Posted on 08/21/2005 9:53:43 AM PDT by smoothsailing
SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2005
A reminder from al-Qaida
Friday's unsuccessful rocket attack on a U.S. Navy amphibious warfare ship, the USS Ashland, at Aqaba, Jordan, came with terrorism's equivalent of a calling card, an Internet statement claiming responsibility in the name of al-Qaida. The attack, reminiscent of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, is a reminder that al-Qaida has been trying for more than a decade to drive the United States out of the Middle East. And the statement of responsibility is a reminder of al-Qaida's motives.
Referring to a simultaneous rocket attack on the nearby Israeli port of Eilat, the statement, by a group calling itself the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades of the al-Qaida Organization in the Levant and Egypt, said "Zionists" as well as Americans "are a legitimate target," Reuters reported. The statement also declared the group, which has claimed responsibility for last month's bombing attacks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, is at war with "the Egyptian tyrant." It demanded that the "Jordanian tyrant release our jailed brothers and voluntarily abdicate before we force you to go." Both Egypt and Jordan have peaceful relations with Israel.
The statement recalls the 1998 words of Osama bin Laden reported by the PBS program "Frontline." He said, "The call to wage war against America was made because America has spear-headed the crusade against the Islamic nation ... to ... support the Jews in Palestine who have need of their Christian brothers to achieve full control over the Arab peninsula which they intend to make an important part of the so called Greater Israel."
In his infamous Feb. 23, 1998 fatwa calling on "every Muslim ... to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it," bin Laden cited the Clinton administration's "eagerness to destroy Iraq, the strongest neighboring Arab state" to Israel, as proof of America's evil intent, long before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Al-Qaida has allied itself with followers of Saddam to wreak havoc in Iraq. Now it may have linked up with the Hezbollah militia. Friday's attack may mark the first known use by an al-Qaida group of Katyusha rockets. Hezbollah has the largest known inventory of such rockets in the Middle East, having acquired them from Syria and Iran. The report of the U.S., Israeli and Jordanian authorities investigating Friday's attack will make compelling reading.
In his August 1996 "Declaration of War Against the Americans," also a declaration of war against the Saudi monarchy, bin Laden claimed responsibility for the bombing of American targets in Saudi Arabia in 1995 at the Khobar Towers and in Riyadh. He said his aim in driving America from the Middle East was to restore a unified religious rule over Muslims called the "Ummah," also referred to as the Caliphate. (The last Caliphate ended with the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1924.)
To pursue this fanatical goal, and his equally grandiose goals of destroying Israel and forcing the breakup of the United States (disclosed to PBS in 1998), bin Laden and his followers have shown they are willing to reach for any means at hand. It would be extremely dangerous to give him a victory in Iraq, and very foolish to think that premature withdrawal from Iraq will bring this country safety from attack by al-Qaida.
This article was printed via the web on 8/21/2005 12:35:55 PM . This article appeared in The Post and Courier and updated online at Charleston.net on Sunday, August 21, 2005.
Amazing how some editorial staff are starting to "get it".
The break up of the United States? I don't understand how he thinks he could achieve this. Is there a link to the Frontline interview?
Referring to a simultaneous rocket attack on the nearby Israeli port of Eilat, the statement, by a group calling itself the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades of the al-Qaida Organization in the Levant and Egypt, said "Zionists" as well as Americans "are a legitimate target,"
Why are so many Jewish Americans democrats when the democratic party is so weak on national security? It is obviously not benefiting Jews throughout the globe who will be the ones who are the prime targets of the Muslim extremists. I assume they do not side with former Mayor Koch of NY City on this issue? Koch said: "At this moment it's more important to me to elect someone who will protect the country,"
I used to think that Jews were a rather bright class of people. They have managed to survive for more than 4000 years against all odds. I can only assume that Jewish Democrats are so opposed to this Christian president who preaches against gay marriage and abortion that they are willing to sacrifice the security of our Nation and the Nation of Jews. The economy is flourishing; our national security has never been better equipped and willing to fight the terrorist nations that are bent on our destruction. It is an enigma
The breakup of the US would be achieved with simultaneous nuke attacks on cities across the continent. Osama and pals are drooling over the prospect.
Only if you are a democrat in office is firing at a USS vessel an act of war. Even if it never happened: The Bay of Tonkin incident where a North Vietnamese PT boat allegedly attacked a USA warship was the excuse the government of USA used to go full throttle into Vietnam.
A shot across the Bow is a warning. But I think this was intended to be more like a shot into the bow. A little more decisive than mere fighting words. I think this one means, the fight is ON. 911 proved it.
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