Never play leapfrog with a unicorn
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Here's a report from the Pentagon on the Iraqi rebellion. The report concludes that Saddam diehards are behind the rebellion. The groundwork for the rebellion was apparently laid before the Saddam regime fell. Here's the money quote:
The report states that Iraqi officers of the "Special Operations and Antiterrorism Branch," known within Mr. Hussein's government as M-14, are responsible for planning roadway improvised explosive devices and some of the larger car bombs that have killed Iraqis, Americans and other foreigners. The attacks have sown chaos and fear across Iraq.
In addition, suicide bombers have worn explosives-laden vests made before the war under the direction of of M-14 officers, according to the report, prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The report also cites evidence that one such suicide attack last April, which killed three Americans, was carried out by a pregnant woman who was an M-14 colonel.
Its findings were based on interrogations with high-ranking M-14 members who are now in American custody, as well as on documents uncovered and translated by the Iraq Survey Group. While the report cites specific evidence, other important assessments of American intelligence on Iraq have been challenged and even proven wrong.
The contents of the report were either quoted directly or summarized by five United States government officials and military officers who had read it. It provides a more detailed portrait of the insurgency. In the past, American officials have typically described the insurgents as a rudderless guerrilla movement of foreign fighters, Islamic jihadists, former Baathists, and common criminals. The report does not address the question of how broad-based support for the insurgency is.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Here's a piece on the Iran's President Khatami who admits the current regime shows "signs of despotism". He is increasingly isolated between young protesters demanding reform and hardliners who want to maintain the theocratic state. Here's the money quote:
TEHRAN: Iran’s embattled reformist President Mohammad Khatami publicly acknowledged Tuesday that there were "signs of despotism" in the Islamic republic, as he countered criticism in a meeting with young people. According to Iranian news agency reports, Khatami - frequently criticised for failing to stand up to more powerful hardline clerics - was given a tough grilling in a meeting to mark national youth day.
"I know that what you are saying to me now you cannot say anywhere else, because you would pay dearly and have already paid dearly, and that there are many signs of despotism in our society," the president responded. "During my presidency, I have received many letters from young people: complaints, protests and commentaries. One day I will publish them as documents that illustrate this sensitive period of our history," said the mild-mannered cleric. Khatami was swept into office in 1997 and again in 2001 on the back of a tide of support from young people eager to see his message of social and political tolerance translated into real change.
But his initiatives have been consistently blocked by hardliners in the courts, security forces and legislative oversight bodies. Khatami is now even more isolated after his allies in parliament were ousted in February’s elections. His second and final term in office ends in June 2005. Khatami only promised that he would "in the near future and in the form of a letter, spell out to people the things and the preoccupations that I have never revealed."
The president also acknowledged there were political prisoners in Iran, despite assertions to the contrary by the judiciary. "I never said that we have no political prisoners. We have them, and that is incontestable. They have been jailed for what they believe in," he said, adding that he had "pursued their cases and in doing so I have written letters and voiced my objections."
Here's a piece on the rising numbers of European Muslims who are hearing the call to jihad and responding. Young Muslims become alienated from their prosperous, secular societies in Europe and are attracted to groups like al-Qaeda. Because of the emphasis on human rights, authorities have little maneuvering room when trying to reign in the more extreme advocates of jihad. They sometimes have to use visa irregularities as an excuse to deport immigrants. Here's the money quote:
LUTON, England, April 24 The call to jihad is rising in the streets of Europe, and is being answered, counterterrorism officials say.
In this former industrial town north of London, a small group of young Britons whose parents emigrated from Pakistan after World War II have turned against their families' new home. They say they would like to see Prime Minister Tony Blair dead or deposed and an Islamic flag hanging outside No. 10 Downing Street.
They swear allegiance to Osama bin Laden and his goal of toppling Western democracies to establish an Islamic superstate under Shariah law, like Afghanistan under the Taliban. They call the Sept. 11 hijackers the "Magnificent 19" and regard the Madrid train bombings as a clever way to drive a wedge into Europe.
On Thursday evening, at a tennis center community hall in Slough, west of London, their leader, Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammad, spoke of his adherence to Osama bin Laden. If Europe fails to heed Mr. bin Laden's offer of a truce provided that all foreign troops are withdrawn from Iraq in three months Muslims will no longer be restrained from attacking the Western countries that play host to them, the sheik said.
"All Muslims of the West will be obliged," he said, to "become his sword" in a new battle. Europeans take heed, he added, saying, "It is foolish to fight people who want death that is what they are looking for."
On working-class streets of old industrial towns like Crawley, Luton, Birmingham and Manchester, and in the Arab enclaves of Germany, France, Switzerland and other parts of Europe, intelligence officials say a fervor for militancy is intensifying and becoming more open.
In Hamburg, Dr. Mustafa Yoldas, the director of the Council of Islamic Communities, saw a correlation to the discord in Iraq. "This is a very dangerous situation at the moment," Dr. Yoldas said. "My impression is that Muslims have become more and more angry against the United States."
Hundreds of young Muslim men are answering the call of militant groups affiliated or aligned with Al Qaeda, intelligence and counterterrorism officials in the region say.
Even more worrying, said a senior counterterrorism official, is that the level of "chatter" communications among people suspected of terrorism and their supporters has markedly increased since Mr. bin Laden's warning to Europe this month. The spike in chatter has given rise to acute worries that planning for another strike in Europe is advanced.
Friday, April 23, 2004
Here's a very important report on the effect of the internet and photography manipulation software such as Photoshop on the uses of photography in the search for truth. The main story is about a controversial photo of a U.S. soldier posing with some Iraqi boys and a sign. Different versions of the photo with different wording on the sign have circulated on the internet such that it is now impossible to tell which photo (if indeed any of them) is the original. The issue speaks to the larger concern of photography no longer being a reliable recorder of the truth. Here's the money quote:
In response, the military, which determined that the soldier in the picture was a Marine reservist -- Lance Cpl. Ted J. Boudreaux of Thibodaux, La. -- launched an investigation. News of the probe sparked a small outcry against Boudreaux; his local newspaper said he had "embarrassed himself, the Marine Corps and, unfortunately, his home state."
But the anti-Boudreaux fulmination appears to be have been, at the very least, premature, because nobody can determine whether the picture CAIR received is authentic. Boudreaux has told the Marines that the photo is not real. And, indeed, just as the military's investigation got underway, several other versions of the picture began popping up online. Some were obviously doctored -- one version, posted on a Usenet newsgroup, has the boys holding a sign that reads, "We wanna see Jessca Simpson!" But at least one other picture found online appears just as real as the image CAIR received -- and this one has the boys holding a sign with a decidedly friendlier message: "Lcpl Boudreaux saved my dad. then he rescued my sister!"
Which picture is the real picture? It appears impossible to tell -- even experts in digital imaging are cautious in venturing a guess.
The Boudreaux story illustrates, once again, the emerging weakness of photography in a digital age. There was a time when photographs were synonymous with truth -- when you could be sure that what you saw in a picture actually occurred. In today's Photoshop world, all that has changed. Pictures are endlessly pliable. Photographs (and even videos) are now merely as good as words -- approximations of reality at best, subtle (or outright) distortions of truth at worst. Is that Jane Fonda next to John Kerry at an antiwar rally? No, it isn't; if you thought so, you're a fool for trusting your own eyes.
Some photographers welcome the new skepticism toward images; it's good that people are learning not to automatically believe what they see, they say. But many fear that we're losing an important foothold on reality. Without trustworthy photographs, how will we ever know what in our world is real?
"One of the founders of Doctors Without Borders once said, 'Without a photograph there is no massacre,'" says Fred Ritchin, a professor of photography at New York University. "You can say Tiananmen Square happened -- there was a video, there was a massacre. But if we typically disbelieve the evidence of a photograph, then when the Chinese government says there's no massacre, what are you going to hold up against that?"
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Here's a notice that the U.S. Congress has approved legislation to provide for continuity of government in the event of a terrorist attack that kills a significant number of lawmakers. State governors would be allowed to appoint people to temporary congressional positions until elections could be held within 45 days of the attack. Here's the money quote:
The House, said Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., sponsor of the elections bill and a foe of appointments, "is rooted in democratic principles and those principles must be preserved at all costs."
Thursday's vote came two and a half years after the Sept. 11 attacks and the crash in Pennsylvania of United Flight 93, a plane that many believe was destined for the U.S. Capitol.
"Those passengers gave their lives to give us a second chance," said Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., a supporter of the broader constitutional approach. "Eternal shame on us if we do not take action" to protect Congress' survival after a possible attack.
The measure would require special elections within 45 days of the House speaker confirming that a catastrophic event had left at last 100 of the 435 seats vacant. Language was added to ensure that military personnel stationed overseas would have their voting rights protected.
Congress considered but never acted on the continuity question during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s, when the fear was that Washington could be obliterated in a nuclear attack.
The current legislation has split the two parties in the House, with many Democrats saying they were not given the chance to offer a constitutional amendment that would allow for temporary appointments until special elections could be held.
The Constitution requires that House vacancies be filled by elections. Senate vacancies can be temporarily filled by appointments made by governors.
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Here's a piece on the recent push by a mosque in Hamtramck MI near Detroit to issue the Islamic call to prayer by loudspeaker. Proponents of the move have likened the prayer call to church bells while some residents have said the 5 times a day prayer call would be unnecessarily intrusive. Here's the money quote:
The issue of sending out the prayer on a loudspeaker in the city sparked a heated debate among residents.
"If you guys think about it, the Muslim call to prayer is actually a beautiful thing," an unidentified man who supported the issue said during the City Council meeting.
Some residents are opposed to the call to prayer, saying it gives state sponsorship of a religion and it lifts Islam above all other religions in Hamtramck, Local 4 reported.
"I would say that is a distortion," Hamtramck City Councilwoman Karen Majewski said. "We worked very hard to craft this ordinance in such a way that it would cover all means of religious expression."
Resident Maria Radtke called it "one big mess."
"There'll be no peace as far as I'm concerned," Radtke said.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Here's an interesting analysis of the use of the political epithet "fascist" as a dismissive expression. For years anyone using it to demonize political opponents was viewed as hysterical and unreasoning. More recently though, the term is making somewhat of a comeback. Here's the money quote:
In today's ever more polarized political climate, "fascist," the accusation, is making a comeback. Plug the word into Google and the first item you get is an essay by Anis Shivani titled "Is America Becoming Fascist?" in which the chief argument seems to be that if "left-liberals" don't take the question very seriously, the answer must be yes. Two entries submitted to a MoveOn contest seeking ads that "tell the truth" about George W. Bush compared the president to Adolf Hitler, providing right-wing pundits with another luscious opportunity to play martyr to a gang of slanderous leftist know-nothings. How could anyone reasonably propose such a comparison, the right demands; how can anyone not, cries Shivani with equal fervor, since the "similarities" are so "remarkable"?
Neither side sheds very much light on exactly what a fascist is and how such a person or regime might be identified; it's assumed everyone already knows. In truth, the introduction of Hitler into most conversations is a sign that passions have flared to a point that civility has become impossible. (Hence, Godwin's famous Law of Nazi Analogies, formulated by Internet free-speech advocate Mike Godwin to describe particularly heated exchanges: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one" -- that is, becomes inevitable.) "Hitler was a vegetarian!" is only the most gratuitous example of this sort of gambit.
It turns out, though, that even those who have devoted themselves to studying fascism can't quite agree on what it is. Robert O. Paxton, a former professor of social sciences at Columbia University and longtime historian of the political movement, sets out to formulate a working definition in his new book, "The Anatomy of Fascism." According to Paxton, there have only been two true fascist regimes, Nazi Germany and Italy under Mussolini, the man who gave fascism its name. And some of what you think you know about them is wrong.
Monday, April 19, 2004
Here's a report on an effort by Muslims in Spain to be able to worship in Cordoba, Spain's grand cathedral. The cathedral was a a mosque during the brilliant Muslim civilization in Spain during the early middle ages. The Muslims are appealing to the Vatican to be able to worship there as an act of reconciliation and unity. Here's the money quote:
There was widespread rejoicing among Muslims last year when a new and prominent mosque was opened in Granada after many years of negotiations, but church leaders in Córdoba appear reluctant to acknowledge the way Spanish society is evolving.
A spokesman for the local bishop told El Mundo that the proposal faced a lot of obstacles and it would be many years before it came to anything.
The proposals have also provoked anger in some parts of Spain's Catholic community.
"Will Christians be able to pray in the mosques of Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iran or Kuwait?" demanded one contributor to a Catholic website. "Muslims should practise what they preach!"
The Muslim community is going out of its way to portray the proposals as a union, and not a clash of faiths. "In no way is this request about reclaiming our rights - far less any kind of reconquest," Isabel Romero, a member of the Islamic Council of Spain, told a local newspaper.
"Instead, we want to give our support to the universal character of this building."
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Here's a piece on who is responsible for Muslim terrorism. An article in an Arabic language publication in the UK postulates that Muslim contentions of Islam being a religion of peace are a cover for violence. It goes on to say that many thinkers and intellectuals in the Middle East are in reality sympathetic toward terrorism. Here's the money quote:
In an article titled 'Who's Responsible for the Islamic Terrorists?' that appeared in the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, columnist Khaled Kishtainy, [1] of Iraqi origin, discussed the leading Muslim ideologues' positive attitudes towards the use of violence. The following is the article: [2]
Islamist Talk of 'Love and Peace in Islam' is Just a Cover for Violence
"[The phenomenon] called Islamic terrorism has many roots and causes, and much has already been written about this. But I have personal input on this matter.
"I place on the Islamic intellectuals and leaders of Islamic organizations part of the responsibility for [this phenomenon] of Islamic terrorism, as nearly all of them advocate violence, and repress anyone who casts doubts upon this. Naturally, every so often they have written about the love and peace of Islam – but they did so, at best, for purposes of propaganda and defense of Islam. Their basic position is that this religion was established by the sword, acts by the sword, and will triumph by the sword, and that any doubt regarding this constitutes a conspiracy against the Muslims.
"The best proof of what I am saying is the 1984 world congress on 'The Nonviolent Political Arab Struggle' in Amman, that was nothing but hypocrisy and propaganda. In the congress documents in the English [version], they published my speech, but they removed it from the edition in Arabic!!! All this was in an attempt to deceive the Westerners, and not in order to educate the Arabs to peace.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Here's a report on relations between Iraqis and U.S. troops. The marines were given lessons in respecting Iraqi traditions. They were urged to grow moustaches, not show the soles of their feet and only eat with their right hand. But the troops have largely abandoned this as the fighting in Iraq has become more intense. Here's the money quote:
On a rooftop overlooking Fallujah's industrial wasteland, Lance Cpl. Tom Browne pokes his machine gun muzzle out of a hole in a barrier wall, singing to himself to pass the time.
In the street below, the corpse of an insurgent suspect lies baking in the sun. Browne, from Boston, says he has killed several rebels, probably Iraqis, so far.
"I don't even think about those people as people," he says.
It wasn't supposed to be this way.
The band of Marines in this insurgent stronghold received two big orders this year. They were told to return to Iraq to stabilize the Sunni areas west of Baghdad, Iraq's toughest patch of territory. The normally clean-shaven Marines were also told to grow mustaches in an attempt to win over Iraqis who see facial hair as a sign of maturity.
"We did it basically to show the Iraqi people that we respect their culture," said Lance Cpl. Cristopher Boulwave, 22, from Desoto Texas.
But after the brutal killing of four American contractors in Fallujah on March 31, they tossed aside such pretenses. First to go were the mustaches.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Here's a piece about the U.S. lack of readiness for future terrorist attacks. CIA director George Tenet is saying it will take another 5 years to get the U.S. completely ready to combat al-Qaeda. Here's the money quote:
Tenet testified that when he became the nation's top intelligence officer in 1997, agencies had lost "close to 25 percent of our people and billions of dollars in capital investment" in the preceding several years.
He made his appearance after the commission released a report that noted the same erosion in resources dating to the end of the Cold War.
The report was critical of the CIA and other intelligence agencies, depicting them as slow in recognizing the threat posed by bin Laden and the terror apparatus he sustained.
"While we now know that al-Qaida was formed in 1988, at the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the intelligence community did not describe this organization, at least in the documents we have seen, until 1999," the report said.
The report also noted several "threat reports" produced by the intelligence apparatus had "mentioned the possibility of using an aircraft laden with explosives," such as the terrorists used on Sept. 11.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Here's an analysis of the current European situation vis-a-vis Islam. It turns many westernized Muslims and converts from Christianity are joining jihad movements such as al-Qaeda. A contributing factor to all this is the so called "post-Christian" secular society that Europe has become. Here's the money quote:
A small cadre of European scholars, mirrored by a small group of European internal-security and intelligence officials, have followed the growth of Islamic radicalism in Europe for nearly twenty years. They know, even if European politicians do not, that Europe's most fearsome Muslim true believers are not products of the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation, or the First Gulf War, or the American troop presence in Saudi Arabia after 1990, or the Algerian civil war, or the Bosnian war, or the strife in Chechnya, or the Hindu pillaging of mosques, or the war in Afghanistan, or the second American war against Saddam Hussein, or the globalization of American culture. These events are banners that men who are already converted to jihad wave as they march to give battle. The holy warriors in Europe do not want to see peace in Palestine any more than Osama bin Laden or Iran's clerical guide Ali Khamenei wants to see Israelis and Palestinians solve their problems in two separate, peacefully coexisting states or Hamas's spiritual chief Ahmad Yassin wanted to. They do not care about Israeli settlements.
Europe's jihadists are born from their imperfect assimilation into Western European societies, from the particular alienation that young Muslim males experience in Europe's post-Christian, devoutly secular societies. The phenomenon is vastly more common among Arabs than among African or Asian Muslims. The reasons why these young, predominantly Arab males are drawn to the most militant expressions of Islam are complex and always personal. But their journey--which they usually begin as highly westernized, modern-educated youths of little Islamic faith and end as practitioners of bin Ladenism--is a thoroughly European experience.
The jihadists of Europe have drunk deeply from the virulently anti-American left-wing currents of continental thought and mixed it with the Islamic emotions of 1,400 years of competition with the Christian West. It is a Molotov cocktail of the third-world socialist Frantz Fanon and the Muslim Brother Sayyid Qutb. Muslims elsewhere have gone through similar conversions--the United States, too, has had its Muslim jihadists and will, no doubt, produce more. And the globalization of this virulent strain of fundamentalist, usually Saudi-financed, Islam is real and probably getting worse. But the modern European experience seems much more likely to produce violent young Muslims than the American one. Europe may be competitive with the worst breeding grounds in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
Monday, April 12, 2004
Here's report on efforts between the Sunni and Shiite Islamic groups in Iraq as the situation spins out of control. Leaflets handed out on Baghdad streets told of a union between the Sunni "Army of Fallujah" and the Shiite "Mahdi militia". U.S. officials are trying to portray the cooperation as "not unexpected". Here's the money quote:
About 20 Iraqis who received the leaflets as they queued at a bakery murmured support for the gunmen. "God help them," said one man. "The Americans deserve it. We gained nothing from them."
General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the US-led coalition forces in Iraq, said co-operation between Shia and Sunni guerrillas was taking place at a "tactical level".
"Calls for unity between Shia forces and Sunni forces are not unexpected," he said. "It's clearly an attempt to take advantage of the situation."
A shaky truce was maintained in Fallujah yesterday, and ceasefire talks were due to continue today.
US forces launched a crackdown in the city a week ago in response to the murder and mutilation of four Americans there. More than 600 Iraqis have been killed in local fighting in recent days, according to hospitals. Iraqi shock at the human toll transcends sectarian divisions, and Shi'ites have organised aid convoys for the Sunni city.
Fifteen lorries carrying food entered Fallujah during yesterday's informal ceasefire. The convoy was sent from Sadr City, the mainly Shia slum in east Baghdad.
Sunday, April 11, 2004
Here's a piece on the search for bin Laden. U.S. officials have had to backtrack on confident predictions of catching bin Laden this year. Here's the money quote:
Buoyed by the capture of Saddam Hussein (news - bio) in Iraq, the top American commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, said in January he was confident bin Laden and Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar would suffer the same fate this year. At the time, a spokesman even said the military was "sure" it would catch the two men and Afghan rebel commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Those remarks, and talk of a spring offensive in Afghanistan by Washington defense officials, triggered speculation bin Laden had been located.
But now the military has followed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (news - bio) 's lead in appearing to lower expectations that a top fugitive would be unveiled during an election campaign in both the United States and Afghanistan.
"Close doesn't count," Rumsfeld said as he stood alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a February visit to Kabul. "I suspect that we'll find that it is accomplished at some point in the future, but I wouldn't have any idea when."
There have been no firm indications of bin Laden's whereabouts since he eluded American and Afghan troops at the battle for the Tora Bora cave complex in eastern Afghanistan in December 2001.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Here's a disturbing report on the perception of the world situation by al-Qaeda. According to their chief ideologist Lewis ‘Atiyyatullah (a pseudonym), they think the complacency of the West is so great that it does not see what is happening right before its eyes, which is that the western system of political governance is crumbling and will be replaced by a world-wide Islamic state. Here's the money quote:
The top ideologist writes that contrary to common sense and the situation on the ground, both the West and the Muslim world do not perceive the change that has already occurred. According to ‘Atiyyatullah, there were two kinds of responses to Al-Qa’ida’s writings in the past. The first, from Westerners who completely ignored the writings of Al-Qa’ida’s great thinkers and strategists. They branded those writings as naïve attempts to present Al-Qa’ida in an unrealistic manner. They referred to Al-Qa’ida’s activities as mindless terror.
The second kind of response, says ‘Atiyyatullah, was that of Muslim thinkers. They saw those writings as fictitious, or as wishful thinking. “They mocked us and said: ‘They [the Americans] toppled Taliban and forced Bin Laden to seek refuge in a cave.’” ‘Atiyyatullah responds to this saying, “Al-Qa’ida does not wage wars similar to other wars…Al-Qa’ida is completely willing to sustain the war for many years…The war will be won by the side which will be able to bear the pain longer.”
‘Atiyyatullah finds it difficult to understand how it is that the West has not yet admitted its defeat. His explanation and analysis is as follows: The West suffers from a grave problem. This problem originates from its long-time superiority in many domains including army, politics, intelligence, and economics. This superiority, says ‘Atiyyatullah, made the West think all the rest were inferior, stupid. That is why the West is now suffering from cultural and strategic confusion. That is also why it cannot admit to its defeat, and persists in seeing it as a mere security problem, which can be solved by international cooperation.
The West will eventually realize its mistake, but it will be to late, says the ideologist. “The West will not understand that its dominance is effectively defeated, until the U.S. will suffer a second attack.” Only then will the Muslim people also understand that they have the capability to win over the West, says ‘Atiyyatullah.
Friday, April 09, 2004
Here's an ironic piece about U.S. troops in Baghdad using a former palace of Saddam Hussein to hold Passover services. Apparently Orthodox Jewish groups went all out to help the troops enjoy a traditional seder dinner. Here's the money quote:
The seder marked another historic milestone: In a rare move, the Department of Defense requisitioned “seder kits” from a civilian supplier for the estimated 1,000 Jews serving in the Iraqi war effort and elsewhere.
“This is the true spiritual victory over an evil empire,” said Rabbi Jacob Goldstein, joint forces command chaplain for the National Guard in New York, who has helped ferry religious supplies to Jewish troops in the war.
“Our government takes the religious needs of its soldiers very seriously and goes out of its way to make sure they are met.”
Other organizations are also pitching in for Passover. The Aleph Institute in Surfside, Fla., has sent Passover supplies to more than 1,300 soldiers around the world, continuing a tradition it has upheld since 1995.
The group, which is affiliated with Chabad-Lubavitch and also minister to the needs of Jews in U.S. prisons, shipped thousands of pounds of shmura matzah — the matzah baked especially for Passover following strict guidelines — as well as seder plates, Haggadahs, grape juice, gefilte fish and macaroons to soldiers from Haiti to Italy to Iraq.
E-mails to the Aleph Institute came from troops aboard Sixth Fleet ships off Italy; from Navy personnel in Haiti; and even from a Protestant Air Force chaplain asking for help for 6-8 Jews.
Monday, April 05, 2004
Here's a disturbing report about the level of support for violence against non-Muslims among Muslims in the United Kingdom. According to opinion polls up to 1 in 8 UK Muslims support attacks on the U.S. whereas as many as half support suicide bombers. Here's the money quote:
ONE in eight British Muslims back al-Qaeda-style terror strikes on the United States and almost half said they might consider becoming a suicide bomber if they lived as a Palestinian, according to a new poll.
An overwhelming 80 per cent said Britain and the US should not have launched the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Attacks on the US by al-Qaeda or other groups were viewed as justified by 13 per cent of the 500 British Muslims questioned. Another 15 per cent said they did not know whether such attacks were wrong or right.
The Muslim Council of Britain said the poll, for the Guardian, showed most Muslims "abhor" terror attacks. A spokesman, Inayat Bunglawala, said: "It confirms our own finding that the overwhelming majority abhor terror attacks and see them as unIslamic."
Asked about the 13 per cent who feel further attacks on the US would be justified, Mr Bunglawala said: "Post 9/11 the US has lost a lot of sympathy in the Muslim community with the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and hawkish remarks towards Syria and Iran.
"There is large-scale disillusionment with how the US has conducted itself in Muslim countries."
One of Britain’s most radical Muslim leaders said he believed the majority of Muslims in the UK supported al-Qaeda-style terror attacks on the US.
Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, who heads the London-based group Al-Muhajiroun, said British Muslims were afraid to voice their real feelings about the coalition war in Iraq.
"Since the introduction of the new anti-terrorism laws, Muslims are terrified to speak their minds," he said.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Here's a report on an ongoing terror investigation centering around the state of Texas. Some curious things have happened there recently, including an illegal alien asking about enough explosives to destroy several city blocks and who was also observed taking photos of skyscapers. Here's the money quote:
Quietly and without fanfare, teams of lawmen from federal, state and local agencies have banded together to probe these and other incidents they believe could lead to terrorism. The number of such task forces grew rapidly after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon to nearly 70 nationwide, including four in Texas.
"We've followed thousands of leads. We get them daily," said Richard Powers, the FBI agent in charge of Houston's Joint Terrorism Task Force. "Ninety-nine percent turn out to be invalid, but I believe we have also prevented things."
Two floors of the FBI headquarters in Houston are devoted to task force operations, giving members a round-the-clock base where they can access secure telephones and computers.
The Houston task force comprises 100 members from 40 agencies. They include FBI agents, a police officer from Baytown and a detective from Texas A&M University. All are subject to background checks and are given top-secret clearance. They spend the bulk of their time following tips but also network with other intelligence sources.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Here's an obituary on the 4 security personnel who where killed, burned, dragged through the streets of Fallujah, Iraq and then hung up under a bridge by a crowd chanting "Fallujah will be the graveyard of America". Only 3 of the 4 have been identified at this point. Here's the money quote:
After serving 12 years in the Navy, Scott Helvenston started a career as a fitness instructor and worked as trainer and stunt man for such movies as "Face/Off" and "G.I. Jane."
He helped prepare actress Demi Moore for her role as the first woman to join the Navy SEALs in "G.I. Jane," and appeared on two reality series: "Man vs. Beast" and "Combat Missions."
But after years out of the service, friends said they weren't surprised to learn the former SEAL had left the comfort of his life in California behind him and headed for Iraq.
"That's what, in a time of need, true American warriors like Scott would do," "Combat Missions" producer Mark Burnett said Thursday.
Helvenston, 38, was among four American civilian contractors killed in Fallujah, Iraq, in an ambush on Wednesday, their charred bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets. The contractors were working for Blackwater Security Consulting when their vehicle was hit by rocket-propelled grenades.
Two of the other victims have been identified as Jerko "Jerry" Zovko, 32, and Michael Teague, 38.
Zovko always wanted to save the world, his mother said. He joined the Army at 19 and spoke five languages fluently English, Croatian, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.
"Jerry was a man with a principle, an idea," his mother, Danica "Donna" Zovko said in Willoughby, Ohio. "He loved people. He wanted the world to be without borders, for everybody to be free and safe."
Mrs. Zovko said she and her husband, Jozo, suspected their son was one of the dead late Wednesday evening because he had been working in Iraq. Their fears were confirmed early Thursday.
"He was the most self-motivated person," Zovko's brother Tom told ABC's "Good Morning America. "He grew up a skinny, little guy but wanted to be big, and he become big. He had desire and motivation and never gave up."
Teague was a 12-year Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, Panama and Grenada, said his wife, Rhonda Teague. She said he received a bronze star for his service in Afghanistan.
Rhonda Teague called her husband a "proud father, soldier and American."
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Here's a report on the current ability of al-Qaeda, which according to State Department official Cofer Black is under "catastrophic stress". Because of the capture and killing of so many al-Qaeda fighters, the terrorist group has had to rely on less experienced fighters who are more prone to mistakes. Here's the money quote:
Black said there is greater cooperation between al Qaeda and smaller Islamic extremist groups, and more localized organizations.
But, with al Qaeda's ranks of leaders mostly killed, captured or on the run, he said, "They're left with far fewer people that know how to do these things (major operations) effectively, securely."
Al Qaeda appears unable to pull off a major, complex attack on U.S. soil, or a simpler one geared to kill 100 or 200, he said. "The problem they have encountered is lack of capability. They have more than enough will and determination," he said. "If they could do it, they would."
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