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| Down Under |
| Islam group urges forest fire jihad |
| 2008-09-07 |
| AUSTRALIA has been singled out as a target for "forest jihad" by a group of Islamic extremists urging Muslims to deliberately light bushfires as a weapon of terror. US intelligence channels earlier this year identified a website calling on Muslims in Australia, the US, Europe and Russia to "start forest fires", claiming "scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels' forests when they do the same to our lands". The website, posted by a group called the Al-Ikhlas Islamic Network, argues in Arabic that lighting fires is an effective form of terrorism justified in Islamic law under the "eye for an eye" doctrine. The posting — which instructs jihadis to remember "forest jihad" in summer months — says fires cause economic damage and pollution, tie up security agencies and can take months to extinguish so that "this terror will haunt them for an extended period of time". "Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organisation were to claim responsibility for the forest fires," the website says. "You can hardly begin to imagine the level of fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia and in Australia." With the nation heading into another hot, dry summer, Australian intelligence agencies are treating the possibility that bushfires could be used as a weapon of terrorism as a serious concern. Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Federal Government remained "vigilant against such threats", warning that anyone caught lighting a fire as a weapon of terror would feel the wrath of anti-terror laws. "Any information that suggests a threat to Australia's interests is investigated by relevant agencies as appropriate," Mr McClelland said. Adam Dolnik, director of research at the University of Wollongong's Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention, said that bushfires (unlike suicide bombing) were generally not considered a glorious type of attack by jihadis, in keeping with a recent decline in the sophistication of terrorist operations. "With attacks like bushfires, yes, it would be easy. It would be very damaging and we do see a decreasing sophistication as a part of terrorist attacks," Dr Dolnik said. "In recent years, there have been quite a few attacks averted and it has become more and more difficult for groups to do something effective." Dr Dolnik said he had observed an increase in traffic on jihadi websites calling for a simplification of terrorist attacks because the more complex operations had been failing. But starting bushfires was still often regarded as less effective than other operations because governments could easily deny terrorism as the cause. The internet posting by the little-known group claimed the idea of forest fires had been attributed to imprisoned Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab Al-Suri. It said Al-Suri had urged terrorists to use sulphuric acid and petrol to start forest fires. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #8 That "Screaming Squirrel/Animals" TV Commercial??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-09-07 21:32 |
| #7 There isn't anything new to this, in fact this has been a worry for several decades. The Japanese were trying to set the American West on fire with their incendiary balloons that rode the Jet Stream, with minimal effect during the WWII. As for the thought of arson sparking a general call to arms, it won't happen. Last year in San Bernadino a man was caught with a gas can in hand behind a warehouse, he ended up being shot for his troubles on the scene, but the story wasn't reported much outside of the inland empire area and blogs such as this one, and no matter what the outcome, who are we going to protest? Hot, dry Summers and plants that need fire to reproduce? And, don't think that if the Muj actually do wind up doing something like this the Greenies are going to all of a sudden light up the peace pipe and say "start killing bad guys." In fact, it's going to be the opposite, with general praise being leveled against the arsonists for clearing the land of evil humans and their homes. Want to prevent this? Run sheep in the brushy areas and log the forests. |
| Posted by: MoreScotch4Me 2008-09-07 18:48 |
| #6 So Islam causes global warming by turning forests into CO2? Sound the meme-collision warning! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-09-07 18:14 |
| #5 if they start that sh*t in San Diego, a lot of innocent people will be hurt. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-07 17:24 |
| #4 Sgt. Mom is right. This is a good way to arouse anti-terrorist sentiment in dry regions, like southern California, that are largely pro or neutral about those guys. If they burn a few Hollywood homes perhaps we will finally see anti-Islamic terrorist movies. Those I'll watch and enough others may do so also, they they will make money. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-09-07 17:01 |
| #3 Note that WND already claimed muslim jihadism behind some of last years fire seasons in California IIRC; and in France, in addition to the carBBQ, school and gymnasiums torchings, this is a well known but taboo fact that some of the arsonists caught after having lighted fire in southern France were homeboys who drove from marseilles or similarly islamized big cities into the countryside - thought what is th eimportance of that vs local arsonists, I don't know. And, as a final note, since a while back I mentioned the centuries long predation of north african muslim pirates against the southern, mediterranean part of Europe, which led to its decline, just let me mention that IIRC, the flora of modern southern France is nothing like it was in antiquity, for a very simple reason : the repeated forest fires that were lighted by the muslim raiders as a mean of terrorism, already, leading to a flora that is now actually acclimated to bushfires. So, nothing new under the sun. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-09-07 13:48 |
| #2 That assumes they can be id'd and caught, tho. This fits with the Wilderness theme of creating destructive chaos in Western countries through hard to predict / hard to stop sabotage. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-09-07 13:45 |
| #1 Oh, man - that will go over really, really well in fire country - like the chaparral hills of Southern California. I can't imagine a better way to call down an anti-Islamist purge down on the Muslim community, if some stupid jihadi-wanna-bees get caught starting brushfires, in fire season, and burn over a couple of counties and/or towns. I guaran-damn-tee that if this happens, there will be serious repercussions. Involving mobs, riots and expulsion orders... even in California. There will be no sympathy for arsonists on the industrial scale. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2008-09-07 13:29 |