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

Global Politician/Ocnus.Net ^ | Dec 17, 2006 | Professor Daniel M. Zucker

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/15/nguns315.xml



Armed officers deployed to London streets

By Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 12:50pm GMT 15/02/2007

# Video: Another tragic victim
# Police in crisis meeting after shootings

The head of the Metropolitan Police today asked the Home Secretary to impose a minimum jail term on young people who carry guns, after three teenagers were shot dead in south London in less than a fortnight.



More armed officers are to be deployed to the streets of the capital in an effort to prevent further killings, amid fears that the city's armed gangs are running out of control.

They will patrol the most at-risk areas in marked police vehicles to provide high visibility reassurance, Scotland Yard said.

The force also revealed today that a man had been arrested over the murder of Michael Dosunmu, 15, who was gunned down in his bedroom in Peckham last Tuesday.

Sir Ian Blair today hosted an emergency meeting of commanders and murder squad detectives to discuss his forces response to the killings. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said his force was "absolutely determined" to stop the situation escalating any further.

Sir Ian also spoke to John Reid about lowering the age at which the five-year mandatory sentence for carrying a gun can be imposed from 21 to 17, it was revealed. It is not known whether Mr Reid supports the plan.

The most recent victim of London's gun culture has been named as Billy Cox. The 15-year-old was found murdered in his home yesterday afternoon.

Police were called to the 15-year-old's home in Clapham, just after school closing time at around 3.40pm yesterday to find the boy fatally wounded. The boy, who is believed to have a white father and a Thai mother, was first found by a family member.

Last night Christina Piludu, 35, a neighbour, paid tribute to the dead schoolboy.

"He was like a kid, he was like a baby. I'm disgusted and furious," she said. "His parents must have been proud of him. He was always playing on his bike and football. He was a very good kid."

The latest shooting in south London follows the murders of two other teenagers including James Smartt-Ford, 16, shot twice by a gunman at Streatham Ice Arena on Feb 3.

Three days later, Michael Dosunmu who was described as "easy going", was shot dead as he slept in his bedroom in Peckham.

His home was just yards from the spot where 10-year-old Damilola Taylor was stabbed to death with a broken bottle in 2000.

Related articles
Gunman gets 30 years for christening murder
8 February 2007: Four held over schoolboy shooting

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[unknown url]

We are not responsible for rifles, says Austria

The Telegraph: Last Updated: 2:27am GMT 14/02/2007

Austria yesterday washed its hands of any responsibility after it was
revealed that powerful sniper rifles it sold to Iran had been acquired
by insurgents in Iraq.

The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that American troops had
recovered more than 100 Steyr HS50 Mannlicher rifles, part of a
consignment of 800 sold to Iran by Austria last year, during a series
of raids in Iraq.

Astrid Harz, a spokesman for the Austrian foreign ministry, said
yesterday that the sale had been "checked very thoroughly" and what
happened to the rifles after they were delivered to Teheran ostensibly
for use by border police was not the responsibility of her government.
It was the responsibility of the Iranians, she said.


Franz Holzschuh, Steyr's chief executive, said the company had not
been contacted by anyone officially to verify the serial numbers on
the rifles. He said it was possibile that the weapons were copies.

The Austrian government concluded in 2004 that the.50 rifles, capable
of piercing all types of body armour, would be used to fight drug
smugglers. But American and British officials had warned that the
weapons could fall into the hands of insurgents.

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TerroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 02/15/2007 # 1

Editors Note: Be sure to bookmark and regularly check our incident map at www.GlobalIncidentMap.com - and for headlines concerning the coming Bird Flu pandemic please visit http://birdflu.globalincidentmap.com

National:

[Canadian Press] CANADA - Quebec police officer injured after car bomb destroys his van

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=aeb4729c-07f4-4546-bd72-8832850cf307&k=40678

See also http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1171493411734&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112101662670

[KUSA TV] COLORADO - Man on FBI’s terrorist watch list arrested in metro area

"In what is described as a ‘sensitive’ case, police took a man into custody early Friday morning whose name is on the FBI’s terrorist watch list"

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=64561

See also http://www.koaa.com/news/view.asp?ID=6548

See also http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/02/11/colorado-police-arrest-man-on-terroris-watch-list/

[AP] WASHINGTON - Mall in Spokane evacuated after fumes sicken dozens of shoppers

"At least 36 people in NorthTown Mall sought treatment at hospitals, Spokane police said. Police called the fumes a "possible chemical irritant," but still do not know what the irritant was"

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003567671_webmall11.html

See also http://cbs11tv.com/health/health_story_042233245.html

[First Coast News] FLORIDA - Police Investigate Suspicious Package on Northside [JACKSONVILLE]

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=75689

[Register-Mail] ILLINOIS - Police investigating two works bomb explosions

"Investigating officers found remnants of two exploded works bombs and a live works bomb in the road in front of 228 Fulton St"

http://www.register-mail.com/stories/021207/LOC_BCC8HDF7.GID.shtml

[KCBD] TEXAS - Suspicious Package Found in Downtown Lubbock

"a suspicious briefcase was found in the sheriff's parking lot Monday morning"

http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=6074460

[WRIC] VIRGINIA - Hazmat Scare in Richmond

"Crews are at the scene of a powder scare at the Virginia Supreme Court Building at 100 N. 9th Street in downtown Richmond. Officials arrived at the scene just after 11 a.m. Monday to investigate a suspicious package."

http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=6074382&nav=menu28_2

[KWTX] TEXAS - Hazmat Crew Responds After Suspicious Powder Discovered [ammonium chloride]

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/5760236.html

[Worcester Telegram] MASS - Bomb detonated in Charlton

"bomb, consisting of a 32-year old hand grenade, more than half of a pound of military plastic explosive, five electric blasting caps and five copper or bronze blasting caps"

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070212/ALERT01/70212006

[WWAY] NORTH CAROLINA - Police investigate bomb threat at Leland Post Office

"customer received a suspicious e-mail that said a suspicious package might arrive"

http://www.wwaytv3.com/node/333

[AP] UTAH - Deaths reported in Utah mall shooting

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4548521.html

See also http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_043221030.html

[Rockford Register Star] ILLINOIS - Suspicious powder found in 4 letters at post office

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070213/NEWS07/102130031/1004/NEWS

[Daily Press ] VIRGINIA - Officials detonate pipe bomb, seek information

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/briefs/dp-54895bf0feb13,0,7475633.story?coll=dp-briefs

[Reuters] USA - U.S. postal service warns financial firms of threats

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1240908020070212

[AccessNorthGa.com / WDUN] FLORIDA - Explosives found In Flowery Branch

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=111634

[Capital News 9] NEW YORK - Suspicious substance mailed to Comptroller's office [False alarm, threat]

"powder in the Albany postmarked letter was later determined to be harmless, but a spokesman for the new comptroller did say police are treating the message in the letter as a death threat"

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/politics/?ArID=205045&SecID=285

[Canwest/Calgary Herald] CANADA - Calgary - Oilpatch on alert over terror threat

"Online posting also threatens Venezuela, Mexico"

"An online message, posted last Thursday by the al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula, declares "we should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States . . . like Canada"

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/story.html?id=f3c0e2ef-5c07-41ab-b884-aea47a236fb6&k=2970

[WXIA] GEORGIA - 3 College Students Arrested In Sniper Attacks

http://www.ksdk.com/news/world/us_world_article.aspx?storyid=112744

[TransitSecurityReport.com] USA - View recent transportation terrorism and security incident headlines

http://www.terroristwarning.com/index.php?pageID=1&sp=Transit

International:

[Belfast Telegraph] JAPAN - Blast heard near US base in Japan

"An explosion was heard near a US Army base south of Tokyo this afternoon and police suspected an attempted attack on the base, Kyodo News agency reported. The blast was in the area of the US army's Camp Zama, Kyodo said"

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/asia/article2262724.ece

See also http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21217572-38196,00.html

[WOIO] ISRAEL / USA - Former Ohio Imam Arrested In Israel, Talks To Attorney For The First Time

"former imam of Ohio's largest mosque has spoken with his attorney for the first time since he was arrested by Israel after being deported from the U-S last week"

http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?s=5924684

[IsraelNN.com] ISRAEL - Fire Bomb Thrown at Israeli Car Near Bethlehem

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=121367

[Reuters] SOMALIA - Bomb blast rocks Somali military ceremony

"An explosion tore through a ceremony in southern Somalia on Sunday, killing at least four people and wounding more than 20 others including senior military and police commanders"

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1171230305255B254

[Arab News] PAKISTAN - Chaman Border Sealed Amid Bomb Seizure

"According to an intelligence source the bomb was planted in an oil tanker which was part of the NATO convoy. It was detected at Veish on the Pakistan’s side of the no-man’s land. The bomb was of Russian origin"

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=92041&d=12&m=2&y=2007

[Dawn] PAKISTAN - Mock bomb creates panic in Liaquatabad [Hoax devices]

http://www.dawn.com/2007/02/12/local16.htm

[AP] AFGHANISTAN - 4 Afghan Police Killed in Taliban Ambush

"Taliban militants ambushed a truck full of Afghan police in southern Afghanistan, killing four officers and injuring three, while a separate gunfight left 11 Taliban fighters dead"

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2864989

[Belfast Telegraph] IRAQ - Iraq bomb: 30 dead, 50 wounded

"A suicide bomber slammed a lorry into a crowd of police lining up for duty in Iraq today, collapsing the station near Tikrit and killing at least 30 people and wounding 50, according to police. Minutes later, a roadside bomb struck a car on a road on the western outskirts of Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding two others, police said"

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/middle-east/article2259542.ece

[MosNews] RUSSIA - Roadside Bomb Kills 2 Russian Soldiers in Dagestan

"A roadside bomb exploded on the outskirts of Buinaksk on Saturday evening as a team of combat engineers was patrolling the area"

http://mosnews.com/news/2007/02/12/twokilled.shtml

[AP] PHILIPPINES - Philippine troops seeking al-Qaida-linked militants kill 2, capture 2

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/12/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Abu-Sayyaf.php

[Reuters] PAKISTAN - Militants blow up key gas pipeline

"disrupting supplies to over one million people"

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=132151&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23

[Ynet] EGYPT - Egypt MP says only nuclear bomb can stop Israeli digging

"nothing will work with Israel except for a nuclear bomb that wipes it out of existence"

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3364343,00.html

[The Nation] THAILAND - Two soldiers seriously injured by bomb attack in Narathiwat

http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30026607

[AP] GUINEA - Guinea president declares state of emergency

"President Lansana Conte declared a state of emergency in Guinea, announcing in a broadcast on state radio and television that he had ordered the army to "take all necessary measures" to restore order after three days of violent protests"

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/13/africa/AF-GEN-Guinea.php

[AFP] SOMALIA - Hundreds flee Somali capital amid deadly rebel attacks

"after two people were killed in a barrage of rocket attacks and guerrilla-style raids, which authorities here blamed on Islamists "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070212/wl_africa_afp/somaliaunrestethiopia;_ylt=A0SOwmNTGdFFMo8AnQys0NUE

[Iraq] IRAQ - Austrian sniper rifles sold to Iran found in Iraq

"US troops have found more than a hundred Austrian-made sniper rifles, which were sold to Iran, in a Baghdad raid on insurgents"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070213/wl_afp/iraqiranaustriaweaponstradeusbritain

[AP] IRAQ - Suicide Truck Bomb Kills 15 in Baghdad

"A suicide bomber blew up the truck he was driving near a college in a mainly Shiite area on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 27"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6412687,00.html

[Haaretz] ISRAEL - IDF kills Palestinian laying roadside bomb on Gaza border

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/825408.html

[Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence] SRI LANKA - LTTE mortar attack injures 4 STF personnel - Batticaloa

"Defence sources said that at least ten mortar rounds had been fired by the terrorists "

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070213_04

[DPA] PHILIPPINES - Suspected Muslim Rebels Attack Police Official's House

"Troops dispatched to chase the perpetrators were also attacked by the gunmen, who fired rocket-propelled grenades"

http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_13816-Suspected-Muslim-Rebels-Attack-Police-Officials-House.html

[AP] ITALY - Italian police arrest 15 in raids against leftist militants

"Police said they arrested 15 suspects in Milan, Turin, Padua and other northern Italian cities"

"group had ideological ties to the Red Brigades movement, which terrorized Italy in the 1970s and 1980s"

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/world/BO43022/

[Vanguard] NIGERIA - Militants threaten to blow up oil field in Bayelsa

http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/niger_delta/nd213022007.html

[AP] LEBANON - Bus Explosions Kills 12 in Lebanon

"Explosions tore through two buses traveling on a highway Tuesday near a mountain town northeast of Beirut, and at least 12 people were killed and 10 wounded"

http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2007/02/13/ap/headlines/d8n8of7g0.txt

[KUNA] ALGERIA - Further bomb blast occurs in Algiers, one injured

"Some eleven people were killed and 21 others were injured in five bomb car explosions in Algiers Tuesday morning"

"leaving one person injured and smashing the windows of several nearby buildings"

http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=952022

[Reuters] SPAIN - Spain ups terror alert ahead of trial

"We have activated the level 2 anti-terrorist alert ... to guarantee the full safety of citizens ahead of the start of the March 11 trial and the third anniversary of the attacks"

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/13/spain.terror.reut/index.html

[IsraelNN.com] ISRAEL - IDF Arrests Eighteen Wanted Terrorists

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=121488

[The Standard] SOMALIA - Explosives discovered at border

"explosives include 15 hand grenades, 19 landmine fusers, one MI landmine activator, an anti-tank, a landmine detonator and 16 rounds of anti-aircraft missiles"

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143964846

[AAP] AUSTRALIA - White substance found at Rudd's office

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21224589-5005961,00.html

[PTI] SRI LANKA - Twelve Lankans injured in bomb blast

"Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels exploded a claymore mine in eastern Sri Lanka, injuring 12 civilians travelling in a bus"

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=81374

[IRNA] IRAN - 5 suspects in Zahedan bombing arrested

http://www.payvand.com/news/07/feb/1180.html

[KUNA] PAKISTAN - Suicide bombing threat puts Islamabad on red alert

"Police and paramilitary forces have been put on high alert amid threats of suicide bombing or other terror attacks, an intelligence report was quoted saying by local daily The News "

http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=952230

[AP] SRI LANKA - Military says 690 kilograms of powerful C4 explosives found in Jaffna

http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/srilanka/20070215000141.php

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YouTube Censors Islam Critic

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/02/12/youtube-censors-islam-critic

YouTube Censors Islam Critic

At YouTube, You can say pretty much whatever You want, as long as it's
not about Islam. If that's not true, YouTube user Nick Gisburne begs to
differ after his account – his entire account – was deleted for its
"inappropriate content." What exactly did he say? Well, nothing really.
He let the Koran speak for itself.

Gisburne is a self-described atheist with, at least from the one video,
a deep questioning of Muslim claims about the Koran. To express his
doubts about Islam being a religion of peace, Gisburne created a
10-minute video, entitled "Islamic Teachings" that was nothing but
violent quotations taken from the Koran instructing followers to kill
nonbelievers and speed their way to Hell where Allah will torture them
forever.

It would seem quoting the holy book in a sort of testament against
itself was over the line for someone working at Google-owned YouTube.
Not only was the video deleted without any type of warning to the
uploader, but the uploader's account was also deleted with only the
explanation (or accusation) of submitting inappropriate content, a
category usually reserved for nudity or video violence.

Gisburne can be seen talking about the experience here, in a very
monotone way. But the video in question can still be found on YouTube,
for as word spreads about the rather obvious free speech infringement,
users by the dozens have become defiant, posting it on Gisburne's
behalf.

Over at Xooglers, a blog written by ex-Google employees, Ron Garret
says
this doesn't reflect well on Google:

This really bothers me for four reasons. First, to deem quotations
from a holy text to be "inappropriate content" is outrageous on its
face. Second, Gisburne was given no warning. Third, YouTube didn't just
delete the video in question, they deleted Gisburne's entire account.
And fourth, this makes a mockery of Google's "don't be evil" slogan.
There can be no possible reason for this action other than caving to
intimidation, and sanctimonious cowardice in the face of oppression is
a
particularly pernicious breed of evil.

He advises other angry free speech advocates to contact YouTube
(http://tinyurl.com/2n7lb8) to express themselves directly.

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This on the air radio program in Florida is also on the computer and has a list of excellent guests for special programs, wish it was on the air here.

Sunday will be Cashill on Sandy's papers in the socks and the China connection.

http://www.askshow.com/

http://www.cashill.com

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[has hidden urls]

February 13, 2007
The Militarization of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
By Patrick Poole
In late October, a series of exchanges here at American Thinker debated the extremism or moderation of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the largest and oldest Islamist organization in the world and the de facto political opposition party in Egypt. Events a few weeks later in Cairo rendered much of that discussion moot.

The exchange was initiated by Alyssa Lappen's article "Islam's Useful Idiots", which challenged the foreign policy realist view that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt are political moderates and are committed to political reform in Egypt through peaceful means, notwithstanding their sometime-violent rhetoric and long history of using and supporting terrorism. In particular, Ms. Lappen took issue with statements delivered at a recent forum hosted by the NYU School of Law, where panelists represented the Muslim Brotherhood as "reformist" and "progressive", and therefore, no threat to democracy in Egypt and a potential partner for peace for the US.

Later that week, Ms. Lappen's article prompted strong responses from Nick Fielding and Alexis Debat - both of whom were panelists at the NYU forum noted by Lappen. Both accused her of misrepresenting their comments at that forum and reiterated that the Muslim Brotherhood was nothing to fear. In the spirit of fair debate, The American Thinker included detailed responses by Ms. Lappen to Fielding and Debat's accusations.

In December, however, a militarized parade of Muslim Brotherhood youth cadres demonstrated with sticks, chains and martial arts displays at Cairo's Al-Ahzar University, the most historic Islamic academic institution and one of the largest universities in the world, effectively putting the lie to contentions that the Muslim Brotherhood intends to pursue its goal of imposing shari'a law and instituting an Islamic government in Egypt through non-violent means (an almost ridiculous proposition on its face).

A December 18th oped by Jameel Theyabi in Dar Al-Hayat, "The Brotherhood's Power Display", describes the Muslim Brotherhood's military rally and what it means:

The military parade, the wearing of uniforms, displaying the phrase, 'We Will be Steadfast', and the drills involving combative sports, betray the group's intent to plan for the creation of militia structures, and a return by the group to the era of 'secret cells'...this development comes as a clear Brotherhood announcement that the group is capable of acting and reacting to developments, and by these demonstrations, it is seeking to deliver a news flash that says: "The group is still out there, and is capable of military action, recruitment of new elements, military training and mobilization...I believe that the group's public power display represents a kind of coded message to awaken sleeper cells within Egypt and abroad.

Apparently the only element missing to make this event the perfect setting for an al-Qaeda recruiting video were the obligatory scenes of young jihadis navigating through sets of monkeybars and jumping through the fiery "Ring of Death". In a scene reminiscent of the Brotherhood's Palestinian sibling, HAMAS, or of Hezbollah in Lebanon, this military parade is not only a show of force, but a coming-out of sorts - an Islamist debutante ball.

This turn of events in Egypt should come as no surprise to those familiar with the Muslim Brotherhood's history and ideological development. As Theyabi notes, the re-militarization of the Muslim Brotherhood hearkens back to its founding era under Hassan al-Banna, when the Brotherhood's "Secret Apparatus" engaged in numerous acts of terror and assassination. In fact, al-Banna's death in February 1949 came as direct retaliation by the Egyptian government for the assassination by Brotherhood members of Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi. Then there is also the litany of violence, terrorism, revolution and bloody coups committed over the decades by Muslim Brotherhood organizations throughout the Middle East and Africa (HAMAS and the genocidal Brotherhood-backed regime in Sudan come immediately to mind).

The real $64,000 question for the US in light of the militarization of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is whether this is a foreshadowing of the future here at home. It is no secret that the Muslim Brotherhood has established a vast network of organizations in the US, most notably the Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

An extensive investigation published by the Chicago Tribune in September 2004, "A Rare Look at Secretive Brotherhood in America" , cites MAS officials as admitting that it was founded by Muslim Brotherhood members (it should be noted that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's current General Guide and Supreme Leader, Mohammed Mahdi Akef, was one of the MAS founders) and that the organization's ultimate goal is "to create Muslim states overseas and, they hope, someday in America as well", but we are assured that this objective will be achieved through peaceful and democratic means - much like what has been promised by the Brotherhood in Egypt for several decades now.

The militarization of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt should give pause to those who advocate engagement with the Brotherhood in Egypt by the US as a partner for peace and stability in the Middle East. It should also prompt some sober reflection by the government officials, university academics and media officials who are quick to embrace MAS and other US-based Brotherhood front groups as "moderates". The recent military parades in Cairo have essentially tipped the hand of the Muslim Brotherhood's lengthy international duplicity; with a sizable Brotherhood presence in the US, we don't want to get too far down the road before we discover that we were duped about their intentions here as well.

Patrick Poole is an occasional contributor to American Thinker. He maintains a blog, Existential Space.
Page Printed from:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/02/the_militarization_of_the_egyp_1.html

at February 15, 2007 - 10:02:40 AM EST

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0409190261sep19,1,3910166.story?page=1&coll=chi-newsspecials-hed

STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL OF ISLAM
A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America
Muslims divided on Brotherhood

A group aiming to create Islamic states worldwide has established roots here, in large part under the guidance of Egypt-born Ahmed Elkadi

By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Sam Roe and Laurie Cohen
Tribune staff reporters
Published September 19, 2004

Over the last 40 years, small groups of devout Muslim men have gathered in homes in U.S. cities to pray, memorize the Koran and discuss events of the day.

But they also addressed their ultimate goal, one so controversial that it is a key reason they have operated in secrecy: to create Muslim states overseas and, they hope, someday in America as well.


The Muslim Brotherhood is a key chapter in any story about the struggle for the soul of Islam. Formed in Egypt in 1928, the Brotherhood spawned generations of Islamic activists, both peaceful and violent, around the globe. It is the most influential Islamic fundamentalist organization in the world.

In the U.S. it has operated legally but covertly, mimicking clandestine fraternal organizations that operate on a nod and a secret handshake. Even today, few outside the Islamic inner circles from which it recruits know when, how often or where the Brothers meet to discuss the organization's abstract but pervasive goal: the creation of Islamic states throughout the world, including the U.S.

Special report

'Struggle for the Soul of Islam' story gallery

February 8, 2004

From golden age to an embattled faith
February 8, 2004

Hard-liners won battle for Bridgeview mosque
February 8, 2004

How Saudi wealth fueled holy war
February 22, 2004

Egypt's cultural shift reflects Islam's pull
March 21, 2004

Iran loses faith in clerics
May 2, 2004



These men are part of an underground U.S. chapter of the international Muslim Brotherhood, the world's most influential Islamic fundamentalist group and an organization with a violent past in the Middle East. But fearing persecution, they rarely identify themselves as Brotherhood members and have operated largely behind the scenes, unbeknown even to many Muslims.

Still, the U.S. Brotherhood has had a significant and ongoing impact on Islam in America, helping establish mosques, Islamic schools, summer youth camps and prominent Muslim organizations. It is a major factor, Islamic scholars say, in why many Muslim institutions in the nation have become more conservative in recent decades.

Leading the U.S. Brotherhood during much of this period was Ahmed Elkadi, an Egyptian-born surgeon and a former personal physician to Saudi Arabia's King Faisal. He headed the group from 1984 to 1994 but abruptly lost his leadership position. Now he is discussing his life and the U.S. Brotherhood for the first time.

His story, combined with details from documents and interviews, offers an unprecedented look at the Brotherhood in America: how the group recruited members, how it cloaked itself in secrecy and how it alienated many moderate Muslims.


Continued for several pages...................

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Latest security threat: holding data hostage

http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=148505

3.02.2007 / 14:45 Latest security threat: holding data hostage
ALKHOBAR. February 13. KAZINFORM - Attracting more than 15,000
information security professionals, the 16th annual RSA Conference was
held last week in San Francisco. The five-day Conference offered
attendees the opportunity to discuss the trends, issues and solutions
that are impacting the information security industry globally.

Personal Security Appliance vendor Yoggie Security Systems was named
the
“Most Innovative New Company,” at the conference. The company’s
new
product offering, the Yoggie Systems’ Gatekeeper Pro, is a
credit-card-sized security appliance that brings corporate class
security applications within the reach of mobile and remote workers.

We’ll probably never see this security appliance in Saudi Arabia as
Yoggie Security Systems is based in Israel. This is the most recent
example of how current policies in the Arab world continue to put our
networks at risk. While information security technologies developed in
Israel are shunned by the Arab world, Arab nations fail to invest in
the
R&D required to create viable alternatives.

And even as new technologies enhance network security, criminals are
becoming more sophisticated in their exploits. At the 2007 RSA
Conference, Eugene Kaspersky, head of antivirus research at Russia’s
Kaspersky Labs, stated that the rise of so-called “Ransomware
Trojans”
will be a key trend in 2007.

Ransomware Trojans are a type of malicious code that infects a PC,
encrypts some data and then displays an alert telling the victim to
send
money to get the key needed to access the data again. Such malicious
software isn’t new, but Kaspersky believes cybercriminals will refine
their use of Ransomware this year.

Kaspersky stated that if criminals with a better grasp of cryptography
begin writing Ransomware code “antivirus vendors will not be able to
decrypt and recover your data without help.” Plus, since the
criminals
may want as little as $20 or $30 to provide the decryption key, people
will probably be willing to pay, rather than lose access to their data.
Many won’t even take the time to report the extortion to the police,
considering the hassle of such action worse than the money they’ve
already paid.

The police might try to fight such extortion, but their success is
hardly likely. According to Kaspersky, law-enforcement officers are
having difficulty catching Internet criminals.

“In 2004, there were around 100 arrests of suspected cybercriminals.
In
2005, there were around 400. But last year, there were just 100,”
Kaspersky said. “It seems that the stupid guys are being jailed, but
the
clever ones are still operating.”

Not every type of network attack is on the rise, but there seems to be
some disagreement about whether certain kinds of attacks are actually
declining or perhaps just evolving. Kaspersky stated that there should
continue to be a reduction in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS)
attacks. This is where a company’s servers are bombarded with data in
an
attempt to drive it offline. Kaspersky believes that these attacks are
declining in part because better filtering technologies have been
developed that can strip out DDoS traffic before it reaches a corporate
server and also because several people have been arrested for launching
DDoS attacks and demanding payment in exchange for stopping the attack.

Paul D. Parisi, CTO of DNSstuff.com, has a completely different
perspective on the DDoS attack situation. He discussed last Tuesday’s
incident in which a DDoS attack targeted at least five of the
Internet’s
13 root name servers. The attack caused two of the root name servers to
stop responding to up to 90 percent of queries. However, the other root
name servers kept the Internet working during this time.

The Internet relies on 13 root name servers deployed globally to manage
traffic between computers connected to the Internet. To ensure
stability, no one organization controls all 13. Because of the
reliable,
redundant nature of the system, the DDoS attack passed largely
unnoticed
by the average computer user, while experts worked to deal with
processing the flood of data caused by the attack.

“It is likely that this latest apparent probing effort was testing
the
resiliency of Domain Name Servers (DNS),” explained Paul D. Parisi,
CTO
of DNSstuff.com. “This could be a harbinger of more targeted attacks
against .com parent servers or even individual enterprise servers,
neither of which may have the resiliency or redundancy of the systems
attacked earlier. Either of these scenarios could have catastrophic
consequences for the Internet-at-large or specific organizations.”

Even without an increase in targeted or malicious attacks on DNS
servers, many of those same servers remain vulnerable or are performing
poorly because of human error. There are over 85 million domains on the
web, and a survey by DNSstuff.com of its users revealed that there are
significant, fixable configuration issues with DNS settings for nearly
70 percent of those active domains. These incorrect settings can lead
to
site outages or improperly routed e-mail, and a targeted attack
exploiting these settings could lead to even more widespread network
and
Internet outages.

A newly released DNSstuff.com root server time map allows IT
professionals to monitor the state of root and .com servers supporting
DNS. Network administrators can check real-time performance of these
servers to spot long latency times or unusual behavior in response
times. The root server time map can be found at
http://www.dnsstuff.com/info/roottimes.htm. Other simple steps that can
be taken to improve DNS security include maintaining a minimum of two
physically and geographically separate servers to help thwart a DDoS
attack, and proper configuration of Primary and Secondary name servers
to utilize the natural resiliency of DNS.

“Unfortunately, many people are relying on improperly configured DNS
and
are unintentionally leaving themselves, and therefore the web,
vulnerable to attack,” Parisi said.

Another area of controversy at the 2007 RSA Conference was whether
Microsoft’s Windows Vista Security was spreading woe or wow. An
informal
poll conducted at the conference by security vendor PC Tools found that
of more than 300 security experts interviewed, 97 percent said they
believe that Vista will have problems with security for the next few
years. About two percent of those interviewed were unsure and the rest
did not respond to the issue.

At the 2007 RSA Conference Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy
Officer
Craig Mundie didn’t speak about Windows Vista specifically. However
in a
keynote with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, he outlined a vision for a
digital world where people can easily and seamlessly connect across
networks, platforms and devices — with confidence that their
information
won’t be compromised or stolen. Achieving this “anywhere access”
vision,
he explained, will require serious, industry-wide collaboration and a
commitment to investing in interoperable systems, processes and
products; KAZINFORM quotes The Arab News.

[nw_arizona_granny]

1. EU ministers to tackle German data-sharing proposals - 14.02.2007 -
21:04

---

EU justice and interior ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday are
set
for lengthy talks with three highly controversial issues on their
agenda -
the transfer of prisoners between EU states, an overhaul of
data-sharing
rules and environmental crimes.

http://euobserver.com/9/23498/?rk=1


2. Serbia parliament rejects UN Kosovo plan - 15.02.2007 - 09:14

---

Serbia's parliament has strongly rejected a UN-fostered plan that paves
the
way to independence for the breakaway province of Kosovo, dashing hopes
that a compromise will be reached instead of a UN-imposed solution.

http://euobserver.com/9/23500/?rk=1


3. MEPs approve critical CIA report but remain divided - 14.02.2007 -
16:31

---

MEPs have voted in a favour of a strongly criticial report accusing EU
governments of being complicit in CIA activities in Europe but the
political force of the vote was undermined by parliament infighting,
with
parts of the centre-right group in the assembly disowning it
completely.

http://euobserver.com/9/23495/?rk=1


4. Iran group protests against EU 'terror' label - 14.02.2007 - 17:43

---

Some 250 supporters of Iran opposition group PMOI waved flags with a
red
fist and rifle logo in front of the EU headquarters in Brussels on
Wednesday (14 February), saying PMOI should be taken off the EU
terrorist
list at a sensitive time for EU and US policy on Iran.

[nw_arizona_granny]

The New Transcaucasian Railway

SPIEGEL ONLINE - February 13, 2007, 04:38 PM
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,466159,00.html
AN IRON SILK ROAD
The New Transcaucasian Railway

Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan have signed an agreement to build a rail
corridor that they hope will eventually link Europe with Asia. However,
one country in the region -- Armenia -- is being left out.

Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan have sealed an agreement to build a
railway which would improve cargo transportation among the countries
and
eventually revive the historic Silk Road trade route -- linking Europe
and Asia.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan travelled to the
Georgian capital Tbilisi last Wednesday, Feb. 7, to sign the three-way
agreement with his counterparts, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. The three agreed that
construction on the railroad would start this year and should be
finished by 2009. It will consist of a new 100-kilometer railway line
connecting the eastern Turkish city of Kars with Georgia, while another
300 kilometers of existing track will be renovated.

The governments hope this railway will connect eventually to the
proposed Trans-Asian Rail Network, which is being supported by the
United Nations. Transport ministers from Turkey, China, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan met last year to discuss the project, which
could one day see passengers taking a train from London to China.

Peace and conflict in the Caucasus

The Ankara government has already forged closer ties with Georgia and
Azerbaijan -- particularly for oil and gas delivery from the Caspian
Sea
-- with a pipeline connecting the Azerbaijani capital of Baku with
Georgia and the Mediterranean Turkish port of Ceyhan. The former Soviet
republics used to be connected by a Communist-era Transcaucasian
Railroad, which once moved millions of tons of cargo every year; but
traffic was suspended after the Iron Curtain fell.

Not everyone in the region welcomes the planned new Transcaucasian
route. The government in Armenia has criticized the decision by its
three neighbors to develop a corridor that avoids Armenia altogether.
Leaders in Yerevan say the plan deliberately ignores the old rail link
between Armenia and Turkey, which has been idle since the the two
countries cut off diplomatic ties in 1993.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are not much better: The two
countries bitterly disagree over the enclave of Nagoro- Karabakh. The
mountainous territory inside Azerbaijan has been controlled by ethnic
Armenian forces since a 1994 cease-fire ended six years of fighting,
during which over 30,000 people died.

smd/spiegel/ap

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/WilliamRusher/2007/02/15/whats_bin_laden_up_to

What's Bin Laden up to?
By William Rusher
Thursday, February 15, 2007

It's been more than five years since Sept. 11, and it's fair to ask why the United States has thus far been spared so much as a single further unpleasantness. Of course, an ugly explosion may go off any day in some American city, making such speculation look wildly premature. But even Osama bin Laden's notorious predilection for taking his time between these extravaganzas doesn't fully explain his delay in providing us with an encore.

There's certainly plenty of evidence that he wants to remain an actor on the world stage, and to make sure that we don't forget his presence there. Every few months, he or some spokesman of his shows up on Al Jazeera in a new video tape, giving orders to his allies and followers and issuing bloodthirsty threats about what is going to happen to his foes, especially the Great Satan. One could be forgiven for speculating that he is auditioning for his own talk show on CNN. But where's that next bomb?

To be sure, he and/or other Muslim fanatics have hardly been idle in the years since Sept. 11. Suicide bombers and garden-variety terrorists have been busy blowing themselves and innocent Westerners up in London, Madrid, Bali and half a dozen other vulnerable cities around the world. But New York, Washington and other American cities are conspicuously not on the list. Why?

The likeliest explanation is that American counter-measures have been working, and it is no longer so easy to slip suicide bombers into the United States and pull off devastating attacks. The Democrats in Congress may be furious at George W. Bush for eavesdropping on phone conversations between Americans and suspicious foreigners abroad, and monitoring the financial doings of various dubious operators, but they are almost certainly not more exasperated than Bin Laden. International terrorism is no longer a game played entirely in the dark.

But there is at least one other possible explanation. Muslim fanatics had been conducting successful attacks on American targets abroad for nearly 30 years before Sept. 11. They had bombed our embassies in Kenya and Tanganyika, all but sunk the destroyer Cole in Aden, and simply assassinated various American officials around the world -- all without attracting much notice from the American public, and without suffering any serious retaliation. But the attacks on Sept. 11, in New York and Washington, shook the American people fully awake, and within months Bin Laden's protectors in Afghanistan had been ousted and bin Laden himself was on the run.

Is it too much to suspect that bin Laden concluded that bombing America itself had been a strategic mistake, and that when he noticed that the American public was dozing off to sleep again he decided not to give it another poke in the eye?

Whatever the explanation, it almost certainly doesn't mean that bin Laden and his fellow Muslim terrorists have forgotten about us, or decided that we are too dangerous to attack on our own soil. At best, they have simply decided to pick off easier targets first -- including American targets abroad. In due course, when they have infiltrated or recruited a sufficient number of agents here, and above all when they have acquired a few nuclear weapons from friendly nations, they will stage an attack on the American homeland that will make Sept. 11 look like a garden party.

That, to be sure, will have the disagreeable side effect of awaking the American public (or what's left of it) again. We may even reinstitute some of the "unconstitutional" surveillance procedures that the ACLU is today so busy urging the courts to abolish. Or we may simply be remembered historically as the freest nation ever destroyed by indifference to its own danger.

But, one way or another, at a time of their choice, we will hear from the Muslim fanatics again.


William Rusher is a Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy and author of How to Win Arguments .

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/02/new_al_qaeda_le.html

New Al Qaeda Leader Is U.S. Prison Escapee

February 15, 2007 3:51 PM

Brian Ross and Hoda Osman Report:

Abu_yahya_allibi_nr An al Qaeda figure who escaped from a U.S. military prison 18 months ago has re-emerged as a field commander leading attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, ABC News has learned.

Abu Yahya al Libi was one of four al Qaeda figures who escaped from the prison at the U.S. base in Bagram, Afghanistan in July 2005.

An al Qaeda propaganda tape posted on the Internet this week identifies him as sheikh, a commander of an al Qaeda unit operating in Afghanistan.

Watch excerpts from the al Qaeda propaganda video.

"It is a double embarrassment that he has now come back as one of the field commanders," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism director.

The re-emergence of the al Qaeda escapee comes as al Qaeda itself is reforming and re-establishing bases in the mountainous border region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=79566

Friday, February 16, 2007
Iran rounds up 65 over attack on Guardsmen
By Agence France Presse (AFP)


TEHRAN: Iran has arrested scores of people over a deadly bomb attack on a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards, alleging links to US and British intelligence, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Thursday. "Some key members linked with the Jund Allah terrorist group were arrested last night," said Brigadier General Mohammad Ghafari, a top police official in Sistan-Baluchestan Province. Jund Allah is a shadowy group that claimed responsibly for the Wednesday attack, which killed 11 members of the elite military unit and wounded 31 in the city of Zahedan. Ghafari said that "65 suspects as well as the three responsible for the attack were arrested ... One of the main bombers was killed." He did not specify how many among the suspects were linked to Jund Allah. "A video seized from the rebels confirms their attachment to opposition groups and some countries' intelligence services such as America and Britain." He added that police had seized 36 kilograms of TNT, as well as weapons, in a raid on a "house belonging to the key members of Jund Allah." Iranian officials have repeatedly accused Britain and the United States of supporting ethnic minority rebels operating in sensitive border areas. - AFP


Copyright (c) 2007 The Daily Star

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/printable.asp?art_ID=79572&cat_ID=2


Friday, February 16, 2007
Egyptian-Canadian 'admitted to helping Mossad' - report
By Agence France Presse (AFP)



OTTAWA: An alleged Egyptian-Canadian spy told Egyptian interrogators he recruited several gay or financially strapped Arabs while living in Canada to work for Israel's intelligence agency, media said Thursday. A transcript of Mohammad Essam Ghoneim al-Attar's interrogation, viewed by the Globe and Mail newspaper, said that he is a gay Zionist who turned his back on Islam and worked with Mossad to undermine the security of his homeland.

The interrogation session took place last month at an unknown location in Egypt, the Toronto-based newspaper said.

Attar's dossier says he admitted to using his position as a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce teller in Toronto to identify potential recruits, and that he had married and divorced at least four times while living here.

The file further alleges Attar, 31, was under surveillance by Egypt's intelligence service since early 2002 when he left Cairo for Turkey after a family spat, and later moved to Canada.

Attar confessed to going to the Israeli Embassy in Ankara in search of work, was put through a series of tests, was advised to convert to Christianity and was later schooled by Roman Catholics in Turkey.

He cited his new religion and homosexuality in applying for UN refugee status, which eventually landed him in Canada.

Attar was arrested in Cairo on January 1, during a family visit, on charges of bribery, espionage and conspiring to "harm Egypt's national interests." - AFP


Copyright (c) 2007 The Daily Star

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=79571#

Suppliers of oil to US take Al-Qaeda threat seriously
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Friday, February 16, 2007

DUBAI: A call by an extremist Al-Qaeda group for wider attacks against US oil suppliers has forced Canada, Mexico and Venezuela to review security at oil installations. "We've always said that Canada is not immune to threats. We take this threat seriously," Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Wednesday following the call by the Saudi branch of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

A Mexican minister also called the threat "worrisome."

The Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula used an article in an online magazine to call for broader attacks on oil installations in countries in the Middle East and beyond that supply the United States.

"In the long term, the United States will not need the Middle East or it will reduce its dependency on it, and will be satisfied with oil from Canada, Mexico and Venezuela," the statement said.

"Oil interests in all regions from which the United States benefits should be hit, not only in the Middle East," the group said in the Sawt al-Jihad (the Voice of Jihad) article.

"The aim is to cut all its [US] imports [of oil] or reduce them by all means," it said.

"The targets among oil interests should include oil wells, export pipelines, loading platforms and tankers and all that could reduce US access to oil."

"The instructions from Sheikh Osama [bin Laden] concerning the targeting of oil interests are clear, so for the mujahedeen [holy warriors] to be able to implement these instructions, they should gather information and choose the target carefully," it said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

Canada is already the biggest energy supplier to the United States. At an estimated 179 billion barrels, Canada's Alberta oil sands rank second behind OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia in petroleum reserves.

Greg Stringham, vice president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers in Calgary, the country's energy headquarters, said oil companies were taking the threat "very seriously" but that alert levels in Canada remained low.

"It does not look like it's something new, though we're paying good attention to it and we have heightened the awareness among the folks that may be directly affected," he told AFP.

Mexico and Venezuela also said they were on watch after the report.

Mexican Tourism Minister Rodolfo Elizondo said the information was "worrisome ... if it is confirmed."

"Everything that involves security has an impact on tourism," he added.

In Venezuela, Interior Minister Pedro Carreno said security forces were at work to guarantee protection for the oil industry installations.

"Venezuela has its intelligence units set to investigate to guarantee ... strategic resources," he said.

Mexico is the world's sixth-largest oil producer and exports most of its crude to the US.

Al-Qaeda has made threats in the past to attack oil installations in the Gulf and specifically Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of bin Laden, which sits on a quarter of global oil reserves. - AFP

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=79528

Under Putin, Russia is no longer ready to be pushed around
By David Ignatius
Daily Star staff
Thursday, February 15, 2007

Vladimir Putin made headlines last weekend when he blasted the Bush administration for its "almost uncontained hyper-use of force" that has created a world where "no one feels safe." If he had been a Democratic presidential candidate, it would have been a standard stump speech. But coming from a Russian president, his remarks had pundits ruminating about a new Cold War.

I was in the audience in Munich when Putin made his speech, and the tone seemed to me more one of resentment than belligerence. He was proud, prickly, defiant - a leader with all the Russian chips on his shoulder. You could hear his inner voice: We let you dismantle the Berlin Wall. We folded the Warsaw Pact. We dissolved the Soviet Union - all on your promises that you wouldn't take advantage of our weakness. And what did we get? Nothing! You surrounded us with NATO weapons.

Putin's comments may be jarring to Americans, but they express a bitterness that's widespread in Moscow. His generation of Russians grew up in a country that claimed the status of "superpower," and they don't like being taken for granted. Putin, an ex-KGB officer with a black belt in judo, has been pugnacious in standing up for his country's interests, and Russians seem to like that. In the latest opinion polls, his popularity is well above 70 percent.

I met Tuesday with one of Putin's top aides in a building that once housed the headquarters of the Soviet Communist Party. "We want to work together with you," he explained. "But please open your eyes. We will never accept that the sole power in the world will be the US."

Russia is back. That's the real lesson I take from Putin's blunt comments. A country that was near collapse after the fall of Soviet communism has regained enough confidence and stability to take a verbal shot at its old rival. "We are emerging from nothing," the Putin aide told me. To explain the Putin phenomenon, the Kremlin's chief ideologue, Vladislav Surkov, recently compared him to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, another president who brought his country back from economic disaster and restored its pride. Like FDR, Putin is using "presidential power to the maximum degree for the sake of overcoming the crisis," Surkov said.

Visiting here for the first time since 1990, I am struck by how everything in Russia is different, and everything is the same. Driving in from the airport, you see the familiar monument marking the farthest German advance in World War II - a testament to the Red Army's fierce resistance to foreign invasion. And next to it is the Mega Mall with its huge Ikea showroom - a foreign invasion that, in the end, proved unstoppable.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

In Red Square, the somber stones of Lenin's tomb are a reminder of Soviet power. But across the way, in what used to be the drab GUM department store, are glittering displays of the latest fashions from Vuitton and Dior.

What hasn't changed is Russia's neurotic relationship with the West. Russian friends tell me the country feels unloved and unappreciated - a political doormat that Western powers think they can walk on, at will. That's the frustration that surfaced in Putin's speech in Munich.

By Russian standards, this is something of a golden age. Putin recently touted some of the country's achievements: Russian average incomes increased 10 percent in 2006 over the previous year; the economy grew by about 6.7 percent; inflation was in single digits for the first time in many years. Russia's currency reserves rose to $303 billion, the third largest in the world, and its "stabilization fund" of energy profits was nearly $100 billion. All this in a nation that in 1998, on the eve of Putin's presidency, was essentially bankrupt.

The new Russia has a moment of opportunity. America, far from the "unipolar" superpower Putin describes, is weakened by the Iraq war and is badly in need of allies. If Putin is wise, he can play a pivotal role in resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis - and thereby restoring some of Russia's lost diplomatic clout. Or he can keep complaining that nobody appreciates his country - meanwhile letting his old rival struggle awhile longer in the Iraq quagmire.

Was Putin's Munich manifesto an "invitation to dialogue," as one of his aides told me? Or was it a warning shot from a newly confident Russia that is rather enjoying America's troubles? If Putin wants to play a role in stabilizing the post-Iraq world, he is pushing on an open door. But does he have the vision and political will to seize the moment?

Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published regularly by THE DAILY STAR.

[Velveeta]

Bomb scare probed at Canada airport

OTTAWA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Explosive materials were discovered at an airport in eastern Canada Thursday prompting police investigations.

Officials at Jean-Lesage airport in Quebec City said they found "suspicious materials" stashed in a U.S.-bound suitcase stored in the airport's main building basement, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.

The materials could be used to create explosives, police said.

The suitcase's owner has been identified, and a security perimeter was erected around the airport. Explosives experts are combing the building.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/16/content_5745377.htm

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://philippinecommentary.blogspot.com/2007/02/paying-ransom-guarantees-next.html

Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Paying Ransom Guarantees The Next Kidnapping
Posted by Dean Jorge Bocobo

PDI Editorial notes the nuanced position of Malacanang on the Dolorfino hostaging incident in Panamao, Sulu involving the MNLF -- the Palace will ask the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) to investigate the matter. No clearer sign could possibly be given by the Arroyo administration that it casts its lot with the OIC when it comes to the Mindanao "peace process." Swept under the proverbial rug is the embarrassing matter of some 450 thousand peso in RANSOM MONEY paid by the Philippine Government for the release of its "peace negotiators" from the MNLF's camp a few weeks ago.

Now check out PDI's own nuanced position ... While decrying the fact of the government having paid ransom money, the editorial says,

We do not share the idea of those who see the incident as proof that there is no negotiating with Muslims.

That's right. "Muslims" can certainly be negotiated with, but there should be no negotiating with "terrorists kidnappers!" And certainly there should be no paying of ransom to terrorists. The editorial further defends the "peace process" --

"We also do not share the notion that Dolorfino, a Muslim convert with close ties to many Islamic communities, has compromised himself and should therefore be relieved of his responsibilities in the peace process. He remains an asset in the pursuit of dialogue, without which no ceasefire, no peace agreement, can turn into a lasting settlement."

I disagree completely. If anything, he validates the notion that demanding ransom payments from the Philippine government actually works! Why look, even the leading broadsheet thinks Dolorfino is "an asset in the pursuit of .. dialogue." Don't they mean in pursuit of future ransom payments?? Paying ransom and excusing it guarantees the next hostaging and kidnapping.

Gen. Dolorfino represents a policy of appeasement and capitulation that was in evidence when the President allowed the ransoming of billionaire campaign contributor Reghis Romero from the Abu Sayyaf Group that had just raided the Dos Palmas beach resort in Palawan and taken captive Gracia and Martin Burnham and dozens of other hostages. The administration has found it expedient to pay ransoms in order to free itself from politically sticky situations, such as the Angelo de la Cruz affair in Baghdad some years back.

Dolorfino's actions in Panamao, Sulu and his subsequent testimony on the events which transpired were inconsistent and self-contradictory. The editorial's defense of him is inexplicable. He denied having been hostaged even after he was already free to tell the truth, which he supposedly did under oath at the Congress Commission on Appointments--whilst groveling for the confirmation of his recent promotion to Major General and posting as Commander of the National Capitol Region AFP command?

It certainly sends the message, surely audible even in places like the Niger Delta and all over the Middle East, as well as Indonesia and Sulu, that Filipinos pay ransom money for hostages!


1 Comments:

engineerOFW said...

Paying ransom for Dolorfino's release is bad enough. What is making it worse is inaction --- why isn't there any campaign to capture the Dolorfino kidnappers?
8:56 AM, February 14, 2007

[Velveeta]

Terrorists…in the Tea Lounge? (NY)

According to Greg Wolf, owner of the Tea Lounge in Park Slope, a cop said any of his laptop-toting customers could be a terrorist. (snip)
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/7/30_07tealounge.html

[nw_arizona_granny]

I had in my email part of a report on the 1995 bojinka bomb makers in the Phil., decided to check the author for other articles and below are the links:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.netscape:en-US&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=%22Antonio+C.+Abaya%22++al-Qaeda&spell=1

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Antonio+C.+Abaya%22++al-Qaida&btnG=Search&hl=en&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Antonio+C.+Abaya%22++2007&btnG=Search&hl=en&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Antonio+C.+Abaya++2007&hl=en&rls=com.netscape:en-US&start=30&sa=N

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US&q=Antonio+C.+Abaya++2007&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?q=Antonio+C.+Abaya&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

This is the article that started the search:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Bojinka+Re-run+By+Antonio+C.+Abaya&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US