Posted on 04/12/2006 8:14:42 PM PDT by callmejoe
Al-Qaida Figure Backs Iraqi Insurgents
Top al-Qaida Figure Ayman Al-Zawahri Urges Support for Iraqi Insurgents in Video
The Associated Press (snipped)
CAIRO, Egypt - No. 2 al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri praised insurgents in Iraq, particularly Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and called on all Muslims to support them in a video posted Thursday on the Internet.
The video was dated with an Islamic month corresponding to November 2005 and al-Zawahri mentions an Oct. 23 earthquake that hit Pakistan and Afghanistan. But it appeared to be the first time the 28-minute video has been made public.
It was not clear why the video was not released soon after the date it was allegedly filmed. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Which actually, is fine with me. They have the right to do that, but it's quite distasteful to slam the boss....especially when you're on a book tour, IMO.
I do agree with you, that in the end, we'll win the war.
I wondered about that phrase. It conjurs up an image of 'one cloud'.
What I can't figure out is wehre they wouuld unleash a nuke. They'll try to get it on American soil, but that may be more difficult than storming something within range of their new shiny missiles.
Would they nuke Iraq and take out a bunch of our military with them? Or perhaps a port?
I don't think they'd nuke Israel because of the holy sites.
If you notice in the story above it is a leftist (Peres) who called Ahmadinejad a "madman" and "of Satan" and in another place a "threat to Israel's existence".
Even the most dysfunctional of families tend to realize that when people are coming to kill you all, it is time to hang together or hang separately.
"Would they nuke Iraq and take out a bunch of our military with them? Or perhaps a port?"
They would probably target them as a threat, and may even act on the threat, but that is not their ultimate goal.
Yes, they'd probably also threaten to wipe out the key oil facilities in the Gulf. But again, that is not their objective.
"I don't think they'd nuke Israel because of the holy sites."
No. Israel is the entire reason for the program and the ultimate prize. They are deadly serious about wiping Israel off the map. Iran is huge geographically (four times the size of Iraq and three times the population - - 70 million plus). Israel is very small - - almost one hundred times smaller and only about a tenth the population, which is concentrated in only two or three metro areas. Tel Aviv, the largest metro area, has no major holy sites. The Old City (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem is on the eastern side (more Arab). In any case, if al Aqsa is the price to "liberate Palestine", I think they'd pay it. You have to understand that the lunatic mullahs are willing to lose half their young population (30-40 million) in the inevitable Israeli retaliation (Rafsanjani said as much a while back). So they'll swallow the "cost" of risking Al Aqsa as well if they have to.
You would need dozens of successful nuclear strikes to eliminate the Iranian population (which would not be a problem for either Israel or us). But you only need two or three successful strikes to wipe out a substantial part of the Jewish population in Israel. (I'm only saying that because an Israeli general stated something to that effect a few years ago). Israel itself is the size of a postage stamp and, even worse, the Jewish population is crowded into the corners of the stamp. It is too juicy a target for a genocidal lunatic with a handful of nukes to pass up (especially one who wants to welcome the Mahdi by setting off an apocalypse forcing whatever would be left of Israel to let loose a couple hundred nukes).
let me know if you want off this ping list (or if someone else wants to be on it)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/threat-of-world-war-builds-israel-warns/2006/04/18/1145344085822.html
Threat of world war builds, Israel warns
By Edith Lederer New York
April 19, 2006
ISRAEL has warned the United Nations that a new "axis of terror" - Iran, Syria and the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority - is sowing the seeds of a new world war.
But the Palestinians accuse Israel of an escalating military campaign using indiscriminate force to kill civilians and entrench its occupation.
The Israeli and Palestinian envoys traded charges at an open Security Council meeting held on Monday in response to the recent surge in Israeli attacks in Gaza.
It took place on a day that a Palestinian suicide bomber struck a packed fast-food restaurant in Tel Aviv, killing nine people in the deadliest bombing in Israel in more than a year.
Recent statements by the Palestinian government, Iran and Syria, including one by Hamas on Monday defending the suicide bombing, "are clear declarations of war, and I urge each and every one of you to listen carefully and take them at face value," said Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman.
"A dark cloud is looming above our region, and it is metastasising as a result of the statements and actions by leaders of Iran, Syria, and the newly elected government of the Palestinian Authority," he said.
The Palestinian UN observer, Riyad Mansour, condemned the suicide bombing and the loss of innocent civilians on both sides, but attacked Israel for trying to portray its latest military escalation - which killed 21 Palestinians between April 7 and 9 - as a response to violence from the Palestinian territories.
"Israel, the occupying power has been relentless in its grave breaches of international law, including the wilful killing and injury of civilians and the practice of extrajudicial executions," he said.
Israeli aircraft retaliated for the attack on Monday night, firing missiles at a metal workshop in Gaza City, and yesterday morning Israeli troops raided a West Bank village near Jenin, arresting the father of the suicide bomber responsible for the attack.
Yet there is also pressure on the acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, who has yet to form a government following general elections late last month, to moderate his response lest it undermine US-led efforts to isolate the Hamas government diplomatically and financially unless it renounces violence and recognises Israel.
On Monday the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, called the escalating violence "very worrying" and urged both sides to avoid putting civilians at risk.
He also announced that the Middle East Quartet of peacemakers - the UN, the US, the European Union and Russia - would meet in New York on May 9 to discuss how to advance the stalled roadmap to peace.
¡ Japan has announced that it would not extend new aid to the Palestinians via the Palestinian Authority until it becomes clear that Hamas is committed to the Middle East peace process, Foreign Affairs Ministry officials said yesterday.
Japan - which has given $US840 million ($1.1 billion) in aid to Palestinians since 1993 - will however continue to offer fresh humanitarian aid if the need arises, said a spokesman, Akira Chiba.
"Until we have a clearer picture c there won't be a situation where new aid would be given."
Associated Press; Reuters;Telegraph, London
Scary stuff.
I'm hoping they wouldn't risk a nuke on Israel, making the land uninhabitable.
But if the hit were to get rid of the jews, I guess the mullahs and Amagonnadojihad would consider it worth it.
Interesting list:
Taking Sides With Iran
by Craig Martelle
Below are the countries that participated in the Tehran International Converence on Al Quds (Jerusalem) and Support for the Rights of Palestinian People recently. They all agreed on the final text of the conference - denying Israel’s right to exist. Each nation must choose to align itself or stay neutral. This conference was not one for neutral parties. Fence sitting is a time-honored diplomatic strategy, but falling onto the wrong side of the fence come crunch time could be fatal.
Syria
Lebanon
Algeria
Sudan
Indonesia
Uganda
Cameroon
Congo
Zimbabwe
Sierra Leone
Cuba
Comoros
Madagascar
Malaysia
Qatar
Mauritania
Mauritius
the Seychelles
Sri Lanka
Guinea
Libya
Palestine
Jordan
Morocco
Bahrain
Oman
Tunisia
the Philippines
Gambia
Togo
Senegal
South Africa
Kuwait
Russia
M E X I C O (Vel's emphasis)
Kenya
Somalia
Benin
Mali
Bosnia
Armenia
Albania
(snip)
http://www.strategicoutlookinstitute.com/blog/
Thanks, Bump.
http://english.people.com.cn/200604/24/eng20060424_260601.html
UPDATED: 09:10, April 24, 2006
Iran slams Israeli life threat on Iranian President
An Iranian newspaper on Sunday dismissed alleged Israeli plot to assassinate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as state terrorism.
"The Zionist regime will never dare to assassinate the Iranian president, its explicit threat will increase Islamic nations' hatred of Israel," the Tehran Times said in an editorial.
Saturday's edition of the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted an Israeli security official as saying that Israeli Mossad intelligence agency is plotting an assassination on Ahmadinejad and the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya.
"The publication of such news in the Israeli media and the clear statements of Zionist officials about assassination were violations of international law, these indicate that Israel is still vigorously pursuing a policy of state terrorism," said the paper.
Tehran Times also urged international community, mainly the United Nations, to immediately condemn the threat of the Zionist regime and to take serious measures against the state-sponsored terrorism.
It also attacked the United States for indulging Israel while accusing Iran of sponsoring terrorists.
"When both the U.S. and its western allies encourage Israel to commit such crimes and to intensify its state-sponsored terrorism, we can not expect to see global terrorism eradicated," the daily stressed.
Violence always begets violence, it added.
"If state-sponsored terrorism, which the Zionist regime is trying to develop, is not addressed, it will eventually become a blind terrorism that will threaten global security," it added.
Israeli President Moshe Katsav has described Ahmadinejad's regime as "the most hostile" since the 1979 Islamic Revolution after the hardline Iranian President called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Source: Xinhua
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/707940.html
Last update - 11:23 21/04/2006
Targeting Ahmadinejad
By Amir Oren
Is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is threatening Israel, a "ticking atomic bomb?" Is the decision of the ministerial committee on security - on the day after the terror attack on the Rosh Ha'ir Restaurant in Tel Aviv, to deny Israeli residency to East Jerusalemites who represent Hamas in the Palestinian Legislative Council - a meaningless and stupid decision, which is how it looks, or is it a far-sighted decision that lays the foundation for a further move? Is there a connection between the two issues?
Such a connection is indeed possible and it can be summarized as "targeted killing." An Israeli assassination attempt on Ahmadinejad is an alternative that seems more and more reasonable with the acceleration of his threats to wipe the state of Israel off the face of the earth. The seemingly marginal question of giving senior Hamas people in Jerusalem the ultimatum of either resigning or leaving could influence the implementation of the idea that is making headway among the top echelons of the security establishment - to strike at all the members of Hamas in the Palestinian government, as those responsible for the non-prevention of murderous terror attacks.
The question of assassinations, with its moral, legal and operational aspects, has been grist for the mill of the public debate during the past month. It continues to wait for the decision of the High Court of Justice on petitions that have been submitted against the policy of preventive assassination. Even those who support it, as forced to choose a bad method in the absence of better methods, admit that its usefulness is limited in extent and that its results are unpredictable. Mention is always made of Abbas Moussaoui, who by his death from combat helicopter missiles bequeathed the leadership of Hezbollah on a man more able than he was, Hassan Nasrallah. The blow that was landed on Islamic Jihad by the killing of its head, Fathi Shkaki, in Malta in October 1995 - the last spectacular action by the Mossad that was approved by Yitzhak Rabin, just a few days before he himself fell to an assassin's bullet - was harsh but not mortal. It did not prevent an activist of the organization, who was 11 years old when Shkaki was killed, from committing suicide and killing 11 civilians outside Rosh Ha'ir.
The two new cases that are likely to come under consideration, of Ahmadinejad and of Ismail Haniyeh and his colleagues, belong to the same family but are in some way different from the earlier members of that family. Haniyeh & Co. now bear official responsibility, in addition to that for which Israel exacted an accounting from Ahmed Yassin, Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Saleh Shahadeh. Ahmadinejad is a head of state. Shimon Peres has predicted for him an end similar to that of Saddam Hussein, whom the Americans tried to kill but had to make do with putting on trial in the new Iraqi regime. When chief of staff Ehud Barak articulated the idea of assassinating Saddam in 1992 - the idea behind the planned operation during the preparations for which the Tse'elim Bet disaster occurred - the discussion had not yet culminated in a decision by Rabin (and with the participation of foreign minister Peres) as to whether Israel should take credit for the assassination if it succeeded.
Taking responsibility would have proven that Israel does not show restraint at the firing of the Scuds at it and would have restored something of the deterrence it had lost in the impotence of January-February 1991. However, it would also have made Israel a target for direct and indirect revenge, inside the country and abroad, just as the killing of Moussaoui that same year led to attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in Argentina.
What is special about Ahmadinejad is that he is not only the head of a declared enemy country, whose military forces - The Revolutionary Guard that is training Hezbollah and is present in southern Lebanon - are acting against Israel, and that he is not only aiming at changing Israel's policy, including the occupation of the Palestinian territories, as leaders both hostile and friendly are doing throughout the world. Ahmadinejad is calling fervently and consistently for the destruction of Israel. The tracking of the Iranian effort to equip itself with weapons of mass destruction is liable to divert attention from a basic fact: The mass destruction is an aim, even when the means for achieving it, the weaponry, are not available yet. This is a war aim, quite simply, which is not within the bounds of the permitted international discourse. As a theoretical exercise, it is possible to guess what the reaction would have been had Israel announced its aspiration to destroy Iran - not to topple the current regime there, but rather to destroy the country of Iran itself.
In the old dispute about strategic deterrence between the Americans and the Soviets during the Cold War, the planners at the Pentagon debated whether to build their system of missiles and bombers "counter force" or "counter value." Against force means to threaten the materiel, the military system of the other side; against value means to threaten the spirit, the control of the Communist Party and the lives of the individuals at the head of the regime.
In deterrence "against value" there is the tempting logic that an individual cares about himself and will prefer to endanger the other, but will refrain from pulling the intercontinental, double-barreled trigger that is aimed at his head. The weakness in this kind of deterrence is in the implementation of the threat: In that case there will be no central authority on the other side for talks on limiting the war and the conditions for ending it.
Facing fanatical Islam, which relies on cadres of suicide terrorists and works in two branches, terror and the nuclear bomb, Israel has two possible channels for deterrence "against value." The first, which could be called "Mecca second strike capability," is a threat that its destruction would lead to the destruction of Islam's holiest places, whether under its control (the Temple Mount) or elsewhere (the Ka'aba in Mecca). Iran, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas - all of them must know that their success in realizing the dream of the destruction of Israel will trigger the Doomsday machine and bring disaster to the religion in the name of which they presume to speak.
For such a threat to be credible and achieve deterrence, it must be spoken in advance, but if Israel dares to brandish this, even as a desperate cry of "Let me die with the Muslims," it will arouse the wrath of a billion believers from Mauritania to Malaysia against it. This increases the relative weight of the second channel - the elimination of leaders whose behavior and policy create existential danger for Israel, tantamount to a ticking atomic bomb. The personal price that will be exacted from them is supposed to deter colleagues and successors. During his few months as president of Iran, Ahmadinejad has acquired for himself an unprecedented negative status, far more so than his predecessors, Muhammad Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani. He is undermining regional and world stability and his elimination is therefore likely to contribute more to stability than to detract from it. The international condemnation of an Israeli assassination attempt on Ahmadinejad, an action that would predictably be anchored in the memory of the Holocaust, would be limp and tolerable.
An Israeli attack on the leaders of Hamas and their representatives in the Palestinian Legislative Council would encounter stormier but still tolerable reactions, and in the defense towers in Tel Aviv there are those who are suggesting that it be considered seriously. The administration of United States President George W. Bush, which is responsible together with former prime minister Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz for the participation of Hamas in the elections that brought it into power, has not deviated from a tough line against Hamas ever since it recovered from the elections.
Since September 11, 2001, Bush and his cabinet have said innumerable times that states that sponsor terrorism are equivalent to terrorism itself. Palestine under the rule of Hamas is a terror organization that has a state and the Haniyeh government, even if it was elected in a free and fair process, is responsible for what happens in its territories. Its refusal to act against Islamic Jihad and the other organizations who are continuing with terror, or even to condemn them, makes it culpable. Without it, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will lead Palestine into new elections (the outcome of which, in these circumstances, is unknown).
If indeed an Israeli operation is launched against the collective leadership of the enemy - the entire Hamas government and its faction in the Legislative Council - this will be a spearhead prevention, not a targeted killing.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1143498903833&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
IDF raises anti-missile alert
"Western intelligence sources said Al Zarqawi has increased activities in such countries as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. They said Al Zarqawi has sought to lay the groundwork for an Islamic war against Israel."
http://www.ict.org.il/articles/bin-ladin7.htm
Osama bin Ladin is one of 53 children of Saudi construction magnate Muhammad Awad bin Ladin. His mother was reportedly a Palestinian, and the least favored of his father’s ten wives.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-09-14-zarqawi-usat_x.htm
Unlike bin Laden, Zarqawi wasn't born rich. He advanced through grit and toughness. He was born Ahmed Fadeel al-Khalayleh about 37 years ago in Zarq, an industrial city north of Amman, the Jordanian capital. His family, ethnic Palestinian, was poor. By nearly all accounts, he was a young man with no great potential — except for violence.
"19/19/19/23" . . .
Treaty of Versailles dissolving the Ottoman Empire (the last Caliphate) was signed in 1919.
The last two UBL tapes were released on the 19th and the 23rd (after a year of silence in 2005) . . .
"1919"
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications165606&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
"Al-Sahab, an al-Qaeda production company, released a 28:31 minute video of a speech by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri yesterday, April 12, 2006. The message titled: “From Tora Bora to Iraq,” is indicated to have been recorded in November 2005, and marks the four year anniversary of the American-led bombing campaign of the Tora Bora region in Afghanistan against Taliban and al-Qaeda leadership. . .
A speech by President Bush concerning al-Qaeda strategy in reestablishing the Caliphate is also attacked, Zawahiri arguing that it is incumbent upon Muslims to strive to create the Caliphate and to eliminate Israel. He states: “You have to understand that we are one nation and we don't recognize Sykes-Picot and the maps of Percy Cox, whether you like it or not. You won't have any peace or security unless you deal with the Muslim Nation on an equal basis of respect, and not on the basis of crimes and theft. You have to understand, Bush, the son of Bush, that removing Israel is a must on every Muslim, whether you like it or not. The Caliphate of which you conspired against and caused to collapse eight years ago is coming back in spite of you.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Mandate_of_Iraq
The British Mandate of Iraq was a League of Nations Class A mandate under Article 22 and entrusted to Britain when the Ottoman Empire was divided in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles following World War I. This award was completed on April 25, 1920, at the San Remo conference in Italy. France controlled the Mandates of Lebanon and Syria. Faisal ibn Husayn, who had been proclaimed king of Syria by a Syrian national congress in Damascus in March 1920, was ejected by the French in July of the same year.
The civil government of postwar Iraq was headed originally by the high commissioner, Sir Percy Cox, and his deputy, Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson.
"19"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4628932.stm
Last Updated: Thursday, 19 January 2006, 21:53 GMT
Text: 'Bin-Laden tape'
The pan-Arab TV station al-Jazeera has broadcast an audio tape purporting to be by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, in which the speaker says al-Qaeda is preparing new attacks on the US.
" . . . Operations are under preparation, and you will see them on your own ground once they are finished, God willing. . .
Days and nights will not go by until we take revenge as we did on 11 September, God willing, and until your minds are exhausted and your lives become miserable and things turn [for the worse], which you detest. . ."
"23"
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F9694745-060C-419C-8523-2E093B7B807D.htm
Transcript: Bin Laden accuses West
by
Sunday 23 April 2006 8:36 PM GMT
The following is an edited translation of an audiotape attributed to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, parts of which were aired by Aljazeera on April 23, 2006. (It is not known where or when the recording was made.)
" . . . In conclusion, a war is under way to offend the messenger of Allah, his religion and his Umma (nation). The Muslim preparedness and their jihad should be on a par with these events. The duty of our Muslim nation over this Crusaders' campaign with its different aspects is to focus on supporting the prophet, his religion and the Umma to the best of our ability in all fields.
Despite the numerous Crusader attacks against our Muslim nation in military, economic, cultural and moral aspects, but the gravest of them all is the attack against our religion, our prophet and the our Sharia tenets. The epicentre of these wars is Baghdad, the seat of the khalifate rule. They keep reiterating that success in Baghdad will be success for the US, failure in Iraq the failure of the US."
Operation "Winds of Black Death" . . .
Abu Hafs al-Masri/Black Death Brigades . . .
Cave of Darkness . . .
Jihad Falcon . . .
19/19/19/23 . . .
The signal has been given.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/05/30/iraq.main/index.html
"In the recording, titled "A Letter from a Soldier to his Emir," the speaker calls on bin Laden to give the signal to put an unspecified plot into action."I believe that the plan has already reached you or is on its way, and we are waiting for your instructions," the speaker says."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/03/01/bin_laden_asks_zarqawi_to_make_us_a_target__source_1109659898?mode=PF
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden recently asked his chief ally in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to consider the territory of the United States as a target for terrorist attacks, a U.S. counterterrorism official said on Monday.
"There has been communication between bin Laden and Zarqawi, with bin Laden suggesting to Zarqawi the U.S. homeland as a target," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official called the bin Laden communication "a fairly recent development" but declined to provide details for fear of compromising U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.
. . . The Department of Homeland Security said it issued a classified intelligence bulletin over the weekend warning state officials that the federal government had received nonspecific information about al Qaeda plans to attack the United States.
"The interesting thing is the implication here that Zarqawi could pull such a thing off, that he has that reach," said Daniel Benjamin, a terrorism analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington."It's particularly interesting that bin Laden would think that Zarqawi could do this," he said.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20050419-102106-5456r
Reports reveal Zarqawi nuclear threat
By Bill Gertz (snip)
Recurrent intelligence reports say al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi has obtained a nuclear device or is preparing a radiological explosive -- or dirty bomb -- for an attack, according to U.S. officials, who also say analysts are unable to gauge the reliability of the information's sources. The classified reports have been distributed to U.S. intelligence agencies for several consecutive months and say Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, has stored the nuclear device or dirty bomb in Afghanistan, said officials familiar with the intelligence. One official said the intelligence is being questioned because analysts think al Qaeda would not hesitate to use a nuclear device if it had one. However, the fact that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has reported the nuclear threat in several classified reports distributed since December indicates concern about it. . . .
The reported threat of nuclear terrorism comes amid other intelligence indicating that Zarqawi is planning an attack on the United States. Still other intelligence says Zarqawi was planning a chemical weapons attack in Europe, officials said. In February, U.S. intelligence and security officials said information showed bin Laden had asked Zarqawi to focus future attacks on targets inside the United States. The threat was contained in a classified bulletin to state and local security officials.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/10/1097346696072.html?from=moreStories&oneclick=true
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/06/sprj.irq.alqaeda.links/
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-levitt020603.asp
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52564-2004Sep26?language=printer
Finally back on line after 8 days. 80 MPH winds and a total (as of yesterday) 62 inches of snow really wreak havoc on power lines and computers.
Joe, I really do appreciate your posting these increasingly alarming articles. Wish I had the time to devote to the searching you and others do. It is truly appreciated. Thank you and please keep pinging me.
They are now implementing the plan for the rebirth of the Caliphate (and possibly even trying to bring about the apocalypse/revelation/reappearance of the Mahdi) by means of an extraordinary "call to arms" (UBL/Zawahiri/Zarqawi) to liberate a territorial base/beachhead inside Iraq from where the Caliphate will re-emerge and then liberate Jerusalem.
They are preparing the way for the "army of the Mahdi" marching from Khorasan (eastern Iran/western Afghanistan). The "black flags from the east" are coming. . .
http://www.islam.tc/prophecies/imam.html
The Prophet (PBUH and HF) said: "We (I and my family) are members of a household that Allah (SWT) has chosen for them the life of the Hereafter over the life of this world; and the members of my household (Ahlul-Bayt) shall suffer a great affliction and they shall be forcefully expelled from their homes after my death; then there will come people from the East carrying black flags, and they will ask for some good to be given to them, but they shall be refused service; as such, they will wage war and emerge victorious, and will be offered that which they desired in the first place, but they will refuse to accept it till they pass it to a man from my family (Ahlul-Bayt) appears to fill the Earth with justice as it has been filled with corruption. So whoever reaches that (time) ought to come to them even if crawling on the ice/snow since among them is the Vice-regent of Allah (Khalifatullah) al-Mahdi." '
http://answering-islam.org.uk/Authors/JR/Future/ch04_the_mahdi.htm
The Army Of Black Flags
The Mahdi’s ascendancy to power is said to be preceded by an army from the east who will be carrying black flags or banners of war. Sheikh Kabbani states:
Hadith indicate that black flags coming from the area of Khorasan will signify the appearance of the Mahdi is nigh. Khorasan is in todays Iran, and some scholars have said that this hadith means when the black flags appear from Central Asia, i.e. in the direction of Khorasan, then the appearance of the Mahdi is imminent. 17
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20060425-1230-egypt-zarqawivideo.html
In video, al-Zarqawi says Muslim holy warriors standing firm in war with West
By Salah Nasrawi
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12:30 p.m. April 25, 2006
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — In a rare video posted Tuesday on the Internet, al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and said any government formed in Iraq would be merely a "stooge." . . .
“When the enemy entered into Iraq, their aim was to control the area and support the Zionist state,” al-Zarqawi said. “But here we have been fighting them for the last three years.”
He also mentioned Jerusalem, saying that while fighters are in Iraq, “our eyes are on Jerusalem, which cannot be regained without a guiding Quran and a triumphant sword.”
And he repeated his allegiance to bin Laden, calling him his emir or prince.
“Our emir, sheik Osama bin Laden, has offered you a truce, which was good for you if you had accepted. But you turned it down, because of your arrogance,” al-Zarqawi said, referring to an offer al-Qaeda's chief made two years ago to cease attacks on Europe if the U.S. would withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.
. . . In January, al-Zarqawi's group said in a Web statement that it had joined five other Iraqi insurgent groups to form the Mujahedeen Shura Council, or Consultative Council of Holy Warriors. Since then, al-Zarqawi's group had stopped issuing its own statements, a sharp contrast to its previous frequent postings, and al-Zarqawi had not issued a Web audiotape since January.
In the video posted Tuesday, the logo of the Shura Council appeared on the screen as al-Zarqawi spoke, even as the black flag of his specific group, al-Qaida in Iraq, appeared in the corner. . .
http://binladenquotes.blogspot.com/2004/02/fbis-document-10-years-of-osama-bin.html
Bin Ladin Warns of 'Grand Plots' Against Arabs, Criticizes Gulf Rulers (2004)
Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 2000 GMT 04 Jan 04
" . . .Bin Ladin also said in his message that the reason for the deterioration of the Arabs and Muslims is due to ignoring Islam as a way for governing. He called on Muslims to establish a council for Ahl al-Hall wa al-Aqd [literally those who loose and Bind; reference to honest, wise, and righteous people who can appoint or remove a ruler in Islamic tradition] to fill the vacuum that will result from the legitimate collapse of the governing regimes, as he asserted. He said that the task of this council is to unify the word and raise the flag of jihad to stop what he termed as the Roman raid against the Muslims, which started in Iraq. . ."
". . .Therefore, it becomes clear to us that the solution lies in adhering to the religion of God, by which God granted us pride in the past centuries, and installing a strong and faithful leadership that applies the Koran among us and raises the true banner of jihad.
The honest people who are concerned about this situation, such as the ulema, leaders who are obeyed among their people, dignitaries, notables, and merchants should get together and meet in a safe place away from the shadow of these suppressive regimes and form a council for Ahl al-Hall wa al-Aqd [literally those who loose and Bind; reference to honest, wise, and righteous people who can appoint or remove a ruler in Islamic tradition] to fill the vacuum caused by the religious invalidation of these regimes and their mental deficiency. The right to appoint an imam [leader] is for the nation. The nation also has the right to make him correct his course if he deviates from it and to remove him if he does something that warrants this, such as apostasy and treason.
This temporary council should be made up of the minimum number of available personnel, without [word indistinct] the rest of the nation, except what the religion allows in case of necessity, until the number is increased when the situation improves, God willing. Their policy should be based on the book of God [the Koran] and the Sunna of His Prophet [Muhammad], God's peace and blessings be upon him. They should start by directing the Muslims to the important priorities at this critical stage and lead them to a safe haven, provided that their top priority should be uniting opinions under the word of monotheism and defending Islam and its people and countries and declaring a general mobilization in the nation to prepare for repulsing the raid of the Romans, which started in Iraq and no one knows where it will end. God suffices us and He is the best supporter." [End recording]
[Description of Source: Doha Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic -- Independent Television station financed by the Qatari Government]
http://www.meforum.org/article/159
Bin Ladin: The Man Who Would Be Mahdi (2002)
by Timothy R. Furnish (snip)
There are two formal titles, resonant with Muslims worldwide, which bin Ladin might seize in order to foster his own religious and political legitimacy in the umma, the world Islamic community. They are, in ascending order of hubris: caliph and Mahdi. Both titles have a powerful resonance in the Sunni Muslim world. While no one has established an effective claim to either in recent times, there is an apparent yearning among many contemporary Muslims for a divinely guided leader to direct the present Islamic revival. They await the appearance of a chosen one, and bin Ladin has shown many of the signs. What are his options, if he chooses to raise the stakes?
Caliphate Bid
Bin Ladin could attempt to legitimize his de facto role as leader of the anti-Western wing of Islam by attempting to revive the caliphate. Caliph means "successor" to the Prophet Muhammad as political leader of the Islamic community, not as religious divine (although the title does carry a patina of religious legitimacy). . .
What of bin Ladin's own views, however? He has made no explicit reference to the caliphate, but his public statements indicate that he may be thinking in such terms. For example, he:
• calls his Afghan base "Khurasan,"6 a term today referring only to a province of Iran, but which is remembered by Muslims as the area of Afghanistan and Central Asia where the eighth-century ‘Abbasids launched their quasi-messianic rebellion against the Umayyads, to reestablish the true caliphate;
• purports to issue instructions for all Muslims, in particular regarding killing Americans;7
• reminds Muslims of eighty years of "humiliation" and "disgrace"—perhaps a reference to the destruction of the Ottoman caliphate, which occurred eighty years ago (by the lunar, Islamic calendar).8 . . .
The caliphate throughout Islamic history has been proclaimed and legitimized by representatives of the extant power structure--that is, by political rulers, such as the Ottomans, in concert with the ulema in their court. A caliph must have a firm territorial base for his claim to be tenable, and he must win the allegiance of members of the religious establishment, who make him caliph by swearing obedience.9 Bin Ladin would presumably find it difficult to make an acceptable caliphal claim for the very reason that he has no territorial base, and there are no respected Islamic jurists in his camp (again, at least not yet) to corroborate and legitimate any claim by him to the exalted office of caliph. . .
"The Rightly-guided One"
Operating without a territorial base, as a virtual fugitive, bin Ladin could resort to claiming the most powerful, yet most hazardous, title in Islam: the Mahdi.
The Mahdi, or "Rightly-guided One," is one of two positive eschatological figures who, according to Islamic teachings, will appear at the end of time—Prophet Jesus being the other. Together, these two will combat unbelievers and the forces of evil: the antichrist-like Dajjal, or "Deceiver"; the Dabbah, or "Beast"; and the murderous, rapacious hordes of Yajuj wa-Majuj, who appear earlier in the Bible as "Gog and Magog."10 After emerging victorious, they will then usher in a worldwide Islamic state and redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor on a global scale. The Qur'an mentions Jesus,11 the Dabbah,12 and Yajuj wa-Majuj;13 they are also mentioned in a number of hadiths, or actions and sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. The Qur'an says nothing about the Mahdi or the Dajjal, however; their basis in Islamic thought stems entirely from hadiths about them. For this reason primarily, some Islamic scholars throughout the centuries—the most prominent being the great North African historian Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406)—have argued that the Mahdi is a myth and superstition. Nonetheless, most Muslims throughout history have accepted the idea of an eschatological deliverer known as the Mahdi. . .
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=3596
Paving the Way for the "Mahdi"
29/01/2006
" . . . During his visit to Kuwait last week, Al-Sadr was quoted by news agencies as saying "the American forces did not come to Iraq for the sake of the Sunnis or the Shia, rather, they came driven by a right-wing, Western ideology to prevent and confront the emergence of the awaited Mahdi who will appear in Iraq."
Another character, close to Al-Sadr on both the intellectual and cultural level is the passionate Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. On 16 November 2005, as he addressed a religious crowd in Iran, he stated, "the main task upon my government is to pave the way for the glorious return of the Imam Al-Mahdi." The Iranian society takes pleasure nowadays in gossiping about the preparations made by Ahmadinejad as Tehran's governor, to prepare the city for the return of the Mahdi. . . "
Ramping up.
How does one conduct a war against a religious fanatic culture? It certainly cannot be done on a battle field. Targeted assasinations? It is a metastasizing beast.
"19/19/19/23" . . .
Treaty of Versailles dissolving the Ottoman Empire (the last Caliphate) was signed in 1919.
The last two UBL tapes were released on the 19th and the 23rd (after a year of silence in 2005) . . .
"1919"
Yep. Unprecedented to have all 3 of them Zawahiri, Usama and Zarqawi to release statements so close together.
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