Dan's Winds of War: 2003-11-20

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

• Two suicide bombers attacked two synagogues in Istanbul on the Jewish Sabbath this last weekend. The Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Turkish and Israeliofficials are pointing the finger at al-Qaeda. Both suicide bombers are believed to have undergone training in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran before carrying out the attack. The mastermind of the attack has fled to Syria, where he may being trying to link up with members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
  


• The conservative Weekly Standard has leaked a memo dealing with evidence supporting the US assertion that Iraq and al-Qaeda have a long-standing relationship with Osama bin Laden. For more on this memo and whether or not the information contained therein is accurate, check out my special analysis on the topic.
  


• Al-Qaeda leader Abu Salma al-Hijazi has claimed that the terror network plans to kill 100,000 Americans in upcoming attacks. Al-Hijazi (the surname likely denotes a Saudi nationality) also reinterated the order previously issued by Suleiman al-Dosari that the organization's primary target is currently the US, not Arab governments.

Other Topics Today Include: Iran Reports; USA Homeland Security Briefing; Taliban forming committees; new tape by Mullah Omar; letter from Afghanistan; possible al-Qaeda threat in the UK; Saudi conspiracy theories; Zarqawi's Italian associates' assets frozen; new Algerian attack on the GSPC; grim UN report on al-Qaeda; JI training in Mindanao; Filippino communists deny recruiting for JI; new JI supremo in Southeast Asia; Yemen releases 92 al-Qaeda members; Saudi cleric renounces violence; Arafat's slush fund; and computers can't recognize a Southern drawl.

• A rift appears to be forming between the EU and the United States over how to deal with Iran after the publication of the IAEA report on the nation's nuclear program.

• Former Iranian envoy Hadi Soleimanpour is returning home after a lengthy legal battle in the UK over his alleged involvement with the 1994 bombing of the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.

• Iraqi scientist Modher Sadeq-Saba, the head of the Iraqi long-range missile program, has reportedly fled to Iran.

USA HOMELAND SECURITY BRIEFING

• Former CAIR community affairs director and Islamic Assembly of North America founding member Bassem Khafagi has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty for bank and visa fraud as part of a plea agreement.

• DC sniper John Mohammed has been found guilty on all counts for his involvement in the sniper shootings that terrorized the DC area last year.

• Government sources are indicating that new charges may be filed against Lynne Stewart, Mohammed Yousry, and Ahmed Abdel Sattar. The jailed terrorist mentioned in the article is Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the spiritual leader of al-Gamaa al-Islamiyyah who is now serving a life sentence for planning to blow up NYC landmarks and assassinate Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

• Tech Central Station has an interesting article on bureaucratic mismanagement by the US Department of Homeland Security - and how it's hurting US popularity in Latin America.

THE WIDER WAR

• Taliban forces in Afghanistan have reportedly formed 4 committees in addition to their 10-man leadership council to coordinate attacks in Afghanistan.

• Unemployed potenate Taliban leader Mohammed Omar has sent an audiotape to Reuters calling for renewed attacks on US and Afghan forces.

• Mullah Omar isn't the only one sending out messages; Power Line has a letter up from an army major currently stationed in Afghanistan.

• AFP is reporting that the US is concerned that al-Qaeda operatives in the UK may use the anti-war protests as a cover from which to target President Bush. The BBC, meanwhile, is reporting that al-Qaeda supporters from North Africa (probably Algerian GIA or GSPC members) may be planning to carry out attacks unrelated to Bush's visit.

• According to this story from the Associated Press, some of al-Qaeda's supporters in the Arab world have already come up with conspiracy theories to explain away what happened in Riyadh.

• The US has frozen the assets of al-Qaeda cell members active in Italy on behalf of Abu Musab Zarqawi that recruited members of Ansar al-Islam to fight in Iraq.

• The Algerian military has launched a new offensive against the al-Qaeda affiliates GIA and GSPC in several areas of the country.

• A United Nation report states that al-Qaeda plans to use chemical or biological weapons in future attacks but lacks only the technical expertise needed. The report also notes that the organization still retains ample access to its international financing network, which is I suspect is largely due to the fact that the members of the Golden Chain remain at large and still able to assist the organization.

• Captured Jemaah Islamiyyah leader Taufiq Rifqi has told Filippino authorities that the organization is continuing to train its fighters at Jabal Qubah camp on Mount Cararao.

• Filippino National Democrat Front spokesman is denying media reports that the communist political group was conducting recruiting for JI.

• Jemaah Islamiyyah has a new leader to replace Hanbali as al-Qaeda's operations chief in Southeast Asia.

• Yemen has released 92 "repentant" al-Qaeda members. Coincidentally, releasing its members held in Yemeni prisons was one of the terms that al-Qaeda spelled out when it opened negotiations with the Yemeni government on September 25, 2003.

• Al-Qaeda spiritual leader Sheikh Ali bin Khudair al-Khudair has formally renounced religious edicts he issued calling for violence against the Saudi government on Saudi national television. No word when he'll get around to doing the same for the numerous fatwas he issued calling for jihad against Christians and Jews.

• Power Line has a blog up on corruption in the Palestinian Authority and how Yasser Arafat controls ~$34,000,000 in a slush fund that he can distribute as he sees fit.

• We try to end on a lighter note if possible. For all the fabled objectivity of our computers these days, it seems that there are just some things even they can't get right.