Category Archives: Afghanistan

Zawahiri predicts Al Qaeda victory in Iraq and Afghanistan

1 JulamTue, 20 Jul 2010 08:49:51 -06002010-07-20T08:49:51-06:0008 2009 – 08:49

A man identified as Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s No. 2 man, promises his followers victory in Afghanistan and Iraq, vowing that these wars will eventually lead to a battle to liberate Jerusalem, in an audio message posted Monday on jihadist websites.

Radical Islamists often use the Arab-Israeli struggle as a propaganda tool to recruit militants because they believe that Israel has no right to exist on what they consider to be Muslim and Arab land.

In the message, the speaker also says mujahedeens — Islamic militants backed by the Taliban and al Qaeda — are moving from one victory to another in Afghanistan against U.S.-led forces….

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/07/al-qaedas-second-banana-says-victory-coming-for-the-jihadists-in-iraq-and-afghanistan.html

By terrortrends | Also posted in Al Qaeda, Iraq, Zawahiri | Comments (0)

America’s Wrongheaded Approach to Jihad

1 DecamTue, 29 Dec 2009 10:40:42 -06002009-12-29T10:40:42-06:0010 2009 – 10:40

In the wake of the miraculously failed Christmas day Jihadi attack over the skies of Detroit, we are starting to see our governmental mechanisms crank into gear to institute policies to prevent terrorists from attacking us successfully.

Never mind that it was that very governmental bureaucracy which enabled the Jihadists to penetrate secure areas with explosives and come close to killing 270 people on Christmas day. It was our incompetent governmental bureaucracies which granted a known Jihadi a visa to enter the United States. It was our governmental bureaucracies which let him get on an airliner without a passport. It was our governmental bureaucracies which failed to recognize classic warning signs: ticket paid for in cash, no checked luggage.

Nevertheless, Janet Napolitano, who is evidently conflicted between whether the security system worked like clockwork or failed miserably, has had her department of Homeland Security see to it that no one stands up for the last hour of any flight (an order which has evidently already been rescinded) and Transportation Security personnel are redoubling efforts to tighten access to airliners.

Meanwhile, President Obama managed to tear himself from the links to declare the terrorist an “isolated extremist,” perhaps the worst mischaracterization made by a sitting president since Richard Nixon declared himself “not a crook.” Obama then promised a dragnet to find those responsible. What complete and utter hogwash.

This security and law enforcement approach used against those who are at war with us will never work.

We can button up airliners tighter than a drum and do body cavity searches of passengers and you know what will happen?

The Jihadists will drive a truck loaded with TNT through the front door of the terminal at a major airport the day before Thanksgiving and kill hundreds.

Or they’ll target subways and trains like they did in Madrid, London and Paris.

Or they’ll target shopping malls or schools.

Until we realize that this is a war and not a law enforcement problem and that these terrorists have a common thread, whether they are lone wolves or part of cells, it will keep getting worse.

The problem is Islam. Not Muslims, but Islam as practiced by a core of Muslims who largely control the Islamic world. Their goal is to implement sharia law. Their goal is not for you and me to convert to Islam, but to impose sharia on us. That is what they are fighting for and sharia is their doctrine as well. We ignore this at our peril. The reason for everything they do can be looked up in books that they wrote. Not just the Noble Quran, but books like “Reliance of the Traveler” and “Milestones” and “The Quranic Concept of War.” If you really want to understand where the enemy is coming from, buy these books on Amazon and read them.

http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Traveller-Classic-Islamic-Al-Salik/dp/0915957728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262102462&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Milestones-Sayyid-Qutb/dp/0934905142/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262102522&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/The-Quranic-Concept-of-War/dp/8170020204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262102577&sr=1-1

Then download Stephen Coughlin’s thesis from the Center for Security Policy web site. It’s free and it should be the handbook for fighting the war of ideas.

http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/p16600.xml?genre_id=3

There is a global Jihadist insurgency and insurgencies are 80% political/ideological not military. We can win the military side. But we aren’t even fighting the other 80%. And that’s what manufactures guys like this Nigerian, who was, like most Jihadist terrorists, wealthy and educated, even privileged. (This is NOT about poverty; don’t let anyone tell you that.)

The Jihadis are indoctrinated for years in mosques and madrassas. They don’t go “radical” by accident. It is a system. Go to the MEMRI web site and take a look at state-run television in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Palestinian territories and even Egypt. You will be shocked at what you see and hear, especially on the programs targeted at children. Jihadis are not born. They are created. Furthermore, they aren’t created because the USA supports Israel or because the USA overthrew Saddam Hussein in Iraq or the Taliban in Afghanistan. Their agenda is much wider, longer and deeper than that.

The Jihadists did not slaughter hundreds of school children in Beslan, Russia because the USA supports Israel or because US troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Jihadists killed 241 US servicemen in Beirut in 1983, blew up the World Trade Center in 1993, blew up a USAF barracks in 1995, blasted our embassies in east Africa in 1998, attacked the USS Cole in 2000 and flew airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th 2001 before a single American soldier or Marine set foot in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Jihadists didn’t kill 200 Australian tourists in Bali, Indonesia because the US supports Israel. They didn’t slaughter dozens in Mumbai, India because the US is in Iraq. They aren’t killing people in southern Thailand because the US is in Afghanistan. And the Islamic insurgency in the Philippines predates all of this.

There must be something else at work.

It’s called Jihad.

You can expect some type of Jihadist incident involving Americans to be in the news every week from now on. Some incidents will be violent Jihad like Fort Hood and Flight 253. Others will be civilizational or “stealth” jihad, such as refusing to allow bomb-sniffing dogs near Muslims based on some notion of religious “freedom.” This is the environment that fighting a politically correct war for 8 years has created. Get used to it.

Let me give you an example of what we’re up against. The best example is Saudi Arabia. Some in the US refer to the Sauds as “allies” in the “war on terrorism.” But if the Sauds are really at war with Al Qaeda and the Jihadists, then why don’t we hear about lots of attempts on the lives of Saudi princes (and there are thousands of Saudi princes)? They are not hard to find. Go to a casino or disco in London or Monte Carlo and you can find them and often without tight security. Since Al Qaeda was founded in 1989, the number of Saudi royals killed by their terrorism stands at 0. In that time, there was only a single documented attempt by an Al Qaeda terrorist on a Saudi prince, who just happened to be the minister of the Interior, in charge of a large portion of security forces.

In Saudi Arabia when you are caught shoplifting, under their Sharia law, you have a good chance of getting your hand chopped off as punishment. A woman gets 100 lashes for the crime of adultery. The Sauds behead people for more serious crimes.

Yet, when a Saudi is caught on the battlefield as a member of Al Qaeda by US forces in Iraq or Afghanistan and is turned over to the Sauds, what happens to them?

They are sent to rehab. In rehab they are issued crayons and paint for art therapy. (I am not joking.) After rehab, they are released.

Why do you suppose this is?

I’ll tell you why. Because they haven’t committed a crime as far as the Sauds are concerned. Shoplifting gets your hand chopped off, Jihad doesn’t even get you a slap on the wrist.

Does anyone still believe that the Sauds are our allies?

The Jihadists get funded, they get trained and they get granted safe haven. This happens a number of ways and from a number of sources and we need to go after them. Use our strengths to go after the ideological and financial and training sources. Until we do, expect this to get worse and worse. Taking our shoes off before getting on the airplane isn’t going to help one damn bit.

By terrortrends | Also posted in airliner bombing, Al Qaeda, appeasement, Detroit, Failed terrorist attack, Homegrown Jihad, Homeland Security, India, Iraq, Islam, Islamic Jihad, Islamikaze attack, Israel, Jihad, London transit bombings, Madrid train bombing, Mumbai attack, Napolitano, Nidal Malik Hasan, Nigeria, Obama, Salafi Islam, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Shariah, Suicide Bombing, Taliban, terrorism funding, Terrorist attack, Thailand, The Netherlands, Wahhabism | Comments (1)

The Toledo Blade Gets it Half Right: Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and World War IV

1 DecamSat, 19 Dec 2009 09:31:19 -06002009-12-19T09:31:19-06:0009 2009 – 09:31

In an editorial column published on 18 December, the editors of The Toledo Blade point out that capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden would not defeat Al Qaeda and capturing or killing Mullah Omar would not defeat the Taliban.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091218/OPINION02/912180305

They are correct in this but their notions do not go far enough.

The fact of the matter is, Al Qaeda and the Taliban could cease to exist tomorrow and the U.S. and Western civilization would still face a Jihadist threat. This overall war–which we at TTB believe should be properly called World War IV–goes way beyond Al Qaeda.

Already, there are spin-offs of Al Qaeda in the Asia-Pacific Region, Southwest Asia, North Africa, Europe and the U.S. These are loosely formed groups which are inspired by Al Qaeda and model themselves in some way off of Al Qaeda, but are not operationally attached to Al Qaeda in the classic sense. Bin Laden and Zawahiri don’t command them and those two Jihadi leaders could be vaporized by a JDAM tomorrow and the global offshoots would still exist.

(Incidentally, we believe that Osama Bin Laden is dead and has been for some time. More on that in a future posting.)

The Jihad extends beyond Al Qaeda as well. When the Jihadist terrorists attacked Mumbai in November of 2008, it was automatically assumed that they were Al Qaeda. When it was surmised that they were in fact Lashkar-e-Taiba, that organization was labeled as an Al Qaeda affiliate.

Now, it turns out that, while both Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba are both Salafist Jihadist terrorist organizations and ideological allies, they are separate groups. One could be wiped off the face of the earth this afternoon and the other would still be waging Jihad.

Then there is the whole issue of Jihadist groups who are certainly NOT part of Al Qaeda. Hezbollah is the prime example of this. Hezbollah is Shia and, while they have cooperated with Al Qaeda in the past, they are definitely not part of Al Qaeda. Moreover, Hezbollah is perhaps even more dangerous than Al Qaeda due to their backing from Iran and a robust infrastructure set up on every continent, with the possible exception of Antarctica.

The fact that some of these groups are not actively engaged in ongoing operations against the U.S. or the West on a day-to-day basis should not be construed to mean that they are somehow not waging Jihad against us.

On one of the laptop computers uncovered in the investigation of Lashkar-e-Taiba after the Mumbai attacks, it was discovered that the group had a global list of 320 possible targets for attack. And the recon man for the Mumbai attacks turns out to have been a guy from Chicago.

It has been falsely and widely stated that Hezbollah has not been engaged in operations against the U.S. since the late 1980s. They have. Not only did Hezbollah help Al Qaeda set up the two East Africa embassy bombings in 1998, but Hezbollah was extremely active in the Iraq insurgency. Senior Hezbollah operatives were captured by U.S. forces in Iraq in the past few years and Hezbollah fighters were killed by U.S. G.I.s right along with members of Al Sadr’s “Mahdi Army” in Iraq:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world/middleeast/28military.html

http://defensetech.org/2007/07/02/hezbollah-in-iraq/

http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2007-07-16-voa4.cfm

America is, unfortunately, largely in denial about the war we are in and that makes victory all the more elusive. Too many believe that “killing Bin Laden” will end it or that wiping out Al Qaeda will mean victory. This is simply untrue.

There is a global Jihad being waged against America and its allies. It is being waged in Afghanistan and Iraq to be sure. But it is also being waged in Israel, Algeria, Somalia, Sudan, Western Europe, Russia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, the Philippines, Central and South America and, yes, right here in North America.

By terrortrends | Also posted in Al Qaeda, Algeria, Chechnya, Darfur, Deobandi Islam, Europe, Hezbollah, Islam, Islamic Jihad, Israel, Jihad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Osama Bin Laden, Pakistan, Salafi Islam, Somalia, Sudan, Taliban, terrorist group listings, Thailand, Wahhabism, Zawahiri | Comments (0)

An Important Editorial from Investor’s Business Daily: The Taliban’s Shadowy Partners

1 DecamSat, 12 Dec 2009 07:20:22 -06002009-12-12T07:20:22-06:0007 2009 – 07:20

Despite public proclamations that the Saudis and Pakistanis are our “allies” in the war on “terrorism,” the Pakistani secret intelligence service (ISI) and wealthy Saudis (including members of the Saudi royal family) continue to support the Taliban.

The Paks provide training and safe haven for the Taliban in the city of Quetta, Pakistan and the Sauds bankroll the operation.

This should come as no surprise. Both Saudi Arabia and northern Pakistan are epicenters for Salafi Islam, a particularly violent, intolerant and expansionist strain of the Islamic religion. The Sauds’ strain is known in the West as Wahhabi Islam and the Paks are known as Deobandis.

Both are enemies of the West and particularly the United States and continuing to pretend as if they are friends is not going to help us defeat them…

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=514693

By terrortrends | Also posted in Al Qaeda, Deobandi Islam, Islam, Islamic Jihad, Jihad, Pakistan, Salafi Islam, Saudi Arabia, Taliban, Wahhabism | Comments (0)

Boston Muslim accused of plot to kill shoppers, troops

1 OctamSat, 24 Oct 2009 10:46:22 -06002009-10-24T10:46:22-06:0010 2009 – 10:46

AMEHANNATIME_P1Tarek Mehanna, who grew up just outside Boston, has been in hot water with the FBI for a few years now.

First he lied to the FBI about the whereabouts of a terrorist suspect who is now serving 10 years in federal prison.

Now he finds himself in even worse trouble because he and a couple of pals evidently sought terrorist training in Pakistan but couldn’t seem to find a crew that would accept them.

What the article below does not mention is the fact that Jihadist groups overseas are becoming wary of American Jihadi candidates because they fear infiltration. (The first article linked below makes it appear that Mehanna and company were simply incompetent in their quest to join the Jihad. This is misleading, bad journalism.)

Of course, if you listen to the local Muslim community in Boston, they would have you believe that Mehanna was just an all-American kid and would never get involved in anything having to do with Jihad.

Then how did he end up involved with a guy who will be sitting in federal prison on a terrorist-related conviction in the first place?

Or does this qualify as “all-American” activity according to Mehanna’s friends, family and associates???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_massachusetts_terror_charge;_ylt=AtkVHD74IFSVG8QKDFW0S8Os0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNnNHIyZTFzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMDIxL3VzX21hc3NhY2h1c2V0dHNfdGVycm9yX2NoYXJnZQRjcG9zAzQEcG9zAzEEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNmZWRzbWFzc21hbnA-

Here is a more incisive article on this case:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1022/p02s10-usju.html

By terrortrends | Also posted in Homegrown Jihad, Iraq, Islam, Islamic Jihad, Jihad, Pakistan, Taliban | Comments (0)

Former Gitmo detainee, “Yo Mo” al Shihri, killed in a shootout

1 OctamSat, 24 Oct 2009 09:49:01 -06002009-10-24T09:49:01-06:0009 2009 – 09:49

If one were to believe what many on the Left in America say, the inmates at the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are nothing but innocent pilgrims and goat herders who all ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But an inconvenient truth of the prison population that has gone through that highly effective prison facility is the fact that no fewer than 61 former residents have been captured or killed on the field of battle waging Jihad after their release. And we should emphasize that those 61 are the ones we know about.

The latest is a distinguished gentleman named Yousef Mohammed al Shihri. This innocent shepherd (we’ll call him “Yo Mo” for short) was no doubt improperly incarcerated by the evil American empire after being snatched from his benevolent wanderings in beautiful, picturesque Afghanistan several years ago.

“Yo Mo” won his freedom from Gitmo with the capable help of Saudi authorities and went on, evidently, to pursue his true calling as a transgender wanderer in the deserts of Yemen, after having gone through the Sauds’ highly successful Jihadi rehab program. (By highly successful, we mean successful at sending terrorists back to their chosen profession.)

In Yemen, Yo Mo, dressed as a woman, was gunned down by authorities, no doubt without any justification whatsoever.

If a Jihadi gets wacked while wearing women’s clothes, when he gets to paradise, are his 72 virgins male or female?

These are the vital questions which we need answers to!

Yusuf-al-Shehri

The great folks at The Long War Journal have the real story.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/10/another_former_gitmo.php

By terrortrends | Also posted in Al Qaeda, Guantanomo, Jihad, Saudi Arabia, Yemen | Comments (3)

33 Taliban become “moderate”

1 JunpmSat, 20 Jun 2009 23:37:08 -06002009-06-20T23:37:08-06:0011 2009 – 23:37

The search for the elusive and mythical “moderate” Taliban that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton keep telling us about uncovered 33 such individuals in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan…

By terrortrends | Also posted in Taliban | Comments (0)

Taliban continue to get heavy weapons from Iran

1 JunpmMon, 08 Jun 2009 13:44:44 -06002009-06-08T13:44:44-06:0001 2009 – 13:44

For years now, NATO commanders have been saying that Iran has been supplying weaponry to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

For instance, General Petraeus told reporters back in February that Iran was aiding the Taliban:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=aru5H2YB1Tv8&pid=20601087

However, these reports go at least all the way back to 2007, when a US State Department representative cited irrefutable evidence of Iran arming the Taliban:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/06/13/iran.taliban/index.html

In fact, NATO intercepted a shipment of arms from Iran to the Taliban just about two years ago:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/document_iran_c.html

Nevertheless, some on the Left have been skeptical of Iran’s support for the Taliban, based on the fact that the Taliban are Salafi Sunni Muslims and the Iranians are Shiite Muslims.

This type of blind dogma continues to hamstring US policy, despite overwhelming evidence that Iran works enthusiastically with Sunnis against the West.

For instance, HAMAS receives the lion’s share of its funding and arms from Iran, despite the fact that HAMAS is a Sunni terrorist offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, another Salafi Sunni organization. This is not in dispute. Iran admits that they fund HAMAS and HAMAS admits that they get money from Iran.

Moreover, Iran has also aided the Taliban’s greatest ally, Al Qaeda, another Salafi Sunni terrorist organization. Many continue to dispute that Iran sponsors Al Qaeda, but the facts are out there for analysis, as yours truly wrote in National Review back in March 2008:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OGE0ZWE0MWVjMmI2YjI4NzI1OTg2YzZmMjJjNzMwOGY

Despite Iran’s record of aiding Sunni terrorist organizations and the Taliban in particular, the Obama administration has been trumpeting the idea of enlisting Iran’s aid in the battle against…those same Taliban.

The problem is, predictably, the hairbrained scheme to get the Iranians to help NATO battle the Taliban in Afghanistan is running into a little problem: Iran is arming the Taliban.

What now Obama?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/5477283/Iranian-weapons-getting-through-to-Taliban.html

By terrortrends | Also posted in Al Qaeda, HAMAS, Iran, Muslim Brotherhood, Taliban | Comments (0)