StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

Despite the relative calm and void of terrorist attacks on US soil, we are nonetheless a Nation at war. We all must remain vigilent and report anything, as a DHS agent said in a recent presentation that I attended, that “Doesn’t Look Right.” I some circles, a rumor of an attack on October 7 2008 had been spread. The concern is that the source of the initial analysis that was flawed, not that bloggers became the conduit of mis-information.

To think that a self-proclaimed homeland security expert (see this older post from Debbie Schlussel titled, UH-OH! Northeast “Intelligence” Network Steps In It: Fake “Terrorism Expert” Douglas Hagmann Admits Plagiarism, Fabricated Info), a “font of information” with a lack of credibility, and yet a large following (notably among only those who refuse to accept the fact that the National Intelligence Network - or NIN - and its self-proclaimed “experts” are not experts at all) actually knows more than any of our law enforcement agencies (DHS, FBI, NSA etc.) or know more than excessively credible counterterrorism websites and sources of information (one among the many being the Counterterrorism Blog), is what makes the “chicken little/sky is falling” hurricane of words, and bits and bytes, more distrubing. Ask the intelligent question, rather than relying on an unreliable source like NIN. Would none of these credible sources have written something to alert the citizenry if this supposed threat had any merit?

Of course, the argument will always be, “better right than sorry,” or “don’t worry about or be embarrassed for being wrong.” That’s all true. The problem is the source of the information, not the intention of the bloggers who spread the illicit rumor.

In my opinion, spreading an unsubstantiated rumor from a less than credible source, is exactly what the terrorists want. The more often the populace is in any way alerted to an impending terrorist attack, the more desensitized the populace will become, and the less likely they are as a broad population to be ready to respond and react when the real terrorist alert comes. Since I am passed the point of caring, the simple point is that bloggers who choose to spread information from less than credible sources, then “bicycle the blog articles around to other bloggers” do this country a huge disservice. I’m not calling these citizen journalists anything like “unpatriotic.” Quite the opposite, they are doing what they feel is the right and patriotic thing to do (albeit perhaps they are quite naive). But in spreading misinformation and bad intelligence from a less than “intelligent” source, they are not serving the public good. Thousands of people, maybe hundreds of thousands people, walked around the last few weeks thinking that we were going to be attacked yesterday, and yet, we were not attacked.

In my entire circle of friends and associates, many of whom are in the business of counterterrorism and law enforcement and national security, none ever even mentioned the rumored attacks of October 7th, 2008. That is not to say that another attack on US soil is not coming. Someday, regettably, I believe that we will be attacked, and perhaps that attack will happen sooner than later. Perhaps, even, that attack will come from within, from a US based terrorist group, maybe not even one connected to the jihad.

One thing is certain to me (and I care not about any flack I might take for writing this entry or for what I am about to say).

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

October 7, terrorism

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Our “friend” Adam Gadahn has resurfaced in a new video that pointed at the economic “problems” as proof that “the enemies of Islam” face defeat. So, he ain’t dead (yet).

“The enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing,” said Gadahn, in a clip of the message distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group, a Washington-based monitor of militant Web sites.

“A crisis whose primary cause, in addition to the abortive and unsustainable crusades they are waging in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, is their turning their backs on Allah’s revealed laws, which forbid interest-bearing transactions, exploitation, greed and injustice in all its forms.”

In the video, he also appealed to Pakistani Muslims to put their differences aside and to unite.

“It’s time for you to put aside tribal, ethnic, and territorial differences and petty worldly disputes not just for now but forever and unite to restore the glories of your forefathers and hasten, Allah willing, the defeat of the Zionist-Crusader enemy and the establishment of the Islamic state, the Ummah, the so eagerly anticipated,”

It is, still another, Mark Twain moment.

Previous reports on Adam Gadahn rumors:

• Gadahn death rumors continue to surface
March 6, 2008
• Adam Gadahn rumored killed in North Waziristan strike
February 8, 2008

Adam Gadahn

3 Comments »

New in the news…Christians to host dinner for Ahmadinejad on September 25th in New York. Interesting to me after all of the “chatter” about Christians for Israel. I guess it proves that you can’t generalize about anyone or anything or any group.

Lago Vista priest protests religious dinner honoring Ahmadinejad

Religious leaders, possibly including the Episcopal Church, are reportedly planning to host a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner that honors Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday in New York City. A group planning to protest the event features the invitation on its Web site. Among the hosts is the World Council of Churches, to which the Episcopal Church belongs.

UCC Renewal Leader Calls for World Council of Churches to Cancel Dinner for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Today, United Church of Christ renewal leader David Runnion-Bareford, Exec. Dir. of the confessing movement in the UCC and President of the Association for Church Renewal, called for the World Council of Churches and The Episcopal Church to cancel their plans to host Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a celebrative dinner in New York City on Thursday.

Christian Groups to Host Ahmadinejad and UN Head for NY Dinner

The president of the United Nations General Assembly, Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, will be attending a dinner in New York at which Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a featured guest, according to The Forward, a Jewish-American weekly newspaper published in New York City. Brockmann, a Catholic priest from Nicaragua who publicly criticizes the United States’s anti-terror war in Iraq and Afghanistan, will attend the dinner on September 25th, an event which was organized by five American Christian organizations and will be co-hosted by the Iranian mission to the U.N.

Christian Groups have hosted Ahmadinejad in America. Have we lost our minds?

Wow! Light the candles and set off the fireworks. Pour the drinks and start the band playing. We have celebrating to do. Ahmadinejad is in the U.S. again to talk to the very important U.N. and enlighten New York and its dignitaries. Naturally as respect and the generous American Spirit would do, several of our Religious organizations and leaders are formally welcoming him, The American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee, Quaker United Nations Office, Religions for Peace and the World Council of Churches. Did I say just welcoming him……no, they are actually HOSTING the event held in New York on Sept. 25th. Isn’t that Precious?

Well, isn’t that an amazing thing?

Ahmadinejad, Christians

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Wake Up! There is no doubt in my feable mind that when I wrote Losing Afghanistan (Reduxed Again) nearly 10 months ago that I either guessed really well, or I was simply, right! I vote for “right.” This position is supported by Doug Farah’s post, “Trying to Get it Right in Afghanistan, and Ignoring the Elephant in the Room”

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has sounded the alarm on Afghanistan, correctly pointing out that the danger of losing there is real and the hour is late.

It is fitting, on this day, to remember that our collective inability to get Afghanistan right once before helped give our enemies the opportunity to plan and execute the 9/11 attacks that are being remembered today.

What is striking about the published reports of Mullen and Defense Secretary Gates is the absence of any discussion of one of the driving forces of the Taliban’s mounting success: its access to tens of millions of dollars in opium and poppy money. The UN conservatively estimates the Taliban makes between $50 million and $70 million a year from the drug trade.

Oh, sure, some of my supposed counterterrorism blogger cohorts might offer a different view. Of course, it has been argued more than once before that Afghanistan was on the road to recovery and democracy. My opinion has consistently been contrary to that. I’ve been accused of being unpatriotic, I’ve been accused of not supporting our troops who were acclaimed as having been victorious against the “defeated” Taliban, and for my point of view, I have been called a “librul.”

Still, Afghanistan remains on the brink. Hamid Karzai has an attitude that may only be solved by his assassination. To stop this very real resurgence of the Taliban, their supply of money needs to be chopped off.

If the US and NATO is serious about improving the situation on the ground in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s money stream must be cut off. That stream is heavily dependent on opium. Ignoring that reality is not a policy.

History repeats. Sometimes we have the ability to stop it. Other times, we ignore the obvious. If you’re at all interested in reading further, you can review some of the historical Storm posts on the subject of Losing Afghanistan. Its time to open your eyes…unless you want to be “surprised” in a few months by events as they evolve.

Losing Afghanistan, poppy trade, Taliban

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I am an American - “Ich bin New Yorker.”

Each day, every day, I remember the moments of September 11th.  Even though I am no longer living there,  to paraphrase JFK, "Ich bin New Yorker."  Perhaps on September 11, 2001 at 8:48am, we were all at once New Yorkers, or all a unified group of Americans.

Our resolve as a country, however, has waned.  It is not that we as a citizenry forget…it is that the message has been blended with the War in Iraq.  We are at war and it is a War on Global Islamic Fundamentalist Jihadism.  Its not politically correct perhaps, but it is what it is.

Today, we will each in our ways remember that morning.  I will, as I do each year now, remember, and I will relate my stories of what I saw and how I felt.  And I will, whether in public or simply to myself, sing "America the Beautiful" or "God Bless America" (I sound nothing like Kate Smith)…and I will shed tears for those who perished, and shed even more tears for the permanent and perpetual changes to our lives that began at that moment.

Some of what I have written in retrospect about this day, September 11th.

Written September 12, 2001:
Amazing how far and how much my "non-combative" spirit of the 60’s and 70’s has turned more conservative. No doubt, for me, and others like me, yesterday was unlike any day we have ever experienced. As a post-war baby-boomer, there are nothing but newsreels to show us Pearl Harbor. Yesterday interrupted me from leaving for work, stopped me in my tracks, made me quiet, caused tears, and created anger. And then, fear of what might have happened to people that I knew. Right now, I suppose that I am lucky, if that is the word, that no one in my immediate family, or that of my ex-wife, or even friends of my daughter were not directly involved. But this afternoon, I spoke to a friend of mine in WDC who was resigned to having lost dozens of long-time friends and associates who were in the section of the Pentagon that was obliterated. And he reminded me that this particular section was the one in which he and I had met for a series of meetings two years ago. And the realization, however distant two years makes it, that I had walked the halls of that building where now, there is nothing but rubble. And then there is a "near-miss" story told to me by a friend whose youngest daughter passed away in March from complications from a digestive disorder. His oldest daughter works for a fashion designer in Manhattan and was supposed to go to Los Angeles yesterday morning on the flight that crashed after leaving Newark Airport. Because her dad, my friend was coming east to be with his father-in-law who is sick, she decided to stay. She assigned her assistant to go in her place. As luck would have it, the assistant didn’t want to leave that early, so she rescheduled to a later flight.

She was at the airport when word came of the crashes.

In principal, believe in peace. But there is no principal in my opinion in this situation.

Retribution and retaliation. Strong and final. I make no apologies for my feelings.

Written September 13, 2001:
I am an American, who has cried and trembled at the sights on TV.

I am an American, with compassion, yet anger.

I am an American, who once fought against fighting.

Yet tonight, I am an American, who wants nothing less than retaliation and full retribution.

I am an American, despite what others once thought when it was clear that I disagreed with some of the more American fundamentalist views. 

Somehow, some believe that this is the time for reconciliation with friends of old. This is a free country, with freedom of speech and freedom of movement, but some of us do not have that choice, since we were selectively excluded from that exclusive "club of patriots" and have no desire to change what is, or return to
what was (of course, in truth, I speak only for myself). This is a time of great stress and emotion. I have cried spontaneously since Tuesday morning, and my anger has grown about what has happened. It doesn’t change what was or happened.

I am who I am, and what I am. I make no apologies for that.

Written June 24, 2005
"Everything Changed on September 11, 2001"

The morning of September 11, 2001, we all became one, we all came together, the Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate stood on the steps of the Capitol Building and sang God Bless America. That morning, every one of us felt the emotions and feelings of being attacked. Every one of us, not just Democrats and Republicans, not just “Liberals” and “Conservatives,” but all of us as Americans.

During those days and nights that followed, we all knew the meaning of this is my country, land that I love!  Every one of us, not just Democrats and
Republicans, not just “Liberals” and “Conservatives,” but all of us as Americans.

So lets all do me a favor! Okay??? (Tongue planted in cheek, and no obligation, for sure!)

Don’t tell me how to think, just because you happen to disagree with me. Just what makes you think that you are right, and I am wrong? We are all Americans, or have you forgotten that?

Don’t tell me that I am any less patriotic than you are, just because you believe one thing and I believe another. Do you understand that “love of country” permits the questioning of authority and the decisions made by the Government? Ever hear the phrase, “my country right or wrong?” If I choose, I can disagree with the position of our Government, and it does not mean that I am any less patriotic than those who agree with our Government. We simply disagree. But we are all Americans, or have you forgotten that?

If you served in the military, you have my admiration and respect. But don’t flaunt that service in my face and imply that somehow you are a “better American” than I or that your service to our country was somehow qualitatively better than mine. Because if you don’t know what I am doing, and you don’t understand the qualitative benefits that I am striving to offer our country, than you just shouldn’t do it. We are all Americans, you and I, or have you forgotten that?

Don’t tell me how (or if) I should pray to the Higher Being, because each and everyone of us has the right to freedom of religion granted to us by our Founding Fathers. If I believe that the Higher Being is actually beneath the soil and not in the Heavens above, who are you to question my belief or to belittle what I believe. It is my right as an American to believe whatever it is that I believe. And yet, we are all Americans, or have you forgotten that?

Don’t do it! Don’t tell me how I should feel, or try to make me feel any less of an American because you have a different point of view, and you somehow feel compelled to try to either convert me to your position, or belittle me for holding my opinions. Don’t do it! It makes you less of an American than I. Don’t do it! If you feel so strongly about your views, then fine, I am happy for you. But that doesn’t give you the right to belittle, denigrate or otherwise ridicule a position that disagrees with yours.

As an American, you have the Freedom of Speech and you have the Freedom of Religion, but neither gives you the freedom to minimize, denigrate belittle or otherwise disrespect whatever it is that I believe, think or feel. You don’t have the right to tell me how to pray to the Higher Being. You don’t have the right to belittle me, just because you disagree with me.

Many here served in the military. Still, others, including me, serve our country in different ways. There is no telling how many lives my efforts will save if we are successful in our current campaign. And it will be done in anonymity. And yet, I am an American, just like you.

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Enabling and promoting terrorism while supressing free speech is what the United Nations seems to be these days. In fact, the UN Human Rights Council not only frowns on speaking about jihad, terrorism and shariah law, but also is promoting the conspiracy theory that the Sept. 11 attacks were an “inside job.”

This is discussed at length here

The UNHRC ban on debate regarding Sharia came as a result of a three minute joint statement by the Association for World Education with the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) to the Human Rights Council on women’s rights and the impact of Sharia law. These NGOs sought to address international issues of violence against women, specifically, the stoning of women, “honor killings” of women, and female genital mutilation, as a result of Sharia law.

In more detail, the bozo (Richard Falk) who is the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories and investigates alleged Israeli violations of human rights law for the U.N.’s Human Rights Council also wants to investigate the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies to determine if they were, in fact, an “inside job.”

…investigate whether “some sort of controlled explosion from within” destroyed the Twin Towers, he told FOXNews.com.

“I do think there are questions that haven’t been answered, questions about the way the buildings collapsed and the failure to heed a variety of signals that there was danger coming,” Falk said.

John Bolton comments that while this position may be “conventinal wisdom” among some delegations at the UN, Falk’s beliefs are “fruit cake city.”

The executive director of UN Watch, the NGO that watches the UN, Hillel Neuer has called for Falk’s removal.

“He should resign,” said Neuer, who raised concerns about Falk’s ability to be an objective observer. Neuer has also criticized Falk for being biased against Israel.

“If he were a principled person he would recognize the fact that he has very extreme views,” Neuer said.

I’ve said it many times in the past. The best use for the United Nations now is to through them out of the United States, make them relocate to the Hague, and then let Donald Trump devleop an entire community on the East River. That would also eliminate the persistent problem of diplomats parking illegally on the streets of Manhattan, blocking thru-traffic and ignoring the fines.

Hillel Neuer, Human Rights Council, John Bolton, UN Watch

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Never ever forget that we are dealing with cold blooded killers who have co-opted Islam. Even when they are found “not guilty” of writing bad poetry, “these” people are dangerous.

NEFA has released a new slide presentation about a woman known as the “Lyrical Terrorist” Samina Malik, who along with Sohail Qureshi was accused of planning terrorism in Afghanistan and other places against coalition. Malik was prosecuted for possessing the documents, and not for her poetry. See Kohlmann’s post at Counterterrorism Blog.

Excerpt from “How to Behead” by Samina Malik
It’s not as messy or as hard as some may think.
It’s all about the flow of the wrist.
Sharpen the knife to its maximum.
And before you begin to cut the flesh.
Tilt the fool’s head to its left.
Saw the knife back and forth.
No doubt that the punk will twitch and scream.
But ignore the donkey’s ass.
And continue to slice back and forth.
You’ll feel the knife hit the wind and food pipe.
But Don’t Stop.
Continue with all your might.
About now you should feel the knife vibrate.
You can feel the warm heat being given off.
But this is due to the friction being caused.

More of Malik’s poetry:
• In a poem titled “Raising Mujahideen Children,“ Malik suggested that indoctrination should begin at 7 years of age: “Show the children videos and pictures of mujahideen and tell them to become strong like them…Explain how the Mujahideen fear no man - they fear Allah alone, and for his sake they are able, willing and capable to do anything in defence of Islam.”
• In a poem titled “The Living Martyrs,” Malik wrote: “For the living martyrs are awakening and Kuffars [non-believers] world soon to be shaking.”
• She also wrote, “Let us make Jihad/ Move to the front line/ To chop chop head of kuffar swine,” as well as that “Kafirs your time will come soon, and no one will save you from your doom.
• Malik argued: “to partake in something and to write about something are two different things.” She continued, “this does not mean I wanted to convert my words into actions.” She even claimed she “did not realise there was such a thing as extremism.”
• Her defense team also drew parallels with the WWI poetry of Wilfred Owen: “Poetry can be described as disturbing, shocking, even repulsive. What is the intent? Is it to shock, to revolt? That in itself doesn’t make it criminal and it doesn’t help you to get into the mind of who has written it.”

And now for the “punch line.” While at first convicted, she was let go because the British courts rules that actions and not thoughts were illegal.

Lyrical Terrorist, Samina Malik

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OK, so I’m late posting on this ridiculous Supreme Court ruling, so I will keep it short. Jeffrey Imm on Counterterrorism Blog writes, “Don’t You Know There’s A War On?” Until this ruling, it was never considered that the Constitution covered foreign enemy combatants.

Supreme Court Justice Kennedy ignores the reality that the U.S. Constitution was for American citizens, not foreign enemy combatants during wartime, by arrogantly demanding that “[t]he laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.”(Justice Kennedy Majority Opinion, page 70).

The reality is that when this ruling was first announced, I had recently returned from another grueling business trip. In my moments of time, I sought sources that would detail any indication that even non-resident immigrants (legal) had Constitutional rights. While I am fairly certain that a lawyer or two among the readers here may chime in, I came across this dialog, Immigration Law: The Constitutional Rights of Non-Citizens. I believe that this ruling is a sign of justice being blind. This time. however, blind to the realities that this War on Terrorism is a long war.

Jeff Imm’s post says it all…and makes the point better than any other writer I have seen on this subject. What I believe is that this ruling is likely to increase the battlefield deaths of enemy combatants. Kill of them! Kill them all!!! There are no rights on the battlefield…are there?  Check out the outrage here.

Constitutional rights, habeus corpus, Justice Kennedy, Supreme Court

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This is early, and the source is somewhat dubious since ABC has had a recent spate of “breaking news” blurts that diminishes the network to a “blogoburster,” but ABC is reporting that “officials familiar with highly sensitive intelligence on this issue,” that Iran and al Qaeda are in high level discussions. While questioning whether Iran will release bin Laden’s son’s (who are at the core of these discussions), the motives are unclear.

“The Iranians know there would be hell to pay if these guys were set free,” a U.S. official told ABC News.

“Iran likely sees these individuals, as major bargaining chips,” says another official. “How and when they’re going to use those chips or whether they are going to keep them in the bank is part of an ongoing strategic discussion they are having internally.”

Apparently, after September 11th, al Qaeda split into two groups, one heading to the mountains of Pakistan and the other, led by Saif al Adel (an Egyptian), went to Iran (Adel is suspected as the leader of the group that attacked the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 - the US State Department has put a $5 million bounty on his head). The group that fled to Iran is said to include al Qaeda’s shura (management council), and over 2 dozens members including some of bin Laden’s relatives, including two of his sons, Saad and Hamza.

“Al Qaeda would like to get those folks a deal and they’ve been trying to work a deal,” a senior defense official tells ABC News. “Right now there is greater effort being applied by al Qaeda to seek a resolution.” Although Iran has recently signaled a willingness to discuss the issue, this official says, “I don’t see the Iranian government desiring to work very fast or quickly on that. ”

AND

“Iran has repeatedly resisted numerous calls to transfer custody of its AQ detainees to their countries of origin or third countries for interrogations or trial,” the report says. “Iran also continued to fail to control the activities of some AQ members who fled to Iran following the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.”

Motives behind these reported talks?
* Under one theory, the talks are a reaction to al Qaeda’s recent anti-Iranian rhetoric…Iran may be making an unspoken threat to al Qaeda’s leadership: If al Qaeda attempts to attack Iran, these people will suffer.

* Iran may have initiated the talks as a threat to the United States, that if the U.S. takes hostile action against Iran, these captives could be released, set free to plot attacks against the West.

Either way, I have an issue with the ABC statement: ABC News interviewed several high-level U.S. national security officials for this story. Because of the sensitive nature of intelligence on this subject, all spoke on the condition that their names not be used. We also asked the government of Iran to comment on this story. The spokesman for the Iranian Mission to the United States said he could not answer our specific questions but told us combating terrorism “remains one of the main Iranian political priorities.”

Also covered by the Right Truth in Iran Joining Forces with al Qaeda.

Frankly, I’ll be interested to see how this all plays out in the next few days.

ABC News, al Qaeda, Iran, Kenya and Tanzania bombings, Saif al Adel

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As I have before, I find myself in a sort of political “nowhere land” largely because despite what I believe in my heart, I also have a deep-seated distain for the type of personal attack politics that now pervades our society. On many issues, including the War in Iraq, I am strongly Republican (even though I feel that policy, strategy and tactical mistakes have been made). Yet when I voice my pro-choice belief, I am immediately challenged and branded a “librul.” It is clear that one is not afforded the opportunity (or privilege) of walking that thin-line in the American Middle.

There is nothing in either Democratic Party candidate that could prompt me to vote for them. Frankly, I am glad that John McCain, regardless of his flaws (aren’t we all flawed afterall?), is the candidate for the Republican Party (I am equally thrilled that a social, or “values” conservative is not the party’s nominee).

At the same time, it is impossible to maintain my views in World and National Affairs, focused on security both home and abroad, and not be appalled by this video compilation in which the Democratic Party leaders ask for what amounts to be a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq.

The road to democracy, our continuing quest to perfect an already perfect Union, remains a challenge each day. If not motivated solely by partisan politics, but in fact, driven by strongly held beliefs, these Democratics leaders are entitled to their opinions.

The reality is as former Secretary of State Powell noted…”we broke it, we need to fix it” (or something close to that). Leaving Iraq and abandoning the Middle East…in fact, abandoning the “fix the Middle East” strategy of the Bush Administration can only lead to the emboldening of those people who our State Department and Department of Homeland Security refuse to call what they are, Isalamic Fundamentalist Jihadists, exactly the opportunity they plan…a World power without the resolve to see through to the end an effort, regardless how flawed, poorly planned and implemented, or even falsely justified…and with that, the Long War of the Global War on Terrorism will be both longer, and more difficult to win.

Prevail we must…for the sake of our democracy, we must. And we will. Despite the character assassination, the inuendo, the gossip, the lies and falsehoods, the “swift boating” and all of the rest of the dirty, Internet inspired politics…we will emerge the day after this coming election day with a President who will have won the most Electoral votes, and as envisioned by our Founding Fathers, power will transfer, and the Nation shall prevail. In what state the World will be on that day, is a completely different question.

democracy, librul, McCain

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Last week, under the title Pre-emptive Assassinations, I posed once again the merits of targeted assassinations of certain individuals. At the time, I was writing about people like Ahmadinejad and Chavez, but it could also hold for our jihadist “friends.” I have long favored sending a “black” team into the mountains of Pakistan to hunt down and kill bin Laden (and wondered why we haven’t sent them). There are many reasons why this hasn’t occurred. The least likely is Presidential Executive Order 12333 prohibiting the killing of World leaders. Afterall, bin Laden isn’t the head of any nation. It also cannot be that we don’t have the reason or the will to do it. My own conclusion is that we actually don’t know where he is, despite all of our Intelligence. It is possible.

Just the other day, my blog buddy at Right Truth posted, Target — Osama? In one of the comments to that post, another new “blog friend” posed a few suggestions that, frankly, I do not understand (not that I don’t see what he’s getting at, but more, that I’m not aware of the technology to which the individual refers). This is what he wrote (referring to the Waziristan Accords between Pakistan and the Taliban/tribes):

However, once the accord was established, it meant that we could walk into that region and take out OBL, but it never happened. We passed up a unique window of opportunity.

Given today’s GPS technologies and the ability to place a “beeper” inside a living body cavity, I am certain that they know the exact whereabouts of bin Laden. Maybe they’re just too concerned they might botch things up as usual. Why they never released an al-Qaida prisoner from GTMO, but infused a sensor inside his body is beyond me.

That might have allowed for easy detection, as the ex-prisoner would lead us directly to bin Laden, thus us being able to capture him alive, perhaps.

Now, without disclosure, and for alot of reasons, these suggestions “do not compute” for me (see “Lost in Space“). So I posed a couple of questions to the original commenter. Unfortunately, Right Truth is a busy place, and the individual did not see my queries. So, in case he “happens by” here at some point, I now reproduce those questions (because I really do want to know and be informed):

I am hoping that he will return at some point and provide some insight into the idea of our “ability to place a beeper inside a living body” (that would have to be done covertly)…or how we can “infuse a sensor” into bin Laden’s body. I only ask because I’m interested in such things

I’m not as certain as he is that we know the exact location of Osama. As for “infusing a sensor,” I’d be fascinated to know what technology we’re discussing here.

So, hopefully, with this blogs slower traffic, perhaps I will be illuminated.

bin Laden, targeted assassinations

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Is this a scramble to avoid accountability or a parsing of words?  Seems that the “supreme guide” of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Mahdi Akef, had some 2nd thoughts.  At first, it sounded like he was praising bin Laden, but then he tried to “swallow his words.” It is clearly a question of the meaning of “jihad.”

Mr. Mahdi Akef tried to water down his statements in which he had praised Bin Laden and thus justified it by saying, “what Bin Laden is doing against the occupier in Iraq and other Muslim countries that are under occupation is jihad, but what he is committing against people and civilians in Muslim and other states is wrong.”

The question is: Are the acts that Al-Qaeda is committing in Iraq; the killing, treachery and entrapment of people, including the physically ill, women and children; the beheadings and targeting of markets, schools and houses of worship, not to mention the demolition of installations and the crippling of the political process in Iraq – be considered jihad? Can the crimes that Al-Qaeda commits in Afghanistan be considered jihad?

Alas, “bin Akef” is caught in his own words…backtracking is so hard to do…Even his subsequent statements denying that he praised al Qaeda make it hard(er) for him to justify…

Akif said: “We (the Brotherhood) have nothing to do with Al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden… we are against violence except when fighting the occupier…When he (Bin Laden) fights the occupier then he is a mujahid, and when he attacks civilians, then this is rejected.” He added that “the word Al-Qaeda (Organization) is an American illusion…Bin Laden has a thought …his thought is based on violence, and we do not approve of violence under any circumstances except one and that is fighting an occupier. We have nothing to do with Al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden…we condemn any thought that leads to violence. When Bin Laden fights the occupier then he is a mujahid, when he attacks the innocent and citizens then this is rejected.”

But he draws a very thin line, differentiating between the “occupier” and the people of the “occupied” land. Such is the conflict that exists in today’s Muslim world. Caught between speaking out against America, and not looking like it supports the violence and bloodshed brought upon the people of Iraq and Afghanistan in al Qaeda’s efforts to fight the Coalition.

al Qaeda, bin Akif, Muslim Brotherhood

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Its probably best to say that the “FARCing” guy is dead! Not that it will really change much in Columbia, but an army spokesman has said that Manuel Marulanda (aka ‘Sure Shot’) has died (on March 26 at 6:30pm), probably of natural causes. 

In the more than 40 years of his leadership, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC insurgency grew from a ragtag group of 48 farmers in Southern Columbia to an army of thousands in a civil war that has killed more than 200,000. The FARC insurgency has been financed through narcotics trade, “war taxes” and kidnappings. It is estimated that the FARC now holds 750 or more hostages.

Pedro Antonio Marin, known as Manuel Marulanda Vilez and nicknamed Tirofijo, is believed to have died of a heart attack, ministry spokesman Juan Manuel Santos said.

“He must be in hell,” Santos told a reporter from Semana magazine.

According to the U.S. State Department, “Sure Shot” was the ultimate approver of the FARC’s move into cocaine trafficking.

Optimistically, the Columbian Defense Ministry says:

First word of Marulanda’s possible death came earlier Saturday when the newsmagazine Semana quoted Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos as saying he had information that Marulanda died in the guerrillas’ southern Colombian stronghold at the time of three bombing raids.

“Whether the death of Marulanda came in a bombardment or from natural causes, this would be the most serious blow this terrorist group has suffered,” the Defense Ministry statement said.

“If (the FARC) are going to say that the information we have is not true, they should show him,” said the statement, which was read by the military’s chief of staff, Adm. David Moreno. It said Marulanda has been replaced as FARC leader by a rebel ideologue known as Alfonso Cano.

I doubt it! Frankly, you can cut off the head of the snake, and another head grows. It is said that Marulanda will be replaced by Alfonso Cano, a longtime ideologue for FARC. Especially with the support of Hugo Chavez, I see no reason to believe that the FARC is dead…just Marulanda.

MIchelle Malkin discusses the FARCing death in Old-School FARC commander dies, possibly from myocardial inFARCtion (and/or bombs)…I think my line is funnier though. Also, FYI, check out the Memorial Day Weekend Reading Assignment at Right Truth.

Cano, cocaine, FARC, Hugo Chavez, Marulanda, Sure Shot, U.S. State Department

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