Officials Reveal Bin Laden Plan: Terror leader hoped to create Islamic empire

LA Times ^ | March 18, 2002 | CRAIG PYES, JOSH MEYER and WILLIAM C. REMPEL

[TomGuy]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The assassination of an Afghan rebel leader 48 hours before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was part of a strategic plan by Osama bin Laden to expand his influence into Central Asia, according to American and Afghan government sources.

[operation clinton cleanup]

They imagined a Bill Clinton-type response

Ever since I saw The Who perform "Won't Get Fooled Again" at the concert for New York, I get a tingle up and down my spine when I hear that song.

[operation clinton cleanup]

The attack that assassinated Masood should have set off alarm bells. But it didn't.

It DID set off alarm bells, unfortunately it happened only 3 days prior to 9/11.

[rintense]

Yep. Gone underground... it's hard to be subversive on the internet.

[oilfieldtrash]

What is the reason for an islamic empire. Are the muslims so concerned about Christians and our life style that they want to save us from eternal damnation and therefore want us to convert to an islamic empire because they love us so much that they want to save us from the fires of hell?

Or could it be a way to control our riches which is not religious at all.

Why is it that CAIR wants the US government to be an islamic one sooner rather than later.

[Torie]

Clearly we need more Hispanic immigrants to keep the Islamic percentage down. You ever meet an Hispanic Muslim?

[Angelique]

Both of you have an excellent analysis. I do think we need to take Bin Laden out.

[Savage Beast]

"Since I am an atheist and think all gods are phoney, can you tell me how many Christians there are in the world who believe in your "real god"? "

No, obviously not. Some so-called "Christians" serve the same "god" these blood-thirsty killers serve. Many terrible things have been done in the name of God and religion--no question about that.

I believe in God. But if the concepts of "God" and "Satan" are used as symbols of good and evel, you gotta admit that those terrorists are serving "Satan" and not "God", no matter what they may profess. Right?

[Angelique]

There are over l billion practting Islam in the world, 7 million of which are in the US. It is second largest religion to Christianity. That map could not possibly be correct.

[Angelique]

Thanks,it certainly was.

[Shermy]

bump

[Shermy]

Here's that article about Osama's plans with Massoud and endeavors elsewhere.

[Shermy]

Found it! Luckily still up on LATimes site.

[marron]

"Analysts initially believed that the killing of Ahmed Shah Masoud, head of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, was part of Bin Laden's preparations for Sept. 11--a move to deprive the U.S. of a potential ally on the ground when it retaliated for the suicide hijackings.

"Government officials now say Masoud's assassination was part of a more ambitious design: to establish a caliphate, or religious state, encompassing Afghanistan and parts of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya and the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region of northwestern China.

""Their plan was to capture [northern] Afghanistan in one week after the assassination and--maybe two to three weeks later--capture Tajikistan and Uzbekistan," said Mohammad Arif, chairman of the National Security Directorate in the interim Afghan government.

""As Masoud's chief of intelligence, Arif ran spy networks inside the Taliban and received reports from interrogations of Taliban and other Islamic militants captured by the Northern Alliance.

"U.S. officials confirmed what they called "Bin Laden's grand plan" to expand militarily and politically into Central Asia. American policy advisors were extremely unsettled by the plan well before Sept. 11, officials said.

""It was of great concern, absolutely," said a senior Bush administration official. "That is one reason we wanted to get rid of him. He wanted to knock off other governments. They were training terrorists, creating front organizations."

"Though U.S. officials were less certain than Arif that Bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the Taliban had a timetable for advancing into Central Asia, they regarded the Masoud assassination as a key step toward that goal.

""They wanted to take over the whole country ... [and then] they wanted to expand the caliphate," said the senior U.S. official, who noted that Masoud and his resistance force were the last obstacle to Taliban and Al Qaeda control of Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan's foreign minister, Abdullah, said in an interview, "Osama believed that by getting rid of Commander Masoud, the resistance would be over."

"The former Masoud advisor conceded that Bin Laden's judgment was sound. "It was only Masoud's own qualities which kept the resistance alive.""

[marron]

I'm bookmarking this now...

[Shermy]

Rebump.