"One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and move. So that's
why I put it on the table. I think it's an important debate for Congress to
have.""<<<<<<<<
I am against government control of anything, well almost.
But, after having watched the New Orleans storm, I do understand where he is trying to go.
If I had written the request, I might have said "Due to the crooked and stupid politicians, the lazy and un-trustworthiness of so many Americans today, I need the power to act at once and the permission to use the only group of people that I can trust to fulfill my/their orders"
This is not a surprise, he said that he wanted the military to take over after New Orleans.
I hope that Honore is in charge........I like him.
The left will go wild over this request, it has/will drive the new judge out of the news.....They were very upset on the talk shows that he had the thought.
Thanks for finding it and posting it......he is doing what I would do.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/farm-attack-151-the-forgotten-terrorism/2005/09/30/1127804661523.html#
Farm attack — the forgotten
terrorism
By Richard Baker
October 1, 2005
Santa Gertrudis cattle being mustered and drafted on Brunette Downs
Cattle Station in the Northern Territory.Photo: Brendan Esposito
AUSTRALIA is not prepared for the growing threat of a terrorist attack
on its agricultural sector, a former senior intelligence analyst has
warned.
Carl Ungerer, a former senior analyst with the Office of National
Assessments until 2002, told The Age the deliberate introduction of
animal and plant diseases to Australia — often referred to as
"agro-terrorism" — had been "overlooked and under-assessed" by
federal authorities.
Dr Ungerer, a lecturer in terrorism and world politics at the University
of Queensland, said foot and mouth disease could cost billions of
dollars in lost exports and cause big job losses in rural areas.
People could be at risk if terrorists introduced avian influenza or mad
cow disease, he said.
His warning came as Prime Minister John Howard met state and
territory leaders in Canberra this week for a counter-terrorism
summit. The threat of an attack on Australia's agricultural sector did
not feature in the communique released at the end of the meeting.
In the United States, authorities are improving protection for
agriculture after a report to Congress in February warned America's
defences against these attacks were insufficient.
FBI director Robert Mueller said in May agro-terrorism was "just
starting to enter our collective consciousness".
He said al-Qaeda had studied America's agricultural industry, as had
extreme animal rights activists.
"Most people do not equate terrorist attacks on people, planes and
buildings with attacks on plants and animals. But the threat is real,
and the impact could be devastating," Mr Mueller said.
A separate report to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said
agriculture was vulnerable, with the food chain offering terrorists "a
low-tech mechanism for achieving human deaths".
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry told The Age
ASIO had said the risk of an attack was low.
But Dr Ungerer said the threat had been under-assessed and urged
the Federal Government to become more aware of potential threats
and be better prepared to deal with an attack.
"Australian agriculture remains a relatively soft target for terrorism
because of the low level of awareness of its potential dangers among
the agricultural sector," he said.
Dr Ungerer's assessment of the threat of agro-terrorism to Australia
will be published in a US journal later this year. He said terrorists
would have little difficulty introducing a disease to Australia, given the
endemic nature of diseases such as foot and mouth, avian flu,
vesicular stomatitis and rinderpest in South-East Asia.
"The interest in hitting Australia is growing as a result of Australia's
involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor," he said.
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry communications
manager Howard Conkey said a large-scale outbreak of foot and
mouth disease would be "our worst nightmare".
Agriculture accounts for 4 per cent of Australia's gross domestic
product and directly employs 376,000 people.
A 2002 Productivity Commission study, conducted after the
devastating 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak in Britain, found a
large, multi-location outbreak of the disease could cost Australia up to
$12.8 billion in lost exports. It would also cost the tourism sector $300
million.
Mr Conkey said Dr Ungerer's assessment of Australia's ability to
respond to a terror strike against agriculture did not give enough
credit to the procedures federal authorities had established.
Response manuals and procedures had been in place for a long time
and were regularly reviewed to deal with emerging risks, he said.
The Attorney-General's Department also denied the threat of an
attack had been overlooked and under-assessed. "Suggestions that
such a form of attack might be used by terrorists are not new and
have been factored into Australian assessments of threat," a
spokesman said.
The Federal Government, farm and industry groups are developing a
national food chain security strategy, which is expected to be released
early next year.
The secretary of the food chain security working group, Agriculture
Department bureaucrat Alan Edwards, said food producers and
processors had been trying to identify the parts of their operations
vulnerable to terrorism.
Mr Edwards said although agriculture was "open and reasonably
vulnerable" to a terror attack, he believed Australia was better
prepared than the United States to handle agro-terrorism.
Dr Ungerer said Australia should develop a program with nearby
countries to register the movement of dangerous pathogens between
veterinary hospitals, research laboratories and universities in the
region.
Veterinary students should also be made more aware of pathogens
that could be used in an attack. And intelligence briefings should
regularly be provided to farmers and auction yard staff, he said.
HOW IT COULD HAPPEN
A TERRORIST walks into a Philippines paddock and wipes a
handkerchief across the face of a cow infected with foot and mouth
disease.
He places the saliva-stained handkerchief in an airtight plastic bag
and heads to an airport to catch a flight to Australia. The relatively
short flight time ensures the biological matter in the plastic bag
remains active.
Wearing the bag close to his body, all the terrorist has to do is take a
punt that Australian Quarantine Inspection Service officers don't pick
him out for a random body search.
If he makes it out of the airport, an outbreak of foot and mouth
disease could be just weeks away. The terrorist would then drive to
the country to meet colleagues who had recently bought some
livestock or a small farm.
The animals would be infected and the disease allowed to amplify over
several days. The terrorists would transport them to a high-density
livestock farming area.
The infected animals would be put in the paddocks of numerous farms.
Soon Australia could be grappling with a disease outbreak across
multiple locations.
This is one scenario former Office of National Assessments senior
intelligence analyst Carl Ungerer has developed to show the relative
ease with which terrorists could attack Australia's agricultural sector.
Another scenario involves terrorists flying to massive northern
Australian cattle stations in light aircraft from places with endemic
animal disease in South-East Asia. Thailand, the Philippines and
Indonesia all have animal diseases not present in Australia.
While not as spectacular as other mass casualty terrorist attacks,
agro-terrorism could prove attractive to some terrorist organisations
because of the relative ease and safety in obtaining biological agents;
the potential effects on a nation's economy and the burden of proof in
proving the outbreak was the result of deliberate attack.
A report to the US Congress found many parts of the food production
chain were vulnerable to attack once a biological agent had been
brought into the country.
Europe's Muslims: In a Prison's Halls, the Call to Islam
MILAN, Italy-The guards, heavy brass keys swinging from their
belts, open and shut the metal gates to each floor of the
labyrinthine Bollate prison as the Muslim call to prayer echoes in
the corridors. Prisoners rush to the makeshift mosques that have
sprouted in every building. By Tracy Wilkinson.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/etdm0H41Qn0G2B0Gwdn0El
Longest list of Cuba URL's in the world.........
This group has Cuba and Venezuela news posted.
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics.org.fbi/browse_thread/thread/58c1dc6dd8da27fd/853bcef64cc4a1f6?hl=en#853bcef64cc4a1f6
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051004/wl_mideast_afp/iraqbritainarrest;_ylt=ApeC1WJgk6.nbAbQhSaGkVxvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Iraqi border guards arrest British national in desert
Posted on Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at 6:22am
A British national has been arrested by Iraqi border guards near the
Saudi border in Najaf province, British and Iraqi officials said. "We can
confirm that a UK national has been arrested by the Iraqi department of
border enforcement," a British military spokesman said on Tuesday,
adding the Foreign Office was investigating the arrest which was
believed to have taken place on Monday night.
Full Story at link.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051004/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanafghanistanattacksqaeda;_ylt=AriHuQCWrCcuqvZC.6wPL7BvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
40 militants killed in Pakistan tribal region: military
Posted on Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at 6:29am
Pakistani security forces have killed up to 40 Islamic militants, about half
of them foreigners, during recent clashes in a lawless tribal area
bordering Afghanistan, the military said. Government troops launched a
major offensive in the rugged North Waziristan region on Thursday
against insurgents with alleged links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda
network.
Full Story at link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4307558.stm
Uganda rebels in daylight ambush
Posted on Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at 6:32am
Four people were killed in a rare afternoon ambush on a civilian pick-up
truck in north east Uganda by rebels on Monday, officials say. Members
of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) are suspected of shooting the driver
and two passengers, and killing a fourth with an axe.
Full Story at link.
October 4, 2005 Anti-Terrorism News
Al Qaeda in Iraq calls for more attacks in Ramadan: website
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2005/October/focusoniraq_October20.xml§ion=focusoniraq
Iraq’s Al Qaeda urged Sunni Muslims on Tuesday to step up attacks on
US forces during Ramadan, the holy month which has seen some of the
bloodiest attacks by militants hoping for rewards in paradise. "Gather
your strength and we incite the believers to kill the slaves of the
cross..."
Five U.S. troops killed in Iraq attacks
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/10/04/iraq.main/index.html
Palestinian woman killed after stabbing Israeli soldier
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/October/middleeast_October99.xml§ion=middleeast
Two detained over Bali blasts
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1474376.htm
U.S. Freezes Assets of Egyptian Terror Suspects
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,171109,00.html
The United States on Monday took action to financially incapacitate
seven Egyptians suspected of providing support to an Egyptian terrorist
group that merged with Al Qaeda in 2001.
Afghan Forces Kill 31 Alleged Terrorists
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,171142,00.html
Australia issues new Bali warning
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/03/bali.warning/index.html
Australia has issued a fresh travel warning for Bali and cited
"uncorroborated information" that names the tourist area of Seminyak as a
potential target for terrorist attacks.
Yemen court acquits Iraqis of spying, bombing plot
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/October/middleeast_October73.xml§ion=middleeast
6 militants killed in attack on military - Senior Chechen militant
‘Chamak’ among 70 killed last week in North Waziristan
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_4-10-2005_pg1_7
Militant nicknamed “Chamak†from Chechnya, the commander of
militants from Central Asian states, killed in operation on Saturday
Report: Oklahoma bomber had jihad material
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46640
TerroristWarning.comTerrorism Headlines 10/05/2005 # 1
National:
[WWAY] NORTH CAROLINA - Gauges containing radioactive material reported missing in Wake Forest [ 2 gauges]
http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=3931898&nav=menu70_2
[KOTV] OKLAHOMA - Suspicious Device Found Near Tulsa Community College Downtown Campus
http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=91259
[Chronicle of Higher Education] CANADA - Suspicious Letters Cause Contamination Scare at U. of Calgary
"two envelopes thought to contain a powdery substance "
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005100307n.htm
[ScoutNews] WASHINGTON DC - No Reports Of Illness Linked to D.C. Bacteria Scare
http://www.healthcentral.com/newsdetail/408/1507031.html
[Carroll County News] ARKANSAS - Bomb closes County Courthouse
"appears to be an attempt to introduce a bomb into evidence"
http://www.eurekaspringstimesecho.com/articles/2005/10/03/news/we1.txt
[KTVU] CALIFORNIA - Suspicious SFO Package IDed As Military Training Device [In piece of luggage]
http://www.ktvu.com/news/5057332/detail.html
[Desert Sun] CALIFORNIA - Suspicious package secured at mall
"Upon their arrival, deputies determined it was unusual in nature"
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051004/UPDATE/510040327
[AP] CANADA - 10 dead from mysterious illness at Canadian nursing home [Impossible to determine cause??]
"public health officials have said it may never be possible to determine the exact type of virus or bacteria responsible for the illnesses. They have ruled out influenza, avian flu, SARS and Legionnaire's disease. "
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2005/10/04/build/world/39-mystery-illness.inc
[KRGE] NEW MEXICO - Police detonate suspicious package outside school [Unattended briefcase at school / election site]
http://www.krqe.com/expanded.asp?ID=12302
[Iran Focus] IRAN / USA/ UK - Iran’s paramilitary vigilante women protest outside British embassy
"There were also banners reading, “To achieve Iran’s legitimate right of having nuclear technology we are willing to sacrifice our lives”, “Death to England”, “Death to America”, and “America cannot do a damn thing”
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3893
[BusinessWire (Press Release)] USA - Is the Workers Comp System Prepared for Another Terrorist Attack?
"This month in a new white paper, GE Insurance Solutions (NYSE:GE) examines the debate over extension of The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) and its effect on the workers compensation system"
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20051003005493&newsLang=en
[TheRealityCheck.org / Jim Kouri] USA - FBI Likely Terrorist Targets
"As the agency responsible for counterintelligence, counterterrorism, cyber and major criminal investigations, the FBI is a high-priority target for virtually every hostile and many otherwise friendly intelligence services, terrorist
organizations, criminal groups, and individuals with grievances against the US Government."
http://www.therealitycheck.org/GuestColumnist/jkouri061505.htm
[Los Angeles Chronicle / Jim Kouri] USA / PHILIPPINES - FBI Intelligence Analyst Caught Passing Secrets to Foreign Officials
"The arrests of Leandro Aragoncillo and Michael Ray Aquino affirm the FBI's commitment to apprehending those who would seek to reveal classified information to foreign nationals, said a spokesperson for the FBI"
http://losangeleschronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=2742
[Voice of San Diego] CALIFORNIA - ECOTERRORISM - Activists' Homes Raided by FBI
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=euLTJbMUKvH&b=312465&ct=1481279
[NBC News] USA - Is former Marine helping anti US sentiment? [Celebrity Marine to work for Al Jazeera]
"He's being naive in thinking that he is going to have any real impact over at Al-Jazeera"
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9588658/
[Tulsa World] OKLAHOMA - OU blast victim had attempted to buy ammonium nitrate
http://www.tulsaworld.com/BreakingNewsStory.asp?ID=051004_Br_boomweb
[Oklahoma Daily] OKLAHOMA - FBI investigates potential threat
"Possible explosives may have been found in student’s apartment"
http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/03/4340c473754fd
[Beaver County Times] USA - On the federal 'no-fly list,' US Airways worker is grounded
http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15314691&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6
[Voices Magazine] USA - Blankley: U.S. 'At War' With Islamic Terrorism
http://voicesmag.com/Archives/Analysis/oct2005/blankley_us_at_war_islamic_100405.htm
[Washington Times] USA - Green-card quota seen as undercutting security
"The push to reduce the backlog has compromised the integrity of the system,"
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051004-121729-3736r.htm
[ChannelCincinnati.com] KENTUCKY - Bomb Scare Over; Airport Terminal Reopened
http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/5056696/detail.html
[National Ledger / Felecia Benamon] USA - Appeasing Terrorists
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27261029.shtml
[Reuters] USA - Bush wants right to use military if bird flu hits
"President George W. Bush asked Congress on Tuesday to consider giving him powers to use the military to enforce quarantines in case of an avian influenza epidemic"
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20051004/2005-10-04T185015Z_01_DIT460356_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-BUSH-BIRDFLU-DC.html
[Dissident Voice] USA - Republicans Require Health Insurance for Immigrants Only [ This 'Senator' is NUTS, see also next article ]
"Although the bill will mandate that employers provide health insurance coverage to immigrants, this is a luxury that no American enjoys"
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct05/Gerard1003.htm
[Middle America News] USA - Rightwing Senator Seeks Wealth Transfer from U.S. to Mexico
"Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, has introduced legislation to make grants of U.S. tax dollars for roads, telecommunications facilities, and education programs in Mexico. The bill, S. 2941, parallels plans developed by the influential Council on
Foreign Relations to integrate the populations and economies of the two countries with Canada in a "North American Community."
http://www.manews.org/0905cornyn.html
[WOAI] USA/ MEXICO BORDER - Federally Funded "Border Militia" Proposed
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9B18460A-C2E9-40AD-9F0F-D304A1E7D3ED
[The Citizen] GEORGIA - Bomb scare in S. F’ville
"Fayetteville woman discovered what is believed to be an explosive device inside her home"
http://www.thecitizennews.com/main/archive-051005/fp-03_bomb.html
International:
[Reuters] GLOBAL - Al-Qaeda calls for more attacks in Ramadan
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1252142.cms
[Reuters] IRAQ - Iraqi oil minister targeted, U.S. pushes attack
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03533613.htm
[PTI] SRI LANKA - Sri Lankan aircraft makes emergency landing [Bomb scare]
"Flight UL-501 was being subjected to a search by anti-terrorism units"
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200510031655.htm
[NTV/MSNBC] TURKEY - Bomb wounds four police in Hakkari
"officers were wounded after being dispatched to investigate an earlier explosion"
http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/343752.asp
[UNI] NEPAL - More than 500 students and teachers abducted in Nepal
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/oct32005/update1150302005103.asp
[Daily Champion] AFRICA - Ex-Anambra Commissioner Abducted
http://allafrica.com/stories/200510030501.html
[Interfax] RUSSIA - Bomb threat reported in Moscow close to the place where Denikin and Ilyin are reburied
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=390
[RSF/IFEX] UKRAINE - Celebrity magazine editor targeted by bomb attack
"several unidentified persons broke the windows of Harfouch's car and then threw a home-made bomb at it"
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/69539/
[Daily Standard] SAUDI ARABIA - Al Qaeda's Oil Weapon
"Along with the weapons cache, police discovered forged documents that would have provided the terrorists with access to some of the country's key oil and gas facilities"
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/163cchwz.asp
[Sun Star] PHILIPPINES - Sayyaf renews terror threats in Mindanao [ Terrorists detail their own weapons list]
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/zam/2005/10/02/news/sayyaf.renews.terror.threats.in.mindanao.html
[Xinhua] PHILIPPINES - Terrorism biggest threat to Philippines security: govt official
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/04/content_3581863.htm
[Sydney Morning Herald] INDONESIA - The killers' new tactic: smaller bombs, more often
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-killers-new-tactic-smaller-bombs-more-often/2005/10/02/1128191602907.html
[Debkafile] MIDDLE EAST - Al Qaeda in Sinai Has Advanced to Striking Range of the Suez Canal, Israel and Jordan
http://www.debka.com/article_print.php?aid=1091
[Guardian] IRAQ / LIBYA - 'The cardinal rule ... you don't target civilians'
"Aisha Gadafy, the daughter of the Libyan leader, declared her support for insurgents in Iraq last week"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1583879,00.html
[ISN Security Watch] MALAYSIA - Embassies receive suspicious packages [ 8 Embassies ]
"packages contained an unknown yellow powder, prompting fears of Anthrax poisoning"
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=13048
[Peoples Daily Online] MALAYSIA - Suspicious packages sent to Thai, Japanese embassies in Malaysia
"The contents are still being investigated to see if it's biological stuff and I think we are still waiting for the results,"
http://english.people.com.cn/200510/05/eng20051005_212575.html
[Kyodo News] JAPAN / MALAYSIA - Japan embassy in Malaysia evacuated over suspicious package
"has been taken away to a laboratory for testing"
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=2&id=351172
[VCRISIS] VENEZUELA - Venezuela harboring Al Qaeda's Mustafa Nasar [ Al Qaeda / FARC ]
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200510031402
[Daily Journal/ EFE] COLOMBIA - FARC attack leaves 40,000 without electricity
http://www.thedailyjournalonline.com/article.asp?CategoryId=12393&ArticleId=198312
[BBC] COLOMBIA - Farc 'abducts 60 Colombia police'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4304288.stm
[KRT] COLOMBIA - FARC had major plan to attack capital
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/world/12752788.htm
[Reuters] COLOMBIA - Car bomb kills two Colombian children, one man
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04681247.htm
[Reuters] EGYPT - Think-tank says Egypt should legalize Brotherhood [TW Editors Note: Muslim Brotherhood is a bunch of terrorists, not a legitimate political party]
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=10/5/2005&Cat=4&Num=006
[ABC News Online] AUSTRALIA - Qld anti-terrorism campaign targets public transport
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1474590.htm
[AKI] GLOBAL - Second Edition of Al-Qaeda News Bulletin Airs
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=CultureAndMedia&loid=8.0.214968657&par=0
[Jamestown Foundation] GLOBAL - Al-Qaeda's Next Generation: Less Visible and More Lethal
http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369797
[Jamestown Foundation] THAILAND - Thailand's Islamist Insurgency on the Brink
"death toll since the renewal of the insurgency in January 2004 now exceeds 1000, making the region the most violent arena for Muslim violence outside Iraq"
http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369795
[Addis Tribune] CHINA / AFRICA - China Providing Military Assistance to African Countries
http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2002/11/29-11-02/China.htm
[INN] CHINA / PAKISTAN - Sino-Pak joint military exercise next year
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=87751
[Korea Times] SOUTH KOREA - S. Korea Wants Wartime Command Back From United States: Roh
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200510/kt2005100217055810440.htm
[Mosnews] RUSSIA / USA - Swiss Court Rules to Hand Russia’s Former Nuclear Minister Over to U.S.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/10/03/adamov.shtml
[PakTribune.com] PAKISTAN - Bomb explosion claims 5 lives in Chaman
http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=121290
[AFP] FRANCE - France arrests alleged terrorist cell members
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/10/04/2003274415
[Thomas Crosbie Media] FRANCE - Suspected Islamic extremist 'had bomb material'
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=158023980&p=y58xz4686
[Human Rights Watch] IRAQ - A face and a name: Civilian victims of insurgent groups in Iraq
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ACIO-6GTPTY?OpenDocument
[ICWales] WALES - Islamic extremist suspect held after raid
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=16205971%26method=full%26siteid=50082%26headline=islamic%2dextremist%2dsuspect%2dheld%2dafter%2ddawn%2draid%2din%2dcardiff-name_page.html
[AP] AFGHANISTAN - Editor of Afghan Women's Magazine Arrested for 'unIslamic' Articles
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBIW1SWEEE.html
[Los Angeles Times] ITALY - In a Prison's Halls, the Call to Islam
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-prison4oct04,0,3043797.story?coll=la-home-headlines
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/156kncex.asp
General Panic
Meet Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani, the
commander of Iran's anti-American Qods Force.
by Dan Darling
10/05/2005 12:00:00 AM
WITH RECENT U.S. and British allegations that
shipments of explosives similar to those used by
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) are
being shipped into Iraq from Iran for use by the
insurgency, it is long past time for American
policy-makers to examine the role of Iranian
Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani and the Qods
(Jerusalem) Force unit under his command in
fomenting and facilitating anti-American terrorist
activity since the September 11 attacks.
The very nature of General Suleimani's position within
the IRGC warrants him being on America's radar. As
the commander of Qods Force, Suleimani is charged
with overseeing the IRGC's extra-territorial
operations and, according to Time magazine, he
serves as a special advisor to Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the issues of both Iraq and
Afghanistan. Under Suleimani--and his predecessor
Ahmad Vahidi--Qods Force has been linked to nearly
every instance of Iranian-backed terrorism over the
course of the last decade, including the 1994 bombing
of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, that killed 85 and injured 230. A U.S.
intelligence analysis of Qods Force leaked to the
Washington Post in September 2003 provided even
further insight into its activities.
According to the analysis, Qods Force has agents in
most countries with large Muslim populations and its
goal is to "form relationships with Islamic militant and
radical groups and offer financial support either to the
groups at large or to Islamic figures within them who
are sympathetic to the principles and foreign policy
goals of the Iranian government." Contrary to the
conventional wisdom that rules out Shiite-Sunni
cooperation, the analysis also stated that Qods Force
had trained more than three dozen Shiite and Sunni
foreign Islamic militant groups in paramilitary,
guerrilla, and terror tactics, including assassination,
kidnapping, torture, and explosives.
THESE ACTIVITIES are alarming enough but, as
explained in a second Post story from September
2003, the organization's role in anti-U.S. activities
extends even further. Citing a European intelligence
official, the Post noted that after the fall of the
Taliban al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman
al-Zawahiri (whose relationship with Qods Force goes
back at least a decade) negotiated safe harbor for
much of the surviving al Qaeda leadership inside Iran,
including bin Laden's son and heir apparent, Saad,
and the terror network's de facto ministers of war,
finance, propaganda, and ideology. Numerous media
reports listed future-Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab
Zarqawi as among these refugees.
While Zarqawi quickly left Iran for Iraq (possibly
under duress from Iranian authorities because of both
his anti-Shiite views and the government's desire to
counter U.S. criticism that Iran was soft on al Qaeda),
the rest of the al Qaeda leaders who took refuge in
Iran continue to operate. Despite Iranian claims that
any al Qaeda members within its borders are "in
custody," these senior leaders appear to continue to
operate within what a French counter-terrorism
official described to AFP in July 2004 as "controlled
freedom of movement"--a controlled freedom due in
no small part to the influence of Qods Force.
THE ANTI-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES of Qods Force aren't
simply limited to protecting the al Qaeda leadership.
According to a report in Time, as early as September
2002 Ali Khamenei placed General Suleimani in
charge of organizing various Iraqi groups as part of
an Iranian plan to dominate the country following
Saddam's removal. Among these targeted groups
were the Badr Brigades military wing of the Supreme
Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI is now a
key member of the Iraqi ruling coalition), the
Mujahideen for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (MIRI),
Thar-Allah, and Iran's favorite proxy, the Lebanese
Hezbollah. Yet it was not until April 2004 and the
beginning of Muqtada al-Sadr's failed uprising that
Qods Force would truly make its presence in Iraq felt.
As reported by the London Arabic newspaper al-Sharq
al-Awsat, al-Sadr visited Iran in late 2003 and met
with General Suleimani. At the onset of al-Sadr's
uprising, the paper reported that Qods Force had set
up training camps at Qasr Shireen, Ilam, and Hamid
in southern Iran along the Iraqi border to train the
radical cleric's Mahdi Army and financed his campaign
to the tune of $80,000,000. A March 2005 report by
the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG)
treated most charges of Iranian meddling in Iraq with
skepticism, but quoted one E.U. diplomat as saying
that "[Qassem] Suleimani seemingly had an agenda
to support Muqtada al-Sadr in the Najaf crisis. . . .
But as the war went on, he withdrew his support."
The report cited another diplomat as saying that Iran
had provided al-Sadr with "funding and arms."
IN MAY 2004, al-Sharq al-Awsat published a story
claiming that members of Qods Force had attempted
to provide both explosives and upwards of $900,000
to Abu Musab Zarqawi, with the intention of him
carrying out attacks on U.S. and European embassies
and commercial centers in five Gulf states. According
to the newspaper, the plot was thwarted by Iranian
intelligence at the behest of the-then President
Khatami, who likely recognized that such action could
easily result in a US reprisal against Iran. At
Khatami's direction, Iranian intelligence arrested a
number of al Qaeda operatives as well as a Qods
Force official, yet no actions were taken against
General Suleimani and he remains in command of the
elite military unit to this day.
In August 2004, al-Sharq al-Awsat cited an official
who had attended an Iranian military seminar in
which General Suleimani stated that Zarqawi and 20
senior members of the terrorist group Ansar al-Islam
are allowed to enter Iran whenever they want through
border points between Halabja and Ilam in Iraq.
When asked why Iran would support Zarqawi given
his anti-Shiite activities, Suleimani stated that
Zarqawi's actions in Iraq "serve the supreme interests
of Iran" by preventing the creation of a pro-U.S.
government. These remarks seem to square with the
views of the ICG report on Iranian meddling in Iraq
which, while largely skeptical, concluded that Kurdish
assertions about Iran's Revolutionary Guards backing
Ansar al-Islam (described by the U.S. State
Department as "closely allied with al-Qa'ida and Abu
Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's group" as well as "one of the
leading groups engaged in anti-Coalition attacks in
Iraq") "most likely have merit."
Thus far, discussions over the proper course of US
policy towards Iran have primarily focused on the
regime's nuclear program. Perhaps the activities of
General Suleimani and Qods Force should be included
in that discussion, too.
Dan Darling is a counter-terrorism consultant for the
Manhattan Institute's Center for Policing Terrorism.
Volume 2, Issue 18 (October 4, 2005) | Download PDF Version
Al-Qaeda's Next Generation: Less Visible and More Lethal
By Michael Scheuer
Experts speculate widely about the composition and
tactics of the next generation of mujahideen. This
speculation stems from the fact that transnational groups
are harder collection targets than nation-states. Such
ambiguity and imprecision is likely to endure indefinitely,
and is particularly worrisome concerning
"next-generation" terrorism studies.
Osama bin Laden has been planning for the next generation of mujahideen
since he began speaking publicly in the mid-1990s. Bin Laden has always
described the "defensive jihad" against the United States as potentially a
multi-generational struggle. After the 9/11 attacks, bin Laden explained that,
even as the anti-U.S. war intensified, the torch was being passed from his
generation to the next. "We have been struggling right from our youth," bin
Laden wrote in late 2001:
"We sacrificed our homes, families, and all the luxuries of this worldly life in
the path of Allah (was ask Allah to accept our efforts). In our youth, we
fought with and defeated the (former) Soviet Union (with the help of Allah), a
world super power, and now we are fighting the USA. We have never let the
Muslim Ummah down.
"Muslims are being humiliated, tortured and ruthlessly killed all over the
world, and its time to fight these satanic forces with the utmost strength and
power. Today the whole of the Muslim Ummah is depending (after Allah) upon
the Muslim youth, hoping that they would never let them down." [1]
The question arising is, of course, what threat will the next generation of
al-Qaeda-inspired mujahideen pose? Based on the admittedly imprecise
information available, the answer seems to lie in three discernible trends: a)
the next generation will be at least as devout but more professional and less
operationally visible; b) it will be larger, with more adherents and potential
recruits; and c) it will be better educated and more adept at using the tools
of modernity, particularly communications and weapons.
Religiosity and Quiet Professionalism
The next mujahideen generation's piety will equal or exceed that of bin
Laden's generation. The new mujahideen, having grown up in an internet
and satellite television-dominated world, will be more aware of Muslim
struggles around the world, more comfortable with a common Muslim identity,
more certain that the U.S.-led West is "oppressing" Muslims, and more
inspired by the example bin Laden has set—bin Laden's generation had no
bin Laden.
While leaders more pious than bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are hard to
imagine, Western analysts tend to forget that many of bin Laden's
first-generation lieutenants did not mirror his intense religiosity. Wali Khan,
Abu Zubaidah, Abu Hajir al-Iraqi, Khalid Sheikh Muhammed, Ibn Shaykh
al-Libi, and Ramzi Yousef were first generation fighters who were both
swashbuckling and Islamist. Unlike bin Laden and Zawahiri, they were
flamboyant, multilingual, well-traveled, and eager for personal notoriety.
Their operating styles were tinged with arrogance—as if no bullet or jail cell
had been made for them—and each was captured, at least in part, because
they paid insufficient attention to personal security. Now al-Qaeda is
teaching young mujahideen to learn from the security failures that led to the
capture of first-generation fighters.
"The security issue was and still is one of the aspects that most influence the
practical course of the conflict [with the West] and one of the fronts that
most affect the war's outcome. As long as the Islamic movement does not
take this aspect seriously, the promised victory will continue to lack the most
important means for its realization.
"What is required is that the security consciousness be present with a
strength that causes it to mix with the natural course of daily action.…
However, a consideration of history and a study of events lead us to
conclude that the enemy's gain in the security conflict [with al-Qaeda]
basically cannot be due to the extraordinary strength of those organizations
or to the superior skill of those in charge of them. They are derived from the
state of defenselessness caused by the sickness of [security] laxity in Islamic
circles!" [2]
The rising mujahideen are less likely to follow the example of some notorious
first-generation fighters, and more likely to model themselves on the smiling,
pious, and proficient Mohammed Atef, al-Qaeda's military commander, killed in
late 2001 and, to this day, al-Qaeda's most severe individual loss. A former
Egyptian security officer, Atef was efficient, intelligent, patient, ruthless—and
nearly invisible. He was a combination of warrior, thinker, and bureaucrat,
pursuing his leaders' plans with no hint of ego. Atef's successor as military
commander, the Egyptian Sayf al-Adl, is cut from the same cloth. Four years
after succeeding Atef, for example, Western analysts cannot determine his
identity—whether he is in fact a former Egyptian Special Forces colonel
named Makkawi—or his location—whether he in South Asia, Iraq, or under
arrest in Iran. Similarly, the Saudis' frequent publication of lengthening lists of
"most wanted" al-Qaeda fighters—many unknown in the West—suggests the
semi-invisible Atef-model is also used by Gulf state Islamists. Finally, the
U.K.-born and -raised suicide bombers of July 7, 2005 foreshadow the next
mujahideen generation who will operate below the radar of local security
services.
Numbers
At the basic level, the steady pace of Islamist insurgencies around the
world—Iraq, Chechnya and the northern Caucasus, southern Thailand,
Mindanao, Kashmir and Afghanistan—and the incremental "Talibanization" of
places like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and northern Nigeria, ensure a bountiful
new mujahideen generation. Less-tangible factors will also contribute to this
bounty.
-Osama bin Laden remains the unrivaled hero and leader of Muslim youths
aspiring to join the mujahideen. His efforts to inspire young Muslims to jihad
against the U.S.-led West seem to be proving fruitful.
-Easily accessible satellite television and Internet streaming video will
broaden Muslim youths' perception that the West is anti-Islamic. U.S. public
diplomacy cannot negate the impressions formed by real-time video from
Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan that shows Muslims battling "aggressive"
Western forces and validating bin Laden‘s claim that the West intends to
destroy Islam.
-The adoption of harsher anti-terror laws in America and Europe, along with
lurid stories about Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib prison, and the handling of
the Qur'an will give credence to bin Laden's claim that the West is
persecuting Muslims.
-The ongoing "fundamentalization" of the two great, evangelizing monotheist
religions will enhance an environment already conducive to Islamism. The
growth of Protestant evangelicalism in Latin America, and the aggressive,
"church militant" form of Roman Catholicism in Africa, has and will revitalize
the millennium-old Islam-vs.-Christianity confrontation, creating a sense of
threat and defensiveness on each side.
Compounding the threat posed by the next, larger generation is the
possibility that analysts underestimated the first generation's size. Western
leaders have consistently claimed large al-Qaeda-related casualties;
currently, totals range from 5,000-7,000 fighters and two-thirds of al-Qaeda's
leadership. If the claims are accurate, we should ponder whether the West
has ever fought a "terrorist group" that can lose 5,000-7,000 fighters,
dozens of leaders, and still be assessed militarily potent and perhaps
WMD-capable? The multiple captures of al-Qaeda's "third-in-command"—most
recently Abu Ashraf al-Libi—and the remarkable totals of "second- and
third-in-commands" from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's organization suggests the
West's accounting of Islamist manpower—at the foot soldier and leadership
levels—is, at best, tenuous.
Modernity
Recent scholarship suggests al-Qaeda and its allies draw support primarily
from Muslim middle- and upper-middle classes [3]. This helps explain why bin
Laden places supreme importance on exploiting the internet for security,
intelligence, paramilitary training, communications, propaganda, religious
instruction, and news programs. It also points to the West's frequent failure
to distinguish between the Islamists' hatred for Westernization—women's
rights and secularism, for example—and their openness to modernity's tools,
especially communications and weaponry.
Several features of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's forces demonstrate that the
mujahideen embrace modern tools. Two-plus years after the U.S. invasion,
for example, Zarqawi's technicians continue building Improvised Explosive
Devices (IEDs) and car bombs that defeat the detection/jamming technology
fielded by U.S. forces. Indeed, each new iteration of defensive technology
has been trumped by improved insurgent weaponry.
Zarqawi's media apparatus is likewise the most sophisticated, flexible, and
omnipresent U.S.-led forces have encountered since 9/11. Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq's
media produce daily combat reports, near real-time video of attacks on
coalition targets, interviews with Zarqawi and other leaders, and a steady
flow of "news bulletins" to feed 24/7 satellite television networks. In doing
so, Zarqawi's media are telling the Muslim world al-Qaeda's version of the
war professionally, reliably, and in real-time. So good has Zarqawi's media
become since joining al-Qaeda that it is fair to assume the most important
help he has received is from bin Laden's world-class media organization.
Conclusion
Despite satellites, electronic intercept equipment, and expanding human
intelligence, the West does not understand al-Qaeda the way it knew the
Soviet Union. Transnational targets are substantially more difficult collection
targets than nation-states. We are, for example, unlikely to build an accurate
al-Qaeda order-of-battle or recruit assets to penetrate the al-Qaeda
equivalent of Moscow's politburo. As a result, Western analysts must closely
track broad trends within al-Qaeda and its allies, and the trends toward
greater piety, professionalism, numbers and modernity merit particular
attention.
Notes
1. Osama bin Laden, "Message to Muslim Youth," Markaz al-Dawa (Internet),
December 13, 2001.
2. Sayf-al-Din al-Ansari, "But Take Your Precautions," Al-Ansar (Internet),
March 15, 2002.
3. See especially, Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks, (University
of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), and Robert Pape, Dying to Win. The Logic of
Suicide Terrorism, (Random House, 2005).
Find this article at:
http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=236979
King County is buying Geiger counters that would be used to check evacuees for radiation before letting them enter emergency shelters after a “dirty bomb” attack.
Many many false alarms - tularemia
Instead they believe that the naturally occurring bacteria was "kicked up" out of the soil by the thousands of feet marching on the Mall.
Arab escapee vows jihad against US
He also recited an Arabic poem to incite youths against the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Let us refresh our memories of the courageous strikes of September 11 and defeat the crusaders."
Hispanic muslim women busy teaching Islam
There are some 40,000 Hispanic Muslims in the United States, according to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).The largest populations live in New York, Texas, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami.