Fausta's blog

Via the Baron, ALGERIA: MOTHER OF AL-QAEDA'S EMIR ASKS HIM TO LAY DOWN ARMS

"El Hadja Zhor", the mother of the national emir leading al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, Abdelmalek Droukdal, has launched an appeal to her son persuading him to lay down arms.

Sensible words, indeed.

Interestingly, "El Hadja" means an elderly woman in Arabic. Can't she at least be referred to by her name, instead of "the old lady"?



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Labels: al-Qaeda, terrorism

ABC News has this report, Al Qaeda Supporters' Tape to Call for Use of WMDs

"There have been several reports that al Qaeda will release a new message calling for the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against civilians," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told ABC News in an e-mail.

"Although there have been similar messages in the past, the FBI and [Department of Homeland Security] have no intelligence of any specific plot or indication of a threat to the U.S.," the e-mail said. "The FBI and U.S. intelligence community will review the message for any intelligence value."

The video in question appears to have been put together by jihadi supporter(s) and is already available on a YouTube channel devoted to spreading al Qaeda propaganda.

Counterterrorism blog states the video is

meandering, boring, and difficult to follow--and it certainly was not the product of Al-Qaida.

CT Blog points at the possiblity of a prank. Jawa is not alarmed but remains cautious to the possibility that the video may point to a bacteriological attack on September 2008.

However, in Iraq a new al-Qaeda cell has been created for Iraqis under 16 years old; the cell is named "The Youths of Heaven". And that is no prank. (h/t the Baron)

UPDATE
With al-Qaeda, it's starting to look as if it's a matter of women and children first...



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Labels: al-Qaeda, Iraq, terrorism, WMDs

Afghans don’t speak Arabic

In Afghanistan, it's any of a half dozen other languages — including Pashtu, Dari, and Farsi.

Maybe he hopes they all indulge in Obamaspeak.

The cult goes on:
Via Allahpundit, Obamatopia.

Obamatopia's the future of this:


Campaign spot and Doug Ross are on the same page.

And let's not forget Sweetie:

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Sadr City Residents Battle The Iranian-Backed Mahdi Army

Basra is now free of the Mahdi Army oppressors, so we can expect Mosul (and therefore Iraq) will soon be free of al-Qaeda. Once this is done it will be time to unfurl some well deserved congratulations for our armed forces, the armed forces of Iraq and the people of Iraq. Hopefully the Democrats will see fit to acknowledge the important milestone when Iraq has purged al-Qaeda from all its strongholds. There will always be dead-ender believers, but that is not excuse to recognize the sacrifices and accomplishments of the final defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Will you find this in the headlines?
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8 yr old girl used as a suicide bomber.
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Towards a More Peaceful World. Anyone who thinks that women are peaceful didn't go to an all-girls' school.
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What Is Justice for A Rape Victim?
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Polar bears are now in the endangered list: not a good thing, says Hugh Hewitt.

Bye-bye, ANWR.
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Via Betsy, Too "Complex"? Thomas Sowell explains why the price of oil is going up.
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Via Instapundit, Race and the 2008 Election
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Twelve year old Faryl Smith wows judges and crowd




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Labels: al-Qaeda, Barack Obama, feminism, Global Warming, oil

Headline at the London Times: "murderous Islamic leader will not be missed", even when he was "a youth":

As head of al-Shabaab - "the youth" - he is implicated in the murders of 16 foreigners including the BBC journalist Kate Peyton.

But it was during the reign of the Islamic Courts Union that he came to prominence. His few hundred fighters were credited with providing the courts with their military muscle as they took over much of central and southern Somalia the year before last.

Since their defeat in December 2006, at the hands of Ethiopia's military machine, Ayro has gradually moved away from his former allies in the courts and waged his own Jihadist war against Somalia’s feeble government.

His tactics echoed those pioneered by Iraqi insurgents. His fighters posted videos on the internet warning peacekeepers they would be targeted and claimed responsibility for suicide attacks. Roadside bombs became a daily occurrence in the capital Mogadishu.

Taking out Ayro, who analysts believe trained in Afghanistan with al Qaeda, has been a key objective of US military policy in the Horn.

He was the target of an airstrike last year when US military officials say DNA evidence showed he was wounded. Then, in March, al Shabaab was designated a terrorist organisation by the State Department.

Or, as Ace would put it, Somali Al-Qaeda Leader Succumbs to Chronic Endocrine Fatigue, GBU-15, but Mostly the GBU-15



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Labels: al-Qaeda, Somalia, terrorism

From the looks of it, Paraguay's new president Fernado Lugo is Hugo Chavez's latest buddy. As you can read in Bridget Johnson's article, Latin America’s Latest Marxist Leader Takes Power in Paraguay, Marxist former Bishop Fernando Lugo is the latest of Hugo's friends to come to power with the help of Hugo's oil money. He joins Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Bolivian President Evo Morales, and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in the choir paid for by Hugo's money. And I'm not including those suitcases full of money Hugo was sending Argentina's Cristina Kirchner.

This means the least competitive economy in South America is now in Chavez's pocket.

Paraguay has elected former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo in spite of the fact that the Paraguayan constitution prohibits ministers of any faith from standing as a political candidate. Lugo claims to have resigned from his position, but unfortunately for him, the Catholic Church isn't amenable to resignations by ordained clergy since ordination is a Sacrament and carries a lifetime commitment. He may be defrocked.

Here is Lugo's BBC profile, which says that Lugo's ready to put the squeeze on Brazil:

In particular he wants Brazil to pay Paraguay a lot more money for the electricity it buys from their jointly-owned Itaipu dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric plant. He says he will take Brazil to the World Court in The Hague if necessary.

He also wants to establish relations with China

Lugo fits the populist cookie-cutter:

They are protectionists, rejecting Washington's proposals for free trade throughout the Western hemisphere, and preferring to build up a South American bloc as a counterweight to Nafta.

They are populists, using public projects to buy support. They are nationalists, picking fights with the US, the World Bank and, when all else fails, each other.

They are, if not anti-democratic, at least anti-parliamentary, articulating their peoples' contempt for politicians: Bonapartists, if you like.

Monsignor Lugo fits the mould neatly. He is a brilliant orator, whether in Spanish or in the indigenous language, Guaraní.

While he recently tempered his anti-yanquismo, he none the less attacked Washington's unhappy record of backing dictators. And, for all his ideological proximity to Brazil's leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, he played on anti-Brazilian nationalism.

Lugo's victory completes the triumph of the radical Left in South America.

Which makes Paraguay ripe for Hugo's Bolivarian Revolution.

The Latin Business Chronicle urges Lugo to follow Chile's example because of the dismal economic conditions after sixty-one years of Colorado party rule:

Paraguay needs to follow Chile's - not Venezuela's - example as a way to reduce the country's poverty and corruption.
...
First and foremost, Lugo should realize that Paraguay's status as the poorest nation in South America is not due to Capitalism, but rather the lack of true free markets. Even after Paraguay became a democracy nearly 20 years ago, the country continued to be dominated by corruption and the rule of influence instead of transparency and the rule of law.

Paraguay has the least competitive economy in all of Latin America, according to the 2007 Global Competitiveness Index from the World Economic Forum. It ranks 121 worldwide among the 131 nations the survey looked at. Its low rank was due to such factors as weak institutions, inefficient infrastructure, insufficient macro economic stability, little innovation and low technology readiness. Paraguay is among the countries with the lowest Internet and fixed telephony penetration in Latin America, according to the 2007 Latin Technology Index published by Latin Business Chronicle, which ranked its overall technology level at 15th out of 20 nations in the region.

Meanwhile, the Milken Institute says that Paraguay ranks as the second-worst in Latin America when it comes to access to capital for entrepreneurs. Only Haiti ranks worse, according to the Capital Access Index released in February. Paraguay ranked in 94h place out of 122 nations worldwide.
...
Transparency International gave the country a score of 2.4 (with 10 being best) on its 2007 survey of corruption perception. That makes Paraguay the fourth-most corrupt nation in Latin America.

Lugo will be following Chavez's example,

n contrast, the radical-populist policies implemented in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador have increasingly deterred foreign investment and in most cases spurred even more poverty. Corruption has also been growing. Venezuela's international ranking has fallen from 71st place (out of 90 nations) in 2000 - when Chavez became president - to 162nd place this year (out of 179 nations), according to Transparency International. Only Haiti is more corrupt in Latin America.

Unfortunately there possibly are dire consequences in the region's security, since Paraguay has significant organized crime and terrorist activity in the TriBorder Area (TBA), which continues to show in the terrorist radar where meetings attended by Hezbollah and al-Qaeda have recently taken place.



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Labels: al-Qaeda, Hizbollah, Latin America, Pajamas Media, Paraguay, terrorism, Venezuela

Nothing is going to convince the truthers, but here it goes:
Al-Qaida No. 2 says 9/11 theory propagated by Iran

Osama bin Laden's chief deputy on Tuesday denied a theory that Israel carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and blamed Iran and Shiite Hezbollah for spreading the idea to discredit the Sunni al-Qaida's strike against the U.S.
...
One of the questioners asked about the theory that has circulated in the Middle East and elsewhere that Israel was behind the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Al-Zawahri accused Hezbollah's Al-Manar television of starting the rumor.

"The purpose of this lie is clear — (to suggest) that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no else did in history. Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it," he said.

Of course, Al-Zawahri has theories of his own:

"Iran's aim here is also clear - to cover up its involvement with America in invading the homes of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said.

According to him, the Crusaders and the Iranians are working together:

Answering questions about Iraq in Tuesday's tape, al-Zawahri said the insurgent umbrella group led by al-Qaida, called the Islamic Nation of Iraq, is "the primary force opposing the Crusaders and challenging Iranian ambitions" in Iraq, he said, referring to the Americans.

As he often does in his messages, al-Zawahri denounced the "Crusader invasion" of Iraq, but in Tuesday's tape he paired it with a mention of "Iranian complicity" or "Iranian agents."

He didn't leave out global warming,

He predicted that global warming would "make the world more sympathetic to and understanding of the Muslims' jihad against the aggressor America."

Still,

In the latest tape, al-Zawahri was also asked if the terror group had further plans to attack Western countries that participated in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and subsequent war.

"My answer is: Yes! We think that any country that has joined aggression on Muslims must be deterred," he replied.

Was the question and answer session replies done by a committe? Maybe:

Queries were submitted on the main Islamist Web site until the cutoff date of Jan. 16.

Took him three months to reply.



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Labels: al-Qaeda, Iran, Iraq, Middle East

On Saddam's Order
The Iraqi tyrant didn't "just" aid anti-American terrorist groups; he explicitly ordered them to attack.

What is not debatable, based on the Iraqi Perspectives Project, is that Saddam Hussein's regime funded, trained, and assisted terrorist groups (including al-Qaeda proxies), and sometimes actually ordered them to attack American citizens, American interests, and American allies. To compound the danger, Saddam Hussein's Iraq was simultaneously using its intelligence and security apparatus to plot and conduct terror attacks of its own.

The article lists the groups that Saddam's regime funded, trained, and assisted:

• "Renewal and Jihad Organization"
• Egyptian Islamic Jihad (al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri's group, which merged with Osama bin Laden's terrorists to form al-Qaeda)
• The Islamic Scholars Group in Pakistan
• Pakistan Scholars Group
• "Army of Muhammad" that it knew to be loyal to Osama bin Laden

A September 2001 document mentions Saddam's efforts "make common cause" with a number of Islamic radical groups in Kuwait, including a Shiite group. Another document mentions a Sri Lankan group that volunteered to carry out suicide bombings on Saddam's orders during the first Gulf war. Additional internal memos show Iraqi officials reporting to one another that Hamas was willing through the 1990s to conduct suicide attacks against Americans on behalf of Saddam’s Iraq. These memos also listed Abu Abbas, the notorious Palestinian terrorist, as another man willing to lead his forces for Saddam in attacks against Americans.

Additionally,

The report details the regime's production of suicide vests, IEDs, and car bombs for plots that included targets in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Saddam's embassies in these countries were warehouses for missile launchers, plastic explosives, TNT, Kalashnikovs, booby-trapped suitcases, and grenades. These tools were all available to a regime that had internal orders to attack American civilians, military members, bases, embassies, and ships.

The report where Mark Eichenlaub found all this information is five volumes long. What journalist out there is taking the time to comb through this information, rather than continue to believe that Saddam's Iraq was harmless country that presented no threat to anyone?

UPDATE
While we're at it, Brian Faughnan at the Weekly Standard posts about Iraq's Unheralded Political Progress.
Brian's going to be on next Friday's postcast. Don't miss it!




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Labels: al-Qaeda, Iraq, Saddam Hussein, terrorism

Al Qaeda use two 'Down's syndrome' women to blow up 73 people in Baghdad markets

Two women thought to suffer from Down's syndrome may have been unwilling suicide bombers in twin blasts that killed up to 73 people at pet markets in Baghdad today.

The first bomber instantly killed 45 people at a packed pet market in Baghdad in the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in six months.

When Michael Fumento and Matt Sanchez were in my podcast last September, they both discussed how the Iraqi public had turned away from al-Qaeda because of al-Qaeda's terrible cruelty.

This attack today shows how much: as Ed Morrissey explains,

In a way, this shows how desperate AQ has become. They obviously cannot fill their ranks with willing participants, and even hostages won't suffice.

The Iraqis have shown al-Qaeda that they are more interested in building rather than destroying, and for that reason al-Qaeda has to prey on the disabled in order to carry out their murderous missions.

Ambassador Crocker: "There is nothing they won't do if they think it will work in creating carnage."

No one is more aware of that than the people of Iraq.



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Labels: al-Qaeda, Iraq, terrorism

Aftermath roundup continued on Saturday, December 29
Background On Pakistan: "Why Bhutto and the Elites Hate Musharaf"

1. As prime minister of Pakistan, Ms. Bhutto proved to be one of the most incompetent leaders in the history of South Asia and was dismissed in November 1996 by Pakistan's president for what he called her regime's "nepotism, corruption" and "mismanagement." During her chaotic administration in the mid-1990s scores of people were being murdered in the streets of Karachi every day.

2. Her return to power, or that of her Pakistani People's Party, would almost certainly trigger a return to anarchy and open the door to a Taliban-style fundamentalist coup. Ms. Bhutto dismisses this possibility as "nonsense," asserting that "more than two-thirds of Pakistanis are distinctly moderate" in their religious views.

THE BHUTTO ASSASSINATION: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMED TO BE

Bhutto embodied the flaws in Pakistan's political system, not its potential salvation.

Bhutto: Professional assasination?

Qaeda Eyed in Slaying of Bhutto
Assassination Is Laid to Team of Precision Snipers

The attack yesterday at Rawalpindi bore the hallmarks of a sophisticated military operation. At first, Bhutto's rally was hit by a suicide bomb that turned out to be a decoy. According to press reports and a situation report of the incident relayed to The New York Sun by an American intelligence officer, Bhutto's armored limousine was shot by multiple snipers whose armor-piercing bullets penetrated the vehicle, hitting the former premier five times in the head, chest, and neck. Two of the snipers then detonated themselves shortly after the shooting, according to the situation report, while being pursued by local police.

A separate attack was thwarted at the local hospital where Bhutto possibly would have been revived had she survived the initial shooting. Also attacked yesterday was a rival politician, Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister who took power after Bhutto lost power in 1996.

Benazir Bhutto: Trail of corruption and kickback charges still in wings for opposition leader, via Sigmund, Carl and Alfred

British Islamists Celebrate Bhutto Murder

Ali Eteraz writes on Pakistan Renewal in the Wake of Bhutto Killing

The techniques of terrorism: no holds barred

Al Qaeda Opens a New Front

American, Pakistan Officials Probe Possibility of ISI Assistance AQ In Assassination; Bhutto Shot By Five Snipers?

More on Bhutto this morning.



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Labels: al-Qaeda, Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan

From LGF: Ron Paul Blames US Policy for Bhutto Killing

Ron Paul blames the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on the "interventionist" policy of the United States, and says Al Qaeda is justified in being "annoyed" at us.

Hot Air has the YouTube:


In Ron Paul's vision, all the problems of the world are caused by America. That he thinks that Al-Qaeda is justified in being "annoyed" at America is reason enough to dismiss him as the crank he is.

Victor Davis Hanson has it right:

If there is any fallout from this tragedy at home, it is to remind us that radical Islam has the ability to change world affairs in a matter of minutes (at least if taking out a democratic leader vying for control of a nuclear Pakistan qualifies), that the war against Islamic radicalism goes on, and that we should look carefully at those who wish to be commander-in-chief in the years ahead.

Investor's Business Daily:

As little confidence as we have in Musharraf, we don't buy into suspicions held by Bhutto's supporters that he ordered her assassination.

But we do share concerns about the lax security Pakistani authorities provided her. Bhutto personally asked Musharraf to beef up measures, such as providing jamming devices to thwart bombs, after she narrowly escaped a similar assassination attempt in October.

By all accounts, Musharraf ignored her pleas and never mounted an investigation of the earlier attempt on her life.

In an Oct. 16 letter to Musharraf, Bhutto reportedly shared information she'd received about three officials within his military intelligence services who wanted to kill her. And she asked him to help secure her safety ahead of the election.

That request, too, apparently fell on deaf ears.

The fact that this successful second attack occurred in Pakistan's military headquarters signals that "there may be some low-level military involvement," terror expert Peter Bergen said.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton agreed, telling Fox News that "radical elements of Pakistan's military" may have had a hand in the attack.

Despite Musharraf's denials, it's well known that Pakistan's military intelligence — the ISI — is infested with al-Qaida sympathizers. And Bhutto tried to push ISI out of politics in her first term as prime minister.

Musharraf also has been the target of at least nine assassination attempts since he signed on to our war on terror seven years ago. But it speaks volumes that Bhutto, back in the country just a few months, would be killed before him.

Al-Qaida, we hear, took credit for the murder. And who is the bigger threat to al-Qaida?

We have to wonder if under Bhutto, Pakistani authorities would have allowed the mastermind behind 2006's trans-Atlantic sky-terror plot to escape from custody.

Last week, Rashid Rauf, who has ISI connections, went missing from a mosque after police let him pray there. He escaped just days before he was due to be extradited to Britain.

Earlier this year, Musharraf freed from jail an al-Qaida lieutenant who plotted to hit U.S. financial and government targets. U.S. officials privately protested the release of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, but to no avail.

Even so, being realists, we understand Musharraf is still in control of Pakistan. While the terrorists just seem to get stronger under Musharraf's rule, he's probably still the only thing standing between Pakistan and chaos — or worse, a fundamentalist Islamic regime that would have access to nuclear weapons.

A faithful opposition leader and true friend of the West, Benazir Bhutto showed herself to be courageous in a way few leaders are.

Her death is a tragedy not just for Pakistan's fledgling democracy, but for all of us. We only hope that Musharraf has the strength and resolution to fight those who would drag Pakistan back into the Middle Ages.

Via Gerard, Benazir Bhutto: Mob hit in Pakistan

NGOstan is (or was) of course Bhutto's faction. Its chief claim to fame is that it is sponsored by the Western establishment, ie the State Department, the Times, etc, etc. It is clean and sweet and true. At least, relatively clean and sweet and true.

Obviously, it is not a secret that Bhutto herself was a mob queen, at least that many of her associates were gangsters, but the Westernists had an easy solution for this. If they needed to come across as especially clean and sweet and true, they could just condemn Bhutto as a mob queen. She was not offended, at least not unusually offended. You think she didn't know she was a gangster? So, for example, this article by Jemima Khan did not terminate the membership of Imran Khan as a leading capo in NGOstan. If Musharraf goes down, there will be plenty for everyone to eat.

PakMil, NGOstan and Islamists, and how they play the brutal game: read it.

UPDATE:
Deconstructing The Myth Of Benazir Bhutto

Update 2
The Bhutto Assasination: Not what she seemed to be



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Labels: al-Qaeda, Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan, Republicans, Ron Paul

Kudos to the music director:
King Abdullah Visits Buckingham Palace; Greeted by Darth Vader Theme
To make it even better, Stephen King was on the talk show:

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Via Larwyn, Al Qaeda takeover of the Taliban
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I made a brief appearance in Ed Morrissey's podcast, Heading Right to opine on Hispanic voters and drivers' licenses for illegal aliens.

As regular readers of this blog know, I have long believed that there is no such a thing as "a Hispanic vote".

Ed is a most gracious host and the best podcaster around.
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I haven't been following the attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey hearings, but one thing is clear:
Why would anyone put themselves through such a stressful nomination process?

Sister Toldjah has been following the story and notices Feinstein & Schumer's change. More from Belgravia Dispatch.
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The Anchoress asks, Clinton & Bush both thrown a Curveball on Iraq?

As we already know, The Anchoress is brilliant
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Via The Manolo, The Thoughtful Dresser notices that

fashion is full of fat men (sorry Alber, I really love you in every other way) giving normal-sized women an inferiority complex.

Jill Kerr Conway, in her excellent memoir The Road From Coorain, also made that point.

Yet another reason to wear what is well made and looks good on you, not what some dude wants you to wear.
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166,000 New Jobs Created Last Month, Double Expectations
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Special thanks to Doug Ross for his recommendation. Please vote for his blog, and while you're at it, for mine, too; and don't forget Laurie Kendrick in the funniest blog category.




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Labels: al-Qaeda, Bill Clinton, Captain's Quarters, Democrats, fashion, George W. Bush, Taleban, UK

Updated
Military Reports Lower Casualty Rates in Key Iraq Insurgent Strongholds

U.S. combat troop deaths and other violence in Iraq are down significantly in some of the most dangerous places of insurgent activity, including Al Anbar province, military officials in Washington and Baghdad said Wednesday.

How low, you ask?

Maybe most significant was that last week there was not a single military casualty - Iraqi or U.S. - in Anbar, said Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, a Joint Chiefs spokesman. It is apparently the first time since March 2003 that could be said.

As you may all recall, Anbar province used to be al-Qaeda's capital in Iraq.

Bill Roggio: "The darkness has become pitch black" - Osama bin Laden on Iraq situation.

Belmont Club:

Osama laments that "the darkness has become pitch black." That's him looking into his soul.

Things must be boring for reporters in Iraq, indeed.

Update:
In today's blogger's call, I had the opportunity of asking Senator McCain if he could comment on the news. His reply was,

I hope Harry Reid and the media get to hear about it.

This success is directly related to the surge - the Sunni sheiks joined in against al-Qaeda, and now the Shia are doing the same thing....
Overall, it's a great success story I look forward to seeing it reported on CNN & other unbiased outlets.

You can read more about the Iraq report here.

James Joyner has more on McCain's bloggers' call.


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Labels: al-Qaeda, Iraq

Mariane Pearl drops lawsuit against al Qaeda in NY

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl has dropped a lawsuit against al Qaeda, other radical groups and Pakistan-based Habib Bank Ltd over the abduction, torture and murder of her husband, court records show.

Lawyers on behalf of Mariane Pearl filed the lawsuit in July which sought unspecified damages against "those terrorists, terrorist organizations and the supporting charitable and banking organizations for the senseless kidnapping, torture and murder of Daniel Pearl."

A notice of voluntary dismissal was filed late on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan that stated Pearl had decided to dismiss the case.

"The withdrawal was done for personal reasons that had nothing to do with the merits of the lawsuit," a spokesperson for Pearl's lawyers Motley Rice told Reuters.

Hat tip Siggy.

Labels: al-Qaeda, NY, terrorism

Al-Qaida associates in N.J.:

The FBI's elite Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark says it is not only monitoring a number of North Jersey residents with ties to al-Qaida, but that agents have quietly "disrupted" their activities and even deported a few.
...
This unusual glimpse into the inner workings of North Jersey's primary counterterrorism force revealed the following:

• Task force investigators have discovered that every major terrorist group in the world, including Hamas and Hezbollah, has at least one North Jersey contact. The lone exception is Afghanistan's ultra-fundamentalist sect, the Taliban.
• The task force is currently conducting more than 400 counterterror investigations. These range from probes into Bin Laden's network to neo-Nazis to environmental terrorists.
• Each month, a task force "response" squad receives as many as a dozen new tips about possible nuclear, biological or chemical terrorism in New Jersey. These range from citizen concerns about a mysterious powder to the report that three ships were sailing to New Jersey with radiological material on board. Squad members were even dispatched to Emerson last month after school administrators received a threat to blow up schools.
• Undercover agents attend all professional football games at Giants Stadium. Agents also plan to monitor the upcoming Breeders' Cup at Monmouth Park Racetrack.
• Task force agents routinely travel overseas. One is currently in Iraq; another is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, helping to question suspected al-Qaida captives at the U.S. naval base there. Newark-based agents also played a role in the investigation of the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and provided information to assist the interrogation of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

In weighing his own fear of an attack, Cruise noted that northern New Jersey has a wide range of tempting and vulnerable targets, from tunnels and bridges to sports venues, shopping malls and chemical plants.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following this story over the years. LGF points to the Paterson area.

Never mind the Fort Dix six earlier this year, and anthrax letters that were sent from a mailbox two miles away from my house six years ago.


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Labels: al-Qaeda, New Jersey, terrorism

BBC's Newsround fed youngsters Al Qaeda propaganda, claims ex-spy chief

Newsround is aimed at viewers aged between six and 12.

On its website it answered the question concerning 9/11, "Why did they do it" by saying: "The way America has got involved in conflicts in regions like the Middle East has made some people very angry, including a group called al Qaeda - who are widely thought to have been behind the attacks."

After the public complained, the text was amended.

It now reads: "Al Qaeda is unhappy with America and other countries getting involved in places like the Middle East.

"People linked to al Qaeda have used violence to make this point in the U.S.A, and in other countries."

Now take a look at that statement:

People linked to al Qaeda have used violence to make this point in the U.S.A, and in other countries

In the Beeb's fevered mind it's OK to tell young children that the murder of 3,000 innocent people is justified because "Al Qaeda is unhappy".

I agree with Dame Pauline,

Dame Pauline, who headed the Government's Joint Intelligence Committee and is described as the most formidable female diplomat Britain has produced, said the new version was even worse.

"It still says it's all America's fault, and now for daring to be involved in the Middle East at all," she said.

"It wasn't 'people linked to' al Qaeda who killed 3,000 people that day, it was al Qaeda itself.

"Osama bin Laden even boasted of the attacks. Is the BBC really saying that if you're 'unhappy' it's quite normal behaviour to murder people?

"Is the BBC so naive as to take al Qaeda's propaganda at face value? Or is there something more sinister at work here?"

Dame Pauline knows what she's talking about: she is Britain's former spy chief and a former BBC governor.

Biased BBC has been following the story since June.



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Labels: al-Qaeda, BBC, UK

Via Pamela by way of Larwyn, Radioactivity at accident site in Jersey City? Conflicting reports...

13 August 2007: A minor accident that took place at Hoboken and Summit Avenues in Hoboken, New Jersey Sunday night - a mere 6-mile drive from the Empire State Building in Manhattan prompted the response of police to the scene as the driver of one of the vehicles fled on foot after the accident. But the police were summoned for another reason – the vehicle from which the suspect in the hit-and-run fled contained a “box” in the trunk containing “radioactive” symbols. According to a law enforcement source close to the Northeast Intelligence Network interviewed shortly after 5:00 this morning, sensors carried by police that measure radioactivity sounded an alarm that indicated higher than acceptable levels of radioactivity, prompting a response from HAZMAT and other officials. Police, fire and HAZMAT officials established a safe perimeter around the accident scene, and the driver of the car containing the box or device emitting radioactivity was caught several blocks from the scene.

This event took an unusual twist, however, when Fox Channel 5 news reporter from New York City was reporting live from the scene. As he was describing the event, a voice coming from the reporter's ear piece was picked up by his microphone: "TELL THEM NO RADIOACTIVITY" was the message clearly heard as isolated as a sound file HERE. Viewers can clearly see the befuddled reaction by the news reporter to the message from his ear piece in the video clip below, and the confused response to the complete change of information by the television anchor.

You must read the rest of that report.
Here's the video of the TV newscast mentioned in the report

The incident took place less than 72 hours from the NY city "dirty bomb" threat.
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Thomas Barnett has a Nice analysis of the sub-prime "crisis"
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Hitchens lays to rest the Foolish myths about al-Qaida in Mesopotamia:

To say that the attempt to Talibanize Iraq would not be happening at all if coalition forces were not present is to make two unsafe assumptions and one possibly suicidal one. The first assumption is that the vultures would never have gathered to feast on the decaying cadaver of the Saddamist state, a state that was in a process of implosion well before 2003. All our experience of countries like Somalia and Sudan, and indeed of Afghanistan, argues that such an assumption is idiotic. It is in the absence of international attention that such nightmarish abnormalities flourish. The second assumption is that the harder we fight them, the more such cancers metastasize. This appears to be contradicted by all the experience of Iraq. Fallujah or Baqubah might already have become the centers of an ultra-Taliban ministate, as they at one time threatened to do, whereas now not only have thousands of AQM goons been killed but local opinion appears to have shifted decisively against them and their methods.

The third assumption, deriving from the first two, would be that if coalition forces withdrew, the AQM gangsters would lose their raison d'être and have nothing left to fight for. I think I shall just leave that assumption lying where it belongs: on the damp floor of whatever asylum it is where foolish and wishful opinions find their eventual home.

A must-read!

Via Gateway Pundit by way of Larwyn, The US Military is more successful in Iraq than the world wants to believe. The astonishing part about this headline is that it comes from Der Speigel.

Davids Medienkritik says,

We would speculate that SPIEGEL editors have finally reached the realization that the version of reality they have painstakingly crafted for the German public since the conflict began - one of failure, disaster, debacle and quagmire for the Americans in Iraq - is no longer tenable when compared to the facts on the ground and will ultimately collapse on their heads like a flimsy house of cards. But with many American Democrats still in full irrational disaster-mode on Iraq (despite obvious recent improvement with the surge) this seems a somewhat unusual and perhaps premature move.

Don't expect the NYT to wake up any time soon, though.---------------------------------------------------------------
Phyllis Chesler has an excellent article on how The Legal Jihad Is Already Underway
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Moron in Macon.
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Exclusive: Hillary's first TV ad debuts
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More from Matt: 4 Million Muslims Marching for an Imam
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Behold the Trunki:

Labels: al-Qaeda, Democrats, economy, Iraq, Islam, New Jersey, New York, terrorism, Venezuela

Blueberry pancakes, that's what!

Did Gonzo Lie?

From Maria,
Back to the Future in the Middle East?

Past presidents and statesmen as diverse as Madeleine Albright, James Baker, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Brent Scowcroft have weighed in with various remedies to our supposed blunders in the Middle East since September 11.

Apparently, Americans are supposed to forget these supposedly brilliant strategists' dismal records of dealing with Middle East terrorism, Islamic radicalism and murderous dictators. However, their three decades of bipartisan failure helped bring us to the present post-9/11 world.

So before the United States abandons its present policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, we should at least recall the past record - which may be best summed up as the ying of Democratic appeasement and the yang of Republican cynicism.

From Larwyn,
An Intent to Misinform?

So, You Want to Join al-Qaeda?

Labels: al-Qaeda, Democrats, food, Iraq, politics, Republicans, terrorism, TV

NonParty Politics

About 45 minutes into the film, Harry and his classmates are subject to their new 'Defense Against the Dark Arts' instructor, Dolores Umbridge. Umbridge was recently appointed by the Minister of Magic (Cornelius Fudge). Her role at Hogwart's is to not only teach a watered-down version of the class, but likewise to play down the fears of Lord Voldemort's return and act as a shill for the Ministry of Magic, helping to whitewash the perceived threat.

The wonderfully sardonic, condescending and controlling Umbridge, played by Imelda Staunton, seemed to embody every shameful ounce of Democratic obfuscation and denial when it comes to the war on terror. She contained elements of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Jack Murtha, and John Edwards in her persistent and eager desire to reduce any hint of danger to mere understanding or hyperbole, seeking to silence dissenters (Through the implementation of tortuous quills, if necessary).

More on the Congressional temple of democratic denial at Gateway Pundit, who also has the al-Qaeda map. Ralph Peters:

Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq is suffering a humiliating defeat, as fellow Sunni Muslims turn against the fanatics and help them find the martyrdom they advertise. Yet for purely political reasons - next year's elections - cowards on Capitol Hill are spurning the courage of our troops on the ground.

While Congress waves the white flag and we're watching movies, Iran Celebrates US Congressional Resolution. Jules asks if the media's Lazy, Stupid or Willfully Ignorant?

Here's one from the AP yesterday about a contested village north of Baquba. The story is all about failure. The failure to control this village. The failure of Iraqi forces to provide follow-on security in areas U.S. troops have cleared. It tells us, "Fleeing insurgents appear to be trying to capture more territory farther north in Diyala, where Iraqi security forces are fewer."

It doesn't say why. Because they have been run out of Baquba, after being run out of Baghdad and Anbar. The three-week operation to clear Baquba has been highly successful, with the loss of one soldier, according to Michael Yon. Can this possibly be true? One soldier killed in three weeks of what is routinely described as bitter fighting in Baquba, fighting that has run al-Qaeda out of the much-vaunted IED-saturated stronghold where al-Qaeda was executing people in the city square. How is that not a screaming headline?

As Steve Gilbert realizes,

But you can't blame our media too much.

It is their job to make US lose this war. Their Democrat masters insist.

Victor Davis Hanson fisks the NYT editorial clamoring for surrender, and concludes:

The truth is that Iraq has upped the ante in the war against terrorists. Our enemies' worst nightmare is a constitutional government in the heart of the ancient caliphate, surrounded by consensual rule in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Turkey; ours is a new terror heaven, but with oil, a strategic location, and the zeal born of a humiliating defeat of the United States on a theater scale. The Islamists believe we can't win; so does the New York Times. But it falls to the American people to decide the issue.

Go read the full article.

Update
This is what passes for leadership in Washington:

Even Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) admitted that the Democrats' bill was a political charade, telling reporters yesterday that Democrats had to bring the bill to the floor to pacify antiwar groups: "If we don't do anything, these groups will feel like we haven't done anything."

Lord Voldemort, and Wahhabism: let's call them by their names:

The Sunni radicals have a name. They are Wahhabis and they are backed by a powerful faction within Saudi Arabia, Iraq's southern neighbor. The MSM continues to dance around a reality that has been visible since the Coalition took Fallujah in late 2004 - almost three years ago [see here.] As I wrote then on TCSDaily, Fallujans had turned against the Arab Sunni extremists who invaded their city and "set up a Taliban-style dictatorship, in which women who did not cover their entire bodies, people listening to music, and members of spiritual Sufi orders... were subject to torture and execution... [The radicals] were financed, recruited, and otherwise encouraged by Wahhabism, the state religion in Saudi Arabia."

The missing truth in the MSM about Ramadi is the same as that in Fallujah, and although habitually elided from Western reporting, it is known to Muslims, if they pay attention to Iraqi events. The Sunnis of Anbar, both sheikhs and ordinary folk, deeply resent the attempted imposition of an extreme Sunni order on them and are prepared to conciliate with Iraqi Shias and cooperate with the U.S.-led coalition to prevent it from happening.

Why do Westerners remain so reticent about Wahhabism and its Saudi backers?

Read it all.

Update 2
Read Obi's Sister's post, The Voldemort war and Alice the goon

Special thanks to Larwyn.



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Labels: al-Qaeda, Democrats, Harry Potter, Harry Reid, Iran, Iraq, movies, politics

As I posted Tuesday on So much for the "unsophisticated terrorist" meme, Gordon Brown has banned ministers from using the word "Muslim" in connection with the terrorism crisis and the phrase "war on terror" is to be dropped, too. AP thinks of terrorists as a diverse group.

Melanie Phillips writes about The strategy of consensual dissimulation

On BBC Radio Four’s Today programme this morning (0755 approx), the reformed Islamist extremist Hassan Butt patiently spelled out to presenter Jim Naughtie that Islamist terrorists carry out their acts of mass murder as an expression of religious faith and fervour. They do it, he said, ‘for the pleasure of God’. Far from being acts of despair, these terrible atrocities are acts of religious exultation.

If we don't understand, even now, that what we are facing is a religious war, a jihad against the unbeliever and backsliding Muslims across the world we cannot possibly hope to defend ourselves against it. Yet while former Islamist extremists such as Hassan Butt and Ed Husain are urgently telling us the truth, Gordon Brown’s new administration is shutting its ears and embarking on a suicidally stupid and cowardly strategy. Astoundingly, it has decided to deny the religious element of this jihad altogether, to redefine Islamic terrorism as mere criminality and to ban all terms that call this horror by its proper name.
...
For 'consensual', read bowdlerised, censored and dissimulatory; and for 'united', read defeated. This is a disastrous beginning to Brown's premiership. The terrorism we face is a jihad carried out in the name of Islam, mandated by the principal religious authorities in the world of Islam and drawing on theological concepts in Islam. That doesn’t mean all Muslims go along with it; many do not, and many are indeed its victims. But to deny that it is a war which draws its authority from Islamic precepts is to deny the truth. That is why it is not enough for British Muslims to condemn these acts of terror. They have to acknowledge that what drives these acts is a part of the faith to which they subscribe — a part which they must renounce.

In the light of that, the Commons statement yesterday by the new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith — whose performance had our terminally frivolous and ignorant media drooling in pleasure this morning — was an absolute disgrace. Clearly following instructions to avoid telling the truth in this new strategy of 'consensual' dissimulation, she conspicuously avoided talking about Muslims or Islam. Instead, she spoke — absurdly — about 'communities' and insisted that these terrorist outrages were merely 'criminal' acts.

And now go read waht Laura Mansfield translated from a video by a pediatrician in hiding - Jay has a round-up on that.

Nothing consensual about this guy (via Larwyn and Don Surber).

Update
Follow-up post: The war against women rages on
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Leading Yemeni Journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani Arrested
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Iraq, WMDs, and the Truth
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What is carbon footprint of Prius doing 100 MPH?
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Smashing.

Labels: Al Gore, al-Qaeda, GordonBrown, Islam, terrorism, UK, Yemen

I adore VDH's writing, and this post is particularly good,
World Gone By
Some 20 years ago I went fishing in the California mountains and had the best trout ever, and would eat the trout I fish now (rather than throw it back in the water), which obviously means I'm of the "older generation" mindset. But not to worry, I'll continue lying about my age for as long as I'm able to lie.

Hanson also has a few thoughts on Gazitis,

Any examination of the multimillionaire spoiled brat Bin-Laden, or the aristocratic and snobbish Egyptian Dr. Zawahiri, or the other middle-class 9/11 killers might suggest that poverty is no requisite for jihadism. In fact, most of the worst of the this very sad bunch are affluent and have had exposure to the Western affluence and liberality.
...
One should read about the life of Sayyid Qutb, intellectual architect of the Muslim Brotherhood that we now apparently wish to embrace. He hated the very thought of Jews, though he had seen few if any in Egypt, and was only to encounter them in any real number in America. This middle-class Egyptian—subsidized generously by his own government, treated well and embraced by Americans—grew to detest the West for its liberality, its equality of the sexes, its material wealth, its friendship with the Jews.

In other words, his wretched life reminds us that envy, jealousy, anger at lost stature, these primordial emotions fuel jihadism. They may be enhanced by general misery, acerbated by statist failures and authoritarian governments, but ultimately the nihilist rages are attributable to the lethal mix of Middle East tribalism and Islam’s utter failure to account for and live with modernity.

Thinking that radical Islam will soften itself or evolve is analogous to a victorious Confederacy voluntarily ending slavery about 1870, a kinder, gentler Soviet Union without the gulags, Hitler in his dotage dismantling Auschwitz, or Tojo in the 1950s turning his old zeal to flooding the Co-Prosperity Sphere with cars and radios.

And VDH also has an installment of his novel.

Good stuff.
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Dr Krauthammer calls it the Last chance for Abbas.

I disagree. For as long as the UN and the EU sympahtize with Fatah, there will always be another chance.

Labels: al-Qaeda, Middle East, Palestinians, politics, terrorism

Via PJM, Al-Qaeda's Inroads into the Caribbean

The Jammat al-Muslimeen (Muslim Group) is Trinidad and Tobago’s most notorious Muslim organization. Although Trinidad’s ethnically and religiously diverse population, split roughly between descendants of African slaves and indentured servants from India and a sizable “mixed” community, includes Sunni and Shi’a Muslim immigrants from South Asia and the Middle East, the Jammat is known almost exclusively as a Black Sunni Muslim organization comprised mainly of Afro-Trinidadian converts to Islam. The group is led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, a former police officer who was born Lenox Philip. The Jammat is best known for its violent 1990 attempt to overthrow the Trinidadian government over grievances related to land ownership, social and economic inequality, and government corruption [5].
...
The Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (Islamic Front), headed by Omar Abdullah, himself a Black Muslim convert, has also been identified as a potential threat by U.S. intelligence and Trinidadian authorities. Like the Jammat al-Muslimeen, the Wajithatul Islamiyyah is comprised mostly of Afro-Trinidadian converts to Islam. Local sources allege that Abdullah harbors extremist leanings. The Waajihatul has been accused of publishing material expressing support for al-Qaeda, but Trinidadian authorities have not provided conclusive evidence of any direct links with the group. He is often outspoken in his criticism of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the Trinidadian government’s policy towards Muslims. Trinidadian authorities also tie Abdullah to local crime and other illicit dealings [9].

The Jamaat al-Murabiteen (Almoravids, after the African Muslim dynasty that ruled Morocco and Spain in the 11th and 12th Century) and the related Jammat al-Islami al-Karibi (Caribbean Islamic Group) are associated with one time Jamaat al-Muslimeen chief of security Maulana Hasan Anyabwile, formerly Beville Marshall. He split with Abu Bakr in 2001 over what Trinidadian sources allege was a personal rift with the group’s leader. Anyabwile hosted a radio show where he was known to criticize Trinidadian Hindus, Indian Muslims, and his former Jamaat al-Muslimeen associates for their purported failure in improving the lot of Muslims in Trinidad and Tobago. Local sources also allege that he is an extremist [10].

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Via Mike, Sandy Berger and the Clinton Cover-Up - Why It Matters

Berger had access to Archives documents that could be critical to understanding what information the Clinton Administration had, what options it considered, and what decisions it took on these sensitive subjects. In addition to primary documents, Berger had access to copies, and the only plausible reason for taking five copies of a single memo is that some had original notes on them from key officials, maybe from Berger or President Clinton.

For Berger to risk jail and disgrace, to then give up the right to practice his profession merely in order to avoid having to answer questions, he must be hiding something important. And if it is that important to him, it is also important to us.

The most likely explanation is that the material Berger destroyed points to a terrible mistake by Berger himself, by President Clinton, or by both. In dealing with al-Qaeda, did they overlook a critical piece of information or miss a chance to stop 9/11? Did the Administration's failure to take a more aggressive posture encourage al-Qaeda's later attacks?

When Fox News' Chris Wallace raised the possibility that Clinton's Administration might have done something more to prevent 9/11, Bill Clinton went into an inexplicable rage on national television. Wallace touched a nerve. So did the DC Bar.

Knowing what information Berger destroyed also might alter views of the current Bush Administration. Was the early support from both Bill and Hillary Clinton for going to war against Saddam based on something we don't know yet that was available to insiders in the Clinton Administration? Was it something that could come back to haunt Hillary and ruin her chances of winning Bill's third term?

--------------------------------------------------Via Maria, Senators Rebuke Joe Wilson Claims

The committee found that internal intelligence community notes of meetings in which Valerie Plame participated "did not mark her name with a (C) as would be required to indicate that her association with the CIA was classified," as both Plame and her husband have said. These aren't the only instances where Wilson's account did not square with the facts, the senators found.

Wilson has said in his book and in numerous public appearances that reports he reviewed from the U.S. ambassador to Niger, Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick, "indicated that there was nothing to the Niger-Iraq uranium story . . . This too is untrue," the committee found. On the contrary, Owens-Kirkpatrick wrote a cable to the State Department which said that the initial CIA reporting of a Niger-Iraq uranium deal "provides sufficient details to warrant another hard look at Niger's uranium sales."

Although Nigerien officials insisted in meetings with the Americans that no uranium would be sold to rogue nations, "we should not dismiss out of hand the possibility that some scheme could be, or has been, underway to supply Iraq with yellowcake from here," she wrote.

Perhaps the most damning conclusion of the Senate report has been known for nearly three years, but has remained classified until now. In the initial July 2004 report, the Senate committee reported that the intelligence community "used or cleared the Niger-Iraq uranium intelligence fifteen times before the President's State of the Union address and four times after, saying in several papers that Iraq was ‘vigorously pursuing uranium from Africa.'"

Despite that finding, Democrats led by Michigan Sen. Carl Levin blasted President Bush for the "16 words" in the January 2003 speech that described Iraq's efforts to acquire uranium from Africa, calling them an effort to "cherry-pick" intelligence and to "mislead" the country and the world in a "rush to war."

In fact, the U.S. intelligence community continued to believe in the veracity of the Niger uranium story for many months after the speech, and didn't call back its original reporting until June 2003 — well after the liberation of Iraq.

Meanwhile, via Larwyn, Plame To Sue CIA - The Irony And The (Near) Ectasy--------------------------------------------------
Please listen to my podcast with Neo-Neocon, and tell your friends.

Labels: al-Qaeda, Bill Clinton, Caribbean, CIA, Hillary Clinton, Neo-Neocon, podcasts, Sandy Berger, terrorism. Latin America

Updated with video. Please scroll down
Today President Bush delivers the commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. I took part in a bloggers's conference call with the White House this morning regarding the points Pres. Bush made during his speech, as follows,

Osama bin Laden sent Iraqi-born terrorist Abd Al-Hadi Al-Iraqi to Iraq:
- According to our intelligence community, Abd al-Hadi had been a senior advisor to bin Laden and served as his top commander in Afghanistan. Abd Al-Hadi never made it to Iraq. He was captured late last year, and he was recently transferred to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.

In January 2005, Osama Bin Laden tasked terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi with forming a cell to conduct terrorist attacks outside Iraq:
- Bin Laden emphasized that America should be Zarqawi's number one priority in terms of foreign attacks, and Zarqawi welcomed this direction and claimed that he had already come up with some good proposals.

- Bin Laden then tasked one of his top terrorist operatives, Hamza Rabia to send Zarqawi a briefing on al Qaeda's external operations, including information about operations against the American homeland.

- Our intelligence community reports that a senior al Qaeda leader, Abu Faraj al-Libi went further and suggested that bin Laden actually send Rabia to Iraq to help plan external operations. Abu Faraj later speculated that if this effort proved successful, al Qaeda might one day prepare the majority of its external operations from Iraq.

- In May 2005, Abu Faraj was captured and taken into CIA custody. Several months later, in December 2005, Rabia was killed in Pakistan. And several months after that, in June of 2006, the terrorist Zarqawi was killed by American forces in Iraq. Successes like these are blows to al Qaeda and a testament to steps we have taken to strengthen our intelligence, work closely with partners overseas, and keep the pressure on the enemy by staying on