Posted on 12/05/2004 10:30:53 AM PST by miltonim
Dr. John Lewis
September 15, 2004
The Evidence: Chronology of Attacks on the West
The strongest evidence that the west—especially the United States—has appeased Middle Eastern governments for over five decades begins with a simple list of the major attacks made by various Islamic groups since the 1970’s, and the lack of principled response to those attacks.
A list of every terrorist attack in the twentieth century would fill a volume. The chronology here is ruthlessly select; it includes a few events needed to understand the sequence, such as the formation of selected top-rank Islamic groups, formal declared wars, [and includes, in brackets, certain non-Muslim terrorist acts]. A series of one hijacker / one day hijackings without casualties have been omitted—although the large number of Muslims involved suggests a connection between the motivations of lone hijackers and the teachings of radical Islam.
No attempt has been made to document the hundreds of Palestinian bombings in Israel, and Israeli retaliations, unless they had international affects or involved the deaths of Americans. This list does not adequately demonstrate the state of siege in which Israel has lived for over fifty years, nor does it convey the depths of Arab rage that has led them to prefer suicide over co-existence with Israel. This list focuses on violence against civilians by Islamic fundamentalists, for political purposes, which takes place in an international context.[1]
NOTE TO RESEARCHERS: THIS IS WORK IN PROGRESS.
The list is copyrighted material.
Care must be taken to verify the facts of these incidents from primary documents.
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Bin Laden’s 1998 Declaration of War against Jews and Crusaders
Bin Laden’s 1996 Second Declaration of War
1917 Russian Revolution leads to nationalizations of private property.
1919 Turkey: Mustafa Kemel begins takeover.
British and French Protectorates in Syria and Lebanon.
1921 Rheza Khan rules Iran.
1926 Saudi Arabia: Ibn Saud becomes King of Hijaz, Sultan of Najd.
1928 Muslim Brotherhood formed in Egypt.
1934 Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, Italian colonies, united into Libya.
1941 Iran: British / Soviet forces invade; son Muhammed Reza Khan Pahlavi installed.
1943 Baath Party (“Movement of Arab Renaissance”) formed in Damascus by Michel Aflaq and Sala al-Din Bitar. They supported the Rashid Ali pro-German regime in Iraq, which established a fascist background to the party.
5/14/48 State of Israel proclaimed following UN partition resolution. Arabs reject the resolution and attack Israel.
12/28/48 A Muslim Brother assassinated Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi of Egypt.
3/22/51 Iran nationalizes oil industry.
1/52 Egypt: 20 Brits killed in Anti-British Cairo riots. Nasser seizes power in a coup.
7/26/56 Suez Canal nationalized; Egypt blockades Straits of Tiran. France, Britain and Israel take the canal. US pressures them to withdraw (November).
8/29/60 Jordan: Prime Minister, 11 others killed by bomb in the foreign ministry building in Amman. 2 attackers fled, 11 sentenced to death.[2]
1964 Palestinian Liberation Front formed.
9/1/65 South Arabia (Yemen): British speaker of state council murdered by Arab nationalists. Follows an assassination attempt against a British police superintendent in August. Two weeks later 7 British children injured in a grenade attack at the Aden airport terminal.[3]
11/22/66 South Arabia (Yemen). DC-3 aircraft blown up in mid-air by luggage bomb. 28 killed.[4]
1967 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine founded by George Habash, from the PLO.
6/10/67 Six Day War begins; Israel defends against two-front aggression; takes Sinai, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights.
10/12/67 Greece: British European Airways airliner destroyed over Rhodes, by a bomb in the passenger cabin 60 dead.[5]
6/5/68 US: Robert Kennedy murdered by Jordanian terrorist, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, in Los Angeles. The killer became the cause of further terrorist attacks, as Arab terrorist groups demanded his release.[6]
7/23/68 El Al Airliner, Rome to Tel Aviv, hijacked to Algiers. Hostages held 5 weeks, then released in return for the 2 Palestinian and 1 Syrian hijacker, and 16 prisoners. The first and last successful El Al hijacking.
12/26/68 Greece: Gunfire attack on El Al airliner in Athens. 1 killed, 1 wounded. In response, Israeli commandos destroyed 14 Lebanese aircraft at Beirut International Airport.[7] 2 Palestinian hijackers freed after 7/22/70 attack (below).
2/18/69 Switzerland: Gunfire attack on El Al airliner at Zurich. 1 killed. 1 hijacker killed; 4 imprisoned. 3 freed after 9/6/70 attacks (below).
5/22/69 Denmark: Assassination attempt against Israeli PM Ben-Gurion foiled. Would-be assassins freed.
8/1969 TWA Flight 840, Rome to Athens, hijacked to Damascus, destroyed after hostages freed.[8]
8/23/69 Attack on Israeli Commercial Fair in Izmir. 1 bomber killed, 1 wounded from the bomb.
8/29/69 TWA airliner from LA hijacked to Damascus. 2 Palestinians not brought to trial.
9/8/69 Grenade attack on El Al office, Brussels. 2 young boys recruited by al-Fatah. Iraqi embassy helped 1 escape.
11/27/69 Greece: Grenade attack on El Al office in Athens. 1 child killed. 13 wounded. 2 Jordanians imprisoned; freed after 7/22/70 hijacking (below).
12/5/69 Britain: Attack on airliner in London anticipated; 4 militants arrested.
12/17/69 Britain: London hijacking foiled.
12/21/69 Greece: Foiled hijacking in Athens; 3 Lebanese freed after 7/22/70 hijacking (below).
1/9/70 Lebanon: TWA airliner hijacked to Paris. Single hijacker freed.
2/10/70 Germany: Munich Airport. 3 terrorists attacked El Al passengers in a bus with guns and grenades. 1 passenger killed, 11 injured. All 3 terrorists captured. Responsibility: The Action Organization for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Freed after 9/6/70 attacks.
2/17/70 Germany: Foiled hijack attempt against El Al airliner. 3 would-be hijackers freed in under 2 months.
2/21/70 Switzerland: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine blow up a Swissair Convair airliner leaving Zurich for Tel Aviv. 47 dead. On the same day, a bomb exploded aboard a Frankfurt to Vienna flight; it landed safely in Frankfurt.[9]
2/23/70 Israel: Palestinian Liberation Organization fires on a bus, killing American Barbara Ertle.
3/28, 29/70 Lebanon: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine fires 7 rockets at the US Embassy, the JFK Library, and 2 businesses in Beirut.[10]
5/4/70 Paraguay: attack on Israeli embassy at Asuncion. Wife of diplomat killed. 2 Palestinians serve 3 years in prison.
7/22/70 Greece: Olympic Airlines plane hijacked from Athens to Beirut. Palestinian Popular Struggle Front responsible. The hijackers and 7 other attackers freed (see 12/21/69, 11/27/69, 12/26/68 above).
9/6/1970 Four airliners hijacked over the Atlantic Ocean. On 9/11. a fifth was hijacked.
TWA Boeing 707 from Frankfurt; Swissair DC8 from Zurich; El Al Boeing 707 from Amsterdam; Pan American Boeing 747 from Amsterdam. On 9/11. a fifth jet was hijacked: BOAC-VC-10, Bombay to Beirut.
Responsibility: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The attempt against Israel’s El Al airliner was foiled. The crew was armed, one hijacker was shot, and a passenger and a crew member overpowered the other (armed with grenades). The plane landed safely at London Heathrow. The hijacker, a Palestinian woman named Leila Khaled, later said of the El Al flight: “We knew beforehand that on the plane there were armed security men - but we didn't know that the crew were armed too.” This is kind of surprise that saves lives. Precisely 31 years before 9/11/2001, El Al had demonstrated a hijacker’s worst nightmare: an armed crew and defiant passengers. Thirty-one years later, Todd Beamer—of the fourth airliner on 9/11/01, United Flight 93—had nothing to fight with.
On 9/30 Khaled and six other Palestinians, held in Germany and Switzerland, were released. They were responsible for the 12/26/68, 11/27/69 and 12/21/69 attacks (above).
Khaled had also hijacked TWA Flight 840 in 1969. She was a known enemy of Israel, who had plastic surgery to get past Israeli security and onto another flight. In a BBC interview on January 1, 2001, Khaled was asked about the importance of forcing the government of Britain to negotiate, and she answered: “The success in the tactics of hijacking and imposing our demands and succeeding in having our demands implemented, gave us the courage and the confidence to go ahead with our struggle. It made us continue the struggle because it showed us materially that we could achieve our goals by armed struggle.”[11]
9/14/70 TWA airliner from Zurich, hijacked to Amman, Jordan. Four Americans injured.[12]
12/17/70 5 terrorists arrested in Munich for attempt to sabotage an El Al plane.3 months in prison.
5/28/71 Turkey: Israeli Consul Efraim Elrom assassinated in Istanbul. The Turkish Liberation Army, in alliance with Palestinians, claimed responsibility.[13]
6/23/71 Attack on Jordanian target in Paris. 1 arrest.
10/4/71 Lebanon: attempt to hijack a Jordanian plane foiled. 2 Palestinians arrested.
11/28/71 Prime Minister Wasfi Tal of Jordan assassinated in Cairo. 4 “Black September” members arrested; freed in 1973.
9/28/70 Egypt: Death of Nasser.
Early 1970’s Iran: While building a revolutionary movement in Iran, the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini actively supports the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and the al-Fatah Brigades, by funding and training militant groups in Syria, with Syrian aid on Syrian soil. Shiite Muslims support the groups, dominated by Sunnis under the protection of a secular dictatorship. The dictator gets support from Islam; Khomeini gets a place to hide and train his troops, and the Palestinians get training for the war against Israel.
2/19/72 Egypt: hijacking of Jordanian plane foiled in Cairo. 1 arrested.
2/22/72 Hijacking of Lufthansa airliner, New Delhi to Athens, to Aden, Yemen. Hostages freed after money payment to 5 hijackers. Responsibility: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[14]
5/8/72 Sabena airliner hijacked from Brussels, forced to land at Tel Aviv. Israelis force release of plane and passengers by assault. 2 hijackers killed, 2 serving life in prison.
5/30/72 Israel: machine gun attack by 3 Japanese, under Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 27 killed, 80 wounded. 2 attackers killed, 1 serving life in prison.
8/16/72 El Al Flight, Rome to Tel Aviv, bombed in luggage compartment. 2 conspirators arrested in Rome, freed.
9/5/1972 Massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. 8 Palestinian “Black September” terrorists stormed the Olympic village, taking 11 members of the Israeli wrestling team hostage. 9 hostages, and all but 3 of the terrorists, killed. Killed included an American – Israeli from Cleveland, David Berger. Killers released in 10/29/72 attack. Israel responded with air strikes. After three terrorists were freed by the German government on 10/29, Israel began Operation Wrath of God, systematically hunting down and killing the attackers across the world. Highlights include:
12/8/72 Mahmoud Hamshari killed by exploding telephone in Paris.
4/6/73 Basil al-Kubaisi shot in Paris.
On 4/10/73, Operation Spring of Youth: “The Unit,” led by future PM Ehud Barak (in disguise as a woman), landed with inflatable boats in Beirut; kills Kamal Nasser, Mahmoud Yussuf Najjer, and Kemal Adwan, in their Beirut apartments. It was 30 minutes from the landing back to the sea.
6/28/73 Mohammed Boudia killed in car bomb in Paris.
On 1/22/79 Ali Hassan Salame “The Red Prince” killed by Israeli car bomb in Beirut. He was Arafat’s #2 man, and accompanied him to the UN in 1974.
On 8/1/81 Abu Daoud, mastermind of the massacre, killed in a Warsaw café. In 1999 the Palestine Prize for Culture was granted to Daoud for his book, "Palestine: From Jerusalem to Munich." It describes how he killed the athletes.[15]
9/9/72 England: An Israeli diplomat is killed by a letter bomb in London.[16]
10/23/72 A Palestinian, with Algerian diplomatic passport, was arrested in Amsterdam carrying arms. Freed.
10/29/72 Lufthansa airliner, Beirut to Ankara, hijacked to Zagreb. Released after 3 of the 9/15/72 Munich Olympic terrorists were freed by the German government. The terrorists held a news conference. Israel vowed privately to get them.
12/24/72 Britain: A Palestinian, convicted of planning attacks in Scandanavia. Freed after 1 year.
1/20/73 Austria: 6 Arabs arrested in Vienna, and in Italy, planning attacks against Russian Jews in Austria. Given suspended prison sentences, freed, expelled from Austria and Italy.
3/2/73 Sudan: US Ambassador Cleo A. Noel, JR. and diplomat George C. Moore, taken hostage and killed. Responsibility: probably Fatah Organization.[17]
3/12/73 Cyprus: Palestinian Black September terrorists murder an Israeli businessman.[18]
3/15/73 France: Planned attack on Jordanian, Israeli Embassies in Paris. 4 arrested; all released and expelled.
4/4/73 Attack on El Al plane at Rome foiled. 2 arrested, deported to Lebanon.
4/9/73 Cyprus: Plan to attack Israeli plane and Ambassador’s residence foiled. 4 Arabs imprisoned; set free after 11/25/73 attack (below).
4/27/73 Italy: civilian clerk murdered at El Al desk in Rome airport by Palestinian.
4/27/73 Lebanon: 3 arrested at Beirut for carrying explosives, bound for Nice, France.
5/20/73 Britain: Letter bombs sent to England, Holland. 2 Arabs arrested, expelled.
6/17/73 Italy: car bomb explodes near Rome El Al desk, 2 Arabs in it injured, freed without trial.
7/19/73 Greece: attack on El Al office foiled. Hostages taken in hotel. Palestinian freed, expelled.
7/20/73 Japanese airliner, Tokyo to Amsterdam, hijacked to Libya. 1 hijacker killed by own grenade. Other not tried?
8/5/73 Greece: Athens airport, machine gun attack in Israeli lounge; 3 dead, 55 wounded. Sentenced to death; commuted after hijacking of a Greek freighter in Pakistan, 2/2/74.
9/5/73 Italy: planned missile attack at Rome airport foiled. 5 Palestinians arrested. 2 released on bail, no-show for trial.
9/5/73 France: Saudi Arabian Embassy attacked. 5 attackers allowed to fly to Kuwait with 6 hostages. Attackers handed over to Palestinian Liberation Organization on 10/11/73.
9/28/73 Austria: 3 hostages taken on train. Released after Austria agrees to close transit camp for Russian / Jewish immigrants at Schonau. 2 Palestinians arrested, freed, expelled.
10/6/73 A Coalition of Arab states launches two-front military attack on Israel, the Yom Kippur War during the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadam.
11/25/73 KLM airliner, flying to New Delhi, hijacked to Abu Dhabi. 3 hijackers surrender, fate unknown.
12/17/73 Italy: Rome Airport Attack and Hijacking. 5 attackers attacked a Pan American 707 with grenades. They herded 5 Italian hostages into a Lufthansa airliner and killed an Italian customs agent, and forced the pilot to fly to Beirut. After Lebanon refused to let the plane land, it landed in Athens, where the terrorists demanded the release of 2 Arab terrorists. They killed a hostage and threw his body onto the tarmac. The plane flew to Damascus, for fuel and food. It then flew to Kuwait, where the terrorists released their hostages in return for passage to an unknown destination—probably to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. 33 killed.
2/2/74 Pakistan: Freighter Vory Hijacked at port at Karachi. In April, the Greek government commuted the death sentences of the 2 attackers responsible for 8/5/73 attack at Athens to life in prison. In May, they were freed, and deported to Libya at Libya’s request.[19]
3/1/74 Sudan: Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum seized by Black September terrorists. Diplomats taken hostages. The terrorists murder 2American and 1 Belgian diplomat.[20]
9/8/74 Greece: TWA Flight 841, Tel Aviv to NY, crashed after takeoff from a scheduled stop in Athens. 88 killed, including 1 American. Cause: explosives in rear cargo compartment.[21]
1/19/75 France: Arab terrorists attack Orly airport, Paris. 10 hostages seized. The French provided the terrorists with a plane to fly them to safety in Baghdad, Iraq.[22]
6/27/75 Germany. Politician Peter Lorenz kidnapped in West Berlin, by June the Second Movement terrorists. The German government released 5 terrorists, who were allowed to fly to South Yemen.[23]
6/29/75 Lebanon: US attaché kidnapped, released, when an anonymous donor met demands for food for a Beirut neighborhood.[24]
11/14/75 Israel: bombing in Jerusalem kills 6, including 1 American; wounds 38.[25]
11/21/75 Israel: 1 American killed in axe attack from a PLO faction (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine).[26]
12/21/75 Austria: Carlos "The Jackal" holds 11 oil ministers and 59 civilians hostage during an OPEC meeting in Vienna. Given several hundred million dollars in Algeria, Carlos escaped with other Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorists.[27]
6/27/76 Air France jet, Paris to Athens, hijacked to Entebbe, Uganda. On 7/4 Israelis launch a rescue raid and free 105 passengers. 200 Commandos kill 20 Ugandan soldiers and all hijackers. 3 passengers are killed, along with the commando unit’s commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu.[28] One hostage, Mrs. Dora Bloch, had been taken to a hospital; she was murdered on Idi Amin’s orders. Responsibility: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, German Baader-Meinhof, and Idi Amin.
8/11/76 Turkey: Attack on terminal at Istanbul airport. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Japanese Red Army terrorists kill 4, including an American, Harold Rosenthal, injure 20.[29]
1/1/77 Lebanon: US Ambassador Frances E. Meloy and the US Economic Counsellor kidnapped, later murdered.[30]
7/8/77 Kuwait Airways Boeing 707, Beirut to Kuwait, hijacked to Syria.[31]
10/13/77 Hijacking of Lufthansa airlines Boeing 737, Mallorca / Frankfurt, flies to Rome, Cyprus, Bahrain, Dubau, Aden, Mogadishu. Pilot killed in South Yemen. After 5 days German commandos storm the plane in Somalia. 3 hijackers killed; 1 arrested, served 1 year in prison; then arrested in Norway in 1996, serving 12 years. A woman convicted in 1996 of smuggling weapons onto Mallorca for the attack; released on time served, 2 ½ years.[32] Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
10/17/77 Air Djibouti commuter jet hijacked; Pilot and 1 passenger shot by hijacker.
6/2/78 Israel: Bus bombing in Jerusalem: 6 killed including 1 American.[33]
9/17/78 Camp David Peace accords between Egypt and Israel. Most Arab States, the PLO, and the Soviets reject the peace. Israel returns land taken from Egypt.
12/25/79 USSR invades Afghanistan; bin Laden moves there and organizes a financial network and a resistance to the Soviets based on jihad. 1989 USSR leaves.
1979 Saddam Hussein takes control of Iraq. The next year, he invades Iran.
4/14/79 4 Afghans kidnapped U.S. Ambassador Adolph Dubs in Kabul and demanded the release of various "religious figures." Dubs was killed, along with 4 terrorists, when Afghan police stormed the hotel where he was held.
5/4/79 Israel: Bomb attack in Tiberias; 2 Americans injured.[34]
11/4/79 Iranian hostage crisis. US territory (embassy) assaulted and occupied. 66 hostages taken; 53 held until 1/20/1981. No effective US military response: A rescue attempt by the Delta Force unit failed on 4/25/80 when a Marine Corps CH-53 helicopter crashed into a USAF C-130 transport aircraft in central Iran, 8 dead, 5 injured. NO further military action taken.
11/20/79 Saudi Arabia: 200 Islamic terrorists seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, taking hundreds of pilgrims hostage. Saudi and French security forces retook the shrine after a battle. Some 250 people were killed and 600 wounded. (The Bin Laden Construction Company trucks were used by militants. The company assisted the security forces.)[35]
12/2/79 Libya: 2,000 Libyans ransack the U.S. Embassy, in support of the Iranian regime.[36]
12/25/79 USSR invades Afghanistan; bin Laden moves there and organizes a financial network and a resistance to the Soviets based on jihad.
4/30/80 London: Iranian Embassy in Princess Gate, London attacked by 6 Iranians, who opposed the Ayatollah Khomeini, backed by Iraq. 26 hostages freed 6 days later by British Special Air Service anti-terrorist troops, with the support of the Iranian theocracy. 5 terrorists killed, 1 jailed for life. 2 hostages killed. Some 13 years later, Iran and England agreed to a “mutual compensation” package, whereby embassies in either country were repaired. “We did not surrender, we became victorious” said Iran’s President Bani-Sadr.[37]
5/2/80 Israel: West Bank: PLO attack on people walking home from worship; 1 American killed.[38]
7/24/80 Kuwait Airways Boeing 737, Beirut to Kuwait, flown to Kuwait, Manama, Bahrain, Abadan; hijackers surrender in Kuwait.[39]
10/13/80 Turkish Boeing 72, Istanbul to Ankara, hijacked to Iran; lands in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Plane stormed; 4 hijackers arrested.[40]
1/20/81 Iran releases US hostages, upon inauguration of US President Reagan.
3/2/81 Pakistan International Airlines, Boeing 720, Karachi to Peshawar, Hijcaked to Kabul and Damascus. Hijackers surrendered after 13 days.
10/6/81 Egypt: Anwar Sadat assassinated by Islamic Jihad, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
7/9/82 Lebanon: David Dodge, Actin President of American University, kidnapped by Hizballah; released after 1 year. Syrian intelligence services helped in negotiations.[41]
9/14/82 Lebanon: Christian Premier Bashir Gemayel was assassinated by a car bomb. The result was a massacre, by Christians, in a refugee camp, as the Israeli army surrounded it. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon resigned after an Israeli investigation.
1982 Hizbollah (Party of God) founded in response to Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon in 1982. 1983: Israel withdrew, and international force came in.
3/16/83 Lebanon: 5 US Marines injured in grenade attack near Beirut Airport. Shi’ite Militia claimed responsibility.[42]
4/18/1983 Beirut, US Embassy destroyed by suicide truck-bombing. 63 people killed, including CIA Middle East Director Robert Ames; 120 wounded. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
10/23/83 Beirut, Lebanon: Marine Barracks bombed. 241 Marines, 56 French killed. Responsible: Lebanese Shia militants, Islamic Jihad members under Iranian control. Response: US bombed Syrian Air Defense positions. French bombed Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions. The international force left in 4/1984—the key demand of the militants.
12/12/83 Kuwait: US embassy targeted by Iranian backed Iraqi Shia truck-bomb. The attack was foiled; the bomb exploded in the Embassy fore-court. 5 killed.[43]
1/18/84 Malcolm Kerr, President of American University in Beirut, murdered by gunmen. Hizballah claimed the goal was to “drive all Americans out from Lebanon.”[44]
1/20/84 Iran declared a sponsor of terrorism by US.
3/7/84 Lebanon: CNN Bureau Chief Jeremy Levin kidnapped, escaped to Syrian army barracks, returned to Americans.[45]
3/8/84 Lebanon: Rev. Benjamin Weir kidnapped; released after 16 months, with Syrian and Iranian Assistance.[46]
3/16/84 Lebanon: Islamic Jihad kidnapped / murdered Political Officer William Buckley.
4/12/84 Spain: A restaurant near US Air Force Base at Torrejon bombed. 18 U.S. servicemen killed, 83 injured.
9/20/84 Lebanon: Suicide bomb attack on US Embassy in Beirut. 23 dead, 21 injured. Responsible: Hizballah.[47]
9/20/84 Lebanon: truck bombing of US Embassy Annex in Aukar. 2 Americans, over a dozen others killed. 20 injured, including US Ambassador Reginald Bartholomew and British Ambassador David Miers. Responsible: Islamic Jihad, in retaliation for US veto of a UN Security Concil resolution.[48] Putative attempt to kill the head of Hizbollah fails.
12/4/84 Kuwait Airways, Airbus A300, Dubai to Karachi, hijacked to Tehran. 4 hijackers demand release of prisoners. Plane stormed after 6 days. 2 American Agency for International Development employees killed. Iran promises to try the attackers, but releases them to leave the country. [49] Reagan offers $250,000 reward; no military response.
1985-1986 US and Iran: arms scheme to fund Nicaraguan rebels.
3/8/85 Lebanon: Car bomb kills over 80 in Beirut.[50]
3/16/85 Terry Anderson, AP correspondent, kidnapped by Hizbollah in Lebanon. Anderson, Associated Press Bureau Chief in Beirut, was held for six years, released on 12/4/1991, the last US hostage in Lebanon.
5/28/85 American David Jacobsen, CEO of American University of Beirut Medical Center, taken hostage in Lebanon (held until 11/2/86). The captors and torturers of these men, and of Terry Anderson, Thomas Sutherland and Rev. Lawrence Jenco were Hizbollah, supported by Iran, granted sanctuary in Syria. No military action was taken against Iran.
6/14/85 TWA Airliner (Rome to Athens) hijacked to Beirut by Islamic Jihad. US Navy diver Robert Stethem killed, his body dumped on the tarmac. 39 Americans held captive by the Shia Muslim Amal militia and Hizbollah until freed on 6/3/1985 by orders of President Assad. After being flown twice to Algiers, the aircraft was returned to Beirut after Israel released 435 prisoners. As always, the Shiites and the Sunnis were able to cooperate with the Baathist secular dictator Assad when directed against a common enemy. No military action was taken against Syria, or Iran as supporters of Hizbollah.
6/23/85 A bomb destroyed an Air India Boeing 747 over the Atlantic, killing all 329 people aboard. Both Sikh and Kashmiri terrorists were blamed. 2 cargo handlers were killed at Tokyo Airport, when another Sikh bomb exploded in an Air Canada aircraft.
10/7/85 Passenger shop the Achille Lauro ship hijacked off Egypt by 4 terrorists. Passenger Leon Klinghoffer pushed over the side in a wheelchair. The hijackers negotiated safe passage by air, but a US fighter forced them down in Sicily. The Italian government captured, then released the mastermind, Abu Abbas, but convicted 11 others, including Klinghoffer's killer, Youssef Magied al-Molqi. He disappeared while on leave from prison for good behavior. Two others were paroled. Abbas was captured in Baghdad in April, 2003, and died of natural causes in US custody in March, 2004. Responsibility: the Palestinian Liberation Front.
8/1986 US Arms Export Control Act: forbids sales to Iran.
11/23/85 Egyptian Airliner Hijacking. An Egypt Air airliner from Athens to Malta hijacked by the Abu Nidal Islamic Group. (Abu Nidal was later captured in Iraq, during the American occupation.)
12/27/85 Italy, Austria: Simultaneous gun and grenade attacks against ticket desks of El Al airlines at airports in Rome and Vienna. Responsibility: Arafat denied involvement; probably the Fatah Revolutionary Council, run by Abu Nidal, although Arafat used them to appear moderate. 18 dead; some 120 injured.[51] Nidal was found dead in Iraq in August, 2002.
4/2/86 Greece: TWA Flight 840 from Rome bombed on approach to Athens. 15,000 feet over Argos, near Mycenae, a plastic explosive blew a hole in the side of the 727. 4 American citizens were sucked out to their deaths, including Demetra Stylianopoulou, her daughter Maria Stylian Klug and her infant grandaughter Demetra. 9 passengers were injured. (This was the second attack on TWA flight 840; see 8/1969.) Responsibility may rest with Ezzedine Kassam Unit of the Arab Revolutionary Cells, who claimed responsibility. The US State Department thought the bombing had been carried out by May Elias Mansur, under orders of a Palestinian, Colonel Hawari, with close ties to Yassir Arafat. Mohammed Rashid was arrested in Greece, tried, and served 4 years in prison.[52]
4/5/86 German discotheque in West Berlin bombed. 2 U.S. Servicemen killed, 79 injured in a Libyan bomb attack. U.S. military jets hit targets in and around Tripoli and Benghazi. France refuses over-flight because the US would not commit to going all the way against Qadaffi. The French were reluctant to commit if the US was going to pull back, leaving France with a problem in North Africa.[53]
9/9/86 Frank Reed, who owned and operated two private schools in Beirut with a Lebanese partner, was abducted in Beirut. Held hostage until 4/30/1990; when released, he was hospitalized for 80 days with arsenic poisoning.
9/12/86 Joseph Cicippio, Comptroller of American University of Beirut and its hospital, kidnapped in Beirut for 5 years and 3 months.
10/15/86 Israel: Grenade attack by Fatah kills an American woman at Western Wall.[54]
10/21/86 Lebanon. Edward A. Tracy, an American citizen in Beirut, kidnapped by Hizbollah. He was released five years later, on August 1991.[55]
10/24/86 Britain expels Syrian Ambassador Loutof Haydar for assisting in an attempt to blow up an Israeli airliner. Nezar Hindawi had placed a bomb in his girlfriend’s hand luggage; it went through 2 X-ray machines and was found by the hand search of an officer who thought the bag looked heavy. The bomb was assembled at the Syrian Embassy in London. Hindawi received a 45 year sentence. Syria later admitted Hindawi had met with the Ambassador after the bomb was found, then stayed in Syrian accommodations as London police looked for him, and had a falsified Syrian passport.
2/2/1987 Terry Waite, Anglican church envoy and hostage negotiator, was taken hostage in Lebanon (he was released 11/18/1991 with Thomas Sutherland, kidnapped in 1985).
[4/24/87 Greece: Bus in Athens bombed. 16 U.S. servicemen riding in a Greek Air Force bus were injured in a bombing attack, carried out by the November 17 revolutionary organization.]
1987 Hamas (“Islamic Resistance Movement”) founded, out of Muslim Brotherhood.
2/17/88 Kidnapping and murder of US Marine Lt. William Higgins, serving with the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization in Lebanon, while driving from Tyre to Nakura. Responsibility: Iran, through Hizbollah.
4/14/88 Italy: USO Club in Naples car-bombed. 5 dead include 1 US servicewoman. 15 injured, including 4 Americans. Responsible: Organization of Jihad Brigades.
6/28/88 Greece: Defense Attaché of the U.S. Embassy killed when a car-bomb detonated outside his home in Athens. Responsibility: ?
7/23/88 US mistakenly shoots down an Iranian Airbus, killing 290.
12/21/88 Scotland: Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie. 270 Dead. Responsible: 2 Libyan intelligence officers, Abdel Baset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah indicted in Scotland and the US, for conspiracy, murder and violation of the Aviation Security Act of 1982. After ten years of negotiation, Libya handed them over for trial in a neutral country. Pan Am Airlines was convicted of “willful misconduct.”[56]
1989 USSR leaves Afghanistan; Muslim jihad is victorious. Taliban and Northern Alliance battle for the country; in 1996 the Taliban enter Kabul.
1/27/89 Turkey: 3 simulaneous bombings of US businesses in Istanbul and Ankara. Responsible: Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left).[57]
2/1989 Ayatollah Khomeini issues fatwa against Salman Rushdie for his book. It was confirmed by Khomeini’s successor in Dec., 1990, and renewed in February, 2003.
3/6/89 Egypt: 2 bombings of American and British Cultural Centers foiled. 3 revolutionary groups blamed.[58]
6/12/89 Turkey: US consul boat bombed in Bosporus Straits; no injuries. “Warriors of June 16th Movement” claimed responsibility.[59]
6/30/89 Sudan: Omar Hassan al-Bashir seizes power with aid of an Islamic National Front party headed by Hassan Al-Turabi.
9/19/89 Bombing of UTA Flight 772, Brazzaville to Paris. A bomb destroyed the airliner over the Sahara Desert in southern Niger. Killed: all 170 persons aboard. 6 Libyans found guilty in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment.
10/11/89 Turkey: Bombing outside US military PX. Responsible: Dev Sol.[60]
1/90 Peru: US Embassy in Lima bombed
12/10/90 Iraq: Saddam Hussein releases 100 of the hostages held since the Kuwait invasion of 8/2.
1/18/91 Philippines: Bombs placed at Ambassador’s Residence in Manila and at the USIS library in Manila. Responsibility: Iraqi agents..
2/7/91 Turkey: US Civilian contractor killed by Dev Sol at his car at Incirlik Air Base.[61]
2/28/91 Turkey: US Air Force Officer shot, wounded in Izmir.[62]
3/28/91 Saudi Arabia: attempted shooting of 3 US Marines at Jubial.[63]
10/28/91 Turkey: Car bomb kills 1 American serviceman; wounds his wife. Responsible: Islamic Jihad.[64]
10/28/91 Turkey: 2 car bombs kill 1 American in Ankara. Responsible: Islamic Jihad.[65]
10/30/91 Middle East Peace Conference opens in Spain. Israel and Palestine talk for first time in 43 years.[66]
11/8/91 Lebanon: 100 kg. Car bomb destroys the administration building of American University in Beirut.[67]
3/17/92 Argentina: Hizbollah bombs Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. 29 dead, 242 wounded.
1992 Yemen: Movenpick Hotel in Aden bombed. Within hours, US personnel were airlifted from Aden; Bin Laden won this first skirmish.[68]
10/21/92 Egypt: British female tourist shot during Islamic terrorist attack at Beirut, Egypt.[69]
1/25/93 US: Pakistani gunman kills 2 CIA employees, wounds 3, in Virginia.
2/26/93 Egypt: bomb at Café in Cairo kills 3, wounds 18, incl. 2 Americans. Responsible: ? [70]
2/26/93 World Trade Center bombed; 6 killed. Responsibility: Eyad Ismoil and Ramzi Yousef et al, convicted. 6 dead, over 1000 wounded. Bomb plot against UN foiled. The attackers were followers of Umar Abd al-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric who preached in Brooklyn.[71]
4/14/93 Attempted assassination of ex-President Bush by Iraqi intelligence service agents in Kuwait. The U.S. launched a cruise missile attack 2 months later on Baghdad.
7/5/93 Turkey: 8 separate incidents: Kurdistan Workers Party kidnaps 19 western tourists; released after several weeks.[72]
9/9/93 Oslo “Peace Process”; Arafat and Rabin exchange letters; Arafat recognizes Israel. From this date until 12/2003, over 1300 Israelis are killed by Palestinian attacks. The number killed in the 5 years after Oslo was greater than the 15 years preceding it.[73]
10/4/93 Somalia: Mogadishu attacks kill 18 US servicemen. This was a UN operation to take arrest members of a faction led by General Muhammad Aideed. In 3/94, UN withdrew. Bin Laden cited this in his 1996 declaration of war as an example of US weakness. The US military was subordinated to UN command, and did not respond as required.
12/1/93 Israel: Yitzhak Weinstock, 19, family from Los Angeles CA, killed by Hamas in drive-by shooting.[74]
[4/6/94 Rwanda's president, Juvenal Habyarimana, and Burundian president, Cyprien Ntaryamira, killed when a Falcon 50 was hit by a missile on approach to Kigali. They were returning from a meeting in Tanzania on setting up a transitional government in Rwanda. The inclusion of the Tutsi-dominated RPF enraged Hutu extremists. The death of Hutu President Habyarimana triggered genocide that ended in 7/94.][75]
6/18/94 Argentina: A Jewish community center bombed; 95 dead.
6/19/94 Panamanian commuter jet bombed; 21 dead. Responsible: Hizbollah?[76]
10/9/94 Israel: Nachson Wachsman, 19, family from New York, murdered by Hamas.[77]
10/9/94 Israel. Shooting attack on cafe-goers in Jerusalem. U.S. citizens Scot Doberstein and Eric Goldberg injured.[78]
12/11/94 Bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Cebu to Tokyo. 1 passenger killed. Ramzi Yousef—of World Trade Center fame—put a micro-bomb built from a watch under seat 27F as a test. He deplaned in Cebu. He planned to bomb 12 airliners flying the Pacific. He was arrested a month later in Pakistan. The plot was linked to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, working in Manila. He was captured 3/1/03 in Pakistan.[79]
12/24/94 Air France Hijacking.: Armed Islamic militants seized an Air France Flight to Algeria. The 4 terrorists were killed during a rescue effort.
3/8/95 Pakistan: 2 American Diplomats gunned down in Karachi; 1 wounded. The gunmen were unidentified.
4/9/95 Israel: 2 suicide attacks kill 8, including 1 American.[80]
7/4/95 India: 6 foreigners, including 2 U.S. citizens, were taken hostage by Al-Faran, a Kashmiri separatist group. 1 non-U.S. hostage was later found beheaded.
7/4/95 India. In Kashmir, an unknown militant group, Al-Faran, took hostage 6 tourists, including 2 Americans. One of the U.S. citizens escaped on 7/8, while on 8/13 the decapitated body of a Norwegian was found with a note that the others would be killed if the demands were not met. India refused. The rest of the hostages were most likely killed in 1996.
7/25/95 France: Bomb attack on Paris Metro, St. Michel Station. 8 dead, over 80 injured. Responsibility: Algerian Armed Islamic Group, connected to Al Qaeda. Two men were convicted of a string of attacks in France.[81]
8/95 Turkey: bombing of public square injures 2 Americans.[82]
8/21/95 Israel: Jerusalem Bus Attack. A bomb killed 4 and injured over 100, including several U.S. citizens. Hamas claimed responsibility.
11/4/95 Israel: Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin assassinated by a right-wing Jew, Yigal Amir.
11/9/95 Algeria: US Embassy warehouse set afire. Responsible” Armed Islamic Group.[83]
11/13/95 Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Military Compound bombed; 1 American, others dead. Responsibility: The Islamic Movement of Change.[84]
11/19/95 Pakistan: Egyptian Embassy suicide car-bombing. Dead: at least 16; 60 injured. 3 militant Islamic groups claimed responsibility.
2/15/1996 Greece: US Embassy in Athens hit by rocket. Probably the November 17 group.
2/25/96 Israel: Suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem killed 26, including 3 U.S. citizens, and injured some 80 others, including 3 Americans. Responsibility: Hamas.
3/4/96 Israel: Dizengoff Center Bombing, Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall. Killed 20, injured 75, including 2 Americans. Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
5/13/96 Israel: On the West Bank, Arab gunmen fire on a bus and a group of Yeshiva students near the Bet El settlement, killing a dual U.S./Israeli citizen and wounding 3 Israelis. Responsibility: Hamas.
5/1996 Osama bin Laden goes to Afghanistan.
6/9/96 Israel: Unidentified gunmen fire on a car near Zekharya, killing a dual U.S./Israeli citizen and an Israeli. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was suspected.[85]
6/25/96 Saudi Arabia: Bombing of the Khobar Towers military facility in Dharan. A Hizballah truck bomb killed 19 Americans, wounds hundreds. Responsibility: Osama bin Laden and Saudi Hizballah, aided by Iran. Brig. Gen. Terryl J. Schwailer, 4404th Wing Commander was disciplined. No US military response. On 6/21/01 a US Grand Jury indicted 14 members of Hizballah group. The indictment details the group and its relationship to Iran and Syria, including the location of its meetings in Syria.[86] The indictment shows that the US has more than enough information to destroy the group’s support by military means. (The bombing was 2 days after an Arab League summit meeting called for continued sanctions against Iraq.)[87]
[7/17/96 TWA Flight 800, NY to Paris, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Atlantic off New York. 230 passengers and crew killed. Wreckage was retrieved, and re-assembled.[88] Witness claim to have seen a missile, which the government denies. The cause remains controversial.[89]]
8/17/96 Sudan: Sudan People’s Liberation Army kidnaps 6 missionaries (1 American); releases 8/28/.[90]
8/23/96 Bin Laden’s Declaration of War published. This followed a meeting beginning 7/19/96, where representatives of every fundamentalist group, from every major Muslim sect and nation, declared unity against “Zionists and Crusaders.”[91]
9/1996 Taliban (“religious students”) enter Kabul. They are Sunni Muslims, educated in madrasas (religious schools) derived from Deobandi thought, a traditional form of Islam that began in Deoband, India in 1867 as an opposition to the British. The schools, financed by the Saudis and others, expanded into Pakistan. The Taliban oppose minority sects, such as Shiism, and are enemies of the Iranian theocracy. But like the Iranians, they are fanatically anti-western.
11/23/96 Hijacked airliner ditches into the sea. Flight ET961, Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, was hijacked by Ethiopian nationals seeking asylum in Australia. 125 of 175 died.
12/3/96 France: Bomb on subway train kills 4, injures 86.[92]
1/2 - 1/13/97 Sixteen letter bombs disguised as holiday greeting cards arrived via mail at Al-Hayat newspaper bureaus in Washington, New York City, London, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 3 similar devices, also postmarked in Egypt, were found at a prison facility in Leavenworth, Kansas. They all had postmarks of 12/21/96 from Alexandria, Egypt. 1 exploded in London, injuring 2.[93]
2/23/97 Palestinian terrorist shoots tourists on Empire State Building Observation Tower. 1 Danish national killed; Americans, Argentina, Swiss, and French wounded. Ended in suicide. A note carried by the gunman targeted "enemies of Palestine."
7/30/97 Israel: Bombing in Jerusalem market kills 15 (1 American), wounds 168. Hamas claimed responsibility.[94]
9/4/97 Israel: Ben Yehuda shopping mall in Jerusalem. 3 Hamas suicide bombers killed 5 and wounded nearly 200. 1 U.S./Israeli citizen died, and 7 Americans wounded.
10/8/1997 Iranian resistance group Mujahideen-e Khalq MKO declared a terrorist organization by US State Dept. 9/16/98: 220 US Congressmen sign a statement condemning Iran, and calling for support for MKO. 7/1/99: 130 Congressmen sign a letter in support of MKO. The US bombed the group’s positions during the 2003 offensive into Iraq.
10/30/97 Yemen: Al-Sha'if tribesmen kidnapped a U.S. businessman near Sanaa. They wanted the release of two fellow tribesmen. They released the hostage on 11/27.
11/12/97 Pakistan: 2 gunmen murdered 4 American auditors from Union Texas Petroleum Corp. and their Pakistani driver near the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi. The Islamic Revolutionary Council claimed responsibility in a call to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. In a letter to Pakistani newspapers, the Aimal Khufia Action Committee also claimed responsibility.
11/17/97 Egypt: Luxor, 58 Tourists (68 total) massacred. Responsibility probably belongs to Gamaat-al-Islamiya, “Islamic Jihad,” connected to Al Qaeda. In 1998 a member, Mohamed Abid Abdel Aal, was extradited to Egypt from Ecuador. Ayman al-Zawahiri (sentenced to death in absentia in Egypt 1999, and hiding in Afghanistan, mentor to Osama bin Laden) was likely the leader. Shayk Omar Abdel Rahmann, spiritual advisor to Islamic Jihad, issued a fatwa sanctioning the killings. He had been exiled to the US from Egypt, implicated in the 1993 WTC bombing, and imprisoned for other bombings.
In October 1997 a major terrorist meeting was held in Tehran, with over 20 Islamic and a few non-Muslim groups. A campaign of attacks was planned. “The Tehran summit also decided to use non-Iranian Islamist organs as the mouthpieces for the new campaign to give it a pan-Islamic character.” Al-Zawahiri’s Jihad Group issued a communiqué calling for jihad against the US and Israel: “The United States realizes that its real enemy, as it has declared many times, is Islamic extremism, by which it means the Islamic Jihad, the Jihad of the entire Muslim nation against the world dominance of America, the international influence of the Jews, and the US occupation of Muslim lands.”[95]
11/25/97 Yemen. 5 westerners kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen, released 11/27.[96]
4/15/98 Somalia: Somali militiamen abducted 9 aid workers, including 1 American, north of Mogadishu. The hostages included 1 U.S. citizen. The gunmen were loyal to Ali Mahdi Mohammed, who controlled the northern section of Mogadishu.
4/19/98 Israel: 1 Israeli / American killed on West Bank. Responsible: a Fatah group.[97]
5/9/98 Bon Laden’s statement for jihad against America.
5/28/98 Pakistan tests nuclear weapons.
6/21/98 Lebanon: Bombing of US embassy in Beirut. No casualties.[98]
8/7/98 Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Simultaneous bombings of 2 US Embassies. Responsibility: bin Laden. In Tanzania there were 10 deaths and some 77 injuries. In Kenya, 213 deaths, including 12 Americans, and over 5,000 injuries. The US attacked an alleged chemical weapons plant in Sudan with 13 cruise missiles, resulting in 1 death, the night watchman. 3 training camps were attacked in Afghanistan with over 70 cruise missiles; some 24 killed. Bin Laden was indicted, but did not turn himself in. (Iraq had expelled weapons inspectors 2 days earlier.[99])
12/28/98 Yemen: 16 tourists kidnapped. Islamic Army of Aden Abyan, of Al-Jihad, demanded their leader’s release from jail.[100]
10/19/99 Egypt Air Flight 838, Istanbul to Cairo, hijacked over Turkey; flies to Hamburg. Hijacker arrested after promise of Asylum.[101]
[10/31/99 Egypt Air Flight 990 crashes into the Atlantic off Nantucket. The last minutes of the flight were reconstructed from cockpit audio and data recorders. The NTSB concluded that the Relief First Officer shut the engines down and put the plane into a dive. He repeated “Tawakkalt Ala Allah,” “I rely on God” multiple times, a phrase often said by Muslims that does not indicate the kind of stress associated with a terrorist act.[102]]
11/4/99 Greece. A group protesting President Clinton's visit bombed an American car dealership in Athens. Anti-State Action claimed responsibility, but the November 17 group was suspected.[103]
11/12/99 Pakistan: Rockets fired at US, UN offices in Islamabad. 1 injury.[104]
12/24/99 Indian Airlines Flight IC-814, Kathmandu to New Delhi, hijacked. Flew to Amritsar, India; Lahore, Pakistan; Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Kandahar, Afghanistan. The Islamic Salvation Front claimed responsibility, but the Taliban disavowed it. After 8 days, 154 hostages were released for 3 terrorist prisoners in India. In 2001 India issued multiple indictments against Pakistanis, and accused Pakistan and the Taliban.[105] Retired Indian Major General Afsir Karim said that rescue of the hostages at Amritsar was possible; “Every Israeli aircraft carries armed commandos who are disguised as passengers. These commandos are trained to take action during such situations. We don't have any such plan.” [106] Al Qaeda claimed this as a success, according to the Times of India.[107]
1/3/00 Port of Aden, Yemen: Failed light-boat bomb attack on the USS Sullivans. US government does not know of this for over a year.[108]
9/29/00 Israel: Palestinian attack on motorists injures 1 American.[109]
10/5/00 Israel. Attack on US motorist. Rabbi Chaim Brovender of Brooklyn injured.
10/8/00 Israel. Nablus, West Bank. The bullet-ridden body of Rabbi Hillel Lieberman, a
U.S. citizen from Brooklyn, was found. No organization claimed responsibility.
10/12/00 Port of Aden, Yemen: USS Cole bombed by a suicide skiff. 17 killed, 39 wounded. No US military response by Presidents Clinton or Bush.
Nasser Ahmad Nasser Al-Bahri, AKA Abu Jandal, a Saudi, once bin Laden's bodyguard. Al-Bahri, arrested in 2001, was given amnesty by Yemen’s President Ali Abdallah Saleh.
The US Department of State, Rewards for Justice program web site, states: “To bring to justice those responsible for this attack, the U.S. Government is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of those persons who committed or aided in the attack on the USS Cole.”[110] The attack is treated here as a criminal, not a military, matter.
10/30/00 Israel: gunmen kill an American in Jerusalem. Responsable: Fatah group, “Martyrs of Al-Aqsa Intimada.”[111]
12/30/00 Philippines: US Embassy in Manila Bombing. A bomb in a plaza injured 9. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front was likely responsible.
12/31/00 Israel: Rabbi Kahane and wife, of Brooklyn, killed in shooting. 5 children injured.[112]
3/15/01 A Russian Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev 154 airliner hijacked by Chechens Muslims to Medina. Saudi Security Forces assault the plane; 1 hostage’s throat slit by a hijacker, who was killed. 1 hostage inadvertently killed in the assault. 2 hijackers captured.[113]
5/9/01 Israel: 1 American – Israeli and friend found stoned to death in a cave on West Bank. Islamic Jihad and Hizballah-Palestine claimed responsibility.[114]
5/29/01 Israel: 6 killed in drive-by shooting, including 2 American-Israelis.[115]
6/1/01 Israel: Tel-Aviv Nightclub Bombing. Over 140 casualties. Hamas claimed responsibility
8/9/01 Israel: Sbarro’s Restaurant Bombing. A Hamas-planted bomb in a Jerusalem pizza restaurant killed 15 (2 Americans) and wounded over 90. The Israeli response included occupation of Orient House, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s political headquarters in East Jerusalem.[116]
8/18/01 Israel: Bus shooting wounds 1 American.[117]
8/27/01 Israel: shooting wounds 1 American.[118]
9/9/01 Israel: Suicide Bombing. The first suicide bombing by an Israeli Arab killed 3 in Nahariya. Hamas claimed responsibility.
9/11/01: World Trade Center destroyed; attack on Pentagon; four US airliners hijacked. Nearly 3000 dead. US military response: overthrow of Taliban Government in Afghanistan. On 10/7/01 the US launched Operation Enduring Freedom, air strikes against Taliban
10/05/01 Bob Stevens, first victim of Anthrax poisoning in America. Total: 6 dead.
10/28/01 Pakistan: 17 killed in attack on Christian church in Bahawalpur. Responsible: probably a Sunni organisation, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
11/4/01 Israel: Teenager from Queens. NY killed shooting; 1 American injured.[119]
11/12/01 American Airlines flight 587, an Airbus A-300, New York to the Dominican Republic, crashed into Belle Harbor, New York. 265 dead. The NTSB report said the crash was caused by catastrophic failure of the vertical stabilizer. The possibility exists that Richard Reid, the shoebomber of 12/22/01, was following the procedures used on AA587, lighting the bomb in his seat rather than the lavatory in order to cause catastrophic failure. [120]
12/2/01 Israel: Bomb in Jerusalem injures 4 American citizens.[121]
12/18/01 Israel: shooting wounds 2 US citizens.[122]
12/22/01 Attempted bombing of American Airlines Flight 63, Paris to Miami. Richard Reid, a British Muslim, tried to explode a bomb concealed in his sneakers. Reid pleaded guilty in Federal Court, and was sentenced to life plus 30 years.[123]
1/3/02 The Karine-A affair. 50 tons of weapons seized by Israeli commandos, destined for Palestinian militants. Weapons purchased from Iran by Arafat. The incident proved collaboration between Iranian Shiites, Hizbollah Sunnis, and Iraqis. The previous May, Israelis seized a smaller ship, the Santorini, with about a ton of weapons. In May of 2003, a fishing boat with detonators and computer disks on making weapons was seized, along with an explosive expert from Hizbollah, Hamu Abu Amar.[124]
1/15/02 Israel: 1 Israeli-American kidnapped at checkpoint, murdered.[125]
1/18/02 Israel: American shot in Hadera.[126]
1/23/02 Kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistani authorities received a videotape on February 20 of Pearl’s murder. His grave was found near Karachi on May 16. Pakistani authorities arrested four suspects. Ringleader Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh claimed to have organized Pearl’s kidnapping to protest Pakistan’s subservience to the United States, and had belonged to Jaish-e-Muhammad, an Islamic separatist group in Kashmir. Saeed Sheikh was sentenced to death on July 15, the others to life imprisonment.[127]
1/27/02 Israel: Explosion in Jerusalem by Palestinian woman killed 1 Israeli, injured over 150. Injured included American Mark Sokolow (and his wife and 2 daughters), who had escaped from the 38th floor of the WTC South Tower on 9/11/ before it collapsed.[128]
2/15/02 Israel: West Bank, American Lee Akunis shot to death.[129]
2/16/02 Israel: Suicide Bombing in an outdoor food court in Karmei Shomron killed 4, wounded 27. 2 dead and 2 wounded Americans. The PFLP claimed responsibility.[130]
2/25/02 Israel: Moran Abit stabbed to death in Abu Tor Peace Forest in Jerusalem.[131]
3/17/02 Pakistan. Militants threw grenades into the Protestant International Church in Islamabad, during a service. 5 dead, 2 of them Americans, killed and 46 wounded. 13 Americans wounded. The Lashkar-e-Tayyiba group was suspected.
3/20/02 Peru: Car bombing at US Embassy in Lima, intended to deter visit by US President Bush. Responsible: Shining Path group.[132]
3/21/02 Israel: A suicide bombing in Jerusalem killed 3 and wounded 86, including 2 U.S. citizens. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
3/27/02 Israel. A suicide bombing in a restaurant in Netanya, killed 22 and wounded 140, including an American. Hamas claimed responsibility.
3/30/02 Kashmir, Temple Bombing: A bomb explosion in Jammu, Kashmir, killed 10. The Islamic Front claimed responsibility.
3/31/02 Israel. A suicide bombing near an ambulance station in Efrat wounded 4 persons, including an American. The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility.
4/11/02 Tunisia: Suicide bomber Nizar Nawar detonated a propane gas truck outside a synagogue in Djerba. 19 dead, some 26 injured. Financing was by Al Qaeda, specifically Khalid Sheikh Muhammed.[133]
4/12/02 Israel: A female suicide bomber killed 6 in Jerusalem and wounded 90. The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility.
5/08/02 Pakistan: Bomb in Karachi kills 12, wounds 19. 11 of the dead and 11 of the wounded were French nationals. Al-Qaida suspected.
6/10/02 Indonesia: Car bombing in Jakarta.[134]
6/14/02 Pakistan: US Consulate and Marriott Hotel bombed in Karachi. 11 killed, 51 injured.[135] Al Qaida and al-Qanin were suspected.
6/19/02 Israel. Suicide Bombing at a bus stop in Jerusalem killed 6 and wounded 43, including 2 Americans. The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility.
7/4/02 Los Angeles: Egyptian limousine driver Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, who lived in Irvine, opened fire at the Israeli El Al ticket counter. He was killed by El Al security guards. US denies it was “terrorist.”[136]
7/19/02 India: Two blasts near town of Godhra.
7/31/02 Israel: A bomb hidden in a bag in the Frank Sinatra International Student Center of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University kills 9, including 5 Americans. 87 wounded. Hamas claimed responsibility.
8/20/02 Indonesia: 3 blasts in Jakarta
10/6/02 Attack on a French Tanker. An explosive-laden boat rammed the French oil tanker Limburg, anchored off al-Dhabbah, Yemen. 1 killed, 4 wounded. Al-Qaida suspected. On 8/27/04, 15 Yemenis were convicted of the attack, and other crimes.[137]
10/12/02 Indonesia: Bali Nightclub and US Consulate bombings. A car bomb exploded outside the Sari Club Discotheque in Denpasar, killing 202 and wounding 300. 7 Americans died. Responsibility: the regional Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah, linked to al-Qaeda. Iman Samudra, who trained in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda, sentenced to death on 9/10/03.
11/17/02 Hijacking of El Al Flight 581, Boeing 757 Tel Aviv to Istanbul, foiled by Sky Marshals.[138]
11/24/02 Kenya. A three-person suicide car bomb attack on the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, killed 15 and wounded 40. Near Mombasa’s airport, two SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles fired at an Arkia Airlines Boeing 757 carrying 261 passengers to Israel. Both missiles missed. Al-Qaida, the Government of Universal Palestine in Exile, and the Army of Palestine claimed responsibility. Al-Ittihad al-Islami also suspected.
12/26/02 Philippines. Militants ambushed a bus carrying Filipino workers in Zamboanga del Norte. 13 killed, 10 wounded. Philippine authorities suspected the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which had been extorting money from the company, Toronto Ventures. The Catholic charity Caritas-Philippines said that Toronto Ventures had harassed tribesmen who opposed mining on their ancestral lands.
1/5/03 Israel. Two suicide bombers killed 22 and wounded at least 100 in Tel Aviv. 6 victims were foreign workers. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility.
2/8/03 Iraq. Members of Ansar al-Islam assassinated Kurdish legislator Shawkat Haji Mushir and captured two other Kurdish officials in Qamash Tapa.
3/5/03 Israel. Suicide bombing on a bus in Haifa, killed 15 and wounded at least 40. One of the dead claimed U.S. as well as Israeli citizenship.
5/19/03 Israel. Suicide Bombing by a female Palestinian student killed 3 and wounded 52 at a shopping mall. Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility.
3/16/03 Second Gulf War begins.
4/30/03 Israel: 1 American injured in Tel Aviv pub bombing.[139]
5/12/03 Saudi Arabia: Bombing of residential facilities in Riyadh. 35 killed included 9 Americans. Over 200 injured. Saudis arrested 11 al-Qaida suspects on May 28.
5/16/03 Morocco: Suicide Bombings in Casablanca. 12 suicide bombers attacked 5 targets in Casablanca, killing 43 and wounding 100. The targets were a Spanish restaurant, a Jewish community, a Jewish cemetery, a hotel, and the Belgian Consulate. The Moroccan Government blamed the Islamist al-Assirat al-Moustaquim (The Righteous Path), but it was probably the same Al Qaeda cell that would bomb Spanish rails in 3/04.[140]
5/18/03 Israel. A suicide bomb attack on a bus in Jerusalem’s French Hill district killed 7 and wounded 20. The bomber was disguised as a religious Jew. Hamas claimed responsibility
6/11/03 Israel: Jerusalem bus bombing killed 1 American, injured 1.[141]
6/20/03 Israel: West Bank shooting killed 1 American, injured 3.[142]
8/12/03 Israel. The first suicide bombings since the June 29 Israeli-Palestinian truce. The first, in a supermarket at Rosh Haayin, Israel, killed 1 and wounded 14. The second, at a bus stop near the Ariel settlement, killed 1 and wounded 3. The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility for the first; HAMAS claimed responsibility for the second.
8/19/03 Iraq. Bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. A truck loaded with surplus Iraqi ordnance exploded outside the Canal Hotel. A hospital across the street was damaged. 23 dead included UN Representative Sergio Viera de Mello. More than 100 wounded. The UN pulled out of Iraq, An al-Qaeda branch called the Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri later claimed responsibility.
8/19/03 Israel. A suicide bombing on a bus in Jerusalem killed 21 and injured at least 100. 5 of the dead were Americans. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
8/29/03 Iraq. A car bomb at the Shrine of the Imam Ali in Najaf killed at least 81 and wounded at least 140. The dead included the Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim, who had been leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq since its establishment in 1982. SCIRI had agreed to work with the Iraqi Governing Council. It was un known whether the attackers were Baath Party loyalists, rival Shiites, or foreigners.
9/9/03 Israel. 2 suicide bombings: The first, at a bus stop, killed 7 and wounded 14. The second, at a café in Jerusalem’s German Colony neighborhood, killed 6 (2 Americans), wounded 40. A Hamas spokesman called the first attack" a response to Israeli aggression."
8/5/03 Indonesia, A car bomb in Jakarta killed 10 and wounded 150, including an American. Responsibility: probably Jemaah Islamiah, who did the 10/12/02 bombing in Bali.
8/7/03 Iraq. Bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. A car bomb killed 19 and wounded 65. Most of the victims were. No group claimed responsibility.
9/20/03 Iraq. Assassination of an Iraqi Governing Council Member. Gunmen wounded Akila Hashimi near her home in Baghdad. She died September 25.
9/22/03 Second Attack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. A suicide car bomb killed a security guard and wounded 19 others.
9/25/03 Iran: International Atomic Energy Agency finds enriched uranium traces at Kalaye Electric Company near Tehran.
10/4/03 Israel. A Palestinian woman’s suicide bomb attack in Haifa killed 19 and wounded at least 55. Responsible: Islamic Jihad. Israel bombed a training camp in Syria.
10/9/03 Iraq, October 9, 2003: Gunmen assassinated a Spanish military attaché in Baghdad. A suicide car bomb attack on an Iraqi police station killed 8 persons and wounded 40.
10/12/03 Car Bombings in Baghdad. Two suicide car bombs outside the Baghdad Hotel. 6 killed and 32 wounded.
10/15/03 Gaza Strip. A remote-controlled bomb exploded under a U.S. diplomatic convoy. 3 security guards killed; 1 wounded. They were on their way to interview Palestinian candidates for Fulbright scholarships in the US. Arafat condemned the attack; Palestinian militant groups denied responsibility. Palestinian forces arrested several suspects.
10/26/03 Iraq. A rocket launcher killed 1 U.S. Army officer and wounded 17, including 11 Americans, at the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, at the hotel, was not injured. After visiting the wounded, he said, "They’re not going to scare us away; we’re not giving up on this job."
10/26/03 Iraq. Assassination of a Deputy Mayor in Baghdad. Two gunmen believed to be Baath Party loyalists assassinated Faris Abdul Razaq al-Assam.
10/27/03 Iraq. A Wave of suicide car bombings in Baghdad killed at least 35 and wounded at least 230. 4 were directed at police stations, the 5th at the International Red Cross headquarters, where at least 12 persons were killed. A 6th attack failed, the bomber was wounded and captured. The captured bomber was a Syrian national and carried a Syrian passport.
11/8/03 Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, a suicide car bombing in the Muhaya residential compound killed 17 and wounded 122, including 4 Americans. Al-Qaeda was probably responsible.
11/12/03 Iraq. A suicide truck bomb destroyed the Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriyah, killing 18 Italians and 11 Iraqis, and wounding at least 100.
11/15/03 Turkey. 2 Synagogue Bombings in Istanbul killed 25 and wounded at least 300. A Turkish militant group, the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders’ Front, claimed responsibility. The next day, the newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi received an e-mail; an al-Qaeda branch called the Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri claimed responsibility.
11/20/03 Turkey. 2 suicide truck bombings devastated the British HSBC Bank and the British Consulate General in Istanbul, killing 27 and wounding at least 450. The dead included Consul General Roger Short. Responsibility: al-Qaeda?
11/20/03 Iraq. A suicide car bombing in Kirkuk killed 5. Patriotic Union of Kurdistan officials suspected the Ansar al-Islam group, which may have sheltered Taliban and al-Qaeda members after the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan.
11/29-11/30/03 Iraq. On 11/29, Iraqi insurgents in Mahmudiyah killed 7 out of a party of 8 Spanish intelligence officers. 2 Japanese diplomats killed near Tikrit. On 11/30, an ambush near Tikrit killed 2 South Korean electrical workers and wounded 2. A Colombian employee of Kellogg Brown & Root was killed and 2 were wounded in an ambush near Balad.
12/15/03 Iraq. 2 days after the capture of Saddam Hussein, 2 suicide car bomb attacks on police stations. 1 at Husainiyah killed 8 and wounded 20. 1 at Ameriyah, wounded 7 Iraqis.
12/19/03 Iraq. A bomb destroyed the Baghdad office of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution, killing a woman and wounding at least 7 others.
12/24/03 Iraq. A suicide car bomb attack on the Kurdish Interior Ministry in Irbil killed 5 and wounded 101.
12/25/03 Pakistan. 2 suicide truck bombers killed 14 as President Musharraf’s motorcade passed through Rawalpindi. An attempt on 12/14 failed. Pakistani officials arrested 6 members of Jaish-e-Muhammad (Afghan and Kashmiri militants).
12/31/03 Iraq. A car bomb outside Baghdad’s Nabil Restaurant killed 8 and wounded 35. The wounded included 3 Los Angeles Times reporters.
1/15/04 Pakistan: Two bombings in Karachi wound 13.[143]
3/11/04 Spain: 3 Major bombings of railroads. Over 200 dead, 1400 injured. Two days later, the Socialist Party won the Spanish elections. Spanish troops were removed from Iraq on 4/20, after taking office on 4/17. Responsible: Three Moroccans arrested: Jamal Zougam, Mohammed Bekkali and Mohammed Chaoui. Probably part of the Al Oussououd Al Khalidine (“The Eternal Lions”), a group connected to the Salafiya Jihadiya network and Al Qaeda. See the 5/16/03 Casablanca bombing. Al Qaeda influenced an election.
3/14/04 Israel: Suicide bomber in Ashdod kills 10 Israelis. Israel, over next few weeks, kills Hamas leaders Sheikh ahmed Yassin and Aziz Rantisi. The next suicide bombing occurs August 11.
3/31/04 Iraq: 4 American security guards killed in Fallujah, mutilated and dragged through the streets. Start of uprising by Iranian-backed cleric Al Sadr, with a militia. US military response restrained. Over the next few months, the US negotiates, grants truces. The attacks continue.
4/21/04 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Suicide car bombing of security building. Responsibility claimed by Al Haramain Brigades, linked to Al Qaeda.
4/26/04 2 US troops killed in Baghdad ambush; Iraqi teenagers loot and burn US Humvees.
4/27/04 Syria. 4 gunmen detonated a bomb under a car and fired bullets and grenades at Syrian security forces. Syrian President Assad said that violence in Iraq was legitimate resistance to US terrorism.[144]
4/29/04 Iraq: After weeks of being surrounded by the American army, an Iraqi army is appointed to control Fallujah. An officer under Saddam Hussein will head the force. The US releases an anti-American cleric, Sheik Jamal Shaker Nazzal. Elsewhere in Iraq, 8 US soldiers killed near the town of Mahmudiyah, by a car bomb.
5/1/04 Saudi Arabia: gunmen attack the ABB Lummus Global oil engineering office in Yanbu. Killed included 2 Brits, 2 Americans and 1 Australian.[145]
5/2/04 A pregnant woman and 4 children murdered in Gaza. Israelis kill 4 Hamas militants in air raids. On 5/18/04, Israel demolished the home of Ibrahim Ahmed, an Islamic Jihad militant blamed for the killings.[146]
5/5/04 Greece: 3 bombs explode in Athens.[147]
5/9/04 Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov assassinated; Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility. “We apologize to the president of the Chechen republic of Ichkeria, Aslan Maskhadov, for being unable to literally throw Kadyrov's head at his feet as we promised a month ago,” Basayev said.[148]
5/11/04 Iraq: American citizen Nick Berg beheaded by Al Qaeda group. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi calls it retaliation for prisoner abuse scandal. Over the past several weeks, photos of Iraqi prisoners, abused by US Servicemen in Iraq jail, made public. US began public investigation and courts-martial.
5/17/04 Iraq: Head of Iraqi Governing Council Abdel-Zahraa Othman, AKA Izzadine Saleem, assassinated by suicide bombing. Responsibility claimed by “Arab Resistance Movement.”[149]
5/29/04 Saudi Arabia: Al Qaeda raid in Khobar kills 16, including at least 1 American.[150]
6/22/04 Iraq: Korean citizen Kim Sun-il beheaded by group headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.[151]
7/11/04 Israel: An explosion near a Tel Aviv bus station killed an Israeli soldier and wounded 30 people. The explosion was the first bomb attack in a month. Israel’s fence, and increased security measures, reduced such attacks.
8/11/04 Israel: Suicide car bomb explodes at the Kalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah. 1 Palestinian killed; 7 Israelis wounded. The Fatah Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility. This was the first suicide bombing against Israel since March 14 in Ashdod (10 Israelis killed), following the killings of the heads of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Aziz Rantisi. The main attackers out of Ramallah are Hamas, led by Ibraim Hamed, and the Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades run out of the Mukata headquarters under Arafat.[152]
8/19/04 Iraq: Radical cleric Al Sadr remains fortified inside Shiite the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. The US does not drive him out, citing religious sensitivity for the site. On 8/27/04 militants agree to peace, after Al-Sistani, Shiite cleric, returns from London.
9/1/04 Russia: 32 Chechan Militants seize a school in southern Russia, with over a thousand hostages. On 9/3 the school is stormed after explosions collapse the roof; over 330 are dead, including children shot in the back as they run away. The terrorists are mostly killed. Putin rejects calls by the US to negotiate with them, saying: “Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?” “You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child-killers?”[153]
9/12/04 Iraq: Insurgent attacks kill 59 on Baghdad streets. The Tawhid and Jihad group, headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, posted a Web statement claiming responsibility for a car bombing on Tuesday. Over 150 dead in 3 days.[154]
Appeasement and the Roots of the Terror Network
Such a litany of blood, agony and death makes several things clear. First, this is a war. It is a sustained campaign of deadly attacks that has the direct support of several governments. Syria and Iran are the greatest enemies, given their support for Hizbollah and other groups, their provision of territory from which the attackers can operate, and most of all Iran’s ideological example of how fundamentalist Islam can defeat the west through jihad. Terrorist groups cannot operate without such support.
To fight them with criminal justice procedures against particular attackers while exempting the governments involved has reduced the war to a series of tactical movements—akin to Fabius’s march / counter-march against Hannibal’s invasion of Italy—and has required an attack as a precondition to ending attacks. As US troops fight enemy troops in Iraq, there is a constant supply of such troops being trained and motivated in Syria and Iran. Such a strategy may rally troops on a field of battle, but it will fail to attack the source of the attacks, and it will not win the war. By using criminal-justice enforcement methods against such attacks the west has failed to name the actual enemy involved: militant Islamic fundamentalists, and to strike their source, the governments that support the network.
Meanwhile, the attackers understand the need for a clear projection of power out beyond the immediate area of conflict; they understand that they must use power against our homeland, if they are to defeat our will to fight them.
The United States and other western nations have abetted these attacks by a policy of appeasement stretching over fifty years. This appeasement has been founded on a series of evasions about the nature of this enemy. Central to the growth of these movements was the demonstrated inability of the west to confront the Islamic fundamentalist movement directly. Fundamentalists took this as a sign that God was on their side. Prior to the Iranian Revolution, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in 1979, these appeasements bolstered the sense of inevitable victory that fueled the Iranian militants and their mullahs, and that made the Iranian revolution possible. Post-1979, they have allowed the state sponsorship of terrorism to rise to new heights of boldness and destructiveness. The only effective opposition to the political rise of Fundamentalist Islam—and the only force preventing a greater Islamic state from rising in the Middle East—even if applied inconsistently, was that of Israel. There can be no doubt that Israel is America’s only ally in the Middle East. If Americans wish to survive the next round of attacks—with nuclear weapons—they had better set out to destroy this threat.
To this enemy, death is not a necessary risk; it is now actively sought. Such attackers want to die; suicide bombing has risen to a commonplace, and there can be little doubt that death in a mushroom cloud would engender the highest form of martyrdom. Death in battle is success no matter the outcome: if in victory, to motivate the next battle, and if in defeat, to motivate others to a new attack. Their persons are the delivery vehicles for the bombs, a point made by Benjamin Netanyahu in his speech of 9/20/01 to the US Government Reform Committee. As William Tecumseh Sherman understood when entering Georgia and South Carolina, all of those who exhort young people to become such martyrs—but who stay alive themselves in order to keep the attacks coming—are the enemy as much as those who actually undertake the attacks. Widespread advocacy and use of this tactic indicates fundamental cultural perversion, and the need for deep philosophical and social change. Fear of destruction will not stop them, but it would stop governments from supporting them, and it would convince most onlookers—the vast majority who are waiting to see who wins—that the terror policy of their leaders is a failure. This is a precondition to the ideological change that must occur in the Arab world.
The question for the modern day is not whether the US military has the capacity to destroy the terror network—it is whether the US politicians have the will. To this point, political leaders in both parties have demonstrated no such commitment to act.
Major Internet Sources:
Aviation Safety Network = ASN
Center for Defense and International Security Studies = CDISS
Jewish Virtual Library = JVL
Middle East Review of International Affairs= MERIA
Major printed sources:
Y. Bodansky, Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America (NY: Random House, 1999/2001).
Burke, J. Al Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror (NY: I. B. Tauris, 2003).
Jacquard, R. In the Name of Osama Bin Laden: Global Terrorism and the Bin Laden Brotherhood (London: Duke: 2002).
Leiken, R. S. Bearers of Global Jihad? Immigration and National Security after 9/11 (Washington, DC: Nixon Center, 2004).
Miniter Losing Bin Laden
Posner, G. Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11 (NY: Random House, 2003).
Other exclusions from this chronology: After 9/11/01, a slew of attacks in Pakistan (following President Mushareef’s assistance to the US); India: Sikhs vs. Muslims and Hindus (killings of Indira Gandhi on 10/31/1984, and Rajiv Gandhi, 5/21/1991, by a suicide bomber); India’s conflicts with Pakistan; Spain: ETA Basque separatists; Greece and the November 17 group (murdered CIA official Richard Welch on 12/23/75); Peru and the Shining Pat; The Irish Republican Army; The National Liberation Front and other political and drug gangs in Columbia; the North Koreans (bombed a South Korean delegation Burma, killing 21, on 10/9/83; bombed Seoul’s Kimbo airport, on 9/14/86; bombed Korean Air Lines Flight 858, on 11/29/87). Excluded also is so-called “domestic terrorism” which is really criminal and political oppression within authoritarian governments, such as environmental terrorism (e.g., the letter-bombing of 10 Downing Street in Britain in 11/1982 by the Animal Rights Militia). Political oppression within authoritarian governments is also outside the scope.
[2] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1960s.htm.
[3] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1960s.htm.
[4] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1960s.htm.
[5] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1960s.htm.
[6] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1960s.htm.
[7] ASN, 12/28/68, http://aviation-safety.net/database/1968/681228-1.htm.
[8] http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte861m/twa.html.
[9] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1960s.htm. Aviation Safety Net, http://aviation-safety.net/database/1970/700221-1.htm.
[10] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[11] BBC Interview, http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/uk_confidential/1090986.stm. Also the source of the quotation above, about the crew being armed.
[12] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[13] JVL “Major Terror Attacks Against Israeli Embassies and Representatives Abroad,” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/embattacks.html. (CDISS has date of 5/17/71), http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1970s.htm.
[14] http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/23/newsid_2518000/2518731.stm. ASN: http://aviation-safety.net/database/1972/720222-1.htm.
[15] http://www.geocities.com/munichseptember1972/page5.html. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/hits.html. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/11/20/60II/main318655.shtml.
[16] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1970s.htm.
[17] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[18] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1970s.htm.
[19] S. Ch. Kaminaris, “Greece and Middle Eastern Terrorism,” in MERIA,3.2, 6/1999, http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=403.
[20] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1970s.htm.
[21] ASN, http://aviation-safety.net/database/1974/740908-0.htm. JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[22] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1970s.htm.
[23] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1970s.htm.
[24] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[25] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[26] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[27] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1970s.htm.
[28] http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_2786000/2786967.stm. Also, “The Entebbe Rescue Mission,” in JVL, http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/entebbe.html.
[29] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1970s.htm.
[30] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[31] ASN http://aviation-safety.net/database/1977/770708-1.html.
[32] On Haas: International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, http://www.ict.org.il/spotlight/det.cfm?id=187.
[33] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[34] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[35] Jacquard, In the Name 13.
[36] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106281,00.html.
[37] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1980s.htm. BBC News, http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/5/newsid_2510000/2510873.stm.
[38] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[39] ASN: http://aviation-safety.net/database/1980/800724-1.html.
[40] ASN: http://aviation-safety.net/database/1980/801013-1.html.
[41] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[42] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[43] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1980s.htm.
[44] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[45] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[46] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[47] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[48] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[49] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[50] BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/8/newsid_2516000/2516407.stm. The CDISS incorrectly shows it in 1984. http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1980s.htm.
[51] http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/27/newsid_2545000/2545949.stm.
[52] Washington Post “Bombing of TWA Flight 840,” 4/2/86, http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac3/ContentServer?node=world/issues/terrordata&pagename=world/terror&appstat=detail&resulttype=attack&entityId=141&cache12=8.
[53] Ledeen, War 144.
[54] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[55] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[56] Much has been written on this attack. Wallis Lockerbie, 2001.
[57] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[58] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[59] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[60] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[61] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[62] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[63] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[64] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[65] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[66] “Approaches towards the Settlement of the Arab-Israeli Conflict and the Question of Palestine”
Issue 7, October 1991. United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine: http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/ec8db69f77e7a33e052567270057e591/f952a47244aa95da852560ef0068e15f?OpenDocument
[67] “Approaches towards the Settlement of the Arab-Israeli Conflict and the Question of Palestine”
Issue 7, October 1991. United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine: http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/ec8db69f77e7a33e052567270057e591/f952a47244aa95da852560ef0068e15f?OpenDocument
[68] Miniter Losing Bin Laden 1-5 for narrative of this, Bin Laden’s first direct attack on America.
[69] CDISS, http://www.cdiss.org/terror_1980s.htm.
[70] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[71] See Posner, Why America Slept chapter One “The Takeover” for a picture of the Islamic community in the New York area.
[72] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[73] JVL, “Fatalities in Palestinian Terror Attacks (1967-2003),” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Peace/osloterr.html. Also, “Major Palestinian Terror Attacks since Oslo,” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/TerrorAttacks.html. This does not include Palestinian deaths from Israeli counter-attacks, Israeli pre-emptive strikes against Hamas leaders and other militants, and Palestinian reprisals against suspected collaborators with Israel.
[74] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[76] “Patterns of Global Terrorism, 1994.” Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State, 1995 April. http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/arms/PGT_report/1994PGT.html
[77] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[78] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[79] Nationmaster.com, “Philippine Airlines Flight 434,” http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Philippine-Airlines-Flight-434. CNN.com “Officials: Alleged al Qaeda paymaster in custody,” 3/4/2003, http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/03/03/pakistan.arrests/.
[80] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[81] Time Europe, 10/6/02, “Terror takes the Stand.” http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901021014-361590,00.html.
[82] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[83] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[84] Vernon Loeb Washington, “Terrorism Entrepreneur Unifies Groups Politically, Financially,” in Washington Post 8/23/1998,
[85] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[86] http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/acts_of_terror/Khobar_Towers.htm.
[87] Miniter Losing Bin Laden 237 asks whether Iraq was involved in the attack.
[88] http://www.cnn.com/US/9707/twa.800/reports/structures.html. For a map of the debris, http://members.aol.com/bardonia2/debris.pdf.
[89] http://www.apfn.org/thewinds/arc_features/government/flight_800_coverup12-97.html.
[90] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[91] Jacquard In the Name 45. Bin Laden’s declaration is all over the internet, e.g., http://www.kimsoft.com/2001/binladenwar.htm.
[92] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[93] http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/acts_of_terror/Letter_Bomb.htm.
[94] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[95] Bodansky Bin Laden 210 for the meeting and the quotations.
[96] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[97] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[98] Jewish Virtual Library “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[99] Miniter Losing Bin Laden 238 discusses how Iraq’a, and Bin Laden’s, statements “moved in lockstep” throughout this summer.
[100] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[102] For National Transportation Safety Board information, see http://www.ntsb.gov/events/EA990. A furious controversy erupted, in which Egyptian officials, who had asked the NTSB to investigate, refused to accept that the flight officer had intentionally crashed the plane; see Atlantic Monthly, 9/2001. W. Langewiesche, “The Crash of Egypt Air Flight 990.” For facts and documents relating to the controversy, ABC News, April 8, 2001. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/egyptair_index.html.
[103] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[104] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[105] Rediff on the Net documented the hijacking: http://www.rediff.com/news/iacrisis.htm. See Times of India, 10/04/01, for a chronology of Indian hijackings to that point.
[106] Rediff on the Net: http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/25akd.htm. Times of India, 12/30/99, “Hijack and Babudum,” http://www.media-watch.org/articles/1299/138.html is an expose of government incompetence in preventing a military solution to the hijacking.
[107] Times of India, 2/5/04, “IC-814 Case was Most Successful: Al-Qaeda,” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/475826.cms.
[108] Miniter, Losing Bin Laden 215. Lessons from this attack were used by Al Qaeda in the USS Cole attack.
[109] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[110] http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/acts_of_terror/USS_Cole.htm.
[111] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[112] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[113] EmergencyNet News, ERRI Risk Assessment Services, 3/17/2001. http://www.emergency.com/2001/turkey-hijack-03-15.htm. This report also lists six other attempted hijackings ended by assault: 6/21/95, 12/24/94, 11/23/85, 2/19/78, 10/13/77, and 6/27/76 (Entebbe).
[114] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[115] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[116] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[117] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[118] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[119] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[120] WorldNetDaily, 1/17/02, “Was Richard Reid Shoebomber #2?” http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26099. A captured Al Qaeda fighter later supported their involvement: National Post, ‘Montreal man downed U.S. Plane, CSIS told’, S. Bell, 8/27/04, http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=a4f777f9-958a-4538-9c71-7f6d797676e8. D. Pipes “Why Did American Airlines Flight 587 Crash?” Front Page Magazine 8-30-04, http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2053.
[121] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[122] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[123] CNN.com Law Center, 1/22/03, “Richard Reid Pleads Guilty,” http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/10/04/reid.guilty.plea/.
[124] NY Times, May 23, 2003.
[125] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[126] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[127] PBS On-line NewsHour, 7/15/02, “Pakistan Convicts Four Men in Pearl Murder,” http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/pearl_07-15-02.html.
[128] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[129] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[130] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[131] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[132] http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/03/21/peru.embassy.blast/.
[133] Leiken Bearers of Jihad 23, citing Burke Al Qaeda 2003:233.
[134] http://paknews.com/main.php?id=7&date1=2002-06-15.
[135] http://paknews.com/main.php?id=1&date1=2002-06-21. http://paknews.com/main.php?id=7&date1=2002-06-15.
[136] Fox News, 7/6/02, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,56978,00.html.
[137] Associated Press “Yemeni Militants Convicted of Terrorism,” Ahmed al-Haj, 8/27/04. In Las Vegas Sun-Times http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2004/aug/28/082805613.html
[138] Holland Sentinel on-line,11/18/2002, http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/111802/new_111802035.shtml.
[139] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[140] http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir040317_1_n.shtml.
[141] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[142] JVL “American Victims of Mideast Terror Attacks.” http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html.
[143] http://paknews.com/top.php?id=2&date1=2004-01-15.
[144] “Assad Defends Anti-US Attacks in Iraq.” AP, 4/28/04, http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SYRIA_US_IRAQ
[145] EmergencyNet News, 5/1/04, http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm.
[146] BBC News, “Israel seeks mass Gaza surrender,” 5/19/04, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3728495.stm.
[147] News.telegraph.co.uk, 5/5/04, “Athens Hit by Triple Bomb Attack,” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/05/ugreece.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/05/05/ixportaltop.html.
[148] “Basayev: Kadyrov's Death Is My Work” A. Medetsky, in Moscow Times, 5/18/04, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/05/18/001.html.
[149] “Suicide Assassin Kills Iraq Council Chief” Robert H. Reid AP in Moscow Times, 5/17/04 http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/05/18/002.html.
[150] Samia Nakhoul, “Saudi Qaeda Raid Kills 16, Including 7 Foreigners,” in Reuters, 5/29/04, http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040529/wl_nm/security_saudi_attack_dc.
[151] AP, Robert H. Reid, in PalmBeachPost.com, 6/23/04.
[152] ”Seven Border Policemen Wounded in Kalandia Bombing” M. Dudkevitch, in Jerusalem Post, 8/11/04.
[153] “U.S. Calls for Diplomacy with Chechens,” AP, in NYTimes, 9/7/04, citing the Guardian.
[154] “Insurgents Target Iraqi Police; 59 Dead,” K. Housego, AP, 9/14/04.
Return to John Lewis Home Page
And that's just the recent stuff. Islamic terror goes back a long way. Anybody remember the Library of Alexandria?
Milt,
that's quite a list you've compiled there...
Enough info to give a guy a *headache* eh, Happy? ;^D
Of interest, I noted there were quite a few occasions in which European nations, mainly Germany, Italy and France- released terrorists from their custody.
Holy Cow! Thanks for your work on this.
Jesus Saves, Moses Leads and Mohammed Kills.
Miltonim, thank you for this encyclopedia,
The Evidence: Chronology of Attacks on the West
Excellent work covering the "Religion of Peace."
Don't forget to include the June 7, 1981 Israeli destruction of the Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad that had been built with French assistance.
Bump for later perusal...
The devastation and destroyed lives and families these fiends have wrought is from hell. The massacre of millions of Christian Armenians in 1915 by the Turks could be added.
"If Americans wish to survive the next round of attacks—with nuclear weapons—they had better set out to destroy this threat."
This seems to be the bottom line.
Thanks -
1964 Palestinian Liberation Front formed.
These two dates are interesting. Jordan was supposed to be the land where displaced "Palestinians" were to be settled after the formation of Israel, or so I understand. This act of bombing the Jordanian Foreign Ministry was the work of the Palestinians that wanted to be in charge of Jordan. It is my belief that Yassar Arrafat wanted to be "King of Jordan", more than he cared about a Palestinian "homeland". The result of this bombing caused the Jordanians to mis-trust - and rightly so - the Palestinians that had settled in Jordan. Jordon put them in refugee camps and expelled others to live in refugee camps on the West Bank.
The forming of the Palestinian Liberation Front, the PLF, was Arafat's "Plan-B", after "Plan-A" failed to secure him the throne of Jordan. As well, Arafat was a very willing "tool" and exploiter of the largess of the Soviet Union. In short, one of the driving influences of Middle East problems, IMHO, was simply Arafat's ambitions.
One incident missing from your list is Yassar Arafat's 1994 Nobel Peace Prize. It's an act sybolic of the Western appeasement of Muslim Terrorism.
>"We are our own worst enemy sometimes."<
-agreed.
and the ACLU types are the ones behind releasing terrorist types like Abu Abbas...
(From the 1917 Russian Revolution leading to nationalizations of private property to 9/12/04 where in Iraq Islamic terrorists attacks kill 59 on Baghdad streets - this is one of the finest CHRONOLOGIES OF ISLAMIC WAR AGAINST THE INFIDEL you will find anywhere.)
A MUST BOOKMARK PAGE.
___________________________________________________
Such a litany of blood, agony and death makes several things clear.
First, this is a war.
It is a sustained campaign of deadly attacks that has the direct support of several governments. Syria and Iran are the greatest enemies, given their support for Hizbollah and other groups, their provision of territory from which the attackers can operate, and most of all Iran’s ideological example of how fundamentalist Islam can defeat the west through jihad.
Terrorist groups cannot operate without such support.
I'm Happy U Pinged me! Thanks.
Most interesting and enlightening.
WHY ARE ALL TERRORISTS MUSLIM?
"Unless a man becomes the enemy of evil, he will not even become its slave, but rather its champion. God Himself will not help us to ignore evil but only to defy and to defeat it!" G. K. Chesterton.
In an outrageous attack upon Christian leaders facing the lie of Islam with the Word of God, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) issued a public rebuke, sharply criticizing "derogatory statements" made by some evangelical leaders concerning Islam. The National Association of Evangelicals represents more than 43,000 congregations in the United States of America. Specifically, the NAE named Franklin Graham, Dr. Jerry Vines, and the Revs. Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson as chief culprits who must learn to temper their speech concerning Islam.
This is shocking! The NAE wants to take the one offensive weapon we Christians have in our arsenal, the Word of God, and replace it with - dialogue? That's right! The truth of God's Word is being replaced with tolerance, appeasement, common ground, reaching across the aisle, pragmatism, and negotiation. "Can't we all just get along?" Of course the answer is, "No! Not when God's Word is the standard."
To be sure, God's Word is confrontational, dividing, judgmental, and absolute, yet it is filled with mercy. Islam, on the other hand, is all of the above, yet it is filled with violence and murder. There is no common ground between these two religions. Islam and Christianity are at war! Neither will tolerate the other.
Unfazed by planes crashing into buildings killing thousands, suicide bombings of countless innocent human beings, mass slaughter of millions of Christians in the Sudan, and violence of unprecedented order, the NAE now wants us to dialogue with the Christ hating false religion of Islam. This spiritually emasculated organization, is espousing that we hide in caves so that we won't be killed by Muslims living out their faith in the streets of our cities. Living out their faith?
The NAE's solution to stop the merciless bloodletting of Islam is to draft guidelines and begin an interfaith dialogue with Islamic leaders. What utter nonsense! Somehow the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Rev. Ted Haggard, has convinced himself and several others of the good faith of his Islamic counterparts. Haggard is championing the lie of Islam without realizing what it is that he and the NAE are doing.
Ask a simple question, "Why are all terrorists Muslim?" You doubt the premise of the question? Let's just take a look:
What do all of these recorded instances of sheer violence and evil have in common? Islam! Why are all these terrorists Muslim? Their false and murderous religion demands them to be so. There is no escaping the link between terrorism and the Islamic faith. Islam is a lie birthed in the very pit of hell that must be defeated before it destroys everyone who will not bow the knee to Allah and his lying prophet Mohammed.
Islam must be annihilated, completely. It must be exposed for the lie that it is. Allah is not God and Mohammed is not a prophet of God. Jesus is God, and apart from Him there is no other. Jesus is not tolerant of any other God than Himself, for there is no other God but Him! For the NAE to say anything less is to betray the God of the Holy Scriptures and the 43,000 congregations it represents.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), upon hearing the NAE's appeasing statement said, "We can understand theological differences, but what's important is that the dialogue is one of respect, not demonization." Dialogue? Sure, Rev. Haggard, you won the accolades of Islam, but you are suffering under the condemnation of heaven. There is nothing Islam would rather do than to dialogue with you while it continues its murderous onslaught. The Word of God demonizes Islam, not Franklin Graham or any of the others.
For the NAE to take its cues from CAIR, a front organization for Islamic terrorism, is absurd. CAIR is the organization that came up with the politically correct idea that America should no longer be considered a "Judeo-Christian" nation. Why? Because it is offensive to Muslims living in America. Please! CAIR is that "gentle" organization that coined the endearing term "Islamophobia," and is presently suing American Airlines for wrongfully profiling "middle eastern" looking men.
Wrongfully profiling? One doesn't have to look too long at the statistics to realize that 98.7% of all hijackings from 1970 to this day were done by "middle eastern" looking men who were all (100% of them) Muslim terrorists. CAIR says it's just not fair to be demonized by the Word of God. Too bad! Unfortunately the NAE wants to jump on that "politically correct" ship that is going to sink into eternal damnation.
We have three choices in dealing with Islam. We will either be killed by those holding to its murderous tenets, kill them (like we are doing in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.), or convert them to Christ. Which one do you choose?
Flip Benham
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