Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET 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. Thursday's Winds of War briefings will be given by me, Colt, of Eurabian Times.
TOP TOPICS
- Two Russian airliners went down within minutes of each other, killing all passengers and crew. The death toll stands somewhere between 89 and 94. There are reports that at least one of the aircraft signalled that it was being hijacked. A timeline of events is available here. Sky News (on British TV) is reporting that both aircraft sent hijack warnings, but that's unconfirmed. The afternoon before, a bomb exploded at a bus stop opposite a Moscow police station, injuring four. The next election in Chechnya is set for Sunday. Russian intelligence and security forces have been on alert since the increase in attacks by Chechen rebels these past few weeks. Vladmir Putin arrived in Chechnya last Sunday to find that Chechen groups had seized several districts in Grozny.
- It looks like I was right to worry about the distribution of anti-radiation pills around Israel's nuclear reactor at Dimona. An Iranian Revolutionary Guards spokesman has announced that The entire Zionist territory, including its nuclear facilities and atomic arsenal, are currently within range of Iran's advanced missiles..
- Montreal police have seized a minivan containing at least 17 guns and 90-135kg of explosives.
Other Topics Today Include: Iran Reports; Domestic Security; GSPC ambushes soldiers; Hezbollah prepare for war; Jordan wants Syria truck bombs stopped; Abu Sayyaf bits and pieces; U.S. warns of more Uzbekistan terror as 17 convicted; Bali bomber goes unpunished for Bali murders; Pakistani PM calls for Jihad; Islamic Jihad calls for Sadr to attack pipelines; Liberia diamonds might have funded 9/11; Islamist Turkey?; Build your own Bush.
IRAN REPORTS
- Iran's Defence Minister is backing away from threats of offensive action. Al-Jazeera quoted him as saying "We will not sit to wait for what others will do to us." Now, though, Tehran says "misinterpretations" were made by al-Jazeera.
- A senior U.S. diplomat says the issue of Iran's nukes can be resolved with diplomacy, and the United States does not want to topple the mullahs.
- Meanwhile, Iran says the next IAEA report will give the Islamic Republic a clean bill of health.
- Grab a handful of salt, and check out Debka's take on Iran's regional goals. Of particular interest is the re-orientation of Turkey towards Iran and away from Israel. More on Turkey below...
DOMESTIC SECURITY BRIEFINGS
- A senior Hamas financier has been arrested for videotaping the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Maybe of interest: The Globalization of Hamas Terrorism.
- Osama's chauffeur has been charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes and delivering weapons to al-Qaeda. David Hicks, the Aussie Taliban and KLA fighter, will also be charged with war crimes.
- Law enforcement continues to play a valuable role in the fight against terror by following the money.
- The eight men charged with conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism have been remanded in custody. They have also been charged with conspiracy to murder in the period from Jan. 1, 2000, to Aug. 4, 2004. They were arrested on August 3rd in a pretty rushed fashion, with high speed chases rather than early morning raids. Perhaps the British disrupted something rather nasty...
- The Swiss have netted a suspected al-Qaeda support cell, which allegedly provided false documents to al-Qaeda members looking to enter Europe. They've also blocked access to bank accounts containing $27 million.
- The U.S., Britain and Canada will conduct a joint exercise simulating attacks on those countries. The exercise will probably take place next year.
THE WIDER WAR
- The GSPC has killed seven Algerian security personnel in an ambush east of Algiers. As civilised as ever, they drew them in by setting a youth centre on fire.
- Hezbollah's deputy leader has announced that they are "more highly prepared than at any previous time" to fight Israel. The message is clear enough: attack Iran, and we'll hit back along the northern border.
- After the spate of truck bombs entering Jordan from Syria, the Jordanians are demanding Syria tighten border security.
- TIME magazine discovers that Abu Sayyaf is a real terrorist organisation - someone should let President Arroyo know... Meanwhile, a mortar-bomb placed outside a pharmacy in Jolo is discovered.
- The United States is warning of more terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan. 17 people have been convicted of involvement in the March-April terror campaign.
- Idris, a man who confessed that he'd blown up the Sari Club in Bali, will not be punished for it, due to the Indonesian constitution prohibiting retrospective anti-terror laws. He will serve 10 years for involvement in the Marriot Hotel bombing - not nearly enough for helping kill 12, let alone the 202 killed in Bali.
- Pakistani Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain says Jihad is the supreme duty of every Muslim.
- The Islamic Jihad have called for Moqtada al-Sadr to attack oil pipelines in Iraq.
- A war crimes court in Sierra Leone has reported that Charles Taylor sold conflict diamonds to al-Qaeda.
- Al-Qaeda turn to petty crime to support themselves.
- Barry Rubin looks at the increasingly strong Islamist party in Turkey. Today's Turkey has good relations with Syria and Iran, poorer relations with Israel and the U.S. and a weak military establishment, which has kept Turkey secular. (Thanks to someguy).
- Lastly, did you ever want to give the president a makeover?
Thanks for reading! If you found something here you want to blog about yourself (and we hope you do), all we ask is that you do as we do and offer a Hat Tip hyperlink to today's "Winds of War". If you think we missed something important, use the Comments section to let us know.
UPDATE:
- A new report claims that Syria was a customer of AQ Khan, and purchased centrifuges to enrich uranium.
- Pakistan foils attacks against U.S. Embassy, Musharraf and government targets.
I did not know that about how the 8 were arrested in the UK. I thought it was the standard early-morning raid. That's worrisome, though not as worrisome as it would be if they hadn't been caught.
I hope that the sort of joint terrorism-response exercises contemplated by the US/UK/Canada don't end up giving the terrorists ideas by being too widely reported on, in too much detail. Still, this kind of thing has to be done, and I'm glad we're organized enough to drill for the eventuality. I wonder if Russians did more of this sort of thing, training their responders in advance, if there would be much higher survivability of terrorist attacks there. Casualties from any sort of disaster always seem to be drastically higher in the developing world.
Maybe we should be including countries like Russia in these sorts of exercises. And for all I know, we are.
evariste:
That's worrisome, though not as worrisome as it would be if they hadn't been caught.
There were reports (denied by police) that, IIRC, five al-Qaeda were unaccounted for, allegedly tipped off by Pakistani intelligence.
My, the Islamists at ISI are at every level of the organisation, aren't they. Two steps forward, one step back.
Thanks for the hat tip, Colt! :)
On the IJ ordering Sadr to attack oil pipelines, it looks like he's doing that already according to Zayed:
"In the south, Al-Mahdi and Sadr followers are wreaking havoc and seriously threatening to cripple Iraqi economy. After setting the Al-Halfaya oil field south of Ammara ablaze, they broke into SOC (South Oil Company) headquarters at Al-Asma'i in downtown Basrah. The whole second floor was set to fire after the building was looted. This is deeply troubling, especially when the SOC police station is less than 200 metres from the building and the British base is about 5 kilometres away. Al-Mahdi have threatened to kill SOC employees if they show up at work. The same in Ammara, where governmental employees have been prevented from going to work for days."
More on those pipelines:
BASRA, Iraq (AP) - Saboteurs have attacked about 20 oil pipelines in southern Iraq, reducing exports from the key oil producing region by at least one third, a top oil official said Thursday.
The cluster of pipelines was attacked late Wednesday in Berjasiya, 20 miles southwest of the southern city of Basra, an official with the state-run South Oil Co. said on condition of anonymity. The pipelines, which connect the Rumeila oilfields to Berjasiya, were still ablaze Thursday.
Associated Press Television News footage showed huge plumes of black smoke and flames leaping from the Zubayr 1 pumping station, south of Basra.
Oil exports out of southern Iraq average about 1.85 million barrels a day. The oil official said Wednesday's sabotage cut exports to 1.2 million barrels.
Colt: Great WoW!
But could I have some Najaf, please?
Fox reports 10 followers of Al-Sistani's protest march on Najaf have been killed in an attack that Al-Zarqawi is claiming credit for. Also the mosque in Kufa near Najaf was hit by a mortar shell killing at least 27. Of course, no one will claim responsibility for the shell, but the speculation is that it belonged to the Medi army.
jinnderella:
Thanks very much.
I try to leave Iraq for the briefers who deal with Iraq.
Sorry, Colt-- I've been Wretchardized into thinking Najaf is the center of the universe. :(