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Terror Networks
Al-Adel sez losing Afghanistan was all the Talibs’ fault
2003-11-01
This is an interesting insight into the mind of al-Qaeda’s resident military commander.
For the first time, a senior al-Qaida official has provided an assessment of the U.S. war against the terrorist group in Afghanistan, criticizing its communications security and while also claiming that some in the Taliban provided intelligence to coalition forces that resulted in the deaths of al-Qaida members and their families.
"We wuz betrayed!"
SAIF AL-ADIL, currently the al-Qaida military commander, claims that during one night in October 2001, U.S. missiles came close to killing him three times.
Shame they didn’t succeed in that task or we might not have had Monday’s bombings.
The critique is carried in a magazine called The Voice of Jihad (Sawt Jihad), parts of which were published this week in Sharq al-Awsat, a respected Saudi newspaper, and translated by the U.S. intelligence community.
Not to mention by MEMRI...
One senior U.S. official said the intelligence community had seen the article and believed it to be authentic, although since there are no time references in it beyond 2001 it is impossible to know when it was written. Another official noted that al-Adil “fancies himself as a military strategist and thinker” and such a critique would fit within what he sees as his responsibilities. As to the content of the after-action report, the first official said he would not comment on whether the United States was able to take advantage of the al-Qaida failings to the extent al-Adil described. Nor would he comment on any alleged Taliban betrayals of al-Qaida positions.
"I can say no more!"
“I am not going to say whether it gives us more or less credit than we deserve,” said the official. “But it’s good to see someone giving us credit.”
Snip.
According to the al-Qaida version of the war, the terror group hastened its own defeat. Al-Adil said reckless use of satellite phones and betrayal by “some Taliban elements” permitted American forces to easily pinpoint the “Arab Afghans” — al-Qaida’s Afghan-based fighters — in Kandahar during October and November of 2001. Among those killed as a result of the lapses in security was Mohammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs, al-Adil’s predecessor as military commander of al-Qaida, and several other al-Qaida leaders along with their wives and children.
I thought that Abu Zubaydah took over after Atef and then Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, unless there’s a distinctions between global ops chief and being the military commander.
Al-Adil described how cruise missiles and U.S. military aircraft, apparently helicopters, tracked down and killed carloads of al-Qaida operatives and their families and almost killed him one night in October 2001. In another incident, he noted a deadly strike in Kandahar. “We heard suddenly the sound of a big explosion far away. I asked the brothers by telephone and learned the second house of the Al Wafa Charity Foundation in Kandahar had been pinpointed and hit by a cruise missile because satellite telephones were used. The hit killed Brother Abdal Wahid.”
Good rule of thumb: bang an Islamic charity, kill a jihadi...
As al-Adil and his men were preparing a meal for themselves just before daybreak, “We heard a missile passing over our heads immediately before we had finished eating and it exploded 100 meters from the house. We immediately started to leave, fearing that we were the target and the targeting would be corrected so as to hit us.” A second missile did hit close by but al-Adil was unhurt. Later, he said, another helicopter-fired missile came even closer. “The aircraft fired the missile and I saw it moving toward us and threw myself on the ground. The missile fell close to Brother Asim and I don’t know what happened next.” Asim was severely wounded, he says, but he was not.
Hope it was very painful. Was he badly maimed?
Regarding the deaths of al-Qaida family members, again al-Adil says it was the result of a security breach. “Aircraft were following the vehicles [all of which were Toyota Corollas, long known to be an al-Qaida favorite] and the brothers stopped to talk a little before moving toward the village. The helicopters engaged them as soon as the distance between them got down to 5.1 kilometers [3.2 miles],” al-Adel wrote. In all, he reported, 10 people were killed in the attack — three al-Qaida members, five woman and two children.
I found this somewhat interesting because the standard al-Qaeda press releases are generally propaganda pieces like the reports of hundreds of thousands of US troops dying every day in Afghanistan. While I’m not dumb enough to think that the leadership believes their own propaganda, it does provide an interesting look into the mind of the key driver of the nuts and bolts aspect of the terror network these days.
Posted by:Dan Darling

#4  Welcome Anonymous5236. I assume you are an Arab/Iraqi. While some here sound vitriolically anti-Arab, most would welcome a rational Arab voice (including me).
Posted by: Phil B   2004-06-16 8:39:30 AM  

#3  An Al-Qaida linked Web site had posted the grisly beheading of an American civilian. They stated that this was done in revenge for the abuse that prisoners at Abu Ghraib had endured yelling “Allahu Akbar!” --- “God is great.” “For the Mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the U.S administration to exchange this hostage for some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused,” one of the men read from a statement.

“So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins … slaughtered in this way.”

If this is true then why haven’t these so called men of Allahu turned on themselves revenge for the slaughter that they inflect on innocent men, women and children? They state that Americans and others like them are at fault for all of their troubles but do not want to point to themselves for their own failings. These so called righteous Muslims state that they are for all Muslims who are under the threat from outsiders but it is OK for those Muslims to kill, torture and inflect their own will and pain on Muslims. This all done in the name of Allahu!

Dignity, these men do not know what the word means. They twist ideas and the words of Allahu to suite their own purpose! They claim that others are responsible for the suffering of Muslims in the world but it is they who are destroying the dignity of Muslims. They are destroying the grace and dignity of Allahu!

Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite Holy Man who is accused of killing a moderate rival cleric why does he not come forward to claim his innocence? If he is not guilty then why does he hide behind his Al-Mahdi Army? Why is he fighting those forces in Iraq, these same forces who removed a tyrant and are attempting to bring about change to the people of Iraq? What does he truly want? Freedom! Freedom is not part of his vocabulary.

If he truly wanted freedom for the people of Iraq, where was he when Saddam was in power. Why was not his voice heard then? Why did he not insight the people of Iraq as he does now for the hundreds of thousands slaughtered by Saddam and his regime? Could it be that he was one of Saddam Hussein’s puppets and that he was receiving favors for looking the other way or could it be that He wants to be the one in power to force and inflict His will on the people of Iraq as Saddam had?


“I appeal to the fighters and mujahedeen in Karbala to stand together so as none of our holy sites and cities are defiled,” al-Sadr said at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, another holy city. Defiled, defiled by whom? He and those who blindly follow him are the ones who are defiling the Muslim holy sites and cities by bring weapons of hatred and destruction into those same holy sites and cities he claims to defend!

It is sad to see those who are prayed upon buy others, who force their will either by money, such as Osama, or by twisting the words of Allahu to suit their own needs instead of the needs of the people they are suppose to serve, causing the suffering of the innocent.

Rage continues to surge throughout the Arab world after the shocking photographs were published showing the abuse and humiliation at Abu Ghraib prison. Where was this rage when Saddam, his sons and others of his regime were detaining, torturing and murdering innocent individuals for their own sadistic pleasures? One can not believe that those in power of other Arab countries did not know what was happening, they could not be that blind!

Maybe it is time for the true people of Iraq, the true people of Islam, to stand up against those pretenders of the Muslim faith and say enough. They need to take back their faith and show the world what a true Muslim is, what Islam truly stands for! I don’t believe that Allahu, in his infinite wisdom, would condone the torture and murder of men, women and children who’s only concerns are to live in peace and the freedom to worship him the way that they want and believe. To do this is Freedom!
Posted by: Anonymous5236   2004-06-16 8:21:40 AM  

#2  This suprised me greatly. I didn't think such a well-educated man was running Al-Queada's operations. Ok, that didn't suprise me. What suprised me is that we missed him three times in one night.

Posted by: Charles   2003-11-1 12:39:31 PM  

#1  Interesting story and, as you point out, not a propaganda piece. I'm sure many would like to know more about how Sawt Jihad came by it, what it is supposed to be and to whom was it delivered and where are they? Obviously, this bit is tantalizing to WoT authorities.

Regardless, it is revealing assuming the translation did not take many liberties - an excellent find - Thx!
Posted by: .com   2003-11-1 9:13:21 AM  

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