Dan's Winds of War: 2003-12-11

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

• US News and World Report has an excellent article on how Saudi money finances al-Qaeda's war against the West. You can read my analysis of the situation here. As the article notes, the Saudis have paid off numerous individuals from both sides of the political fence in order to further their objectives, one of whom appears to be Republican Grover Norquist, whose connection with what I have affectionately termed the "Wahhabi lobby" you can read about here.

• Alphabet City and yours truly (along with several other bloggers) have taken a look at the wiretap transcripts made by Italian authorities in Milan on Ansar al-Islam. It's quite chilling and provides a good look at how al-Qaeda operates in Europe as well as fitting yet another piece of the puzzle together, namely that Hizb-ut-Tahrir is an al-Qaeda front organization.

• Newsweek is reporting that bin Laden is increasingly diverting resources to support the Iraqi insurgency, resulting in him cutting $1.5 million from the Taliban's monthly budget and pulling over 300 operatives from northern Pakistan to send them to the Gulf.

• The Center for Defense Information has a nice profile up of the Turkish Hezbollah, the al-Qaeda affiliate that orchestrated the Istanbul bombings along with the Great Islamic Eastern Raiders' Front.

Other Topics Today Include: Iran Reports; USA Homeland Security Briefing; Operation Avalanche; Taliban arrests in Spin Boldak; Zadran arrested in Pakistan; Chechen suicide bombing in Moscow; Sufaat may be freed; internal debate in JI; Islamists and commies fighting side-by-side; the Robot is caught; and elephant hijackers!

IRAN REPORTS

• Jordan's King Abdullah is said to be working on a truce between Iran and the US in which the US will hand over members of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq in return for Iran handing over al-Qaeda leaders. This comes after US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher is renewing the call for Iran to turn over any al-Qaeda within its borders.

• "Ased Hamze" discusses Iran's coming "Girlquake," and the regime's options for dealing with dissent.

• 3 German tourists have been abducted in Iranian Baluchistan, near the Pakistani border.

USA HOMELAND SECURITY BRIEFING

• Sami Omar al-Hussayen, a Saudi graduate student at the University of Idaho, is under investigation for providing material support to al-Qaeda.

• US authorities have revoked the visa of Jaafar Idris, a Wahhabi cleric who is a leading figure among Washington-area Wahhabis.

• An associate of Zacarias Moussaoui has been arrested in Minneapolis and is apparently quite chatty with the authorities.

THE WIDER WAR

• JK: Eyes On Korea regional briefing. The best update you'll find, in the blogosphere or beyond it.

• Taking advantage of the recent shifting of al-Qaeda personnel, US forces in Afghanistan have launched the largest ground offensive to date against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Operation Avalanche.

• Two Taliban commanders were arrested at Spin Boldak, near the Pakistani border.

• Renegade Afghan warlord Bacha Khan Zadran may have been arrested in northern Pakistan.

• A Chechen suicide bomber has killed 6 in an attack near Red Square, just a few hundred meters away from the Kremlin. Meanwhile, 4 Russian soldiers were killed on Tuesday in ambush as Chechen terrorists rebels killed a member of the republic's election commission.

• Yazid Sufaat, who is suspected of being a major figure within al-Qaeda's WMD program, may be eligible for release soon from Malaysia prison.

• Meanwhile, Jemaah Islamiyyah appears to be having an internal debate over whether or not it is acceptable to kill fellow Muslims in terrorist attacks - with both sides of the debate seem to agree that it's okay to kill kufr ...

• Members of al-Qaeda affiliate MILF and the communist NPA have attacked the Filippino military at Pantukan. One might wonder whether or not both parties have been informed that secular communist revolutionaries cannot work with Islamist extremists due to ideological conflicts ...

• Abu Sayyaf leader Galib Andang, otherwise known as Commander Robot, has been captured by the Filippino authorities in southern Jolo. He also claims to have shared the loot from the $21,000,000 ransom payment he received in 2000.

• We try to end on a lighter note if possible. Does this strike anyone else as just a tad odd?