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Sunday, September 30, 2007

SILENCE IN SYRIA, PANIC IN IRAN

Posted by permission of the author, Dr. Jack Wheeler, To the Point News

SILENCE IN SYRIA, PANIC IN IRAN

One of India's top ranking generals assigned to liaise with the Iranian military recently returned to New Delhi from several days in Tehran - in a state of complete amazement.

"Everyone in the government and military can only talk of one thing," he reports.  "No matter who I talked to, all they could do was ask me, over and over again, ‘Do you think the Americans will attack us?' ‘When will the Americans attack us?' ‘Will the Americans attack us in a joint operation with the Israelis?' How massive will the attack be?' on and on, endlessly.  The Iranians are in a state of total panic."

And that was before September 6.  Since then, it's panic-squared in Tehran.  The mullahs are freaking out in fear.  Why?  Because of the silence in Syria.

On September 6, Israeli Air Force F-15 and F-16s conducted a devastating attack on targets deep inside Syria near the city of Dayr az-Zawr.  Israel's military censors have muzzled the Israeli media, enforcing an extraordinary silence about the identity of the targets.  Massive speculation in the world press has followed, such as Brett Stephens' Osirak II? in yesterday's (9/18) Wall St. Journal.

Stephens and most everyone else have missed the real story.  It is not Israel's silence that "speaks volumes" as he claims, but Syria's.  Why would the Syrian government be so tight-lipped about an act of war perpetrated on their soil?
The first half of the answer lies in this story that appeared in the Israeli media last month (8/13):  Syria's Antiaircraft System Most Advanced In World.  Syria has gone on a profligate buying spree, spending vast sums on Russian systems, "considered the cutting edge in aircraft interception technology."

Syria now "possesses the most crowded antiaircraft system in the world," with "more than 200 antiaircraft batteries of different types,"  some of which are so new that they have been installed in Syria "before being introduced into Russian operation service."

While you're digesting that, take a look at the map of Syria:

Notice how far away Dayr az-Zawr is from Israel.  An F15/16 attack there is not a tiptoe across the border, but a deep, deep penetration of Syrian airspace.  And guess what happened with the Russian super-hyper-sophisticated cutting edge antiaircraft missile batteries when that penetration took place on September 6th.
Nothing.

El blanko.  Silence.  The systems didn't even light up, gave no indication whatever of any detection of enemy aircraft invading Syrian airspace, zip, zero, nada.  The Israelis (with a little techie assistance from us) blinded the Russkie antiaircraft systems so completely the Syrians didn't even know they were blinded.

Now you see why the Syrians have been scared speechless.  They thought they were protected - at enormous expense - only to discover they are defenseless.  As in naked.

Thus the Great Iranian Freak-Out - for this means Iran is just as nakedly defenseless as Syria.   I can tell you that there are a lot of folks in the Kirya (IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv) and the Pentagon right now who are really enjoying the mullahs' predicament.  Let's face it:  scaring the terror masters in Tehran out of their wits is fun.

It's so much fun, in fact, that an attack destroying Iran's nuclear facilities and the Revolutionary Guard command/control centers has been delayed, so that France (under new management) can get in on the fun too. 

On Sunday (9/16), Sarkozy's foreign minister Bernard Kouchner announced that "France should prepare for the possibility of war over Iran's nuclear program."
All of this has caused Tehran to respond with maniacal threats.  On Monday (9/17), a government website proclaimed that "600 Shihab-3 missiles" will be fired at targets in Israel in response to an attack upon Iran by the US/Israel.  This was followed by Iranian deputy air force chief Gen. Mohammad Alavi announcing today (9/19) that "we will attack their (Israeli) territory with our fighter bombers as a response to any attack."

A sure sign of panic is to make a threat that everyone knows is a bluff.  So our and Tel Aviv's response to Iranian bluster is a thank-you-for-sharing yawn and a laugh.  Few things rattle the mullahs' cages more than a yawn and a laugh.

Yet no matter how much fun this sport with the mullahs is, it is also deadly serious.  The pressure build-up on Iran is getting enormous.  Something is going to blow and soon.  The hope is that the blow-up will be internal, that the regime will implode from within.

But make no mistake:  an all-out full regime take-out air assault upon Iran is coming if that hope doesn't materialize within the next 60 to 90 days.  The Sept. 6 attack on Syria was the shot across Iran's bow.

So - what was attacked near Dayr az-Zawr?  It's possible it was North Korean "nuclear material" recently shipped to Syria, i.e., stuff to make radioactively "dirty" warheads, but nothing to make a real nuke with as the Norks don't have real nukes (see Why North Korea's Nuke Test Is Such Good News, October 2006).

Another possibility is it was to take out a stockpile of long-range Zilzal surface-to-surface missiles recently shipped from Iran for an attack on Israel.

A third is it was a hit on the stockpile of Saddam's chemical/bio weapons snuck out of Iraq and into Syria for safekeeping before the US invasion of April 2003.

But the identity of the target is not the story - for the primary point of the attack was not to destroy that target.  It was to shut down Syria's Russian air defense system during the attack.  Doing so made the attack an incredible success.

Syria is shamed and silent.  Iran is freaking out in panic.  Defenseless enemies are fun.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Items found in U-Haul prompt terrorism investigation

Courtesy of Arizona Central

U-Haul prompt terrorism investigation

by Christopher Ramirez, The Arizona Republic

Sept. 28, 2007

Unusual items discovered in the back of a rental truck in Tempe prompted the county's anti-terrorism unit to launch an investigation Friday evening.

An employee at the U-Haul rental center near Priest Drive and Elliot Road called authorities around 5 p.m. after finding items that Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy Doug Matteson called "suspicious" in a 15-foot rental truck.

No explosive material, hazardous items or weapons were inside the truck, Matteson said. Instead papers and other items were found.

Matteson would not divulge exactly what the other items were or what they were related to, only saying it was significant enough for the Maricopa County's anti-terrorism group to be called out to investigate.
Authorities are currently checking where the truck came from and who last rented it.

Matteson said that he believes the truck has been at that U-Haul location for 3 to 6 months and that as far as he knows no one has had access to it during that time. The rental center is surrounded by fences and has a security unit, Matteson said.

The Department of Homeland Security would be notified, Matteson said, although the current situation was not to a level that would require that federal agency or the FBI to get involved in the investigation.

Monday, September 24, 2007

An agreement between Columbia University and Ahmadinejad?

As reported, there appears to be more to the story:
Columbia Alum Freed in Advance of Ahmadinejad’s Speech 

Looks to me that Iran is still in the hostage taking business.  Who approached who to gain the release of Columbia Alumnus?????

(CNSNews.com) – The president of Columbia University is expressing relief that a Columbia alumnus was released from an Iranian prison -- just days before the Iranian president is scheduled to speak at Columbia University.
for the rest of the story: Columbia Alum Freed in Advance of Ahmadinejad’s Speech

Know the Enemy

Last year (08/2006) I received permission from the author to post this and decided to run it again because it is a pertinent topic for the world leader conference. 

Courtesy of Dallas News.  Reposted with permission of the author, Rod Dreher.

Forty years ago, the godfather of Islamic terrorism was executed, says Rod DREHER, and America today is no closer to understanding his apocalyptic vision.....

Two days from now, the country will observe the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and its catastrophic aftermath. What will pass unnoticed on that day is the 40th anniversary of a hanging of a revolutionary in Cairo, an event that is incalculably more important to the present and future of the United States than any meteorological event.The pious life and martyr's death of Sayyid Qutb, and the legacy the Islamic theologian left behind, extend a powerful challenge to the West. Until we provide an answer to him and his followers, we can't hope to prevail in the war of ideas with Islamic extremists. And most of us have no idea who this man even was.

Sayyid Qutb (pronounced KUH-tuhb) has been called "the philosopher of Islamic terror." He rose from humble origins in rural Egypt to become an influential theologian and leading light of Egypt's fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood movement. He advocated global Islamic rule imposed by the sword.

Also Online

English translation of 'Milestones.'

The Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered him hanged for treason Aug. 29, 1966.

Yet, his ideas have spread like a prairie fire over the parched landscape of Islam's last generation. As writer Paul Berman observed, Qutb was "the intellectual hero of every one of the groups that eventually went into al-Qaeda."

We Americans have a bad habit of assuming that there's nothing to radical Islam but fury, grievance and bloodlust. We think of jihadist leaders as wild-eyed mullahs far removed from our experience. It's a fatal form of condescension. Qutb may have been a madman by our lights, but he was no fool – and, in important ways, he had our number.

Americans also cherish the idea that lack of understanding is at the root of conflict – and that there are few disputes that can't be worked out by people getting to know each other. Not so with Qutb, whose sojourn in America as a foreign exchange student between 1948 and '50 radicalized him and confirmed his hatred for Western materialism and freedom.

Qutb spent most of his time in the Colorado State College of Education in Greeley, Colo. The pathologically prudish Egyptian scholar was shocked by the morality of Greeley's women, appalled by its racism and scandalized by the wealth of American society.

As Lawrence Wright writes in The Looming Tower, his acclaimed new book about the roots of 9/11:

"Qutb saw a spiritual wasteland, and yet belief in God was nearly unanimous in the United States at the time. It was easy to be misled by the proliferation of churches, religious books and religious festivals, Qutb maintained; the fact remained that materialism was the real American god. 'The soul has no value to Americans,' he wrote to one friend. 'There has been a Ph.D. dissertation about the best way to clean dishes, which seems more important to them than the Bible or religion.' Many Americans were beginning to come to similar conclusions. The theme of alienation in American life was just beginning to cast a pall over the postwar party. In many respects, Qutb's analysis, though harsh, was only premature."

It is tempting to laugh at the Islamic pietist overwhelmed by the sensuality of the Rocky Mountain Gomorrah. But when Qutb returned to Egypt, his ardor to fight Western cultural hegemony led him to write: "We are endowing our children with amazement and respect for the master who tramples our honor and enslaves us. Let us instead plant the seeds of hatred, disgust and revenge in the souls of these children."

Qutb believed that if Muslims accepted democracy, capitalism, civil liberties and the Western way of life, they would commit spiritual suicide. He dedicated the rest of his life to convincing Muslims that their only hope rested in surrendering totally to a stringent form of Islam.

But why, according to Qutb, are modernity and Islam irreconcilable?

Because modernity was only made possible by a fundamental theological error that guaranteed man's alienation from God and from his nature. This alienation had reached a point of crisis worldwide, with the world's richest and most powerful nations producing masses of well-fed, well-off people who are rootless, miserable, hedonistic and self-destructive.

This was not a novel insight. As Paul Berman points out in his 2003 book Terror and Liberalism, many Western thinkers of the same era were writing about alienation amid the freedom and plenty of modern society. Qutb located the source of the modern world's ills in Christianity's separation of the world into sacred and secular realms, creating what he called a "hideous schizophrenia" that caused Western man to split the material realm from the spiritual.

Islam holds the two to be one under God's sovereignty. But this unnatural divorce had material benefits for the West, enabling it to leapfrog far ahead of the Islamic world in science and technology. The West's success made it powerful, true, but its culture grew increasingly debauched, and its people were turning into moral and spiritual wrecks. Yet – and here, Mr. Berman writes, is where Qutb is most original – the all-powerful West was in the present day imposing its false and destructive ideals on the weakened Muslim world.

What is to be done? Lenin famously asked about Czarist Russia. Qutb's answer to the same question about the West was, in part, "Milestones," a Leninist-style tract advocating worldwide Islamic revolution.

In this thin volume, Qutb argues that the Islamic nation must overthrow modernity if it wishes to continue to exist. Only Islam, with its divinely given law regulating all aspects of daily life, is capable of rightly ordering the soul and body, and of being most true to God-given human nature. He believed the West, whether or not it realized it, was engaged in a fight to the death against Islam. Though the conflict had military, economic and cultural aspects, for Qutb, this was essentially a religious war.

"Milestones" calls for the subjugation of all non-Islamic peoples, the total crushing of all non-Islamic institutions and entities, and the universal imposition of harsh sharia law. Reading "Milestones" as a guide to the mentality of jihadists is a bone-chilling exercise (even more so when you consider that Muslim teens participating in a 2004 quiz competition at the Dallas Central Mosque were assigned "Milestones" as part of their contest reading).

His is the voice of the genocidal utopian, an apocalyptic idealist who – like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and Mao – will stop at nothing to create an earthly paradise on the bones of the Crusaders, Zionists, moderate Muslims and sundry infidels.

It's difficult to imagine why anybody fell for Nazism or communism, but neither ideology could have gone anywhere if it didn't speak deeply to the hopes, needs, fears and passions of millions. As fanatical as Qutb's Islam sounds – as fanatical as it is – it provides an explanation for the misery and backwardness so much of the Muslim world lives in today. It gives its followers dignity and solidarity, a focus for their anger, a sense of purpose and of being on the right side of history. It holds out the false promise, that old siren song, that perfect happiness and oneness can be achieved in this life, once the Enemy has been destroyed. And it is a vision that Qutb gave witness to by courageously sacrificing his life.

What are we to do? There are no easy answers, but we should begin by jettisoning as folly the naive idea that all Muslims want the same things the liberal West wants. Followers of Qutb's brand of Islam hold that our wealth, secularity and freedom, especially for women, are evidence of our corruption.

While Qutb's prescriptions are quite mad, his diagnosis of the Western spiritual and psychological condition was serious, and it requires a serious response. If we Westerners cannot look at the world we've created for ourselves and understand that Sayyid Qutb was not all wrong, we will never figure out how to convince the Islamic masses he lived and died for that their holy martyr was a false prophet.

Rod Dreher is an assistant editorial page editor. The views expressed here are his own. His e-mail address is rdreher@dallasnews.com .

Find a link to an English translation of Sayyid Qutb's "Milestones" at DallasNews.com/Extra.

Please link Mr. Dreher's article at Dallas News and send him an email, if you desire.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Why is the United States ignoring terrorist activity in Venezuela?

Courtesy of Kenneth Rijock, Financial Crimes expert, World Check

19 September 2007

On 11 September 2001, on the executive floor of a major Venezuelan bank located on Margarita Island in the Caribbean, eyewitnesses reported that the champagne was flowing freely. Why? Because of the terrorist attacks on the World-Trade Centre and Pentagon that day. The bankers, who were engaged in funneling cash to known terrorist groups in the Middle East, were morbidly toasting the "success" of Al-Qaeda on that deadly day. The bank's overt actions, supporting terrorist organisations through financing their activities, has never resulted in either OFAC sanctions, or any other punitive action from the United States. Why is America reluctant to confront Hamas, Hizballah, ETA and their financiers in the Western Hemisphere? Is it as Allan Greenspan states, all about oil? Is the US afraid that the Chavez government will turn off the petrol tap?

Let us  examine what else has been studiously ignored by the US government since 2001:

  • Al-Qaeda theoretician Mustaphah Setmarian Nasar (UID 45641) lived openly in Venezuela whilst he was wanted by Interpol. Believed to be the intellectual author of the Madrid Train bombings, and holding both Syrian and Spanish citizenship, Nasar was escorted daily to Caracas' principal mosque by armed government bodyguards driving black Hummers. He was seen in Margarita Island, and also at a port facility where freighters bearing Panamanian registry ship out for Iran regularly. Were they transporting Uranium for Iran's nuclear programme? We cannot say, but Nasar has been linked to Carlos Rafael Lanz Rodriguez [UID 248222] , the ex-career terrorist* is currently the president of Venezuela's state-owned national aluminium company, Alcasa, which is believed by mining engineers to be mining and trafficking in Uranium.
  • The emergence of Hamas and Hizballah operatives in the Western Hemisphere. They are raising money through drug trafficking, arms sales, human smuggling, and sundry other illicit activities, all of which eventually results in the shipment of the proceeds of these crimes to their Middle Eastern commanders.
  • The wholesale issuance of Venezuelan identity documents (Cedulas and Venezuelan passports) to Arab radicals who are allowed to enter the country. the Venezuelan Consulate in Maicao, Colombia has reportedly performing these services  for large numbers of people in transit from the Middle East to parts unknown. The next time you meet a Venezuelan who doesn't speak Spanish, you may have seen a terrorist in the flesh.
  • ETA terrorists wanted in Spain have found safe harbour in Venezuela, who actually pays them $600 per week in living expenses. They do not earn this stipend in any way, it is paid purely to sustain them whilst they live freely in the country. Spain this week announced its intention to hunt down these terrorists.
  • Venezuela has long served as both a jumping-off point for terrorists entering the United States, and a refuge for terrorist suspects fleeing this country after having aroused law enforcement interest. This includes persons of interest to the FBI, who are believed to be connected with the World Trade Centre bombing.
  • Hizballah continues to work openly in the country, through its local affiliate, Hizballah Venezuela.

Kenneth Rijock can give many other examples, but the above should be sufficient to show clearly that the US obsession with the conflict in Iraq has caused America to totally ignore terrorist threats much closer to home. These are clear and present dangers that need attention, lest they mature into actual terrorist operations within the United States.

Why does Kenneth Rijock and I get the feeling that nobody's paying attention in Washington?  Perhaps it is because there has not been a significant arrest of an important terrorist agent by the United States in all of Latin America in the last six years.  We hope that the present administration will now be shamed into finally assuming a  proactive role in countering the growth of terrorism in Latin America.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________ * Lanz is known to be a hard-core terrorist who once kidnapped and held a prominent American businessman, William Niehaus,for ransom for several years. He has been linked to Venezuela's expanding relationship with Iran.

Israelis Seized Nuke Material in Syria

Courtesy of the UK Times: Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

by Uzi Mahnaimi and Sarah Baxter

Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem.

The attack was launched with American approval on September 6 after Washington was shown evidence the material was nuclear related, the well-placed sources say.

They confirmed that samples taken from Syria for testing had been identified as North Korean. This raised fears that Syria might have joined North Korea and Iran in seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Related Links

Now my friends recall my post July  30th, 2006, about Chavez, North Korea, Iran, et al?

We have a problem.  There are storm clouds brewing in the Western Hemisphere.  The close link between Chavez, North Korean, and Iran should not come at a surprise. In a La Nueva Cuba news article last year (2006) Financial Crimes consultant, Kenneth Rijock, claimed of a possible Hezbollah, North Korea, Iran, and Chavez government connection.

Rijock claimed last year that that Iran has plans to ship missiles to Chavez in oil tankers so as not to be suspected. Rijock claims that Chavez may then transfer the missiles to Cuba. 
( http://www.lanuevacuba.com/archivo/kenneth-rijock-4.htm )

So, now (09/2007) we have the Chavez, Amannamedjihad, and other US - hating dictators scheduled to meet after Amannamedjihad leaves the US - UN world leader conference. They are going to have a summit in South America. I smell some rotten kimchee, if you know what I mean.

Isla Margarita, a semi desert island just off the coast of Venezuela, is home to Venezuela's Hezbollah contingent, Lebanese - Venezuelans. Sources believes that when foreign agents enter Isla Margarita, they sometimes take up temporary residence in Cuba.

Hezbollah has a significant increase and influence in South America as discussed by Jeffrey Goldberg, reporter-at-large for The New Yorker magazine who wrote did an interesting 2 - part article, "IN THE PARTY OF GOD."

Perhaps you should go back and re-read part 2, about Hezbollah's presence in the western hemisphere:  Hezbollah sets up operations in South America and the United States.

Liberal Democrats, watch out what you wish for. You have been bad mouthing President Bush for six years (since he spanked Gores ass in the 2000 election.  No GWB did not steal the election, he won it and you have not gotten over it.  As a matter of fact he came back four years later and spanked John "F" Kerry's butt, too).

The world has failed to keep their eye on the ball when it comes to North Korea, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and all the other freedom hating countries.  I believe that this world is going get interesting soon. Hope I am wrong, but, I doubt that I am wrong.

If I am right, Dhimmis tax will not work, this time.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

‘Grassroots’ will be catalyst for change in Baghdad, commander says

Courtesy of Multi-National Forces - Iraq

Saturday, 22 September 2007

In this file photo, U.S. Army Maj. Kevin Speilman, of Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, listens to translation while speaking with village leadership during operations on the outskirts of Mosul. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Christopher Hubenthal.

In this file photo, U.S. Army Maj. Kevin Speilman, of Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, listens to translation while speaking with village leadership during operations on the outskirts of Mosul. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Christopher Hubenthal.

BAGHDAD — The most encouraging recent development in Baghdad is the willingness of citizens to step forward and partner with Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in defeating terrorism, the U.S. commander in charge of Coalition forces in the city said today.

Almost 8,000 Iraqi security volunteers are currently employed around the city and are being trained and integrated into the ISF, Army Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commander of Multi-National Division Baghdad, told Pentagon reporters via satellite. All over Baghdad, these volunteers are being trained by ISF and are partnering with them in operations, resulting in security gains, he said.

“I believe this shift with the population stepping forward has every potential to become the catalyst that brings truly enduring change for the better, certainly here in Baghdad and perhaps across the nation,” Fil said. “And I really sense the momentum … on both sides of the river in Baghdad and on the streets when we're working with the most senior Iraqi officials that I deal with.”

Partnerships of local citizens with the Iraqi government and security forces are another step forward in efforts to reduce violence and protect the population of Baghdad, Fil said. Since Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, which stands for “enforcing the law,” began in mid-February, overall attacks in Baghdad are down by more than 50 percent, he said. Small-arms attacks, car bombs, mortar and rocket attacks are all down by more than 50 percent. There also has been a steep decline in the number of improvised-explosive-device detonations, which he credited to the arrests of key cell members and an increased ability to find weapons caches.

Coalition and Iraqi forces have been making significant progress in securing Baghdad neighborhoods, Fil said. Before Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, about 70 percent of neighborhoods were in the “disruption” phase, which means they had not been cleared of insurgent activity, he said. Now, only 16 percent of neighborhoods are in disruption, and about 56 percent are in the “control” or “retain” phase, which means Coalition and Iraqi forces have a sustained presence.

“We've had some tough days battling al Qaeda and criminal militia, but here in the Multi-National Division-Baghdad we keep pounding away at our enemy, pushing him daily, and we've seen positive results from our persistent pressure,” Fil said.

The general acknowledged that while attack levels are down, the level of violence is still too high. In the first two weeks of September, extremist groups conducted mortar, rocket and explosively formed projectile attacks, rocket-propelled-grenade attacks against tanks, and surface-to-air missile launches. These attacks have continued despite Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s recent call for an end to violence, Fil noted. And while the Coalition is showing restraint in dealing with those who uphold that pledge, they will not show the same restraint in dealing with criminal militias armed by Iranian elements, he said.

The conditions of essential services throughout Baghdad range from very good to very poor, Fil said. Brigade combat teams and provincial reconstruction teams continue to work with local government officials and the government of Iraq on a variety of projects, including water, sewer, electricity and trash collection, and monitor and assist with fuel distribution to prevent criminal militias from interfering with or attempting to profit from fuel sales, he said.

“There is much work ahead, but what I see here in Baghdad is steady progress,” he said. “As the population senses a change in their security for the better and a change in local conditions, they are becoming more and more involved in both aspects in their communities. And that progress is a testament to our Soldiers, to the Iraqi Security Forces, and to the government of Iraq and the citizens of Baghdad, and they've all taken courageous steps forward and committed to taking a stand here against terror and against those who intimidate and murder.”

(Story by Sara Wood, American Forces Press Service)

In other developments throughout Iraq:

•           Youth soccer teams in the Zafaraniyah section of eastern Baghdad have a new set of equipment and uniforms thanks to Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces.

•           Iraqi Security Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisers, destroyed a major explosives cache near Sinjar in Ninewah Province Sept. 19 while conducting operations to disrupt al Qaeda in Iraq networks.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Al-Zawahiri to the U.S.: "Do Not Ask President Bush When The Soldiers Will Return– Ask Instead How Many Will Return"

VIEW THE NEW MEMRI TV WEBSITE AT: www.memritv.org

Special Dispatch-Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project  September 21, 2007

No. 1721

Al-Zawahiri to the U.S.: "Do Not Ask President Bush When The Soldiers Will Return– Ask Instead How Many Will Return"

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
Al-Zawahiri to the U.S.: "Do Not Ask President Bush When The Soldiers Will Return– Ask Instead How Many Will Return".

The Islamist website www.ekhlaas.org/forum/, which is hosted by Layered Technologies, Inc. in Texas, USA, posted, on September 20, 2007, an 80-minute video of Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman Al-Zawahiri speaking on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of 9/11.

The video was produced by the Al-Sahab media company in the month of Sha'ban, 1428 (August-September 2007), apparently prior to September 11, 2007, and is subtitled in English.

In the video, statements by Al-Zawahiri are interspersed with footage of jihad fighters in various places around the world, audio clips from Osama bin Laden's speeches, statements by Western commentators and U.S. officials, and more.

Following are the main points of Al-Zawahiri's statements in the video:

First, Al-Zawahiri expresses his condolences for the death of the martyr cleric Maulana Abd Al-Rashid Ghazi in Afghanistan, promises to avenge his death, and calls on Muslims to follow in his path and in the path of other jihad-fighting clerics.

Al-Zawahiri then accuses Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf of selling Pakistan's honor and religion, and says that Musharraf's forces are serving "the hunting dogs of the Crusaders-Zionists."

He then spoke of the Americans' defeat in Iraq by the jihad fighters; an announcer then attributes this to the "sacrifice of the jihad fighters, first among them Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi."

Al-Zawahiri then advised the Americans, "Do not ask President Bush when the soldiers will return; ask instead how many of them will return."

Al-Zawahiri called on the Muslims in the Maghreb to bring Andalusia back into the fold of Islam, and stated that this could only be done by "purging the Islamic Maghreb of the French and the Spanish who have returned there."

He calls on the Sudanese to wage jihad against the Crusader invasion of Darfur, as their brothers did in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

Further on in the video, Al-Zawahiri addresses the issue of jihad in Somalia, Chechnya, and Palestine, and calls on the Islamic nation to support the jihad fighters "under the victorious banner of the Prophet."

*********************

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MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with proper attribution.

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Iranian News Service reports: Zionist regime's allies to receive response on World Qods Day

Very disturbing article in the Iranian press: 

Supporters of the Zionist regime will receive their response during the world Qods Day’s rallies, government spokesman, Gholam-Hossein Elham, said Wednesday. 

The spokesman made the remarks during his weekly press conference while commenting on the current visit to the occupied Palestine of the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Qods Day is held each year on the last Friday of Muslims fasting month of Ramadan after it was nominated by the late Founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, as a day to voice the protest of the Islamic Ummah against the Zionists.

The day falls on October 12 this year.

“The US loses all opportunities to cooperate with regional and other world states by trying to support a regime (the Zionist regime) which is now at its weakest political and social position,” Elham said.

He warned that Washington’s insistence on its wrong policies and arrogant approaches would have no result “but further political disgrace” for itself.

Referring to the approaching World Qods Day, the spokesman stressed, “Supporters of the Zionist regime will definitely receive the final response for their support on that day.”

Read Article 

I asked a friend, Abe, in Israel what he thought of this news article.  This is his response:

Bo'sun,

"Al Qods" (The Holiest) is the Muslim Arab name for Jerusalem. Qods day (Jerusalem Day) is celebrated every year on the last friday of the holy month of Ramadan, according to the Muslim Calender. This year it will fall on Oct 12th.

The Iranian declaration talks about mass rallies and not about a specific armed attack. The situation in Iran is unstable, with many young people opposed to the theocracy, and inciting people to rally against the Great Satan (America) and the Junior Satan (Israel), would take the people's attention away from their anti-government feelings and unite them against the Double-Satan's.

 Al Qods Day is a "Solidarity Day" to ostensibly show the world that the Muslim "Uma" (nation) stands in solidarity with the poor Palestinians, victimized by the cruel, inhuman Zionists.

In actual fact, it's used to keep the people incited and angry, uniting them against a  "cruel" regime, so that the "lesser" problem of bad government is pushed back in the people's minds.

This technique is common and has been used for centuries to distract the people's minds from what is happening at home. It is used freely in the ME, and is a large part of the ME problem. It takes their attention away from the bad schools, terrorist organizations running their lives, poverty, corruption and more.

While Iran (with it's lovable proxy, Hezbollah) is "dying" to attack the "Zionist Entity", I doubt that the declaration means anything of the sort. I believe that it pertains to mass rallies.

If I am wrong, I trust Israeli Intelligence to prepare the IDF in due time.


 All the best,
 Abe

Bin Laden Urges Pakistani Jihad

Courtesy of AP News, MyWay

  CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden called on Pakistanis to rebel against President Pervez Musharraf in a new recording released on Thursday, saying his military's siege of a militant mosque stronghold makes him an infidel.

The storming of the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July "demonstrated Musharraf's insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims ... and makes armed rebellion against him and removing him obligatory," bin Laden said in the message.

"So when the capability is there, it is obligatory to rebel against the apostate ruler, as is the case now," he said, according to a transcript released by Laura Mansfield, a U.S. terrorism expert who monitors militant message traffic.

Bin Laden's voice was heard over a video showing previously released footage of the terror leader. It was posted Thursday on Islamic militant Web sites.  For the rest of the story: Bin Laden calls for Jihad in Pakistan

Ayman al-Zawahri releases new video tape days after Osama

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said the United States was being defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts in a new video released Thursday, the latest in a series put out by the terror network.

The video came days after Osama bin Laden released two messages to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary—including his first new appearance in a video in nearly three years.

The 80-minute video posted on Islamic militant Web sites Thursday was in a documentary style, touting al-Qaeda's activities in various areas, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and North Africa.   For the rest of the article: New al-Qaeda Video Released

Monday, September 17, 2007

"Terrorists have been arrested on the border, security chief says"

Courtesy of Counterterrorism Blog

"Terrorists have been arrested on the border, security chief says"

By Michael Cutler

Here's the lead from an article that deals with the nexus between our nation's failure to secure our borders and the imminent danger that this lunacy poses to our nation's security, six years after the attacks of September 11, 2001: "Texas' top homeland security official said Wednesday that terrorists with ties to Hezbollah, Hamas and al-Qaeda have been arrested crossing the Texas border with Mexico in recent years." The official described one person caught in 2004 as being tied to a Pakistan insurgent group and whose specialty was smuggling Afghanis and other illegal aliens across the border.

I want you to take a moment to let the significance of all of this sink in. Our nation is at war with terrorists who have already killed thousands of innocent victims within our nation's borders. The commonly quoted number of victims is approximately 3,000. In point of fact I fear that the ultimate toll will actually be a multiple of that number when you factor in all of the people who are dying of lung diseases and other ailments associated with the various highly toxic pollutants that were released when the buildings at the World Trade Center complex collapsed. And now we see how the open borders of the United States facilitate the entry of terrorists, at a time when "We the People" are being inconvenienced, and our freedoms and expectations of privacy are being significantly reduced.

We know that in order to carry out their pernicious plans, terrorists must gain entry into our country and embed themselves in communities around the United States. The key to both of these activities is the way in which our nation secures its borders and enforces the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States. So it is critical that USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) create as tight and effective system as possible. It is also important that all governments deny illegal aliens sanctuary, because sanctuary for illegal aliens will encourage still more illegal aliens, and will enable criminals (and especially terrorists) to set up shop in those communities willing to provide sanctuary.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

The Times’: Israel Destroyed Syrian Nuclear Material from North Korea

Courtesy of The Media Line

The Times of London reported on Sunday in great detail about the Israeli air raid on Syria that the paper says destroyed a cache of nuclear material provided by the North Koreans. Confirming what many have speculated, The Times describes the use of laser guidance systems by ground forces that had penetrated Syrian territory a day earlier and directed Israel's F15s to their target. The report claims that the mission was planned eight months ago when Israel discovered that Syria was in the process of obtaining from North Korea a nuclear device that could be fitted onto its Scud missiles. The target was identified as a nuclear facility on the Euphrates River that masquerades as an agricultural research center. The paper also claims that Washington provided Israel with its air force codes to ensure no friendly planes would be shot at. Western intelligence agencies are said to be delighted that Israel has successfully penetrated Syrian air defenses, said to be more stringent than those of Iran. MidEast News Source

According to Jerusalem Post Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu is concerned about Iran and weighed in on the Iranian situation, "We cannot wait for them to obtain nuclear weapons; we must prevent it now. This has to be the focus of all responsible countries..."

"The military option must stay on the table, but countries like the US and some in Europe must squeeze Iran with sanctions, voluntary sanctions - not through the UN," Netanyahu said at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's Seventh Annual Conference at IDC Herzliya."The UN is paralyzed from launching effective sanctions. They can do a lot to bring economic pressure on the Iranian regime," he added.

Netanyahu suggested to "focus on the 20 to 30 European countries that prop up the Iranian oil and gas sector." "We are involved in trying to get American state pensions to divest from these European companies," he said. "About eight states are in the process of divestment. Florida just passed a divestment bill. Governor Schwarzenegger (California) told me that he's going to get such a bill to his table. Withdrawing funds [from these companies] will give a crippling blow to the regime and its nuclear program."

For the rest of the Netanyahu story: Netanyahu: Squeeze Iran with sanctions

World should brace for possible war over Iran: France

 Courtesy of Breitbart

The world should brace for a possible war over the Iranian nuclear crisis but seeking a solution through talks should take priority, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday.

"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," he said in an interview broadcast on French television and radio.

"We must negotiate right to the end," with Iran, he said, but underlined that if Tehran possessed an atomic weapon, it would represent "a real danger for the whole world."

"We are trying to put in place plans which are the privilege of chiefs of staff and that is not for tomorrow," he said, referring to military plans but stressed that although any attack on Iran was far from taking place, "It is normal for us to plan" for any eventuality. For the rest of the story: World should brace for possible war over Iran: France

Friday, September 14, 2007

Petraeus explains Iraq’s link to U.S. security, responds to criticism


Courtesy of Multi-National Force Iraq

Thursday, 13 September 2007

Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander, Multi-National Force-Iraq (right), and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace, fly to the Green Zone and survey the sites along the way in Baghdad, July 16, 2007.  File photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, Joint Combat Camera  Center.

Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander, Multi-National Force-Iraq (right), and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace, fly to the Green Zone and survey the sites along the way in Baghdad, July 16, 2007. File photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, Joint Combat Camera Center.

WASHINGTON — The top commander and diplomat in Iraq told reporters at the National Press Club today that what happens in Iraq is critical to long-term U.S. security.

“Achieving our national interest in Iraq is very important” and a critical part of the overall U.S. national strategy to make the country safer, said Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Force-Iraq. “The central front of al Qaeda’s global war on terror is in Iraq.”

Petraeus was joined at the Press Club event by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker.

Petraeus repeated the statement he made yesterday to the Senate Armed Services Committee that he couldn’t spell out exactly what impact al Qaeda resurgence in Iraq might have on the U.S. homeland.

“I was trying very hard yesterday to avoid becoming more than the MNFI commander,” he said. “And so when I was asked about the global war on terrorism, I thought that that perhaps is a question for those who are carrying out the global war on terrorism. I'm carrying out one piece of that, which is the part that is prosecuted inside Iraq.”

Petraeus said the U.S. strategy in Iraq is showing progress in flushing out al Qaeda and other extremists and reducing violence. Coalition and Iraqi operations have left al Qaeda “considerably diminished” and “much more on the run” than Petraeus said he could recall since they established themselves there. “We believe that al Qaeda in Iraq is off balance,” he said.

He emphasized, however, that evidence shows al Qaeda hasn’t given up and continues working to regain territory it’s lost. The terrorist group remains “very dangerous,” he said.

Petraeus said he considers al Qaeda in Iraq “the wolf closest to the sled” because it’s been behind the most horrific attacks in Iraq and has generated the most ethno-sectarian violence. Particularly since the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra in February 2006, this violence has been “tearing the fabric of Iraqi society,” he said.

Crocker said he’s convinced that any al Qaeda resurgence in Iraq would be devastating, not just to Iraq, but also to the United States. “We have to assume that anywhere al Qaeda can find operating room, space, the ability to organize … (and) consolidate, they are going to use that to come after us,” he said.

Petraeus and Crocker told reporters the troop surge in Iraq is showing progress in countering the threat al Qaeda and other extremists pose. They pointed to evidence of that progress: reduced violence, greater Iraqi security force responsibility, and increased tribal cooperation with Coalition efforts.

This assessment, which they delivered over the past two days to the Senate and House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, drew sharp criticism from some corners and, in some cases, personal attacks.

The general, who stated at all three congressional hearings this week that his assessment reflected his views alone -- not those of the Pentagon, the White House or Congress -- said a poem by Rudyard Kipling proved helpful as his integrity came under attack.

Kipling’s poem, “If,” begins, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. …” It goes on to talk about the importance of trusting yourself when others doubt you and of maintaining your principles even when you’re hated, lied about and condemned.

Pressed to comment on the attacks against him, Petraeus offered a simple response. “I disagree with the message of those who are exercising the 1st Amendment right that generations of soldiers have sought to preserve for Americans,” he said. “Some of it was just flat completely wrong, and the rest is at least more than arguable.”

Petraeus showed more of his human side as today’s news conference opened, initially telling reporters he planned to begin by reviewing the statement he’d made during the past two days of hearings.

“Actually, I’m not sure if even I can bear giving the shortened version of my opening statement for a fourth time,” he laughed. “And I know you don’t want to hear it for a fourth time.”

(Story by Donna Miles American Forces Press Service)

In other developments throughout Iraq:

Coalition forces killed one terrorist and detained 13 suspected terrorists during raids Wednesday to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq’s ability to operate in central Iraq.

Two people were freed from captivity and four others arrested and charged with kidnapping after a tip-driven raid was conducted by soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 5th Division, 6th Iraqi Army at the Salhiyah Apartments Saturday.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Ex-Muslim 'Apostates' Organize in Europe

Guess the radical muslim streets will erupt over this news.

(CNSNews.com) - An Iranian-born Dutch politician under fire from Muslims for his dissenting views on Islam on Tuesday officially launched an organization to support people who have renounced the religion.

According to leading Islamic schools of thought, apostasy is a crime, punishable by death in the case of a sane male who renounces his faith. Jami also is controversial for his strong public comments on Islam, including the view expressed last June that Mohammed, the Islamic prophet, was a "criminal."

At Tuesday's press conference, timed for the sixth anniversary of 9/11 and attended by leaders from the British and German organizations, Jami declared that Islam..."It's a religion of submission ... of its followers, submission of Christians, Jews, Buddhists, atheists, infidels, the whole world,"

Last month, he was attacked by three men, in an incident believed to be linked to his views and the new organization. Although Jami was not hurt in what his spokesman said was the third such incident, Dutch law enforcement agencies decided to provide additional security for him. ( About six percent of the Dutch population is Muslim.)  For the rest of the article: Ex-Muslim 'Apostates' Organize in Europe

Related links:

Egyptian Playwright Ali Salem Speaks Out Against 'Culture of Death'

Courtesy of MEMRI

Special Dispatch-Egypt/Reform Project
September 13, 2007 , No. 1713

Egyptian Playwright Ali Salem Speaks Out Against "Culture of Death"

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit: HTML Link HERE

The following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian playwright Ali Salem, which aired on Abu Dhabi TV on August 16, 2007.

To view this clip, visit: Video Clip Link HERE

To view the MEMRITV webpage on Egyptian playwright Ali Salem, visit: "Whoever Tells You That Bread is More Important Than Freedom is a Fraud And a Thief"

Ali Salem: "There is no contradiction between freedom and what I call the 'pot of meat.' I will go even further, and say that the 'pot of meat' – not to mention the fruit, bread, salt, pepper, and salads, and on cold winter nights, hopefully a bowl of soup – bears an inherent connection to philosophy and freedom. If you are free, you can plant your field, and raise buffaloes and cows, and you are free to go and sell them at the market.

"You have a trade that earns you money, and there is a merchant who will buy and slaughter them, and then he will sell it at the market. In such a case, you are working at a job that brings you money. You need a society with freedom in politics, economy, and education in order for this cycle to be complete. Whoever tells you that bread is more important than freedom is a fraud and a thief.

"The meat, in this case... There are also cheese, olives, and pastrami, and there are shoppers at the supermarket – all these things require political and economic freedom.

[...]

"The Culture of Death is a Culture of Irresponsibility"

"The culture of death is a culture of irresponsibility. It is a culture in which a person considers all the 'others' to be his enemies. He is terrified of them, and he feels he must finish them off before they finish him off. In addition, this culture does not glorify life – although life is the greatest thing Allah has created for us. I'm not relying on any religious authority or historical examination, but I can only give you my personal opinion. Allah created us in order to enjoy this beautiful universe, and in order to make it even more beautiful, or at the very least, to keep it beautiful.

[...]

"It is in the interest of the people of this region to achieve peace."
Interviewer: "You've visited Israel, and you are one of the supporters of peace."

Ali Salem: "True."

"We Have Finished the Conflict of War, And We Enter the Competition of Peace"

Interviewer: "Some people criticize you for this stand. In brief, on what objective foundations do you base your defense of peace?"
Ali Salem: "When you suffer such an ignominious defeat as in 1967, and when you begin to uncover what your mistakes were, you begin to think that you must not be defeated in peace as well, that you must not lose the battle for peace as well as the war.

[...]

"We have finished the conflict of war, and we enter the competition of peace. Peace is not a beautiful garden, in which we and the Israelis will sit together. Peace is a venue for competition. Human jealousy requires us not to be inferior to them in terms of democracy, human rights, import, export, education, and scientific research."

[...]

Interviewer: "How do you view the future of political Islamic movements, and their connection to Arab society in particular?"
Ali Salem: "Arab history is full of such movements. In elementary school, we used to read: 'And then the Sultan wiped them out,' or 'Then the Emir finished them off,' or 'Then he went to the city and turned it to rubble.' Times have changed, and no one is allowed to wipe out anybody. Today, the [Islamists] are not the main force. They are in the opposition. The public is learning every day that this kind of conflict will get them neither a Palestinian state nor human rights."

*********************

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available on request.
MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with proper attribution.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-Mail: memri@memri.org
Search previous MEMRI publications at www.memri.org

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Homeland Security is preparing US for Nuclear Attack

According to Michael Chertoff, America is Preparing for Nuclear Attack


Weapons of mass destruction, small boats packed with explosives and Islamic radicalization are the greatest terrorist threats facing the country, top U.S. security officials said Monday on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Michael Chertoff, head of Homeland Security, said, "The enemy is not standing still." FBI Director Robert Muller warns of "sleeper" terror cells within the U.S. Read the Full Story — Go Here Now.

Remembering 9/11/2001

Courtesy of NTARC Newsletter: www.nationalterroralert.com

Remembering September 11, 2001

Watch The Video

From a different view.

This home video of the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center is from a 36th floor apartment near the North Tower. The events of 9/11 are familiar to all of us. Perhaps so much so that over time we have become desensitized to the actual events. What is absolutely chilling, is how the video captures the personal experience of the couple taking the video. It is their comments, telephone calls, shock and anguish that brings back a flood of emotions from that day. It was released last year on the 6th anniversary of 9/11.

This Weeks Homeland Security Headlines At NTARC

School Bus Terror Threat

Osama Bin Laden To Release Second Video Tape

Blogs Debate Authenticity of Osama bin Laden Video Tape

Attorney Assists Two USF Goose Creek Terror Suspects Seeking Release

Bin Laden Planning High Impact Terror Plots Against U.S.

Travels with Abe: It was May 1967, Independence Day in Israel and the 1967 war with the Arabs

Forwarded to me from a good friend in Israel, “Abe.” Abe discusses Israel in May 1967 and his recollection of the 6 day war.  Much has changed in 40 years that has passed.  How soon the world forgets.   Enjoy.

It was May.

It was May of 1967. A State of Emergency was declared on Independence Day. Reserves were mobilized and every Israeli who was capable of breathing was doing something to help. Schoolchildren were digging trenches and filling sandbags. A call went out, “We need volunteers for the Lebanese Border.”

In Israel, high schools have a program called, “Gadna’.” Gadna’ is actually run by a department of the IDF. It runs for about 4 hours a week for all four years of high school and consists of elements from IDF Basic Training. Kids climb ropes with full kit, learn the use and care of firearms (small arms) and go on forced marches. Night tactics and Squad Training are also learned. By the time Abe was 17, he was a basically trained soldier without having yet been drafted.

Abe was seventeen and a half years old in May. Kibbutzim on the Lebanese border were aware that all the manpower and force of the IDF would be concentrated on the Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian borders. Syria and Egypt were both rattling their sabers and moving troops up to the border. Jordan hadn’t declared yet, but it looked like it would join the fray, even as Israel declared that, if Jordan wouldn’t attack, Israel would leave it alone. Egypt ordered the UN contingent, that was stationed as a barrier between Israel and the Gaza Strip, (that was in Egypt), out of its territory.

The word went out…Youths over 16, who were Gadna’-trained, were needed on the Lebanese border.

Israel has a plan called “Melah.” An acronym for “Mesheq Lish’at Herum”  (Emergency Industry). Since, at a time of war, all able-bodied men and many women, are mobilized, how does the economy function. The system makes sure that, although most of the economy is shut down, certain, vital goods are manufactured and distributed. That is the function of Melah.

The kibbutzim on the border are a part of Melah. Their needs were twofold; 1) Was the need for manpower to supply food to the population through the coming war and, 2) Was the need for trained soldiers to patrol the Lebanese border, as the IDF was concentrated on the other borders.

The IDF considered the Lebanese border to be of much lower priority than the other three. Syria, a long-time nemesis, sat atop the Golan Heights and would shell the Galilee every now and then. The Kibbutzim sitting at the foot of the Golan, in Eastern Galilee, suffered especially. There were children who had spent close to half their lives in bomb-shelters. A full-scale assault coming down the Golan Heights would be hard to stop, and would take both manpower and firepower.

Jordan had the most disciplined and best-trained, if smallest, of the Arab militaries arrayed against us. Jordan also bordered both Saudi Arabia and Iraq, both of which were making war-noises. We were braced for an attack from these countries through Jordan. West Jerusalem, our capital, sat on the border with Jordan and was in danger. Egypt had the largest Military by far. They were moving troops up to the border and had military airfields deep in the Sinai, well within range of Israel. They had blockaded the Straits of Tiran, in southern Sinai, effectively strangling our Red-Sea port of Eilat. This, according to international law, was a de-facto act of war.

The Lebanese border was left to fend for itself. There was a low-level possibility that Syria would attack through Lebanon as well as through the Golan. There was also a possibility of terrorists taking advantage of the fact that the border was less protected, and infiltrating.

The call went out asking for volunteers over 16 who had had at least 2 years of Gadna’. My sister was, at the time, on Kibbutz Eilon. The Kibbutz sat (and still sits) north of Israel’s Northern Road, near the border. The area is full of pine forests. Abe volunteered and went north. He and his comrades were housed, two to a room, on the Kibbutz and ate in the communal Members’ dining room. During the day, they would do the agricultural work, alongside volunteers from Europe and the Americas. At night the Gadna’ boys became an army unit.

The joke was that the Lebanese border was guarded by “the 70 year-olds and the 17 year-olds.” (That was a later joke. The original joke had been that the IDF Band was guarding the border).

The 60 and 70 year-olds, veterans of WW2 and the 1948 War of Independence were the NCOs and the officers. Abe and his comrades, the 16 and 17 year-olds, were the grunts. We would report at sundown. Some of them would mount jeeps and patrol, along with a veteran per jeep. Others would patrol, with Mauser rifles, the whole village. Yet another detail, would guard the bomb shelters, in which the smaller kids slept at night.

The security jobs were rotated so that every Gadna’ youth had a chance to do them all. Patrolling with a Jeep was both fun and scary. They were teenagers with guns, ready to fight a war and they were scared. They didn’t talk about it much between themselves but, every once in a while, they would have frank discussions. The open threats that were coming from the Arab countries surrounding the State of Israel were frightening. They had, however, an unshakable faith in the IDF,

In Israel, there’s a well known and much used phrased, “Kol HaKavod LeTzahal.” Literally, it translates as, “All honour to the IDF.” It means that the population understands that the IDF is all that prevents its wholesale slaughter, and trusts it. This phrase is used when a civilian gives up his bus seat to a tired soldier, or when a total stranger pays for a soldier’s meal at a restaurant.

The news spread…General Moshe Dayan, the hero of the 1956 Sinai Campaign, and Israel’s most famous soldier, was appointed Minister of Defense. A calm descended on Israel. People volunteered to dog trenches and organize shelters for civilians. Soldiers, on their way to the front, were invited to free meals by total strangers. We all felt a bond. The atmosphere was that of an impending holocaust, but they were calm and united.

A new song was a big hit. Written by Naomi Shemer, one of Israel’s most popular songwriters and sung by Shuli Natan. Shuli Natan, a female soldier, had been serving as a Hebrew teacher for immigrants. Everyone sang the song. They couldn’t get enough of it.

Around June 4th or so, Dayan said, in a press conference, that the time was not right to react. In his words it was, “both too early and too late, to react to the Arab aggression.” He had also authorized leave for some army units, and that relaxed the three countries threatening Israel. The next day, just before dawn, Israel struck the Egyptian and Syrian air forces destroying most of their aircraft on the ground.

They didn’t know what was going on until the third day of the war. All they knew was that, “Egyptian armoured forces have attempted to invade Israel, and they are fighting back.” On June 8th, they discovered just how crushing their attack had been. We had captured the whole Sinai Peninsula. They were in the West Bank and encircling East Jerusalem. Syria was still pounding their villages in the Galilee, but troops were being sent there from the south. The euphoria was beginning. Abe remember hearing, on the radio, the sound of the Shofar, (ram’s horn), being blown at the Western Wall by General, Rabbi, Shlomo Goren, Chief Chaplain of the IDF, and he cried along with everyone else. It was unbelievable.

On the sixth day, they finished taking the Golan Heights, and a Cease-fire was imposed by the UN. They had taken the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, the Old City of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount, and the Golan Heights…and they sang “Jerusalem of Gold.”

Tzeth’a Leshalom VeShuvh’a Leshalom

Abe

Monday, September 10, 2007

The New Jihad - Battle is economic rather than military

Courtesy of MEMRI

VIEW THE NEW MEMRI TV WEBSITE AT: www.memritv.org 

Inquiry & Analysis-Jihad & Terrorism Studies/Economic Studies Project

September 11, 2007, No. 387

The Battle... Is Economic Rather than Military" – An Economically Oriented Concept of Jihad Emerges in Islamist Discourse
By E. Alshech*

To view this Inquiry and Analysis in HTML, visit: MEMRI Latest News.

Introduction

The concept of jihad, dating back to the earliest stages of Islam, has always been open to various interpretations. Since Islamic sources define jihad in very broad terms, Muslims have, throughout Islamic history, been able to transform and extend its meaning according to their specific perceptions and needs. This document focuses on a concept of jihad that has been emerging for some time in Islamist discourse, as is evident in Islamist forums and websites. In this permutation, jihad is perceived as being aimed primarily at undermining the Western economy, particularly the U.S. economy, with the ultimate goal of bringing about the total collapse of the West.(1) In practical terms, this concept of jihad does not pose an immediate and substantial danger to Western economy. However, it nonetheless merits attention, since it represents a broadening of the boundaries of jihad, and widens the circle of people who can potentially be involved in jihadist activity.

"The Destruction of Its Economy Will Cause the U.S. to... Disappear Like the Soviet Union"

Islamist websites rarely engage in comprehensive theoretical discussions about the overall goals of global jihad. However, postings on this topic that occasionally appear on Islamist forums provide crucial insight into the Islamists' understanding of their struggle against the West. For example, an article posted on Alhesbah.org in 2003, by an individual named Abu Mus'ab, stated that the key to defeating the U.S. is to weaken its economy: "No reasonable person can deny the United States' military, economic and technological power... [However, both the U.S.'s] technological research and its military forces depend on the economy. [Consequently,] the destruction of its economy will cause the U.S. to disintegrate, collapse, and disappear, just like the Soviet Union.(2) Therefore, studying America's economy is [even more crucial] than examining its military forces..."(3)

"The Primary Goal of [Al-Qaeda's] War Against America... Is to Defeat it Economically"

A similar point was made in another article on Alhesbah.org, titled "Al-Qaeda's Battle Is an Economic [Battle] – Not a Military One," posted in 2005 by an individual named Abu Mus'ab Al-Najdi. The article stated that "the primary goal of [Al-Qaeda's] war against America... is to defeat it economically. Anything that causes losses to its economy we regard as a step towards victory. Accordingly, the criterion for absolute victory is not [just] a military defeat [of the enemy]... but [a military defeat] which indirectly affects the economy, [for example by] causing economists to lose confidence in [America's] ability to protect its... trade [interests]."(4)

The article mentioned the 9/11 attacks as an example. The important question, it said, "is not... how many infidels died [in these attacks]... but the effect they had on the [American] economy... The [9/11] attack was successful by every standard, [since] the U.S. is still reeling from its [economic] impact... (5) One [therefore] hopes that those who take interest in our struggle against America... will embrace this strategy without reservation. [We can] shorten the duration of the battle... by focusing all our strength on purely economic targets... [Unfortunately,] many people regard these [targets] as worthless... It would be a mistake for these youths to retain this simplistic understanding of the nature of the battle."

The article also stated that Al-Qaeda's attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq constitute a crucial component of its economic war against America: "The mujahideen prevented the American enemy from obtaining a large share of Iraq's oil. [By laying their hands on this oil,] the Americans hoped to temporarily alleviate the [economic] damage caused by the 9/11 attacks, until they could gain complete control over the [entire] oil [market]. [The U.S.] now controls two-thirds [of Iraq's oil], and it hopes to gain control over the rest when it finishes its [political maneuvers] in Iraq."
It will be shown below that blocking the West's access to major oil resources is a crucial component of the Islamists' perception of their economic war on the West.

The Goal is to Persistently Drain the Economic Strength of the U.S.
The importance of attacking the U.S. economy was also stressed in an article from 2006 about Al-Qaeda's strategy, by an individual calling himself "Amir Net." Al-Qaeda's goal, he wrote, is to "persistently drain America's strength by [opening up new fronts] in the confrontation [with it]. This will render it incapable of defending the [Arab] regimes to the extent it does today. Then, the jihad movement will be able to successfully attack the Arab oil [facilities], thereby destroying the central pillar of the American economy..."(6)

Citing an economic study allegedly conducted by Al-Qaeda prior to the 9/11 attacks, the writer states that undermining the American economy has always been Al-Qaeda's number one goal. Before 9/11, he says, Al-Qaeda believed that the best way to weaken the American economy was to reinstate the gold standard in international monetary trade.(7) Al-Qaeda aimed to "spread this idea throughout the world and to conduct the necessary studies in order to support it... [This strategy was meant to] gradually weaken the American dollar... eventually leading to its quick collapse." The writer states that Al-Qaeda "recruited experts... to disprove the economic theory spread by Jewish economists in America – [the theory which] denies the necessity of backing up currencies with precious metals such as gold and silver, and [instead] uses the country's gross national product as the standard for determining the value of its currency... If this theory is abolished, and [if at the same time] the Americans are prevented from using Arab oil [and are subjected to] the constant financial drain of the continuing battle, Chinese and Japanese investors will begin to question America's economic strength... and will withdraw their investments from the vast American market..."

The writer asserts that these developments will have dramatic results: An economically weakened America "will be unable to continue carrying the burden which lies upon [its] shoulders... in the current world order." This, he says, will clear the way for the rise of new superpowers – China and India – which will be more benign towards Islam. When this happens, Muslims will be able to consolidate their own power, establish the Caliphate, and eradicate all the non-Islamic regimes in the Arab world.
The economically oriented perception of jihad reflected in this posting (and in the other postings quoted above) obviously entails new priorities. It perceives the crippling of Western economy as the primary goal, while other goals (such as military defeat) are perceived as secondary, in the sense that they, too, are regarded as indirect means of undermining Western economy.
To What Extent is Economic Jihad Implemented in Practice?
Evidence suggests that the economic dimension of jihad has indeed become part and parcel of the Islamists' perception of their jihad activity. Postings on jihadist forums indicate that the Islamists closely follow Western media reports and studies which analyze the effect of various domestic and global factors (e.g., the war in Iraq, global terrorism, natural catastrophes, etc.) on Western economies.(8)

In fact, some Islamist forums, such as Alhesbah.org, have dedicated special sections to economic issues, including many issues specifically pertaining to Western economies.(9) Moreover, a look at discussions on Islamist forums, including messages by Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri, along with terrorist operations on the ground, strongly suggests that the economically oriented notion of jihad is not a purely theoretical idea but has actually affected the terrorists' choice of targets, as shown by the following examples.

Attacks on Oil Facilities

From messages exchanged by jihadists online, it is evident that oil facilities inside and outside the Middle East have ranked high on their list of targets for quite some time. This strategy jibes with the Islamists' belief that oil is the foundation of the U.S.'s worldwide hegemony – a belief that was stressed, for example, in Osama bin Laden's video message of December 16, 2004, in which he called for attacking oil installations: "There is now a rare and golden opportunity to make America bleed in Iraq – both economically and in terms of [loss of] human life and [blows to its] morale. Do not miss this opportunity, for you will regret it. One of the primary [methods] by which our enemies have gained control over our land is by stealing our oil. Therefore, you should do everything in your power to stop the greatest theft in history: [the theft] of the natural resources of the present and future generations, which is being carried out by the foreigners in collaboration with [local] agents… Focus your operations [on oil installations], especially in Iraq and the Gulf region, since [lack of oil] will cause [the enemy] to perish."(10) A similar call to attack oil facilities was made by Ayman Al-Zawahiri in his September 2005 interview with Al-Sahab TV on the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.(11)

In the past two years, there have been indications that Islamists' interest in striking oil facilities has increased.(12) A member of an Islamist group called "Those Who Returned from Guantanamo," who was recently arrested in Kuwait, reported that the group had planned to attack oil installations around the country.(13)

Evidence gathered by the Saudi authorities in 2005, following a violent clash with a terrorist cell in the city of Al-Dammam, indicated that the cell (which Saudi authorities stated had direct ties to Al-Qaeda) had likewise planned large-scale attacks on key oil and gas facilities in Saudi Arabia.(14) However, most indicative was the unsuccessful terrorist attack on the Baqiq oil refinery in Saudi Arabia on February 24, 2006. Sawt Al-Jihad, the e-journal of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, wrote that this attack would have had significant impact on world economy.(15) Moreover, the planners of the attack, nicknamed the "Oil Cell" – captured by the Saudis in May 2007 – admitted that the group had scouted out various oil facilities with the intent of destroying them. According to the terrorists, the primary aim of the attacks was to harm Saudi Arabia, but another goal was to cut oil supplies to the U.S. and the West.(16)

Targeting Critical Economic Infrastructure

Another goal pursued by Islamists in their efforts to undermine Western economy is the targeting of Western financial institutions and critical infrastructure,(17) especially in the U.S. They attack such institutions primarily, though not exclusively, through techniques of "electronic jihad," i.e. by hacking into Western computer networks.(18) For example, on November 22, 2006, an electronic jihad group which states that its goal is to destroy the U.S. economy posted a message on the Islamist forum Alfirdaws.org, urging Islamic hackers "to target sensitive American economic websites such as those linked to the stock market, the Central Bank... high-tech companies, and oil [companies]."(19)

Another forum participant suggested attacking "[computer] networks around the world, including military networks and [networks] which control radar [systems], missiles, and communications…" He explained that "if all these networks were to stop [functioning even] for a single day… it would bring about the total collapse of the West… while affecting our interests only slightly. The collapse of the West would bring about the breakdown of world economy and of the stock markets, which depend on [electronic] communications [for] their activities, [e.g.] transfers of assets and shares. [Such an attack] would cause the capitalist West to collapse."(20)

It seems that the Islamists have also attempted to put these ideas into action. A December 5, 2006 posting on Alfirdaws.org claimed that Islamist hackers had planned an attack, nicknamed "The Electronic Guantanamo Raid," against U.S. banks, cancelling it at the last moment because the banks had been warned of a possible attack by U.S. government agencies.(21)

Though it might seem unlikely that critical infrastructure could be seriously crippled by electronic attacks, experts warn that the danger should not be underestimated.(22) Past experience with cyber-terrorism indicates that critical infrastructure can indeed be harmed. Computer systems of banks and other financial institutions have frequently been targeted by hackers, resulting in substantial losses. Successful cyber-attacks on other critical networks have also been numerous. In 1992, for example, a fired Chevron employee disabled the firm's fire alert system by hacking into computers in New York and San Jose. The attack disabled the system for 10 hours, putting thousands of people at risk. In 2003, a computer virus called the "Sapphire Worm" or "Slammer Worm" spread rapidly via the Internet, shutting down websites all over the world. It infected at least 75,000 hosts and caused a wide range of problems – from canceled airline flights to ATM failures. The virus even disabled a 911 call center outside Seattle that serviced 14 fire departments, two police stations, and a community of 164,000 people.

These examples indicate that the Islamist aspirations to harm critical infrastructure should not be dismissed as unrealistic.
Devaluating the U.S. Dollar

An additional aim frequently discussed by Islamists is the devaluation of the U.S. dollar. Over the past few months, Islamists have been promoting an online campaign called "Crush the Dollar," which urges Muslims to boycott this currency in order to "Hasten America's downfall...; punish the enemy... who fights the religion of Allah...; [cripple] the economy [of the U.S.], which has killed our children, violated our honor, tormented our youth, stolen our wealth, and slandered our Prophet... and in order to dry up America's economic resources in retaliation for its failed attempt to dry up the material resources of jihad."(23)

The campaign recommends switching to euros as a temporary solution until Islamic societies abolish paper money altogether and revert to using gold and silver.(24)

To view an illustration from the "Crush the Dollar" campaign visit: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA38707 .

The Islamist preoccupation with the notion of harming the dollar was also reflected in a posting on the Islamist forum www.mohajroon.com/vb. The writer proposed three steps that can be taken by private individuals to devaluate the dollar. He wrote: "First, call your bank teller and ask [him] to convert all your money from American dollars into a different currency (such as euros or yen) or into gold... (You should convert at least $1,000). Next, convince at least 10 of your friends to do the same. Third, stop making transactions in American dollars."(25)

The writer presented a table showing that, if this plan is successfully carried out 10 times, over one trillion dollars will be sold. The resulting chain reaction, he argued, would devaluate the dollar and ultimately cause significant harm to the American economy: "Investors will sell American dollars in order to minimize their losses. Institutions will sell dollars and will avoid making transactions in dollars. Governments will convert their cash reserves into euros. Oil-exporting countries will switch to different currencies. And since paper dollars are no longer backed by gold, the international market will lose confidence in them. The U.S. government will then find itself in a state of economic chaos, with prices of import products – especially oil – [steadily] rising, a process that will eventually lead to economic recession in the U.S."(26)

Another forum participant suggested that Arab governments should adopt a policy of boycotting both the dollar and American products. "Arab countries," he stated, "will not be able to completely boycott the American dollar unless they give up American commodities... which are paid for in dollars... Since it is impossible for the Arabs to completely forgo American goods, [they should at least] reduce the import of such goods, [thus] diminishing their dependence on the dollar. [In addition, they] should pay... for non-American goods in currencies other than the dollar... This will cut down their use of the dollar by 11 percent... reduce the dollar's segment in international trade… and [ultimately] affect America's economic status in the world."(27)

The anti-dollar campaign is not just a preoccupation of Islamist forums and websites. In December 2006, Iran announced a decision to switch to euros for foreign transactions.(28)

Chinese sources confirmed in 2007 that Zhuhai Zhenrong Trading, a Chinese state-run company that buys 240,000 barrels of oil per day from Iran, had switched to euros for its Iranian oil purchases. It was also reported that Japanese refiners, who buy some 550,000 barrels of oil a day from Iran, had indicated their willingness to buy Iran's oil in yen.(29)

Whether isolated anti-dollar policies could actually destabilize the dollar is uncertain,(30) and the economic impact of the Islamists' anti-dollar campaign is therefore questionable. Nonetheless, the campaign may have a psychological impact that could ultimately affect the U.S. economy to some degree. Persistent and credible reports about Muslims around the world selling millions or even billions of dollars could reduce confidence in U.S. currency, and affect its status vis-à-vis other currencies.

Undermining the Tourism Industry

The tourism industry has been a favored target of Islamist terrorists over the past two decades. For example, between 1992 and 1997, the Egyptian organization Al-Jama'a Al-Islamiyya carried out some 30 terrorist attacks against tourist targets in Egypt.(31)

The 2002 attack in Bali, perpetrated by an Indonesian terrorist group also called Al-Jama'a Al-Islamiyya, killed 202 people, 164 of them foreigners.(32) Tourist resorts in the Sinai have also been targeted several times in recent years by Islamist terrorists.(33)

In their statements, Islamists usually stress the political goals that their organizations are meant to achieve (e.g. undermining the regime of a particular country). However, it is likely that the attacks are also aimed at achieving the wider goal of weakening the economy of the targeted state. This is plausible, considering the importance of tourism to world economy.

According to the annual World Tourism Organization report for 2000, international tourism generated $476 billion that year – roughly 10% of all tourism revenue for 2000. This suggests that total tourism revenues (domestic and international) may be as high as five trillion dollars.(34) In developing countries where tourism is a crucial source of income and therefore a major factor in economic development, terrorism against tourist targets is bound to have an especially severe impact on the economy.

A correlation between high-profile terrorist attacks and a decline in tourism revenue has been confirmed by studies,(35) and also acknowledged by the governments of the targeted countries. For example, following the April 2006 triple bombing in Sinai, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said that the attacks could only be "an attempt to destroy the economy of Egypt by attacking tourism."(36)

It is safe to assume that the Islamists are aware of the economic impact of terrorism against tourism targets, and will continue to pursue this aim on the local level, and perhaps also on the international one, as part of their emerging strategy of identifying and crippling crucial elements of Western economy.

Conclusion

Though the Islamists' online campaigns against critical infrastructure, the U.S. dollar, and the oil industry may pose a threat – albeit a limited one – to Western economic interests, their greatest significance is that taken together, they set out an ideological infrastructure that broadens the boundaries of jihad.

 With this basic ideological foundation in place, Islamists can extend the concept of jihad to encompass not only attacks against major economic interests (e.g. banks and oil installations) but also against a wide range of other, seemingly less significant, targets. Attacks on the latter targets may ultimately inflict substantial damage on Western economy.

More importantly, this broadened definition of jihad renders it accessible to Islamists who wish to engage in jihad activities but lack access to jihad organizations and military training, and do not possess the necessary expertise to engage in media and electronic jihad or in other specialized activities. Under this understanding of jihad, any Muslim can qualify as a mujahid simply by engaging in activities that inflict some measure of damage on Western economy.

Clearly, the ultimate impact of this concept of jihad will depend on how much currency it gains among Muslims – a factor which is difficult to predict or measure. As a final note, it should be mentioned that this concept of jihad has been circulating for some time in various popular Islamist forums, many of which are increasingly visited by individuals residing in Western countries.(37)

*Dr. Alshech is the Director of the Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project at MEMRI.

Endnotes:

(1) Economic initiatives, for example, to boycott Western products or restrict oil exports to Western countries, aimed not at destroying the Western economy but at pressuring the West into altering its policies, are not dealt with in this paper. For a discussion of such measures, see, for example, an April 18, 2002 article in the Qatari daily Al-Rai, in which the Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi presented the economic boycott on Israel and the U.S. as a means to promote the Palestinian cause: www.qaradawi.net. Al-Qaradhawi reiterated this point in a 2007 article titled "Boycotting American and Israeli Merchandise," which was posted on his websites. See also a legal opinion from 2002 by Hussein Shehata, a professor of Islamic economy at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, which depicts the boycott on Israeli and U.S. products as the legal duty of every Muslim, and as a policy which "pressures the U.S. to reconsider its hostile policies vis-à-vis the Arabs and Muslims": 216.239.59.104 www.islamonline.net. Another article by Shehata which expresses similar views is "Economic Jihad," from 2003: www.kate3.com.

(2) www.al-hesbah.org (no longer active). The writer also stressed that the collapse of the Soviet Union was precipitated by the considerable damage inflicted on its economy by the prolonged war in Afghanistan.

(3) Two additional articles stressing the importance of weakening the U.S. economy, also posted on www.alhesbah.org, are "The Downfall of United States – An Assessment of Its Economic Situation" (http://al-hesbah.org/v/showthread.php?t=111065), and "Yes... The Merchants Will Cry Over It..." (http://al-hesbah.org/v/showthread.php?t=93042). 

(4) http://www.al-hesbah.org/v/showthread.php?t=36599

(5) The webmaster of the Islamist forum www.al-ommh.net/vb (no longer active) attributed a similar economic significance to the 2005 bombing in London. In a July 3, 2007posting, he wrote: "Another benefit [of the London bombings] was [the damage they caused to] England's infrastructure and economy... The attack also dealt a severe blow to the global stock market: the index dropped 200 points in less than 30 minutes, which caused them significant economic losses... www.al-ommh.net.

(6) www.mohajroon.com 136641 (no longer active).

(7) The U.S. abandoned the gold standard in 1971. www.house.gov.

(8) This is reflected in many postings, for instance on Al-Hesbah, such as a posting about a report titled "The United States is Going Through Its Worst Economic Phase," allegedly prepared by the U.S Department of Commerce (Al-hesbah.org/135870); a posting about the surge in oil prices in the U.S. (Al-hesbah.org 129837); and a posting titled "Congress: The War on Terrorism Has Cost Us $510 Billion" (Al-hesbah.org).  

(9)About 50% of the messages posted in this section in 2007 were on issues related to Western economy.

(10) See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 838, "Osama bin Laden: 'Today There is a Conflict between World Heresy Under the Leadership of America on the One Hand and the Islamic Nation with the Mujahideen in its Vanguard on the Other,'" December 30, 2004, memri.org/.

(11) See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1044, "Newly Released Video of Al-Qaeda's Deputy Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri's Interview With Al-Sahab TV," December 9, 2005, MEMRI.Org.

(12) It has been argued that the oil shortage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 led the Islamists to appreciate in full the power of the "oil weapon.

(13) www.alseyassah.com/alseyassah. I thank I. Rapoport for calling my attention to this report.

(14) About the Al-Dammam incident, see www.alwatan.com.sa.

According to the Saudi authorities, the terrorists were in possession of forged documents that would have enabled them to access to some of the country's key oil and gas installations. www.weeklystandard.com.

Recently, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa reported, citing a London source of uncertain reliability, that Al-Qaeda is about to launch a new military campaign against essential local and foreign oil interests in the Persian Gulf, among other targets. www.alseyassah.com

(15) For details about the attack, see www.alwatan.com.sa; www.alwatan.com.sa/daily/2006-02-27.

(16) www.okaz.com.sa/.  This is further evidence that the Islamists regard domestic terrorism as aimed, inter alia, at triggering global economic impact, such as international oil shortages and a rise in oil prices. I thank Y. Admon for helping me locate this report.

(17) Critical infrastructure refers to assets and systems essential to the functioning of society and the economy. The Clinton administration designated the following critical infrastructure as "national life support systems": telecommunications, banking and finance, electrical power, oil and gas distribution and storage, water supply, transportation, emergency services, and government services.

(18) Mohajroon.com. On electronic jihad, see Gary R. Bunt, Islam in the Digital Age (London, 2003), pp. 37-66. For a more recent analysis, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 329, "Cyberspace as a Combat Zone," February 27, 2007, Memri.org.

(19) Alfirdaws.org (no longer active).

(20) Alfirdaws.org/vb.

(21) Afirdaws.org/vb/showthread.php?t=21318

(22) For a DiploFoundation study on cyber terrorism, see: Txtus.diplomacy.edu/.

(23) Afirdaws.org/vb/showthread.php?t=20692.

(24) A similar call to boycott the U.S. dollar was issued in May 2006 by the prime minister of Malaysia. Ajazeeratalk.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2113 .

(25) Mhajroon.com/vb/showthread.php?t=34373.

(26) Mhajroon.com/vb/showthread.php?t=34373.

(27) Afirdaws.org/vb/showthread.php?t=20692.

(28) www.irna.ir/. It should be noted that in November 2000, Saddam Hussein's Iraq switched to euros in oil transactions, a move which apparently had little effect on the dollar. For a more recent report about Iran's new oil-trade policy, see the following article in English from the Iranian website Baztab, which is affiliated with Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezai, E.baztab.com/content/?cid=3670.

(29) World Net Daily .  Com; News.bbc.co.uk. This growing anti-dollar tendency among oil-trading countries coincides with a four-year-old international campaign to end the dominance of the dollar in world trade. For information about this campaign, see Rohini Hensman and Marinella Correggia, "U.S. Dollar Hegemony: The Soft Underbelly of Empire," www.boycottbush.org/dollar_en.php.

(30) For a summary of the debate on this issue in the West, see www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Iran. See also Congressman Ron Paul's 2006 speech before the House of Representatives on "The End of Dollar Hegemony," www.house.gov; and William Clark, "The Real Reasons Why Iran is the Next Target: The Emerging Euro-denominated International Oil Market," www.energybulletin.net.

(31) See Jonathan Essner, "Terrorism's Impact on Tourism," p. 8, Sand.miis.edu.

(32) News.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2778923.stm.

(33) The deadliest of the attacks – the synchronized bombings in 2004 of the Hilton in Taba and of two campsites in Ras Al-Shitan on October 7, 2004 – left 34 dead and 171 wounded.

(34) Jonathan Essner, "Terrorism's Impact on Tourism," Sand.miis.edu.

(35) See Essner's "Terrorism's Impact on Tourism." See also an International Monetary Fund report on the impact of the 2002 Bali attack on the Indonesian economy: www.imf.org.

(36) www.usatoday.com.

(37) See "The Promises and Pitfalls of Analyzing Jihadi Websites," by Jarret Brachmen, director of Combating Terrorism Center at West Point Military Academy. www.isn.ethz.ch.

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