Posted on 07/19/2006 1:16:40 PM PDT by kronos77
It is always very hard to focus on broad pictures when so many fires are in need of being put out. But it is imperative to keep in mind in the ongoing conflict Iran’s long-standing ties not only to Hezbollah, but to Islamists in Bosnia, a relationship that spans more than a decade.
There is concern among Bosnian contacts that, if Iran feels things are going badly in Lebanon and that the war needs another front, it would take little to ignite Bosnia. It would not be hard to do and the international presence in Bosnia is greatly reduced. So is the intelligence capacity developed in the late 1990s. Several key intelligence-gathering units have been dissolved in Bosnia in the past six months, meaning the West is more blind there than any time since the mid-1990s.
To date Iranian intelligence maintains a huge apparatus in Bosnia and several dozen, if not hundreds, of trainers with the elite units of the Bosnian military. In addition, several hundred mujahadeen who fought in Afghanistan and then Bosnia remain scattered around Bosnia, many of them still with the elite Bosnia units or in the intelligence apparatus.
It is worth remembering this heavy Iranian involvement in the Bosnian conflict because it was in Bosnia that al Qaeda developed its template for future operations. One of the most interesting things is that, while the mujahadeen and Bosnian Muslims were supported by Saudi Arabia and many others, much of the aid flowed through Iran, despite the Shi’ite-Sunni divide. The bridge was Hasan Cengic, an Iranian intelligence agent and later Bosnia’s deputy defense minister who has been designated by the U.S. Treasury Department. Cengic did some of his earliest weapons deals through Viktor Bout, who flew in hundreds of tons of weapons for the Bosnian Muslims in 1992. He later “sold” Cengic at least one aircraft, and perhaps more.
Cengic, although working on behalf of Iran, coordinated the Saudi’s multi-hundred million dollar financial support for the Bosnian Muslims as well. There are concrete examples of this. During one period in the late 1990s, Wa’el Julaidan, now designated by both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as a terrorist financier, received $8 millon from a Cengic-controlled account of the Third World Relief Agency. Julaidan later repaid the money to the TWRA account in a series of smaller payments.
Given Iran’s ongoing desire to push a pan-Islamist agenda and the advantages it gains from ongoing turmoil-not only in terms of oil revenues, but in terms of being able to build alliances, move agents and set a pan-Islamist agenda-its leaders could well feel the need to use another arrow from its quiver. But it could be that no one is watching Bosnia as it prepares to burn.
Second front... Thanks to Bill Clinton...
Ping
Clinton - a gift that keeps on giving.
Sound like a clam....
Too bad Ronly Bonly bin Laden isn't still around to sputter on about how secular and decent all the Bosnian Muhammedan really were!
Ok, I was kidding. It's good that he keeps getting banned.
"Bosnia" has thus resembled, in a much larger version, many radical mosques in America, rather than a jihad front like Iraq, Afghanistan, the Holy Land, or even nearby Kosovo and Macedonia. And USEFUL IDIOTS like Ronly-Boly bin Laden, Hoppy, and other more famous people look at "Bosnia" and US mosques, and declare these islamist subversives to be "moderates".
However, if the nutjob Amadinejad, and the ayatollahs whom he fronts for, ever want a second front, they can use "Bosnia", with the advantage of taking the kuffar by surprise. However, I think that it is more likely that they will use Kosovo and adjacent areas, depending on the results of the bogus "independence" talks.
"Bosnian Muslims were supported by Saudi Arabia and many others"
say what? We supported the Bosnian Muslims and also in Croatia.
I just returned from Bosnia three weeks ago. When I saw the pictures from the border of Israel and Lebanon, the first thought that came to mind was Bosnia. The pseudo-government is trying to expell the foreign fighters and it makes me think this will either be a boon to the places sincerely wanting to expell the mujahideen or it will simply ignite the fighting again. What's the biggest problem I see? The United Nations has been in the back pocket of the jihadists though the entire situation. (on TV right now, a picture of Kofi Annan shaking the hand of the leader of Hezbollah). The Judiciary police (Sudska) answer to orders from EUFOR, and EUFOR does whatever the UN tells it to do. Anyone else recently in the country, in and around Mostar and especially Sarajevo, knows there is a boom of mosque building and continued ethnic violence. In the words of a Croatian friend, "The UN is here to keep us from destroying each other." Ah well, that's an opinion from someone recently on the ground. Hey, did you know you can buy the flag of Hamas in Berlin? In the booths selling flags for the world cup there were a number of other accessories of note. Ciao!
Good point. I've been wondering if one reason we don't have non-Al Qaeda groups attacking in the US (besides the obvious - they wouldn't want us AND Israel going after them) is they need us - as a place to raise funds.
Since you claim to have been there, start getting your fact correct.
The Serbs did not attack Slovenia until the Slovenes used force of arms to prevent the resupply of Yugoslav Army units in their garrison inside the borders of the breakaway republic.
Similarly, the Serbs in the Krajina opposed the breakaway from Yugoslavia as well as the revocation of their right to self-defense.
Montenegro realized that they could escape the EU sanctions by separating themselves from Serbia as Serbia was accused of not surrending Karazdic and Mladic, neither of whom can be shown to still reside inside of Serbia. Montenegro is primarily populated BY Serbs.
The Serbs were incorrectly named the bad guys for standing against the Jihadists. Going along with this NWO thinking is easy but not acceptable for those who have a brain.
And welcome to Free Republic, Dhimmi.
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