Terrorism Archives
Constitutional Rights and Terrorists
By Townie 76
There has been much comment by politicians and in the media about the decision of Obama administration to read the Miranda Rights to the alleged “underwear bomber” aka the Christmas Day Bomber and to try his case in the Federal Courts and not before the Military Commissions.
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Trials, Tribulations & Tribunals
By Lt Col P
By way of MMM, the sad and shocking tale of Miss Al-Qaeda on trial in New York City.
"You want a glimpse of the future that crime-coddling Eric Holder and the White House will be bringing up en masse?
"Right now, in New York City, jihad scientist Aafia Siddiqui is on trial."
Make sure you read the whole thing. View the links. And remember this:
"Two jurors were also let go after a man sitting in the courtroom pointed at them, used his finger as a gun to pretend to shoot them, and mouthed an obscenity.
"Reports the NYPost: ” The unidentified man in a white headdress was taken into custody but it was unclear if charges were filed following the incident in Manhattan federal court.”"
What, if anything, have we learned in the last eight years?? Send these people to Guantanamo, try them before military tribunals, and execute them.
How Much Security Is Enough
By Townie 76
The attempted Christmas Day attack has reminded all of us “there are bad people out there.” But as we listen to the pundits, experts (an expert is someone who says he is one!), pontificators, and bloviators we are reminded that there are no certainties in life.
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Remember the COLE
By Bull Nav
Nine years ago yesterday.
From the commemoration at NOB:
"The families of the USS Cole have waited nine years for justice to be served to those who attacked USS Cole. And although their wait continues, today's anniversary honors the 17 sailors who were the first casualties in the War on Terror. They will forever be remembered for their sacrifice in service to their country on a ship far from its homeport."
It seems folks forget about the USS COLE (DDG67) and the sacrifices her sailors made that day. Look at the pictures of the damage, read the reports of what happened...this is why a few of my BRs (John, Neal) and many others are still in Afghanistan.
D I S G R A C E
By Lt Col P
A disgraceful act; it and its sequel will not soon be forgotten.
More reason not to imprison terrorists, but to kill them. And when they are acting under the direction of a state, they and their country must be taught a lesson.
Where's the lesson here?
What is the Nature of Islam?
By Townie 76
I would like to pose a series of questions as to the nature of Islam? While I have some thoughts on this subject, but I would rather hear what others have to say, as I believe these are questions, which for good and ill have been avoided.
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Monday Miscellany
By Lt Col P
First off-- UJ at B5 beat me to it, but I was planning a period of instruction on artillery munitions. It seems that every other photo from Operation Cast Lead is of long tendrils of white smoke and fire emanating from airbursts. Those, dear readers, are the the M825 155mm felt-wedge projectiles. (Photo lifted from B5, source unknown.)
Second-- Meet the Harriet Miers of the incoming administration. UJ and MMM weigh in. What, there was no one more qualified for this critical post?? In the middle of an intel-intensive long war??
Third-- Gun owners, gird your loins. Get ready to write all of your elected representatives, stand by to raise hell. In the mean time, repeat after me...ammo, ammo, ammo, magazines, magazines, magazines, guns, guns, guns...
Fourth-- Condolences to the Bush family on the death of their cat, India. :-( I am a confirmed cat person, so this strikes me hard. Poor kitty.
Speaking of Gaza...
By John
Here's your humble scribe at the Erez Crossing with one of the IDF's armored bulldozers.
The Israelis allow Palestinians to cross its borders -via secure checkpoints like Erez- as a means of combating the sky-high unemployment in Gaza. The Israelis, naturally, are rewarded with rocket fire and international condemnation. Strange little ball of dirt we inhabit, eh?
Thanks to my friend Robert for reminding me to dig through my old Israel photos.
What, They Should Quit While They're Ahead??
By Lt Col P
The IDF has stepped off smartly into the Gaza strip, on Op Cast Lead. (It was always "when" not "if," wasn't it?)
DEVELOPING: Israeli ground forces began moving across the border into the northern Gaza Strip in an escalation late Saturday night of the weeklong offensive against Hamas.Israeli defense officials told FOX News that 20 Hamas militants had been killed in the incursion so far.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the new offensive was the "second phase" of its battle to disable Hamas while pledging to protect Palestinian civilians. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel's campaign "won't be easy and it won't be short."
"We do not seek war but we will not abandon our citizens to the ongoing Hamas attacks," Barak said in a televised address.
It has long been my opinion that the IDF did not come off the better in the summer war with Hezbollah in 2006-- not an outright loss, but by no means a clear victory in a campaign that should have been won by a force historically steeped in small unit action at night. I do hope, in this case, that the IDF not only gives Hamas a good beating but that their infantry re-establishes its pre-eminence. Many eyes are watching.
UPDATE: B5's own Uncle J weighs in. Take a few (nine) minutes to watch the video. And read the comments.
Mumbai Attacks
By John
I tried long and hard to scribble out a reaction to the attacks in India.
Could only come up with one thing.
I fucking hate terrorists.
Scorched Earth Jihad
By Lt Col P
This was making the Marine Corps email rounds the other day: "Forest Jihad."
From the beginning of September 2008, a renewed concern emanated from Western intelligence agencies to the effect that Al Qaeda terrorists were planning a “global fireball”, in a departure from its war on the West. Deliberately lighting forest fires in Europe, the US and Australia, would not only stretch emergency services, but would also leave insurance companies facing multi-billion dollar claims, as the credit crunch bites. The fires would also create a pollution disaster, with billions of tons of climate-change gases escaping into the atmosphere. The so-called “forest jihad” is being championed by Islamic scholars and Osama Bin Laden’s terror strategists who believe setting fire to dry woodlands will produce maximum damage at minimum risk.
Aside from the climate-changing bit, I think this is a real threat. A woodland fire out of control is terrifying, destructive and costly. It would be a very effective, low-risk/high-payoff tactic. Imagine these scenes in and around major population centers across the country, not just on the West Coast:
The effective counter to it, as with other anti-terrorist measures, is a comprehensive national effort involving the Feds, the states, the locals and private organizations. That would be yet another opportunity to remind people that the war effort is national and long-term, and that a threat to any part of the country is a threat to all. That would, in turn, require a little leadership and vision from both parties. And it should remind everyone that we're dealing with truly wicked, dedicated, evil-doers.
(It's also good reason to allow weapons carriage in forests and parks.)
25 Years Gone -- But Not Forgotten
By Lt Col P
25 years ago today, 241 Americans lost their lives in Beirut.
BR Neal pointed us to this article, and BR BullNav found this one as well.
The guilty have yet to be punished. When will we settle the score?
In Defense of Piracy
By Charlie
...Not by me, but by the Chicago Tribune, giving us the pirate IO message with a whopper of a news story with this title:
Off the lawless coast of Somalia, questions of who is pirating who Off the lawless coast of Somalia, pirates say they are merely patriots protecting their shores, the Tribune's Paul Salopek writes
Of Course! Patriots ("Somali" Patriots, if we can even call that a "country" anymore) are merely modern minutemen, ready at a moments notice to take up their AKs to repel foreign infiltrators from their shores! We need to understand the root causes of this... educate us, please, Tribune correspondent Paul Salopek:
JOHANNESBURG — Somalia's pirates want the world to know they are regrettably misunderstood.
...
Or so said a rueful pirate who telephoned a Somali radio station earlier this year, complaining about all the negative publicity surrounding the epidemic of boat hijackings, hostage-takings and thuggish attacks on UN aid ships that have made Somalia's coastline the most dangerous in the world.
Gosh, of all the problem pirates have to deal with *negative publicity* has got to be at the top of the list. The article continues, outlining the economics of piracy, and how foreign powers have ruthlessly exploited the pirates, and their criminality is merely the pirates' "fair share":
"It's almost like a resource swap," said Peter Lehr, a Somalia piracy expert at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and the editor of "Violence at Sea: Piracy in the Age of Global Terrorism." "Somalis collect up to $100 million a year from pirate ransoms off their coasts. And the Europeans and Asians poach around $300 million a year in fish from Somali waters."Lehr said at least 700 Somalis go to sea as pirates, usually in small speedboats that operate from mother ships. He said the criminal activity is bolstered by a massive shore-based infrastructure —boat repairers, food suppliers, security guards—that directly involves 10,000 to 15,000 people.
Can you imagine something like this being written about the Barbary pirates in 1785? Ralph Peters said it best:
EXTERMINATE THAT PLAGUE OF PIRATESPiracy must be exterminated. Pirates aren't folk heroes or champions of the oppressed. They're terrorists and violent criminals whose ransom demands start at a million bucks. And they're not impressed by the prospect of trials in a velvet-gloved Western court.
...
The response to piracy must be the same as it was when the British brought an end to the profession's "golden age:" Sink them or board them, kill them or hang them.
Seems simple enough to me...
"They are not a revolutionary group..."
By Charlie
"...They are terrorists."
So says Mark Gonsalvez speaking against the FARC, who held him captive, after his rescue. From MSNBC, Powerful stuff that should remind us all about the very real dangers of terrorism across the globe.
This operation is an example of a victory in the War on Terror, which will never be as high profile as capturing an enemy city or defeating an enemy unit on the battlefield (in 3GW). The media war against FARC, and the constellation of terrorist groups out there, will continue, but I hope this clip gets some air time.
"WILLFUL BLINDNESS"
By Lt Col P
Great interview in NRO with Andrew McCarthy, regarding his new book, Willful Blindness: Memoir of the Jihad.
He gets right to the point:
Kathryn Jean Lopez: Do I have the sides right? They say “Allahu Akbar!” we say “Imagine the liability!”Andrew C. McCarthy: Unfortunately, that’s exactly right, and you’ve hit on the key difference. They are a religious ideology reveling in a mission for which, far from making any apologies for their brutality, they exude a zeal found only in people convinced they are both right and justified. You won’t ever hear from them the slightest misgiving — no careful references to Infidelo-fascists so as not to offend all the wonderful moderate infidels out there.
We, on the contrary, are an odd combination of diffidence, self-loathing, and arrogance: doubtful we are worth the trouble to defend; apt to figure that if people hate us, we must deserve it; and sure that it is within our power to satisfy their grievances — even though we didn’t cause them — by dialogue, political processes, sensitivity-training, and, of course, buying them off — which simply confirms them in their suspicion that we don’t have the stomach for the fight.
They continue in that vein for three pages. Here's more, and this is my favorite, concerning the pitfalls of using the legal system as the primary defense against terrorists:
... But a national security threat is not, essentially, a legal case. When the protection or even the preservation of the country is at stake, our position has to be that government must prevail — not that we’d prefer to see government lose. Government does not create our rights and our freedom, but it is necessary to their protection. If the system is not preserved, we are no longer free and our rights are worthless.
Sounds right to me.
Brits in Afghanistan
By Charlie
John over at the Weekly Standard link to this article:
British soldier awarded the Military Cross for fighting off 150 TalibanA BRITISH soldier who almost single-handedly took on 150 Taliban after he and his 50-man convoy were ambushed in Afghanistan has been awarded the Military Cross.
Fusilier Damien Hields used his grenade machinegun to destroy seven Taliban positions before his ambushers realised he was their main threat. After peppering his vehicle with bullets, they hit the 24-year-old soldier. He had to be dragged off for treatment by his driver after he tried to continue fighting.
This, of course, reminded me of a previous outnumbered engagement by the Brits, a bit earlier in their military history, the Battle of Rourke's Drift, which was the basis for what I consider the best military film of all time: Zulu.
The Zulus lost tactically in the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, but the defeat delayed their advance on the unsuspecting British Corps. This caused news of the defeat at Isandlwana to reach the British main force, and allowed them to counter-attack, decisively defeating the Zulu force and securing the South African region. Since 1856, only 1355 Victoria Crosses have been awarded for extreme valor. 11 were awarded for this engagement, the most awarded to a regiment for a single action.
Good to see this fighting spirit is still there.
Afghanistan Suicide bombings become more effective
By Charlie
Bad news for NATO, as the enemy upgrades its capabilities and tactics:
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide car bomber targeting a Canadian military convoy killed 35 civilians at a busy market in southern Afghanistan , a police official said.At least 28 people were wounded in the attack in Spin Boldak, a town in Kandahar province near the border with Pakistan , said Abdul Razeq, the Spin Boldak border police chief. Three Canadian soldiers were lightly wounded, he said.
The attack comes one day after Afghanistan 's deadliest bombing since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. More than 100 people were killed by a suicide bomber outside Kandahar city on Sunday.
The back-to-back bombings could indicate a change in tactics by militants. Though attacks occasionally have killed dozens, insurgents in Afghanistan have generally sought to avoid targeting civilians
This should only serve to reinforce the need to up the combat troops in southern Afghanistan , and defeat these networks of AQ and Taliban that are deploying these devices.
A Lovely Development In Syria
By Lt Col P
One of the benefits of being an early is riser is seeing the occasional live report in the wee hours. I just saw the lovely Reena Ninan deliver some lovely news from the Levant-- to wit, the particularly vile heathen known as Imad Mughniyeh has assumed room temperature. In about a thousand pieces. And not a moment too soon.
It's a pity he won't be ascending the golden stairs, because he'd find that the streets are guarded by United States Marines. I suppose he'll just have to make do below decks, as it were. Waaay below decks.
Pakistani militants 'call truce'
By Charlie
Yeah, it probably sounded like “Stop Shooting! We’re Reloading!”
A leading Pakistani militant group is reported to have declared a truce in the South Waziristan region and be willing to enter peace talks.Few details have emerged about the terms of the truce, announced on Wednesday by Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan, a militant umbrella group.
The group's leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is accused by the government of being behind the murder of Benazir Bhutto.
The government has not confirmed the truce, but Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the national leadership was ready for a dialogue with the militants.
Isn’t that tremendous, a “a dialogue with the militants.” The sad fact here is that the Pakistani army is having a tough time rooting out the Taliban from their Northwest Frontier province and their Federally Administrated Tribal Area. Negotiating with them in order to gain a better position on the battlefield may be the only option that the Pakistani forces have left, granting them some time and space to re-arm and reinforce. Which raises an interesting question –who can do it faster, the army, or the Taliban?
Gaza Roundup
By Charlie
Terror! International Intrigue! War! Read my Gaza roundup below the fold!
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US Troops to Pakistan ?
By Charlie
Caught this on EarlyBird this morning:
The Pentagon is "ready, willing and able" to send U.S. troops to conduct joint combat operations with Pakistan's military against al-Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday.The U.S. military is also beginning to construct as many as eight coordination centers along the Afghan-Pakistani border that will be staffed by officers from the three countries to more closely share intelligence and conduct combat operations, according to Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, the top U.S. commander for eastern Afghanistan.
Gates said al-Qaeda has allied with other extremists in the border area, possibly including Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal leader linked to the Taliban. "They clearly are much more active and working with other people," he said.
Rodriguez said Pakistani military leaders are increasingly willing to cooperate in operations on either side of the border. There is "a growing realization amongst all of them, that everybody needs to do more together," he said at a Pentagon briefing this week.
This is being framed correctly by both sides, rather than initiate hostile military action, partner with Pakistan and help them remove a threat to Afghanistan , Pakistan , and America . The Taliban elements and AQ-terrorists that are lurking in the hinterland between Afghanistan and Pakistan are becoming an increasingly destabilizing force inside Pakistan, which is giving Musharraf –or who ever is in charge next –a strong incentive to resolve the issue.
So does this mean the road is paved for a US training mission? Nope, there is still a high amount of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan , and a large percentage of the population may favor a jirga –or tribal elder sit-down –with the Taliban in order to solve the crisis. In American-speak, a jirga amounts to negotiating with the enemy and declaring peace with the Taliban, which is unacceptable unless it is on our own terms. Remember, Pakistan already did this in 2006, where a jirga resulted in a peace deal in northern Waziristan . Remember:
Details of the deal signed by the two sides were given in a brief speech by local MP Haji Nek Zaman, a member of the council of elders which was authorised to negotiate on behalf of the Pakistani government.Under the accord, the Pakistani military promises to end major operations in the area.
It will pull most of its soldiers back to military camps, but will still operate border check-points.
That whole thing didn’t work out too well, and it allowed Taliban-linked groups to re-fit, re-arm, and re-group. They even got a new leader with Baitullah Mehsud, who has been blamed for the Bhutto assassination.
It would be great if we could have SF imbedded with the Pakistani Army, working jointly with the Afghan nation army along the border region, calling in air strikes on the Taliban and wiping them out in an enormous pincer operation. That is the gold standard of what we want, but sometimes reality intrudes on the plan, so we’ll have to wait and see how this works out.
Terror Threat (suprise) Continues in Europe
By Charlie
I thought Spain already surrendered in the war on terror:
Details surrounding the weekend bust of 14 suspected Islamist extremists in Barcelona are giving European security forces reason for concern — even beyond the evidence suggesting the group was working toward an eventual terror strike. Whereas radicals of North African origin have long been the main jihadist threat in Europe, Spanish authorities say 12 of the 14 men arrested Saturday are Pakistani. The reason that's so troubling, counter-terrorism officials believe, comes with the considerable risk of two different arching lines eventually crossing: the fast-growing size of Pakistani communities on the continent, and their close ties to a homeland where Islamist radicalism is rampant.
Again, the nexus of world terrorism continues to be the gray area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. I wonder how long Non-US countries will allow themselves to be continuously threatened by groups based in this area. One would think that repeated terror threats that can be traced back to this area would spur some kind of combined action...
Q and A with AQ
By Charlie
Hmm.... Commenters not getting feedback yet. Strangely familiar...
CAIRO, Egypt - Sympathizers submitted hundreds of questions to al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri's "on-line interview" before a recent deadline. Among them: Why hasn't al-Qaida attacked the U.S. again, why isn't it attacking the Israelis and when will it be more active in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria?This article goes on to point out that the terror threat may not be as monolithic as previously perceived, and that nationality, internal differences in goals and tactics, and debates on how to be an effective terrorist can be as disruptive to AQ as US JDAMS.One thing is clear from the questions: Self-proclaimed al-Qaida supporters are as much in the dark about the terror network's operations and intentions as Western analysts and intelligence agencies.
Is Pakistan Softening on US Training Mission ?
By Charlie
Pakistan is getting it handed to them by Taliban and AQ-linked fighters in its Western territories.
Up to 20 Pakistani troops were missing and feared dead after 200 Islamic militants armed with rockets overran a remote military outpost in south Waziristan, close to the Afghan border.A spokesman for the Pakistan military said the attack happened at midnight and lasted for about two hours. He said up to 40 of the attackers were killed.
About 40 members of the paramilitary Frontier Corps occupied the fort.
…Which may explain this story:
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Pakistan is taking a more welcoming view of U.S. suggestions for using American troops to train and advise its own forces in the fight against anti-government extremists, the commander of U.S. forces in that region said Wednesday.
We are technically fighting the same bad guys, just on different sides of the mountains. AQ and Taliban are just as threatening to Pakistan as they are to Afghanistan , it just took Pakistan a while to figure that out, as they have always seen India as the #1 threat. In the past, the Pakistani government viewed the Islamic radicals camped out in the western frontier as a strategic reserve against India ’s larger and better trained army. Now, that strategic reserve has become a massive internal security problem that just assassinated a major public figure, and would love to target Musharaf next.
Partnering with Pakistan and helping them do the heavy lifting of COIN in the Western areas is no easy task. There is very high anti-US sentiment in Pakistan , a significant support base for terrorists, and a shaky internal situation. On top of that, the “AO” of Western Pakistan ’s Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) is crawling with foreign Al Qaeda fighters, Taliban, warring tribes, and other shady characters that further complicate the situation.
The bottom line is that Pakistan has to solve this problem. If we can help them, it helps us.
The Sudanese Military shot at the Peacekeepers?
By Charlie
Is this a peacekeeping mission, or combat?
A Sudanese driver was seriously wounded when a supply convoy of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force was attacked Tuesday night in Darfur, the U.N.'s news portal reported. The attack was carried out by Sudanese soldiers, who fired on the convoy damaging a diesel truck and an armored vehicle. The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) says it did not return fire and no UNAMID casualties were sustained in the attack.
Sri Lanka's Government to Withdraw From Truce Agreement
By Charlie
The government of Sri Lanka says it is withdrawing from a cease-fire agreement with Tamil rebels because the pact has become meaningless. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi the withdrawal is largely symbolic because the Norwegian-brokered truce collapsed two years ago.The government's decision to end a 2002 truce agreement with Tamil rebels came as virtually everyone acknowledged that the pact existed only in name.
Really? A peace treaty with a known terrorist group fell through? Who’d have thunk it?
"From the beginning it was observed only in the breach by the LTTE. In the first couple of years, it used the cease-fire agreement to regroup, rearm, and then in 2005 it launched massive attacks on government forces," said Kohona. "In a real practical sense, this agreement served very little purpose."
That seems to be what most “truces” are with terrorist groups, re-fit, re-arm, and hen they’re ready, and in a position of better strength, start fighting again-on their terms. This has been observed in Gaza, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Recall this post about the MILF getting their “truce” in the Philippines, because it is likely to work out the same way Sri Lanka’s did:
Any time an insurgent group actually gains a chunk of territory, it is a HUGE victory on their terms, and validates their struggle for more land, and political control of it. All other things being equal, expect an information operations campaign to follow once the MILF takes political control of this territory, emphasizing how “just” the governance now is, showing new roads, schools, and happy children. Expect the MILF, and its fellow travelers, to set up shop in their new home territory, and use it to re-fit, re-am, train, and recruit forces to continue the unconventional fight elsewhere.
