Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
Note: the kdwn.com news also has a 14 year old boy dead, on street, last night, unknown shooter.........boy shot after getting off city bus.
There are several other shootings in the comments of the thread.
granny
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783795/posts
SALT LAKE CITY BLOODBATH & Shooting in Philly: Multiple deaths reported at both locations.
The Drudge Report (multiple links) ^ | 2/12/2007 | beat reporters
Posted on 02/12/2007 7:49:36 PM PST by Jack Black
Shots fired at Trolley Square; several people injured, others killed Last Update: Feb 12, 2007 8:29 PM
Salt Lake Police say a man opened fire inside the Trolley Square Mall on Monday evening. Police have shot and killed one suspect, and there are preliminary reports that at least five people are dead. There is no second shooter loose inside the mall.
Police report that the shooter was shooting at random in mulitiple areas, but is no longer a threat and there is no further risk at Trolley Square.
Police say that there have been "several" vicitms and "some" fatalities and "some" in critical condition, but could not report further. All victims have been transported to several hospitals in the area.
Multiple police and ambulance vehicles surround the area and initial reports say the mall is in lock down. Most people have been evacuated but some may still be locked in stores. Police could not confirm how many, if any, remained in the mall.
Stay tuned to ABC 4 News for updates on this breaking story
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783783/posts
Purported al Qaeda message: Unite with Taliban
CNN ^ | 10:09 p.m. EST, February 12, 2007
Posted on 02/12/2007 7:27:37 PM PST by james500
(CNN) -- In a message released Monday, al Qaeda's No. 2 leader called on Muslims to unite under Taliban leader Mullah Omar and stop attempting to form secular governments.
They should follow only the strict Islamic Sharia law, said Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The remarks were delivered in a message on an Islamist Web site. The video contained a still picture of Zawahiri with English subtitles over Arabic remarks in audio. CNN has not independently confirmed the authenticity of the tape.
A text translation also accompanied the tape and was provided to CNN by lauramansfield.com, a Web site that analyzes terrorism.
Zawahiri pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar and called on all his followers to reject animosity and differences and come together under Mullah Omar's banner.
Mullah Omar is the elusive, shadowy Taliban leader who slipped away in the early days of the war in Afghanistan. Before the U.S.-led invasion, the Taliban held Afghanistan with an ultra-conservative government and sheltered al Qaeda.
Calling the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan, allied with the United States, "traitors," Zawahiri warned the United States "is about to depart and abandon them, just as it abandoned their like in Vietnam."
But Zawahiri did not reserve his venom only for the "Crusaders" and "Zionists."
He also targeted the "charlatans" of Islam, saying their "long beards, huge turbans, majestic titles, purported lineages and popular myths are no substitute for the truth."
He called on Palestinians to drop their secular government and instead govern themselves by Sharia (Islamic) law.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Thanks to Mark Taylor, and Milford421.
Bangor Man Sentenced in al-Qaida Plot
BANGOR, Pa. - February 9, 2007 - A 70-year-old Pennsylvania man
accused of offering to build and sell a bomb to an al-Qaida
operative has been sentenced to five years in prison.Ronald Allen
Grecula, of Bangor, was sentenced Friday by a federal judge in
Houston, Texas.
Grecula pleaded guilty in September to trying to provide support to
a terrorist organization.
According to prosecutors, Grecula negotiated the sale of an
explosive device with a confidential source and undercover officers,
whom he thought were al-Qaida members.
Prosecutors say Grecula was angry with the government over losing
custody of his children in 2002.
Grecula has been in federal custody without bond since his arrest in
May 2005.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=5020845
Human rights defender fined for holding a picket in memory of
Politkovskaya has lodged a complaint to the SC of Ingushetia
French Diplomat Killed in Ivory Coast by Unknown Assailants (back)
February 8, 2007
by Parfait Kouassi
A French diplomat with the European Union in Ivory Coast was to death in his home overnight, a spokesman for the French Embassy said Wednesday.
The victim, Michel Miaucel, was in charge of West Africa security operations for the EU, embassy spokesman Jacques Cuzi said.
Cuzi said Miaucel had been with his own gun by unknown assailants and died in his home.
There did not appear to be any political motivation for the , but the investigation was still ongoing, and suicide has been ruled out, he said.
'Since there was no break-in into the house, it could be someone close to him,' Cuzi said.
Miaucel lived with his wife and children in Ivory Coast 's southern commercial capital, Abidjan .
Ivory Coast has been split into a government-run south and a -held north since insurgents failed to topple President Laurent Gbagbo in a 2002 attempted coup. The United Nations is overseeing a transition government, and some 10,000 U.N. and French troops are deployed in the world's top cocoa grower, many of them in a buffer zone separating the two sides.
In recent months, Gbagbo has repudiated peace plans backed by the United Nations and France, saying he will use African mediators to bring an end to the stalemate with . Talks have begun between the two sides in nearby Burkina Faso .
Source: No url available
Trends in Thailand 's Insurgency in Early 2007 (back)
February 8, 2007
by Zachary Abuza
Wednesday morning saw an audacious bombing that appeared to target the beloved Crown Princess of Thailand, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who is visiting Thailand ’s restive southern provinces. The bomb was placed near her helicopter’s landing pad. A security patrol that was sweeping the area, discovered the cell-phone detonated IED. The bomb was not a large one, compared to what has been detonated recently. Detonated in a controlled manner, it created a crater a yard in diameter and 12 inches deep.
While Bangkok is still abuzz over whodunit over the New Year’s Eve bombings, the southern insurgency continues to escalate. The level of killing has gone up to over two people a day, minor by Iraqi standards, but still the most lethal conflict in Southeast Asia, bar none; and it has the potential to grow dramatically in 2007.
It is not necessary to detail all the daily pillion killings and bombings, but it is worth recounting some of the more significant acts violence in 2007. The Minister of Defence, Boonrod Somthat glumly noted that the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinasi (BRN-C) 'has refused negotiations so far as it is gaining the upper hand and winning greater support from local residents.'• There have already been two beheadings. On 31 January, an ice cream vendor was shot dead and beheaded by Muslim insurgents. 'They chopped his head off and walked away with it, leaving his body sitting on the ice cream bike's seat,' a Pattani policeman told Reuters. When a rubber tapper was beheaded police found a note that threatened to kill Buddhists if they remained in the province.
• While the number of bombings hasn’t increased, the number of large (10-15kg) bombs has increased. They are occurring several times a week, rather than once or twice a month. As a result, more people are being killed and wounded. On 12 January, a 15kg bomb wounded three soldiers. On 17 January, two officers who were investigating a burning tire placed on a railroad track were wounded when a 15kg bomb was detonated; the track was damaged resulting in the temporary suspension of train service. On 29 January, ten police were injured when a 15kg+ IED buried in the middle of the road was detonated as their convoy escorting teachers passed by. This bomb was command detonated, rather than cell-phone detonated. Another IED, fashioned out of an anti-tank mine, wounded 10 army officers. On 4 February, ten more soldiers were injured by mobile phone triggered roadside bomb blasts in Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.?
• Some attacks have been more creative. On 12 January, insurgents placed a bomb under a soldier’s pickup truck and detonated it at the main gate of his base, which is home to the Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command.
• On 27 January, insurgents detonated a 4kg bomb that was hidden on the roof of a one-story house some 15 minutes after the Minister of Interior and the Islamic Affairs Ministers from Qatar , Kuwait , and Saudi Arabia passed en route to a graduation ceremony of the government-supported Islamic College of Prince Songkhla University. Though the school also gets funding from Qatar, southern insurgents are infuriated that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has been not only muted in its criticism of the Thai government’s handling of the insurgency, but that they continue to work with the Thai state.
• Insurgents have also demonstrated greater proficiency with small arms. In mid-January several bombers engaged soldiers in a five-minute firefight after detonating an IED. The insurgents are more confident and are standing their ground longer. On 31 January, a sniper shot a police colonel in the head, severely wounding him. The colonel was part of an advance team that was securing a village in preparation for the Prime Minister and Crown Prince’s visit.
• It should be noted that the majority of the targets, especially of drive by shootings, remain fellow Muslims, deemed to be collaborators. On 2 January a prominent local Muslim leader known for his outspoken stance against extremism was gunned down. The insurgents are not countenancing political rivals.
• 2007 has also seen an escalation in the number of civil disobedience cases, in particular those of women and children who surround police stations demanding the release of suspects. There have been three high profile cases in 2007. For example, some 50 veiled women surrounded a police station in Pattani’s Nong Chik district to demand the release of Mayadee Samah, a suspected insurgent arrested the day before. Also in Pattani, some 200 villagers sieged and vandalized a police station to protest the arrest of a suspected militant.? Most recently, more than 70 Muslim women and children staged protest.
• Teachers, who have been routinely targeted by insurgents announced that they had no confidence in the government's security plans to protect them. The region is bracing for another wave of school closures. The government announced that Border Patrol Police may fill the vacancies.
There are a number of developments on the part of government’s counter-insurgent efforts that also deserve noting, some positive and some negative:
• The government has announced that it will stand up 30 paramilitary companies comprised of locals. Defense Minister Boonrod stated, 'These Rangers have been trained in guerrilla warfare. They will be able to put up a good fight against the enemies,' yet these units have just been formed and it is hard to believe that they have received anything more than a quick crash course. Their discipline is already in question.
• While the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) was revived in early January, none of the participating ministries has sent their 'A Team' to staff it. The SBPAC remains understaffed and under-funded.
• On 9 January, a Bangkok court released on bail nine Islamic clerics suspected of being part of the insurgency. The 4th Army’s commander, Major General Viroj Buacharoon, who is in charge of the south, had requested their release in the hope that it would garner popular support for the government. It also reflects the fact that the Thai police continue to do such shoddy work in the south that almost no convictions have been won in the courts and that prosecutors are reluctant to bring cases before the courts, preferring suspects to languish in jail.
• A February meeting between Thai Interior permanent secretary Pongpayom Wasaphuti and Malaysian secretary-general of the Home Affairs Ministry Aseh Che Mat, resulted in an agreement to try to reconcile the ID card data bases of the two governments in order to crack down on dual nationals. The two sides agreed to exchange names, photos and fingerprints. The Thai government has already begun to issue fingerprint-embedded 'smart' ID cards to 1.2 million residents of the three Muslim-majority provinces.
• The government pledged, Bt1.4 billion for security and development in the conflict-affected south, including Bt400 million for local development projects (Bt100 million for Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, and Bt50 million for Satun and Songkhla. The budget also includes Bt972 million to increase CCTV coverage.
• While the Ministry of Defense’s budget for 2007 is Bt115 billion, nearly a 50 percent increase over fiscal 2006, they seem no closer to resolving the conflict.
• Defense Minister Boonrod Somthat has publicly stated that the security situation should improve dramatically by June. Yet, he conceded that the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinasi (BRN-C), who did not participate in any of the peace talks with the government in 2006, but who are responsible for much of the violence 'has refused negotiations so far as it is gaining the upper hand and winning greater support from local residents.'
Source: http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/02/early_2007_in_tren ds_in_thaila.php
al-Qaeda Announces US Helicopter Cemetery (back)
February 8, 2007
Islamist insurgents are now able to kill United States soldiers in the air as well as on the ground, al-Qaeda's putative leader in Iraq , Abu Musab al-Falluji, has claimed in an interview with the Islamist website 'Islammemo'. 'In the next month, you will see a real US military helicopter graveyard,' al-Falluji said. He claimed insurgents have downed 15 helicopters while the US military says it has lost six aircraft in less than three weeks.
'We inform Muslims that the coming days will be more difficult for the invaders,' al-Falluji warned, inviting soliders from the Iraqi army to surrender. 'Sunni mosques are open to those who want to turn themselves in and join the resistence,' he added.
'We have at our disposal new technology that enables us to bring down aircraft but cannot give any further information for security reasons,' al-Falluji concluded. He is the head of a formation calling itself the Islamic Iraqi State, which al-Qaeda in Iraq is part of.
An unnamed Iraqi military expert told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the US military helicopters have mostly been shot down by high-tech rockets launched obtained recently by Sunni guerrillas. 'They are able to hit aircraft that are carrying out surveillance flights because they have acquired state of the art ground to air missile technology,' the expert said.
Many armed groups in Iraq have acquired these locally, according to unnamed security sources quoted by a-Hayat. Three Chinook and two Black Hawk US military helicopters have been shot down since 20 January, as well as civilian aircraft belonging to a US company.
Guerrillas also appear to be using other types of weapon such as several new, more powerful kinds of explosive device. Some of these, such as the latest generation Katiusha rocket have made and altered in Iraq have been made and modified in Iraq , according to the security sources.
Source: http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat= Security&loid=8.0.384282892&par=
Calls For Jihad At UC Irvine (back)
February 7, 2007
by Beila Rabinowitz and William A. Mayer
The Islamist thugs who disrupted the January 31 talk by Dr. Daniel Pipes at the University of California Irvine Campus [entitled 'The Threat To Israel's Existence Why It's Back - What It Means'] served to highlight how college campuses across the United States have become hotbeds of Islamist ferment.
The event also underscored the degree to which American college and university administrators have abdicated their supervisory roles, allowing radical Muslim rage to suppress the free exchange of ideas.
In a blog entry about the event [sponsored by the Jewish student group, Hillel] Dr. Pipes noted that he had 'front loaded' his comments in order to give 'the Islamist contingent a stiff dose of my thinking' as a pre-emptive strike against the disturbance he knew had been planned.
Dr. Pipes told the audience that appeasement and compromise with the Palestinians had been a mistake and there were only two scenarios:
'Either the Israeli side gives up and there will be no more Israel' or 'The enemies of Israel reluctantly but steadily come to the conclusion that they cannot eliminate Israel and stop fighting.' Pipes added, 'My conclusion is that the Palestinians must have their will crushed so that they will no longer try to eliminate Israel,' in which case 'they will tend to their own affairs and leave Israel alone...There is no alternative I wish there were but there is none to have the Palestinians will crushed requires that they go through the bitter crucible of war-of -loss-of-despair...'
As if on cue about 70 'goons of the Islamist persuasion' [as Dr. Pipes later referred to them] stood up and a beefy Muslim student draped in a keffiyah shouted 'Daniel Pipes! Daniel Pipes!' and the room erupted into catcalls and surprised laughter.
A video of the event shows the Muslim students being escorted out of the auditorium by school administrators while shouting anti-Israel slogans.
Jewish students responded by singing 'Am Yisroel Chai' [The People of Israel Lives].
According to one of the organizers, the Muslim students had shown up early for the event and seated themselves strategically in the auditorium so as to be better able to disrupt Pipes' talk.
The fact that the hall was completely unsecured and that 70 radicalized Muslim students were allowed to enter the hall unsearched before the event took place is evidence of an alarming breach of security, one which could have had disastrous consequences.
One attendee wrote:
'Upon entering the 448 seat auditorium, I immediately noticed about forty to fifty Islamist students monopolizing the center area in the steep seating area. Most wore black, blue, and red Keffiyehs that Islamists and faux revolutionaries have taken to wearing, ostensibly in support of the Palestinians against the 'oppressive' Israelis.'
During the disturbance Dr. Pipes calmly stood his ground at the podium, arms folded, awaiting the commotion to subside.
The conclusion of the address was greeted by a standing ovation.
Outside the venue a group of potential jihadists gathered:
'Justice will be restored...Those people who are there legitimately...the people there will rule...and there will be no alternative for anyone there injustice anymore there...so we will keep on doing what we are doing...our weapon...our jihad...our way of struggling in this country is with our tongues...We speak out and we deflate their morale...and this is the best we can do right now...And our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world are handling business in their own way...Takbir, Allahu Akhbar!'
Allahu Akhbar - God is great - being one of the battle cries that Muslim armies have used throughout history.
The student's remarks demonstrate the now well established trend of Muslim Student Associations and Muslim Student Unions finding common cause with radical Islam's war against the West.
The videotape showing UC Irvine students calling for jihad and the elimination of Israel reveals a degree of radicalization which should alert UCI administrators to the presence of a potential terrorist threat.
Unfortunately this type of hateful incitement has become so commonplace on American campuses that it is now the norm. The intimidation engendered by this tactic has served the Islamists well, cowing multiculturally bound college administrations into silence. > The MSU and MSAs are part of an interlocking radical Muslim directorate [which includes but is not limited to ISNA, the Islamic Society of North America, ICNA the Islamic Circle of North America and NAIT the North American Islamic Trust an organization which holds the majority of American mosques in a waqf or Islamic trust] much of which is funded by Saudi Wahhabist interests and an integral part of the religiously mandated practice called da'wa which aims to promote the extreme fundamentalism of Wahhabism while recruiting converts to Islam.
Zahra Billoo, the Muslimah advisor to the MSA of Cal State University Long Beach [CSULB] published the call to disrupt the address, 'Daniel Pipes is coming to Irvine ! Come and help the UCI Muslim Student Union protest this racist Islamophobe.'
The contact person for the protest was Omar Zarka, a UCI engineering graduate who is on the editorial board of the MSU magazine, Alkalima which put out a glossy flyer prior to Dr.Pipes talk headlined 'Exposing Daniel Pipes: The Truth Behind His Lies.'
The Alkalima website format is identical to that of many hard core jihadist sites, offering polemics such as, 'For Justice We Fight-Fight for Palestine .' MSU's flyer even specified that all correspondence to Alkalima should be directed to the Office of the Dean of Students at UCI, giving both the group and its magazine official imprimatur.
Biloo's attempts to deny others the freedom to express opposing viewpoints demonstrates the authoritarian nature of the radical Islamists. Such efforts are almost always accompanied and/or justified through a process of demonization, casting opponents as enemies and setting the stage for false claims of victimization, i.e. Islamophobia.
Although the UC media director issued a statement regarding the disruption as a result of media inquires, the school neither mentioned nor did it condemn the MSU's actions. Rather it took the role of Islamist apologist, emphasizing that the disruption was short and minimizing it as commonplace.
Such a response entirely misses the point that while the denial of basic constitutional rights has become endemic on American university campuses - due primarily to spineless administrators - it's hardly acceptable.
We are calling upon UC Irvine to withdraw university funding to the Muslim Student Union on the grounds that the organization is anti-democratic and stokes ethnic and religious hatred.
We ask for a full inquiry into campus security practices which allowed a radical Muslim group unfettered access to a public lecture hall creating the obvious potential for violence.
We ask UCI's administrators to consider whether such a laissez-faire attitude would be extended to a white supremacist organization conducting similar disruptive behavior?
Until this matter is addressed UCI's administration including President Robert C. Dynes are guilty of aiding and abetting the MSU's efforts to spread Islamism.
Through its inaction UCI is fostering an atmosphere of hate from which it is only a matter of time when the calls for jihad heard outside Dr. Pipes talk will be transformed into action.
Source: [not given, this from a newsletter...........]
Differences Over How to Punish Iran (back)
February 8, 2007
Europeans are accusing the Americans of strong-arming them into cracking down on Iran in the latest trans-Atlantic conflict — a dispute that is straining efforts to maintain a joint front over Tehran 's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.
U.S. officials, in turn, complain that Europe is not pulling its weight because individual nations are placing business interests above the common goal of keeping Iran from heading down a path that could lead to nuclear weapons.
In unusually blunt language, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington would 'continue to push and prod' the Europeans.
U.S. companies are barred from doing business with Iran , and a law passed in 1996 allows Washington to penalize even foreign firms engaged in commerce with the Islamic republic.
EU foreign ministers called on all countries to enforce sanctions outlined in a U.N. resolution last month that targeted people and programs linked to Iran 's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. But there is nothing in the European Union that is comparable to the U.S. legislation.
European officials say nothing obliges their countries to follow U.S. footsteps and choke off trade and economic ties with Iran beyond what is stipulated in the U.N. resolution.
The American measures 'have no effect for the European people,' French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei told reporters last week.
That has not stopped the Americans from trying.
European officials and industry representatives told The Associated Press of repeated calls by U.S. Treasury or embassy officials on European banks, oil companies and other sensitive industries in recent weeks to get them to cut back on dealings with Iran .
Confirming such visits, U.S. Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said: 'More and more banks are scaling back or terminating all together their business with Iran ' after learning about 'the deceptive efforts Iran uses to move money through the financial system.'
In Vienna, a European oil consultant — speaking on the sidelines of a meeting last week between the National Iranian Oil Co. and international oil firms seeking to do business with OPEC's second-largest producer of crude — said: 'All the oil companies will tell you that they are having regular visits from the U.S. embassies in their countries.'
Like others who spoke about trans-Atlantic tensions over Iran , the oil consultant spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the topic.
Roughly 80 percent of Iran's revenues come from oil exports, and Tehran's creaky oil industry badly needs foreign investment to keep up production and export — so it makes sense for Washington to keep up the pressure on the oil front.
The U.S. Embassy in Vienna acknowledged that Washington encourages 'companies to consider whether such investments will really be stable over the long term, and whether they will be worth the risk to their investments and to their international reputations.'
With America shut out of Iran , oil companies from other countries remain eager to take up the slack, particularly because Tehran 's petroleum industry is not under U.N. sanctions. Though it has fallen since then, total European Union trade with Iran was at more than US$25.85 billion in 2004, the last year complete figures were available.
Among those signed up for the Vienna meeting were executives from Russia 's Lukoil , China 's Sinopec , Austria 's OMV and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
'Nobody in Europe is going to give up the opportunity of doing business with Iran just for the sake of pleasing the Americans,' the oil consultant said.
Such attitudes clearly rankle U.S. officials.
Gregory L. Schulte, the chief U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, called on European governments Wednesday to stop granting credits 'to subsidize exports to Iran ,' and to 'take more measures to discourage investment and financial transactions.'
If anything, the trans-Atlantic strain could worsen.
Iran says it wants to develop enrichment to generate power, and has started assembling the first of what it says will ultimately be 54,000 enriching centrifuges at underground bunkers near the central city of Natanz — just weeks away from a Feb. 21 Security Council deadline to stop the program or face sharpened sanctions.
While the Americans are calling for tough U.N penalties come Feb. 21, a restricted EU position paper made available to the AP appears to dance around the tough choices EU members will have to make. It asks: 'Should we press for further U.N. sanctions if Iran fails to comply' by deadline time?
Officials on both sides of the Atlantic acknowledge that differences exist.
A U.S. official said perceived European foot-dragging 'has not resonated well' in Washington . An EU official told the AP that the Europeans were not ready now to go beyond the U.N. resolution.
'What we are not going to do is mirror what the ( U.S. ) Federal Reserve has done,' the official said, alluding to U.S. moves to freeze designated Iranian assets, including some big banks.
Russia — a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member that backs calls for an end to Iranian enrichment but was the key opponent of a U.S. push for harsher U.N. sanctions — complicates the mix by maintaining multibillion-dollar (-euro) business ties with Iran that irritate both Washington and Brussels.
It is the contractor for Iran 's nearly completed Bushehr nuclear plant, has recently sold anti-aircraft missiles to the Islamic republic and maintains cozy relations with Iran 's oil and gas sectors.
Just last week, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, further raised the anxiety level in energy-dependent Europe when he suggested that his country and Russia — which together own about half the world's natural gas reserves — move to establish their own OPEC.
Still, there is some evidence U.S. pressure is working on the EU front.
Commerzbank last week ended dollar-demoninated transactions with Iran after officials at the bank — Germany 's second-largest — spoke of ' U.S. pressure' on their institution. With the move, Commerzbank joined Britain 's Barclays PLC and HSBC Holdings PLC, Societe Generale SA and Credit Lyonnais of France, and Credit Suisse Group, UBS AG and ABN Amro Holding of Switzerland .
Source: http://www.iht.com:80/articles/ap/2007/02/08/europe/EU-GEN- Squeezing-Iran.php
[I have not checked these sites]
Community to Confront Jihad (back)
February 8, 2007
Group launches interactive on-line community to confront Jihad
JihadChat.com launched to assist in battle against radical Islam
A prominent educational organization today announced the launch of a new website titled JihadChat.com which will be intended to serve as a central on-line community for those wishing to engage in strategical discussion on the subject of confronting the threat of militant Islam and Jihad.
The United American Committee makes this announcement in the midst of what they believe is a perilous time in American history. The U.A.C. believes that a growing threat from radical Islam threatens to endanger American freedoms and liberties for this generation and for generations far into the future, and that the average citizen must begin to engage in discussion to confront the threat.
The new website, at www.JihadChat.com, will allow individuals from around the world to network and discuss solutions and answers to defeating the threats we face. The UAC encourages everyone of all political, etchnic, and religious backgrounds who express concern regarding the Islamist threat to register on JihadChat.com. The website is a free service provided by the United American Committee.
The United American Committee is a leading educational group dedicated to awakening the nation to the threats of radical Islam and works to educate Americans on the nature of Islamic extremism. Its mission is to fight the ideological aspects of the War on Terror to counter elements of radical Islam in America .
Source: www.UnitedAmericanCommittee.org
[This is the end of the article]
'The state of California takes seriously the radiological nuclear threats and is working very closely with (the federal) Department of Homeland Security to establish a statewide plan,' Jennings said.
Local agencies also are preparing.
Using federal funds, the San Francisco Fire Department has purchased 150 radiation-detecting devices, said Assistant Deputy Fire Chief Bob Navarro, who heads the homeland security division for the Fire Department.
In the federal government's hypothetical dirty-bomb scenario, an attack using the radioactive cesium-137 isotope could contaminate a 30-block range, killing 180 people and causing 270 injuries just from the direct effects of the blast itself, as well as creating radioactive 'hot spots' around the city, Navarro said.
'What are you going to do when 70,000 people are contaminated by a radiological explosion?' Navarro asked. 'How do you deal with their contaminated clothing and skin? Those are the kinds of things they're (the federal government) asking us to prepare for. This is not a joke. We take this one seriously.'
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/07 /MNGISO03RG1.DTL
Marks on Explosives to Stop Terrorism (back)
February 8, 2007
All plastic explosives in Australia will now be marked with a chemical vapour so they cannot be used for terrorist activity, under a new bill passed by federal parliament.
The Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Marking of Plastic Explosives) Bill 2006 passed the senate on Thursday, two months after being approved by the House of Representatives.
The purpose of the bill is to deter terrorists from misusing plastic explosives by ensuring a detection agent is incorporated into their manufacture.
The chemical vapour embedded in the explosive can be detected by using specialised equipment.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the bill is a further demonstration of Australia 's ongoing commitment to overcoming international terrorism.
'The convention and the bill will impose important obligations on Australia in relation to regulating and monitoring the manufacture, possession, trafficking, import and export of plastic explosives,' Mr Ruddock said.
The Convention is one of the final United Nations counter-terrorism instruments to be acceded to by Australia .
It arose as a consequence of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in Scotland in 1988 in which 270 people died.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Marks-on-explosi ves-to-stop-terrorism/2007/02/08/1170524227140.html
Bali: Amrozi Seeks Re-Trial Under Sharia (back)
February 6, 2007
According to this item, convicted Bali bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra have now requested they be re-tried under Sharia. 'Amrozi and Co were sentenced to death based on positive law. Even if they had been acquitted, they wouldn't want that because their defence was not based on Sharia,' Muslim Defence Team Co-ordinator Ahmad Michdan was quoted as saying after visiting the three men at Batu Prison in Nusakambangan on 7 February.
Michdan reportedly said his clients' request was reasonable and was not at odds with state laws. Michdan added that the request was allowable under Paragraphs 29 and 28 of the amended Constitution and the first principle of the Pancasila [ Indonesia 's state ideology]. 'We also called for the legal process to be repeated in the judicial review brief. [The case should] definitely [be reviewed] in accordance with Sharia and then later reviewed again in a hearing,' Michdan was quoted as saying
According to the item, Michdan also commented that positive law in Indonesia was a hangover from the colonial years. 'Ideally we [should] have our own law that does not include positive law, [which is] a colonial relic,' he reportedly said. Michdan also noted that, 'In fact, a large part of the 1945 Constitution reflects Islamic law'. Michdan reportedly admitted he was realistic about the chances of his clients' request being granted because many judges interpreted the law differently.
Separately, the item reported that Michdan was accompanied by members of his clients' families and an optometrist. The optometrist was reportedly called after Amrozi and Mukhlas complained of sore eyes, caused by their penchant for reading.
' Den pasar Court to Immediately Send Report on Bali Bomb Judicial Review'
Gatra- 6 February: Attributed to Antara
Jakarta Gatra in Indonesian -- Regularly updated website carrying daily news and the internet version of Gatra weekly magazine; root URL as of filing date: http://www.gatra.com
This item reported that the Den pasar Court would promptly forward a report on the judicial review of the death sentences handed down to Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra. 'We have completed the report, now it just has to be sent to the Supreme Court,' Den pasar Court Deputy Chief Justice Nyoman Gede Wirya QC was quoted as saying on 6 February. Wirya reportedly said that the prosecutors, as well as judges, who had attended the judicial review, had contributed to the report.
According to the item, in response to the Muslim Defence Team's opposition to the review being heard at the Den pasar Court , Wirya reportedly said 'Because the verdict was handed down at Den pasar Court , the judicial review also had to be heard in Den pasar and that is what we did on 11 January'. Wirya also reportedly said of the Muslim Defence Team's walk-out during the January session, that it was their right to stage such a protest.
'For us, anything that took place in the court room during the judicial review on 11 January, that is what we will include in the hearing report for the Supreme Court. It's up to the Supreme Court to evaluate it,' Wirya was quoted as saying.
Source: http://www.suaramerdeka.com
Brigitte Terror Trial Begins in Paris (back)
February 8, 2007
French Muslim convert Willie Brigitte, accused of a terrorist plot in Australia, told judges he will refuse to answer questions at his trial in Paris, which got under way last night.
Brigitte faces up to 10 years' imprisonment on charges of 'criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise' during the trial, which is expected to last three days.
He is accused, among other things, of setting up a terror cell in Australia on the orders of the Pakistani Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, with targets to include the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney and military bases across the country.
Brigitte, a 38-year-old from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe , was arrested in Australia in 2003 following a tip-off from the French intelligence services, and deported for immigration offences.
He stood in the dock of the court in the Palais de Justice, flanked by two armed security guards, and listened to chief judge Jacqueline Rebeyrotte read out the case against him.
'You are alleged to have taken part in a group on the territories of Yemen, Pakistan and Australia that was formed in order to prepare one or several terrorist acts,' said the judge, reading out the charge sheet.
Given his chance to respond, Brigitte denied he was a terrorist or that he had been involved in the preparation of a terrorist act.
Wearing short dreadlocks, a goatee beard and thin-rimmed glasses, Brigitte appeared calm as he underwent questioning from a three-judge panel of the Paris criminal court.
But he told the court: 'I have lost all faith in French justice, I have decided I will not declare anything to you any more, and will let my lawyers speak for me'.
'I have been in jail for three years and four months in a French republic jail, I have no trust in the system of my country France .'
The former Sydney kebab shop worker has been in French custody since being deported from Australia in 2003.
A former head of France 's DGSE foreign intelligence agency, Alain Chouet, has cast doubt on the prosecution's case.
'Objectively, there isn't very much against him. If the Australians had concrete, converging evidence, why didn't they prosecute him themselves?' he said.
But Louis Caprioli, who was head of the DST domestic intelligence agency at the time of Brigitte's arrest, said the evidence against him was solid.
'One thing is certain, he wasn't in Australia for a holiday in the sun. It was an operational trip, aimed at setting up a cell with a view to carrying out attacks,' he said.
The former French navy deserter was an associate of Faheem Khalid Lodhi, a Pakistani-born architect sentenced to 20 years’ jail in 2006 for planning to blow up Sydney 's electricity grid.
Brigitte's co-conspirator, named and tried in absentia, is Sajid Mir - an operative of LET.
The prosecution case against Brigitte will detail not just his activities in Australia in 2003 - where he lived in Sydney for five months before being detected - but will go back to his conversion to Islam at the end of 1997.
Soon afterwards he joined a group which underwent military-style training in France . Some members of that group were later convicted over the assassination of anti-Taliban Afghan leader Ahmad Shah Massood in September 2001.
It's alleged Brigitte went to Yemen for religious training in Islamic schools linked to people close to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
After Yemen , Brigitte allegedly underwent weapons and explosives training at a Lashkar-e-Toiba camp in Pakistan .
It is there that he met Mir, the man in charge of foreign recruits, who allegedly paid for Brigitte's fare to Australia , and put him in contact with Lodhi.
Lodhi and Mir allegedly planned for Brigitte to link up with a Chechen explosives expert to attack targets in Australia .
In Sydney , Brigitte was in contact with Lodhi and associates connected with the Lakemba Muslim community.
He married former Australian army signaller and Muslim convert Melanie Brown, who was questioned by French officials and whose evidence will be used in the Paris trial.
Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21190263-2,00.html
London 7/21: Screens Hide Terror Trial Witness (back)
February 7, 2007
by Chris Summers
Mr Justice Fulford decided to grant the witness anonymity
Six men are on trial accused of plotting to cause explosions on London 's transport network on 21 July, 2005. On Wednesday, a key witness began to give evidence.
Special measures are being taken to protect and reassure the witness, known as Bexhill.
But Mr Justice Fulford was anxious to make it clear to the jury that they should read nothing into the deployment of such elaborate measures.
Press benches have been cleared and journalists moved to the public gallery.
False name
Unlike all previous witnesses, Bexhill is giving evidence from a special table situated directly below, and therefore out of view, of the public gallery.
But most significantly, there are what the judge himself described as 'monstrous' screens up in front of the defendants' glass tunnel dock to shield him from their eyes.
He has also been given anonymity and the name on the witness list, Michael Bexhill, is completely fictitious.
The reason why it has happened is that the courts are more sensitive than in years gone by
Mr Justice Fulford
But the judge made it clear that the defendants knew full well who he was and the jurors too were given a piece of paper on which Bexhill had written his real name.
Mr Justice Fulford told the jury: 'Do not hold any of the arrangements against the accused.'
He explained: 'The reason why it has happened is that the courts are more sensitive than in years gone by to expressions from witnesses that they wish for certain measures in order for them to feel at ease when they give evidence.'
Architect
He said Bexhill had sought these measures for his own peace of mind and he had decided to grant them.
But he warned the jury that they should not read anything more into them, and added: 'The fact that there are screens does not mean that the witness is being honest or dishonest or anything in between.
'The screens are completely irrelevant.'
The judge also pointed out that in most courts witnesses requesting such anonymity are simply screened by a curtain, but sadly the architect of Woolwich Crown Court had not included the curtain rail.
When Mr Bexhill did start giving evidence in a softly-spoken and strongly- accented voice, he told the court he first met one of the defendants, Adel Yahya, at the end of 2004.
Later he described two of the defendants, Muktar Ibrahim and Yassin Omar, as 'fanatics'.
He said they, along with Mr Yahya, watched numerous jihadi films showing fighting in Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan, and also watched speeches by Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 hijackers.
Mr Bexhill also described how they argued in favour of suicide bombing, but he tried to persuade them they were wrong.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6339049.stm
London 7/21: Witness Describes Accused as Fanatics (back)
February 7, 2007
Muktar Ibrahim apparently discussed jihad
Two of the alleged 21 July bomb plotters were 'fanatical' Muslims who spoke of jihad, a former friend says.
Muktar Ibrahim and Yassin Omar watched jihadi films about Afghanistan and Bosnia , Woolwich Crown Court heard.
Michael Bexhill - a false name - said Mr Ibrahim had invited him to go 'for jihad', and told him the next time they meet might be in heaven.
Both men and four others deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions in London in 2005.
Giving evidence from behind a large screen to hide his identity, Mr Bexhill said the men would argue in favour of suicide bombings and he would try to persuade them they were wrong.
'Shaved beards'
Mr Bexhill, in his mid 20s, lived in Mr Ibrahim's home for three months at the end of 2004.
After moving out, Mr Ibrahim told him he was going to haj and then 'for jihad', the jury heard.
Mr Bexhill said he was going with two others and they were to shave their beards to avoid arousing suspicion at the airport.
'Muktar Ibrahim, he told me that maybe I wouldn't see him again, maybe we are going to see each other in heaven,' he said.
He said it was because Mr Ibrahim was going to die in jihad.
The reason why it has happened is that the courts are more sensitive than in years gone by
Mr Justice Fulford
The court also heard Mr Ibrahim had received training in Sudan and learned how to use a rocket-propelled grenade.
He also went to a training camp in Scotland with Mr Omar and another defendant, Adel Yahya, in summer 2004 to prepare for jihad, Mr Bexhill told the jury.
'They were doing some training, but without weapons so they could prepare to go to jihad in Afghanistan or in Iraq ,' he said.
Bin Laden
Earlier, the court heard that Mr Ibrahim would discuss fighting people who were killing Muslims, including the British and Americans.
The jury also heard that Mr Ibrahim listened to recordings of speeches by Osama bin Laden, radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri and scholars who encourage people to fight for jihad.
Judge Mr Justice Fulford told the jury that the tight security around Mr Bexhill's identity was to help him feel more at ease.
After being sworn in, he wrote his real name on a piece of paper which was handed to each of the jurors, but his true identity has been hidden from the press, members of the public and the defendants.
Mr Justice Fulford said the screens did not mean the evidence given was 'honest, dishonest or anywhere in between' and they should be treated as 'completely irrelevant'.
Mr Ibrahim, Mr Omar and Mr Yahya are on trial over an alleged plot to cause explosions on London 's transport network, alongside Manfo Asiedu, Hussein Osman and Ramzi Mohammed.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6339315.stm
[ramsey clark, any terrorist will do..........my opinion]
US Court Awards Terror Victim $16 million (back)
February 9, 2007
A federal jury awarded $16 million to a Jewish man who claimed that Palestinian groups backed a terrorist attack in Israel in which he was wounded, but he could get triple that amount under a law allowing US citizens to sue organizations involved in overseas terrorism.
Moshe Saperstein was attacked in February 2002 by gunmen who sprayed his car with AK-47 rounds, wounding him in the hand, according to court documents. Saperstein, who has dual US and Israeli citizenship, claimed that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization were complicit in the attack.
Another Israeli traveling in a separate car died in the attack, as did two IDF soldiers who responded to the gunfire. One gunman was killed and two were apprehended, with the attack ultimately blamed on the Aksa Martyrs Brigade.
The Palestinian groups were accused of organizing, facilitating and sponsoring attacks against Jewish civilians in Israel and parts of the West Bank .
After the Palestinian defendants defaulted by not defending themselves, a federal jury heard evidence this week and returned the $16 million verdict. But under the overseas terrorism law, that amount will likely be tripled to $48 million.
'Justice is served,' said Saperstein's wife, Rachel Saperstein. 'Now, the fight begins.'
The Sapersteins' attorney, Robert Josefsberg, said he would work to identify potential Palestinian assets in the United States , Israel and elsewhere to satisfy the judgment.
Lawyers for the Palestinian groups did contest the lawsuit on procedural grounds - including a claim that the Palestinian Authority and PLO were immune as a sovereign state - but withdrew after losing those rounds.
Attempts to reach the lawyers, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Lawrence W. Schilling, were not successful.
About 10 similar lawsuits are pending in the United States , said Nabil Abuznaid, a PLO spokesman in Washington .
Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359811461& pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
21/7 Terrorist a Fanatic who Talked of Jihad (back)
February 8, 2007
One of the alleged 21/7 bombers was a 'fanatical, radical' Muslim who spoke about jihad and listened to speeches by Osama bin Laden, a former friend told a court today.
Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, would apparently discuss fighting those who were against jihad, including the British, Americans and Russians.
He also watched numerous jihadi films, showing 'martyrs' reading their wills and people dying, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
The evidence against the alleged terror plotter came from a friend who lived with Ibrahim for three months at the end of 2004.
The witness, known only under his alias of Michael Bexhill, told the jury that Ibrahim listened to speeches by the al Qaeda leader bin Laden and the extremist Islamic preacher Abu Hamza.
Mr Bexhill gave evidence hidden from the defendants, members of the public and the media. Instead of sitting in the normal witness box, he sat at a table to the left of the jury surrounded by large blue screens.
Ibrahim, of Stoke Newington, north London , and five others are accused of carrying out an extremist Muslim plot to cause chaos on London 's public transport system.
Mr Bexhill, who is in his 20s, told the court he came to the UK in 2001 to study English in East Sussex .
He moved to London in 2004 and met another of the defendants, Adel Yahya, who offered him accommodation at Ibrahim's home where Mr Bexhill lived from September until December of that year.
Describing the way Ibrahim expressed his religious views, Mr Bexhill said: 'Fanatical, radical. Actually he used to speak about jihad and he used to be against those people who did not like people doing jihad.'
When asked to explain 'jihad' by prosecution counsel Nigel Sweeney QC , he replied: 'Fighting against those people who are killing Muslim people.'
Speaking at times through an interpreter, Mr Bexhill said the 'jihadi' films showed people in Afghanistan fighting the Russians as well as jihad in Bosnia .
In addition, he said, Ibrahim would listen to recordings of scholars encouraging jihad.
Ibrahim and Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London , are among the six defendants who deny charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.
The trial continues.
Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23384704-details/ 217+suspect+'a+fanatic+who+talked+of+jihad'/article.do
Insulting Allah Now a Crime at SFSU (back)
February 8, 2007
At San Francisco State University , you can do anything you want to a US flag or a Christian religious symbol: burn it, deface it, submerge it in bodily fluids. It’s all good.
But step on paper copies of Hamas and Hizballah flags, and you’re in a world of hurt.
Not because they’re flags, though. Because they contain the world 'Allah.'
This story starts with an 'anti-terrorism rally' held last October on campus by the College Republicans. To emphasize their point, students stomped on Hezbollah and Hamas flags. According to the college paper, the Golden Gate (X)Press, members of Students Against War and the International Socialist Organization showed up to call the Republicans 'racists,' while the president of the General Union of Palestinian Students accused the Repubs of spreading false information about Muslims.
In November, the Associated Students board passed a unanimous resolution, which the (X)Press reported, denounced the California Republicans for 'hateful religious intolerance' and criticized those who 'pre-meditated the stomping of the flags knowing it would offend some people and possibly incite violence.'
Now you know that there are students who are opposed to desecrating flags on campus — that is, if the flags represent terrorist organizations.
But wait — there’s more. A student filed a complaint with the Office of Student Programs and Leadership Development. OSPLD Director Joey Greenwell wrote to the College Republicans informing them that his office had completed an investigation of the complaint and forwarded the report to the Student Organization Hearing Panel, which will adjudicate the charge. At issue is the charge that College Republicans had walked on 'a banner with the world ‘Allah’ written in Arabic script' — it turns out Allah’s name is incorporated into Hamas and Hezbollah flags — and 'allegations of attempts to incite violence and create a hostile environment,' as well as 'actions of incivility.'
At an unnamed date, the student panel could decide to issue a warning to, suspend or expel the GOP club from campus. ...
The university’s response? Spokesperson Ellen Griffin told me, 'The university stands behind this process.'
And: 'I don’t believe the complaint is about the desecration of the flag. I believe that the complaint is the desecration of Allah.'
Source: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24361_Insulting_ Allah_Now_a_Crime_at_SFSU&only
Blackout of the Press (back)
February 6, 2007
by Nibras Kazimi
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi made his grand entrance onto the jihadist stage on October 12, 2006, and since then he's delivered two very important speeches — the more recent one came out last week — and has taken credit for much of the spectacular outbreaks of violence in Iraq of late, yet he still can't get his name in print on the pages of the New York Times. Why are the editors and reporters of that paper not telling their readers anything about Iraq 's top terrorist?
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is Al Qaeda's guy in Iraq , and nowadays, the Sunni insurgency is being whittled down to Al Qaeda's activity in Iraq . It's that simple, and he's that important.
So why isn't the Times writing that? I think the answer has something to do with what seems, to my eyes, to be a determined campaign to keep the American people from knowing the nature of the enemy in Iraq because identifying this enemy as Al Qaeda casts the debate about the war in a whole different light.
Here the timeline behind al-Baghdadi's emergence on the scene:
— On October 17, 2004, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi changes the name of his organization, Monotheism and Jihad, to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia after swearing fealty to the mother Al Qaeda organization under Osama bin Laden.
— On January 15, 2006, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia expands its writ by forming an umbrella organization called the Shura Council of the Mujaheddin, whereby Zarqawi cedes the public face of Al Qaeda to an Iraqi figurehead, Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi, but maintains full authority over the new entity.
— On June 7, 2006, Zarqawi is killed, and he's succeeded shortly thereafter by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.
— On October 12, 2006, Al Qaeda further expands on the Shura Council of the Mujaheddin by forming yet a larger umbrella group, the Islamic State of Iraq. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, not to be confused with the aforementioned Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi, is declared emir, or ruler, of this 'state.'
— On November 10, 2006, al-Muhajir, speaking as Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia 's chief, pledges his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and to al-Baghdadi as its head, and makes a point of highlighting al-Baghdadi's pedigree: He is of the tribe of Quraish, a usual prerequisite for a would-be caliph.
— On December 22, 2006, Al-Baghdadi gives his first speech, addressing Muslims everywhere. The presenter introduces him as the 'Prince of the Faithful'—a title usually reserved for caliphs.
Thus, there is no entity that describes itself as Al Qaeda operating in Iraq anymore. There's only the Islamic State of Iraq . As head of that state, al-Baghdadi is a big deal. And it doesn't stop there, for all the hints being dropped about the caliphate seem to indicate that al-Baghdadi is Al Qaeda's candidate for that job.
But it's not only the anti-war crowd in the press that doesn't want the American people to know that America's soldiers are fighting an Al Qaeda-led insurgency in Iraq. The Central Intelligence Agency and most of America 's intelligence community don't want to do that either, according to a major scoop reported by the Sun's own Eli Lake on Monday. Mr. Lake writes that the CIA and others are still concluding that the insurgency is, for the most part, Baathist in nature, while those actually battling the insurgency on the ground, namely the intelligence arms of the Army and the Marines, are contesting that assertion claiming instead that the Sunni insurgency is largely driven by Al Qaeda.
The generic term 'insurgent' — preferred by most press organs — is bland and insipid, while the term Al Qaeda may strike an emotional note with many Americans. It is one thing for congressional Democrats and presidential hopefuls to pledge withdrawing the American military from a melee with insurgents, and a whole different thing for them to sound a retreat in the face of an Al Qaeda offensive.
And an Al Qaeda offensive is exactly what al-Baghdadi promises in his February 2 speech, posted as an audio file on several jihadist Web sites, and which may be read in full at my blog, talismangate.blogspot.com. Al-Baghdadi says that his Dignity Plan is supposed to counter President Bush's 'surge' and that it will only end when Mr. Bush signs a treaty of surrender. And what would this surrender look like? Al-Baghdadi spelled out the terms in an earlier speech: 'We order you to withdraw your forces immediately. But the withdrawal must be via troop transport trucks and passenger planes whereby each soldier is allowed to carry his own weapon only. They may not withdraw any of the heavy military equipment and the military bases must be handed over to the mujaheddin of the Islamic State and the duration of the withdrawal may not exceed a month.'
Not very favorable terms, but I wonder whether some in the Senate would go for it anyway: Too many in the congressional chamber seem to think that surrender is the only option left.
This is a shame, since if one listens closely to what al-Baghdadi was saying last week, one would be able to detect a note of palpable concern over the 'surge,' as well as hints of jihadist-on-jihadist strife. In other words, Al Qaeda seems to be on a losing streak. Al-Baghdadi was reduced to cajoling his fighters to stand fast in front of the Americans and warned them against laying down their weapons until the battle is over. He cited a particular verse from the Koran that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad after the early Muslims were roundly defeated in battle, as a means of telling the Al Qaeda rank and file that the setbacks they've endured lately are only temporary.
Al-Baghdadi also feels compelled to tell his fighters to take it easy with the other jihadist groups, which have yet to join the Islamic State of Iraq, while at the same time telling the holdouts that their obstinacy smells of sedition. There are other reports that insurgents are clashing among themselves as Al Qaeda imposes its hegemony over one and all, to the point that al-Baghdadi is compelled to tell his guys that 'I am certain that the sincere monotheists are surely coming' our way 'eventually, so be tender, be tender.'
And in yet another gambit that smacks of desperation, al-Baghdadi tries to rile up the French and the Chinese against American global hegemony, and addresses those nations as 'the freemen of the world.' Not only that, but he adopts a scolding tone with North Korea, essentially invoking the 'sharing is caring' line, when he says, 'And let North Korea know that it owes its nuclear tests to the mujaheddin in Iraq.' Translation: ' Al Qaeda's actions distracted America from dealing with your evil, and the least you can do is share a nuclear device with us.'
But why would the Times want to tell its readers that Al Qaeda is petitioning Kim Jong Il for a nuclear weapon? I guess I'm mistaken in thinking that this is newsworthy. Wait, I just realized something: No, this is indeed important, and the American public needs to know.
Mr. Kazimi can be reached at nibraska@yahoo.com.
Source: No url available
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