Just read this mind-boggling post from the Jawa Report:
“Even as Ethiopia has troops on the ground in Somalia fighting al Qaeda forces, the Democrats in Congress are preparing to end aid to that country. Ethiopia is fighting a proxy war on our behalf, and the Democrats want to cut off aid? Great timing.”
Democrats strong on national security? Yeah right. That’s like saying O.J. Simpson is an advocate of womens rights.
Update: There’s more posted over at HotAir.com…
There is a pattern to what the Democrats are doing, whether they acknowledge it or not. I griped a bit a week or so ago at Democrat calls to cut off the Pakistanis for similar reasons. Whatever problems we have with Musharraf’s imperfections, cutting military aid from him objectively helps al Qaeda. I also opposed the Armenia genocide resolution for similar reasons; spitting in the face of useful allies is no way to go about winning a war. The Democrats are now cutting off funding to the troops in Iraq, which will a) force lacerations in the way the DoD can operate in Iraq and Afghanistan and will b) help every enemy we have on the face of the earth by directly weakening our military’s readiness. Democrats routinely let the perfect become the enemy of the good, especially if the imperfect good happens to be a US ally.
And while this is going on, Democrats and their allies routinely prop up Hugo Chavez as a swell chap in spite of (or because of?) his over the top anti-American rants.
Good point indeed!
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November 20, 2007 , by
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From one of my favorite Bloggers, Michael Yon:
Iraqi Islamic Party: "Al Qaeda is Defeated"
"Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated," according to Sheik Omar Jabouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the widespread and influential Jabouri Tribe. Speaking through an interpreter at a 31 October meeting at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in downtown Baghdad, Sheik Omar said that al Qaeda had been "defeated mentally, and therefore is defeated physically," referring to how clear it has become that the terrorist group’s tactics have backfired. Operatives who could once disappear back into the crowd after committing an increasingly atrocious attack no longer find safe haven among the Iraqis who live in the southern part of Baghdad. They are being hunted down and killed. Or, if they are lucky, captured by Americans.
Colonel Ricky Gibbs, the American brigade commander with responsibility for the Rashid District in south Baghdad today told me, "So goes South Baghdad goes Baghdad." General Petraeus had told me similar things about the importance of South Baghdad. In fact, Rashid is quickly developing into what might be one of the final serious battlegrounds of the war.
During the meeting, another member of the Iraqi Islamic Party said that al Qaeda has changed its strategy now that fomenting civil war between Sunni and Shia has backfired. Al Qaeda has shifted targets, now trying to generate friction between tribes. This time, however, the tribes are onto the game early, and they are not playing.
At least this is being mentioned in some of the mainstream media outlets like CNN. (I'll update this post as links become available.)
CBN News has a great clip of the interview.
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November 2, 2007 , by
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From CNSNEWS.com:
Strategic Outpost
Iran is OPEC's second-largest oil producer. Sudan also has significant oil reserves and, with the end of a two decade-long north-south civil war is becoming an increasingly important source.
Bashir seized control in a 1989 military coup and under him Sudan followed Iran's 1979 example by declaring itself an Islamic regime.
Bashir's Sunni Muslim regime soon established good relations with Iran's Shi'ite government. Researchers say the link-up in late 1991 resulted in members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard training fundamentalist militias set up by Khartoum.
"In early 1992 Sudan emerged as a strategic outpost and key part of the infrastructure for Iran's export of the Islamic Revolution throughout the Near East and Africa," according to counter-terrorism expert and author Yossef Bodansky.
Relations between the two later cooled, in part because of theological differences.
Under President Mohammed Khatami (1997-2005), Iran pursued less openly extremist policies, while Sudan in the second half of the 1990s sought to ease tensions with the West, for instance negotiating the departure of al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, who was based in Sudan from 1991 to 1996.
Now, with both governments under fire in the international community, they appear to be moving closer together again.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki during a meeting with Bashir this week praised what he called positive trends in bilateral relations.
He said the two countries could also contribute to ensuring greater effectiveness of the two blocs to which both belong - the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Read the whole story: Under Fire From the West, Iran and Sudan Cozy Up.
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September 21, 2006 , by
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Personal disclaimer: I'm not posting this information to cause panic. But rather to highlight various press and blogger accounts of al-Qaeda's desire to use WMD as a weapon of terror inside the United States. In my opinion, if such a plot were to be carried out, the retaliatory strikes by the U.S. would be devastating to any hostile nation states harboring Islamic terrorist organizations. The plan would ultimately backfire on those who carried it out.
The Jawa Report has two posts pertaining to al-Qaeda's possible execution of a plot to attack using a nuclear weapon inside the United States. The attack is supposedly going to occur during Ramadan, the muslim holiday which begins this year on September 24th.
A Pakistani journalist says that his sources in al Qaeda and the Taliban are claiming that nuclear material has already been smuggled across the Mexican border into the U.S. and that an operation bigger than 9/11 will be carried out during Ramadan–which begins later this month.
Hamid Mir, who is the only journalist ever to interview both Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, claims that he learned this information on a recent trip to Afghanistan last month.
Read more: Al Qaeda Will Nuke US in Late September.
Terrorist, Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, May be al-Qaeda's Trigger Man:
Many reports indicate that Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, the cell leader responsible for carrying out the plot, is already in the United States and has been for some time. Furthermore, there is speculation that Adnan smuggled a nuclear device into the U.S. across the Mexican border. He is wanted for questioning by the FBI: details here.
The other Jawa Report post details the account of a reader who may have come into contact with Adnan, in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.
A Jawa Report reader e-mailed us about a possible sighting of Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a man wanted by the FBI in connection with a plot to detonate a dirty bomb in the United States. A few days ago we ran a story about reports of an imminent attack by Adnan G. El Shukrijumah (aka, Adnan Al-Shukri Jumaa).
The reader, who some of you have met in the comments section before, also commented about it over at Ace of Spades HQ. Ace has those comments reprinted here. She has spoken with the FBI.
Read more: Al Qaeda Dirty Bomber Spotted in Austin, Texas?
Adnan Shukrijumah Past and Present:
Muslims Called to Leave the United States:
During a press interview in Pakistan on September 17th, a top al-Qaeda commander, Abu Dawood, based in Pakistan issued a call to all muslims, living in the United States, to leave. Specifically in the New York and Washington, D.C. area.
The new al-Qaida field commander in Afghanistan is calling for Muslims to leave the U.S. – particularly Washington and New York – in anticipation of a major terror attack to rival Sept. 11, according to an interview by a Pakistani journalist.
Abu Dawood told Hamid Mir, a reporter who has covered al-Qaida and met with Osama bin Laden, the attack is being coordinated by Adnan el-Shukrijumah and suggests it may involve some form of weapon of mass destruction smuggled across the Mexican border.
"Our brothers are ready to attack inside America. We will breach their security again," he is quoted as saying. "There is no timeframe for our attack inside America; we can do it any time."
More at WorldNetDaily.
al-Qaeda Authorized to Use Nuclear Weapons Against the United States:
In August CNN's, Christiane Amanpour, wrote about the grave threat Osama bin Laden still posed to the United States:
LONDON, England (CNN) — Nearly five years have passed since the September 11 terrorist attacks, yet Osama bin Laden — the world's most-wanted terrorist — remains a dangerous fugitive, his words and actions inspiring jihadists across the globe.
It's hard to fathom that bin Laden would remain so relevant today, when in the days after the attacks, the Bush administration and much of the world was determined to get him.
In the report, Amanpour quotes Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit. He had this to say:
Michael Scheuer, who once headed the CIA's bin Laden unit, says bin Laden has been given permission by a young cleric in Saudi Arabia authorizing al Qaeda to "use nuclear weapons against the United States … capping the casualties at 10 million."
"He's had an approval, a religious approval for 10 million deaths?" I asked him.
"Yes," Scheuer responded.
Full text: Amanpour: Bin Laden still deadly relevant.
From Drudge Report via Jihad Watch (November 12th, 2004):
Osama bin Laden now has religious approval to use a nuclear device against Americans, says the former head of the CIA unit charged with tracking down the Saudi terrorist. The former agent, Michael Scheuer, speaks to Steve Kroft in his first television interview without disguise to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Nov. 14 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network….
Even if bin Laden had a nuclear weapon, he probably wouldn't have used it for a lack of proper religious authority - authority he has now. "[Bin Laden] secured from a Saudi sheik…a rather long treatise on the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Americans," says Scheuer. "[The treatise] found that he was perfectly within his rights to use them. Muslims argue that the United States is responsible for millions of dead Muslims around the world, so reciprocity would mean you could kill millions of Americans," Scheuer tells Kroft.
Scheuer says bin Laden was criticized by some Muslims for the 9/11 attack because he killed so many people without enough warning and before offering to help convert them to Islam. But now bin Laden has addressed the American people and given fair warning. "They're intention is to end the war as soon as they can and to ratchet up the pain for the Americans until we get out of their region….If they acquire the weapon, they will use it, whether it's chemical, biological or some sort of nuclear weapon," says Scheuer.
More: Saudi cleric blesses Bin Laden's use of nuke against U.S.A.
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September 18, 2006 , by
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The real headline in Wednesday's edition of the Star Bulletin is "Web videos mock U.S. war deaths", but I thought I'd headline my own post with something more accurate.
Via starbulletin.com:
Posted on YouTube.com, the clips include insurgent slogans and have been viewed thousands of times
The wildly popular video-sharing Web site YouTube.com has dozens of videos purporting to show individual American soldiers being killed in Iraq, in what amounts to snuff films, overlaid with music and insurgent slogans.
Some of the videos, including ones of American soldiers purportedly being picked off by snipers or being blown up by improvised explosive devices, have been viewed tens of thousands of times each in the past few months. Some are posted in YouTube's "news and blogs" category, but others are listed under "entertainment" and even "comedy."
One shows what appears to be three U.S. soldiers in desert fatigues questioning Iraqi men in a street or alley as young boys mingle around. Suddenly, one soldier slumps to the ground, felled by a single bullet, as the children scatter. In another, a U.S. soldier is standing through the top hatch of a Humvee, then slumps over as the sniper strikes.
Their presence on YouTube shows that insurgent propaganda — including genuine footage — already available on more obscure Web sites has seeped in the mainstream of American popular culture, said Eben Kaplan, assistant editor of CFR.org, the Web site of the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think tank headquartered in New York.
Read more: Web videos mock U.S. war deaths.
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September 13, 2006 , by
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From the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA):
Damascus, Sep. 12 (SANA),
Syrian Anti-Terror Forces Thwart Terrorist Operation that Targeted the American Embassy in Damascus
Syrian anti-terror forces on Tuesday morning thwarted a terrorist operation by a terrorist Takfiri group of four gunmen who tried to storm the American embassy in Damascus using hand grenades and machines guns.
The guards assigned to protect the American embassy clashed with the terrorists, killing three of them and wounding the fourth.
The terrorists used in their terrorist operation a car they were in and another booby-trapped car that parked in front of the embassy door to detonate it. Competent experts from anti-terror forces dismantled the explosive charge and the timing devices inside the car.
Investigations are still underway into this terrorist incident.
Read the rest here, but there's more:
Damascus, Sep. 12 (SANA),
Interior Minister: The Terrorist Operation Failed to Achieve its Aims
Syrian Minister of Interior General Bassam Abdul Majid stressed that the terrorist operation that targeted the American embassy in Damascus Tuesday morning has failed to achieve any of the aims or premeditated dimensions plotted by the criminal sides that stood behind it.
The Minister, in statements at the scene of the terrorist incident, praised the role of anti-terror forces in thwarting this terrorist operation and their alertness to protect the nation and citizens.
He said that the preliminary investigations revealed that the two cars used in this incidents were stolen, adding that investigations area underway to divulge those who are behind this terrorist operation.
The Interior Minister indicated that the scene of the terrorist operation is a public street that any car can use and stop for moments, a thing exploited by the terrorist group.
A Syrian guard assigned to protect the American Embassy was killed, and another wounded in the clash:
Damascus, Sep. 12 (SANA),
One of Anti-Terror Forces was Martyred, Others Wounded in the Terrorist Operation That Targeted US Embassy in Damascus
Following to preliminary information on the terrorist operation that targeted the American embassy in Damascus Tuesday morning, one Syrian security guard assigned for the protection of the American embassy in Damascus was martyred in the clash between anti-terror forces and the terrorist Takfiri group, another was wounded along with a policeman of the embassy guards and a security employee in the embassy.
Another 11 citizens were also injured in this terrorist operation, seven of them were workers of a technical workshop of the Syrian Telecommunication Establishment who were on a repair mission in the area, a man and a woman of Iraqi nationalities in addition to a Chinese citizen who was on the roof of his house in the area.
The wounded were taken to public hospitals for treatment.
Via CNN World:
DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) — Syrian security forces killed four attackers Tuesday outside the U.S. Embassy in Damascus after a car exploded near the walls of the American compound, the Syrian Information Ministry said.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but an al Qaeda offshoot group called Jund al-Sham — or Soldiers of Lebanon — is suspected, said Imad Moustapha, Syrian ambassador to the United States.
The radical fundamentalist group has been blamed for several attacks in Syria in recent years, Moustapha said.
One Syrian security guard protecting the embassy was killed in the attack, Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported.
Syrian authorities wounded and arrested another suspected attacker, the ministry said. No American diplomats were harmed.
SANA reported 13 others were wounded, including an embassy policeman, a security worker and 11 civilians, among them two Iraqis and a Chinese.
"The State Department confirms an attack by unknown assailants," U.S. State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said from Washington. "The event appears to be over and handled by local authorities … on the scene."
The Syrian Information Ministry said none of the staff was wounded and the embassy incurred no damage.
Video footage from the scene showed the burned-out wreckage of a car and blood-soaked streets near the embassy, which in a residential area of the Syrian capital.
The armed attackers apparently tried to storm the embassy with hand grenades and machine guns after detonating a car bomb near the compound walls, according to the ministry and the state-run news agency.
Read the entire CNN article here.
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September 12, 2006 , by
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From South Asian News:
Kabul - In an operation launched by Afghan coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan, a known al-Qaeda facilitator and six other suspected al-Qaeda associates were detained, coalition forces said.
The commander of the Hizb-i-Islami militia in Hafezan in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, was arrested after credible intelligence led Afghan and coalition forces to his compound, the statement said.
No shots were fired and there were no injuries reported.
Hikmatyar, the former prime minister of Afghanistan, announced jihad or holy war against what he called the US invasion of Afghanistan four and half years ago and the joint opposition of the Afghan government by Taliban and al-Qaeda in the fight against coalition forces.
Two other al-Qaeda suspects were arrested last week in the south- eastern province of Khost.
Read more: Seven al-Qaeda suspects arrested in eastern Afghanistan.
Bill Roggio has some very good background information about Hekmatyar:
On the day of the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attack, Coalition forces score a high value target in Afghanistan. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the commander of Hezb-i-Islami and ally of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, has been captured during a joint U.S. and Afghan Army raid in “eastern Afghanistan.” Hekmatyar, contrary to his rhetoric gave up to the Coalition forces without a fight. Hekmatyar's arrest is said to be part of an 'ongoing operation.'
Hekmatyar has been designated by the U.S. Department of State as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" and "has participated in and supported terrorist acts committed by al-Qa'ida and the Taliban." The 9-11 Commision report indicates Osama bin Laden kept lines of communication open with Hekmatyar. "bin Laden apparently kept his option open, maintaining contacts with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who, though an Islamic extremist, was also one of the Taliban's most militant opponents," states the report.
Read more: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Reported Captured.
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September 11, 2006 , by
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This according to Reuters:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have arrested a New York man for broadcasting Hizbollah television station al-Manar, which has been designated a terrorist entity by the U.S. Treasury Department, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Javed Iqbal, 42, was arrested on Wednesday because his Brooklyn-based company HDTV Ltd. was providing New York-area customers with the Hizbollah-operated channel, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Full story: New Yorker arrested for broadcasting Hizbollah TV
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August 24, 2006 , by
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