Posted on 04/28/2005 7:38:01 AM PDT by Destro
TERRORISM: AL-QAEDA THREATENS EUROPE FROM BALKANS, SAY EXPERTS
Belgrade, 28 April (AKI) A group of prominent right-wing American analysts, supported by several Serbian academics, have claimed that the greatest terrorist threat to Europe comes from the Balkans, particularly from Bosnia and Kosovo which still maintain links to al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist organisations. The experts were delegates at a two day conference, sponsored by the Belgrade University, that attracted terrorism specialists from the region, the United States and Europe.
Yosef Bodansky, the director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Conventional Warfare in Washington, said that the Balkans was a springboard for Islamic extremism in Europe and that Iran was the main driving force behind it.
According to Bodansky, Iran was among leading countries that finance and support Islamic terrorism directed against the United States and Europe. The final goal of Islamic terrorist groups and organizations is to turn America into an Islamic republic and to secure world domination through it, Bodansky told the meeting.
Gregory Copley, director of the Washington Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading neo-conservative think-tank which many oberservers say reflects the position of some of President George W. Bush's top officials, also attended the conference. Copely argued that Americans had demonstrated the shortsightedness of their foreign policy in the Balkans by supporting local Muslims during the civil war in Bosnia and ethnic Albanians, who are also Muslims, in Serbias southern province of Kosovo. In 1999, Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, won NATO support for a bombing campaign against Belgrade to halt the "ethnic cleansing" of Albanians by Serbs in Kosovo.
Copley, and some other participants, said they believed that al-Qaeda still had dormant cells in Bosnia and among Kosovo's ethnic Albanians.
Evan Coleman, a consultant on terrorism for the American Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said that Al Qaeda still has camps for recruiting and training terrorists in the area of Zenica in Bosnia and that it was happening before the eyes of NATO soldiers stationed there. He said that no one in the American administration paid attention to the intelligence reports and the government of the United States sometimes acts like a gorilla without a brain.
Zoran Dragisic of the Faculty for Civil Defence at the University of Belgrade argued that Al Qaeda, Kosovo Albanians and organized crime groups were the main source of terrorism in the Balkans. Serbia could potentially fall prey to their attacks, Dragisic said, but he pointed out that the Balkans were just an oasis for organising and planning, while Western Europe was really the main target of terrorist attacks.
(Vpr/Aki)
How did Carter aid the Mullahs, other than by not standing up to them directly in the Hostage Crisis and sending them the message that we "werent to be messed with."
Not questioning you, just wondering if you could offer me some more insight. Thanks
You can't lay it all to incompetence. Clinton was fully aware that Muslim terrorists were smuggling themselves and their weapons into Bosnia, and he gave them a free pass, while he strictly maintained the arms embargo on the Serbs.
Also, while there's no way to prove it, I think it's more than a coincidence that somehow clinton was always allied to the drug smugglers in various parts of the world. After the Albanians took over Kosovo, drug smuggling to Europe quickly doubled. Clinton had connections with the drug cartels through the Dixie Mafia and Mena Airport from the time of his youth. He kept those connections in the White House. I would imagine that he got his 5% from the drugs passing through Kosovo into Europe, just as he got 5% from the drugs passing through Mexico.
Can I prove this? Of coure not. But there is a ton of circumstantial evidence. I would be very surprised if the clintons retired from the White House with less than several billion dollars in Swiss numbered accounts.
There was a moment when the Shah of Iran could have been supported, and when we probably could have leaned on France not to send Ayatollah Khomeini back to Iran, much as the mischievous Germans sent Lenin to Russia in 1917. Carter, however, completely agreed with the Mainstream Media that the Shah was corrupt and had to go, and that the Mullahs would give Iran a more honest government.
It was a serious misreading of the political situation. He could have used the CIA and his political power to block the regime change. Instead he took the popular course and helped destroy the Shah. Once the regime change had taken place, of course, there was little that we could do, short of war.
Later, it came back to haunt him with the hostage crisis, which he couldn't have deserved more.
If NATO won't do it then let the Serb Army take care of those terrorist training camps in Bosnia, and any Al Qaeda in Kosovo.
Heck, they threaten Europe from London and Amsterdam. Wake up call time has long passed ...
I also include Jimmy Carter in that estimation. He also never made a blunder or shortsightedness or a SNAFU that actually helped America in his 4 awful years--or in all the years that followed either. For example, his whitewashing all kinds of deeply flawed "elections" where dictator thugs remain in power, from helping to prop up Aristide to the most recent being Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
Why do all the mistakes happen in favor of Red China, the most psychotic and homocidal muslims, and those communistas who most want to harm us like Castro and Chavez? IMO they aren't mistakes.
Right on the money there,GOP_1900AD. France is looking pretty bad too. They're replacing smelly losers with dangerous smelly losers.
I sure hope this is getting to you, Bonly-boy!
We repeaed what Clinton sowed.
who is Bonly-boy?
You may kindly refer to him as "Mr. Potato Head"
Ronly Bonly had served in Bosnia where part of his duties included dealing with the bodies of the Bosniaks killed by Serbs at Srebrenica. It made an indelible impression on him and he had little patience with those who would come on FReeRepublic and deny such crimes occurred. Accordingly, his manner of expression was somewhat colorful.
As FormerLib's post amply demonstrates, there are posters here who label anyone who dares to point out less than saintly conduct by Serbs as "a supporter of Islamofascists" and an "unabashed anti-Serb bigot" who loves "muhammedan thugs"; such labeling of course being easier than actually dealing with the facts of extensive Serb culpability in warcrimes against both Muslims and Christians in the Balkans.
Bonly was a Bosnian Muslim who drove a taxi to the "houses of ill repute" for certain NATO officers who worked for the JAG in Bosnia. It was alleged that he specialized in those places that could serve up "boys with eyes like pearls."
He attempted to parlay that into some credibility but he always collapsed under direct questioning.
He was one of many Islamofascists who pollute Free Republic with their anti-Christian bigotry in full support of the al-Qaeda terrorists.
Billy Goat Klinton and Hillary Roddamned can be blamed for this travesty.
Here's the extract on Kosovo:
Kosovo, currently under the administration of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, successfully prosecuted individuals for terrorism and developed new tools to combat terrorist financing. Radical Islamic organizations, some with links to terrorism, have attempted to recruit followers among Kosovo Albanian Muslims but these attempts have largely failed. In June 2004, authorities in Albania arrested and extradited Florim Ejupi to Kosovo, a suspect in a deadly 2001 terrorist attack against a bus carrying Kosovo Serbs; Ejupi was later indicted by a local Kosovo District Court for terrorism and murder. In February, UNMIK passed a regulation and later established a Financial Information Center to monitor suspicious financial transactions and deter money laundering and identify sources of terrorist financing. UNMIK, as well as Kosovos local Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), continue to cooperate closely with the United States and other governments in sharing information and investigating terrorist-related groups and activities.
And here's Bosnia:
The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) remained a strong and active partner in the global war on terrorism. The countrys ethnic divisions, its complex and multi-level government structure, and its still weak central institutions complicate its efforts against terrorism, but Bosnia made great strides in institutionalizing its counterterrorism capabilities. State-level Ministries of Defense and Security were established in 2004, and the two entity-level (Federation and Republika Srpska) intelligence services were merged into a single state-level service. US Government assistance helped establish the State Investigative and Protection Agency (SIPA), an FBI-like agency responsible for investigating complex crimes including terrorism, illegal trafficking, organized crime, and smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. SIPA will have a financial intelligence unit (FIU), and a sub-unit of its Criminal Investigation Department will be dedicated to counterterrorism and WMD. However, these units of SIPA are not yet fully staffed or fully operational, and state institutions in general are largely under-funded, underresourced, and lack sufficiently trained personnel. In June, Bosnia adopted a package of laws that, when fully implemented, will dramatically strengthen state-level law enforcement capabilities. The set of laws includes legislation giving SIPA law enforcement and investigative authority for state-level crimes, including terrorism, and a law on prevention of money laundering. The law, which came into force on December 28, determines the measures and responsibilities for detecting, preventing, and investigating money laundering and terrorist financing, and prescribes measures and responsibilities for international cooperation. Bosnia lacks established procedures for dealing with such issues as denaturalization, extradition, and preventive detention. The BiH Government took decisive action in apprehending suspects and shutting down NGOs and bank accounts tied to terrorist-linked organizations. In the past year and a half, Bosnian Federation authorities shut down NGOs with terrorist links and froze accounts of terrorist supporters. In 2004, the Government disrupted the operations of al-Furqan (a.k.a. Sirat Istikamet), al-Haramain and al- Masjed al-Aqsa Charity Foundation, and Taibah International, organizations listed by the UN 1267 Committee as having direct links with al-Qaida. Of continuing concern are the foreign Islamic extremists who remain in Bosnia as a legacy of the 1992-95 war.
And our good ally Albania continues to do all it can to help us:
Despite limited resources, Albania continued to support the global war on terrorism and made progress in implementing its national action plan against terrorism, originally approved in 2002. Albania has steadfastly supported US actions against terrorism, sharing information and investigating terrorist-related groups and activities. In 2004, the Government froze the assets of terrorist financiers, curtailed the activities of suspect Islamic NGOs, and detained or expelled individuals suspected of having links to terrorism or attempting to foment religious intolerance. In July, Parliament passed legislation to implement asset freezes against persons designated as terrorists or terrorist financiers by the United Nations. Albania has begun cracking down on ethnic Albanian extremists, including leaders of the ultranationalist Albanian National Army. In December, police apprehended four arms traffickers dealing in surface to air missiles likely intended for regional extremists.
Of note, the State Department's report indicates that the most dangerous place in the Balkans for an American or other "western" national is Greece where even with the November 17th Group mostly rounded up, Greek terrorists continue to conduct bombings and arson attacks against American and western "imperialist" targets.
Here is some intel, Condi.
While we were in the Balkans word had quickly spread that the Real IRA wanted to buy weapons.
In Belgrade, the capital of nearby Serbia, the local Mafia emailed us to offer a cache of anti-tank missiles, Kalashnikovs, a mortar and illegal landmines for £50,000.
And in neighbouring Montenegro, on the Adriatic coast's version of the Costa Del Crime, another war criminal was selling death on an industrial scale. The man, known as Vesko - a former bodyguard of Serbian warlord Arkan - offered to supply us with 20 rocket-propelled grenades, 20 shoulder-fired missiles and 20 Spider machine guns used by the SAS.
Our contact was the deputy commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) Niam Behljulji, known as Hulji. The group were trained by Bin Laden's men. Astonishingly, we met him under the noses of the British Army and UN forces - who remain as peacekeepers following Kosovo's bloody war with Serbia. Hulji, is said to supply terrorists across Europe and has been accused of massacring Serbian women and children during the war. He even posed grinning for a photograph, holding the severed head of one his victims.
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