Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘al-qaeda’

Osama Bin Laden’s half-brother liked “Farenheit 9/11″ – though even he thinks that Moore is full of shit:

“It’s a moving film,” Yeslam Binladin, a Geneva-based tycoon and one of the al-Qaida leader’s 54 siblings, said in an interview with the French magazine VSD.

“I even laughed at times,” said Binladin, adding, “but a lot less when he states errors or inaccuracies about my family, knowing perfectly well that he’s deceiving the public.”

I hope it heartens Michael Moore to count the Bin Laden clan among his fanbase. I wonder if he’ll take their criticisms of his habit of playing loose with the truth seriously. Probably not.

Saudi Al Qua’eda beheaded Paul Johnson, the kidnapped American contractor, as they had threatened to do if the Saudi government didn’t give into their demands and release prisoners.

The Saudis subsequently killed Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, the local Al Qua’eda leader in a shootout. In the long run, this – and the fact that the governments of both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia refused to play the terrorists’ game – will save a lot of innocent lives.

But tonight, one innocent life was lost, and I’m sure that’s precious little consolation to Paul Johnson’s family.

Somehow, even death seems too good for the terrorist bastards. Poetic justice only exists in the movies; in real life, people never seem to get what they deserve.

Another violent day in Iraq, as a suicide car bomber blew himself up outside an army recruitment centre, killing at least 35 and wounded another 150:

Visiting the scene of the blast, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi vowed his people would prevail in the face of mounting violence before the June 30 political handover from the United States.

“This is an escalation that we have been expecting,” Allawi said. “The government of Iraq is determined to confront the enemies.”

By the day, the world is losing confidence that this will happen. And as June 30th gets closer, things are only likely to get worse instead of better.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is refusing to negotiate with Al Qua’eda for the release of kidnapped American engineer Paul Marshal Johnson:

Al Qaeda has given the government until Friday to release jailed militants or it will execute engineer Paul Marshal Johnson, who was kidnapped last week. Saudi official sources have said the kingdom would not give in to al Qaeda’s demands.

[ . . . ]

De facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah, showing no sign of compromise, has said the kingdom would deploy more forces and strike soon against Saudi-born Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda.

Washington said it would use every appropriate resource to gain Johnson’s release but would make no concessions to his captors.

For terrorism to succeed, governments must negotiate with it. The Saudi government knows better – not because it is a bastion of democracy or enlightenment, but because it knows that giving into even a small demand would only ensure more attacks. Contrast this reaction to how the Canadian government dealt with the kidnapping of our citizens, notably Fadi Fadel.

The United States is seeking extradition of Abu Hamza al-Masri, a British imam charged with coordinating a hijaking in Yemen and trying to organize a terrorist training camp in Oregon. But Britain and Yemen both want to press charges against him too:

Eleven charges were announced Thursday by U.S. authorities against Abu Hamza al-Masri, whose real name is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa. He was arrested earlier in the day by British police and is being held in London pending extradition proceedings.

Charges outlined Thursday of providing assistance to terrorists could spark a 100-year prison sentence for Mr. al-Masri, 47. He could theoretically receive the death penalty on the hijacking charge, though the United States probably will have to foreswear that option before Britain, which has abolished capital punishment, will consider extraditing him.

Further complicating the case is the fact that Britain is already considering charges against Mr. al-Masri. Yemen is also seeking his extradition.

“This case could take months and months to sort out,” a senior British security source told Reuters.

This is not a nice guy. He held services at the same mosque that the Shoe Bomber and one of the September 11th hijackers attended. He’s also implicated in working directly with the Taliban and Al-Qua’eda in Afghanistan. Britain was so threatened by him that they’ve been trying to deport him… but now it seems like they want to keep him so they can put him on trial.

Al-Masri, for his part, is sure to do everything in his legal power to stay in Britain and avoid extradition to the U.S. He knows full well that sentencing will be lighter there, and media coverage much more favourable. He’s probably counting on becoming a “martyr” through media coverage and attention, and the British press is sure to oblige.

Yippee. I can’t wait.

Update: The nauseating “political-pawn” articles are already beginning.

Today’s suicide bombing in Iraq killed 68 people including 17 children. It was most likely Al Qa’eda’s handiwork:

“They just blew up innocent Iraqis,” Bush told reporters in Washington after the almost simultaneous car bombs hit three police stations in Basra and two more struck a police academy in Zubair, a mainly Sunni town 15 miles further south.

No excuses about occupation can justify the murder of innocent children. This is disgusting.

Also today, another suspected Al Qa’eda attack – this one in Riyadh:

A suspected al Qaeda suicide car bomber destroyed a security forces building in the Saudi capital Wednesday, killing four people and wounding 148 in the first major attack on a government target.

The attacks are happening because Al Qa’eda is fighting a war that the world seems determined to deny exists. You can’t negotiate with a group whose only acceptable endgame is having you and your entire way of life eradicated. They’re not attacking the “occupation” of Iraq or the U.S. interests in Saudi Arabia; they’re attacking the potential for democracy in the Middle East. They’re scared as hell that democracy might take root or even become a success someplace in the Arab world. And they’re determined to do everything and anything to stop it.

Israel’s security fence is doing a good interim job of cutting down on attacks within its borders. But we can’t build a wall around the entire world. No, sooner or later this war will need to be fought and won.

Everyone’s talking about the latest so-called Osama tape, on which he supposedly offers Europe (but not the US of course) a “truce” if they comply with Al Qa’eda’s demands.

The only question is which European country *ahem France ahem* will be the first in line to surrender. After all, appeasement worked with Hitler oh-so-well, didn’t it?

In the meantime, Bin Laden is apparently ranting and raving in usual fashion about Israel and the Palestinians and swearing “revenge” for Ahmed Yassin’s assassination:

“Our actions come in response to your actions of destroying and killing our people in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. It is enough to witness the event that shocked the world, the killing of the elderly, wheelchair-bound Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, God have mercy on him, and we pledge to God to take revenge on America,” the man on the tape said.

Something makes me wonder just how much Arafat appreciates the sentiment, though. Anyone remember this?

“I’m telling him (bin Laden) directly not to hide behind the Palestinian cause,” Arafat said in an interview published in London’s Sunday Times newspaper.

Bin Laden “never helped us, he was working in another completely different area and against our interests,” Arafat said.

That was December of 2002, when Arafat – in English anyway – felt it wasn’t savvy to be seen as being too cozy with Al Qa’eda. Now it’s April 2004, and perhaps Arafat has learned that the world doesn’t care. They’ll surrender to terrorism… just as long as they get to trash Bush in the process.

We’ve come a long way.

Al Qa’eda wants to kill Jews and Americans.

No! Shocking! Quick, someone call a reporter!

Yep, this ranks up there in “duh-factor” with last week’s shocker of a news headline: That if a federal election were to be held in Canada today, the Liberals would win.

You don’t say!

Tomorrow, I’ll probably open the paper and see it announced in big letters that yes, the Earth is in fact round.

US Ambassador Paul Cellucci warned that Canada was one of the only targets on Al Qa’eda’s list that had not yet been hit with either a successful or foiled terrorist attack. And that it was very likely we could be the next targets:

Canadians need to heed the dire warning this week from U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci that major cities in the Windsor-to-Montreal corridor face an Al-Qa’ida attack similar to last week’s terrorist strikes in Madrid, says one of the country’s leading terrorism experts.

“Our turn is coming. It may be coming much sooner than we think,” John Thompson, president of the Mackenzie Institute, Canada’s leading security and terrorism think-tank, said in an interview yesterday.

[ . . . ]

In a video that aired on the Al Jazeera satellite television station Nov. 12, 2002, the Al-Qa’ida leader singled out Canada as a country that should be attacked. Canada was listed along with several other U.S. allies on the tape.

Thompson said that Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy — all U.S. allies in the international war on terrorism — have either been struck by Al-Qa’ida or have had terrorists plots foiled on their soil.

“We’re the only ones they’ve threatened that they haven’t gone after yet,” Thompson said.

[ . . . ]

Thompson said Canadians must be shaken from their mistaken belief that they are somehow immune from terrorism.

“There’s this strong belief that we’re the world’s nice guys and everyone loves us,” Thompson said. “We have been sheltered for far too long. … Some day soon we’ll all have to wake up and realize we’ve been hit.”

The only question is, should Canada be struck, will we react like the U.S.? Or like Spain?

Two car bombs in Istanbul targeted Jews praying at a synagogue. 20 are dead and at least 250 injured:

Turkish officials said al Qaeda might have had a hand in it.

“It is clear that this is a terrorist event with international links,” Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said as emergency services struggled to treat those caught up in the blasts, which wrecked cars and buildings over wide areas.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said he could not rule out a role by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda, blamed for attacks on other Jewish targets around the world in the past 18 months.

[ . . . ]

Istanbul health authorities said 20 people had been killed and 257 wounded in the two attacks, which hit the central Neve Shalom synagogue and another, Beit Israel, in the Sisli district around 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT). The Neve Shalom — “Oasis of Peace” — was especially busy for a bar-mitzvah coming of age ceremony.

But many of the casualties were not Jews but people passing by on the busy streets outside the heavily protected synagogues.

What good is heavy protection when people are killed in acts of terror regardless?

Turkey is, relatively speaking, one of the friendliest countries with Israel in the Middle East. Aside from Turkey’s Jewish population – about 30,000 in Istanbul – thousands of Israeli tourists also flock there each year on vacation. This has an uncomfortable similarity to last year’s bombings in Mombasa, Kenya.

The real question is, who is responsible?

A radical Turkish Islamist group, widely believed to be backed by Iran, claimed responsibility, but Aksu said he doubted a local group could mount such a large-scale operation.

“It is difficult for any Turkey-based organization to carry out an attack of this magnitude,” he said at the scene.

Denial and wishful thinking? Or fact? Either local Turkish terrorists are targeting Jews – praying in synagogue, of all things! – or else the international cooperation between terrorist groups is getting stronger. Neither is a pleasant prospect.

As usual, in the differences between factions in the Muslim Middle East, the Jews are the convenient scapegoat. Ironically, the terrorists who target them also want to destroy Israel – do they realize that each attack of Jews outside of Israel only bolsters the reasons why Israel must continue to be strong?

Al Qua’eda, or whatever offshoot of it that is responsible for the Riyadh suicide attacks, is a highly-organized terrorist network full of evil murderers. I’m sure they’ve been called every name in the book, and they more than deserve all of them. But one thing they are not is stupid.

So then why would they attack within Saudi Arabia, risking the anger of the Saudis?

“Saudi Arabia is committed to…striking with an iron fist all who are tampering with the country’s security,” [Prince Saud al-Faisal] told a news conference in Riyadh.

“Whoever did this will regret it because they have unified this country’s determination to extract this cancer (terrorism) and ensure that it doesn’t return.”

Why, with their hatred of the West and of the United States in particular, would they do anything that would align the terrorist-supporting Saudi regime further with their “strange bedfellow” ally, the United States? Why would they risk a backlash from the Arab world? I mean, they had to know, didn’t they?