Posted on 05/01/2005 9:07:13 AM PDT by Destro
Sunday, May 1, 2005
Bosnia and the Islamic Jihad In Europe
By M. Bozinovich
Cover of Jürgen Elsässer's book "Wie der Dschihad nach Europa kam. Gotteskrieger und Geheimdienste auf dem Balkan" (How Jihad came into Europe. Holy Warriors and Secret Services on the Balkans"), published by NP-Buchverlag, 243 p., 19.90 Euro (ISBN: 3-85326-376-3)
Jürgen Elsässer is the author of 12 books, 5 of which deal with the Balkans. He'll contribute his expertise at the May conference on Islamic terror influence in the Balkans.
While the mainstream press and standard literature about al-Qaeda describe the activities of the terrorists on all other continents at length, the Jihadists' European deployment area has been largely ignored.
In particular in the Bosnian civil war, several thousand Muslims from Arabic countries and Iran fought alongside their Muslim brethren against the Christians, i.e. Croats and Serbs. As in the 80s in Afghanistan, the US Administration did a deal with the devil: in violation of the UNarms embargo, Washington supplied the holy warriors with sophisticated weaponry.
Five of the hijackers that took part in 9/11 attacks are Bosnian veterans who did their Islamic tour of duty fighting Jihad against the Christians.
Jürgen Elsässer’s book, How Jihad came into Europe: Holy Warriors and Secret Services on the Balkans, is the latest look at the al-Qaeda in the Balkans and the secret network of CIA spies in bed with Jihadists. That Bosnian Muslims are neck-deep implicated in the world wide terror web is well documented by the author but the most stunning claim that Elsässer makes is that some of the 9/11 hijackers might have been on the CIA payroll while doing their bloody stint in Bosnia.
Jürgen Elsässer is a German author with an extensive book collection to his name. He will be among the panelists in Podgorica in May this year, debating the topic of Islamic terrorist influence in the Balkans. His latest book is in German-language print and hopefully may soon be available for the English speaking audience. The author was gracious to provide us with an interview.
What prompted you to write a book on this topic?
I have been writing about the Balkans since 1991 and it is the focus of my journalist activity. Eight of my twelve books deal with the Balkans and the reason is clear: United Germany tried its new muscle in South-East-Europe, in crushing Yugoslavia. So critical journalism in Germany "automatically" followed this policy.
Referring to the Balkan hostilities the then Secretary of State James Baker said in 1989 that the US has “no dog in this fight”. What changed all that 2 years later?
Much like his son now, Bush senior was not very much interested in the Balkans but more in the Middle East. This lack of American interest enabled Germany 1990/91 to create a zone of exclusive influence with Croatia and Slovenia as stronghold. When Washington realized what was going on they tried to counter Serbian influence and German influence by supporting the "third" party, the Muslims.
You unequivocally state that Osama bin Laden received a passport from Bosnian government. Media seems to discount that. Who’s correct?
That Osama Bin Laden got a passport was documented in 1999 by DANI, a Muslim weekly from Sarajevo. Later in 2001, Zurich "Wochenzeitung" got “more and more evidence" from Interpol that bin Laden had a Bosnian passport, in spite of Sarajevo denying it.
You state “Bin Laden himself discussed the details with the Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic”. What’s the evidence of this personal friendship?
Not friendship, but alliance of interest. Renate Flottau, Spiegel-correspondent for the Balkans, saw Bin Laden 1993/94 at least two times WITH HER OWN EYES in Izetbegovic's palace and even spoke with him. She confirmed it to me personally. She said Izetbegovic didn't like Bin Laden, but needed him.
We see Turkey being used to deliver arms, Iran for buying them, al-Qaeda for providing fighters and Saudis for funding this via its “charitable” organizations. What got these Muslim countries, professing at times antagonism for one another, to come together on Bosnia?
It was not formal alliance, more improvisation. Sudan/Sudan did most of the smuggling 1992, 1994 Iran took over. Turkey helped with infrastructure, airports in Cyprus and in Anatolia were important as basis for the smuggling. Yossef Bodansky, an Anti-Terrorist-expert at the US Senate, found evidence that Sudanese leader Al Turabi, ObL's host, built close ties between Teheran’s secret service and Bin Laden, despite his religious differences between them.
After Dayton in 1995, we see Chechnya war start, then Kosovo, then Macedonia then 9/11. What’s common to all 5 of these events is Islamic militants and al-Qaeda. Is there a global coordination of these events and if so what’s the goal?
The spider in the net is MPRI, a subcontractor of the Pentagon. They took over the Arab/Iranian weapons-smuggling in 1995, helped the Mujahadeen to "liberate" Sarajevo in September 1995, took the best Mujahadeen fighters after Dayton on their own payroll, trained them with the help of Turkish army and sent them to Kosovo and later to Macedonia. I could not fin a link between Chechnya and MPRI, but Aukai Collins, an American Mujahadeen, who fought in Chechnya and had contacts with some of the 9/11 bombers, was at least on the payroll of FBI and CIA. Not Al Qaeda is in the center of all these events, but American secret services, which used Al Qaeda.
Two of the 9/11 hijackers were veteran jihadists in Bosnia. What did they do in Bosnia that made them so exceptionally qualified to kill Americans?
Not two, but five: Al Hazmi and Al Midhar (Plane Nr.3/Pentagon), Mohammed Atta (Plane Nr. 1/WTC) and the "Masterminds" Binalshibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohamed. Al Hazmi and Al Midhar were from Jan. 2000 until 9/11 under surveillance of US-Secret Services as was Atta's flat in Hamburg-Harburg. Binalshibh and Sheikh Mohamed are in US-custody since their arrest in 2002/2003 and are the main witnesses for the Pentagon-Version of 9/11, voluntarily or involuntarily they also work for US-interests. These people killed 3000 people, mostly Americans, but it is likely that they also worked for US secret services.
Is there an al-Qaeda link with the Kosovo Albanian KLA army and if so what is the evidence?
MPRI sent 80 – 120 Mujahadeen into Kosovo to help KLA. This is proven. ObL's own attempts to smuggle men into Kosovo failed. Originally, KLA had a rather weak Muslim influence. KLA are bunch of criminals with a great Albanian nationalist agenda. There's one exception: KLA-Commander Honda (Same din Thesauri), who praised himself (in German TV!) as coordinator for the pogroms around Prizren in March 2004. NATO sees him as confident of Bin Laden, but he himself says he has worked for CIA and BND. Another guy with double loyalty is the KLA-successor, so called ANA that is now split into several factions. One branch works with Al Qaeda, and the other is against this alliance.
Who in today’s Muslim governments in Bosnia and Kosovo have had or have al-Qaeda links?
The governing SDA-Party sponsors fundamentalist youth organizations, which train people for Jihad. Mudjahedin who stayed in Bosnia after Dayton are at the core of the training. Most important is Aktivna Islamska Omladina (AIO) with string Wahhabi influences, training terrorist techniques in so called youth camps during holidays.
Your book details how Pentagon contractor MPRI trained Bosnian and Kosovo Albanian KLA army. Dyn Corp who recently got their bid to buy Belgrade airport approved owns MPRI. Some see conspiracy here. Is there one?
Private companies form a Corporate Military Monster ("Mother Jones"), who does the dirty jobs for US foreign policy all over the world. Is this conspiracy? Some call it simply outsourcing.
I knew we should have backed Miloszevic.....
Not two, but five: Al Hazmi and Al Midhar (Plane Nr.3/Pentagon), Mohammed Atta (Plane Nr. 1/WTC) and the "Masterminds" Binalshibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohamed. Al Hazmi and Al Midhar were from Jan. 2000 until 9/11 under surveillance of US-Secret Services as was Atta's flat in Hamburg-Harburg. Binalshibh and Sheikh Mohamed are in US-custody since their arrest in 2002/2003 and are the main witnesses for the Pentagon-Version of 9/11, voluntarily or involuntarily they also work for US-interests. These people killed 3000 people, mostly Americans, but it is likely that they also worked for US secret services.
HERE is the main point of the article: the US was behind 9/11, and indeed is behind the Jihad!!! Of course they don't say why... WHY would it make any sense in terms of our self-interest?
Here are the relevant quotes:
"Q: After Dayton in 1995, we see Chechnya war start, then Kosovo, then Macedonia then 9/11. What’s common to all 5 of these events is Islamic militants and al-Qaeda. Is there a global coordination of these events and if so what’s the goal?
"A: The spider in the net is MPRI, a subcontractor of the Pentagon. They took over the Arab/Iranian weapons-smuggling in 1995, helped the Mujahadeen to "liberate" Sarajevo in September 1995, took the best Mujahadeen fighters after Dayton on their own payroll, trained them with the help of Turkish army and sent them to Kosovo and later to Macedonia. I could not find a link between Chechnya and MPRI, but Aukai Collins, an American Mujahadeen, who fought in Chechnya and had contacts with some of the 9/11 bombers, was at least on the payroll of FBI and CIA. Not Al Qaeda is in the center of all these events, but American secret services, which used Al Qaeda.
...Binalshibh and Sheikh Mohamed are in US-custody since their arrest in 2002/2003 and are the main witnesses for the Pentagon-Version of 9/11, voluntarily or involuntarily they also work for US-interests. These people killed 3000 people, mostly Americans, but it is likely that they also worked for US secret services."
"I knew we should have backed Miloszevic....."
I hate to say this, but I have to agree.
Ping!
Jerez, you are exactly right. This is an anti-American hit piece by an anti-American Euro-leftie whose vitriol is primarily aimed at President Bush & the United States. He works for a left-wing paper in Germany and his work is normally found on such sites as International Answer/ACT-UP, the World Socialist Web Site and, this time, on FReeRepublic because his propaganda that the FBI, the CIA and our U.S. defense contractors are in chaoots with Al Qaeda is conducive to the usual lies promulgated by our resident Milosevic apologists.
I don't hate to say we should have backed Milosevic. I've said it from the beginning. He had as much right as Lincoln to fight to keep member states from seceding. Croatia and Slovenia started that war and the national government wasn't prepared at the beginning to go through Zagreb to Ljubliana and suppress the initial rebellion.
Wow, you'll let no truth go untrampled to support your blatant anti-Serb fascism, eh mark?
You just can't get your little mind around the fact that most of us like the fact that Milosevic is in prison (though we would have preferred a Serbian one) in your zeal to deny the Bosnia and Kosovo connections of al Qaeda. Either that, or Soros just won't allow you to step outside those lines.
So, does Clinton keep you in fresh kneepads? Enquiring minds want to know!
"This is an anti-American hit piece by an anti-American Euro-leftie whose vitriol is primarily aimed at President Bush & the United States"
Are you saying that we didn't have CIA/Jedi operators training Mujahideen for their war with Russia? And later that they used that training to Help train the Taliban? Who used that training to fight us in Afghanistan and also to help with the 9/11 attack?
Not at all. I'm saying that the author's contention that our CIA, FBI, and Defense Department were training, equipping, organizing and controlling al Qaeda in the Balkans is B.S.; just as much as his contention that the 9-11 hijackers "worked for U.S. secret services" in order to advance the "Pentagon-Version of 9/11."
Over & above the simple ridiculousness of what he posts, go ahead and do a little search on the author--he's an anti-American conspiro-fruitcake who writes for a German communist/socialist newspaper.
As is every decent human being.
Since you are glad he is in prison--why? What crimes did he commit?
Corruption in office, abuse of power, among others. What, you didn't know that commies were criminals? Actually, that wouldn't surprise me!
That's a good start F-Lib. There may be hope for you. Slobo did in fact lead a kleptocracy that looted Serbia's treasury and impoverished her citizens. In addition, I'm sure you join me in hoping for the speedy arrest of Mrs. Slobo & Slobo, Jr. and the recovery of all the millions the Milosevic family received from Saddam's Oil for Food money for Serbia's support of Iraq.
Unsurprisingly, F-Lib, you seem to have gotten a little absent-minded when it comes to the charges for which Milosevic is actually in jail. They are derived not from his certainly corrupt & criminal rule in Belgrade, but from the the atrocity-laden wars in which he led the Serbs against their neighbors.
And contrary to the revisionism you are peddling, Milosevic is charged with more counts against the Christian Croats than he is against either the Muslim Bosniaks or the mostly Muslim Kosovo Albanians. Here are the charges:
Croatia: 32 Counts of CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, GRAVE BREACHES OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS, and VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR.
Kosovo: 5 Counts of CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY and VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR.
Bosnia: 29 Counts of GENOCIDE, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, GRAVE BREACHES OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS and VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR.
I will write more this weekend as I temporarily return home as Im training mobilized soldiers for security operations til later this week.
No argument here..
When the Muslims and Albanians guilty of equal (or worse) crimes stand beside Slobo in the dock, those charges and that court will have some legitimacy. Until then, neither do. It's a show trial attempting to justify NATO's illegal bombing of Serbia.
NATO and Hitler share the reputation of bombing Serb civilians on Orthodox Easter Sunday. You seem a little absent-minded when it comes to justice, marky.
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