World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #4.

Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?

Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak — the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.

The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its “Future Jihad” in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international “Salafists” aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). “Weaken the resolve of America,” their ideologues said, “and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.”

As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didn’t kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined “silver bullet” before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.

The other “tree” of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.

The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syria’s patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.

A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the “axis” prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.

What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israel’s counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.

Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without “no-fly-zones,” expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The “revolution” was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanon’s politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the “March 14 Movement” then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Iran’s nuclear programs.

The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.

The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the “Cedar Revolution” when they were meeting Lebanon’s government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.

The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.

[LOL, not sure that I fully understand this one]

http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/09/26/5715.shtml

RussiaEvents Also in this section

Russian Mafia Recruits Aussies as Mules
Publication time: 26 September 2006, 10:16

The Russian mafia was recruiting Queenslanders (Australia) to act as "mules" in an internet fraud scam against banks, a court was told yesterday.

The Court of Appeal heard details of a group using a devise known as a "trojan" to collect personal details of bank customers. The group then illegally transferred money into accounts held by its mules who took a percentage of the money and forwarded the rest to an address in St Petersburg.

The court was told mules were recruited by email with offers of employment and were later contacted when money was placed in their accounts with instructions to pass it on, via Western Union, to Russia.

The scam details came to light during an appeal by Mark Johnson, who was found guilty of dishonestly applying to his use 15 belonging to Suncorp Metway.

In the District Court in Gympie earlier this year, Johnson was jailed for 12 months but he appealed on the grounds he was entitled to withdraw money which had been placed in his account.

Johnson told police he believed the money was put in his account by a friend who owed him a favour.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Source: The Courier Mail

Related articles:

* Georgian Police Seize House of Top Russian Mafiosi
Russia » Events // 19 September 2006, 10:25
* Russian Mafia Threatens Western Millionaires
Russia » Events // 20 August 2006, 16:57

******IMHO I think Omar killed binny boy sometime before 2004.

*******NOTE Bin Laden also has several commonly used aliases and nicknames, including the Prince, the Sheikh, Al-Amir, Abu Abdallah, Sheikh Al-Mujahid, the Director, and Samaritan.

Bin Laden still eluding 5-year hunt

September 27, 2006
BY Paul Haven Associated Press
He was blown up in the caves of Tora Bora. He was on dialysis and dying of kidney disease. He was in the hands of Pakistani intelligence and about to be turned over to the United States.
Rumors of Osama bin Laden's death or capture go back years, and they always have proved greatly exaggerated. The latest came Saturday, when a leaked French intelligence document citing a "usually reliable" source stated the Saudi secret service was convinced the 52-year-old al-Qaida terrorist chief had died of typhoid last month in Pakistan.

Officials from Riyadh to Paris to Washington rushed to insist they had nothing to substantiate the report, but not before news of it reached every corner of the globe and renewed the debate about why the world's largest dragnet has failed to get its man.

"There has been a grave failure five years after 9/11 that the true leaders of the attacks are still free and that they are still alive," said Rohan Gunaratna, head of terrorism research at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies.

Gunaratna cited comments by bin Laden's no. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, released on the fifth anniversary of the attacks, as evidence the French report was erroneous.
"Ayman al-Zawahri issued a statement on Sept. 11 in which he specifically refers to Osama bin Laden being alive," Gunaratna says. "There is no reason for al-Zawahri to lie, since he wants to keep his credibility within the movement."

A Pakistani counterterrorism official with intimate knowledge of the hunt also dismissed the French report, saying nothing was known about bin Laden's health or location. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

The denial was echoed by a purported spokesman for the Taliban, the former Afghan regime that sheltered bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks. He also asked not to be named.

Rumors on health abound

The French report is not the first to allude to bin Laden suffering from a life-threatening illness.

For years, intelligence services took seriously assessments that bin Laden might be suffering from kidney disease, and there were even reports he was forced to lug a dialysis machine from one mountain hideout to another.

But in 2003, Amer Aziz, bin Laden's former doctor in Afghanistan, shot down the reports. He told The Associated Press he gave bin Laden a complete physical in 1999, and saw him again in November 2001 while he was on the run from U.S. forces, and found no sign of illness on either occasion.

"If you are on dialysis, you have a special look. I didn't see any of that," Aziz told a reporter at his office in Lahore, Pakistan, after his release from U.S. custody.

The latest video featuring fresh footage of bin Laden came out in 2004, just before the U.S. presidential elections. In it he appeared healthy and relaxed, particularly for a man who was believed to be hiding in the rugged mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, or possibly in Afghanistan itself, in the remote, forested eastern province of Nuristan.

The U.S. has conducted hundreds of search-and-seizure operations in the region but has been stonewalled by an increasingly unfriendly local population.

A number of audiotapes of the terrorist leader have come out since the 2004 video, the latest in June, and a video that featured what appears to be older footage of bin Laden was released in September.

The lack of film of the terrorist chief since 2004 has muddied the waters further. His decision to appear only on tape could be his way of heightening his mystique, or denying his pursuers visuals that might reveal his whereabouts. Or it could be an effort to hide his state of health.

Shaking the branches?

Paul Wilkinson of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland said the latest report of bin Laden's death could prompt his inner circle to advise him to deliver proof he is alive and healthy.

He speculated that the French report may have been leaked to shake the branches and illicit just such a response from the terrorist leader, giving the intelligence community a chance to home in on "chatter" among terrorists.

"It does create psychological pressure on the people and operatives" close to bin Laden, Wilkinson said. "There will be an expectation that he make some sort of appearance."

Brushes with death

The years of false hope and genuine close calls have contributed to the aura that bin Laden enjoys among his followers. They also have added to the frustration of those charged with bringing him to justice.

In 1998, after the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa, the U.S. launched 62 Tomahawk cruise missiles at two al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan. It was believed bin Laden was at one of them meeting with several of his top men but left shortly before the missiles struck.

After the Sept. 11 attacks and the fall of the Taliban, Afghan militiamen fighting on behalf of the United States felt certain they had surrounded bin Laden at Tora Bora.

Villagers reported seeing him hike into the mountains, and accounts of devastating airstrikes on the caves prompted rumors that bin Laden was dead.

He wasn't.

In the end, one of the Afghan warlords the United States was relying on for ground operations betrayed the others, Afghan fighters told The Associated Press, and bin Laden escaped into Pakistan.

In 2003, Pakistani forces raided the village of Lattaka, near the border with Afghanistan, on intelligence that bin Laden might be hiding there. In 2004, U.S. Lt. Gen. David Barno said from Afghanistan that he expected to bring bin Laden to justice that year, and Pakistani intelligence officials described him as being boxed in, but he was never captured.

Since then, the trail of the world's most wanted man has gone cold, but that hasn't stopped the rumors.

An Iranian state-run radio station sparked worldwide headlines in February 2004 when it flashed an urgent story that bin Laden was in the hands of Pakistan's intelligence agency. The source of the report turned out to be a Pakistani journalist at a newspaper in the western city of Peshawar, who claimed to have been misquoted.

A 2005 posting on an Islamic Web site that began with a headline saying bin Laden was dead also turned out to be false, but not before the news sent world stock markets briefly soaring.

Reports that bin Laden has been nabbed were even used in a computer virus attack, when thousands of messages were posted on Internet chat sites in 2004 that began with the subject line "Osama bin Laden captured." When users clicked a link that was supposed to take them to photos, they triggered the virus.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/73265,3_1_EL27_A1BINLADEN_S1.article

September 28, 2006 PM Anti-Terrorism News

Al-Qaeda in Iraq's New Leader (Abu Hamza al-Muhajir) Issues Message: call to Jihadists to kidnap "some dogs of the Christians" to liberate "our imprisoned sheikh" (Omar Abdul Rahman); 20-minute long audio file - "Come to a Word that is Just Between Us and You" (Surah Imran, verse 64, the Koran) was posted on Jihadist web sites
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.345181510&par=0
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications214606&Category=publications&Subcategory=0

Audiotape From Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Calls on Scientists to Join Jihad - and use radioactive, biological weapons on USA bases in Iraq
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216262,00.html

U.N. Report: Taliban relies on al-Qaida
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060928/ap_on_re_us/un_terrorist_sanctions

(Pakistan) Local Taliban open office in Miranshah, Pakistan
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0609282657115758.htm

(Iran) Ahmadinejad: Iran Will Not Give Up Enrichment Activities - "even for one day"
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216252,00.html

(Afghanistan) Dozens of Taleban Killed in (Wednesday) Afghan Operation
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&sectionfiltered=0&article=87295&d=28&m=9&y=2006

Bin Laden loses Iraqi hearts, minds
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52190

UN report says U.S. breaking Qaeda in Iraq - Al Qaeda "may see more losses than gains" in Iraq
http://www.nydailynews.com/09-28-2006/news/story/456361p-384073c.html

(Iraq) HVT #8 - Al-Qaeda Shura Leader of Mosul Captured in Mosul - "Fourth Rail" post on latest capture in Iraq
http://billroggio.com/archives/2006/09/hvt_8_alqaeda_shura.php

US Anti-Terror Experts: Hizbullah Still a Threat
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=112827

Palestinian militant jailed for life over bus bombing
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/September/middleeast_September625.xml&sectionfiltered=middleeast&col=

Israel bomb victims get green light to sue Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - for knowingly providing services to a charity linked to Hamas
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,200-2379108,00.html

(Israel) Terrorist Arrested in Jericho
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=112824

Update: Palestinian imam explains Islam: "The only dialogue we will accept is when all other religions agree to convert to Islam" (different detail in this version of news story)
http://www.religionandspirituality.com/view.php?StoryID=20060928-085427-3994r

Syria defies US threat, still backs Hamas, Hezbollah
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=51693

Somalia suicide bombing arrests
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5389636.stm

Somali Islamists shoot to disperse protest in port
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060928-075309-8971r

(India) Seven militants held in J&K
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2036728.cms

More Muslim violence against Christians - church in Indonesia attack by mob for "illegal" prayer meetings - started demolishing roof
http://www.religionandspirituality.com/view.php?StoryID=20060927-045248-6943r

CAIR hosts Ramadan outreach in Washington - nine members of House of Representatives attended
http://www.religionandspirituality.com/view.php?StoryID=20060927-042905-1521r

(France) Writer of 'anti-Islam' article gets death threats
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=33407

(UK) Emergency staff to get anti-terror gas masks
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/28/nmasks28.xml

US Coast Guard Patrol Great Lakes To Combat Terrorists from Canada (my title)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060928.wlakes28/BNStory/National/home

(Columbia) Treasury Designation Targets Nine Leaders and Key Figures of the FARC - see also chart of latest designation
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp119.htm
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/reports/0928_farc_chart.pdf

Behind the NIE: Scheuer Parses the Intelligence from the Politics
http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=12318

Venezuela

Condoleezza Rice on 24/7 buzz to freeze Venezuela out of security ...
VHeadline.com - Worth,IL,USA
... battle for a seat on the UN Security Council, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias says it is the USA that should abandon the Security Council, not Venezuela ...
See all stories on this topic

Venezuela escalates trade with Russia
Ireland Online - Dublin,Ireland
Venezuela is boosting trade with Russia, creating joint-venture companies in sectors ranging from oil to agriculture, officials said yesterday. ...
See all stories on this topic

Venezuela and Russia Tighten Relations
Prensa Latina - Havana,Cuba
Caracas, Sep 27 (Prensa Latina) Venezuela and Russia marked important progress in their economic relations on Wednesday, signing 17 cooperation and production ...
See all stories on this topic

Venezuela and US struggle to patch up diplomatic spat
Monsters and Critics.com - Glasgow,UK
Caracas - Venezuela-US relations hit an all-time low last week when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called George Bush the 'devil' and his foreign minister ...
See all stories on this topic

Venezuela creates USD 500-million fund to back projects with ...
El Universal - Venezuela
... the creation of a special fund for the amount of USD 500 million to back any projects that may arise from the 18 agreements entered into by Venezuela and Russia ...
See all stories on this topic

US retailer 7-Eleven dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo as its ...
International Herald Tribune - France
is dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo as its gasoline supplier at more than 2,100 locations and switching to its own brand of fuel. ...
See all stories on this topic

US ambassador says Venezuela should not request visa to US ...
El Universal - Venezuela
US ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield Wednesday claimed that current conditions are not favorable for Venezuela to request visas to US citizens. ...
See all stories on this topic

Petroleos de Venezuela signs memos de understanding with 23 ...
VHeadline.com - Worth,IL,USA
VHeadline.com News Editor Patrick J. O'Donoghue writes: Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with 23 Russian companies. ...
See all stories on this topic

Venezuela to conduct seventh agriculture census
El Universal - Venezuela
... a decree published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday, the Government is to take moves in connection with agrarian policies and rural development in Venezuela. ...
See all stories on this topic

Man accused of attempting to bomb neighbor's home
(http://www.post-trib.com/news/74759,Bombo.article)

September 28, 2006

By POST-TRIBUNE STAFF

HAMMOND-- A Hammond man has been charged in Lake Superior Court with attempting to bomb his neighbor's home.

David Levi Michielsen, 27, of Alexander Avenue, is charged with possessing, transporting, receiving, placing or detonating a destructive device with intent to injure or destroy property, a Class A felony. He also is charged with possession, manufacture, transportation or distribution of a destructive device, a Class C felony.

Hammond police were called to Michielsen's neighbor's home at 12:05 a.m. Monday after the neighbor smelled something burning and discovered an ignited explosive device on her window air conditioning unit.

The woman pulled out the wick before police arrived. She told police she heard a thumping sound coming from the window with the air conditioner and saw Michielsen running away.

The previous night, Michielsen had asked to borrow a screw to repair his wife's glasses, which were broken by the woman's children and Michielsen's wife's children. Michielsen became upset about the glasses, court records state.

He called the woman at about 10 p.m. to ask for a pair of her son's glasses to repair his wife's glasses, but the parts didn't fit.

Hammond police found a long piece of green wick matching the wick that had been set on fire and attached to the explosive device, court records state.

© Copyright 2006 Sun-Times News Group |

Russia rejects move to give Putin third term
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-27T101951Z_01_L27345300_RTRUKOC_0_US-RUSSIA-REFERENDUM.xml&archived=False

Hizbollah Chatter Recruits for the FBI
September 27, 2006: Because of their "victory" over Israel this past Summer, Hizbollah now believes it is catching up with al Qaeda, at least in the bad-boy/media-star department. This has led to a lot of terrorist fanboys filling up the chat rooms, IM space and emails with pro-Hizbollah chatter. Some of that chatter has indicated that Hizbollah has been encouraging some of its sympathizers in the U.S. to join local police forces, the FBI, the armed forces, and other security agencies.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20060927.aspx

Russia hands over powerful warship to China

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russia handed over to China a destroyer equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry on Thursday, finalising a $1.5 billion deal analysts say boosts Beijing's clout in its stand-off with Taiwan.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/9/28/worldupdates/2006-09-28T195914Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-269772-1&sec=Worldupdates

Russia to grant Cuba $355 mln 10-year loan -PM Fradkov
22:13 | 28/ 09/ 2006

HAVANA, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will provide Cuba with a 10-year $355 mln loan with interest at 4% per year, Russia's prime minister said Thursday.

Mikhail Fradkov signed a Russian-Cuban intergovernmental agreement earlier Thursday.

He said the credit will be used to finance the delivery of Russian goods and services to the socialist Caribbean country in 2006-08.

Fradkov said the intergovernmental agreement identified seven areas in which the credit will be used: investment cooperation projects, modernization of Cuba's energy sector, reconstruction of water conservation facilities and railroads, the design and delivery of air navigation systems, and the modernization of the transportation system.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060928/54353408.html

Russia watchdog accuses Shell of barbaric activity
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28630245.htm

Sept. 28, 2006, 9:39PM
Iraq terrorist calls scientists to jihad

By DAVID RISING Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Al-Qaida in Iraq's leader, in a chilling audiotape released Thursday, called for nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war and urged insurgents to kidnap Westerners so they could be traded for a blind Egyptian sheik who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.

The fugitive terror chief said experts in the fields of "chemistry, physics, electronics, media and all other sciences _ especially nuclear scientists and explosives experts" should join his group's jihad, or holy war, against the West.

"We are in dire need of you," said the speaker, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir _ also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri. "The field of jihad can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them."

The 20-minute audio was posted to a Web site that frequently airs al-Qaida messages. The voice could not be independently identified, but it was thought to be al-Masri's. He is believed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad in June, as head of the al-Qaida-linked organization.

Thursday's message focused attention on Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, a 68-year-old Egyptian cleric who was convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy for his advisory role in a plot to assassinate Egypt's president and blow up five New York City landmarks including the United Nations. Abdel-Rahman is considered the leader of Egyptian Islamic militants, and the 1993 World Trade Center conspirators were known to have attended his lectures.

"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," said al-Masri, who is also Egyptian.

He also said more than 4,000 foreign militants have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 _ the first known statement from the insurgents about their death toll.

It was unclear why al-Masri would advertise the loss of the group's foreign fighters, but martyrdom is revered among Islamic fundamentalists, and could be used as a recruiting tool. Analysts said the announcement was likely a boast aimed at drumming up support.

"It's showing the level of dedication to their cause, the level of sacrifice jihadists are making," said Ben N. Venzke, director of the Washington-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications.

"In a strange kind of way, it's almost showing a sense of strength and purpose in their cause to other people around world who might be thinking about joining the fight," Venzke said in a telephone interview.

The statement followed the release of a U.N. report Wednesday that said fewer foreign fighters have been killed or captured in Iraq in the last few months, "suggesting that the flow has slackened." The report also said some fighters had expressed dissatisfaction they were asked to kill fellow Muslims rather than Western soldiers and that the only role for them was to be suicide bombers.

Still, the report said al-Qaida "has gained by continuing to play a central role in the fighting and in encouraging the growth of sectarian violence; and Iraq has provided many recruits and an excellent training ground."

On the tape, al-Masri offered amnesty to Iraqis who cooperated with their country's "occupiers," calling on them to "return to your religion and nation" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which Sunnis began observing in Iraq on Saturday and Shiites on Monday.

"We will not attack you as long as you declare your true repentance in front of your tribe and relatives," he said. "The amnesty ends by the end of this holy month."

The audio message came on a day that saw the killings of at least 23 people and the discovery in the capital of 40 apparent victims of sectarian death squads. To stem the violence, the government announced it will soon lock down traffic access to Baghdad.

Thursday's attacks in the capital included a car bombing that killed five and wounded 34 near a restaurant in the city's center, and a suicide car bombing on a military checkpoint that killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded 10.

One person was killed and 24 were wounded in two mortar attacks on residential areas in northern Baghdad.

The 40 bodies found all showed signs of torture, had been shot, and had their hands and feet bound, police Lt. Thayer Mahmoud said.

The violence comes amid reports from senior coalition military officials that a militia run by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has been breaking apart into freelance death squads and gangs.

Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army is one of the largest and most powerful militias in Iraq, along with the Badr Brigades _ which was once the military wing of the country's largest Shiite political group, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

"There are fractures politically inside Sadr's movement, many of whom don't find him to be sufficiently radical now that he has taken a political course of action," a senior coalition intelligence official told reporters in Baghdad, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak publicly on intelligence issues.

The official added that "I can think of about at least six major players who have left his organization because he has been perhaps too accommodating to the coalition."

Last Friday, al-Sadr urged his followers not to use force against U.S. troops, saying "I want a peaceful war against them and not to shed a drop of blood.

As part of the Baghdad security plan crackdown on sectarian militias, known as Operation Together Forward, U.S. and Iraqi troops have been going neighborhood-by-neighborhood clearing buildings.

The operation has not yet reached Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite slum of about 2 million where al-Sadr draws much of his support, but it will not be left out, the intelligence official said.

"The Baghdad security plan will cover Baghdad," the official said. "I didn't say Baghdad minus; I said Baghdad."

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabagh indicated that another part of the plan would begin soon: funneling all vehicular traffic into Baghdad through 28 checkpoints.

"The gaps between natural barriers such as Tigris river and canals will be filled with artificial barriers in order to control and observe any threats against Iraqis," he said. "This thing would lead to traffic jams for people entering Baghdad, we hope that our people will understand the reasons behind this act designed to protect them."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4223134.html

[Even I know his name, see the middle of the article, another Angel gone home]

Gun victim the nicest man you and I never met

(http://www.post-trib.com/news/73488,victim.article)

September 27, 2006

By JERRY DAVICH Post-Tribune metro columnist

The camera crews have fled. The reporters have left for the day. The parking lot is empty again, like usual.

It's Tuesday afternoon at East Point Grocery on Gary's east side and I'm probably the very last person who's with the media or police to visit the store since Sunday morning.

That's when Harold L. Jones was shot to death behind his store counter by two assailants.

That's when he tried shooting back with his own gun, but missed, according to family.

That's when returning gunfire before a church service would be the last thing on anyone else's mind.

Probably yours, too. But not in Gary, right? Not in the murder capital of our minds, right?

Let's face it, when those of us living outside of Gary first heard about Jones' death, our initial reaction was "Another Gary homicide." Be honest now. At least to yourself.

OK, I admit I did, too.

This is why I drove to East Point Grocery on Tuesday. I could have driven to a dozen other places in Northwest Indiana for today's column. In fact, I had other plans lined up.

But something kept tapping me on the shoulder -- who is Harold L. Jones? -- so I drove to his store to find out.

Here's what I discovered.

On the store's front counter display case, taped amid several old photos and some dusty memorabilia, is one telling newspaper clipping. Its headline warns store customers, "House bill OKs right to shoot."

"Mr. Harold," as he was called, and "Miss Jessie" Cain, his sister, taped it up to warn potential criminals that the law now allows them to defend themselves if needed.

And darn it if Mr. Harold, a 79-year-old Army veteran, didn't try on Sunday morning.

Behind the store counter, on the front door of an old refrigerator, is a fresh bullet hole.

"That came from his gun, not the boys who killed him," Miss Jessie told me, shaking her head.

"They got the jump on him," she sighed.

That morning, Mr. Harold stopped in before church, dressed to the nines. A customer called to ask if she could send her grandson to pick up a pair of pantyhose.

Of course, Mr. Harold said yes.

"He'd give you a thousand dollars if he had it," Miss Jessie said.

"Mmm-hmmmm," piped in her son, Mr. Harold's nephew.

It was the lady's grandson who found Mr. Harold's body, shot in the neck.

The killers got all of $50, the regular kitty for each new day of business.

"Those boys should get lethal injection," Miss Jessie said, rubbing her hand over the bullet hole in the fridge.

Police said two suspects have been held on unrelated charges, but not officially fingered as Mr. Harold's killers.

That's how Mr. Harold died. Here's how he lived.

Store customers called him "Wild Bill" and "Fuzzy," nicknames that stuck long ago. Kids called him "Mr. Harold," from his decades as a bus driver before he called it quits.

Still, even after retirement, Mr. Harold woke up early every weekday to be a school crossing guard before running the store. He didn't have to be. He wanted to be.

"Good morning, Mr. Harold," the familiar-faced kids would say.

"Good morning yourself," he'd reply.

Despite handwritten signs in the store warning "NO CREDIT" and "NO PASS OUTS!," Mr. Harold often issued credit to regular customers until the first of the month, and wink-and-nod pass outs to needy neighbors.

The lifetime Gary man worked seven days a week and didn't like calling off. The store was his life, not his livelihood.

In his youth, he was the Jessie Owens of Indiana, setting track and field records all the way to North Carolina State University, where he majored in physical education.

He was eventually inducted in the Indiana Association of Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1994. A weathered Post-Tribune clipping of this feat is still taped to a store wall.

As an adult, the father of eight ran for 5th District committeeman as a Democrat under the platform of "Your friendly bus driver."

"You would have loved him. Everyone did," said longtime customer Gwendolyn Blackmon, whose grandkids visited Mr. Harold for free snacks and pop. "He'd play with them and laugh and laugh."

On Tuesday afternoon, Miss Jessie looked weary, as much from the flash flood of media attention as her brother's death.

So she propped herself up alongside the fridge -- the one with the bullet hole -- and pondered her sibling's life and death.

"You couldn't find a better person than Harold," she said. "Go ahead, ask around. They'll tell you the same."

It seems that Mr. Harold was the nicest man you and I never met.

He was, quite frankly, someone I should have known while he was alive, not dead. But here I am showing up too late, writing a eulogy instead of a column.

Miss Jessie said funeral arrangements for her brother are pending.

Sadly, so too were our sympathies when we first heard about his death.

Contact Jerry Davich at 648-3107 or jdavich@post-trib.com

© Copyright 2006 Sun-Times News Group |

ranny remember back when we were trying to figure all this out??????

Thermonuclear fusion reactor test succeeds

HEFEI, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists on Thursday successfully conducted their first test of an experimental thermonuclear fusion reactor, which replicates the energy generating process of the sun.

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion reactor, nicknamed "artificial sun", was tested at the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Hefei, capital city of east China's Anhui Province.

During the experiment, deuterium and tritium atoms were forced together at a temperature of 100 million Celsius.

"At that temperature, the super heated plasma, which is neither a gas, a liquid nor a solid, should begin to give off its own energy," scientists explained.

The first tests lasted nearly three seconds, and generated an electrical current of 200 kiloamperes, Wan Yuanxi, general manager of EAST, told Xinhua.

The experiments were continuing, he said.

The device is planned to eventually create a plasma lasting 1,000 consecutive seconds, the longest a fusion reactor has ever run.

Wan said the deuterium extracted from one liter of seawater could produce energy equivalent to that generated by burning 300 liters of gasoline thanks to the fusion technology.

If the thermonuclear fusion technology is commercialized, it may provide energy to mankind for more than 100 million years, Wan said.

Li Jiangang, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics, said the results of the test met the expectations of scientists and signified a great breakthrough in the research of thermonuclear fusion.

"That means we lead all our competitors by at least a decade," said Li. "The breakthrough will make it possible for mankind to harness a safe, clean and endless source of energy."

The EAST is an upgrade of China's first-generation Tokamak device and the first of its kind in operation in the world, said Chinese scientists.

The Institute of Plasma Physics spent eight years and 200 million yuan (25 million U.S. dollars) on building the experimental reactor.

The columniform device, made with special stainless steel, is about 12 meters high and weighs 400 tons.

Compared with similar devices in other countries, EAST cost the least money and time to be built and is the first in operation, said Li.

The EAST would be the most advanced thermonuclear fusion reactor in the world for the next ten years, said Dr. Gary Jackson from General Atomics of the United States, who participated in the research.

Unlike traditional nuclear fission reactors, which split atoms to create energy and produce dangerous radioactive waste, the EAST uses nuclear fusion to compress atoms at extremely high temperatures to generate energy that would produce very little pollution.

Scientists theorize that a fully functional fusion reactor would provide cheaper, safer, cleaner and endless energy and reduce the world's dependence on fossil fuels.

The EAST is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which is the largest international program dedicated to experiments in thermonuclear fusion.

In 2003, China joined the 4.6-billion-euro ITER which was originally initiated by the United States and Russia. The first operation of ITER might be in 2016.

Among the six partners involved in this ambitious plan, the European Union will cover 50 percent of the total budget. The remaining five, the United States, Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea and China, will pay 10 percent each.

"The EAST is the only prototype nearest to the ITER and, thus, it can serve ITER advanced research in terms of engineering technology and physics," said Wan.

But the most optimistic estimation on first commercialization of the ITER said it needs at least half a century.

Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua said earlier that as China is short of energy, global research endeavors for energy supply solutions meet the strategic interest of the country. Enditem

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/28/content_5151013.htm

The Al Qaeda-Pope Show Down
By Kalavai Venkat | Published Yesterday | Hinduism , Indian Culture and Philosphy , Strategic Security |
Kalavai Venkat
View all articles by Kalavai Venkat Ratzinger Schemes To Re-Christianize Europe!
Europeans have been steadily abandoning Christianity. Church attendance has fallen dramatically. Both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches have been worried because if Europeans desert Christianity, its Third World adherents would follow suit. How does one then revive Christianity in Europe?

Christianity, unlike Buddhism or Hinduism for example, has never been an inward-looking religion. It never encouraged the spirit of inquiry. Christianity has always required an external enemy, sometimes real but often imagined, to keep its flock together. Christianity aggrandized itself by dehumanizing the "enemy" and by inculcating a fear of the "enemy" in its flock.

The New Testament vilifies and dehumanizes the Jews. It calls them "Christ-killers", "Children of the Devil", "Brood of vipers" (Matthew 3:7, 12:34 and 23:33, Luke 3:7) etc., and pronounces all future generations of the Jews 'guilty' of 'killing' Christ (Matthew 27:25). Norman Beck, a distinguished academic and Lutheran theologian, demonstrates that approximately 450 anti-Semitic remarks are found in merely five books of The New Testament, making it the most comprehensive hate-filled "scripture" ever written. No other religion has this infamous distinction of having been founded on hatred toward an ethnic group. For two millenia, this terrible and false antisemitic libel has constituted the basis of Christianity and to unite the Christian flock.

Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, wants to convert Europe back to Christianity. Until WWII, the church dehumanized the Jews to unite its flock. But, in the post-Holocaust world this is unlikely to work. For decades, the church met its goals by positioning itself as the bulwark against Communism. But this too will not work in the post-Communist era.

Ratzinger has also attempted making Buddhism and Hinduism the imagined enemies by calling Buddhism an "auto erotic spirituality", and Hinduism "a faith that offers false hope". But since the world sees Hinduism and Buddhism as tolerant, pluralistic spiritual paths that provided yoga and meditation, it is unlikely to unite under the Christian banner against these religions.

Where then to find an "enemy" that will help rejuvenate Christianity?

Muhammad Rescues Christianity

Ironically, Christianity found its savior in Muhammad! During a recent lecture in Germany, Ratzinger said, quoting a medieval Byzantine emperor:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

All hell broke loose when Muslims responded by rioting. Al Qaeda and other Islamic terror groups issued a fatwa pronouncing death penalty for Ratzinger and called for a general massacre of Christians. Ratzinger abjectly whimpered that his pronouncement did not express his true opinion about Islam and its prophet. Did Ratzinger then express his false opinion about Muhammad when he made those remarks?

Since the papal speeches are meticulously planned, Ratzinger could not have made these remarks unthinkingly. Is this a calculated strategy to whip up Islamic frenzy, ensure bloodshed, and in the process position Christianity as the bulwark against Islamic terror?

Ratzinger's remarks about Muhammad are accurate. Ironically, everything he said about Muhammad and Islam applies to Christianity and its founder too. The religions and their respective founders are so similar that it is hard to tell them apart.

Birds Of The Same Feather - Fight Each Other !

Christians and Muslims, as Bush has confirmed, worship the same God. Talreja documents in Holy Vedas And Holy Bible -- A Comparative Study that their common God is jealous and vindictive, preaches intolerance, advocates torture of and death for non-believers, practices incest, orders rape and genocide, and uses obscene language. The language and original contents of The New Testament and The Quran are hateful and terrible.

What about their respective prophets, Jesus and Muhammad? The distinguished Belgian scholar, Dr. Koenraad Elst, demonstrates in his book Psychology Of Prophetism - A Secular Look At The Bible that Jesus suffered from a serious mental disorder called paraphrenia and a lack of sexual libido. Elst shows in his article Wahi - The Supernatural Basis Of Islam that Muhammad suffered from tumor-induced paranoia. In both studies, Elst bases his inferences on the scientific researches of Dr. Herman Somers.

According to Islamic sources - see The Life of Mahomet From Original Sources by Sir William Muir, pp. 299-303, Muhammad’s child bride Ayesha was involved in a post-marital sexual scandal with Safwan ibn al-Moattal, suggesting that Muhammad too might have suffered from sexual inadequacy. Both Jesus and Muhammad were intolerant of criticism and acted irrationally.

Both Christianity and Islam spread through warfare, brute force, and by oppressing other religions. They survive by whipping up frenzy against an imagined enemy. They ban the truth. A shared God, disregard for truth, and similar prophets, scriptures and history characterize the two cults.

A Clash Of The Uncivilized?
Some worry that this hostility between Christianity and Islam will culminate in a clash of civilizations. This fear is misplaced. A clash of civilizations requires two civilized parties to begin with. From what I have written in the preceding paragraphs, you can safely conclude that neither Christianity nor Islam can be considered civilized. So, no matter how horrible their fights get, it will never be a clash of civilizations!

While these two uncivilized cults call for each other's destruction, and put their respective flocks on the heaven-bound cargo postmortem, the rest of the world should learn how similar these two cults are. Hopefully, that would help preserve the civilized after the uncivilized take care of each other.

Kalavai Venkat is an India-born, Silicon Valley-based orthodox, practising, agnostic Hindu.

http://www.india-forum.com/articles/150/1/The-Al-Qaeda-Pope-Show-Down

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.