Article

2005-04-02 Europe

Spain Arrests 13 Suspects in March 11 Probe

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Posted by Fred 2005-04-02 00:00:00 AM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Bassem - another Syrian around 40 years of age. Would've been 16 years old in 1982. Mitch Porter, call your office.

Posted by Fleater Angoper3898 2005-04-02 2:31:11 AM|| 2005-04-02 2:31:11 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Fleater, please explain. I'm afraid that 1982 was a year full of distractions for me, and I don't remember much of what was happening in the rest of the world. Thanks!

Posted by trailing wife 2005-04-02 3:47:09 AM|| 2005-04-02 3:47:09 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 I'm afraid that 1982 was a year full of distractions for me
Me too, a year of heartbreak and shame, financial catastrophe and 2 car wrecks. However I recall mallards falling from the skies and breaking 100 so I remember the year with fondness.

Posted by Shipman 2005-04-02 8:33:45 AM|| 2005-04-02 8:33:45 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 You sure you're not talking about 1995? I distinctly remember that happening in 1995...

Posted by Fred 2005-04-02 10:45:24 AM|| 2005-04-02 10:45:24 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 No my Duck Diary sez '82.

Posted by Shipman 2005-04-02 11:01:40 AM|| 2005-04-02 11:01:40 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 1982 was a landmark year for the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. In that year, Brothers became enough of a threat to the Assad regime that Papa Doc Assad levelled a good portion of one of his cities, Hama. Many were killed, in the thousands probably. Many of surviving brothers fled to Europe.

It's generally the case that whenever an insurgency poses a threat to a government, particularly a tolerably-organized police state, the insurgents have outside backing. Was it Osama bin Laden? Well, no, in 1982 young Osama was still in Peshawar, playing billiards for the jihad with his CIA case officer.

The Syrian Brothers had Iraqi backing. Assad took Iran's side, more or less, in the Iran-Iraq conflict, even to the point of secretly allowing Iranians to launch some air raids from Syrian territory. In 1982, Assad closed his border with Iraq while putting down the revolt.

In 1998, around the time of the most serious coup attempt by the UK and USA (otherwise known as Operation Desert Fox), Saddam decided to activate his assets in Europe. I don't know whether the Syrian Brothers in exile were still beholden to Saddam. But I do know that Syrians, age 35-45, have turned up all over both the 9/11 and 3/11 plots, in supervisory roles. Immediately after 9/11 the Syrian gov't cheerfully helped us find these guys, so I doubt that they were acting on behalf of Damascus. And remember that short little Iraqi Mukhabarrat memo that Stephen Hayes turned up - it specifically mentions that Osama had good relations with the Syrian section.

Posted by Fleater Angoper3898 2005-04-02 2:50:34 PM|| 2005-04-02 2:50:34 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Thanks, Fleater. Very good perspective -- I remember the Hama massacre, but somehow never put a date to it... and certainly didn't realize what had happened to the graduates.

Posted by trailing wife 2005-04-02 8:11:22 PM|| 2005-04-02 8:11:22 PM|| Front Page Top

23:53 docob
23:49 CrazyFool
23:16 Sobiesky
23:10 Alaska Paul
22:55 Frank G
22:51 trailing wife
22:47 Mike
22:35 mhw
22:33 SR-71
22:30 Classical_Liberal
22:20 SR-71
22:12 SR-71
21:38 xbalanke
21:35 xbalanke
21:17 too true
21:16 Pappy
21:15 too true
21:13 MacNails
21:12 Pappy
21:08 gromgoru
21:04 gromgoru
21:04 Korora
21:03 penguin
21:02 too true