In 1989, some American military experts predicted a fundamental change in the future form of warfare... They predicted that the wars of the 21st century would be dominated by a kind of warfare they called 'the fourth generation of wars.' Others called it 'asymmetric warfare...' Impetus of course came from the Vietnam experience, observation (and participation by proxy) in Afghanistan, and the myriad guerrilla wars that were popping up world-wide.
Fourth-generation warfare, the experts said, is a new type of war in which fighting will be mostly scattered. The battle will not be limited to destroying military targets and regular forces, but will include societies, and will [seek to] destroy popular support for the fighters within the enemy's society... They also noted that 'the distinction between war and peace will be blurred to the vanishing point...' The prototype was the Algerian civil war against France in the 50s, which was based in great part on the Viet Minh war against the French. The crucial tool was found to be splitting society into "us" and "them." The Fourth Generation war concept isn't new, but the thinking to cope with it is.
This new type of war presents significant difficulties for the Western war machine, and it can be expected that [Western] armies will change fundamentally. This forecast did not arise in a vacuum ... [F]ourth-generation wars have already occurred and that the superiority of the theoretically weaker party has already been proven; in many instances, nation-states have been defeated by stateless nations. Actually, the Western armies have already changed fundamentally, and not in the way the writer expects. This is a process that started during the Vietnam war with the US Special Forces, Seals, LRRPs and other funny hat guys. They actually worked to good effect against the "Fourth Generation" Viet Cong, and the war was lost fairly conventionally. It was the near-annihilation of the Viet Cong which caused the large-scale North Vietnamese involvement. Oh, and let's not forget SAS, which has even more experience, and with whom the US regularly trades ideas and techniques.
[T]he Islamic nation has chalked up the most victories in a short time, in a way it has not known since the rise of the Ottoman Empire. These victories were achieved during the past twenty years, against the best armed, best trained, and most experienced armies in the world (the U.S.S.R. in Afghanistan, the U.S. in Somalia, Russia in Chechnya, and the Zionist entity in southern Lebanon) and in various arenas (mountains, deserts, hills, cities). In Afghanistan, the Mujahideen triumphed over the world's second most qualitative power at that time... Similarly, a single Somali tribe humiliated America and compelled it to remove its forces from Somalia. A short time later, the Chechen Mujahideen humiliated and defeated the Russian bear. After that, the Lebanese resistance [Hizbullah] expelled the Zionist army from southern Lebanon. Interesting points. The Muhahideen were nearly demolished by the Russians by the use of Mi-25 gunships, SpetsNaz and airborne infantry tactics, and the judicious use of the KhAD secret police. They also spent a certain amount of money buying off warlords. The process of collapse was well under way when the Russians withdrew - they couldn't afford to continue the war. The US Somalia experience started out as a humanitarian mission, was changed in mid-stream, and the debacle in Mogadishu wouldn't have been a debacle had the heavy weapons the Rangers requested been approved. That failure was political, just as ultimately the Soviet failure in Afghanistan and the US failure in Vietnam was. The Chechens managed to "humiliate and defeat the Russian bear" at a moment when the country was in chaos over the breakup of the Soviet Union. So add a line to the doctrine warning to attack only when the target is in the midst of internal political and economic chaos. Finally, the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon was driven more by political concerns than by military.
It is true that all the victories of the past did not lead to the establishment of the winners' regime. But this is not the topic of our study. This article is aimed at investigating the purely military confrontation, due to claims regarding the imbalance between America and the Mujahideen - which makes, according to the defeatists, Jihad and victory impossible. In fact, none of these "victories" led to the establishment of a winner's regime, which is significant in itself. Examination of the states that result from these tactics suggests that they aren't viable - they're born failed. Algeria has been a failed state since its inception. Vietnam breaks the mold because it was a colonial war, with the north establishing its control over the south. Cambodia's fate was horrific. Afghanistan was unable to establish a stable government until the Taliban arrived, and then the "stability" was imposed at the cost of mass graves dotting the country. Chechnya was not only a failed state, but contributed to the failure of Dagestan by exporting its dysfunction. And Somalia hasn't even been able to establish a government. Lebanon is probably the closest to a stable state that can be produced - under Syrian hegemony. Pretty poor record.
Technology did not help these great armies... The Mujahideen proved their superiority in fourth-generation warfare using only light weaponry. They are part of the people, and hide amongst the multitudes... "The guerrilla is the fish, the people are the sea," as Chairman Mao so famously said. But no superiority has been proven and in fact the use of increasingly specialized technology makes grouping into any kind of military formation more difficult all the time. Only by remaining dispersed can the 4th Generation Hero remain safe - and his military value is reduced to that of an irritant.
Al-Qa'ida takes pride in that, on September 11, it destroyed the elements of America's strategic defense, which the former U.S.S.R. and every other hostile state could not harm. These elements are: early warning, preventive strike, and the principle of deterrence. This is the admission that al-Qaeda was responsible for 9-11. No surprise there. We have Binny on tape, despite the number of Muslim was deny its authenticity.
Early warning: With the September 11 attacks, Al-Qa'ida entered the annals of successful surprise attacks, which are few in history - for example, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the surprise Nazi attack on the U.S.S.R. in 1941, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and the crossing of the Zionist Bar-Lev Line in 1973. Moreover: In the pain it caused, [Al-Qa'ida] surpassed these surprise attacks, because it put every individual in American society on [constant] alert for every possibility, whether emotionally or practically. This has an extremely high economic and psychological price, particularly in a society that has not been affected by war since the American Civil War. If the USS Cole incident could happen to the American army, which is assumed to be in perfect preparedness, then preparing an entire society for 'terrorist' attacks appears hard to achieve. This element of surprise is essential to any successful military operation, be it conventional or by spies, saboteurs and assassins, which is what al-Qaeda's mercenary "army" boils down to. But more important, any attack without an objective is a waste of resources. The sheer number of casualties - more than at Pearl Harbor - was staggering to the civilian population, but among uniformed forces of World War I or in the South Pacific in World War II would barely have been noticed. The high economic costs can be borne by the US economy - it's healthy enough - and assuming the terror networks are ever thoroughly dismantled the more odious provisions can be relaxed, as they were after the Second World War. The damage done was to self-confidence, which the nation is in the process of retrieving.
Preventive strike: This element was also shaken on September 11. This element is subordinate to the first... Even assuming that there had been early warning, it is very difficult to launch a successful preventive strike at an organization that maneuvers and moves quickly, and has no permanent bases. Attack from this particular direction became much more difficult given their first use - there was only one round in the gun. And only three out of four of the aircraft managed to attack their objectives. The passengers took out number four. The paradign has shifted in that respect, and now every loon on a plane is going to be beaten up before he can accomplish any serious damage. Subsequent attacks will have to come from a different direction. As each attack comes, measures will be taken against it. Paradigms aren't set in stone. The other thing this series of attacks did was to cause money to be put back into intelligence. There were complaints about lack of language-qualified people and the availability of collection resources - these are faults that are being addressed.
Deterrence: This principle is based on the assumption that there are two sides [fighting] that seek to survive and defend their interests - but it is completely eliminated when dealing with people who don't care about living but thirst for martyrdom. While the principle of deterrence works well [in warfare] between countries, it does not work at all for an organization with no permanent bases and with no capital in Western banks, that does not rely on aid from particular countries. As a result, it is completely independent in its decisions, and it seeks conflict from the outset. How can such people, who strive for death more than anything else, be deterred? Those truly desiring death can't be deterred. But there are only a limited number of them available, and as the 4th Generation forces are defeated the desirability of dying for the Lost Cause becomes less pronounced. The proper driver for this kind of conflict would be the war of attrition, the death by a thousand cuts, rather than the spectacular. As the tide turns, more Mujahedin start thinking about how nice it would be to see the old homestead rather than to buy a very small farm.
In addition to the destruction of these three elements, Al-Qa'ida has dealt Americans the most severe blow ever to their morale: One of the Western strategies determined that the best means of bringing about a psychological defeat is to attack a place where the enemy feels safe and secure. This is exactly what the Mujahideen did in New York. Morale's the key to winning the war, for both sides. The Fifth Column is essential to the succes of the Muj because they can't win by force of arms. Every victory has been in the political arena after a successful extended war of attrition.
It appears, therefore, that the imbalance between America and the Mujahideen... is exactly what is needed to confront the Western military machine, particularly the American. [America] is baffled by fourth-generation warfare that suits Jihad avant-garde - especially at a time when the Islamic peoples have re-espoused Jihad, after they had nothing left to lose because of the humiliation that is their daily lot. An invalid conclusion. America isn't baffled, it's gearing up and applying all the lessons learned in the past 50 years. The spectacular defeat of the Taliban has demoralized those whom the writer is counting on to be fired up by al-Qaeda successes. The only hope they have is that the Suzy Creamcheese set and the Euro handwringers will spike the war in the USA before they're demolished.
The Americans and the West comprehend the nature of the new challenge, and acknowledge the difficulty of the task ahead of them... You betcha we do, Clem. And Bush intends to follow through.
The time has come for the Islamic movements facing a general crusader offensive to internalize the rules of fourth-generation warfare. They must consolidate appropriate strategic thought, and make appropriate military preparations. They must increase interest in Da'wa [proselytizing], and recruit the peoples' public and political support. In addition to the religious obligation, this has become an integral part of the means to triumph in fourth-generation warfare. Old strategists, such as [von] Clausewitz and Mao Zedong, have already indicated this. Perhaps the best example is the phenomenon of the intifada, that wiped out the Zionist military's mighty superiority over the Muslim Palestinian people. Infantry officers, feel free to critique.
A couple of points hit home
(1) Tweaking and old Eleinor Roosevelt line: "No one can make you feel terrorized without your consent." If the responce to attacks is "We'll teach those {explatives]" then the attack didn't have the desired effect. Minorities don't beat majorities is the majority is equally willing and able to fight. We need to allow righteous indignation to be a legitamite responce to 9/11 and future attacks.
(2) We need to be more forceful in our own "evangelism," be it making apologetics for Jesus or Anglospherian values. Many liberals are afraid to show that our culture is superior in that it allows more people more freedom to enjoy life than other systems. Take a page from Berlusconi's book and not be bashful in pointing this out. Posted by Mark Byron [markbyron.blogspot.com] 2/12/2002 1:03:46 PM
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Herat governor Ismail Khan denied again US accusations that he was receiving arms and money from neighbouring Iran. "We don't need any shipments from Iran, especially of arms. I am totally against that," said Khan. He's probably got enough - too many - arms. The money probably helps, though. More likely the people getting the guns are Hekmatyar supporters.
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One factor contributing to inflated estimates was the distortion of casualty reports by the Taliban regime. Afghan journalists have told AP that Taliban officials systematically doctored reports of civilian deaths to push their estimate to 1,500 in the first three weeks of the war in an attempt to galvanize opposition to the bombing. So much for the thousands "estimated" by various fifth columnists. The Taliban inflated civilian casualties? Wotta surprise! Who'da thunkit?
I bet dollars to donuts that no left-wing organizations revise their figures about the casualties. Any takers? Posted by Jeff 2/11/2002 8:04:31 PM
I'll be very surprised if they do. Posted by Fred 2/11/2002 8:14:13 PM
I only just a day or two ago encountered an anti-war 'thinker' who took the Saddam Hussein claim of 35,000 civilian casualties in the Gulf War completely at face value. (It's a factor of ten higher than Human Rights Watch's estimates.) So Herold's 3767 will be with us for a very long time to come. But I think again they provide a useful marker as one blogger pointed out, a big fluorescent orange cone marking the departure from mainstream traffic over to the lane of unproven propaganda. Posted by lakefxdan [www.lakefx.nu/] 2/12/2002 5:13:20 AM
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In Tehran, tens of thousands of Iranians rallied to mark the 23rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution and used the occasion to condemn verbal attacks on their country made by the US. From seven different points in the capital the marchers converged on the Azadi (Freedom) Square in the west of the city to hear the traditional speech by President Mohammad Khatami. Demonstrators, crying: "Our people are awake, and hate America", included clerics, soldiers and members of the bassiji Islamic militia, as well as Afghan refugees. "Clerics, soldiers and members of the ... militia, as well as Afghan refugees." Who's missing from that crowd? Couldn't they get any moms, dads, farmers, or blue turban workers?
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A senior official from Iran's Revolutionary Guards hinted his country could retaliate for any US military action linked to the campaign against terrorism by targeting the Gulf's oil infrastructure. Pasdaran second-in-command Mohammad Baghr Zolghadr said that "if total insecurity were to settle over Iran, preventing its oil from being exported, then no other oil in the region would be exported." Quoted by television, Zolghadr said: "If a war breaks out, then the Persian Gulf will be the graveyard of US soldiers and their navy. Iran is not Afghanistan, and a war against us would not last two or three months. The Americans are bawling like drunkards, but with time, they will understand their mistake."
Doesn't everybody yet understand, that Iran's current function is to act as a destabilizing
factor, everywhere it makes contact. From Bosnia,
Kosovo, Lebanon; which was the closest to a real
civil society we're likely to see in the Arab Near
East; their part in the TWA 800, the barracks bombings in Beirut & Dhran; and yet they quibble over the axis of evil. It was Chinese supplied Silkworms, (brokered by our good pal Bandar) that
made the Persian Gulf, such a dodgy place. Imagine
Iran with nuclear tipped missiles that could hit
targets in the Southern Mediterranean & the course
of action is clear. Posted by Anonymous 2/12/2002 10:48:27 AM
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Amygdala links to this particular howler:
After 23 years, though, the sense of brooding menace that pervaded marches of the past had mellowed. This one felt more like a carnival, complete with a gold coin on offer for the best Uncle Sam effigy.
A yellow banner painted with giant letters in Persian was stretched across one overpass. In the early days of the Islamic Republic it would have been automatically translated as "America is the Greatest Satan." But today the lettering helpfully included its own English translation, reading, "America Is Extremely Naughty." The Old Gray Revolution, she ain't what she used to be...
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In New York, five bodies were pulled out of the Word Trade Center. They were identified as police from the Port Authority police academy in Newark, New Jersey. They were Chief James Romito, Captain Kathy Mazza, Lieutenant Robert Cirri and Officers James Parham and Stephen Huczko. On September 11, they rushed across the river to the World Trade Center, which was in flames, helping victims escape before the towers collapsed. This occurs against the backdrop of Iranian vitriol, body parts that might be bin Laden in Afghanistan but probably aren't, and the dismantling of major world-wide terror networks that targeted this country and Europe. War is on the horizon, almost certainly with Iraq, possibly also with Iran and/or North Korea. This is an age of high seriousness. Daily events are momentous, and what's done now will have profound effects for the next fifty years.
Yet life goes on. Top of the news today is old-fashioned Congressional blatherings that feature on one side shifty-eyed Malefactors of Great Wealth, taking the Fifth ("You can't pin nothin' on me, coppers!") and on the other the venal posturings of caricature demagogues like Hollings and Byrd ("Ah was bawn in a log cabin that I he'ped mah father build...") Al Sharpton is going to run for president. One major university's offering a course in "Terrorism and Sexuality" so that our Young People understand What Really Happened, and "Terrorism and the Politics of Knowledge," about America's "record of imperialistic adventurism," is offered at another so they know why. The United States Students Association's idea of what's really important is to urge the nation's colleges and universities to provide single-stall "gender neutral" restrooms for transgender students.
Sometimes you wonder, "Why?" And other times you wonder, "What the hell?"
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According to a probable cause affidavit, Jordan admitted after his arrest on Tuesday that he drove to Winters' home on Jan. 25 and dropped off Banks and a juvenile, whom he said then burglarized the home. During the burglary, which the family discovered after returning from Jeannette Winters' funeral services, two revolvers and a shotgun were taken from the elder Winters' home. The next day, Banks told a man he had helped burglarize the home of ''the Marine girl''.
If convicted, each man could face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. The Post-Tribune of Merrillville reported that at the time of the Winters burglary, Banks was out of jail on bond for a December, 2000, home invasion incident in Gary. He had been released after a judge lowered his bond to $3,000. Some crimes are understandable. Others, the words "rat bastards" springs to mind and just kinda blanks out any other thought.
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The Israeli army launched an incursion in Nablus in the West Bank overnight, triggering a gun battle in which two Palestinians were injured. Some 20 armoured cars penetrated a kilometer into the Palestinian sector east of Nablus where they met resistance from armed Palestinians near Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish holy site destroyed by Palestinians at the start of the ongoing intifada in October 2000.
The previous day, the Israeli airforce carried out a series of raids on Palestinian targets, in the northern Gaza Stip, wounding 40 people. These raids were in response to a deadly attack at a restaurant outside the Israeli army's southern headquarters in Beersheva in which two women soldiers, and their two Palestinian assailants, died. Since it was someone else's holy site, the Palestinians felt compelled to destroy it. Then they could say that it was a Muslim holy site and build a new mosque in the rubble. That way, anybody coming close would be desecrating it and they could be shot or bombed. That's planning, Palestinian-style.
Speaking as a Jewish supporter of Israel, I feel I should point out that there is considerable debate, at best, within the Jewish community, archeological and historical, as to the accuracy of the claims made for the historiocity of the site known as "Joseph's Tomb," and significant doubt about them. Claiming it as a major "religious site" is, last I looked, pretty much a 20th century phenomenon largely made by an extreme fringe of politically minded settlers and/or religious kooks. Most archeologists consider the idea that it is the tomb of the biblical patriarch to be, um, in error. (Then there are all the confused Christians who think it's Jesus's father who's under discussion.) Posted by Gary Farber [www.amygdalagf.blogspot.com] 2/11/2002 6:21:11 PM
All true, but it remains that the Palestinians promised to respect it and not damage it when they were given control of the site, and then destroyed it next time they had a temper tantrum. Posted by Fred 2/11/2002 6:48:40 PM
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Some 300 Palestinian took over a prison in Hebron in the West Bank and started releasing Islamist prisoners. It was not immediately clear if the rioters were armed. The takeover came after hundreds of Palestinians tried to free prisoners in Gaza City's prison, located in the same compound as central security offices which had been bombed by the Israeli air force.
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Three-man terrorist teams working with members of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group were planning synchronised attacks in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia last December according to a 15-page document uncovered by intelligence sources in Indonesia. The document, titled 'Jihad Operation in Asia', revealed the makings of a conspiracy to inflict damage on American diplomatic missions and installations. D-Day was Dec 4 last year, when the terrorist teams - codenamed Jibril and working with the Al-Qaeda-linked JI group - were supposed to have detonated satchels containing C-4 explosives in United States embassy compounds in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. 'This document is about as close as you will get to a smoking gun regarding Indonesian links to Middle-eastern terrorists,' an American analyst said.
The document, of which there are also Indonesian and Arabic versions, was signed by JI chairman Abu Hanafiah and secretary Fikri Sugondo - both of whom are believed to be using aliases, like most of the other operatives whose names are mentioned. The aim appears to have been to destabilise the US with more attacks against them in foreign territories. This would shift Washington's focus from Afghanistan towards Asia - a move that would help gel Islamic solidarity in the region. The document also mentions the name of Fathur Rohman - the bombmaker arrested in Manila on Jan 15. Another name which surfaced was Abdussalam bin Abu Thalib, identified as the leader of JI Malaysia.
Indonesian intelligence officers found the document in Solo last October. Some believe that factional rivalry in the state intelligence agency might have meant that only a small group of officers - those opposed to intelligence cooperation with Washington - were aware of the document's existence and decided to keep it secret. All those little links that link to other links... As soon as they saw that Afghanistan was going to get hammered, they put together a plan to try and take the heat off. Only problem was that by the time the plan was to go be executed, the Taliban were in the Dustbin of History and Binny was trying to hold out at Tora Bora. Recall that it's around the same time that the Indian Parliament building was attacked and Hamas/Islamic Jihad went nuts. Their plans ("plan" is used in a very generic sense when discussing the Palestinians) were probably put together at about the same time.
At least it's nice to know the Indonesians are resolving their little internal difficulties.
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Muslim militants from the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group are digging in their heels and preparing for a long drawn-out terrorist campaign in South-east Asia. After botching up planned bomb attacks against US embassies and installations in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur last December, a JI source claimed that they would lie low for the next six months before striking back, with Indonesia as their first target. "Indonesia is a 'softer target' compared to Singapore and Malaysia because it is easier to move the Muslim ground and the security apparatus is weak,'' the source told The Straits Times.
He said that it was difficult operating in the neighbouring countries because of the 'pervasiveness of their intelligence agencies' which he noted had grown stronger with US backing after the Sept 11 attacks. The 37-year-old activist who claims to have read philosophy at the State Institute for Islamic Studies in Yogyakarta and uses three aliases, conceded: 'That is one reason why we failed in Singapore and Malaysia. We underestimated the ability of their governments to detect our plans.'
JI also failed to read correctly the sentiments of the Muslim communities in the two countries, thinking that they could be swayed easily after Washington declared war on Afghanistan. He said that the reaction in Indonesia from both moderates and radicals was more critical, making it easier to convince them of the need for a jihad against the US. He added that was why JI, which wanted to set up a region-wide Islamic republic by uniting Malaysia, Indonesia and the southern Philippines, would put Indonesia first now in any attacks against American targets. Previously, the strategy was to focus on other states first. 'There is less of a risk that things will go wrong in Indonesia for us,' he said.
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Philippine immigration officials believe they have uncovered a large terrorist operation that uses Manila as a spring board to other South-east Asian countries after interrogating a Malaysian arrested at the airport with 104 questionable passports. Azmi bin Salleh, 36, was arrested on Friday at the Manila International Airport while he was about to board a Kuwait Airways plane bound for Kuwait via Bangkok. Azmi was being investigated by the police for being a possible finance officer of the Al-Qaeda network. Several names found in Azmi's cellular phone were in the Interpol list of wanted terrorists. Officials were still interrogating Azmi about the names in his cellular phone to determine if the wanted terrorists are still in the Philippines.
Conflicting statements by the suspect on his purpose of coming to Manila strengthened suspicions that the Malaysian could be a member of a terrorist group. On Friday, Azmi was stopped from boarding his plane when security officials manning an X-ray machine at the departure zone of the airport found images of several travel documents bound with rubber bands. They searched his bag and found 104 passports and US$57,250. Azmi claimed he was working for a travel agency, and that the documents and money were meant to pay for Saudi visas for his clients who want to join the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. But a check found that the purported travel agency was non-existent. This could be some poor schmuck who runs a Mom-and-Pop unregistered travel agency being in the wrong place at the wrong time. On the other hand, that'd make real good cover for an al-Qaeda courier. The fact that he has difficulty keeping his story straight suggests the latter, rather than the former. On still another hand, he's a married man, and he was scheduled for a layover in Bangkok and had $57,000 in cash... Damn. I'd lie, too. ("Of course not, honey. Didn't even leave the airport. Yeah, the expenses were high this trip. Barely broke even...")
Passport Man cleared, kicked out of PI
Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo said that investigators were now satisfied that Azmi was a travel agent trying to get visas for Malaysian Muslims wanting to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. She said Azmi had admitted under questioning that he was a sympathizer of bin Laden but was found to have "no direct knowledge or involvement with the activities of the al-Qaeda terror group".
Domingo said Azmi would be deported to Malaysia soon because he was trying to take 50,000 dollars out of the country and "not for being a terrorist". Philippine customs law sets a 10,000 dollar limit on the amount of foreign currency allowed to be taken out of the country.
Chief Inspector Winnie Quidato, the bureau's chief legal investigator, said Azmi was trying to circumvent regulations that limit visas for Saudi Arabia to only one percent of population per country by arranging visas for his Malaysian clients from the Philippines. The scheme however did not work because the Saudi government does not grant visa to applicants from third countries. "This forced Salleh to try his luck in Thailand but he was intercepted at the airport before he could fly to Bangkok," Quidato said. Uhuh. Suspicion confirmed. Now he has to face The Little Woman when he gets home:
"I work and I slave and I give you the best years of my life, and what do you do? You go flying around to Manila and you manage to get yourself arrested! My mother was right, you're a small-timer, Azmi."
"But honey, I was just..."
"Don't touch me! You want that, you can go visit your hussies in Bangkok!"
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Nurjaman Riduan, better known as Hambali, Abu Bakar Bashir and Muhammad Iqbal arrived in Malaysia in the mid-1980s to flee Indonesian security forces. All products of fundamentalist Islamic boarding schools, they became active members of the militant movement there and wanted Indonesia to adopt Islamic law. Security officials believe that Hambali and Abu Bakar joined hundreds of Muslims from the region who went to Afghanistan in the late 1980s to help the mujahidin fight against the Soviet Union. While there, the preachers got to know Osama bin Laden and his band of Afghan fighters. That link between them and the Al-Qaeda network appears to have been strengthened over time, as did the esteem they had for the world's most famous terrorist.
Upon returning home, the Indonesian-born preachers were convinced that Muslims from around the world needed to bear arms to fight against the enemies of Islam. The round-faced, bearded and bespectacled Hambali began recruiting Muslims in the region to fight in Bosnia and Algeria. He was also becoming quite well-known to operators of the Al-Qaeda network, especially to Kuwaiti Ramzi Yousef and Afghan Wali Khan Amin Shah. Both men would figure prominently in terrorist attacks against the US in the early 1990s. Ramzi and Wali Khan were convicted for their roles in devising plans to hijack and bomb 11 US commercial planes and to assassinate Pope John Paul II during his 1995 visit to the Philippines.
Yazid Sufaat gave Hambali free use of a condominium that overlooked a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus in the suburb of Kajang. It was at this apartment complex that police surveillance cameras captured him and the Indonesian preacher meeting Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi - two hijackers who were aboard the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
Malaysian police did not pick up Yazid and Hambali for questioning because there was no evidence then of involvement in any wrongdoing. That assessment has altered dramatically. Now, a darker image of Hambali is emerging. He was the point man for the Al-Qaeda network in the region, and Yazid was his trusted lieutenant. Police believe that the preacher, who is on the run, will be able to draw the complete map of militant cells in the region.
Singapore and Malaysia are run by de facto dictators who don't have to keep their eyes on political opinion. Megawatti, on the other hand, has to tread lightly over a Islam-friendly military and a fragile coalition government. She's not in a good position to be a strongman like Lee or Mahathir without starting a civil war.
Thuis, she may be wimpy on al Qaeda out of both fear and political necessity.
Hamas paraded metre-long, locally made missiles at a rally in Gaza as masked "martyrs-in-waiting" vowed to carry out more suicide attacks against Israel. The display of missiles and threats to deploy human bombs raised the spectre of further such attacks by Hamas. Openly defying the international campaign to halt the violence, about 20 masked men clad in white wore what appeared to be fake explosive belts around their waists. Signs on their chests proclaimed them to be "martyrs-in-waiting."
"Explosions are the only choice," they chanted as they forced their way through the 10,000-strong crowd in the impoverished Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. This stuff is ever so much more important than starting businesses and learning trades and planting trees and crops and such. I always thought lemmings were indigenous to Norway. Guess Svein Forkbeard or somebody must have introduced them after his travels to the Holy Land. (We know the Palestinians didn't originally come from Norway, because Yasser never says "Yah, sure.")
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US troops set for joint anti-terror action in the Philippines could face a far larger armed adversary than expected as their Abu Sayyaf quarry is backed by other Muslim guerrilla groups, a Filipino general said. Up to 160 US Special Forces troops are set for deployment in Basilan towards the end of a six-month joint military training exercise aimed to help the Filipino forces crush Abu Sayyaf. In past operations larger guerrilla groups have come to the aid of Abu Sayyaf. There are no more than 300 Abu Sayyaf fighters on the island, but they "reinforceable by other elements", including units of the 12,500-member Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). There are about 1,000 MILF separatist guerrillas on Basilan as well as about 500 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a second separatist group that signed a peace treaty with Manila in 1996. He said many of the gunmen from rival armed groups were related, and that some in the island hired themselves out to the Abu Sayyaf. On the other hand, Friday MILF said it would deny shelter to Abu Sayyaf. They're Muslims, so we know they'd never lie.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/11/2002 ||
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An Israeli military court sentenced a Palestinian militant to 26 consecutive life terms for planning two deadly suicide bombings in Jerusalem in 1997. The court sentenced Muaid Said, 31, to one life term for each of the 21 Israelis killed and one for each of the five Palestinian bombers who died in the attacks. The military prosecutor, who did not seek the death sentence, told the judge that Said planned the bombings a year after he joined the militant group Hamas at age 25.
Said's lawyer said his client had no intention of killing anyone. Said told the court the bombings were a "natural reaction" to what he called the Israeli government's crimes against the Palestinian people. Of course he had no intention of killing anyone. He just liked explosives. If somebody was in the way, too bad for them. They shoulda stayed back. And that goes for the five guys who were dumb enough to wear the explodo-vests.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/11/2002 ||
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A military court convicted a Jordanian-American of plotting terror attacks against American and Israeli tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations. He was sentenced to death. The judge dismissed a charge of belonging to an illegal organization -- identified in court documents as al-Qaida -- against Raed Hijazi, saying there was no evidence Osama bin Laden's organization had a formal structure or membership in Jordan. "You are found guilty of conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks in Jordan and your punishment is the death penalty," Raqad told Hijazi, who stood in his dark blue prison uniform in the dock.
Hijazi shouted, "Allahu Akbar! (God is great!)" and asked the judge, "Where is God's will? Why are you sentencing me to death? You are ruling against your people. Sharon doesn't sentence his people to death."
Hijazi, who pleaded innocent, was charged with seven crimes, including possessing arms and explosives and conspiring to detonate bombs at sites frequented by American and Israeli tourists during the New Year's 2000 celebrations in Jordan. When found guilty, Hijazi shouted "Why not announce the death penalty now?" Well, now they did. G'bye, Raed.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/11/2002 ||
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Warring Christians and Muslims from Indonesia's Maluku province began two days of peace talks. Up to 10,000 people have been killed in fighting that erupted in the archipelago in January 1999. Welfare Minister Jusuf Kalla met separately with the two delegations of religious and community leaders in a resort hotel in Malino in south Sulawesi. "At today's meeting both parties agreed they wanted peace," Kalla said. "Every problem can be resolved (in a way) that is fair for the parties."
Fighting escalated sharply in mid-2000 when thousands of gunmen belonging to the Laskar Jihad -- or Holy War Troops -- arrived from Java. The paramilitaries attacked and burned dozens of Christian villages, with army troops joining attacks on Christian neighborhoods in Ambon, located about 1,600 miles northeast of Jakarta. It was not immediately clear whether representatives from Laskar Jihad were participating the talks. Doubt the Lashkar Jihad toughs will let any kind of agreement be reached, or if it is whether they'll let it be implemented.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/11/2002 ||
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Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said efforts to enlist the help of Maulana Masood Azhar, the imprisoned leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, had failed. Azhar was in custody before Pearl's abduction, but authorities hoped he might know how to contact Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, the suspected mastermind of the kidnapping. "We asked him if he would call and he said, 'I have nothing to do with Sheikh Omar. I don't know where he is,'" Haider told reporters Sunday. No surprise there. Azhar probably thinks it's a spiffy idea to kidnap a few Infidels and kill them.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/11/2002 ||
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The United States does not expect to deploy combat troops in Yemen to hunt down al-Qaida terrorists, but it will help the government with training and other assistance. On a visit to the Yemeni capital of San'a that lasted only a few hours, Gen. Tommy Franks said he met President Ali Abdullah Saleh to discuss military and security cooperation. "I was impressed with his view and the active approach he is taking to the problem of terrorism, both in the region and certainly here within Yemen," Franks told reporters at a brief news conference. He said that Saleh had not asked for U.S. combat troops but was interested in military training and assistance in creating a coast guard to help the Yemenis guard their 1,500-mile coastline.
At least two terror suspects believed to be in Yemen, Qaed Salim Sunian al-Harethi, allegedly a top al-Qaida official, and Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, are wanted by the United States for the Cole attack. Is it my imagination, or does the Yemeni government seem more grown up than it did a year or two ago? What's changed?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/11/2002 ||
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Saudi Arabia is expecting more of its citizens to return from Afghanistan, the kingdom's top security official said, indicating some would face prosecution. Interior Minister Prince Nayef said some Saudis now in custody at home had been in Afghanistan in the past, though not necessarily recently. More than 30 were detained based on U.S.-provided lists. Investigating them led to more people, who are expected to be returning to Saudi Arabia "very soon," he said. He did not offer details.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/11/2002 ||
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"State Department officials initially praised Musharraf's assistance in looking for Pearl. But Musharraf's recent comments alleging that India might have played a role in Pearl's disappearance have deeply irritated US officials," USA Today said quoting officials. That's because you hate to hear one of your friends saying something stupid.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/11/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
