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Locked on 11/01/2005 7:06:52 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator, reason:
New thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1513784/posts |
Posted on 10/01/2005 8:27:27 AM PDT by nwctwx
Archived:
To: RebelBanker
WASH—KIN—Oct 19— President George W. Bush has terribly misspoken about the true word of God and is likely to experience consequences in response to his errant remarks and beliefs that were pronounced publicly at the fifth annual Ramadan Banquet held in the State Dining Room at the White House.
Some quotes of note: “We must also firmly oppose all who commit evil in God's name.”…” I have great confidence in the future of this nation,
and in the future of the Muslim world.”…
” As we celebrate this special Iftaar, we renew the ties of friendship that bind all those who trace their faith back to God's call on Abraham.” … ” Ramadan is the holiest time of the Muslim year.
According to Islamic teaching, this month commemorates the revelation of God's word to the Prophet Muhammad in the form of the Koran.
For more than a billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of heartfelt prayer and togetherness. It is a time of fasting and personal sacrifice. It's a time to give thanks for God's blessings through works of charity.”
These were not the words of an Islamic cleric,
but rather the words of the President of the United States as he welcomed Muslim leaders to the White House
for his fifth annual Ramadan Banquet in the State Dining Room. The President initiated the “Iftaar” to foster better relations between Americans and Islam after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It has become a tradition at the White House.
22 posted on 10/21/2005 11:56:46 AM MDT by emiller
To: emiller
The critical issue that will define the Bush legacy into perpetuity however is his allowing the country to be invaded by hordes of third world illegal aliens.
We're changing into another 3rd world country with a 3rd world culture at never-before seen speed in the history of humanity.
When a 3rd world culture takes control of our country we will have to assimilate into their culture rather them assimilating into ours.
That time is fast approaching its final destination, while the indifferent American people continue to sleep.
47 posted on 10/21/2005 1:16:04 PM MDT by Stingy Dog
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1506738/posts
October 21, 2005 Anti-Terrorism News
International Terrorist Network Active in Russia — Prosecutor
http://mosnews.com/news/2005/10/21/shepelsays.shtml
5th Man Arrested in Baltimore Terror Probe
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5357921,00.html
Coast Guard brain is 2nd leak suspect
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/357806p-304841c.html
Iraq is 'great black hole' sucking up radicals: French judge
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=24652&name=Iraq+is+%27black+hole%27+sucking+up+radicals%3A+French+judge
(Thailand criticizes Saudi) Islamic group told to 'read the Koran'
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20051020-114124-1630r.htm
Syria linked to assassination, U.N. says
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/10/20/lebanon.hariri/index.html
Al Qaeda Big Killed in Iraq
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172895,00.html
Sa'ad Ali Firas Muntar al Dulaymi (aka Abu Abdullah), believed to have
facilitated high-level meetings in Ramadi and Fallujah, killed near
Ramadi - at least 11 other terrorists killed in operation
Abbas asks Bush to free terror chief
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46939
Marwan Barghouti, a founder of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, now serving
multiple life terms in Israeli prison for killings of four Israelis and
Greek monk
Sept group spreading terror (India)
http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=6586&CatID=2
"Over two-dozen highly trained terrorists who entered Jammu and Kashmir
in September may be behind the recent high profile attacks"
British Muslim group declares new jihad
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3156809,00.html
UK government angry as terrorism suspects get bail
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051020/wl_nm/security_britain_dc;_ylt=ArCnmuZ6vdx6eZdw6CLgT6is0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-
Bahraini Journalist: Not Since the Nazi Era Has There Been Anything
Like Al-Qaeda's Declaration of War on the Shi'ites in Iraq
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD101005
FBI slammed for fighting 9/11 reforms
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/20/fbi.reform/index.html
(Israel) Hamas Remains a Terror Organization
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=91578
http://www.al-farouq.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3170
ON THE NET...
"alamou alaykum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatoe
take this site down it's a jews site who takes jihad site's
down" -"falluja7" (October 19, 2005)
===
http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/005207.html
"Would the brothers like to all chip in and buy Anger Management classes for falluja7?" -"[tip: Aaron]" (October 21, 2005)
Since ice is brought in, wonder if it is checked for bacteria at the source.
Dangerous contamination found in water on US planes
17:21 20 October 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Kurt Kleiner
Dangerous levels of bacteria have been found in drinking water aboard 15% of planes at US airports, an investigation carried out by the US Environmental Protection Agency has found.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8187
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f38d897f8f8818412fb11cc2c68b7912#
In Italy, Al Qaeda Turns to Organized
Crime for Protection
News Analysis, Paolo Pontoniere,
New America Media, Oct 21, 2005
Editor's Note: Italian media report that Al Qaeda is moving operatives
through Italy on their way to North Africa and Europe with the help of
a Naples-based criminal network similar to the Mafia.
Italian investigators say Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization is
moving deep into the Mediterranean peninsula's underworld of
organized crime.
Italian media recently revealed that hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives
coming from North Africa are being sent to Northern Europe though a
maze of safe houses belonging to the Neapolitan Camorra, a
Naples-based criminal network akin to the Mafia.
The internationally connected Camorra organization specializes in
drug trafficking, prostitution, gambling and human and arms
trafficking. Historically, the Camorra has worked with terrorist groups
from all latitudes and political persuasions.
According to Italian investigative sources, the Camorra could help Al
Qaeda obtain forged documents and weapons for its operatives, who
disembark almost daily from ships connecting Italy to the Arab
countries of North Africa. In addition, in exchange for substantial
cargoes of narcotics, these operatives are moved through Camorra's
connections from Naples to Rome, Bologna, Milan and eventually to
other major European cities such as Paris, London, Berlin and Madrid.
"The connections are there and real," says Michele del Prete, a district
attorney investigating the Algerian Islamic Brotherhood in Italy, "and
the exchange currency cementing those trades is drugs."
The new Al Qaeda arrivals are swallowed by Naples' intricate network
of alleys called vicoli, where traditional craft shops and street-level
houses mix with computer stores, Chinese bazaars, pizzerias,
merchant stalls, illegal casinos, antique boutiques, churches and
museums.
Structurally and socially similar to a Middle Eastern souk, this urban
architecture and its social milieu provide familiar territory and an
impenetrable refuge for Al-Qaeda. Boroughs like il Vasto, la
Maddalena, il Pendino and i Quartieri Spagnoli, which border the
railroad and port, also offer easy escape routes.
"Should any trouble arise at any time, the Camorra's soldiers will see
them off on one of the many trains leaving hourly from the city's main
station, or via speed-boat -- the same vessels the Camorra uses to
traffic cigarettes, drugs and illegal aliens," says Dario Del Porto, a
reporter for Il Mattino, Naples's major daily.
According to a report by DIGOS, Italy's political crime unit, the
number of Al Qaeda operatives who have chosen to seek refuge in
Naples or have passed through the city on their way to Northern
Europe may exceed 1,000. Many of them come from Algeria, Morocco,
Tunisia and Egypt. Il Roma, Naples's second-largest daily, estimates
their numbers could be as high as 5,000.
"Nothing new here," affirms Giacomo Serafini, a Neapolitan political
consultant. "The usefulness of these escape routes was tested during
the years when the Camorra collaborated with domestic terrorists, red
and black (Communist and Fascist) alike. Al-Qaeda doesn't even have
to sweat.
"Not even the apparent absentmindedness of the police when it comes
to apprehending Al Qaeda operatives should surprise," Serafini says.
"In the end it was a covert agreement between the state and the
terrorists that spared Italy most of the carnage that was taking place
in Europe during the 1970s."
Serafini refers to a secret pact during the 1970s forged by Giulio
Andreotti, one of modern Italy's founding fathers. In exchange for the
safe passage of operatives and weapons, Arab terrorist groups --
mainly the Palestinian group Al Fatah -- agreed to refrain from
attacking Italy.
The evolution of Al Qaeda into a criminal-terrorist group is not
unusual, and does not necessarily signal an abandonment of its goal
of establishing an Islamic Caliphate across the Middle East and North
Africa. Instead, it may mark a skillful adaptation to the new
environment created by the attacks against the organization since the
start of the war on terror.
"Something similar happened to Italian terrorist organizations once
the Italian state stepped up its war on terror," Serafini says. Though
they are not so powerful and deeply rooted as they were in the 1970s,
domestic terrorist organizations like the Red Brigades still hit Italian
political targets.
According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, the magnitude of this
convergence has been recognized also by the United States, which
recently moved the western headquarters of the Foreign Counter
Intelligence -- the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's office for
counter-espionage and counter-terrorism -- to Aversa, Italy.
A town outside Naples with a large blue collar and underemployed
population, Aversa in the past has been prime recruiting ground for
Italian "terroristi" and political hotheads. From Aversa, FCI now
scrutinizes terrorist activities from Scandinavia to South Africa.
Italians, in the meantime, are drawing lessons from their fight against
the Mafia to devise new ways to combat Al Qaeda in Italy. "We should
improve the way district attorneys, judges, investigators and
intelligence operatives interact with one another, and exchange
information," Franco Roberti, head of antiterrorism for Naples' Federal
Court, told La Repubblica recently. "We need to create a National
Antiterrorism Directorate with local ramifications, because terrorist
cells are interwoven with local criminal networks."
Roberti, who leads the Neapolitan Court, has taken the helm in
pushing for the institution of such a directorate. The creation of a
central commission to fight crimes of a political nature is an admission
that investigators take the Al Qaeda threat very seriously. Italy did not
take such steps even during the "Years of Lead" in the 1970s and '80s,
when domestic terrorism raged.
PNS contributor Paolo Pontoniere is a correspondent for Focus, Italy's
leading monthly magazine.
Thanks to jer33 3 for pointing to this article:
---
UPDATE...
http://www.airportbusiness.com/article/article.jsp?id=3072&siteSection=5
AP
"Man Arrested at Will Rogers World Airport Released on Bail"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A University of Oklahoma student was released on $10,000 bail Thursday after appearing in federal court to be formally accused of a felony for allegedly bringing a small explosive device into Will Rogers World Airport.
Federal agents arrested Charles Alfred Dreyling Jr., 24, on Wednesday at a security checkpoint after a Transportation Security Administration employee noticed something suspicious in his carryon luggage as it went through an X-ray machine about 9:30 a.m., FBI spokesman Gary Johnson said.
The device was described in an FBI affidavit as a carbon dioxide cartridge filled with gunpowder that could be detonated when connected to a power source such as the batteries Dreyling had in his electric razor and in his cell phone, which were also in his carryon bag.
An FBI bomb technician concluded the device could detonate with sufficient force to cause serious injury."
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0ce024518729b63de4cfcae3b8fb027c#
To Isolate Al Qaeda, U.S. Must Keep
Fundamentalist Islamic Groups in
'Political Process'
News Analysis, Jalal Ghazi,
New America Media, Oct 21, 2005
Editor's Note: To legitimize U.S.-backed elections in the Arab world,
Washington has taken steps to keep popular and militant Islamic
groups involved in the political process. Arab media call Washington's
engagement with the groups "the American-Islamic dialogue."
SAN FRANCISCO--American success in isolating Al Qaeda depends on
Washington's ability to keep broad-based Islamic militant groups
involved in the U.S.-supported "democratic political process" unfolding
in the Middle East.
Al Qaeda has been desperately trying to derail elections, not only in
Afghanistan and Iraq, but also in Egypt and the Palestinian territories.
Its aim is to destabilize "U.S.-backed regimes" by casting doubt on the
transparency and legitimacy of these elections.
For its part, the U.S. launched a series of meetings between retired
American officials and popular Islamic groups such as Egypt's Muslim
Brotherhood and the Palestinian Hamas, with the aim of getting their
participation and thereby legitimizing the elections.
Al Jazeera television called these meetings "the American-Islamic
dialogue." The fundamentalist groups' involvement in the voting in
Egypt, Iraq and the Palestinian territories deepened their differences
with extremist groups, Al Qaeda in particular.
A month before the referendum on the draft Iraqi constitution, Al
Jazeera aired an audiotape of Al Qaeda's Iraq commander Abu Musab
Al Zarqawi in which he strongly warned participating Sunni officials
that they "have betrayed God and his prophet and sold their religion
for little reward on earth" while "Sunnis are being massacred in Tal
Afar, Al Qaeam and other places."
The Islamic Party of Iraq, the largest Sunni political party, boycotted
the January 2005 elections, but this time around it cooperated with
the interim National Assembly's drafting of the new constitution and
surprised everyone by calling on its supporters to vote "yes."
Moreover, the Association of Muslim Scholars, the most prominent
Sunni religious entity that had rejected any form of cooperation with
the U.S.-led occupation, now called on people to ignore Zarqawi's
threats and vote in the referendum.
The strongest criticism of Zarqawi came from Adnan Al-Delemi, head
of the Sunni Waqfs (endowments), who on Sept. 15 on Al Jazeera
answered Zarqawi's threats: "The claims and threats of those who
want to derail this path will not scare us and we do not care about
them. We will participate in the next elections no matter what
happens."
These words of defiance were significant, considering that three Sunni
Arab members of a team drafting the constitution were shot and killed
in Baghdad in July.
In Egypt on Sept. 7, Osama bin Laden's second in command, Ayman Al
Zawahiri, attacked the presidential elections and other proposed
democratic reforms, saying, "It is impossible to have reforms as long
as our governments are run from the American embassies, which put
their nose in everything in our countries."
But to Al Zawahiri's chagrin, the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest
opposition group in Egypt, decided not only to participate but also to
support the American-backed candidate Ayamn Nour. (U.S. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice even cancelled her trip to Egypt to protest
Nour's detention.)
The Muslim Brotherhood's participation saved the day for the
government of Hosni Mubarak. According to an article in the Sept. 16
issue of Al-Quds Al-Arabi by Amira Al-Tahawi, the turnout reached 23
percent, partly due to the Muslim Brotherhood's call on Egyptians to
vote in large numbers. In comparison, Al-Tahawi writes, the 1999
turnout for the presidential election was only 3 percent (inflated by the
government to 53 percent).
Muhammad Diab pointed out in the Sept. 17 issue of Al-Quds Al-Arabi
newspaper that the Muslim Brotherhood used the election to humiliate
Noaman Gomaa, the leader of very prominent Al-Wafd Party, by
backing Ayamn Nour, leading to the latter's surprise victory (7.9
percent) over Gomma, who received only 2.7 percent of the vote.
Diab explained that the Muslim Brotherhood wanted to punished
Gomma for refusing to support its desire to form a political party.
The biggest election surprise came from the Palestinian territories.
The Islamic resistance group Hamas called on militants "to stop
attacks against Israel outside Gaza" even after Israel resumed
targeted killings by assassinating prominent Islamic Jihad leader
Mohammed al-Sheikh Khalil and his deputy in an air strike in Gaza.
Hamas viewed the Israeli attacks as a provocation aimed at derailing
its participation in the parliamentary elections set on Jan. 25, 2006.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had threatened "not to aid
(Palestinian elections) if Hamas participates."
Sharon added that during elections he would not remove the
roadblocks separating Palestinian areas and that prevent the
movement of Palestinian voters. Israel also arrested 400 Hamas
members, including dozens of candidates.
Ironically, Al-Zawahiri, a founder of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, is similarly
opposed to Hamas' involvement in the elections. In videotape aired on
Al jazeera on June 16, he beseeched Hamas "not to renounce their
jihad, not to lay down their arms and not to allow themselves to be
dragged into the game of secular elections under a secular
constitution." Hamas has not changed its mind.
Should the United States succeed in keeping key Islamic opposition
groups in the Middle East engaged in "the political process" and
"democratic reforms," it follows that it must also be willing to accept
the Islamic Party in Iraq, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hamas
in the Palestinian territories should these groups gain power through
democratic elections.
Of course, the United States must also reconsider who belongs to its
list of terrorist organizations, to accommodate the new realities.
Jalal Ghazi monitors and translates Arab media for New California
Media (a project of PNS) and Link TV.
Yep, me too.
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=c9069875861880b360ffad94a658305a#
Lodi Highlights Battle Over America's
Mosques
News Feature, Clayton Worfolk,
New America Media, Oct 18, 2005
Editor's Note: Muslims in Lodi, Calif., still reeling from an FBI
terrorism investigation in June, are now split by rival mosque factions
-- a pattern increasingly seen in other Muslim communities across
America.
LODI, Calif.--Though FBI vehicles and
small-engine aircraft no longer circle the town,
Muslims in Lodi, Calif., still feel under siege. Four
months after the government launched a highly
public terrorism investigation that ensnared five
Pakistani men here in June, the community is still
reeling, not just from the pressures stemming
from the federal probe, but also from a pre-existing split in the
community that some say the FBI exploited.
"Everyone is just kind of hiding their head under the sand, hoping the
storm will pass," says Taj Khan, an outspoken Pakistani Muslim leader
in Lodi.
Father and son Umer and Hamid Hayat, alleged to have ties to a
terrorist training camp in Pakistan, now await trial in Sacramento
County Jail. Local Muslim clerics Muhammed Adil Khan and Shabbir
Ahmed and Adil Khan's 19-year-old son selected to depart for Pakistan
in August instead of fighting immigration violation charges.
Equally contentious, though, is that the Farooqia Islamic Center, a
Muslim school and community center Adil Khan and his protégé Ahmed
were planning, is now all but defunct. And those heading the existing
mosque are not shedding any tears over its demise.
Such conflicts within American mosques are becoming increasingly
common as Muslim communities grapple with conflicting ideologies
regarding "women, interfaith events, the West, education, civic
service and marriage," says Asra Nomani, activist and author of
"Standing Alone in Mecca."
"Pakistan is undergoing a fierce battle for the hearts and minds of its
people. It's natural that this flows into immigrant communities,"
Nomani says.
Pakistanis have made Lodi their home for almost a century, and since
1978, the Lodi Muslim Mosque, an inconspicuous yellow building that
was once a Jehovah's Witness Hall, has served an estimated 500
members from a community of 2,500. Men relax on the mosque
veranda between scheduled prayers, and boys in Pakistani tunics play
basketball across the street. Females are not barred from entering the
mosque, mosque members say, but the facility is not large enough to
accommodate women, who traditionally pray in separate lines behind
the men. Few Pakistani women are to be seen there or in other public
places in Southeast Lodi, where many in the community live.
Planners of the Farooqia Islamic Center envisioned an 18-acre
establishment where women's education programs, K-4 schooling and
interfaith gatherings could be held. Adil Khan, who immigrated to Lodi
from Pakistan in the spring of 2001 and was named mosque imam
shortly thereafter, kick-started the project, organizing conferences
with local Christian and Jewish leaders in the wake of the Sept. 11
attacks and publicly signing a "declaration of peace" with a rabbi and
reverend.
"I think the most important thing it would have brought is more open
communication between Muslims and non-Muslims," says Pamela
Parvez, 48, a white Muslim from nearby Stockton who converted 20
years ago. "But it would also be nice to have a place where women
can go ... to read the Quran, to study Islam together."
County supervisors halted the Farooqia project on Sept. 27, citing
land-use concerns. Parvez and other supporters -- Taj Khan, in
particular -- blame the project's defeat primarily on the terror
allegations, but also on leaders of the existing mosque.
Three months before Adil Khan's arrest, in March, Lodi Muslim Mosque
president Mohammed Shoaib and others sued Adil Khan and four other
Farooqia organizers for $200,000, alleging fraud and deceit in the
group's fund raising, notably its sale of the mosque-owned land, which
Adil Khan used to finance the purchase of a separate 18-acre plot for
the center. In their suit, Shoaib and his faction indicated that Adil
Khan had overstayed his religious worker visa.
Taj Khan has steered the Farooqia project in Adil Khan's absence, and
his supporters claim Shoaib deliberately provoked the imams' arrests.
Shoaib denies that accusation, blaming the imams themselves for
attracting the FBI. "If you believe in the justice system here, the court
has convicted them," he says.
Taj Khan, who now attends a mosque in Stockton that advertises
"Friday prayers for women also," is now one of several plaintiffs suing
Shoaib and others on the mosque board claiming the president
resigned in 2004 and has no authority over the governing body.
"These people are being used by FBI," Taj Khan says. "They plan and
conspire and do stuff against the rest of members of the community."
Author Asra Nomani says adding federal investigators into this kind of
religious dispute makes conditions ripe for the kind of back-stabbing
that occurred in Lodi. "People point fingers at each other trying to
stoke this fear of Muslims," she says. "It's like walking on egg shells."
Both cases are still pending in San Joaquin Superior Court.
Regardless of their outcome, they have revealed in the community a
deep divide. Taj Khan says that most of Lodi's Muslims backed the
plans for a more open mosque, but that Shoaib and his supporters,
many of whom are related, disliked the project's progressive aims.
"They're following the Wahabi sect in Saudi Arabia, and other people
don't like that," Khan says.
Shoaib says that his opponents have mislabeled him, and that Adil
Khan, an educated native of metropolitan Karachi, was an interloper
who did not respect community members from the poorer districts of
Pakistan's Northwest Frontier province, where most Lodi Muslims have
their roots.
"We're not against women, not against another mosque," he protests.
"We're against the way it is being run."
Whatever their differences, Khan and Shoaib agree on one thing: that
the lasting feud has kept the community from regrouping.
In mid-August, organizers called off an annual Pakistani Independence
Day celebration in recognition of Adil Khan's and Ahmed's detention.
Shoaib says that was a missed opportunity to show non-Muslims that
the community had nothing to hide.
Outside attempts to bring Lodi's Muslim community together have
faltered, as well.
A proposed "Million Muslim March" -- promoted by Lodi Mayor John
Beckman and local conservative radio show host Mark Williams as a
way to affirm the community's stance against terrorism -- was
scrapped in July due to community division, Beckman said.
The Council of Sacramento Valley Islamic Organizations organized
talks to patch the rift, but they too fell through, says Shoaib.
Reconciliation does not appear likely amid unresolved lawsuits and the
imminent terrorism trial, according to six-year mosque member Sultan
Afsar.
"The wounds are too deep to be healed," he says.
PNS contributor Clayton Worfolk is a freelance reporter studying
journalism at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. His
reporting is supported by a special James Irvine Foundation grant to
develop reporting fellowships for U.C. students and the ethnic media.
Note: The following text is an exact quote:
---
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20051076.txt
NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894
October 21, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-76
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION FORCES DESTROY TERRORIST SAFE HOUSE
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition forces raided a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist safe house near the town of al bu Hardan, northwest of Al Qaim on Oct. 21.
During the raid, five terrorists were detained and a large cache consisting of weapons, ammunition, mortars and bomb making materials was confiscated in the safe house.
Intelligence sources and tips from local citizens led Coalition Forces to the location. Coalition air assets, using precision guided munitions, destroyed the safe house and weapons cache after Coalition Forces departed the location.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MULTI-NATIONAL CORPS-IRAQ, BY E-MAIL AT MNCI-PAO-VICTORYMAINJOC@IRAQ.CENTCOM.MIL.
-30-
Note: The following text is an exact quote:
---
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20051077.txt
NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894
October 21, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-77
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIERS FIND CACHE, DETAIN SUSPECTS IN BAYJI
TIKRIT, Iraq - Task Force Liberty Soldiers followed a civilian’s tip and found a cache of explosives and weapons buried in several locations at a house in Bayji.
The cache included more than 100 pounds of bulk explosives, several bags of TNT, one 155mm artillery round encased in concrete, weapons and rocket-propelled grenade rounds. One suspect was detained and taken to a Coalition Forces base for questioning.
Task Force Liberty Soldiers also detained two terrorists planning an ambush with improvised explosive devices and automatic weapons south of Bayji at about 9:50 p.m. Oct. 20. Soldiers on a combat patrol observed the two suspects running from behind a berm along Highway 1, and after detaining them found a loaded RPK machine gun behind the berm.
Another Task Force Liberty patrol discovered two IEDs along the highway directly on the other side of the berm. One suspect was wearing body armor and the other had cellular telephones and wire cutters. Both tested positive for explosives.
For more information, please contact the 42ND Infantry Division Public Affairs Office 42 ID PAO at fortysecond.id.pao@us.army.mil.
-30-
October 21, 2005
www.siteinstitute.org
For your review, the SITE Institute’s Director, Ms. Rita Katz, published an article to National Review Online
discussing the letter written by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s number two, to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Emir
of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
It’s Real
The arguments over that Zawahiri letter suggests we don’t know our enemy.
By Rita Katz
On October 8, 2005, the U.S. government unsealed a letter allegedly written by Dr. Ayman
al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden’s deputy, to “the Emir (prince) of al-Qaeda in Iraq,” Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi. The letter’s authenticity was largely questioned; as reported by Reuters on
October 14: “U.S. intelligence officials who released a letter purporting to be from an al
Qaeda leader to Iraq insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi this week said on Friday they
could not account for a passage that has raised doubts about the document's authenticity”.
A Los Angeles Times op-ed titled “Fake Letter, Real Trouble,” said that "there are reasons to
doubt that it is authentic.” The main question over authenticity appears to arises from a
passage that concludes the letter: “By Allah, if by any chance you are going to Fallujah, send
greetings to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.” If the letter is written from Zawahiri to Zarqawi, the
reports implicated, why does the former ask the latter to send regards to himself? How could
Zawahiri, the purported writer of this letter, forget that it was already addressed to Zarqawi?
In spite of these and similar doubts, Reuters quoted a spokesman for John Negroponte, U.S.
director of national intelligence, who acknowledged that the greetings passage did appear
confusing, but that the intelligence community was confident the letter was authentic. Other
terrorism experts suggested that perhaps the letter was not addressed to Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, but rather to abu Musab al-Suri, also known as Mustafa Setmarian Nasser, al
Qaeda ideologist and expert on urban warfare.
Media representatives, U.S. government officials, and experts who doubt the credibility of
the letter may have jumped to the wrong conclusion. The greetings in the passage in
question, if anything, strongly confirm the letter’s authenticity. What all these pundits are
sometimes missing is a familiarity with the vernacular of the jihadi community.
Since November 2004, following battles with the Coalition Forces in Fallujah, jihadis on the
Internet have been widely using a slogan that was borrowed from a poem. The poem
included the following lines:
It will be destroyed on the arrogant son of an arrogant
You who rule countries by his infidels
You can kill flies with chemicals
You who are riding the fast thing
By Allah, where are you going to?
If you are going to Fallujah
Send my regards to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
And all the jihadis in his group . . .1
The poem has caught on in jihadi circles. Members of hundreds of online jihadi forums, not
just ones directly connected to the insurgents in Iraq, had posted and discussed it. Some of
these discussions are down now, but others are still active. Examples are the Jihadi
Palestinian Forum where the poem has been posted since November 15, 2004, and the
Yemen Youth Forum, which still features an active link.
Because of its success, music was composed for the poem that was then circulated as a song
and posted on jihadi message- boards and websites all over the world. An example is the
Arabic Saudi Forum, a very popular forum, which posted links to the audio on December 14,
2004.
On November 14, 2004 ,the Buradh jihadi message board posted a new thread titled “By
Allah, if by chance you are going to Fallujah, send greetings to Abu Musab al-zarqawi.” The
entire al-Ghamidi poem was posted, but the focus of discussion was the slogan. Likewise, on
January 23, 2005, a member of a Palestinian forum signing as “Muhammad the engineer”
posted a new thread, with the same title. Shortly thereafter, the slogan turned into a
synonym for Zarqawi’s “great war” against the “crusaders.”Some message-board members
even use it as a signature and in response to al Qaeda communiqués. The slogan is also
frequently used in greetings, blessings, or, as in Zawahiri’s letter, as concluding statements.
The sentence with which Zawahiri closed his letter to Zarqawi, is, in fact, that slogan: “By
Allah, if by any chance you are going to Fallujah, send greetings to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.”
Not only is it reasonable for him to conclude his letter to Zarqawi thus, but it also
demonstrates that he is well-informed on the very latest developments in the jihadi
community.
As for the suggestion that the addressee is in fact al-Suri rather than Zarqawi, in the body of
the letter Zawahiri makes note of beheadings in Iraq: This could only apply to Zarqawi, as no
beheadings are attributed to al-Suri.
An erroneous interpretation of the letter is a typical example of how superficial
understanding of the al-Qaeda network and its workings continues to imperil the war on
terror. Wrong conclusions based on partial or incorrect information can lead to wrong
decisions, tactics, and strategies. The fight over the letter is bad news: The West just
doesn't know it's enemy.
— Rita Katz is the author of Terrorist Hunter and the director of the SITE Institute.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/katz200510210928.asp
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1506688/posts
The above link is to a thread from yesterday, "Ready for Jehad"
It is about Kosvo and getting ready for a Europe jehad.
From bits and pieces of my reading, it appears that al Qaeda is absorbing the other evil groups and they all go under the al Qaeda flag today.
Even the communist terrorists that march in our streets, now do so in support of al Qaeda muslims around the world and here also.
The al qaeda has taken over many of the mafia groups or run them underground.
There is no question that al Qaeda has taken over the worst gangs, either with religion or money.
I agree.
Me too.
http://FederalistPatriot.US/current2004a.asp
Texas Border:
Encouraging border-security news: Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry
has become the latest state chief executive to respond to the
urgent problems posed by illegal immigration. Gov. Perry cited the
119,000 illegal entrants (from elsewhere than Mexico) nabbed in
Texas from January till July who were then let go. He then noted
the increasing probability of Jihadi terrorists exploiting the
border's existing criminal infrastructure to aid an attack. He is
therefore setting out plans for added police and state troopers,
new "border jails," and using the Texas National Guard in response
to border emergencies. Illegal immigration is the constitutionally
mandated "common defense" duty of the national government that
Congress must soon confront.
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