Posted on 08/16/2004 3:02:51 PM PDT by Calpernia
The September11 terror attacks in the US were staged to overcome disunity in al-Qa'ida, confidential computer records reveal. Alan Cullison reports on what happened after his laptop was wrecked while he was covering the combat in Afghanistan
IN the autumn of 2001, I was one of scores of journalists who ventured into northern Afghanistan to write about the US-assisted war against the Taliban.
After losing use of my computer in an accident, I scrawled stories by candlelight with a ballpoint pen and read dispatches to my editors at The Wall Street Journal over a satellite phone.
When the Taliban's defences crumbled in November 2001, I joined a handful of malnourished correspondents who rushed into Kabul and filed stories about the city's liberation. Unlike most correspondents, I needed to spend some time getting to know Kabul's computer dealers because I wanted to replace my laptop. It took about an hour to shake hands with all of them.
The regime that had forbidden television and kite-flying as un-Islamic had also taken a dim view of computers. I searched through the bazaars and found Soviet-era radios and TV sets, but the electronics dealers had never seen a computer and certainly didn't know how to wire one to a satellite phone.
One dealer told me he had serviced computers belonging to the Taliban and to Arabs in al-Qa'ida. I forgot about my own computer problems and hired him to search for these computers.
Eventually he led me to a semi-literate jewellery salesman with wide-set eyes and a penchant for gold chains. This was the man who that December would take $US1100 from me in exchange for two of al-Qa'ida's most valuable computers -- a 40-gigabyte IBM desktop and a Compaq laptop.
He had stolen them from al-Qa'ida's central office in Kabul on November12, the night before the city fell to the Northern Alliance. He wanted the money, he said, so that he could travel to the US and meet some American girls.
On the night before Kabul fell, Taliban officials were fleeing the city in trucks teetering with their personal effects. The looter who sold me the computers figured that al-Qa'ida had fled as well, so he crawled over a brick wall surrounding the house that served as the group's office. Finding nobody inside, he took the two computers, which he had discovered in a room on the building's second floor. On the door of the room, he said, was the name of Muhammad Atef -- al-Qa'ida's military commander and a key planner of the September 11 attacks in the US.
Each day, he said, Atef would walk into the office carrying the laptop in its black case. The looter knew he had something good. So did the US military when it heard what I had bought. Thinking that the computers might hold information about future attacks, my editors called the US Central Command, which sent three CIA agents to my hotel room in Kabul. They said they needed the computers immediately; I had time to copy only the desktop computer (disk) before handing them both over.
Atef's laptop was returned to me two months later in Washington, DC, by an agent named Bert. The CIA said that the drive had been almost empty, but I've always wondered if this was true.
The desktop computer, it turned out, had been used mostly by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top deputy. It contained nearly 1000 text documents dating back to 1997. Many were locked with passwords or encrypted. Most were in Arabic, but some were in French, Farsi, English or Malay, written in an elliptical and evolving system of code words.
I worked intensively for more than a year with several translators and with a colleague at The Wall Street Journal, Andrew Higgins, interviewing dozens of former jihadis to decipher the context, codes and intentions of the messages for a series of articles that Higgins and I wrote for the Journal in 2002.
What emerged was an astonishing inside look at the day-to-day world of al-Qa'ida, as managed by its top strategic planners -- among them bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, Atef, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, all of whom were intimately involved in the planning of 9/11, and some of whom -- including bin Laden and al-Zawahiri -- are still at large.
The documents included budgets, training manuals for recruits and scouting reports for international attacks, and they shed light on everything from personnel matters and petty bureaucratic sniping to theological discussions and debates about the merits of suicide operations.
There were also video files, photographs, scanned documents and web pages, many of which, it became clear, were part of the group's increasingly sophisticated efforts to conduct a global internet-based publicity and recruitment effort.
The jihadis' Kabul office employed a zealous manager -- al-Zawahiri's brother Mohammed, who maintained the computer's files in a meticulous network of folders and subfolders that neatly laid out the group's organisational structure and strategic concerns. (Mohammed's system fell apart after he was arrested in 2000 in Dubai and extradited to Egypt.)
Considered as a whole, the trove of material on the computer represents what is surely the fullest sociological profile of al-Qa'ida to be made public.
Perhaps one of the most important insights to emerge from the computer is that the September 11 operations sprang not so much from al-Qa'ida's strengths as from its weaknesses. The computer did not reveal any links to Iraq or any other deep-pocketed government; amid the group's penury, the members fell to bitter infighting.
The blow against the US was meant to put an end to the internal rivalries, which are manifest in vitriolic memos between Kabul and cells abroad. Al-Qa'ida's leaders worried about a military response from the US, but in such a response they spied opportunity: they had fought the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and they fondly remembered that war as a galvanising experience, an event that roused the indifferent of the Arab world to fight and win against a technologically superior infidel.
The jihadis expected the US, like the Soviet Union, to be a clumsy opponent. Afghanistan would again become a slowly filling graveyard for the imperial ambitions of a superpower.
Like the early Russian anarchists who wrote some of the most persuasive tracts on the uses of terror, al-Qa'ida understood that its attacks would not lead to a quick collapse of the great powers. Rather, its aim was to tempt the powers to strike back in a way that would create sympathy for the terrorists.
Al-Qa'ida has so far gained little from the ground war in Afghanistan; the conflict in Iraq, closer to the centre of the Arab world, is potentially more fruitful. As Arab resentment against the US spreads, al-Qa'ida may look less like a tightly knit terror group and more like a mass movement.
And as the group develops synergy in working with other groups branded by the US as enemies (in Iraq, the Israeli-occupied territories, Kashmir, the Mindanao peninsula and Chechnya, to name a few places), one wonders if the US is indeed playing the role written for it on the computer.
Secret operations
AS al-Qa'ida established itself in Afghanistan in the late 1990s and began managing international operations of increasing complexity and audacity, the group focused on ensuring the secrecy of its communications. It discouraged the use of email and the telephone, and recommended faxes and couriers.
The electronic files reflect the global nature of the work being done; much of the correspondence was neatly filed by country name. Messages were usually encrypted and often couched in language mimicking that of a multinational corporation; thus bin Laden was sometimes "the contractor", acts of terrorism became "trade", Mullah Omar and the Taliban became "the Omar Brothers Company", the security services of the US and Britain became "foreign competitors", and so on.
Letters sent from and to al-Zawahiri in 1999 contain coded language typical of many files on the computer; they also show the degree to which al-Qa'ida operatives abroad were being exposed and detained because of their efforts. In the first of the following two letters, much of the code remains mysterious.
To: Yemen Cell Members
From: Ayman al-Zawahiri
Folder: Outgoing Mail -- To Yemen
Date: February 1, 1999
...I would like to clarify the following with relation to the birthday [probably an unspecified attack]:
(a) Don't think of showering as it may harm your health.
(b) We can't make a hotel reservation for you, but they usually don't mind making reservations for guests. Those who wish to make a reservation should go to Quwedar [a famous pastry shop in Cairo].
(c) I suggest that each of you takes a recipient to Quwedar to buy sweets, then make the hotel reservation. It is easy. After you check in, walk to Nur. After you attend the birthday, go from Quwedar to Bushra St, where you should buy movie tickets to the Za'bolla movie theatre.
(d) The birthday will be in the third month. How do you want to celebrate it in the seventh? Do you want us to change the boy's birth date? There are guests awaiting the real date to get back to their work.
(e) I don't have any gravel [probably ammunition or bomb-making material].
To: Ayman al-Zawahiri
From: Unknown
Folder: Incoming Mail -- From Yemen
Date: May 13, 1999
Dear brother Salah al-Din:
...Forty of the contractor's [bin Laden's] friends here were taken by surprise by malaria [arrested] a few days ago, following the telegram they sent, which was similar to Salah al-Din's telegrams [that is, it used the same code]. The majority of them are from here [Yemen] and two are from the contractor's country [Saudi Arabia]... We heard that al-Asmar had a sudden illness and went to the hospital [prison]. He will have a session with the doctors [lawyers] early next month to see if he can be treated there, or if he should be sent for treatment in his country [probably Egypt, where jihadis were routinely tortured and hanged]...
Osman called some days ago. He is fine but in intensive care [being monitored by the police]. When his situation improves he will call. He is considering looking for work with Salah al-Din [in Afghanistan], as opportunities are scarce where he is, but his health condition is the obstacle.
After 9/11
THE first evidence of work on the computer following September 11, 2001, comes just days after the attacks, in the form of a promotional video called The Big Job -- a montage of TV footage of the attacks and their chaotic aftermath, all set to rousing victory music. The office was surely busier than it had ever been and soon many members of al-Qa'ida's inner circle were competing for time on the computer.
Bin al-Shibh, the senior Yemeni operative who co-ordinated with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in masterminding the attacks, used the computer to work on a hasty and unfinished ideological justification for the operation, which he titled The Truth About the New Crusade: A Ruling on the Killing of Women and Children of the Non-Believers, excerpts of which follow:
Concerning the operations of the blessed Tuesday [9/11] ... they are legally legitimate, because they are committed against a country at war with us, and the people in that country are combatants. Someone might say that it is the innocent, the elderly, the women and the children who are victims, so how can these operations be legitimate according to sharia? And we say that the sanctity of women, children and the elderly is not absolute.
There are special cases ... Muslims may respond in kind if infidels have targeted women and children and elderly Muslims, [or if] they are being invaded, [or if] the non-combatants are helping with the fight, whether in action, word or any other type of assistance, [or if they] need to attack with heavy weapons, which do not differentiate between combatants and non-combatants...
There are benefits ... The operations have brought about the largest economic crisis that America has ever known. Material losses amount to $1trillion. America has lost about 2000 economic brains as a result of the operations. The stock exchange dropped drastically, and American consumer spending deteriorated. The dollar has dropped, the airlines have been crippled, the American globalisation system, which was going to spoil the world, is gone...
God said to assault whoever assaults you, in a like manner ... In killing Americans who are ordinarily off-limits, Muslims should not exceed 4million non-combatants or render more than 10million of them homeless. We should avoid this, to make sure the penalty [that we are inflicting] is no more than reciprocal. God knows what is best.
Bin Laden
BIN Laden himself was composing letters on the computer just weeks before the fall of Kabul. In them he defiantly addressed the American people with a statement of al-Qa'ida's goals, which he then went on to spell out at much greater length for Mullah Omar, in the spirit of a powerful, high-level political adviser offering advice to a head of state.
To: Mullah Omar
From: Osama bin Laden
Folder: Deleted File (Recovered)
Date: October 3, 2001
...I would like to emphasise the major impact of your statements on the Islamic world. Nothing harms America more than receiving your strong response to its positions and statements ... Newspapers mentioned that a recent survey showed that seven out of every 10 Americans suffer psychological problems following the attacks on New York and Washington ... Keep in mind that America is currently facing two contradictory problems:
(a) If it refrains from responding to jihad operations, its prestige will collapse, thus forcing it to withdraw its troops abroad and restrict itself to US internal affairs. This will transform it from a major power to a third-rate power, similar to Russia.
(b) On the other hand, a campaign against Afghanistan will impose great long-term economic burdens, leading to further economic collapse, which will force America, God willing, to resort to the former Soviet Union's only option: withdrawal from Afghanistan, disintegration and contraction.
Thus our plan in the face of this campaign should focus on the following:
Serving a blow to the American economy, which will lead to:
(a) Further weakening of the American economy.
(b) Shaking the confidence in the American economy. This will lead investors to refrain from investing in America or participating in American companies, thus accelerating the fall of the American economy...
Conducting a media campaign to fight the enemy's publicity. The campaign should focus on the following important points:
Attempt to cause a rift between the American people and their government, by demonstrating the following to the Americans:
That the US Government will lead them into further losses of money and lives.
That the Government is sacrificing the people to serve the interests of the rich, particularly the Jews.
That the Government is leading them to the war front to protect Israel and its security.
America should withdraw from the current battle between Muslims and Jews.
This plan aims to create pressure from the American people on their Government to stop its campaign against Afghanistan, on the grounds that the campaign will cause major losses to the American people...
Peace upon you and God's mercy and blessings.
Your brother,
Osama Bin Mohammed Bin Laden
This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/skinhead_symbols.asp as retrieved on Sep 28, 2004 01:59:05 GMT.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:9BvuUYioqUUJ:www.adl.org/hate_symbols/skinhead_symbols.asp+extremist+subculture&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet
This is a must read, to protect your children, it is long and more than likely won't all print, there is more at link.
This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue6_2/ray/ as retrieved on Oct 4, 2004 04:37:09 GMT.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:cjlKfNChL3gJ:www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue6_2/ray/+extremist+subculture&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet
Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.
These search terms have been highlighted:
extremist
These terms only appear in links pointing to this page: subculture
Recruitment efforts of white extremist groups on the
Internet were examined using qualitative methods. There is
no evidence of a concerted effort to target children at
popular locations where children are active on the Internet.
Most propaganda writings are not well written and
persuasive. White extremists attempt to attract children with
text, MP3 music, and games, but their efforts are not well
organized and are more reactive than aggressive. Findings
are reported for the uses of the Internet, methods employed,
and how technology of the Internet contributes to these
activities.
Contents
Introduction
Purpose
Methodology
Results and Discussion
Internet Characteristics of Sites
Hacking, Electronic Terrorism, and Terror Guidance
Summary and Conclusions
Introduction
Growth of the World Wide Web raises concern about its "dark
side" and the need to guard children from pornography,
sexual predators, and hate groups. The Web can dispense
hate and terror and aid in recruitment by extremist groups.
Children and teenagers can be exposed to hate propaganda
and online hate recruitment, but there is little knowledge
about the actual practices of hate groups online in such
efforts. While many monitoring organizations warn about
hate groups online, the extent and nature of the recruitment
activities of white extremists with children has not been
studied in detail. This is a relatively new field of study, both
because of the nature of the content and the context.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the methods
used by white extremist organizations to recruit youths via
the Internet. The following research questions guided the
study:
1.To what extent are white extremists using the Internet to
target children?
2.What methodologies are employed by these groups in an
effort to appeal to children?
3.In what way does the technology of the Internet
contribute to these activities?
Methodology
Gaining direct access to extremist groups is impossible with
joining (Blee, 1991; Ezekiel, 1995). The approach used in
this study was an adaptation of observational research.
Observation of human behavior, or ethnography, is a
traditional technique for field settings. Unable to directly
observe the behavior of subjects, the analysis of their
products and messages on Web sites is the only way to
understand their behavior and intentions. Observation
provides knowledge of the context in which events occur and
enables the researcher to examine aspects that participants
are not aware of or unwilling to discuss (Hoepfl, 1997). There
is no knowledge of the observer's presence. Field notes
included descriptions of settings, activities, sounds, text, and
links, and all sites were saved for offline browsing to permit
more extensive analysis.
Subjects
There were 457 hardcore-white extremists groups in the
United States in 1999 (SPLC, 1999). Extremist groups can
also be classified as white supremacists, Neo-Nazis,
Christian Identity, and Holocaust Deniers, but they all share
a common message about white purity and superiority and
include Jews, Blacks, and homosexuals as targets of their
condemnatory attacks. Extremism is characterized by
dogmatic intolerance, expressed mildly or violently, and
inclines toward an inflexible obedience to an accepted
authority, shaped by a common ideology or sense of group
unity (Gardner, 1997). Among American white extremist
groups, the most distinctive trait is faithfulness to racial
purity. Much of their energy is invested in immunizing their
members from the effects of the mass media and on
recruitment (Billig, 1982).
The subjects for this study were those with prominent Web
sites: the Hammerskin Nation, National Alliance, Stormfront,
Aryan Nations, and the Word Church of The Creator
(WCOTC), selected after a literature review (Ferber, 1998;
HateWatch, 2000; Dees & Cocoran, 1996; Gardner, 1997;
SPLC, 1999).
Hammerskin Nation. In addition to the United States, the
Hammerskin Nation claims to have members in Canada,
Australia, Germany, and Britain. The Hammerskins practice
"leaderless resistance" and are organized into cells
supposedly like the Nazi SS divisions. On the Internet, it
functions as a clearinghouse of information and links for the
Hammerskin movement as well as for skinheads and other
white extremists. Links to white power music vendors and
information on a variety of topics of concern to young white
extremists are also available. Hammerskin Nation is a
neo-Nazi skinhead organization.
National Alliance. The National Alliance is the largest and
most active Neo-Nazi group in the United States. Its
emphasis on violence makes its Web pages distinctive among
those in this study. The National Alliance is a Neo-Nazi
organization with a high level of influence and leadership
within white extremism. While offering only a limited number
of links from its site, the National Alliance is linked to by
virtually every white extremist group or organization on the
Internet.
Stormfont. Stormfront promotes a message of "White Pride
World Wide." A major purpose is the creation of a virtual
community for both white extremist families and singles.
The site provides direct or indirect links to a variety of
extremist sites on the Internet, such as neo-Nazis,
skinheads, and various Christian-identity groups that
espouse racism, anti-Semitism and Christian
fundamentalism. Stormfront is an Internet-based, Neo-Nazi
organization.
Aryan Nations. The Aryan Nations functions as a
clearinghouse of information and links for the Aryan
movement, skinheads, and other extremists. Numerous links
provide propaganda and erroneous information about
targeted minority groups, Christianity and the Bible, as well
as other topics of concern to white extremists including
information on acts of terrorism. Aryan Nations has been far
less cautious about avoiding or disguising linkages to
controversial materials such as bomb making, pirate radio,
and computer viruses than any other site in this study. Aryan
Nations is a Neo-Nazi, Christian-identity organization with
strong ties to the skinhead movement. At the time of this
study, the Aryan Nations was involved in a lawsuit, which it
subsequently lost and paid substantial fines. Since then its
Web site has been inactive.
World Church of The Creator. As a part of the White Identity
religious movement, the World Church of the Creator
(WCOTC) is both anti-Semitic and anti-Christian. While
WCOTC is a loose knit group, it is one of the fastest growing
white extremist groups (ADL, 1999). There is an effort to
appeal to skinheads on its Web site. WCOTC has made
inroads with many individuals and groups, which is
demonstrated by its organization, Skinheads of the Racial
Holy War, and its use of the slogan RAHOWA, which
comprised of the first two letters in each of the words in the
phrase.
Data Collection and Analysis
Data collection occurred during a two-week period in the
summer of 2000. Much of the Internet operates within the
public domain. Copyright-protected materials were examined
within the context of educational fair use (U.S. Copyright
Office, 2000). Primary documents published on each site's
server were the central focus of this study. However, direct
links to secondary documents were also included. No attempt
was made to collect files, images, or other data from areas
that are restricted by membership or fees.
Narrative notes were read, analyzed, and reanalyzed to
categorize data based on emergent themes. Using a process
of constant comparison, commonalties were found for data
and new categories were formulated for data that did not fit
into existing categories. Coding of the data followed a
method of a categorization into coherent classes for
emergent themes. The classes were mutually exclusive.
Results and Discussion
Evidence From Internet Search Engines
Children may accidentally enter a Web site when searching
for school-related information or free, downloadable MP3
music. For example, when researching such topics as Martin
Luther King, Jr. or the Holocaust, a child's search can turn up
sites such as "Martin Luther King Jr.: A Historical
Examination" or "What really happened with the Holoco$t
[sic]?" These sites appear to be authoritative, especially to a
juvenile, but each site offers historically inaccurate
information and extremist versions of historic events and
personages. For example, the alternative "King" site
(http://www.martinlutherking.org) contains pictures of Dr.
King with his family; the text on the links on the main page
provide no clue about what will follow, which is anti-King
propaganda. The site alleges that Dr. King was an agent of
communism, a disruptive force in American history, and
accuses him of numerous acts of plagiarism. Stormfront,
however, does not link its main site directly to or from the
"King" pages. Links to this site were provided by 48 different
Web sites, the bulk of them monitoring groups and
educational institutions using the site as an example of the
need for effective Web evaluation (WebTrends, August 25,
2000).
In the other example, "What Really Happened With the
Holoco$t?," there is a revisionist history and Holocaust
denial, hosted by the National Socialist Hitler Youth Legion. It
links to other revisionist and Holocaust denial sites, including
revisionist materials on Stormfront, Hammerskin Nation, and
National Alliance's Web sites. These and other Holocaust
denial sites are rarely listed on child-oriented search engines
such as Yahooligans and AskJeeves, the two most popular
search engines for children (MediaMetrix, June 2000). These
sites are accessible by using other search engines such as
Yahoo, AltaVista, or Fast Search, however.
Evidence From Sites Designed Specifically for
Children and Teens
Creativity for Kids. This is a Web site developed by the World
Church of The Creator (WCOTC) that offers downloadable
coloring book pages and crossword puzzles about "white
pride" in a subtle "kid-friendly" format. Materials are written
at an age-appropriate level. The site invites children to
e-mail questions about the online crossword puzzles. While
WCOTC packages hate messages within the context of a
religion that is anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, and anti-everyone
except whites, its children's section mainly promotes white
pride. This site was linked to by only 13 different Web pages
and the majority of links to this page were from extremist
monitoring sites and other WCOTC pages (WebTrends,
August 25, 2000).
Stormfront for Kids. The site is purported to be the Web page
of a pre-teen boy, who shares his understanding of the world
with his peers, but it is the official "kid's" page and is a highly
organized and technologically savvy production. If offers a
free download of "White Power Doom" as well as two white
power MP3 music files. One page was dedicated to a
discussion of the dangers of Pokemon for white children and
white culture. Several innocuous links to materials on Celtic
culture were also provided. The link to a special children's
and teens' chat forum was inoperable. Children visiting the
page have comprehensive access to all of Stormfront's online
materials as well as to its extensive list of external links.
Linkage to the site, however, is limited. A WebTrends search
of the page's URL revealed 37 links to the site; its host site,
Stormfront, is actually linked to by over one thousand
different Web pages (25 August 2000).
Aryan Nations Youth Corps (ANYAC). This site functions as
the "youth counterpart of Aryan Nations" (Aryan Nations, 6
August 2000, p. 5). It is designed for "young WHITE ARYAN
PEOPLE dedicated to the preservation and building of a
racially pure homeland" (p.5). Other than a basic outline of
what it means to be an Aryan youth, the site is quite limited
in information and appeal. There are no internal or external
links associated with the page. However, children who
manage to find the page can access plenty of information
regarding bomb making and other violent acts by selecting
the Aryan Underground link on Aryan Nation's main page.
ANYAC is linked to by 61 different Web pages, according to
an AltaVista search conducted using WebTrends'
popularity-tracking software (25 August 2000).
Hammerskin Nation. This Web site is geared toward teens
and young adults with links to all other extremist groups in
this study. Links to a variety of other Hammerskin and
skinhead groups are provided. The site offers free MP3
downloads and a banner link to Panzerfaust Records.
Panzerfaust Records is a Minnesota based music label which
specializes in the production and distribution of radical
pro-White rock music. In German, Panzerfaust means
armored fist.
Additional links to other white power music vendors make the
site appealing to teens. Hammerskin Nation employs
cutting-edge Internet technology and a user-friendly layout
to appeal to its audience. Announcements of events such as
concerts as well as up-to-date information on white power
news and events enhance the site's appeal. A variety of chat
forums serve as a place for youth to meet and share ideas
and information. This site also has also engaged in targeting
- by name, organization, and e-mail address - its enemies.
Despite an obvious effort to appeal to a youthful audience,
Hammerskin Nation's official policy is to not allow
membership for those under the age of twenty-one. Only 45
links to the page were listed by AltaVista (WebTrends, 25
August 2000).
Evidence From the Discourse Analysis
Name Calling
All the extremist groups studied employ various propaganda
techniques, but especially name-calling. This technique
arouses prejudices by labeling the object as something the
target audience should fear or hate. The purpose is to sway
the audience to reject a person or an idea because of a
perceived negative association of the idea or person with the
symbol. The front pages tend to promote "white pride" rather
than messages of violence or of ethnic or racial hatred.
WCOTC and Hammerskins use epithets more than older,
more established groups, such as the National Alliance and
Stormfront. Older, more educated white extremists, such as
Don Black of Stormfront and Dr. William Pierce of the
National Alliance, lead the latter organizations. The term
"mud race" is a popular euphemism for non-whites, but just
a few clicks into any of these Web sites reveals language that
is much more direct, such as "nigger." WCOTC openly
defends use of this pejorative term:
"This is a deliberate choice of words. As we state on
page 49 in NATURE'S ETERNAL RELIGION, if we are
for White Racial supremacy then we must stop giving
them credit and respect which they did not earn, do
not deserve, and never did. Again, it is very strange
that the same people who are so affronted by the
niggers not getting their "proper respect" are totally
unconcerned about the vicious, unwarranted attacks
by the niggers and other mud races upon the White
Race and will not lift a finger in the defense of their
own kind. They seem to deem it quite proper that the
niggers should be loyal to their race, the Jews should
be loyal to their race, but when the White Man is
asked to show a loyalty to his own race, he is
immediately denounced, even by members of his own
race, as being a racist, a bigot, a Nazi, and many
other derogatory smear words that the Jews have
concocted." (WCOTC, no date, p. 3)
References to Authority
References to authoritative sources serve a useful function
for white extremists. For example, Aryan Nations offers the
following information that it claims comes from the Sydney
Morning Herald,an Australian newspaper:
"Most victims of race crime - about 90 per cent - are
White. Almost 1 million White Americans were
murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by black
Americans in 1992, compared with about 132,000
blacks who were murdered, robbed, assaulted or
raped by Whites. Blacks are committing more than 50
times the number of violent racial crimes of Whites."
(Aryan Nations, 6 August 2000).
This is an obvious propaganda technique, presenting
erroneous information, not providing alternative sources to
show more than one side of an issue or variable estimation.
The actual article is not formally cited on the page so
checking the facts becomes a greater effort than many
readers will be willing to undertake. Of course, children who
have yet to develop critical thinking skills may not question
authenticity anymore than do millions of adults who respond
to hoax anonymous, unsigned, unsourced e-mail messages
(e.g., http://www.snopes.com/).
Deference to Documented Authority
The Aryan Nations uses the American Declaration of
Independence for justification and imitates it in its Aryan
Declaration of Independence
(http://www.nidlink.com/~aryanvic/declar.html). A list of
grievances about the current federal government, akin to
those about the British monarchy, is offered as justification
for this call to action against the federal government.
Another example of this technique is a reference to Samuel
Adams' speech at the Philadelphia State House, made on 1
August 1776 (Stormfront, 14 August 2000, p. 1) on
Stormfront's main page. The following excerpt is offered in
an effort to legitimize Stormfront's agenda:
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility
of servitude better than the animating contest of
freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your
counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands
which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you,
and may posterity forget that ye were our
countrymen." (Stormfront, 14 August 2000, p. 1).
This quotation is taken out of context and used in conjunction
with other quotations from notable Americans including
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The quotation
suggests a natural ally for a group professing to offer its
resources to "those courageous men and women fighting to
preserve their White Western culture, ideals, and freedom of
speech and association... ." (Stormfront, 14 August 2000, p.
1).
Stormfront's Web site offers numerous quotations from
famous Western politicians and philosophers. Each quotation
is an anachronism.
Religious Authority
Some white extremist groups, such as Aryan Nations, cloak
themselves in religion, particularly Christianity, to bolster
their claims. Others, such as the World Church of the
Creator, bash Christianity, preferring instead their own
version of a whites-only Godliness. It is interesting that many
extremists call themselves reverend, such as the Reverend
Matt Hale of the World Church of the Creator and Reverends
Mike Teague and Richard Butler of the Aryan Nations.
Religious arguments, which may appeal to some adolescents,
often appeal to divine authority, as in this example:
"WE BELIEVE [sic] that the Cananite Jew is the
natural enemy of our Aryan (White) race. This is [sic]
attested by scripture and all secular history. The Jew
is like a destroying virus that attacks our racial body
to destroyer [sic] Aryan culture and the purity of our
Race. Those of our Race who resist these attacks are
called "chosen and faithful" John 8:44;
1Thessalonians 2:15; Revelations 17:14." (Aryan
Nation, no date, p. 3).
Aryan Nations also uses the Bible to sanction action: "Psalm
149:6 Let the high Praises of God be in their mouth, and a
two-edged sword in their hand... ." (Aryan Nations, no date,
p. 2). Stormfront uses biblical scriptures to justify its racial
philosophy and to encourage action. At Stormfront, Christ is
portrayed as anti-Semitic (Stormfront, 14 August 2000).
Scientific Authority
Scientific ideas, particularly Darwinian evolutionary theory,
are used as a justification for many of the ideas promoted by
the groups, in particular the National Alliance, Stormfront,
and Aryan Nations. Like the Nazis before them, they rely
upon a blend of science, ignorance, and mythology to prop
up their arguments. For example, the National Alliance
advises:
"The culture of a race, free of alien influences, is
telling evidence of that race's essential nature. The
African Negro with a cow-dung hairdo, a bone
through his nose, and teeth filed down to sharp
points, in other words, presents to us a far more
accurate image of the Negro essence than does the
American Black in a business suit who has been
trained to drive an automobile, operate a typewriter,
and speak flawless English ... . Negro culture
inferiority is the consequence of the physical
inadequacy of the Negro brain in dealing with
abstract concepts. On the other hand, the Negro
shows an ability approaching that of the White at
mental tasks requiring only memory. That is why the
Negro can be trained relatively easily to adapt to
many aspects of White culture ... . It has been well
known since the large-scale intelligence testing of
U.S. Army recruits in World War I that the average
Negro IQ is approximately 15 per cent below that of
the average White. Apologists for the Blacks have
tried to explain away the earlier test scores as being
due to the effects of segregated schools and Black
poverty; i.e. they claimed the tests were "culturally"
biased." (Pierce, no date, p. 1).
Institutional Authority
Individuals or organizations cited as information sources
often have apparently impressive credentials that may not
bear up under scrutiny. One example is the Institute for
Historical Review (IHR), a Web site linked from Stormfront,
WCOTC, and many other extremist Web sites. IHR (no
date) offers revisionist perspectives about the Holocaust,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill,
WWII, Fred A Leuchter Jr., Stalinism and other topics. The
site is a sophisticated propaganda effort. Information is
neither balanced nor historically accurate. Anne Frank, Simon
Wiesenthal, Elie Wiesel, and the U.S. Memorial Holocaust
Museum are attacked in numerous articles published by the
Institute's online journal. For example:
"Influential organizations and much of the western
media promote a quasi-religious Anne Frank cult. She
has become a kind of secular saint. Along with many
other Belsen camp inmates, Anne came down with
typhus, from which she died in mid-March 1945. She
was not killed or murdered. Anne Frank perished -
like millions of others, both Jewish and non-Jewish, in
Europe during that terrible time - an indirect victim of
history's most devastating war ... . Few people
realize that Anne, along with father and sister, and
thousands of other Jews, "survived"
Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her father, Otto Frank, came
down with typhus and was transferred to the camp
infirmary there to recover. He was one of thousands
of sick and feeble Jews who were left behind when
the Germans abandoned the camp in January 1945,
shortly before it was overrun by the Soviets. He died
in Switzerland in August 1980 ... . If the German
policy had been to kill Anne Frank and her father,
they would not have survived Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Their fate, as tragic as it was, cannot be reconciled
with the Holocaust extermination story." (Weber, M.,
no date, p. 1).
After earlier efforts to deny Anne Frank's existence failed,
IHR and other Holocaust deniers now attempt to use her
death from typhus to disprove the Holocaust, although they
also deny that she wrote the diary. IHR has no association
with any legitimate historical organizations or history
departments. Links to Holocaust denial sites such as
Zendelsite, Revisionism.com, the Blacks and Jews
Newspage, as well as other Holocaust denial Web sites
around the world reveal the true purpose of the site. The
belief of white extremists about the Holocaust as a hoax
created by Jews, is explained in this passage:
"[The Holocaust] along with Christianity, ranks as one
of the biggest lies and biggest hoaxes in history.
Privately, among themselves, the Jews published the
growth of their total world population between 1938
and 1948, as increasing from approximately
16,600,000 to 17,650,000, an increase of over a
million. This would be an outrageous impossibility, if
it had been decimated by 6,000,000 during this same
period ... . It has reaped tremendous dividends for
them. Having worldwide monopoly of the propaganda
machinery, they were able to put that lie across with
little or no opposition." (WCOTC, no date, p. 3)
Writings archived on the National Alliance and Stormfront
Web sites, as well as content linked to by these and all of the
other sties included in this study attempt to cast doubt on the
reality of the Holocaust by denying historical facts and by
attacking survivors and witnesses. By alleging that the
Holocaust is part of a world-wide Jewish conspiracy to
maintain power and generate money via a "Holohoax"
industry, as the term "Holoco$t" suggests.
"For many years, scholars and researchers have been
delving into the history of World War II, and their
research has cast a lot of doubt on the commonly
accepted 6 million figure for Jewish losses in that
war. Now undoubtedly you've heard Jewish
spokesmen decrying this movement among historians
and researchers to bring our history books into closer
accord with the facts. This movement is usually called
"revisionism," because of the belief of its adherents
that the history of wars is usually written by the
victors, and the victors often have a lot of reasons for
lying: covering up their own atrocities, and justifying
extreme actions taken against those they wish to
paint as "evil." But what these Jewish
Post #525 is important to read for those with children on the internet.
It did not all print, but the Url is at the top.
Yes, even I was surprised to find so much effort is being put into hate sites targeted at our children.
It appears, that I posted it with out any names in the too field.........LOL
I also posted several posts tonight to "All" of you.
Thank you for that information. The cyber world is a scary place for kids and teens if they are left unsupervised. We still pay for the ever frustrating AOL, because we can at least regulate the childrens' surfing through the "parental controls" built into AOL's system.
Most important, the computer is in a main room where Mom and Dad have an over the shoulder view.
For those with kids on the net, please do google your child's name. I once found my daughter's name, address, phone number, school and grade listed after we had attended a sporting event. Subsequent to my phone call, they quickly removed the site.
Missiles of Terror - Hitler and Saddam
A good understandable report on missiles the use and reasons for their use.
Too large to post here and it didn't like my computer, but it is worth reading.
granny
This is the html version of the file http://etd02.lnx390.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0905102-111038/unrestricted/FinalThesis.pdf.
G o o g l e automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:X00u4ViNYnsJ:etd02.lnx390.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0905102-111038/unrestricted/FinalThesis.pdf++by+covert+terror++railroads&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet
Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.
These search terms have been highlighted:
covert
terror
railroad
LOL. I was skipping around in the document for awhile and then started to enjoy the latter part on missile proliferation and the nations involved. As the focus turned to China, my computer froze. My computer has never done that!
Must be that Red China.
That Red China will do that to you.
I read a book years ago, about what it was like when China
went red, very sad.
The young lady started so full of support, and ended with
the truth.
I think it was based on fact, as in the years since I read it, it is still coming true.
Sorry it jammed the computer, I have sure been overloading mine.......
This is not only interesting, but also well written.
Part One:
G o o g l e's cache of http://www.juancole.com/essays/qaeda.htm as retrieved on Oct 5, 2004 06:29:09 GMT.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:r_xDDF-YGOUJ:www.juancole.com/essays/qaeda.htm+That+'even+after+we'are+done'+means+Al+Qaeda+knows+we+have+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet
These search terms have been highlighted:
even
after
we
are
done
means
al
qaeda
knows
we
Juan Cole * Informed Comment *
Thoughts on the
Middle East,
History, Islam, and
Religion
Juan Cole is
Professor of
History at the
University of
Michigan
Presented at "Genocide and Terrorism:
Probing the Mind of the Perpetrator,"
Yale Center for Genocide Studies, New
Haven, April 9, 2003.
Al-Qaedas Doomsday Document and
Psychological Manipulation
Juan Cole
In this paper I present a fresh reading
and analysis of the first part of the
so-called Doomsday Document, found
in the luggage of September 11
hijacker Muhammad Atta. It follows on
two other close readings, offered by
Hassan Mneimeh and Kanaan Makiya,
and by Bruce Lincoln. My question here
is slightly different from the ones they
asked of the document. I am asking
here how the hijackers misused various
techniques of Islamic spirituality to
achieve a psychological state of mind
in which it was possible for them to
commit mass murder and their own
suicides. On reflection, then, it seems
to me that the text was probably
authored by Muhammad Atta himself,
the only Egyptian on the hijacking
team. Another possibility is that the
document was pulled together from
instructions by more than one person,
some of them not native Arabic
speakers, and not carefully edited by
an Arab with a good style.
It is worth noting that I have been
wrestling with this text since the FBI
released it, but have found working
with it to be extremely difficult on an
emotional level. Like most Americans,
I was traumatized by September 11
and by the enormity of the crime
against humanity then perpetrated. As
a friend of Muslims and an admirer of
Islam as a religion, I also had great
difficulty coming to terms with the was
in which such an act could have come
out of even a fringe cult within Islam.
On a first reading, I had been struck by
what seemed to me Sufi emphases,
coming out of Islamic mysticism. I
suspected a South Asian or Afghan
influence on the Arab jihadis gathered
in southern Afghanistan. But I have
concluded that the text exhibits not so
much Sufism as simple common Islamic
spirituality, if put to monstrous uses.
Even the Muslim Brotherhood strain of
Islamic fundamentalism did not
explicitly reject Sufi figures such as
al-Ghazali, and there was a Sufi tinge
to some Brotherhood texts and
practices. This would have carried over
to the radical splinter groups, al-Jihad
al-Islami and al-Gama`a al-Islamiyyah,
and Atta almost certainly was affiliated
with one or the other of these. Only
four of the five Arabic texts have been
released by the FBI, with the first page
unavailable. Page 2, the first of the
released pages, contains 15
instructions aimed at preparing the
hijackers psychologically for their
action on the night before they were to
carry it out.
The second page begins with a
hadith or saying attributed to the
Prophet Muhammad, One of the
companions said, The messenger of
God commanded that it be read before
a raid, so we have read it, and have
gained booty, and remained safe and
sound. The prophetic saying or hadith
refers to several elements important to
this letter, including the idea that
conducting raids against the enemy is
Koranically sanctioned (even though
the enemy that concerned the Koran
was the pagan Meccans, not US
Christians and Jews). It ties success
and safety in this enterprise to reading
or reciting holy verses. Recitation is
thus essential to establishing the set
of mind and the spiritual conditions
conducive to success. Although the
saying refers to gaining booty, the
Koranic Surah of the Spoils (al-Anfal)
actually insists that booty is not the
central reason for raids, saying The
spoils belong to God and the
Messenger; so fear you God and set
things right between you, and obey you
God and His Messenger, if you are
believers. (K. 8:2). That is, the raid
(ghazwah) is supposed to be a selfless
act, even if spoils are taken.
The letter now turns to
preparations for the actual operation.
This section is entitled, The Last
Night. The raiders are directed to
vow to accept death. The word for
vowing to accept, tabayu`, is related
to the term bay`ah, which means
giving fealty to, used to describe
giving allegiance to a caliph or leader
of the Muslim community. It is pledge
of loyalty, but instead of being given to
the leader of Islam, here it is proffered
to death itself. Muslim Brotherhood
founder Hasan al-Banna had written,
Always intend to go for Jihad and
desire martyrdom. Prepare for it as
much as you can. Then, the document
advises, the hijacker must renew
admonition (tajdid at-tanbih). The
reference is to an admonition of the
base self (an-nafs), which Muslim
mystics saw as the primary impediment
to undertaking selfless acts of
worship. In this document, the carnal
self is the enemy of the vow to die,
selfishly seeking to hang on to life, and
so must be vanquished. Admonishing
the self is the way to contain it and
remain true to the death vow.
The raider is then directed to shave the
extra hair on his body, to perfume
himself, and to ritually wash himself.
Instruction 2 is merely practical, saying
that the raider should know the plan
well from every angle. Instruction 3
reverts to mindset. The raider must
read two chapters of the Koran, The
Spoils and Repentance. He must
meditate on their meaning and on the
rewards God has promised in them to
martyrs. This immersion in key sacred
texts is important to attaining the
mindset of the martyr, to thinking of
oneself as already dead and preparing
to receive the delights of divine
recompense. The Spoils was revealed
after the battle of Uhud between the
pagan Meccans and the Muslims of
Medina in 625, in which a small Muslim
force of 700 defeated a much larger
attacking army. The general context is
thus the Muslim raids on and wars
against the Meccans (there were 70
raids and 3 major wars). Uhud came
after the Battle of Badr. The Surah of
Spoils thus situates the Twin Towers
and Pentagon raids in Islamic history
for the al-Qaeda cult. It mapped the
United States onto Pagan Mecca. Both
had superior military force and both
were extremely wealthy commercial
centers. The earlier Battle of Badr had
aimed at interfering in the Meccan
caravan trade as a way of reducing
their material superiority over Medina.
September 11, which likewise struck a
commercial target, was envisaged as
the first of a three-part attack,
according to John Walker Lindh, the
first of which was executed on
September 11. The second would
bring the US to its knees, and the
third would finish it off.
The Surah of Repentance (K. 9)
distinguishes between idolaters who
had made a covenant with Muhammad
and those who had sought to wipe out
Islam. With regard to the second
group, 9:5 says Then, when the sacred
months are drawn away, slay the
idolaters wherever you find them, and
take them, and confine them, and lie in
wait for them at every place of
ambush. The way of thinking that
allowed the hijackers to apply this to
the US is highly abstract and
unnuanced. Did it really not matter
that Americans are Christians and
Jews, not idolaters? That these
verses referred to a historical battle
with Meccans, not to a twenty-first
century cultural struggle? And what of
the verse that follows 9:5, But if they
repent, and perform the prayer, and
pay the alms, then let them go their
way; God is All-forgiving,
All-compassionate. And if any of the
idolaters seeks of thee protection,
grant him protection . . . What
opportunity would the troops in the
Twin Towers have had to seek
protection or repent (the whole point
of the Surah)? The hijackers
convinced themselves that they were
seventh-century Muslim raiders
defending the Medina of the Muslim
world against aggressive American
Meccans soldiers, who were determined
to wipe out true Islam. Their
comportment and techniques were
therefore those of the successful raider
against a superior and deadly enemy.
Instruction 3 returns to the
battle with the carnal soul. The night
before action, the raider must remind
the base self (tadhkir an-nafs) to listen
and obey. The raider is warned that he
will encounter decisive turning-points
such that for his soul to listen and
obey is absolutely crucial. An internal
dialogue is suggested between the
raiders determined rational self and
his carnal soul: Train your base self,
make it understand, convince it, and
goad it on to this end. The base self
is depicted almost as a brute animal
that can be trained to do as it is told
with sufficient effort, evoking the
techniques and terminology of the
Islamic tradition of piety. For Sufis,
training (riyadah) of the carnal
involved deliberate acts of self-denial.
The Muslim Brotherhood tradition in
Egypt had not, unlike the Salafis,
entirely rejected Sufi ideas. Al-Banna
was an admirer of the great medieval
Sufi thinker Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. He
wrote, Strive hard against your own
soul until it is under your full control.
Lower your gaze, control your
emotions, overcome your sexual urge,
and elevate it via means that are
decent and lawful. An early
Brotherhood member told a Sufi
organization, The internal composition
of the Muslim Brotherhood was in
certain aspects like that of your sufi
community. We used to live together
for forty days doing dhikr [repetition of
verses] and learning jurisprudence . .
. The Muslim Brotherhood and its
offshoots, such as the al-Jihad
al-Islami of Ayman al-Zawahiri, thus
continued to use terminology that
would be recognizable in a medieval
Sufi Manual for Adepts. They
extracted this terminology, however,
from its original context in Sufi
brotherhoods and mystical shaykhs or
leaders.
The author of the document now
quotes from the Surah of Spoils, 8:46,
And obey God, and His Messenger,
and do not quarrel together, and so
lose heart, and your power depart; and
be patient; surely God is with the
patient. This verse helps show why
this chapter of the Koran is so
important to the hijackers. They take
from it key psychological cues,
stressing forbearance, group unity, and
infinite patience, a patience that
conjures the presence of God Himself.
In the small group interactions they
had while pursuing flight training and
leading up to September 11, there
must have been many petty quarrels
and short tempers. Some of that
pressure was relieved by exercising at
the gym or drinking in bars and strip
clubs. But constantly turning to verses
like 8:46 was another way of
maintaining group unity and individual
composure.
The fifth instruction concerns
staying up late at night and engaging
in fervent prayer for victory and Gods
help in accomplishing their task, and in
keeping them hidden. The custom of
tahajjud or after-midnight prayers is
important to the traditions of Muslim
piety and mysticism. A prophetic
saying narrated by Muslim goes, Every
night, when the last third of it remains,
God, our Sustainer, the Blessed, the
Superior, descends to the lowest
heaven saying, Is there anyone to ask
Me so that I may grant him his
request? Is there anyone to invoke Me
so that I may respond to his
invocation? Is there anyone seeking My
forgiveness so that I may forgive him?
Al-Banna wrote, Always be
conscious of God; remind yourself of
the Hereafter and prepare for it. Be
determined and aspire to seek His
pleasure. Bring yourself closer to God
by performing extra night prayers
(tahajjud) and fasting at least three
days every month. Of course, staying
up to the last third of the night is no
easy task, and apparently coffee first
became popular in concentrated form
as a drug used by Yemeni and then
Ottoman Sufis trying to stay up late for
the especially blessed night prayers.
In order to maintain a liminal
consciousness committed to suicide
and mass murder, the hijackers may
well have kept themselves
sleep-deprived, praying into the small
hours of the morning, and then getting
up for flight school or other activities.
Certainly, they were advised to do so
on their last night. The activity of
praying, chanting and reciting through
the night would aid in the
auto-hypnosis necessary to maintaining
their self-image as martyrs vowed to
die.
The sixth instruction
underlines the importance of constant
internal recitation of sacred phrases,
something analogous to the mantra in
Hindu mysticism. Whereas Sufi orders
developed their own phrases for
constant repetition, called dhikr, the
Salafi influence on author of this
document is underlined by the
assertion that the best phrases for in
constant repletion are those drawn
from the Koran itself. Al-Banna himself
had compiled a short book called
Selections (al-Mathurat) of Koran
verses and prophetic sayings related to
the practice of dhikr. In another book,
he wrote, Partake in much
remembrance (dhikr) both of the heart
and the tongue and recite the
renowned supplications of the
Prophet. There is at least a slim
relationship in some sources between
dhikr and jihad. The greater jihad of
the Sufis like al-Ghazali, which involved
conquest of the carnal soul, was
considered by them to be greatly aided
by the technique of dhikr. It is
possible that a suicide/mass murder
operation like this one was considered
by al-Qaeda to combine the virtues of
both the greater (spiritual) and lesser
(military) jihads, and that therefore the
techniques appropriate to the former
should be applied to the latter.
Further, there is a widely cited hadith
or prophetic saying that a person who
engages in dhikr is better than a
mujahid or a holy warrior. A Sunni
Encyclopedia tells us that the medieval
jurist Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari (1989
ed. 11:251) explained that what is
meant by dhikr in Abu al-Darda's
narration of the primacy of dhikr over
jihad is the complete dhikr and
consciousness of Allah's greatness
whereby one becomes better, for
example, than those who battle the
disbelievers without such recollection.
The seventh instruction employs the
language of Muslim asceticism and
mysticism to reinforce the urge to
suicide or self-martyrdom. The mass
murderer is encouraged to see his
action as selfless. He is to purify his
heart and cleanse it of stains. He
is to forget that there is even such a
thing as this world. He is informed
that the time for play has ended, and
the rendezvous Eternal Truth is
nearing. He is encouraged to regret
how much of his life he has wasted,
i.e., spent on impious pursuits or in
search of merely material benefits. He
should take advantage of these, his
last hours, to offer up to God acts that
will draw him near to the divine and
express his obedience. Whereas
traditional Islamic piety urged
detachment from the material world as
an aid to ethical and spiritual
fulfillment, the Doomsday Document
urges it as a support for suicide and
massive killing of civilians.
There may be a hint in this paragraph
of a strategy of using guilt to
manipulate the hijackers. We know
that al-Qaeda operatives were often
encouraged to antinomian behavior,
including hanging out at strip clubs and
with fast women. Khalid Shaikh
Muhammad was a notorious playboy
and high roller during his years in the
Philippines. Several of the hijackers
were known o frequent US strip clubs
and to drink heavily. Bin Laden
admitted that the hijackers were not
Muslims in the ordinary (i.e. Wahhabi)
sense of the term, and it was to this
strategy of antinomianism that he
probably was referring. The sinful
lifestyle probably had several
advantages. It served as a form of
false flag tradecraft, that is, of covert
deception, in throwing off any
intelligence organizations that might
have been tracking the hijackers as
suspected Islamist terrorists. Such
libertine behavior was in part a cover,
insofar as it marked the operatives as
irreligious. But it may have had other
implications as well. It served as a
reward to young men who would end
their lives early, allowing them to live
out fantasies and feel that had lived
full lives. The earthly delights may
also have been intended to serve as a
reminder for the even more impressive
heavenly delights promised after their
suicides. Were the American exotic
dancers intended to be symbols of the
houris or maidens of paradise the
document mentions elsewhere?
Finally, despite all the good tactical
reasons they had for behaving this
way, the hijackers must have felt some
guilt over it, as committed Muslim
fundamentalists. This last feeling is
played upon in paragraph 7. The time
for play is over. They have wasted
much of their lives with unworthy,
worldly activities. Now they must feel
the full regret and prepare to make
amends with a final night of worship,
drawing close, and preparation for the
rendezvous with God. Their earthly
lives have been in any case ruined by
their antinomian activities, so why no
not just cast off that old skin and
emerge into a new existence in the
afterlife?
The fifteenth and final instruction
concerns the morning of September
11. The hijackers are to prayer their
dawn obligatory prayers
Part 2:
The fifteenth and final instruction
concerns the morning of September
11. The hijackers are to prayer their
dawn obligatory prayers in
congregation. Only the Friday noon
prayers are necessarily prayed in
congregation, but committed Muslims
often believe that a special award
attaches to going to the mosque to
pray even some of the five daily
prayers in congregation. Al-Banna had
written, try to pray in congregation in
the mosque as frequently as possible.
Al-Qaeda also clearly held that group
prayer contributes to solidarity. The
hijacker is then to proceed to the
morning dhikr or recitation, and should
continue to reflect on the reward of
saying dawn prayers in congregation.
After performing their morning routines
and before leaving the apartment, the
hijackers are instructed to perform their
ablutions once again. The reason
given for this action is that angels
seek forgiveness for you as long as you
have prepared ablutions and they pray
on your behalf. The hijackers are
encouraged to live in a magical world
of omens and angels, where small
ritual acts serve as guarantees of
divine succor . . .
The beginning instructions of the
Doomsday Document give us vital
insight into how a normal, middle
class, secular young man like Ziad
Jarrah, a Lebanese engineer with at
Turkish-German live-in girlfriend, could
become a mass murderer and suicide.
He and others were convinced that they
were reenacting sacred history. The
United States was not a Christian
country but rather a reincarnation of
pagan Mecca. As Mecca was
attempting to invade Medina and
destroy Islam, so the United States
had invaded the Muslim world to
undermine Islam. The hardy band of
real Muslims who recognized the
extreme threat had no choice but to
undertake a raid (ghazwah) against
this much superior foe. Just as small
bands of early Muslims often inflicted
defeats on larger Meccan forces, so a
handful of young believers could hope
to inflict a grievous blow on the 21st
century Mecca of the West.
The hijackers thus saw themselves as
holy warriors, as Muslim raiders. Their
victims were not even human, but
rather mere animals for ritual
slaughter. Atta and other handlers
convinced them to live a double life.
Inwardly they were committed to piety
and asceticism and self-sacrifice.
Outwardly they frequented bars and
strip clubs, both to throw the
intelligence agencies off the scent and
to get a foretaste of the rewards of
martyrdom. If it was Bin Laden who
put them up to this double life, he may
well have done so with personal
knowledge of the kind of guilt it would
induce, and the kind of self-hatred and
openness to manipulation to which the
guilt could lead.
The internal psychology of commitment
to murder on a huge scale and to die in
the process was underpinned by an
almost obsessive-compulsive
immersion in the details of repeated
rituals. Specific phrases were recited
with every activity, constantly. The
internal monologue was drowned in a
set of sacred mantras, leaving no
space for questioning orders. The
constant hum of the recitation may
have been intended in part to induce a
liminal state that was not entirely
conscious. The intensity and lack of
small talk that those who met them
remarked on in the hijackers probably
derived from their silent, constant dhikr
or repetition of sacred verses. This
liminal consciousness may have been
reinforced by deliberate sleep
deprivation, and by bouts of
drunkenness. Employed as they were
intended, the techniques of Islamic
mysticism have produced saints and
sages like Rumi and al-Ghazali.
Misused as a form of brainwashing,
they appear to have contributed to
among the largest mass murders in
history.
Appendix:
First section of the Doomsday
Document
Trans. J. Cole
The Last Night
1) Vow to accept death, renew
admonition [of the base self], shave
the extra hair on the body, perfume
yourself, and ritually wash yourself.
2) Know the plan well from every
angle. Anticipate the reaction or the
resistance of the enemy.
3) Read the surahs of Repentance and
The Spoils. Contemplate their meaning
and the bounties God has prepared and
established for the martyrs.
4) Remind your base self to listen and
obey this night, for you will be exposed
to decisive turning points wherein
listening and obeying is one hundred
percent necessary. Train your base
self, make it understand, convince it,
and goad it on to this end. And obey
God, and His Messenger, and do not
quarrel together, and so lose heart,
and your power depart; and be patient;
surely God is with the patient.
5) Staying up at night and imploring in
prayer for victory and strength and
perspicuous triumph, and the easing of
our task, and concealment.
6) Much recitation of sacred phrases.
Know that the best of dhikr is reciting
the noble Quran. This is the consensus
of the people of knowledge or, indeed,
of the most learned. It is enough for
us that it is the words of the creator of
the heavens and the earth toward
Whom you are advancing.
7) Purify your heart and cleanse it of
stains. Forget and be oblivious to that
thing called the world. For, the time
for playing has passed, and the time
has arrived for the rendezvous with the
eternal Truth. How much of our lives
we have wasted! Shall we not take
advantage of these hours to offer up
acts of nearness [to God] and
obedience?
8) Let your breast be filled with
gladness, for there is nothing between
you and your wedding but mere
seconds. Thereby will begin a happy
and contented life and immortal
blessing with the prophets, the true
ones and the righteous martyrs. They
are the best of companions. We
beseech God for his grace. So seek
good omens. For the Prophet, may
blessings and peace be upon him, used
to love divination about every matter.
9) Then fix your gaze, such that if you
fall into tribulations, you will know how
to behave, how to stand firm, how to
say We are, verily, from God and to
him we shall return. Thus you will
know that what has befallen you is not
because of any error you committed.
That you committed an error was not
so that you would face tribulations.
That calamity of yours is in fact from
God, may he be exalted and
glorifiedso as to elevate your station
and cause your sins to be forgiven.
Know that it is only a matter of
seconds before it shines forth by the
permission of God. Then blessed is he
who attains the great recompense from
God. God says, Did you think you
would enter paradise when God knows
those who strove among you, and
knows the patient? Am hasabtum an
tadkhulu al-jannat . . .
10) Then recite (tadhkharu) the words
of God, You were wishing for death
before you encountered it, then you
saw it, and are looking for it . . . And
you wanted it. After than, recite the
verse Kam min fiah qalilah ghalaba
fiah kathirah bi idhn Allah . . . And In
yunsirukum Allah fa la ghalib lakum . .
11) Bring your base self, as well as
your brethren, to remembrance through
prayers. And contemplate their
meaning (recitations [adhkar] of
morning and evening, recitations of
city [baldah], recitations of . .
.[makan], recitations of meeting [liqa
al-Tur] . . . ].
12) The jet: (with breath [an-nafs],
suitcase, clothing, knife, tools, identity
papers, passport and all your papers.]
13) Inspect your weapon before setting
out and before you even begin to set
out and [CBS: Let every one of you
sharpen his knife and kill his animal
(dhabiha) and bring about comfort and
relief of his slaughter before the
journey. ]
14) Pull your clothes tightly about you,
for this is the way of the pious
ancestors (as-salaf as-salih), may God
be pleased with them. They pulled
their clothing tightly about them before
a battle. Pull your shoelaces tight and
wear tight socks that grip the shoes
and do not come out of them. All of
these are means that we have been
commanded to adopt. God has
hasabna and he is the best of
advocates (naim al-wakil).
15) Pray the morning prayers in
congregation and reflect on the reward
for doing so while you are performing
recitation afterwards. Do not go out of
your apartment without having
performed ablutions. For the angels
seek forgiveness for you as long as you
have prepared ablutions and they pray
on your behalf.
Home | J. Cole Academic Page
Wow! Is Osama ghostwriter for Kerry or what???
Gives me the creeps to read what these animals themselves read the night before 9/11.
I fear that there are many ghost writers for kerry, and none
of them to my liking.
This is going to give you nightmares, I have not read the reports, not even sure that I want to do so.......
Web Images Groups News Froogle more »
Advanced Search
Preferences
Web
Results 1 - 10 of about 7,960 for Evaluating Soviet Military Strength. (0.51 seconds)
Hoover Institution Archives Firing Line Television Program ...
... of History at Harvard University, member of President Reagans National Security
Council; in 1976, Chairman of Team B, evaluating Soviet military strength. ...
hoohila.stanford.edu/firingline/ programView.php?programID=953 - 24k -
Cached - Similar pages
[PDF] Evaluating Chinese Military Procurement from Russia
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
... Evaluating Chinese Military Procurement from Russia By DENNIS J ... even in
its final
years Soviet military power was ... mainland, the tremendous PLA strength on
paper ...
www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/doctrine/1917pgs.pdf - Similar pages
Analysis - Soviet Union - EG
... and estimates of Soviet strength." Petersen calls ... conservative approach in
evaluating
statements regarding ... Raymond L. "Estimating Soviet Military Force Levels ...
intellit.muskingum.edu/ analysis_folder/analysissove-g.html - 11k -
Cached - Similar pages
Axis History Forum :: View topic - Evaluating military ...
... What is the primary purpose of the military forces being ... year were numbers
able to
come into Soviet favor in ... have managed to fall to very low strength levels at ...
forum.axishistory.com/ viewtopic.php?t=58175&start=15 - 83k -
Cached - Similar pages
Axis History Forum :: View topic - Evaluating military ...
... clear that this was a very key area of Soviet superiority, and one ...
leadership of
both sides had available to it military means of a certain strength and a
...
forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=58175 - 101k -
Cached - Similar pages
Quo Valdia, Domine: Systematic Analysis or Devil-Thesis?
... that the crisis gave the American military the opportunity to ... difficult to
construct
a model properly evaluating American and Soviet potential and ...
www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/ aureview/1972/mar-apr/collins.html -
27k - Cached - Similar pages
People's Daily Online -- India, Japan assert China is already a ...
... While evaluating the index of national defense ... Like previous US-Soviet ties,
the
United States ... maintain their mutually confronting military strength and their ...
english.people.com.cn/ 200404/24/eng20040424_141396.shtml - 24k -
Cached - Similar pages
Cold War, CIA Assessment of Soviet Military & Economy -
Johnson's ...
... 16 HISTORY OF THE COLD WAR: THE CIA ESTIMATES OF SOVIET ECONOMIC
STRENGTH. ... House
of Representatives of the US Congress a report evaluating the works on ...
www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/7069-15.cfm - 24k - Cached - Similar pages
FRB: Speech, Greenspan--Reagan legacy--April 9, 2003
... such riffraff to mar the meticulous show of Soviet military might. ... Board in
1984
gave me the task of evaluating economic data from the Soviet bloc and our ...
www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/ speeches/2003/200304092/default.htm - 22k -
Cached - Similar pages
Evaluating the Sea Basing Concept: Is This Future Capability a ...
... Evaluating the Sea Basing Concept: Is This Future Capability ... security from
enemies
with similar military structures ... forces, like those of the Soviet Union, but ...
www.stormingmedia.us/11/1120/A112024.html - 19k - Cached - Similar pages
Louis Rene Beres, has an insight that makes good sense to me, do a general google search for his name and you will find a lifetime of articles.
ruth
This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.science.co.il/Arab-Israeli-conflict/Articles/Beres-2003-03-28.asp as retrieved on Oct 8, 2004 06:29:25 GMT.
available. Click here for the cached text only.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:6F3SAtKlPjYJ:www.science.co.il/Arab-Israeli-conflict/Articles/Beres-2003-03-28.asp+Louis+Rene+Beres+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet
Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.
These search terms have been highlighted:
louis
rene
beres
Arab-Israeli Conflict - Articles
A Palestinian State and Regional Nuclear War
By Louis Rene Beres. Source: IST March 28, 2003.
Until now, fears of a nuclear war in the Middle East have generally focussed on Iraq.
Yet, when the current war against Saddam Hussein is concluded, it is highly unlikely
that Iraq will be in any position to acquire nuclear weapons. A new Arab state of
"Palestine," on the other hand, would have decidedly serious implications for certain
regional resorts to nuclear conflict. Newly endowed with a so-called "Prime Minister,"
this state, although itself non-nuclear, would greatly heighten the prospect of
catastrophic nuclear war in the area.
If all goes well for the United States in Operation Iraqi Freedom, President Bush will feel
compelled to reward Arab state allies and supporters with a dedicated American effort
to create a Palestinian state. This state, tied closely to a broad spectrum of terrorist
groups and flanking 70 percent of Israel's population, would utterly eliminate Israel's
remaining strategic depth. With limited capacity to defend an already fragile land and
facing a new enemy country resolutely committed to Israel's annihilation, Jerusalem
would have to undertake even more stringent methods of counter terrorism and
self-defense against aggression. Various new forms of preemption, known under
international law as anticipatory self-defense, would be unavoidable. Significantly, a
strong emphasis on preemption has now become the recognizable core of President
Bush's national security policy for the United States.
Several ironies must also be noted. Above all, offering Palestine as a reward for
collaborative opposition to Iraq would merely exchange one terror state for another.
Additionally, the nuclear risks associated with a new state of Palestine would derive not
from this state directly - which would assuredly be non-nuclear - but from (1) other
Arab/Islamic states (including Iran) that could exploit Israel's new strategic
vulnerabilities; and/or (2) Israel's own attempts to preempt such enemy exploitations.
Because the creation of a state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel would raise
the area risk of nuclear war considerably, this very politicized measure should now be
viewed with real apprehension. Indeed, its creation could even bring an Islamic "Final
Solution" to the region. After all, every Arab map of the Middle East already excludes
Israel. Cartographically, Israel has already been destroyed.
Architects of the Oslo Agreements had suggested all along that a "Two-State Solution"
to the Palestinian problem would surely reduce the risk of another major war in the
Middle East. After all, they had always maintained, the problem of stateless Palestinians
is THE source of all problems between Israel and the Arabs. Once we have "justice" for
Palestinians, the argument proceeded, Arab governments and Iran could begin to create
area-wide stability and comprehensive peace settlements. Harmony would then reign,
more or less triumphantly, from the Mediterranean and Red Seas to the Persian Gulf.
But as we should have learned by now, especially from recurring Arab violations of the
"peace process," the conventional Oslo wisdom was always unwise. For the most part,
Iranian and Arab state inclinations to war against Israel have had absolutely nothing to
do with the Palestinians. Even if Israel had continued to make all unilateral Oslo
concessions, and had continued to adhere to unreciprocated agreements, these
irremediably belligerent inclinations would have endured, especially from Syria, Iraq and
Libya as well as from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
If Israel should soon face a new state of Palestine, the Jewish state's vulnerability to
armed attack by hostile neighbors will increase markedly. If this diminished safety is
accompanied by the spread of unconventional weapons to certain hostile states, which
now seems certain, Israel could find itself confronting not only war, but genocide. It is
also clear that Israel's own nuclear infrastructures will become increasingly vulnerable to
surprise attack from Palestinian territories.
A new state of Palestine would preoccupy Israeli military forces to a much greater
extent than does the current "intifada". Even if it were able to resist takeover by one of
the other Islamic states in the region, a takeover accomplished either directly or by
insurgent surrogates, Palestine would surely become a favored launching-point for
unconventional terrorism against Israel. Various promises notwithstanding, Islamic
insurgents would continue to celebrate frenzied violence against Israel's women and
children as the essence of "national liberation." Drawing upon fierce Palestinian hatred of
America, a state of Palestine would also provide a sympathetic host to various terrorist
enemies of the United States. This would include Al Qaeda, which already has close ties
to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah.
Recognizing an "improved" configuration of forces vis-a-vis Israel, a larger number of
Islamic enemy states would calculate that they now confront a smaller, more
beleaguered adversary. Further, they would understand that a coordinated effort by
certain countries that possess or are in the process of acquiring pertinent ballistic
missiles could possibly endanger Israel's very survival. Taken together with the fact that
global support for Israel is always weak and that individual or combined
chemical/biological/nuclear warfare capabilities could bring enormous harm to Israel, the
creation of Palestine would tip the balance of power in the Middle East decisively. It is
unlikely that Israel could physically survive next to a Palestinian state, a state that
always defines itself as extending "from the Sea to the River." It is also unlikely that
Palestine would prevent its territory from being used as a base of expanded Islamic
terrorist operations against the United States - operations that could even involve
weapons of mass destruction.
The full strategic implications of an independent Palestine should now be carefully
considered. Israel has much to fear, more than any other state on the face of the
earth. The people of Israel, not the people of "Palestine," are the only ones who could
soon face organized extermination. As for the United States, it too will incur
substantially increased levels of insecurity following establishment of a Palestinian state.
It follows that President Bush should now consider carefully that an exchange of Iraq for
"Palestine" would be foolishly shortsighted and very dangerous. A Faustian bargain, it
could wind up engulfing both Israel and the United States in yet another cauldron of war
and terrorism.
LOUIS RENE BERES (Ph.D. Princeton, 1971) Professor of International Law, Purdue
University. Prof. Beres is the author of SECURITY OR ARMAGEDDON: ISRAEL'S NUCLEAR
STRATEGY (Lexington Books, 1986) and many other major books and articles on nuclear
weapons and nuclear war.
Gran, thanks so much for the pings. I plan to read every word of this. WOW. So very interesting. Thanks, again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.