial date would be April 2006.

'The case transcends international borders, spans years of alleged criminality and concerns matters implicating the national security interests of the United States ,' the prosecutors wrote.

Among the allegations against Warsame are that he lied to federal agents about going to Afghanistan and sent $2,000 to an associate whom he met at a training camp there. He is accused of providing material support to al-Qaida and conspiring to support the terrorist network. The defense has said Warsame went to training camps because he was out of money and needed shelter. The defense said that the money was lent to Warsame to get back to North America and that he was repaying it.

The U.S. attorney's office offered no comment last week, saying its lead prosecutor could not be reached.

'Discovery is more difficult because so many of the documents are classified and it does slow up the case,' said former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger. But, he said, the delay does not raise democracy issues. 'What it does raise is issues relating to the difficulty in applying the traditional criminal prosecution to terrorism-type prosecutions where you have to have the close interplay between national security and the criminal rules.'

Thomas, the defense attorney, said that the defense has received no documents from the government since March 2005 and that there have been no court sessions in 2006, despite motions filed in 2005.

'There is absolutely no reason why nothing has happened for over a year,' Thomas said. Citing prior terrorist cases, he said, 'I don't know of any defendant, Zacarias Moussaoui, Johnny Lindh Walker, even Jose Padilla, who have heard nothing in over a year, who just sat and rotted in jail.'

Peter Erlinder, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul , Minn. , who has been consultant for the defense, said that in November 2005 a defense motion was filed to suppress an interview the FBI conducted with Warsame because they allegedly never gave him a Miranda warning or offered him an opportunity to consult a lawyer.

'We haven't had a ruling on the motion to suppress for over a year,' said Erlinder. 'This motion (to dismiss) was filed because we don't know what else to do.'

Warsame's case is before U.S. District Judge John Tunheim. A reporter asked if his office had any comment, but there was no response.

In unusual language with asides in parentheses, Thomas offered harsh words in the brief about Warsame's case:

'To our shame, the sole reason that he has been subjected to these punitive conditions is that he is charged with a 'terrorist offense,' of which he is (snicker) presumed innocent. (Sure he is.) ... Mr. Warsame has not seen the inside of a courtroom during the entire year 2006! In over 30 years of practicing criminal defense law in every imaginable setting and jurisdiction, the undersigned has never before experienced this.'

He said his client had fallen into a 'legal black hole.'

Source: http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/nation/16357439.htm

Africa's Year of Terror Tactics (back)

January 1, 2007

This was the year that the war on terror came of age in Africa , with the Horn of Africa simmering and a new regional conflagration looming.

But 2006 was also the year that China emerged as a dominant trading partner.

China 's trade with Africa is likely to hit $50bn in 2006, level-pegging with the other big trading blocs in Europe and North America .

The grand African summit in Beijing in November set the seal on China 's critical economic role.

But the unfolding crises in the greater Horn of Africa are drawing attention from other important developments on the continent: African economies are growing at their fastest for almost three decades as foreign interest booms in African equities and money markets.

And there is the upcoming election season in Africa that will shape the continent's leadership for the next five years.

In 2007, some of Africa's biggest countries are either holding national elections (Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, Mali, Algeria, Morocco and Sierra Leone) or recovering from them (the Democratic Republic of Congo and Egypt) or preparing for them in the near future (Angola and South Africa).

Time consuming

Hard-pressed officials at the African Union's (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa complain that their workload focuses on the Horn of Africa to the detriment of continental issues such as political reform and national crises in Ivory Coast , Guinea , DR Congo and Zimbabwe .

US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer says she spent 80% of her time in 2006 on just two countries in the Horn of Africa - Sudan and Somalia .

The US 's war with al-Qaeda started in Africa when militants bombed US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam in August 1998.

The vast majority of casualties were African, none of whom have received any compensation.

Since then the US and France have hugely expanded their military bases and listening posts in Djibouti from where they co-ordinate war on terror operations.

Somalia

Somalia was a test case for the war on terror strategists: it showed how quickly a national struggle for power can escalate into a regional or even an international conflict when external powers intervene.

Both sides in Somalia 's conflict called in foreign allies. None of the parties was interested in a diplomatic resolution of the crisis.

US officials saw the Islamic courts regime in Mogadishu as an al-Qaeda front with ambitions to turn Somalia into Africa's Afghanistan .

European diplomats differed with the US but lacked an alternative.

The AU split with many sub-Saharan countries backing Ethiopia 's intervention against the Islamists in Mogadishu while North African states backed the Islamic courts.

The Arab League was sympathetic to the Islamists in Mogadishu , and several of its members supplied them with arms.

It is dangerously reminiscent of the Cold War era when the US backed Ethiopia in the Ogaden war against Somalia , which was then backed by the Soviet Union .

National wars in Angola , Mozambique , and the DR Congo were also exacerbated by Cold War powers and their regional proxies taking sides.

Darfur

At the other end of Horn of Africa's arc of crisis is Sudan where President Omar al-Bashir's Islamist regime has faced mounting pressure over its attacks on civilians in the western province of Darfur .

Although Mr Bashir publicly capitulated in December to international demands that he allow a UN peacekeeping force to protect civilians there, UN officials still expect to face huge obstacles on the ground.

Mr Bashir's regime, having hosted Osama bin Laden in Khartoum in the 1990s, has played its hand carefully in the US 's war on terror.

Under pressure from Washington , Khartoum sent its intelligence chief Salah Abdallah Gosh, to brief Western intelligence officials about al-Qaeda networks in Sudan and beyond and it agreed to join a serious effort to negotiate a peace with its opponents in southern Sudan .

New choices

Beyond the Horn, other African states have taken up 'war on terror' rhetoric.

Until recently, Uganda 's President Yoweri Museveni rejected negotiations with the Lord's Resistance Army, which he designated as mere terrorists.

Congolese and Rwandan rebels have likewise been branded as terrorists and beyond negotiation; oppositionists in Malawi and Zambia have been labelled as terrorists and putchists.

Authoritarian leaders in Africa have new choices. Like Equatorial Guinea 's President Teodoro Obiang they can stamp on their opponents and claim to be key allies in the war on terror and hand out oil acreage to Western oil companies.

If that fails they can call up Beijing and offer more oil acreage or mining licences for precious metals for which they can negotiate some hefty development funds without any lectures about democracy and human rights.

For Africa 's hardened pro-democracy activists, 2007 is set to be a busy year.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/2/hi/africa/6217895.stm

al-Qaeda and Islamic Rules on Espionage (back)

January 2, 2007

'Since Islam is superior to all human conditions and earthly religions, it permits spying for itself but not for others'.

Source: Al Qaeda Manual Eleventh Lesson: ‘Espionage.’ UK BM/75.

Islam has a long history of espionage as it is an integral element of Jihad-Holy War. Islamic espionage is not an extraneous activity - it is intrinsic to the Islamic world view of the ‘enemy’ and dates back to the origins of Islam in the fourth century. The Prophet and the Koran are cited as religious, operational and inspirational models. There are no analogous texts or models in Christianity or Buddhism.

The operational purpose of recent statements by Islamic spokesmen is to ensure that Muslims do not ‘assist’ Western intelligence organizations and create smoke and mirrors to protect ongoing penetration operations.

Five espionage cases which surfaced in September - October 2003 involving a Muslim ‘chaplain’, and 2 translators, a member of the US Navy, a US soldier and a Marine Corps contractor at Guantanomo Bay , Cuba where 660 Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees from over 40 countries are held, demonstrate Al Qaeda and Islamic rules on espionage.

Document 1: AL QAIDA MANUAL; Eleventh Lesson Uk/Bm-75 Translation; Espionage

According to Al Qaeda the prophet Muhammad is a role model for espionage.

Espionage in the era of the prophet -Allah bless and keep him- and his honored companions: The prophet -Allah bless and keep him -used informants in most of his attacks. As Abou Soufian's caravan, that was coming from Damascus , was approaching, the prophet -Allah bless and keep him -wanted to know the caravan's destination. While the prophet was in Madina, he sent Talha Ibn Obaidallah and Said Ibn Zeid to the Damascus route to gather information about the caravan. On their way back to Madina, and at the conclusion of the Badr battle, they met the prophet -Allah bless and keep him -in Terban, as he was descending from Badr to take Madina.[Though ]they did not participate in the battle, they nevertheless got their share of the [spoils ].

In his attacks, the prophet -Allah bless and keep him -would find out the enemy's intention. In the Hodaibiya [battle ]days, though he did not want war, he exercised caution by sending a special 40-man reconnaissance group, headed by A'kkasha Ibn Mohsen Al-Azda. One of that group forerunners found a man who led them to the enemy's livestock. They captured 200 camels from that livestock and brought them to Madina.

The prophet -Allah bless and keep him -had local informants in Mecca who told him everything, big and small, that might harm the Muslims’ welfare. Among those [enemies ]were his uncle Al- Abbas Ibn Abd Al-Mutlib, and Bashir Ibn Soufian Al-Atki. Al- Khulafa Arrashidun [Mohammed's successors ]advised their commanders about the importance of using scouts and informants to learn the enemy’s secrets. Abou Bakr Al-Siddik -may Allah be pleased with him -said to his commander Amro Ibn AI-A'ss -may Allah be pleased with him -,'Send your informants to bring you Abou Obeida's news. If he is victorious over his enemy, then you fight those that are in Palestine . If he needs soldiers, then dispatch one battalion after another for him.''

Omar Ibn Al-Khattab -may Allah be pleased with him -advised his commander Saad Ibn Abou Wakkas -may Allah be pleased with him -saying, 'If you step foot on your enemies’ land, get spies for them. Choose those whom you count on for their truthfulness and advice, whether Arabs or inhabitants of that land. Liars' accounts would not benefit you, even if some of them were true; the deceiver is a spy against you and not for you. 'Khaled Ibn Al-Walid -may Allah be pleased with him -used to take informants and spies with him in each of his wars against the Christian Orthodox. He chose them carefully and treated them well.

Principle of Moslems Spying on their Enemies: Spying on the enemy is permitted and it may even be a duty in the case of war between Moslems and others. Winning the battle is dependent on knowing the enemy's secrets, movements, and plans. The prophet -Allah bless and keep him - used that method. He would send spies and informants. Perhaps, he - Allah bless and keep him - even went himself as in the major Badr attack. AI-Khulafa Arrashidun [Mohammed's successors ]also ordered it [spying ] . Since Islam is superior to all human conditions and earthly religions, it permits spying for itself but not for others. Majestic Allah says, 'Not equal are the companions of the fire and the companions of the garden, 'and the prophet says, 'Islam is supreme and there is nothing above it. 'Islam, therefore, fights so the word of Allah can become supreme. Others fight for worldly gains and lowly and inferior goals.

An Important Question: How can a Muslim spy live among enemies if he maintains his Islamic characteristics? How can he perform his duties to Allah and not want to appear Muslim?

Concerning the issue of clothing and appearance (appearance of true religion), Ibn Taimia - may Allah have mercy on him - said, 'If a Muslim is in a combat or godless area, he is not obligated to have a different appearance from [those around him ].The [Muslim] man may prefer or even be obligated to look like them, provided his action brings a religious benefit of preaching to them, learning their secrets and informing Muslims, preventing their harm, or some other beneficial goal.'

Source: http://www.ci-ce-ct.com/

The al-Qaeda CI/CE challenge (back)

January 2, 2007

'A strike that does not kill me makes me stronger.’

- Abu Mohamed Al-Able, Al Qaeda identity August 2003 -

In August 2003 Al-Majallah, a London based Saudi-owned Arabic weekly publication, published an interview with Abu Mohamed Ablaj a.k.a Mullah Saif al-DIN who is described variously as a senior AQ official, an AQ spokesman, or more accurately as ‘commander overseeing the mujahideen training center’ for Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Al- Ablaj may be a pseudonym but his emailed warnings and statements concerning AQ operations are studied carefully by US intelligence. He has been in email contact with Al-Majallah since February 2003.

Re-defining Al Qaeda as a multilayered threat

Al-Ablaj provided tantalizing details of AL Qaeda penetration programmes which clearly define Al Qaeda as a counter intelligence, counter espionage and a terrorist threat.

As terrorists use espionage tradecraft and penetrate intelligence organizations by recruiting translators, chaplains, consultants and advisors, how can Al Qaeda be assessed solely as a terrorist threat?

If Al Qaeda was solely a CT threat it could be neutralized, without undue difficulty through decapitation of its leadership and special political action. But the Al Qaeda threat is unique as the following interview outlines.

Paraphrased Interview with ABU-Mohamed Al-Ablaj

Q: Do you recruit foreigners of various nationalities, especially Europeans and Americans who have converted to Islam?

A: Yes. Hundreds of Americans who converted to Islam after the September 11 ‘incidents’ recruited themselves without belonging to Al-Qaeda organization in order to fight the US from within and the ‘bohemian lifestyle’ of the West. Al Qaeda is exploiting dissatisfaction with this lifestyle as a recruiting tool. Bin Laden’s statement urging Americans to convert to Islam ‘did not come out of the blue’...

Q: Are some members of foreign nationalities, especially US and European assuming leadership positions in AQ?

A: This is something simple and natural. [Direct quote follows] ‘in the organization, colors and race dissolve. There are no foreigners among us. We are all brothers, believers, and have a close relationship. There is no problem in these brothers reaching the rank of a leader in a group….Their hearts yearn for God and paradise and they see the position of leader as a trust and a big responsibility. As for the expertise they acquired in various fields, they did so under our instructions’.

Q: Does recruiting Americans and Europeans serve AQ from a security point of view to cover up military schemes and provide operational support in many countries?

A: Such individuals are called ‘blue eyes’ by Al Qaeda. Blue-eyed members hide their Islamic affiliations and their affiliations with Al Qaeda and are ‘all over US institutions’. It is impossible to detect them by observing their behavioiur, their looks or their interactions. These people know exactly how to play their role.

Q: Has Al Qaeda succeeded in penetrating US institutions? In the US or abroad?

A: We have already penetrated US institutions, what is coming is worse. I can’t go into any more details because the matter is very sensitive.

Q: Does AL Qaeda co-operate with non-Muslim groups?

A: Yes. On the basis of a shared enemy-the United States . On the basis of an eye for an eye.

Q: What of foreign nationals as in the case of the Jamaican who was intending to make a dirty bomb for Al Qaeda? Were these foreign members among those arrested or were they ‘submarines’ - sleepers?

A: There is no doubt. You have already seen something, and you should expect more. The matter is extremely serious and the leaders do not wish to go into details. The hints I made about this earlier are sufficient.

Q: Has the decision to recruit foreigners into Al Qaeda achieved its goals?

A: Yes, it has and it has already yielded fruit. Work is continuing. The war on us only made us more enlightened and more knowledgeable about the reality that surrounds us…We can safely say that we have better knowledge of the points of weakness and the points of strength of our enemy much more than before, thanks to our experience and to previous confrontations with them.

‘A strike that does not kill me makes me stronger’. [Direct quote]

Source: http://www.ci-ce-ct.com/

Giving Fatah Arms, Training Makes Better Terrorists (back)

January 1, 2007

by Patrick Goodenough

Weapons and security assistance provided to the Palestinian Authority under the defunct Oslo Accords were used in subsequent terror attacks against Israelis, and now the Israeli and U.S. governments risk repeating the mistake, said critics of the policy.

Israeli officials have confirmed that Israel's government (in coordination with the U.S.) approved the transfer of 2,000 automatic weapons and two million bullets from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. Neither Egyptian nor Palestinian officials confirmed the shipment, and a spokesman for P.A. Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called the reports untrue.

The weapons were handed over last week to representatives of Abbas, according to Israeli media reports. Abbas' Fatah faction has been embroiled in violent clashes with gunmen from Hamas, and the weapons transfer is being seen as part of a U.S.-backed effort to bolster Abbas at Hamas' expense.

The Israeli and U.S. governments view both Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- Fatah's armed wing -- as terrorist groups, but they regard Abbas as a 'moderate.' Apart from the Al-Aqsa fighters, Abbas as president is formally commander-in-chief of some 80,000 Palestinian security force members, although the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry also commands some of the security branches.

A senior Israeli Defense Ministry official told Israel Radio that the help provided to Abbas 'is aimed at reinforcing the forces of peace in the face of the forces of darkness that are threatening the future of the Middle East.'

The weapons were reportedly given to members of Abbas' presidential guard, a unit also known as Force 17, which for decades protected the late Yasser Arafat and has been implicated by Israel in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist activities.

According to recent reports in Israeli and U.S. media, the U.S. is currently providing training to members of Force 17 and helping to expand the unit.

U.S. Army Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton, the official whose duties Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice describes as 'leading our efforts to help the Palestinians reform their security services,' is overseeing the task.

Dayton told Israel's mass-circulation Yediot Ahronot daily in November that the U.S. was involved in building up, instructing and helping the presidential guard. Noting that Hamas was getting aid from Iran and possibly Syria, the general said the help was aimed at ensuring 'that the moderate forces will not be erased.'

'Repeating the mistake'

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which set up a self-rule authority for Palestinians in territories under dispute, Israel agreed to provide weapons for use by the P.A.'s paramilitary police units.

At the time, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin challenged concerns raised by some in Israel that the Palestinians would use those same weapons in attacks against Israelis.

'They know very well that if they use these guns against us once, at that moment the Oslo Accord will be annulled and the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] will return to all the places that have been given to them,' he said.

In the ensuing years, however, those fears were proven correct. Weapons issued to the P.A. under Oslo were frequently linked to terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, in some cases perpetrated by members of U.S.-trained Palestinian security forces.

Critics worry the blunder is now being made again.

'A lot of IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians will be killed with these weapons,' opposition Likud Party lawmaker Yuval Steinitz told Israel's Army Radio, referring to the new weapons transfer from Egypt.

'We haven't yet seen that Abbas is determined to contain terrorism, and there's a greater chance that these weapons will be used against [our] soldiers,' he was quoted as saying.

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) said it had warned in the past against the transfer of weapons to Abbas' forces.

'Now the Olmert government is repeating the same tragic mistake for which Israeli civilians will pay with their lives,' the national chairman of the ZOA board, Michael Goldblatt, said in a statement.

'The Israeli government should be doing all in its power to weaken all Palestinian terrorist forces, not merely those under the control of figures other than Mahmoud Abbas,' he said.

Goldblatt said the Israeli government should stop all such arms transfers and hold off on negotiating with and making concessions to the P.A. until it fulfills obligations made under previous signed agreements.

Those include ceasing all terrorism, arresting and extraditing terrorists, confiscating illegal weapons and ending anti-Israeli incitement in P.A.-controlled media, mosques, schools and youth camps, he said.

The Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) is concerned about the fact the U.S. is providing assistance to Force 17.

In doing so, it said in an analysis, 'America is training another private Fatah army.'

'The U.S. has always wanted to believe that under the right circumstances, the Palestinian security forces would create security for Israel so that Israel could be induced to make further concessions toward an independent Palestinian state,' JINSA said.

'It won't happen. Expecting any Palestinian force to kill Palestinians on behalf of Israeli security was always na/'efve,' it said.

'The Palestinians have taken our training and used it to be better terrorists.'

Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ ForeignBureaus/archive/200701/INT20070102a.html

Hamas Training in Iran, Lebanon (back)

January 2, 2007

by Aaron Klein

Hamas members have been flying to Iran and Lebanon for advanced military training with Iranian Revolutionary guard units and Hezbollah militants, according to a senior intelligence official from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

The official was confirming reports last week quoting Israeli security sources saying dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Hamas terrorists left Gaza for training in Iran.

'We are sure according to information that we have that Hezbollah prepares Hamas for a confrontation with us (Fatah) and with Israel. None of these preparations takes place in Gaza, but they take place in Lebanon, in Iran and in other places where the Iranian and Hezbollah experts train Hamas militants,' the senior Palestinian intelligence official told WND.

The official oversees Fatah's police forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israeli security officials last week told reporters Hamas has been training in Iran in Hezbollah-like guerrilla tactics. The officials said they fear the training will greatly improve Hamas' military capability in any future battle with Israeli troops in Gaza.

Abu Obayda, a spokesman for Hamas militants, declined to confirm to the Associated Press whether his group was training in Iran.

'But I confirm that we have the right to train inside or outside the country,' he said.

The reports followed a visit to Iran last month by Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian government. Iran reportedly provided Haniyeh's cash-strapped government with $120 million and pledged several millions more.

Last week WND reported Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups have been using a cease-fire with Israel to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip and build Hezbollah-like guerrilla armies to confront the Jewish state, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.

Senior Israeli defense officials told WND Palestinian terror groups in Gaza have been focusing their weapons procurement and training efforts on mimicking guerrilla warfare actions carried out by Hezbollah during its confrontation against Israel in Lebanon last summer.

The officials said the Palestinian groups learned Hezbollah-like tactics, such as raids of military installations and the use of anti-tank fire, can be more effective than ordinary terror attacks.

They also said more than 20 tons of weapons have been brought into Gaza from the neighboring Sinai desert in the last 10 months, including a large number of anti-tank missiles, which caused the highest number of Israeli military casualties during the last Lebanon war.

The officials said the Palestinian terror groups are also focusing much of their efforts on smuggling from Egypt longer-range missiles such as advanced Qassams and Katyusha rockets, which could target Jewish communities deeper into Israel similar to Hezbollah's use of Katyusha rockets that devastated northern Israel last summer.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in August 2005. In a deal brokered in November by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Egypt-Gaza border, once controlled by the Jewish state, now is manned by Egyptian and Palestinian security officials and observed by European monitors. The monitors reportedly have fled their duty several times the past few months.

Israeli security officials have noted multiple breaches in border security, including the open transport of terrorists and weapons across the border. They say several key sections of the border are penetrable and that smuggling tunnels that snake under the border are 'thriving.'

Terror leaders: We are copying Hezbollah

Speaking to WND, senior terror leaders in Gaza, including militants from Palestinian Authority President Abbas' Fatah party, admitted they are working to copy Hezbollah warfare tactics.

'We are turning Gaza into south Lebanon,' Abu Ahmed, northern Gaza leader for the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group told WND.

'We learned from Hezbollah's victory that Israel can be defeated if we know how to hit them and if we are well prepared,' Abu Ahmed said. 'We are importing rockets and the knowledge to launch them and we are also making many plans for battle.'

Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' so-called 'military wing' told WND his group is preparing for war against Israel.

'In the last 15 months, even though the fighters of Hamas kept the cease-fire, we did not stop making important advancements and professional training on the military level. In the future, after Hamas is obliged to stop the cease-fire, the world shall see our new military capabilities,' said Abu Abdullah, who is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared 'resistance' department.

Al Aqsa's Abu Ahmed said his group is receiving help from Hezbollah to import long-range rockets and train in guerrilla warfare tactics.

'We have warm relations with Hezbollah, which helps with some of the training programs,' Abu Ahmed said. 'We don't have anything to be ashamed of – that we are dealing with Hezbollah and that we are receiving training and information from them.'

He said Hezbollah maintains cells in the Sinai.

'The Sinai is an excellent ground for training, the exchange of information and weapons and for meetings on how to turn every piece of land into usable territory for a confrontation with Israel,' Abu Ahmed said.

Palestinians establishing Gaza war bunkers

Abu Ahmed said Palestinian groups are developing war bunkers inside Gaza similar to the underground Hezbollah lairs Israel found during the war in Lebanon.

'Our preparations include the building of special bunkers. Of course, we are taking into consideration that Gaza is not the same topography as Lebanon,' Abu Ahmed said.

During its confrontation with Hezbollah, Israel destroyed scores of complex bunkers that snaked along the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border. Military officials said they were surprised by the scale of the Hezbollah bunkers, in which Israeli troops reportedly found war rooms stocked with advanced eavesdropping and surveillance equipment they noted were made by Iran.

Abu Ahmed said the most important 'tool' in the Palestinian resistance arsenal was rockets. He said his group learned from Hezbollah that Israel can be defeated with missiles.

'We saw that with the capacity to bombard the Israeli population with hundreds of rockets every day we can change the strategic balance with Israel,' he said.

Since Israel's Gaza withdrawal, Palestinian terror groups have been regularly firing rockets at nearby Jewish communities, even after a cease-fire went into effect last month. The terrorists generally have fired three versions of Qassam rockets, improvised steel projectiles filled with explosives and fuel. Qassams can travel between one and five miles depending on the sophistication of the particular rocket.

Israel has noted improvements in Qassams, including rockets carrying double engines.

Israeli security officials say a large number of Katyusha rockets have been brought into Gaza. Katyushas can travel about 12 miles and can deliver large payloads. Hezbollah fired more than 2,800 Katyusha rockets into Israel in July and August.

In August, Islamic Jihad fired a Katyusha rocket into the Israeli Negev. It landed in an empty area. In June, the group fired a Katyusha-like rocket that traveled about nine miles.

'The Katyusha we fired (in August) shows we can have every weapon we need,' said Abu Ahmed. 'It is only a matter of a small period before Gaza is ready for war.'

Source: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53600

Congratulations To The Ummah Of Tawheed On Eid (back)

January 1, 2007

Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, second-in-command in al-Qaeda’s network released a statement Sunday congratulating the Muslims Ummah on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, its patience and endurance while calling on the Islamic nation to unite. Here is the complete transcript, uncut and uncensored in its entirety.

We remind our viewers that the opinions and points of view expressed in this article are those of the author and shall not be deemed to mean that they are necessarily those of JUS, the publisher, editor, writers, contributors or staff. In addition, JUS assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of third party content.

TO THE UMMAH OF TAWHID ON THE BLESSED OCCASION OF EID

In The Name Of Allah The Most Gracious The Most Merciful

Al praise is due to Allah, and may peace and prayers be on the Messenger of Allah and on his family, companions and allies.

Muslim brothers everywhere: peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings .

I would like to congratulate you twice: the first congratulation is on the occasion of blessed Eid al-Adha, and I ask Allah to accept your sacrifices and righteous deeds. And I ask Him to accept the pilgrims' Hajj, Sa'y, Tawaaf, and other acts of devotion.the Hajj, of which America has deprived the Mujahideen and noble ones confronting its brutal Zionist Crusade.

And the second congratulation is on the defeat of the Americans and their Crusader allies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I ask Allah that we see the same thing soon in Palestine, Allah willing.that defeat which the Americans, British and their allies only admited to after the blows rained down on their heads one after the other, after they had plugged their ears to the voice of reason and morality.

That defeat, Muslim brethren, was not achieved by parliamentary elections, nor by the fatwas of the scholars of beggary, nor by the deals struck by the religion-traders in Kabul and Baghdad. Rather, it was achieved with blood, martyrdom-seeking, the torture of the captives and the efforts of the Emigrants and Helpers.

Had the Mujahideen in Iraq and Afghanistan taken the path of the religion-trading traitors or the path of elections on the basis of secular constitutions, Crusader forces under the command of America would today be building up in the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, and Egypt to divide them and tear them to pieces. But what made their plot blow up in their faces is the rushing of the people of Iman and Jihad to sacrifice themselves in the path of Allah and their determination not to differentiate between the enemy invader and his local agents or say, 'This is native blood, whereas that is foreign blood.' Rather, they acted according to the statement of the Truth, Most High and Glorified:

'And he amongst you that takes them as allies is one of them. Verily, Allah does not guide a wrongdoing people.'(5:51)

This is the most important lesson learned, so let us remember it always and hold fast to it.

I also congratulate the Muslims in Palestine on the blessed Eid al-Adha which approaches them as their blood is oozing from the stabs of the Jews in their chests and the stabs of the Palestine-selling secularist traitors in their backs.the Palestine-selling secularist traitors, slaves of international law and worshipers of the dollar, those who have turned their backs on the Shari'ah and declared in their charters that their goal is the establishment of a secular state in one of the most holy places in Islam.those who have abandoned most of Palestine, recognized Israel and signed the accords of surrender with it, and let loose their security services against the Mujahideen to arrest and torment them and lead Israel to them.

These traitors cannot possibly be brothers of the Muslims, for in fact, they are their enemies and the enemies of their religion, and the Muslims must reject and disown them. The Truth, Exalted is He, says:

'O you who believe! Take not for allies your fathers and your brothers if they prefer infidelity to faith; and whoever of you take them as allies, they are the wrongdoers.' (9:23)

My Mujahid brothers in Palestine, the Palestine-selling secularist traitors cannot possibly be your brothers, so neither confer on them legitimacy, nor appease them in their secular religion, nor participate with them in their Shari'ah-rejecting assemblies, nor sign with them the documents which throw away Palestine. You must actualize the doctrine of loyalty and disloyalty, without which the religion cannot stand. The Truth, Exalted is He, says

'You shall not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they be their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their clan. For such He has written faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Himself. And He will admit them to Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for eternity. Allah will be well pleased with them, and they with Him. They are the party of Allah. Truly, it is the party of Allah that will achieve success.' (58:22)

And He, the most Honorable of speaker, says:

'There is for you an excellent example in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people, 'We are innocent of you and of what you worship beside Allah; we have rejected you, and there has begun between us and you enmity and hatred forever, unless you believe in Allah Alone.'' (60:4)

How is it possible for Mahmoud Abbas to be a brother of ours or for Muhammad Dahlan to be a brother of ours, when they have grown fat on the bribes of the Jews and gifts of the Americans?

My Muslim brethren in Palestine, always keep in mind that you are Mujahideen in Allah's path. The Truth, Exalted is He, says:

'He is the one who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the religion of truth to make it victorious over all religions even though the polytheists hate [it].' (9:33)

You are fighting for Allah's word to be the highest. A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and said, 'A man fights out of fanatical bias, and out of bravery, and out of a desire to be seen. So which of that is in Allah's path?' He replied, 'The one who fights for Allah's word to be the highest is in Allah's path.'

You are not a movement of national liberation, nor a front of nationalistic unity, nor captives to the borders of Sykes-Picot. No, you in the environs of Jerusalem are the vanguard of the one Muslim Ummah, which doesn't differentiate between an Arab and a non-Arab, and you are defending one of the holiest of its places to expel the invaders from it and establish in it the state of Islam which includes all Muslims without national distinctions or nationalist bias. The Truth, Exalted is He, says:

'Verily, this Ummah of yours is one Ummah, and I am your Lord, so worship Me [and Me Alone].' (21:92)

This is your responsibility, and this is what you have been entrusted with.

I also congratulate the Muslims in Iraq, who have lifted the head of the Muslim Ummah high with their heroic Jihadi confrontation with the Crusader invaders and their allies, the traitorous religion-traders. And I send my congratulations to the Emir of the Islamic State of Iraq, the Mujahid Shaykh Abu Umar al-Baghdadi and all groups of the champion Mujahideen engaged in Jihad in defense of Iraq of the Caliphate. And I call them to unite and be as one in accordance with the command of Allah, the Most High and Glorious, and His Messenger, peace be upon him.

I also congratulate the Muslims in Afghanistan under the leadership of the Commander of the Faithful, Mulla Muhammad Umar, and I call on them to turn to their Lord in praise and thanks for the resolution, steadfastness and consecutive victories He has bestowed on them in the face of Crusader America, the strongest power in the world, and its Crusader allies and religion-trading agents who sold Jihad for American dollars and so the Lord exposed them in a historic scandal which will be handed down from generation to generation.

I also send my congratulations to the patient, resolute Muslims in Kashmir, in whose pain and suffering the bribe-taker Musharraf is doing business. And I remind them that they must liberate their Jihad from the commanders of military intelligence, worshipers of the American dollar, for a Jihad led by the military intelligence that rushes madly for the salaries of the American embassy is destined for nothing but failure and unnecessary wasting of lives and spilling of blood.

I also congratulate my Mujahid brothers in Chechnya, and give them the good news that Allah's victory is near and its first signs have already appeared. Here's the leader of the Crusaders reeling in Iraq and Afghanistan, so be severe against its followers, those who live on its aid and backing in the Caucasus.

I also congratulate my brothers, the Mujahideen in Indonesia and the Philippines, who are confronting with patience and steadfastness a barbaric Crusade in defense of the eastern frontiers of Islam.

I also congratulate my Muslim brothers in Somalia, and encourage them to be firm in defense of the honor of Islam and Muslims in East Africa.

I also congratulate my brother Mujahideen in Algeria, who were put to the test by trials and purified by convulsions, yet only increased in resoluteness and strength in the face of the Franco-American Crusade and its sons, the traitors.

And I congratulate my Mujahid brothers in Yemen of wisdom and faith, those who have long rubbed America's nose in the dirt, and I call on them to continue their blessed Jihad against America and its servants, and to shower on them blow after blow, and to pay no heed to the misconceptions of those who make the interest of the Da'wah cancel and stop the Jihad. those who appointed Ali Abdullah Salih, the agent of America, as a legitimate leader of the Muslims whom it is forbidden to oppose. So let America be happy with their fatwas which bless its agent, and let the Crusader West thrill at their misconceptions which protect its interests and prevent the Ummah from carrying out the individual duty of Jihad against it.

And I also congratulate my brothers working in Jihadi media, and I ask Allah to reward them well for their fine, blessed efforts. And I encourage them to expend even more effort in Allah's path, for they have spoiled the enemies' publicity campaigns, by the grace of Allah. And I call on them to combine their efforts in compliance with the orders of Allah and His Messenger. May Allah bless their efforts, grant them His victory, and may they - Allah permitting - be the seed of the media of the Caliphate state which is coming with Allah's permission.

I also congratulate my captive brothers everywhere: in Guantanamo and the secret and open prisons of America; in Bagram, Abu Ghrayb, al-Ha'ir, and al-Ruways; in Tura, Abu Za'bal, and the desert prisons of Algeria; and in Shatanuf, bin Aknun, and all the prisons of the Crusaders, Jews and their agents, the traitorous rulers of the lands of Islam. And I promise them that freeing them is a debt on our shoulders as long as there remains in us a vein which beats or a breath which returns, with Allah's help and power.

And I congratulate my captive brothers in the prisons of the traitor Mubarak, and I ask Allah to accept their steadfastness in the face of the carrot-and-stick policies practiced by the regime as a service to America and Israel, in order to involve them in the same thing the backtrackers became involved in, those who sold their religion for cheap worldly crumbs, and accordingly they condemned Khalid al-Islambouli, Allah have mercy on him, and recognized Mubarak as Commander of the Faithful, in order for America to be satisfied with them so they could leave prison to subsist as middlemen and eyes for the State Investigative Security Department, and what a terrible subsistence.

Al-Mutanabbi says:

Lowly is he who envies the life of lowliness

That life which death is perhaps better than

Any leniency shown in the absence of power

Is an excuse resorted to by the ignoble ones

Humiliation is easy for he who accepts it

For the corpse is not pained by the wound

And I congratulate my brothers, the knights of Tawhid and its callers and scholars in the prisons of the American state of Al Saud, those who exposed its American 'Tawhid', which orders Al Saud to serve the Crusader forces which bomb the Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq, and which orders them to recognize Israel and abandon Palestine, as articulated by Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz in his initiative which the fanatical Zionist Thomas Friedman dictated to him.American 'Tawhid', which calls on them to promise to protect the security of Israel from the attacks of the Mujahideen, when they signed accords with Israel and the senior criminals in that regard in the Sharm al-Shaykh conference.American 'Tawhid', which incites them to bleed dry the petrol and pump it at the cheapest of rates to consume the Ummah's treasure, and which calls on them, despite their massive income, to keep their army weak, flabby and for show only, in order for them to continue to be dependant on the West and appeal to it to occupy their country and defend them.

I congratulate my brothers, the knights of Tawhid and its callers and scholars in the prisons of the American state of Al Saud, who have exposed - and continue to expose - through their resoluteness and steadfastness the scholars of beggary and court muftis whom Al Saud have gathered around them to depict them as infallible imams and to strive in vain to veil their treachery and collusion with the enemies of the Ummah.

And I congratulate every captive Muslim woman in Abu Ghrayb, Lazughli and all prisons of the idol-kings in the lands of Islam, and I promise them that their revenge shall not be forgotten, and that if we are unable to carry it out during our lifetimes, we shall bequeath it to those after us, and that the dogs who attacked them shall only be saved from us by death, with Allah's help and power.

And I congratulate every mother and wife grieving over a martyr or missing a prisoner. And I congratulate every orphan or son of a captive separated by the Crusaders and idol-kings from his father.

And I congratulate every Muslimah observant of her Hijab and chastity in the face of the fierce Crusade against the Hijab, which exposes their immorality, decline and degeneration. And she should know that the Hijab, symbol of her modesty and purity, tears them apart inside, because it exposes the depravity of their civilization. And I remind her that by holding fast to her Hijab and Deen, she is a soldier in the battle of Islam against the Zionist Crusade and its helpers, the traitorous idol-kings.

I congratulate them all, and I say to them that the Muslim Ummah, victorious if Allah permits, and its brave Mujahid vanguard are seizing the dawn of victory from the darkness of despair and repression, with the help of Allah, who said in His Honorable Book,

'How many of the Prophets fought, and with them were large bands of godly men, but they never lost heart at what befell them in Allah's way, nor did they weaken nor give in. And Allah loves those who persevere. All that they said was, 'Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our transgression; establish our feet firmly; and help us against the unbelieving people. And Allah gave them a reward in this world, and the excellent reward of the hereafter, for Allah loves those who do good.' (3:146-148)

Congratulations to you all, and may Allah accept from us and from you.

And our final prayer is that all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and prayers be on our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions.

Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri

Source: http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article= 107107&list=/home.php

Did Hitler Use Jesus To Justify His Actions? (back)

January 1, 2007

Muslim: And of course, you forgot to mention the actions of Adolf Hitler, who killed 6 million innocent Jews and used the Bible to justify his actions. Read his book 'MIEN KEMPF' and see for yourself how Hitler used his belief in Jesus (as) to justify this. — I.A.K.T.

Response: Unlike many Muslims assertions, this person gives a specific author and a particular book. Hence, it should be possible to ascertain whether or not the Muslim's assertion is true. Mein Kampf can be obtain easily in a library, and it is on the Internet too. So, we have an opportunity to determine whether our Muslim friend is truthful or not. Did Hitler use the Bible and his belief in Jesus in his book, Mein Kampf, to justify the slaughter of Jews?

The library edition of the book does not list either the Bible or Jesus in its Index.1 Now, if Hitler had based his justification for murdering Jews upon the Bible and Jesus, one would expect to find a number of references to them in the Index of Mein Kampf. However, neither word is found there. So, it appears that the Muslim's assertion may be false. Secondly, using a Google search of the Adolf Hitler web site, which includes an English translation of Mein Kampf, a word search does not yield any result.2 Now if the word Jesus or Bible is not found a single time in a book of 694 pages, the Muslim's assertion is clearly without foundation. Because, if the justification for killing 6 million Jews were Hitler's belief in Jesus, Jesus' name should be mentioned numerous times in Mein Kampf. As a result, this appears to be another Muslim claim that has no basis in reality. In other words the claim is false and shows a disregard for the truth.

Searching Mein Kampf further, there is one paragraph that refers to Jesus. The terms that Hitler used were the great founder of the new doctrine and Christ. However, Hitler's belief in Nazism was not grounded upon this book's paragraph. It vents his hatred of the Jews and his disgust for Christians who sought their votes. It admits that true Christianity is a spiritual religion and not a business enterprise. This is why Christ drove the Jewish businessmen from the temple.

The best characterization is provided by the product of this religious education, the Jew himself. His life is only of this world, and his spirit is inwardly as alien to true Christianity as his nature two thousand years previous was to the great founder of the new doctrine. Of course, the latter made no secret of his attitude toward the Jewish people, and when necessary he even took to the whip to drive from the temple of the Lord this adversary of all humanity, who then as always saw in religion nothing but an instrument for his business existence. In return, Christ was nailed to the cross, while our present-day party Christians debase themselves to begging for Jewish votes at elections and later try to arrange political swindles with atheistic Jewish parties — and this against their own nation.3

So, nowhere in Mein Kampf does Hitler refer to his personal belief in Jesus or the Bible to justify his actions against the Jews. In fact, Jesus was a Jew and Hitler hated Jews. So, why would Hitler turn to any Jew to support Nazism. Where does Hitler turn to Christ's true doctrine to base his claims of race superiority, worldly economics, and earthly militarist conquest? So, even on the surface, the Muslim's charge is ridiculous to any who knows history and values the truth. This may not be the case with ignorant Muslims who are disposed against Jews and Christians and who are not acquainted with the history of Adolph Hitler. As stated during the Nuremberg War trials in Germany,

The Nazi Party always was predominantly anti-Christian in its ideology. ... the conspirators devised and carried out a systematic and relentless repression of all Christian sects and churches. 4

Reichsleiter Martin Bormann wrote in the secret decree entitled, Relationship of National Socialism and Christianity, that 'National Socialist and Christian concepts are irreconcilable.' 5

For a book on the relationship between Islam and Jews, we recommend one by Dr. Bat Ye'or.6

In fact, Hitler was very impressed by the Mohammedan faith as he saw its great advances in Europe. By contrast, he saw the Christian church in disunity, losing 'millions and millions of inward adherents', and ineffective in its overseas mission efforts. However, we are not suggesting that Hitler based Nazism upon his admiration of the wonderful advancements of Islam in Europe.

How widespread the general disunity was growing is shown by an examination of religious conditions before the War. Here, too, a unified and effective philosophical conviction had long since been lost in large sections of the nation. In this the members officially breaking away from the churches play a less important role than those who are completely indifferent. While both denominations maintain missions in Asia and Africa in order to win new followers for their doctrine — an activity which can boast but very modest success compared to the advance of the Mohammedan faith in particular right here in Europe they lose millions and millions of inward adherents who either are alien to all religious life or simply go their own ways. The consequences, particularly from the moral point of view, are not favorable.7

It is coincidental that Mein Kampf means My Struggle or My Fight in English and in Arabic means My Jihad. Hitler's Jihad was both idealistic and militaristic; it was personal as well as social; it was national as well as international. The German translation of the Qur'an uses the term, Kampf, in various places.

Kämpfe darum für Allahs Sache Sure 4:84

Then fight in Allah's cause Sura 4:84

O Prophet, feuere die Gläubigen zum Kampf an. Sure 8:65

O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. Sura 8:65

The Qur'an refers to the Jews who broke the Sabbath day as apes, Hitler referred to the Jews as apes too.

But even here, in reality, he [the Jew] is only a ' juggler,' or rather an ape.8 — Hitler

And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: 'Be ye apes, despised and rejected.' al-Baqarah 2:65 — Muhammad

Perhaps, our Muslim friend should not blame Jesus for Hitler's hatred of the Jews, since his hatred of the Jews is very much like the hatred expressed by many imams during their Friday sermon in masjids across the Middle East. Their fierce hatred of the Jews is very much like Hitler's hatred.

In conclusion, this Muslim scholar makes no attempt to provide citations from Hitler's Mein Kampf to support his allegation. If his allegation were true, he should be able easily to provide numerous and specific references in Mein Kampf to support his claim. Instead he spun out this assertion from his fanciful imagination without the slightest sense of embarrassment. Apparently, intellectual honesty is not an important virtue to him. The tragedy is that the Hitler and Muhammad had many Jews murdered, but the Lord Jesus Christ never murdered anyone. On the positive side, when Muslim apologists make these ridiculous assertions, they discredit themselves as well as their message.

The Muslim's follow-up response: Who is being un-truthful? I read the book, in German, not a translation with ex-spunged information. — I.A.K.T., January 6, 2004

Response: First of all, we notice that our Muslim friend seeks to discredit the English translation of Mein Kampf. Does he really think the translators engaged in intellectual dishonesty by giving a corrupt translation of Mein Kampf? It is typical for Muslims to claim a text has been corrupted when it disagrees with their preconceived notions. For example, Muslims claim that the text of the Bible has been corrupted. Whereas, in truth, it was Muhammad who offered a corrupted version of the message of the divine prophets in the Qur'an. Secondly, he offers no evidence where the English translation is a bogus translation of the German Mein Kampf. Thirdly, and more importantly, he does not provide a chapter reference in the original German Mein Kampf to support his claim that Hitler appealed to the Bible or Jesus to pursue the holocaust of the Jews.

Actually, appealing to the original German language edition does not help our Muslim friend's case, because the German Mein Kampf lacks an instance where Adolph Hitler used the teachings of Jesus or the Bibel (German for Bible) to further the objectives of the Third Reich. So, we would challenge our Muslim friend to give us a specific chapter in the German Mein Kampf where Adolph Hitler used his belief in Jesus and the Bible to justify his hatred of the Jews. Wir brauchen eine Verweisung!

We must now leave it to our readers to decide for themselves whether or not this Islamic scholar's claims are true or false.

Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, Translated by Ralph Manheim, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA, 1943, p. 694.

2 A search for Jesus can be done on the Hitler web site using Google.com. Type the words between the brackets [Jesus site:www.hitler.org] into the Google search box. You will notice that the word Jesus does not yield any search results in Mein Kampf. By contrast, if the word, Jew, were used instead of Jesus, there are a number of search results.

3 Ibid, Mein Kampf, p. 307.

4 Trial of The Major War Criminals before The International Military Tribunal, Official Text in the English Language, Proceedings November 14-30, 1945, Nuremberg, Germany, 1947, Vol. II, p. 115.

5 Trial of The Major War Criminals before The International Military Tribunal, Official Text in the English Language, Proceedings November 14-30, 1945, Nuremberg, Germany, 1947, Vol. IV, p. 58.

6 Ye'or, Bat, The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians under Islam, Translated from French by D. Maisel and P. Fenton, Associated University Presses, Cranbury, New Jersey, 1985 (4th Printing 1996), p. 444.

7 Ibid, Mein Kampf, p. 266-267.

8 Ibid, Mein Kampf, p. 266-303.

Source: http://www.muhammadanism.org/Inquiries/Jesus/hitler_jesus.htm

Eason Jordan Offers to Fly Michelle Malkin to Baghdad -- She Accepts
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003521788
Eason Jordan Offers to Fly Michelle Malkin to Baghdad -- She Accepts
By E&P Staff
Published: December 14, 2006 10:45 AM ET

NEW YORK Whoever dreamed we'd ever see Michelle Malkin flying to Baghdad to search for a certain alleged Iraqi police captain with....Eason Jordan? Yet this could well happen in the very near future.

Jordan, the former news chief at CNN -- who has been strongly criticized by Malkin, the conservative columnist and blogger, in the past -- made the offer to pay for the trip at this own expense late last night, and this morning Malkin accepted.

Apparently it was all sparked by an article on the E&P site yesterday, which revealed that Jordan was about to launch an ambitious Web site called IraqSlogger, to cover all news concerning and coming out of Iraq. The article apparently produced a torrent of feedback for Jordan, he revealed in a posting around midnight, including many notes from conservative bloggers.

On her site, Malkin wrote: "I'm sure bloggers will be checking in to see what defamatory statements and rumors former CNN head Eason Jordan will be posting on his new website, Iraqslogger."

Some, including Malkin, urged him to look into the current controversy over reporting by The Associated Press on the burning of six Iraqis late last month and its use as a source a police captain named Jamil Hussein. The U.S. military and some Iraqi officials have challenged his existence; the AP, in two lengthy rebuttals, has stood by its reporting.

Jordan wrote Wednesday night that he has asked his people in Baghdad to try to track down the police captain and he even offered to fly one of the AP critics, Malkin, to that city to join the search at his own expense.

Malkin, on her own blog, www.michellemalkin.com, accepted that offer today. Under a photo of Jordan captioned, "My new travel partner?", she wrote: "I e-mailed my acceptance of Jordan's invitation this morning."

Jordan had written last night:

"Who is Jamil Hussein? Michelle Malkin is leading the charge for an answer, and she put that question to me in her blog. The AP is in the midst of a public firestorm regarding whether supposed Iraqi police captain Jamil Hussein actually exists and, if so, whether he was a legitimate news source for a disputed November 24 AP-reported story saying Shia thugs in Baghdad 'grabbed six Sunnis as they left Friday worship services, doused them with kerosene and burned them alive near Iraqi soldiers who did not intervene.' The U.S. military, the Iraqi government, and many others insisted the AP story was false and that Jamil Hussein either was fictitious or was not an Iraqi police officer, as asserted in the AP's report. The AP has issued two strong statements defending its initial report and produced fresh statements from witnesses of the alleged crime, but the AP has not produced Jamil Hussein himself.

"So the search for Jamil Hussein is on, and rightly so. IraqSlogger's team in Baghdad is working to track him down. If we find him, we'll get back to you with details. If we can't find him, we'll report that, too. If Michelle Malkin wants to join the search in Baghdad, IraqSlogger will pay for her trip, and I'd even be willing to accompany her. Stay tuned."

E&P Staff (letters@editorandpublisher.com)

[This blog has interesting and odd history items]

http://aaronsnewspost.blogspot.com/2007/01/18-secret-armies-of-cia.html

Tuesday, January 02, 2007
18 Secret Armies Of The CIA

1. UKRAINIAN PARTISANS

From 1945 to 1952, the CIA trained and aerially supplied Ukrainian partisan units which had originally been organised by the Germans to fight the Soviets during WWII. For seven years, the partisans, operating in the Carpathian Mountains, made sporadic attacks. Finally, in 1952, a massive Soviet military force wiped them out.

2. CHINESE BRIGADE IN BURMA

After the Communist victory in China, Nationalist Chinese soldiers fled into northern Burma. During the early 1950s, the CIA used these soldiers to create a 12,000-man brigade which made raids into Red China. However, the Nationalist soldiers found it more profitable to monopolise the local opium trade.

3. GUATEMALAN REBEL ARMY

After Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz legalised that country's Communist party and expropriated 400,000 acres of United Fruit banana plantations, the CIA decided to overthrow his government. Guatemalan rebels were trained in Honduras and backed up with a CIA air contingent of bombers and fighter planes. This army invaded Guatemala in 1954, promptly toppling Arbenz's regime.

4. SUMATRAN REBELS

In an attempt to overthrow Indonesian president Sukarno in 1958, the CIA sent paramilitary experts and radio operators to the island of Sumartra to organize a revolt. With CIA air support, the rebel army attacked but was quickly defeated. The American government denied involvement even after a CIA B-26 was shot down and its CIA pilot, Allen Pope, was captured.

5. KHAMBA HORSEMEN

After the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet, the CIA began recruiting Khamba horsemen - fierce warriors who supported Tibet's religious leader, the Dalai Lama - as they escaped into India in 1959. These Khambas were trained in modern warfare at Camp Hale, high in the Rocky Mountains near Leadville, Colorado. Transported back to Tibet by the CIA-operated Air America, the Khambas organized an army numbering at its peak some 14,000. By the mid-1960s the Khambas had been abandoned by the CIA but they fought on alone into 1970.

6. BAY OF PIGS INVASION FORCE

In 1960, CIA operatives recruited 1,500 Cuban refugees living in Miami and staged a surprise attack on Fidel Castro's Cuba. Trained at a base in Guatemala, this small army - complete with an air force consisting of B-26 bombers - landed at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961. The ill-conceived, poorly planned operation ended in disaster, since all but 150 men of the force were either killed or captured within three days.

7. L'ARMÉE CLANDESTINE

In 1962, CIA agents recruited Meo tribesmen living in the mountains of Laos to fight as guerrillas against Communist Pathet Lao forces. Called l'Armée Clandestine, this unit - paid, trained and supplied by the CIA - grew into a 30,000-man force. By 1975, the Meos - who had numbered a quarter million in 1962 - had been reduced to 10,000 refugees fleeing into Thailand.

8. NUNG MERCENARIES

A Chinese hill people living in Vietnam, the Nungs were hired and organised by the CIA as a mercenary force, during the Vietnam War. Fearsome and brutal fighters, the Nungs were employed throughout Vietnam and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Numgs proved costly since they refused to fight unless constantly supplied with beer and prostitutes.

9. PERUVIAN REGIMENT

Unable to quell guerrilla forces in its eastern Amazonian provinces, Peru called on the US for help in the mid-1960s. The CIA responded by establishing a fortified camp in the area and hiring local Peruvians who were trained by Green Beret personnel on loan from the US Army. After crushing the guerillas, the elite unit was disbanded because of fears it might stage a coup against the government.

10. CONGO MERCENARY FORCE

In 1964 during the Congolese Civil War, the CIA established an army in the Congo to back pro-Western leaders Cyril Adoula and Joseph Mobutu. The CIA imported European mercenaries and Cuban pilots - exiles from Cuba - to pilot the CIA air force, composed of transports and B-26 bombers.

11. THE CAMBODIAN COUP

For over 15 years, the CIA had tried various unsuccessful means of deposing Cambodia's left-leaning Prince Norodom Sihanouk, including assassination attempts. However, in March, 1970, a CIA-backed coup finally did the job. Funded by US tax dollars, armed with US weapons, and trained by American Green Berets, anti-Sihanouk forces called Kampuchea Khmer Krom (KKK) overran the capital of Phnom Penh and took control of the government. With the blessing of the CIA and the Nixon administration, control of Cambodia was placed in the hands of Lon Nol, who would later distinguish himself by dispatching soldiers to butcher tens of thousands of civilians.

12. KURD REBELS

During the early 1970s the CIA moved into eastern Iraq to organize and supply the Kurds of that area, who were rebelling against the pro-Soviet Iraqi government. The real purpose behind this action was to help the shah of Iran settle a border dispute with Iraq favourably. After an Iranian-Iraq settlement was reached, the CIA withdrew its support from the Kurds, who were then crushed by the Iraqi Army.

13. ANGOLA MERCENARY FORCE

In 1975, after years of bloody fighting and civil unrest in Angola, Portugal resolved to relinquish its hold on the last of its African colonies. The transition was to take place on November 11, with control of the country going to whichever political faction controlled the capital city of Luanda on that date. In the months preceding the change, three groups vied for power: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). By July 1975, the Marxist MPLA had ousted the moderate FNLA and UNITA from Luanda, so the CIA decided to intervene covertly. Over $30 million was spent on the Angolan operation, the bulk of the money going to buy arms and pay French and South African mercenaries, who aided the FNLA and UNITA in their fight. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, US officials categorically denied any involvement in the Angolan conflict. In the end, it was a fruitless military adventure, for the MPLA assumed power and controls Angola to this day.

14. AFGHAN MUJAHEEDIN

Covert support for the groups fighting against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan began under President Jimmy Carter in 1979, and was stepped up during the administration of Ronald Reagan. The operation succeeded in its initial goal, as the Soviets were forced to begin withdrawing their forces in 1987. Unfortunately, once the Soviets left, the US essentially ignored Afghanistan as it collapsed into a five-year civil war followed by the rise of the ultra-fundamentalist Taliban. The Taliban provided a haven for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, the perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

15. SALVADORAN DEATH SQUADS

As far back as 1964, the CIA helped form ORDEN and ANSESAL, two paramilitary intelligence networks that developed into the Salvadoran death squads. The CIA trained ORDEN leaders in the use of automatic weapons and surveillance techniques, and placed several leaders on the CIA payroll. The CIA also provided detailed intelligence on Salvadoran individuals later murdered by the death squads. During the civil war in El Salvador from 1980 to 1992, the death squads were responsible for 40,000 killings. Even after a public outcry forced President Reagan to denounce the death squads in 1984, CIA support continued.

16. NICARAGUAN CONTRAS

On November 23, 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed a top secret National Security Directive authorising the CIA to spend $19 million to recruit and support the Contras, opponents of Nicaragua's Sandinista government. In supporting the Contras, the CIA carried out several acts of sabotage without the Congressional intelligence committees giving consent - or even being informed beforehand. In response, Congress passed the Boland Amendment, prohibiting the CIA from providing aid to the Contras. Attempts to find alternate sources of funds led to the Iran-Contra scandal. It may also have led the CIA and the Contras to become actively involved in drug smuggling. In 1988, the Senate Subcommittee on Narcotics, Terrorism, and International Operations concluded that individuals in the Contra movement engaged in drug trafficking; that known drug traffickers provided assistance to the Contras; and that 'there are some serious questions as to whether or not US officials involved in Central America failed to address the drug issue for fear of jeopardizing the war effort against Nicaragua'.

17. HAITIAN COUPS

In 1988, the CIA attempted to intervene in Haiti's elections with a 'covert action program' to undermine the campaign of the eventual winner, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Three years later, Aristide was overthrown in a bloody coup that killed more than 4,000 civilians. Many of the leaders of the coup had been on the CIA payroll since the mid-1980s. For example, Emmanuel 'Toto' Constant, the head of FRAPH, a brutal gang of thugs known for murder, torture, and beatings, admitted to being a paid agent of the CIA. Similarly, the CIA-created Haitian National Intelligence Service (NIS), supposedly created to combat drugs, functioned during the coup as a 'political intimidation and assassination squad.' In 1994, an American force of 20,000 was sent to Haiti to allow Aristide to return. Ironically, even after this, the CIA continued working with FRAPH and the NIS. In 2004, Aristide was overthrown once again, with Aristide claiming that US forces had kidnapped him.

18. VENEZUELAN COUP ATTEMPT

On April 11, 2002, Venezuelan military leaders attempted to overthrow the country's democratically-elected left-wing president, Hugo Chavez. The coup collapsed after two days as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets and as units of the military joined with the protestors. The administration of George W. Bush was the only democracy in the Western Hemisphere not to condemn the coup attempt. According to intelligence analyst Wayne Madsen, the CIA had actively organised the coup: 'The CIA provided Special Operations Group personnel, headed by a lieutenant colonel on loan from the US Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to help organise the coup against Chavez.

posted by Aaron @ 2:29 PM

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