Dan's Winds of War: 2003-11-13

Welcome! Our goal is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. In addition, we also have our in-depth Iraq Report. Today's briefings are brought to you by Dan Darling of Regnum Crucis.

TOP TOPICS

• BBC News reports that Saudi Arabia is in talks with al-Qaeda to cease attacks inside of the Kingdom in return for numerous concessions, pointing to yet another possible motive for the Riyadh bombings - al-Qaeda's desire to demonstrate to the Saudi royals that they were a force that House Saud had best cater to - or else. The "militants" referenced in the article are likely under the command of Abu Hazim, who was appointed al-Qaeda's new leader in the Gulf to replace Abd Rahim al-Nashiri.

• Rmeember that force of 2,500 Taliban fighters on motorcycles massing in Pakistan, with the Baluchi government's connivance (my Oct. 9 mention | Nathan's Oct 24 mention)? Well, they just showed up in Afghanistan, recapturing 4 districts (counties) in Zabul province. Zabul deputy governor Maulavi Mohammed Omar has told the Afghan Islamic Press that the Taliban may well be planning to launch an offensive to take the provincial capital of Zabul itself.

• The Indonesian island of Sulawesi, long a focus of cultural and sectarian tension, has had yet more violence to rock the fragile peace between the island's Christian and Muslim inhabitants that was established after the wave of sectarian violence from 1999-2000. Indonesian authorities believe that Dulmatin, a high-ranking Jemaah Islamiyyah leader, is masterminding the killings as part of concerted effort to stir up more problems on the island.

Other Topics Today Include: Iran Reports; al-Qaeda wannabes say Jews are to blame for Riyadh bombings; US launches Operation Mountain Resolve; Taliban PR offensive; Karzai warns of more attacks; Saudi Arabia's Keystone cops; Jemaah Islamiyyah leaders on the run; al-Qaeda wants to poison your water; Brigitte planned to irradiate Sydney; the Mombasa bombing in retrospect; Pakistan arrests 150 Taliban and HeI members; Janjalani escapes; and spam is bad for the economy.

IRAN REPORTS

• Former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati is now announcing that the very existence of Israel is contrary to Iran's national interest as well as acknowledging that ties between Iran, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. And people wonder why the US is so worried about the prospect a nuclear Iran ...

• The Belfast Telegraph is reporting that the IAEA has caught Iran secretly developing the necessary technology with which to construct nuclear weapons. There is still no evidence that Iran has to date produced nuclear weapons - but as a diplomatic source quoted by the Telegraph notes: "The US, UK, India, and Pakistan all started out with laboratory-scale activities. That was their weapons program until they set one off in the desert or on an island."

• In addition, the IAEA report says that Iran produced plutonium and received assistance from four other countries in regard to obtaining sensitive technology. If I had to make a guess, I would say that the nations in question were (not necessarily in this order) North Korea, Pakistan, India, and either Russia or China.

• In any event, the experts appear to have weighed in and the answer appears clear - Iran wants the bomb.

• Former Iranian diplomat Aboldghasem Meshabi has testified that Iran was solely responsible for the 1994 Hezbollah bombing in Buenos Aires was headed, organized, and executed by Iran.

THE WIDER WAR

• Okay, I totally called this one in my analysis of the Riyadh bombings. Jihad Unspun, fullfilling its perennial role of carrying water for al-Qaeda, is claiming that the Riyadh bombings were really an attack on the royals and that even if they weren't the whole thing was a Jewish plot to begin with.

• As noted at the beginning of the Winds of War, Afghanistan is once again heating up. US forces have launched Operation Mountain Resolve as part of what seems to be a concerted effort to delive a death blow to the Hizb-e-Islami militia forces loyal to former Afghan prime minister and Taliban ally Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

• The Taliban appear to have stepped up their public relations offensive by releasing a videotape to al-Arabiyyah showing them in combat against US forces in Afghanistan. This comes as Taliban spokesman Hamid Agha is claims responsibility for an attack near Spin Boldak that killed a Romanian soldier.

• Afghan president Hamid Karzai is warning of more Taliban attacks as Afghanistan marks the second anniversary of the fall of Kandahar and the collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

• Saudi Arabia has arrested several suspects in connection with the Riyadh bombings - or have they? I swear that this would all be horribly bad comedy (did Prince Nayef hire the Keystone cops?) were it not all so tragic ...

• The Associated Press is reporting that top Jemaah Islamiyyah leaders Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohammed Top are both on the run after a thwarted bombing and are believed to be somewhere between West Java and Sumatra.

• Al-Qaeda plans to poison food and water supplies with ricin and botulinism according to the Toronto Star. As usual, blogosphere is light years ahead of the mainstream media, with the Belmont Club reporting al-Qaeda having tested this very same method of attack out on the acting president of Chechnya back in September.

• Australian terror suspect Willie Brigitte was reportedly thinking big and was potentially gunning for the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor. Sound far-fetched? Some people don't think so.

• All Africa Global Media has a nice retrospect look at the November 2002 bombing in Mombasa, Kenya and its interesting similarities to the 1998 Embassy bombings.

• Pakistan has arrested 150 suspected Taliban or Hizb-e-Islami members following a series of incidents in the Baluchistan provincial capital of Quetta.

• Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffi Janjalani has reportedly escaped a military dragnet and fled to Mindanao to regroup with his followers.

• We try to close on a lighter note if possible. Spam - it's not just annoying, it's bad for the economy too.