For the record, they already own two of the princes ...
THE government of Qatar is paying millions of pounds a year to Al-Qaeda in return for an undertaking to spare it from further terrorist attacks, official sources in the wealthy Gulf state claimed last week.
The money, paid to spiritual leaders sympathetic to Al-Qaeda, is believed to be helping to fund its activities in Iraq. In a recent message broadcast via the internet, Osama Bin Laden told followers that operations in Iraq were costing Al-Qaeda more than £500,000 a month.
The sources said a deal between Qatar and Al-Qaeda was first made before the 2003 invasion of Iraq amid fears that the oil state, a close ally of Washington, could become a terrorist target. The US Central Command for the invasion was based in Qatar.
A senior government source said that the agreement was renewed in March after an Egyptian suicide bomber — thought to be associated with Al-Qaeda — struck a theatre in Doha, Qatar's capital, killing a British teacher during a performance of Twelfth Night.
"We're not sure that the attack was carried out by Al-Qaeda, but we ratified our agreement just to be on the safe side," said a Qatari official. "We are a soft target and prefer to pay to secure our national and economical interests. We are not the only ones doing so."
Qatar is one of the richest Gulf states and many of its 840,000 inhabitants have a high standard of living. It is also an important base for business.
Al-Qaeda would not be the first terrorist organisation to take protection money in the Arab world. During the 1970s and 1980s Arab rulers paid extremist groups such as the Abu Nidal organisation.
The financial pressures on Al-Qaeda would be a great incentive for it to offer protection to anybody willing to pay. But the deal with Qatar is not purely financial. Qatar has offered a haven for a number of extremists. Federal prosecutors in Miami recently indicted Kifah Jayyousi, a former Detroit school administrator, on charges of conspiring to murder, kidnap, and maim people in other countries, and of providing financial support to Islamic jihadists overseas. He was arrested at a Detroit airport after returning from Qatar.
Security in Qatar is noticeably relaxed compared with that in many Gulf states. While patrol cars and armed men are seen throughout much of the Arab world, they are not obvious in Doha. Even around hotels there are few guards. Locals in brand-new German and Japanese cars drive freely along the city's wide boulevards.
But it may not be advisable to be too complacent. Al-Qaeda was widely believed at one time to have an unwritten pact with Saudi Arabia. If so, the deal lasted only until it suited the organisation to renege.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 12:03:40 AM ||
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Paying off or donating under the cover of paying off? I think the latter.
A gas cylinder explosion ripped through a busy shopping complex in Jeddah's Khalediya district last night. At least two people were injured, three shop units were badly damaged and nearby cars had windows blown out. The explosion occurred at about 8.45 p.m. in the Shawarmat restaurant located in a line of shops facing directly onto Al-Rawda Street opposite the northern perimeter wall of Saudia City. The restaurant is located immediately next to a popular suburban Khalediya shopping complex, known locally as Filipino Souk.
The National Guard and police were on the scene very soon after the explosion together with several unmarked white official cars. Many witnesses at the scene were full of praise for the police and troops for the rapidity of their response and the way they took immediate charge of the scene. Eyewitnesses say that the explosion occurred after Isha prayers ended and staff were returning to reopen the shops. Witnesses from the FedEx premises located next to the Shawarmat restaurant say that the gas had leaked from the cooking ranges and when the lights were switched on, the place exploded. The report was later confirmed by a three-star fire officer on the site who said that the cause of the explosion was gas leaks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Yemen's ambassador to Damascus, commander of the country's navy when the USS Cole blew up in 2000, said Friday he is seeking asylum in Britain because the government discriminates against southerners like him. Al-Arabiya TV aired a telephone interview with Ahmad Abdullah al-Hasani in which he says he tried to address with government officials the issue of sidelining southerners, but "they dealt with our opinions and suggestions haughtily and they considered this to be a kind of rebellion."
Marxist South Yemen and conservative North Yemen, with its capital at San`a, fought for years before unifying in 1990. War between the two regions erupted again in 1994. Although that fighting was shortlived, some southerners complain of discrimination. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there has been no contact with al-Hasani for weeks. Two relatives, who would not give their names, said al-Hasani has informed them he was in London and was not returning to Yemen soon. In a telephone interview with Al-Arabiya from London, al-Hasani said the Yemeni government dealt with south Yemen like an "occupied land." "The land was confiscated, sovereignty was confiscated, the resources were confiscated, the people were driven away from their land," he said. Al-Hasani, a southerner, deserted to the north during a bloody 12-day civil war in 1986 that left 10,000 dead. In the 1994 civil war, he fought alongside Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, North Yemen's president since 1978 and, since 1990, head of the unified country.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Doesn't want to be there when the Kingdom falls and the resulting hammer is levied against the jihadis who're controlling Yemen. ??
#2
I have no doubt there is indeed discrimination -- "educated" city sophisticates vs. country rubes, on top of all that loyalty to tribe/clan/family stuff. Not to mention the habit of kat chewing, with its resulting mildly drugged, unproductive, green-drooling menfolk (yuck). Oh, and all of Yemen stepped off the cliff when the Yeminite Jews were rescued by Israel. It's difficult for a society when its most productive, most abused members just disappear "on the wings of eagles." All that remains is the 1000-year old habit of abuse, with no target... and no one else to steal from.
#3
But classic discrimination shouldn't be enough to get the gentleman asylum in GB. Until he reared up on his hind legs, there shouldn't have been reason for him to be more concerned about his safety than usual... unless he is about to become the fall guy for the attack on the USS Cole. I only say because the article identifies as Commander of the Yemeni Navy at that time.
#2
Seafarious,
It's the immigrants who are trying to assimilate who are b*****ing about the ones(think Muslim)who aren't. Unlike the recent Muslim migrations,immigrants who settle in countries that practice assimilation have traditionaly quickly adopted their new countries' ethos.
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/01/2005 1:51 Comments ||
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..immigrants who settle in countries that practice assimilation..
#1
I'll finger the Norks for this, although how the virus got into Skor pigs is a mystery. I wouldn't discount a covert bioweapons attack/experiment by those fun loving folks north of the DMZ.
#2
I suspect that the pigs have picked up a strain that is very prone to mutation. That is, from a single-strain infection, a individual animal might have 2-5 mutations. Get a herd together, and they almost act as a group of laboratories that selectively breed the "most effective" strain, with strains competing in 'semi-finals' with each other, until one mutates enough so that the herd has no defense against it. They they all get it.
North Korea on Saturday called President Bush a "hooligan" and said it expected no solution of the standoff over its nuclear program during his administration. The comments by North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman followed a White House news conference Thursday in which Bush described North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as a "tyrant" and a "dangerous person."
"Bush is a hooligan bereft of any personality as a human being ... and a Philistine whom we can never deal with," the ministry spokesman said Saturday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency. North Korea "does not expect any solution to the nuclear issue or any progress in (North Korea)-U.S. relations during his term," the unnamed spokesman said. "Bush is, indeed, a world dictator whose hands are stained with the blood shed by innocent civilians."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 ||
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I assume that leveling Pyongyang will take out the Foreign Ministry too.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/01/2005 10:55 Comments ||
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#2
Poster girl looks familiar. I didn't know Rachel Corrie had a Korean cousin...
#6
Guess this means Pyongyang will be telling NK's housewives to buy bigger pots that can cook more grass and shrubs, besides also recomm NK start eating the dirt that clings to the grass - like any good medieval warlord and bandit-slaver of antiquity, the priority of the Leader = State is to steal =buy better swords and weapons on par with the King's army or the local Sheriff. Tell the Norkie babes to make sure they clock in on time at the local Army brothels iff they expect the Leader = State to give them infant formula this week vv the local People's s Army reserves/stockpiles!?
Just three weeks after naming one deputy commander for V Corps, the Pentagon has unexpectedly appointed a second.
Maj. Gen. John Batiste, outgoing commander of the 1st Infantry Division, was named V Corps deputy commander on Friday. Batiste now holds the same title as Brig. Gen. Daniel Hahn, who assumed his position on April 6.
No mention was made then that Hahn would be joined by Batiste in what was previously a one-person position.
What Batiste's duties will be and what his appointment signified are unclear. V Corps leaders Saturday were saying little about his new position.
"Maj. Gen. Batiste is obviously very well qualified. We look forward to him joining the corps team," V Corps spokesman Brian McNerney said. "He knows the area of operations we're going to."
V Corps' current commanding general, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, is due for reassignment or retirement in the next few months. Sanchez took command of the corps following the U.S. military's march into Baghdad about two years ago and led it through operations in Iraq.
During Sanchez's command in Iraq, the Army was rocked by the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. Sanchez was recently cleared of culpability by an Army Inspector General report.
But at a press conference last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declined to say what was next for Sanchez. "Everyone does not go on to another post; it gets tight at the top," Rumsfeld said.
"And he is clearly a person in an important position at the present time, has been in the past, and he's a person who would be considered in the future."
Batiste, 52, took the 1st ID to Iraq in February 2004, and headed Task Force Danger, a 22,000-troop force that included National Guard and 25th Infantry Division units as well as the Big Red One's three Germany-based brigades. The task force was credited with building new infrastructure while fighting an increasingly dangerous insurgency and improving its own bases from its headquarters in Tikrit. The 1st ID's tour wrapped up supervising the successful Iraqi elections.
V Corps' headquarters will be returning to Iraq, likely in December or January, McNerney said, after an estimated half of the corps' units deploy there.
But that leaves half of the corps in Germany, at least for now. Army transformation plans call for one of the corps' units — the 1st ID — to relocate to the United States beginning next year, with the 1st Armored Division following about two years later, after finishing an upcoming Iraq deployment.
Batiste is being replaced in the 1st ID by Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hunzeker. That appointment was announced on April 20. At that time Batiste's new assignment was not disclosed.
Batiste was spending time with his family and not available for comment Saturday, said Maj. Bill Coppernoll, a 1st ID spokesman. I see three possibilities, the first being that the first one was not up for the job, the second that one of the two is promotable to V Corps Commander, the third being that the Command is to be permanently split, with the new Command becoming the permanent Iraq Corps Command.
#1
This is putting a valuable Division Commander in the right spot to move up to Corp after the currne CDR leaves. Peactime they dont do this sort of thing, but this is war, and you want a Corps Cdr that knows the situation and has commanded in-theater. Thats what this looks like.
The current Corps DC will stay put and get some seasoning, before getting his second star and moving on to command a division somewhere.
Smart move to keep a capable and experienced commander at the helm and in theater.
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has approved a government decree allowing the United States to use a key military base in the south of the country as a logistical cargo hub for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Anatolia news agency reported. Sezer's approval late Friday brought to an end months of negotiations between the two countries amid bilateral tensions stemming from differences over Iraq and constituted another step toward improving strained ties.
The details of the deal were not disclosed, but US officials here earlier said they had requested permission to fly in "nonlethal" logistical material to Incirlik air base in southern Adana on civilian cargo planes and redistribute the goods to Iraq and Afghanistan on military aircraft. The cargo flights would not carry any troops, ammunition, or personnel, but only supplies and equipment to support forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States was also requesting blanket clearance for planes landing and taking off from the base, officials said. The deal will not require the approval of the Turkish Parliament, as it will fall under the scope of an earlier government decision allowing countries involved in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to use Turkish transportation facilities for logistical and humanitarian purposes. The Turkish Parliament stunned Washington just before the occupation of Iraq in March 2003 when it denied US troops access to Turkish territory for a planned invasion of Iraq from the north.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Even without combat flight permission, this would be important in any conflict with Iran, as supplies through the Gulf might be under pressure by Iranian shore missiles and irregular navel forces.
Posted by: DO ||
05/01/2005 11:10 Comments ||
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France's former interior minister denied any involvement in suspected corruption in the oil-for-food program for Saddam Hussein's Iraq and said the detention of his former aide in an investigation into the program did not concern him. Charles Pasqua, a conservative who headed the Interior Ministry in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was named in a report last October by U.S. arms inspector Charles Duelfer as one of several officials who allegedly benefited from corruption in the humanitarian program. The politicians and officials cited in the report were mainly from Russia, France and China. In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Pasqua denied involvement in the scandal and said the detention earlier this week of his former aide, Bernard Guillet, in a French judge's investigation of the program "does not concern me." Asked about claims that he traded in Iraqi oil, he said: "Of course not. All of that is ridiculous."
"I have said and thus I confirm that I have strictly nothing to do with this affair. I never received anything. I never took part in any sales," he said in the telephone interview. Pasqua, who in his current post as senator has immunity from prosecution, suggested he was unwittingly implicated in Duelfer's report. "If my name crops up, then someone must have used my name," he said. "I have nothing to do with all of this."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
cherchez Maugein. et vous trouveriez Jacques le Ver
#3
The gentleman should be less sanguine. There is very little tradition of taking one for the team in post-WWII France (perhaps before as well, but I don't want to muddy the discussion with extranealities).
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused his Israeli counterpart of "terrorism," compared Israel's crackdown against Palestinians to the Spanish Inquisition and said Israeli actions fuel anti-Semitism. But on Sunday Erdogan, whose party has its roots in Turkey's Islamic movement, heads to the Jewish state in a trip aimed not just at repairing relations but also at boosting Turkey's image in the United States and in Europe, where debate is raging over whether to let Turkey into the European Union.
The trip comes as Turkey's ties with key allies are strained, with some in Washington questioning Turkey's role as a strategic ally and Europeans increasingly skeptical about letting Turkey into their club. On top of that, newly elected Pope Benedict XVI is emphasizing the continent's Christian roots. Erdogan "is swallowing his pride in order to regain his lost stature in Washington," said Duygu Bazoglu Sezer, a professor of political science at Ankara's Bilkent University. "He has been quite isolated and his foreign policy successes ... are now a bit tarnished."
A year ago, Erdogan was flying high. The EU agreed in December to give Turkey a date to open accession talks and Turks were so overjoyed that some began comparing Erdogan to Mehmet the Conquerer, the Ottoman Sultan who captured Constantinople and is regarded as one of the greatest Turkish leaders. When Erdogan took office two years ago, relations with the United States were so good that he was quickly invited to the White House and officials showcased him as an example of what they hoped would be the future of the Middle East — a devout Muslim leader who was pro-Western. But those close ties have deteriorated. A request Erdogan made last month for a meeting with President Bush at the White House has not been answered, according to a U.S. diplomat.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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What! The French aren't rewarding Turkey for stabbing the US in the back. I'm shocked!
#5
Turkey and Israel had a successful trade relationship building til recently. "Israeli Jews punching the ticket" sounds like you think they're selling out us or the Armenian history....WTF? Israel vouching for Turkey's REALLY gonna help them get in the EU...riigghhtt
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 12:37 Comments ||
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#6
Frank G. "Israel vouching for Turkey's REALLY gonna help them get in the EU"
It's not about EU, it's about Turkey discovering the costs of breakiking its alliance with US. Now, Erdogan, like most ROPers, believes that Bush is controled by "neocons". Hence the visit.
#9
LOL - how much strength do you expect Bush to exert over the EU??? That's the French/German pet project, we don't have a dog in that fight
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 19:16 Comments ||
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#10
In fact, we already saw a demonstration of Bush's lack of ability to pressure the EU to take positive action on Turkey's desire to join the EU. Coupled with the EU's demonstrable anti-Israel policies, I don't know how Erdogan thinks this is going to help. ...Unless he has finally realized that at this point Israel is about the only friend Turkey has left, but only if he reverses recent moves.
NYT Op Ed piece by Stephen Morris, on how we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in 1975 South Vietnam. Familiar to most Rantburgers, but worth a read since it's in the NYT of all places. Another hat tip to Just One Minute.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2005 4:46:48 PM ||
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It's hard to believe this kind of revisionist history is making it to the pages of the NYT during the lifetime of the boomers. Letters to the editor should be seething this week.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/01/2005 17:31 Comments ||
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#2
This article nust have "slipped" by mistake into the NYT.
#3
I dunno, Mrs. D., the article blames Congress for cutting off the aid in 1974, and points out that the South Vietnamese successfully repelled the Northern offensive in 1972. Seems right to me.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2005 18:57 Comments ||
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#4
Steve, I agree with the article, but it constitutes revisionist history given the received wisdom of the left. The cutoff was engineered by J. Wiliam Fulbright, Bill Clinton's mentor, in 1973. The left has ignored its culpability for the defeat of South Vietnam and the creation of the boat people through the cutoff of funds for decades. That is why I am surprised to see it in the NYT.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/01/2005 19:18 Comments ||
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Counterterrorism officials are trying to learn the identity of an apparently important aide to Iraq's most violent insurgent leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is referred to only as "The American" in a laptop computer belonging to Zarqawi that was seized by U.S. troops in February.
The Pentagon disclosed this week that American special forces almost captured Zarqawi near the city of Ramadi on Feb. 20, but came away instead with a valuable consolation prize - his laptop. In it they found a trove of intelligence, which intelligence officials are still analyzing.
"They [intelligence analysts] still don't know who he ['the American'] is," said a counterterrorism source who has been briefed about the contents of the computer's hard drive. "Zarqawi kept him compartmented from the rest of his organization. Some think he might be around in Mexico or some place."
But a U.S. intelligence official said he thinks "the American" may already be in U.S. custody. He said that a senior associate of Zarqawi, who holds dual Jordanian and U.S. citizenship, was arrested by U.S. troops inside Iraq late last year. "If it's this man already in the bag, then there's no need to panic," the official said.
The senior associate's seizure was confirmed earlier this month by the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary for detainee affairs, Matthew Waxman. Neither Waxman nor other defense officials would provide the man's name, but they said he was born in Kuwait of Jordanian parents, is a naturalized U.S. citizen and has lived in America for about 20 years.
The counterterrorism source, a former top CIA official, said that the laptop also revealed that Zarqawi is actively recruiting most of his suicide bombers from Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
"He was doing that in Europe, within the Muslim communities, but the European countries are now watching closely," he said. "There are hundreds and hundreds of Saudis who are trying to be recruited for suicide missions. The Saudis are trying to stop them, but they can't get them all. And Zarqawi's got his people now in Yemen recruiting."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 12:30:25 AM ||
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"There are hundreds and hundreds of Saudis who are trying to be recruited for suicide missions. The Saudis are trying to stop them, but they canât get them all. And Zarqawiâs got his people now in Yemen recruiting."
Making Nice: The "law enforcement" mentality is still kicking, I see. It doesn't take a genius to figure out it's all happening at the zoo moskkks. Shut down the jihadi imams. Fuck - shut 'em all down. Were the Saudis or Yemenis even remotely serious about stopping or even slowing this, instead of happily exporting their jihadi loonies, with a sigh of relief, I'd bet, they could do so.
Making Not Nice: I've grown a tad impatient with the House of Saud - to the same point, in fact, as with the Black Hats. They both have to go, as soon as we can muster the goddamned will to do it. Nothing stops until they are forced off the oil tit. Decap 'em both. Organize the Persians to take over. Create the Republic of Eastern Arabia. Tall order? Yeah. So is burying thousands of dead, cleaning up, and rebuilding the WTC. Maybe this time it will be Baltimore or the Houston Ship Channel Petrochemical Complex or the Long Beach Docks. Choose.
IT'S THE MONEY, Mr Former Top CIA Official.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way. If our Govt isn't willing, then farm it out and make the decaps personal with a healthy dose of that good old extreme prejudice. Time to get real and get serious. They sure are.
#2
trying to learn the identity of an apparently important aide to Iraqâs most violent insurgent leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is referred to only as "The American" in a laptop computer belonging to Zarqawi
Zarqawi: "Are there two o's in Michael Moore? Forget it...just call him 'the American'"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 11:56 Comments ||
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#3
Frank G - great minds, etc., again. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/01/2005 12:36 Comments ||
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dotcom - totally agree with you.
and you Frank G. and by implication Barbara :)
I was thinking about this only yesterday, how 'sensitive' The West (capitalisation intentional - The West *is* the best) has been extraordinarily sensitive in this war. FFS, we were looking at using bombs made of *concrete* to limit 'collateral' damage - so I have no problem about certain folks in the ME getting capped. The whole Saudi Royal Family if necessary - call it the 21st century curse of the Romanovs...
Rather that than the full-on response that is highly likely if a US city were to be nuked by f*tards fuelled by Saudi money.
Way too long to quote here. Here's the first paragraph:
Security concerns outlined last month by the New York Police Department have set off a serious reassessment of plans for the World Trade Center site. People involved in the rebuilding effort say that the revisions that need to be made to the site's most prominent feature, the Freedom Tower, could delay the start of construction from several months to a year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2005 12:02:05 AM ||
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Seven months before Sept. 11, 2001, the State Department issued a human rights report on Uzbekistan. It was a litany of horrors.
The police repeatedly tortured prisoners, State Department officials wrote, noting that the most common techniques were "beating, often with blunt weapons, and asphyxiation with a gas mask." Separately, international human rights groups had reported that torture in Uzbek jails included boiling of body parts, using electroshock on genitals and plucking off fingernails and toenails with pliers. Two prisoners were boiled to death, the groups reported. The February 2001 State Department report stated bluntly, "Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights."
Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, however, the Bush administration turned to Uzbekistan as a partner in fighting global terrorism. The nation, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, granted the United States the use of a military base for fighting the Taliban across the border in Afghanistan. President Bush welcomed President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan to the White House, and the United States has given Uzbekistan more than $500 million for border control and other security measures.
Now there is growing evidence that the United States has sent terror suspects to Uzbekistan for detention and interrogation, even as Uzbekistan's treatment of its own prisoners continues to earn it admonishments from around the world, including from the State Department.
Much more at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2005 12:06:40 AM ||
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#1
I really dislike this practice. It embodies all of the moral problems involved in torturing people (rather than simple interrogations) with no sort of material benefits, since I think all of the countries used thusly will at the end of the day lie to us about what they've found out.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/01/2005 2:01 Comments ||
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#2
The NYT needs to invest in an atlas so its reporters understand why in order to deal with Afghanistan, the USA had to obtain the cooperation of one or more neighbouring states. None of those are very nice. And concerning the detainees, what does the NYT suggest is done with them. Keep them in Gitmo, let them go, hand them over to the UN?
#4
Phil, I might have agreed with you before the Abu Ghraib and Gitmo media extravaganzas, but what are the choices? We're at war, but the media wants us to playt patty-cake with these thugs. I say this problem is just not at the top of my priority list.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/01/2005 20:43 Comments ||
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Phil,
I agree with you - but *only* to the extent that I believe that the information gained will be useless. You stick electrodes on my nuts, I'll tell you black is white and anything else you like so you'll stop. This article is a very informative view from Oct 2003. It's now gone behind their paywall, but the gist of it was that violence was not effective. It's a ways back now, but I *think* I remember them talking about being brutal in life-or-death situations.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/01/2005 21:11 Comments ||
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#6
I'll sleep OK
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 21:12 Comments ||
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#7
Just realised the article says it was just after the 9/11 attacks that the administration looked to Uzbekistan for some assistance. I guess that the Uzbekistanis, realising that one of the options on the table at that time was 'boiling' the entire Middle East, thought it would be politic to do what they do *anyhow* and help the 'crazy Americans'.
It's a thought...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/01/2005 21:34 Comments ||
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Reports of credible terrorist threats against the United States are at their lowest level since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to U.S. intelligence officials and federal and state law enforcement authorities.
The intelligence community's daily threat assessment, developed after the terrorist attacks to keep policymakers informed, currently lists, on average, 25 to 50 percent fewer threats against domestic targets than it typically did over the past two years, said one senior counterterrorism official.
A broad cross section of counterterrorism officials believes al Qaeda and like-minded groups, in part frustrated by increased U.S. security measures, are focusing instead on Americans deployed in Iraq, where the groups operate with relative impunity, and on Europe.
Though some are expressing caution and even skepticism, interviews last week with 25 current or recently retired officials also cited progress in counterterrorism operations abroad and a more experienced homeland security apparatus for a general feeling that it is more difficult for terrorists to operate undetected. The officials represent federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies, state and local homeland security departments and the private sector.
Time Online, the Web-based version of Time magazine, reported that U.N. diplomats and other employees ransacked unguarded dining rooms, taking food, liquor and even tableware. The report was picked up by the New York Post, which ran the story under the headline, "Baghdad-style looting at U.N. eateries."
Syria announced plans to restore diplomatic relations with
Iraq more than two decades after ties were severed, boosting regional hopes for securing borders and signaling a willingness to change its policy toward the violence-torn country. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2005 11:32:55 AM ||
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how about stopping infiltrators? Nice start, anything else is BS if your jihadis are trying to destabilize while you resume "diplo" relations
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 14:04 Comments ||
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#2
Frank, we've got to stop meeting like this! You're echoing my thoughts again. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/01/2005 14:36 Comments ||
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#3
careful, PD gets jealous :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 14:36 Comments ||
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#2
.com, disingenuity is a part of the story, and is usually associated with the established medialytes that must after while get cynical else be subject to a frequent barfing and find another vocation. The yuts that are coming out (a decade long trend) from the journo madrassas, on the other hand, were subject to a thorough toolification.
Well, true, when you put it on scales, it comes to about the same effect.
#3
.com, you took the words right out of my mouth from the instant that I saw the headline.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/01/2005 10:50 Comments ||
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#4
Waddya mean "resume"?
My only question is, aetting aside all the fellow travellers and collaborators in the press, did the rest of them have to go to Stupid School or is this a natural talent?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/01/2005 12:43 Comments ||
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#5
aettingsetting
PIMF :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/01/2005 14:53 Comments ||
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#6
Man... that photo alone is a spew alert. Freaken' great!
#7
Maybe those wacky Mullahs just want to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the "Longest Running Handjob". How nice the Euros are willing to go along.
The Army's massive modernization project, Future Combat Systems, isn't just one program. It's hundreds of interlocking, interwoven efforts to update armor, uniforms, logistics, medical care, and much, much more. A few key threads hold the whole tapestry together. And one of them is rapidly coming undone.
Without communications -- specifically, without the Joint Tactical Radio System, or "Jitters" -- many of FCS' most innovative efforts just won't work. FCS is an attempt to turn the Army into a force that takes out opponents with ultra-precise attacks and almost Godlike knowledge of the battlefield instead of with overwhelming firepower. To make this nimbly lethal dream come true, the Army needs almost-instant information-sharing, both between soldiers and with FCS' new fleet of robots. It needs Jitters.
Right now, the Army isn't getting what it needs. Jitters is flailing, badly. As we noted the other day, the Army has put one of the program's main contractors, Boeing, on notice that it could cancel one component, or "cluster," of Jitters in a month.
Winds of Change offers today some stellar background on the program -- what Jitters does, the problems it faces, and what might happen next. And it the site's comments section, a Jitters engineer weighs in on how the program got so tangled up. Good stuff.
THERE'S MORE: Meanwhile, Inside Defense reports, the Army is starting to look around for alternatives to Jitters.
The Army's next-gen set of rockets is called the Non-Line of Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS). It's supposed to rely on Jitters' "Cluster Five" to direct its assaults. But, like Boeing's component of the radio system, Cluster Five "has hit its own program snags," says Inside Defense. As a result, the Army is considering the possible use of surrogate systems.
NLOS-LS is made up of three key components: the Precision Attack Munition, a direct-attack missile that can autonomously acquire a target; the Loitering Attack Munition, which is being designed to fly to a target up to 70 km away and loiter above it for up to 30 minutes before striking; and the Container Launch Unit, the box that stores, commands and fires the missiles.
The CLU, which officials call "the heart and soul of the program" because it contains the... information that... will tell the PAM where to go, depends on [Jitters].
"The number one risk to the NLOS-LS program currently is the network," said Ric Magness, president of NetFires LLC, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon established to build NLOS-LS.
NLOS-LS is supposed to rely on a future software programmable radio called the Joint Tactical Radio System's Cluster Five, but that program has hit its own program snags. As a result, the Army is considering the possible use of a surrogate for the PAM and the CLU.
According to a Government Accountability Office report, JTRS -- designed to transmit voice, video and data -- was put on a system development and demonstration path with immature technologies and few well-defined requirements. The program faces technical challenges because of its size, weight, power and data processing requirements. Its early development was delayed because of a contracting dispute.
"Consequently," the report said, "the Cluster 5 radios are not likely to be available" for the initial roll-out of FCS." And that includes the new rocket system.
AND MORE: Winds' sister site, Defense Industry Daily, is tracking the criminal investigation into the disfunctional search and rescue radios L-3 Communications has built for the Army.
#1
The problem with making such a complex, interwoven set of improvements simultaneously is that the probability of failure is multiplicative, not additive. Thus, if each part of the total project has only a 5% chance of failure, but there are twenty sub-projects, the total chance of success is really, really low (the exact answer I leave as an exercise for the reader.) I watched this happen on a product development project Mr. Wife worked on in the mid-80's -- they never did manage to make all the improvements dovetail into a manufacturable product, although they could make it by hand at seven times the maximum consumer-acceptable retail price. In the end, they were able to take a number of the sub-projects and work them into related projects, so the work wasn't lost, but they were never able to realize the dream.
From a management perspective, one super-product would seem to be the most efficient way to go, but unfortunately reality tends to intrude most uncomfortably. I would suggest that the most important bits, eg battlefield-wide instant information sharing, be completed first, then serially develop the other things to fit with that key product.
With its key legal battles behind it, the Army will begin construction next month of the first of 28 projects designed to prepare Schofield Barracks and the Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area for its newest unit -- the Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
Ron Borne, the Army's transformation manager at Schofield Barracks, said construction will begin this year on at least nine of the 28 Stryker-related projects totaling $164.5 million.
Cost of the Stryker projects on Oahu and the Big Island is estimated at $693 million and could extend into 2010.
Borne said the Army can now enter into serious negotiations with the Richard Smart Estate to acquire 23,000 acres of Parker Ranch on the Big Island to be used as a maneuver area for the 19-ton, eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles.
Borne said up to $30 million may be spent to expand the 108,792-acre Pohakuloa Training Area. With more than 300 vehicles assigned to the 3,500-member Stryker unit, the Army needs an area as large as Pohakuloa to train together. It also will include a parachute drop zone.
Borne said all the 28 Stryker-related projects were placed on hold after Earthjustice, representing Ilioulaokalani Coalition, Na Imi Pono and Kipuka, went to federal court last August and challenged the results of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team's environmental impact statement.
Last week, Chief U.S. District Judge David Ezra rejected that Earthjustice complaint and a companion one challenging an agreement between the Army and Campbell Estate on the sale of 1,402 acres of land adjacent to Schofield Barracks along Kunia Road. The South Range land will be used as a training area, a new $50 million Stryker motor pool and a $5 million rifle and pistol range. Construction will begin this year.
Ezra's decisions mean the Army can resume transforming the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade at Schofield to the more mobile Stryker unit. One Stryker unit is already working in Iraq.
Earlier this year, an internal Army report said the vehicle bogs down in mud and the engine strains under 5,000-pound armor added by the Army. The report also said the armor's extra weight has caused problems with the automatic tire-pressure system, requiring crews to check the tires three times a day.
Other projects planned for this year include spending:
>>$30 million to construct a 24-building mock city that would include two warehouses, four offices, one municipal and one office structure, a service station, hotel, police station, graveyard, bank, townhouse, nine homes, school and an airfield at the Kahuku Training Area.
>>$8 million to modernize five pistol, rifle, machine gun, sniper and mortar-firing ranges at McCarthy Flats at Schofield.
>>$7 million to purchase 27 acres of easement to build a 12-mile vehicle trail between Schofield Barracks and Helemano Military Reservation.
>>$30 million to upgrade the platoon live-fire range at Schofield.
>>$3.5 million to build a vehicle wash area at Schofield.
>>$7 million to install a tactical Internet system at Schofield Barracks and Pohakuloa.
>>$24 million to construct a vehicle deployment preparation at Wheeler Army Airfield.
Next year, Stryker projects include spending:
>>$6 million to replace and upgrade the current mock city facility at Schofield where soldiers learn urban assault techniques and proper ways to clear buildings firing live ammunition.
» $30 million to replace existing live fire ranges at Pohakuloa.
Still to be funded, Borne said, are projects to:
» Build a 15-mile road between Schofield Barracks and Dillingham Military Reservation to take Stryker and other 25th Division vehicles off city roads. The new road would be built in 2010.
» Upgrade the parking aprons that will be used by C-130 cargo and troop transport aircraft at Wheeler Airfield. Construction is set for 2010.
» Build a 30-mile private military road on the Big Island from the port of Kawaihae to Pohakuloa Training Area.
» Lengthen and straighten and reorient the existing 4,750-foot runway to accommodate C-130 propellor-driven and C-17 Globemaster jet cargo planes at Pohakuloa by 2010.
This summer at Hickam Air Force Base the Air Force will dedicate a $30 million facility, which will consist of three buildings for training, operations and maintenance and a flight simulator for a new C-17 squadron.
The first of seven C-17 jets will arrive in January from Boeing's Long Beach facilities. The C-17 is a critical portion of the Pentagon's humanitarian and strategic Pacific airlift operation, which includes being able to transport Schofield's Stryker Brigade Combat Team to any place in 96 hours.
The first two dozen vehicles should arrive at Schofield Barracks in May 2006. Eventually, the 25th Division will have 300 Stryker vehicles that can be outfitted in 10 different ways, with everything from a 105-mm cannon for a mobile gun system to a completely wired command center. Each Stryker costs about $1.5 million.
The tracked combat vehicles and another 810 soldiers will be assigned to the Tropic Lightning's 2nd Brigade, which last month completed a year's combat tour in Iraq.
The first soldiers seeking assignment to the Stryker brigade should arrive later this year, Borne said, as part of the Army's summer normal job rotations. By October, the 2nd Brigade will grow to more than 3,850 soldiers from 3,000.
The unit should be operational by May 2007, Borne added.
The Stryker, named after two Medal of Honor recipients, is the brainchild and legacy of retired Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric "Ric" Shinseki. The Strykers, much lighter than the 67-ton M-1A1 Abrams tanks, were conceived to be easily deployed. They are the first new Army vehicle to enter service since the Abrams tank in the 1980s.
Ethiopian graduates of the Combined Joint Task Force — Horn of Africa's Operation Ridgeback Tutor have begun training new students from the Ethiopian Army in anti-terrorism operations as a part of Ridgeback Tutor IV, here.
The course, which was originally taught by members of Team Alpha, 1-294th Infantry (Light), focuses on such topics as troop leading, patrolling, traffic control and roadblocks, improvised explosive device searches and short range marksmanship. While Team Alpha remains, they have assumed a supervisory role, allowing their former students to teach the class.
"We took an 'instruct the instructors' approach to the first few classes, and now those graduates are teaching" said 1st Lt. Joseph Cruz, commanding officer of the instructor staff here. "Now we are more watching the instructors⊠they are really teaching the course now."
The course involves practical exercises, a three-day, two-night field training exercise, and classroom instruction complete with slides translated in Ahmeric. According to instructors and students alike, the training has been very beneficial.
"Some of the topics are a little difficult because we have basically been taught offense and defense in the past, not any specialized training like this," said Ethiopian Army Lt. Solomon Abebe, graduate of the Ridgeback Tutor II and current chief instructor of the course. "The hardest classes are the troop leading procedures and action on the objective. But [the students] have a good knowledge of the lessons and do well."
Because Ethiopian instructors are now entirely running the course, Team Alpha's trainers can now focus on sharpening the instructor's skills and improving the quality of the training itself.
"We critique them at the end of the day," explained Sgt. Tommy Taitano, one of Team Alpha's trainers. "We encourage them and give suggestions on how to improve."
Students in the course find the methods of instruction very different to what they are accustomed to. According to Abebe, most military instruction in Ethiopia comes in lecture form. Students, especially those from enlisted ranks, are discouraged from participating classes or offering suggestions - whereas the Ridgeback Tutor courses encourage student participation from officers and NCOs alike.
"This is a new subject for us, and the ways we have class are very different," said Abebe. "Having participation and discussion is good and has helped them learn."
While the course has had some obstacles, it has generally run smoothly, according to Cruz. The contents of the course is in some cases counter to all training the Ethiopian students have received throughout their careers, most notably in the area of troop leadership; as non-commissioned officers are not traditionally given as much responsibility in the Ethiopian military as in the American.
"There are a lot of differences, but a lot of similarities as well" said Sgt. Frank Cepeda, a Team Alpha instructor, who said he has even had opportunities to learn from his students. "The Ethiopian commandos, for instance, challenged us the most. We were nothing but impressed with their tactics and movement and learned a lot from them."
The students are set to finish the three-week long course with a graduation ceremony Wednesday.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 14:36 Comments ||
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#2
Push away, Governor (Legal) Immigrant. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/01/2005 14:52 Comments ||
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#3
I deal with State DOT all the time, and it never fails to tickle me when I see "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger" stationary in place of Gray Davis... :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 14:54 Comments ||
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#4
Article: While the anti-illegal immigrant campaign was a winner for Wilson, it has devastated his party's standing with the state's fastest-growing ethnic group.
Not that it matters, since most of these people are illegal immigrants and not eligible to vote, anyway. Note how the article assumes that it is not discriminatory to let mostly Mexicans in, while keeping other nationalities out via airport and port immigration controls.
#5
Two things: I am a State Worker and a Union Memebr and it just tickles me the way Arnold pisses them (Union) off. Legal Immigrants aren't happy with Illegal Immigrants either. They were just taking away the menial jobs around the state but that is not the case anymore. Construction, Carpentry, Electical, and plumping jobs are slwoly being taken over by Illegal labor. If the Republicans play the angle of "whose job is next" they will when the Illegal Immigration argument every time.
HT to LGF!
Israeli security forces have arrested a suspected would-be suicide bomber in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. It is the first Israeli operation in the area since Tulkarm was handed over to Palestinian control a month ago. fence complete near Tulkarm? I believe so...
Israeli soldiers moved into Tulkarm to arrest Muhammed Shalhub after learning that the 19-year old Palestinian had recorded a videotape in which he described his plans to carry out a suicide bombing. "Don't tell anyone" Oops!
Tulkarm's Governor has criticised the Israeli raid as a violation of the handover agreement. But Israel says it reserves the right to enter Palestinian towns to stop what it calls "ticking bombs". Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has vowed to end street patrols by armed militants. taking back what little authority they can get without riling up the rustics
It has also threatened to use force to prevent them at the start of a law-and-order drive by President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas militants have reacted angrily to the order for an end to such patrols, which have continued despite a cease-fire agreed by armed factions at the behest of Mr Abbas.
"We will allow no patrols in the Palestinian street except for those of the Palestinian Authority," Interior Minister Nasser Youssef said. "In case dialogue with the factions fails, the Palestinian Authority will take the initiative and impose its control by force."
Masked militants began patrols during the conflict, at the same time setting up booby traps and obstacles to hamper Israeli raids. Such patrols are also a way for the militants to show their local strength. "Yar!"
Mr Abbas prefers to negotiate with the militants rather than crack down on them, as Israel has urged. But last week Mr Abbas ordered forces to use an "iron fist" to prevent cease-fire violations.
he meant an "Iron Frist" which until very recently meant 'stern negotiations going on forever'
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 2:14:03 PM ||
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INSURGENTS shot dead five Iraqi policemen at a Baghdad checkpoint today and a bomb exploded nearby, underscoring the dire security situation on the third day of violence since a new government was formed.
The attack near a military college serving as a US military camp reinforced concerns that US-trained Iraqi forces still have a long way to go before they can take over security from American soldiers.
In the three days since Iraq announced the formation of a government — after three months of negotiations — insurgents have carried out a furious sequence of bombings, including more than 15 blasts in Baghdad, killing dozens.
Iraqi officials say militants have capitalised on the months of political haggling over the government's formation to step up their attacks in a campaign that has erased much of the optimism created by the January 30 elections.
The political squabbling and renewed violence also appear to have fuelled sectarian tensions, with politicians struggling to balance the interests of Shi'ites and Kurds, who are the new powers, and the Sunnis who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
While most of the violence in the past three days has focused on the capital and nearby areas, there are still attacks in the country's traditional hotspots.
Guerrillas fired at least seven rockets into the city of Fallujah yesterday, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding another, the US military said.
A US-led military offensive in November killed or captured hundreds of insurgents in Fallujah, a former rebel stronghold, and destroyed the nerve centre of the guerrillas. Since then, militants appear to have taken their operations elsewhere.
They have stepped up activities in cities such as Mosul, where the US military said a bomb hidden in a shrine killed three Iraqi civilians yesterday, and a suicide bomber attacked an American convoy, killing two Iraqis.
A US soldier was killed by small-arms fire yesterday in the town of Khaldiya, about 130km west of Baghdad, raising to at least 1206 the number of American soldiers killed in action since the war that toppled Saddam started in 2003.
Iraqi politicians want to show their people that their own security forces can defeat Saddam loyalists and militant followers of al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who is the most hunted man in Iraq, with a $US25 million ($32.15 million) bounty on his head.
But America's top general said this week insurgents were as strong as they were a year ago, mounting up to 60 attacks a day, despite the presence of about 140,000 US troops and more than that number employed in the Iraqi security forces.
Guerrillas seem to be implementing a ruthless new strategy of following up one suicide bombing with a second, aimed at police and security forces who rush to the scene.
In an audio tape put on the internet, a person purporting to be Zarqawi on Friday threatened more bombings and bloodshed in Iraq and said US President George W Bush would not be allowed to "enjoy peace of mind".
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/01/2005 5:05:54 AM ||
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In the third and final episode of a three-part TV interview entitled "Testimonial to Posterity" -- aired Tuesday evening -- President Hosni Mubark insisted that he is yet to decide whether to run in the forthcoming presidential elections, scheduled for September. He also expressed the hope that his initiative to amend Article 76 of the constitution -- allowing for multi- candidate presidential elections -- will foster a vibrant opposition in Egypt.
Quite how vibrant was put to the test the very next morning, yesterday, as activists across the country heeded the call, made earlier this month by the Egyptian Movement for Change -- otherwise known as Kifaya (Enough) -- to gather at predetermined sites in 14 cities in peaceful protest of a possible fifth term for Mubarak. And while yesterday's was the most ambitious protest to be called by Kifaya since it launched its increasingly vocal campaign against Mubarak's reelection last December, it was hardly the show of national will the organisers envisaged for Cairo, Alexandria, seven Nile valley towns (Mansoura, Damanhour, Damietta, Zagazig, Aswan, Minya and Qena) and five coastal towns (Al- Arish, Marsa Matrouh, Port Said, Suez and Ismailia).
According to a Kifaya statement the focus of the protest this time round was ending the State of Emergency -- in force since the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981 -- and forming "a transitional government and a national assembly to draft a new constitution". Scheduled to take place outside the Supreme Court Compound in downtown Cairo -- the site of Kifaya's first demonstration on 12 December -- the Cairo rally was halted as hundreds of anti-riot policemen cordoned off the area, arresting a number of activists as they stepped out of the adjacent underground metro station. Forced to relocate the protest to the nearby Press Syndicate, some 300 demonstrators gathered on the steps of the syndicate headquarters chanting anti-government slogans, surrounded by national and foreign TV cameras, besieged by many times their numbers of anti-riot police: "Enough," they chanted, "enough for Mubarak, enough for Gamal [Mubarak], enough for Kamal [El-Shazli, the deputy secretary-general of the ruling NDP]... Enough, we're at the end of our tether."
With the government under pressure both at home and abroad to introduce radical political reform, the past months have been witness to increasingly bold and vocal protests -- something the government need not necessarily dislike, some believe, so long as it remains within the boundary of the few hundred activists the Kifaya movement has so far managed to mobilise. In support of this view, they cite the harsh security measures unleashed in the case of Muslim Brotherhood protests -- Egypt's largest opposition group was conspicuously absent from yesterday's demonstrations -- in contrast to the relatively mild treatment Kifaya demonstrations receive. Aware that they were maintaining a precarious balance, the police, though they showed restraint towards protesters gathered outside the Press Syndicate, were more than sufficiently prepared for the possibility of the demonstrations spreading through the streets of downtown Cairo.
According to the editor of the Nasserist newspaper Al- Arabi, Kifaya activist Abdel- Halim Qandil, "52 activists were detained in the various Egyptian towns where demonstrations were to take place." Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Qandil said the police forced many Kifaya activists in Cairo into taxis, ordering the drivers to take them away; they also detained 30 demonstrators in the underground station near the Supreme Court. Security measures notwithstanding, the number of those who showed up at the Cairo demonstration was small relative to the publicity campaign waged prior to the event in opposition papers. In the words of Kifaya's general- coordinator, George Ishaq, "We don't care about the number of people who joined the protest, but rather about the fact that such acts of opposition are taking place -- exerting pressure on the regime to undertake genuine political reforms."
Will Kifaya manage single- handedly to engineer such reforms? Many Egyptians will not hesitate to answer this question in the negative. The charge that Kifaya -- and many of its leading figures, especially the controversial MP Ayman Nour -- is at bottom a TV phenomenon is frequently levelled at the movement. And the fact that the tens of thousands of people who witness such demonstrations in dowtown Cairo carry on with their business as usual is, for many, in itself evidence that it will take more than Kifaya to mobilise Egyptians in a political movement capable of bringing about a lasting, tangible change.
At time of going to the press many of the detainees had already been released.
Posted by: seafarious ||
05/01/2005 2:59:34 AM ||
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Iraq's Shiite Muslim leadership, alarmed by a surge in attacks as the new government prepares to take office, plans to crack down on Sunni-led insurgents and purge suspected infiltrators and corrupt officers from the nation's security forces, officials and lawmakers say.
A likely tactic, authorities say, is unleashing well-trained Iraqi commandos in Baghdad and other trouble spots. The special forces units have a reputation for effectiveness and brutality.
Whether additional Iraqi troops can tame an insurgency that has not withered in the face of massive U.S. military might remains to be seen. But Shiite leaders express confidence that determined Iraqi forces, with U.S. backup, can use their superior knowledge of the culture, language and terrain to gather intelligence, infiltrate cells and defeat the guerrillas.
The Iraqi commandos' wider deployment is indicative of how the raging guerrilla conflict here is increasingly a war pitching Iraqis against Iraqis, leading to a decline in U.S. casualty rates even as the number of Iraqi dead soars.
The prospect of stepped-up counterinsurgency efforts is greatly unsettling to a Sunni Arab minority that already considers itself besieged and disenfranchised in the new Iraq. Most Sunnis boycotted the Jan. 30 elections, and their political representation is scant.
Shiite leaders insisted on controlling the Interior Ministry during marathon talks to form the new government. Their plan is to oust guerrilla informants and sympathizers of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and go after insurgents in a more concerted fashion than the regime of outgoing Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose political slate was shut out of the new Cabinet.
Allawi, a secular Shiite who was himself a Baathist turned foe of Saddam, tried with little success to coax insurgents into the government through talks with Sunni tribal leaders and other intermediaries.
Although Allawi did sign off on the U.S.-led attack on the former Sunni rebel bastion of Fallujah last November, the Shiite Islamists about to assume power here are clearly signaling a much harder line.
"Our policy will be to develop the security forces and uproot the terrorist cells," Jawad Maliki, a prominent member of the dominant Shiite coalition in the new National Assembly, said in an interview here.
"They (Allawi's appointees) should have dealt with this situation from the beginning," added Maliki, a member of the political bureau of Dawa, the Islamist party of incoming Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. "We will not let this grow."
The incoming interior minister also took a tough stance. "The recent acceleration in terrorist attacks is posing a serious challenge on the ground," Bayan Jabour told the Al Hayat newspaper a day after the new government was approved. "We must take immediate action."
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other U.S. officials have warned that a large-scale purge can sweep out capable officers as well as compromised ones. U.S. authorities also fear a backlash among Sunni Arabs who might otherwise join the evolving political process and renounce armed struggle.
"If they (Iraqi authorities) want to reduce the level of the insurgency, having competent people and avoiding unnecessary turbulence is a high priority," Rumsfeld said in Washington last week.
But representatives of the new Shiite administration have harshly assailed the outgoing Interior Ministry, which is in charge of internal security, as riddled with insurgent informants and Saddam sympathizers.
The names of new policemen are being sold to "terrorists" bent on assassination, the new interior minister said, while suspects pay bribes to be sprung from custody.
"I could not sleep when I heard about this," Jabour said in an interview with a television station run by his Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. "We know many of these violators and we plan to discover the rest. We will take measures and people will see the changes in two months."
Shiites have agreed to allow a Sunni Arab to run the Defense Ministry but have already vetoed at least one candidate because of past Baathist ties. In the absence of a Sunni candidate acceptable to the Shiite majority in Parliament, Prime Minister al-Jaafari assumed the top defense post on a temporary basis.
At any rate, the new Shiite leadership appears determined to use its control of the Interior Ministry as a spear point in coming offensives. Tens of thousands of police officers and other troops are under its command.
Authorities plan increased deployment of the Interior Ministry's special commandos, known here as Maghawir (Fearless Warrior) brigades.
The units are largely composed of well-trained veterans of Saddam's military who worked closely with U.S. forces during pitched battles last year in Najaf, Fallujah and the northern city of Mosul. Their loyalty to the new Iraq has been tested, officials say, despite their previous service as commandos in Saddam's regime.
"We get involved once the police are helpless (against insurgents) and unable to do their job," Maj. Gen. Rasheed Flayih Muhammad, commander of the 12,000-strong Maghawir, said in an interview here.
While acknowledging U.S. logistical and technical support, Muhammad insisted that his forces are all-Iraqi and largely free of the U.S. taint that has marred many Iraqi units. "The Iraqi people treat us with respect," Muhammad said. "They love us because we are wearing our own Iraqi uniforms, and because we are doing our work by ourselves."
Many Sunnis view the squads suspiciously as largely composed of Shiite and Kurdish rivals eager to exact revenge for decades of suppression under Saddam, a Sunni Arab.
The planned anti-insurgency campaign comes as U.S. forces are increasingly turning over security to Iraqi forces and attacks with sectarian overtones continue on almost a daily basis.
On Saturday, a car bomb went off outside a recently formed Sunni political organization that favored participation in the new government, killing at least one bystander and injuring 17. The night before, officials said, someone had sprayed automatic-weapons fire at the office.
"Whoever did this means to cripple the political process," said Salih al Mutlig of the Iraqi National Dialogue Council, the group that was targeted in Saturday's bombing. "Without dialogue, the country will be headed to greater tragedies."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 12:35:30 AM ||
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The Iraq-based organization of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi is the most recent addition to Bin Laden's coalition, the World Islamic Front Against Crusaders and Jews. Zarqawi is the most important addition to the Front since it absorbed Zawahiri's Egyptian Islamic Jihad. It is therefore worth examining how Zarqawi's group fits into the coalition and how its activities mesh with bin Laden's three tenets for coalition warfare. To recap from Part I of this article, those tenets are: Command: Bin Laden is the inciter-in-chief, not commander-in-chief; Management: Impose only a few clear and simple rules; and the goal of disrupting U.S. leaders' focus and dispersing U.S. military/intelligence forces. (See Terrorism Focus, Volume II, Issue 7).
Bin Laden's late-December, 2004, welcome of Zarqawi into the World Front, as always, bore no hint that al-Qaeda would control Zarqawi's operations. Bin Laden's acceptance of Zarqawi's group came after almost a year of talks between "Shaykh Abu Mus'ab ⊠and the brothers of al-Qaeda," and more than two months after Zarqawi announced he and his "soldiers have pledged allegiance to the 'Shaykh of Mujahideen' Osama Bin Laden and they will follow his orders in jihad for the sake of GodâŠ." (Statement by Jama'at al-Tawhid wa-al-Jihad, 17 October 2004, www.alhesbah.org) In accepting Zarqawi, Bin Laden underscored that Zarqawi would not be under his direct command, saying that he "believed that the Mujahid Emir, dignified brother Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and the groups affiliated with him, are good and from the group that fights according to the orders of God." He also praised the "daring operations" Zarqawi had conducted against "the Americans and Allawi's renegade [Iraqi interim] government." (Bin Laden Statement, 28 December 2005, www.yaislah.org)
Applauding Zarqawi for "adhering to the covenant of God," bin Laden almost unobtrusively told his audience that "[i]t should be known that ⊠Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is the emir of the al-Qaeda organization" in Iraq, urging "[t]he brothers in the group there should heed his orders and obey him in all which is good." (Bin Laden Statement, 28 December 2004, www.yaislah.org) For the public, Zarqawi surrendered none of his autonomy by joining al-Qaeda, save changing his group's name from Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad to Qa'idat al-Jiahd Bilad al-Rafidayn — The al-Qaeda Organization for Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers. (Al-Arabiyah TV, 24 October 04) In all other ways, bin Laden made it clear that Zarqawi -- not bin Laden -- was in command in Iraq.
Behind the public cordiality lay, as Zarqawi's statements noted, almost a year of talks between him and "the brothers of al-Qaeda." The bulk of the period was spent finding a formula to ensure Zarqawi obeyed the two main regulations governing al-Qaeda's coalition partners: (a) member groups must keep moving and acting in a generally anti-U.S. manner, and, (b) member groups must not worsen intra-Islamic disputes over religion, ethnicity, and other issues until America is defeated. (See Terrorism Focus, Volume II, Issue 7) The first regulation obviously is not an issue of dispute between Zarqawi and al-Qaeda; the second was the sticking point.
After the U.S. invasion, it became clear that Zarqawi is an advocate of indiscriminate war against Iraq's Shi'as, whom he described in a June 2004 letter to bin Laden as "the lurking serpent, the cunning and vicious scorpion, the waylaying enemy, and the deadly poison." The Shi'a threat, Zarqawi argued, "is more serious and can inflict more harm on the nation than the Americans." He advocated "targeting them, and striking at them in their religious, political, and military depth [to] provoke them and make them come out against the Sunnis, bare their fangs, and bring out the internal hatred [for Sunnis] in their hearts." In sum, Zarqawi wanted to ignite an open Sunni-Shi'a civil war in Iraq, and offered his group's allegiance to al-Qaeda if bin Laden would "adopt this course of action, and get convinced of the idea of fighting the apostasy groupsâŠ" Zarqawi closed the letter by saying that if al-Qaeda did not endorse anti-Shi'a warfare, his group would not join the World Front, but "we will remain brothers and disagreements would not harm our relations." (Letter from Zarqawi to bin Laden, 15 June 2004)
Zarqawi's plea for help in causing a sectarian civil war stood no chance with bin Laden, who has consistently said that a victorious defensive jihad against "the aggressive enemy ⊠[is] impossible without all Muslims of all walks and ranks getting togetherâŠ." (Bin Laden, Declaration of War on the United States, 1 September 1996, al-Islah Website) Bin Laden asserts that the greatest imperative is to suppress sectarian differences until America is defeated. The duty of Muslims, he preaches, is to "overlook some disputed issues" and follow the guidance of the medieval Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyyah that "work should concentrate on warding off the greater of two evils." Bin Laden holds Shi'a Islam a heresy, but insists it is better for Sunnis to proceed "with the sinful princes.,. [so] that the greater harm is avoided and most of the rules of Islam are established, if not all" (Bin Laden, Declaration of War on the United States, 1 September 1996, al-Islah Website). Bin Laden has no doubt that America, not Shi'ism is the source of "greater harm" to Islam.
It seems superfluous to discuss how Zarqawi's accession to the World Front furthers al-Qaeda's coalition-war fighting goal of disrupting U.S. leaders' focus on al-Qaeda; causing a wider dispersal of U.S. military/intelligence forces -- especially since the capture of Bin Laden's letter asking Zarqawi to increase anti-U.S. attacks -- and driving up U.S. terrorism-related expenditures. Citing Bin Laden's description of the World Front's goal suffices to validate the high value of Zarqawi's coalition membership. "All that we have mentioned has made it easy to provoke and bait this [U.S.] administration" bin Laden said on 27 December 2004, "All we have to do is to send two Mujahideen to the furthest point East to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al-Qaeda, in order to make the [U.S.] generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without achieving for it anything of noteâŠ. So we are continuing this policy of bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy. Allah willing and nothing is too great for Allah." (Bin Laden Statement, 28 December 2005, www.yaislah.org) Clearly, Zarqawi is now an agent of al-Qaeda's bleeding-to-bankruptcy policy.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 12:28:21 AM ||
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The deputy to Al Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, has asked for orders to attack the White House and the Vatican, according to an audiotape posted on the Internet yesterday. "To our emir (leader) Abu Musab Al Zarqawi ... we say: We are ready for your orders. We are determined to fight the infidels," said Sheikh Abdulrahman Al Iraqi in the tape, whose authenticity could not be verified. "If you point at the White House or the Vatican, we would make every effort so that you reach your target," he added, in the online statement broadcast a day after a call by Zarqawi to his followers to intensify their fight against the Americans in Iraq. This is the first time that Al Qaeda, the terror group led by Osama bin Laden, mentions the Vatican as a possible target.
Meanwhile, at least six people were killed and 30 wounded in four separate car bombings in Iraq yesterday, three of them targeting army patrols. In one attack, a suicide driver ploughed into a joint Iraqi-US military convoy, killing two civilians and wounding six, an Interior Ministry official said. Police said four Iraqi soldiers were also wounded. The attack near Maysalun Square came a day after two other car bombs targeted the same eastern Baghdad district, part of a wave of explosions that caused havoc in the greater Baghdad area on Thursday. The group of Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attack in an Internet statement. A second car bomb, possibly set off by a suicide attacker, exploded at around 2:30pm outside a building where Sunni Arab politicians from the Council on National Dialogue were meeting, security officials said. One guard, sitting outside in a car, was killed, while 10 people, three of them guards, were wounded. The Sunni leaders escaped unharmed. The council was one of a number of moderate Sunni groups that took part in negotiations for the new cabinet line-up unveiled on Thursday, to the fury of insurgents and their hardline supporters among the ousted elite.
A third car bomb, set off by a suicide attacker at about 6pm, targeted a US military convoy near Al Shaab stadium in the east of the capital, police said.
It killed two civilians, wounded six and damaged four passing cars but the convoy escaped unscathed.
In the main northern city of Mosul, a female passer-by was killed and four Iraqi commandos wounded when a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle as a police convoy passed, police and medical sources said.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
SHEIKH ABDULRAHMAN AL IRAQI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 12:15:35 AM ||
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#1
permission? *snicker*
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 11:43 Comments ||
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They have to ask if they can murder "infidels"?
What a bunch of losers.
Go on, "Mama" Z - tell your little baby whiners if they have your permission to attack the big bad Satan.
*snort*
Or better yet, tell them to go for the Vatican. I think you'll find out the vast majority of the world's Catholics are nothing like the Kennedy, Kerry, et al.
Revenge will not be cold.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/01/2005 12:41 Comments ||
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I believe the ultimate target will be against Dubya and the leadership of the GOP-RIght in the Congress, etal. - Kerry, Gore, Madman Dean, and Der StalinReich CrockerFrau, People's Waffen SS Soviet Cookie Corps Hillary have already been PC "pre-positioned" to take over the reins of Govt post new 9-11. Kerry, Gore, and Dean are there to make sure Amerika fails while proclaiming otherwise. The Commies know Dubya knows that Commie Hillary will NOT run for POTUS per se in 2008 iff the various Rogue crises are not yet resolved, thus no matter what non-war policy(s) Dubya enacts against Iran and NK, etc. the Mad Mullahs and Norkies will deliberately do everything and anything to goad/induce Dubya, America, and America's volunteer Army to [ideal] CONVENTIONALLY attack and invade them, or else wage at worst LIMITED NUKE WAR, wars which are intended to domestically and politically DESTABILIZE America and PC induce Washington to promote evermore domestic Regulations and national Militarizations beyond that what Radical Islam and the first 9-11 have already caused. CLINTONISM > a hated Nazi/HItlerist is Still a hated Nazi/Hitlerist, but a Leftist-Socialist-Communist is a Nazi/HItlerist whose still for Leftism and Communism, i.e. a "GOOD" NAZI/HITLERIST WHOSE NOT A NAZI/HITLERIST" - the fact that both Moscow and Beijng have recently proclaimed government support for traditional Rightist-, RIghtism-based Conservatism/Nationalism, and "Fascist" objectives-agendas should tell youse that. The Left won't care because they are both for and against everyone and every side, even for and against their own, hence youse and only youse will be the ones where the Left is concerned whom has the burden of proving any each and all of their actual intentions or ventures - you know, SECULAR ETHICISM/MORALISM, the -ism that weirdly and mysteriously is consistent or non-dialectical as per Mass-based PROPAGANDA AND UTOPIANISM!? Left-beloved Dialecticism > the CLintons will be crying and lamenting at soldiers', Dubya's and America's funeral(s) while wondering why Islamist WMDS didn't make a bigger hole in Dubya's skull or kill more Americans like was planned!?
The bomber leapt off a bridge while being chased by police behind the Egyptian Museum, one of Cairo's most popular tourist destinations. The device, described as a nail bomb, went off just after 3pm above a crowded street and bus station near the museum's rear entrance, killing the attacker.
Four foreign tourists — an Israeli couple, an Italian and a Swede — were injured by the bomb. The Egyptian state media showed pictures of the attacker's body lying in a pool of blood, his head disfigured by the blast.
Police said it was unclear whether the assailant had detonated the bomb himself. Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the bomb being thrown from the bridge by a youth.
"The explosion was caused by a very primitive bomb full of nails. Most of the injuries were superficial, caused by the destruction of the nails," said Mohammed Awad Tag Eddin, the Egyptian health minister.
Daniel Seltham-White, from London, was among British tourists in the museum at the time. "We were on the second floor near the Tutankhamun exhibit, and we thought immediately that it was a bomb," said Seltham-White. "The last place we wanted to be was in a room full of foreigners."
As police and security services crowded into the area, the two veiled women spread panic further south, pulling up behind a tourist bus and shooting wildly into its rear window near the Sayida Aisha mosque in the old city. The shots shattered the window but no one aboard the bus was injured.
Police said one of the women was then shot dead by her accomplice, who promptly shot and wounded herself and died later in hospital. But according to witnesses, the police opened fire on the women, said to be in their twenties. Two Egyptian passers-by were wounded.
Yesterday's onslaught followed a suicide blast in Cairo on April 7 that killed two French citizens and an American near the Khan al-Khalili market, also in the old city.
The interior ministry said the man killed yesterday, Ihab Yousri Yassin from Saft, a town 35 miles south of Cairo, was the main suspect in the market bombing. Two of his alleged accomplices, Ashraf Saeed Youssef and Gamal Ahmed Abdel Aal, were captured earlier yesterday.
The two women who attacked the bus were identified as Negat Yousri Yassin, the bomber's sister, and Iman Ibrahim Khamis, his girlfriend.
The violence will revive fears in Egypt of a concerted effort by Islamic militants to cripple the tourist industry.
The country has been largely calm since a wave of attacks between 1992 and 1997 orchestrated by extremists opposed to President Hosni Mubarak.
But its main terror group, Jamaat al-Islamiyya, is closely allied with Al-Qaeda, which numbers several Egyptians among its leaders, including Osama Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The last attack near the prestigious Egyptian Museum — which houses many artefacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun — was in 1997, when two gunmen fired automatic rifles at a tour bus, killing nine Germans. In the same year militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians in Luxor, in the south of the country.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 12:11:38 AM ||
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G'Damnit, here we go again. I'm thinking it might be time to pull my oldest out of school over there, and bring her back to her Moms place. I'm back on line again R-Burgers, will be posting from a land far, far away from Arizona.
Nail bomb goes off in your hands..that's gonna leave a mark LOL....and cut down on the buoyancy
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 11:12 Comments ||
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There was another incident in 95 or 96 when a busload of Spanish/Greeks (not sure) arriving from Israel were gunned down on the Pyramid Road in front of their hotel. IIRC, the death toll was between 15-20. One of the Egyptian ladies in the office informed me of it that morning. Seeing my face, she then assured me that the perps thought the passengers were Israelis. Sort of like it was an honest mistake.
Bodyguard, if you are talking about the CAC in Maadi, don't know what to tell you as my three kids went there in the 90's and I always thought it wouldn't take much to take out the guards, scale the walls and blast the place. Nothing, thank God, ever happened. How is the security there now?
Posted by: chicago mike ||
05/01/2005 17:31 Comments ||
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An audiotape purportedly by America's most-wanted insurgent in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, that was posted yesterday on the Internet, threatens more attacks against United States forces and urges followers to be wary of any US attempts at dialogue.
The authenticity of the 18-minute tape, posted on a website known for carrying messages from Islamic militant groups, could not be determined.
The voice sounded similar to previous audiotapes attributed to the Jordanian-born militant who leads an al-Qaeda affiliate in Iraq.
The voice on the tape directly addresses US President George Bush, who yesterday welcomed the new Iraqi government and again promised US help against insurgents.
"You, Bush, we will not rest until we avenge our dignity," the voice said.
"We will not rest while your army is here as long as there is a pulse in our veins," it said.
The tape urged al-Zarqawi's followers to step up their attacks on American soldiers, vowing to "make swords drip with their blood".
"Move ahead with God's blessing," the voice commands followers.
"Before the fall of this night, I want to see your swords dripping with the blood of your enemy."
The speaker warns followers against any American overtures for dialogue, an apparent reference to reported attempts by the US-backed former Iraqi premier Ayad Allawi to open contacts with some insurgents — in an attempt to persuade them to lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty and a say in politics.
Leaders of the Muslim Scholars' Association, the main Sunni Muslim political front, have acknowledged US diplomats have tried to persuade them to end the insurgency in the Arab Sunni areas.
The speaker also blasted Iraqi Sunni Muslim clerics for failing to support the insurgency and mocked Iraqi Shiites, calling them "rotten."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 12:05:47 AM ||
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we will not rest until we avenge our dignity
You goat-humping murderers never had any dignity to begin with.
Qazi, who is also the ameer of the MMA's component Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), told reporters at Mansoora that the religious alliance was in contact with all political parties including the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) to avoid divisions in the opposition's ranks. "We have already met senior ARD leaders Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Raja Zafarul Haq several times and have signed a three-point agreement to get rid of the general, to restore parliament's sovereignty and the 1973 Constitution to its pre-October 12 (1999) form and to not accept any election with President Pervez Musharraf being around," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Saving themselves the trouble of walking out by not even showing up?
PESHAWAR: Aurat Foundation (AF), a leading women's rights group, has accused Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) of threatening to disrupt their election related activities in the Timergarah area of Dir district A press statement by the foundation on Saturday said that the JI had warned the activist of dire consequences if an AF meeting in collaboration with local social and civil rights groups was held.
The JI leaders were incensed by the fact that it would be a mixed gender meeting. A police official in Dir had called up a foundation staff member to inform her that local leaders of the religious party had threatened to disrupt that meeting. The staff member had explained to the official that none of the foundation members were attending the meeting and mindful of the social norms and of the area, a separate meeting had been convened for women in a neighbouring village. The statement said that this was not enough for the Timergarah tehsil nazim who arrived at the venue and let loose a flurry of abuse. He asked the organizers to remove the chairs and tents from the venue, adding that the foundation would not be allowed to hold the meeting. Later he ordered all routes to the rest house blocked.
In order to avoid any violent incident, the foundation changed the venue. "We have brought the incident to the notice of the Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad and we hope that JI national and provincial leadership will stop creating hurdles in the way of those working towards women's participation in the polls," the statement went on to say.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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AMMAN - Jordanian Prime Minister Adnan Badran has congratulated his Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim Jaafari, on the formation of a new government and invited him to visit, state-run Petra news agency said on Saturday. Badran phoned Jaafari on Friday amd "wished him success in serving the Iraqi people" and "praised the efforts made to build and strengthen political institutions" in Iraq, the agency said.
"Ibby! How's it hangin'?"
"Short, shriveled and to the left. How's t'ings with youse?"
He also invited Jaafari to visit Jordan, the agency said, adding that the Iraqi prime minister accepted the invitation. Badran said earlier this month he wanted to improve relations with Iraq following a crisis between the two neighbours over the alleged involvement of a Jordanian in Iraq's bloody insurgency.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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This is from the rough draft of the dossier, so you guys get to read some of it before Rohan and Tim do ...
The actual origins and founding of EIJ are somewhat murky, but it appears to date back to the 1960s, when Egyptian president Gamal Nasser attempted to enlist the Muslim Brotherhood into supporting his Arab Socialist Union by granting a general amnesty to its imprisoned members. While Nasser's plan failed, the attempt led to the formation of divisions within the Brotherhood on the use of violence to achieve its political objectives. By the 1970s, these divisions had led to some Muslim Brotherhood members splintering away entirely from the main group to form the Islamic Liberation Organization (ILO), which gained in strength and influence in Upper Egypt during throughout 1970s.
In 1974, ILO attempted to mount a coup d'etat against President Anwar Sadat in an attempt to seize control of Cairo's Technical Military Academy, assassinate Sadat, and declare the creation of an Islamic state in Egypt. The scope of the threat posed to the Egyptian government by ILO can be seen in the composition of the group's members, who were drawn from Sadat's own presidential guard, military intelligence, civil servants, radio and television workers, student activists, and university professors. While the attempted coup failed and ILO was brutally suppressed and forced underground in the subsequent violence, many of its former cadres became senior members of EIJ, which can be viewed as ILO's evolutionary descendant.
A second spike Egyptian Islamism occurred in 1977 when Shukry Mustafa led the Takfir wal Hijra (a name attributed to his group by the Egyptian press), likely consisting of disaffected ILO cadres, against night clubs in Cairo during a period of food riots in the city as well as kidnapping and murdering the moderate Islamic cleric Sheikh Mohammed al-Dhahabi. Mustafa was later arrested along with 400 of his followers, tried, and executed.
The key factor in the modern outbreak of Egyptian Islamist violence was Sadat's peace talks with Israel and above all else his decision to sign the Camp David Accords. No sooner had the Accords been signed than did the Egyptian Islamists, never the most united of movements, closed ranks against Sadat, with IG's disparate factions uniting around the Asyut-based Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and former ILO cadres organizing their members into clandestine cells under the name Gama'at al-Jihad (GaJ) and cultivating ties with disaffected members of the Egyptian military furious over the decision to make peace with Israel. Led by Lieutenant Khaled Islambouli, electrician Mohammed Abd al-Salaam Farag, and IG leader Karam Zuhdi, the Egyptian Islamists formed a shura or consultative council to coordinate their activities. Islambouli supervised activities with dissidents in the Egyptian military, Farag was the principal ideologue, and Zuhdi coordinated between GaJ and IG.
The culmination of more than 3 years of plotting by the Egyptian Islamists culminated in 1981. Violence, possibly orchestrated by the Islamist shura, broke out in June between the Muslim and Coptic communities of Cairo's al-Zawiyya al-Hamra slum. Mass detentions of more than 1,600 Coptic and Muslim Egyptians followed and IG (which was at the time regarded as a student organization) was formally banned on September 3. Among the Muslims arrested during the mass detentions was the influential Sheikh Abd al-Hamid Kishk, who had previously called for the prestigious al-Azhar theological academy to be made independent of the Egyptian government. While Sheikh Kishk did not call for the overthrow of the Sadat government, his support of making al-Azhar independent of the Egyptian government were seized upon by Islamists seeking the theological sanction of such prominent religious figures for their activities. Having already secured a fatwa from IG spiritual leader Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman sanctioning the assassination of Sadat, the Egyptian Islamists decided to finally move against the Egyptian leader.
On October 6, 1981, Lieutenant Khaled Islambouli and 7 other GaJ army regulars assassinated Sadat during a military parade through Cairo. 2 days later on October 8, 50 IG members attacked the police headquarters in Asyut and 87 people died in the subsequent shoot-out, 66 of the policemen. While the planned Islamist revolution in Egypt was quickly suppressed by Sadat's successor Hosni Mubarak, the investigation into the assassination revealed the full scope of the militant Egyptian Islamist movement and the clandestine cell structure that enabled it to operate under the radar of the government and its pervasive security apparatus. At Lieutenant Islambouli's 1982 trial it was revealed that he was part of a 24-man GaJ cell based in Upper Egypt whose members included Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
President Mubarak's reaction to the failed Islamist revolution was swift and ruthless. Islamist groups based in Upper Egypt were crushed and thousands of their members arrested, unlicensed mosques were demolished, and a state of emergency was implemented that is still in effect to this day. While human rights groups and others have criticized Mubarak's policies, what cannot be denied is that by 1985 the Islamist forces that orchestrated the initial uprising had been more or less destroyed. Lieutenant Islambouli and Mohammed Farag were both executed, while Karam Zuhdi was imprisoned until September 2003 for his role in the assassination. As a result, after 1985 GaJ as an organization was no more, but it was soon replaced by the Jihad al-Jadiid (New Jihad), which is known today as EIJ.
Editor's note: I put up that big picture of Sadat's assassination to remind us just how brazenly it was done. The link in the article title is mine; I found it while looking for the Sadat pic. And finally, the little picture is of the stamp issued by Iran "In Honour of Lieutenant Islambuli, The Revolutionary Execution Agent of Sadat" (1982.) Carry on, Dan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 12:01:07 AM ||
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Yes! Meaty detail and motive, a solid digest - with beautiful focus, Dan. Kudos. I hope our intelligence and analysis services are paying attention to your product. I have no doubt the quality meets and / or exceeds their internal efforts. One small ironic observation - our buddy, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, certainly gets, er, got around, didn't he? How sweet that he ends his days in a US prison, the prick.
I have, per yesterday's thread, a special interest in the actual events of Oct 6, '81. I knew that Lieutenant Khaled Islambouli, whose brother was one of the people rounded up in Sadat's crackdown, was instrumental in the assassination. There was supposed to have been a Major, as well. Curiously, if it is true, I read somewhere that the Major didn't survive questioning. Never did find a name to attach to the rank. And that is as high as the official trail went. Sans the swarming effect that the Internet brings to topics and events, the official story was, as was customary at that time, the end of it. What I would give for someone like Norb Garrett (and those who worked in his East Asia Division at CIA) to tell all he knows - and believes.
Thanks for the preview, Dan. At Rantburg U, class is in session - and I truly appreciate the lesson!
Mohammed Islambouli was a leader for one of the Islamist student unions who was arrested right before the assassination, I got it in another part of the dossier. There were 7 other army regulars (several of whom were tortured to death) aside from Khaled Islambouli who were directly involved in the killing of Sadat, and that was just with regard to the immediate assassination. Look at the ILO membership for a better picture at who the trail was likely to lead to if you want a better picture of the conspiracy that the Islambouli-Farag-Zuhdi troika were running.
As for the Blind Sheikh, he was the holy man for the Islamists as well as the fatwa bank. How he got into the US is an interesting question in of itself, since he had been working with Iranian intelligence since early 1981 (this is also in another part of the dossier) and had an agreement with Khomeini that he would be the resident holy man when the Islamists took over Egypt.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 1:50 Comments ||
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One other thing on the charities - all of these madrassas in Upper (southern) Egypt like the one at Asyut where the Blind Sheikh taught and where the IG student unions organized and were trained by former Egyptian soldiers - they were all funded by Wahhabi organizations based out of Saudi Arabia. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also has its ideological origins here as well.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 1:56 Comments ||
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Dan, dunno if you need to include this guy in your research; he was one of the O.G. Learned Elders of Islam (TM).
#5
Truly solid, Dan. Piecing it all together into a story that is readable must be truly hard, but satisfying, work. I hope we're buying and reading Dan Darling books soon, bro.
As for Rahman & Co, so many grand designs. Their success ratio has dropped significantly -- batting something like .002 for the last century or so, and they still don't seem to get it...
One of my favorite Larsen cartoons sums it up well, but I doubt an Islamist would get it:
Picture a road in the desert - stretching back to the horizon. A small object in the distance is a car on the side of the road, with the hood up. In the foreground, you see a bedraggled man, sweltering in the heat, suit coat over his shoulder, sleeves rolled up, tie loosened... he's looking down at a pair of roller skates on the ground. Caption:
"Life is a series of major disappointments, followed by minor windfalls."
The day of Islam is ending, their sun has begun to set. The hardcore fools who dream of a global Caliphate might as well dream of stopping the Earth's rotation. The tasks are similar. The only thing left is how many will they take down with them.
#6
Seafarious - Yeah he was, but he got too old and happy for the Caliphate in his old age so he ended up getting bought off by the regime to keep the rubes' attention directed away from Hosni.
.com - I'd like that too, here's to hoping somebody buys 'em when the time comes ;)
As for the Grand Designs(TM), I think Fred's summed it up the best that these guys are a lot more like Fu Manchu and the Council of Boskone than they are any of the other baddies we've dealt with this century. Once you realize all the conspiracies and attendant intrigue they're involved with it makes a lot more sense why they think we Westerners live this world of cabals and wheels within wheels ruled by the Joooz. Bad case of cultural projection, though no Middle East studies prof'll ever tell you that one ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 2:32 Comments ||
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Heh, Dan. Here's to that day!
Here's my favorite Fred post on Islam. A primer for the knee-jerks who come to RB for hate therapy, as well as the clueless apologists. Sane. Rational. Informed. I refer to it frequently to maintain an even strain, heh.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2005 3:44 Comments ||
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Many thanks Dan Darling! Never before have I heard the theory that Mubarak was in on the assassination. I recently read a book on Islamic Jihad in Egypt, that said that Mubarak was seated next to Sadat and was spared by the gunman who climbed his way up the reviewing stand to his objective, pumped scores of bullets into Anwar Sadat.
#10
Great background, Dan! If Mubarak was in on it, he apparently pulled a double-cross because the islamists got smacked down good afterward. I also seem to recall that Hosni was a bit of a lightweight (former AF pilot) when chosen as VP.
#11
A Portrait of Egypt : A Journey Through the World of Militant Islam
by Mary Anne Weaver
"THE STREETS OF CAIRO ARE LIKE NO OTHER STREETS IN THE world..." (more)
SIPs: blind cleric, prayer caps
_
Very good book, Written in 2000 so Osama Bin Ladin does not complicate the book
#12
Hosni Mubarak made it to Commander of the Air Force.
Mohamed Hosni Mubarak
President of
Arab Republic of Egypt Supreme Commander
of The Armed Forces
Last Rank Lieutenant General
Name Mohamed Hosni El-Sayed Mubarak
Service Air Force
Date of Birth May 4th,1928
Date of Commission February 1st,1949
Higher Military Qualifications Higher Studies In Frunze,RUSSIA.
MAJOR COMMAND POSITIONS
Commander, Air Squadron.
Commander, Air Brigade.
Commander, Air Academy.
Commander of the Air Force.
#13
lucky guy, making it through those three losing wars and the assassination....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 11:53 Comments ||
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#14
Mubarak was born on May 4, 1928 in Kafr-El Meselha, Egypt. Upon completion of high school, he joined the Egyptian Military Academy, where he received his bachelor's degree in military sciences. In 1950, he joined the Air Force Academy and earned a bachelor's in aviation sciences, graduating at the top of his class. He then went up the chain of command holding the positions of pilot, instructor, squadron leader, and base commander. In 1964, he was appointed head of the Egyptian Military Delegation to the USSR
In the years between 1967 to 1972, during the War of Attrition between Egypt and Israel, Mubarak was appointed Director of the Airforce Academy and Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Air Force. In 1972, he became Commander of the Air Force and Deputy Minister for Military Affairs. In October 1973, following the October War, a.k.a Ramadan War or Yom Kippur War
Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in October 1973 (on Yom Kippur); Israel counterattacked and drove the Syrians back and crossed the Suez Canal into EgyptYom Kippur War, he was promoted to the rank of Air Marshall. In April 1975, he was named vice-president of Egypt and, in 1978, he was selected to serve as vice chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
#15
Frank:
I think Hosni Mubarak served with distinction during 1973 Yom Kippur war, which Egypt can rightly claim as having fought well and won. I sure know that Anwar Sadat proclaimed it a win and a redemption from the 1967 war defeat.
Hosni had that Air force fly boy factor which dazzled the Egyptians and still gives him street credibility to come down on Muslim Brotherhood types like a ton of bricks. IMO he's built a fine ruling coalition for an Islamic basket case nation.
#16
won Yom Kippur? uh huh, ok..... redeemed the 6day war loss...riiiiggghhhtt.
Hosni's done reasonably well, given the nutcases he's had to govern, but IMHO, he could've done a lot better, see "Copts", and Paleo-smuggling tunnels, from.....yes, Egypt!
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2005 12:33 Comments ||
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#17
Big win for the Egyptians forces LOL, btw nice river you got here wogs.
Posted by: General S ||
05/01/2005 12:50 Comments ||
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#18
Depends on when you measure from. The initial attack was very successful. The Israelis counterattacked and Egypt's 3rd Army was in danger of being surrounded and destroyed when the cease fire was called. But that never actually happened (the destruction) so Egypt has never acknowledged how close they came to a visible defeat.
Posted by: too true ||
05/01/2005 13:34 Comments ||
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#19
Zionist forces were in denile and had no chance.
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North Korea on Saturday called President Bush a "hooligan" and said it expected no solution of the standoff over its nuclear program during his administration. The comments by North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman followed a White House news conference Thursday in which Bush described North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as a "tyrant" and a "dangerous person." 
France's former interior minister denied any involvement in suspected corruption in the oil-for-food program for Saddam Hussein's Iraq and said the detention of his former aide in an investigation into the program did not concern him. 
Turkish Prime Minister 
In the third and final episode of a three-part TV interview entitled "Testimonial to Posterity" -- aired Tuesday evening -- President Hosni Mubark insisted that he is yet to decide whether to run in the forthcoming presidential elections, scheduled for September. He also expressed the hope that his initiative to amend Article 76 of the constitution -- allowing for multi- candidate presidential elections -- will foster a vibrant opposition in Egypt. 
PESHAWAR: 
On October 6, 1981, Lieutenant Khaled Islambouli and 7 other GaJ army regulars assassinated Sadat during a military parade through Cairo. 2 days later on October 8, 50 IG members attacked the police headquarters in Asyut and 87 people died in the subsequent shoot-out, 66 of the policemen. While the planned Islamist revolution in Egypt was quickly suppressed by Sadat's successor 
