Hezbollah still has 2 Israeli Soldiers

We sort of talked about this in class on Friday, so I did some research and found this article. It really did take some research, because like we discussed, the international community has largely forgotten that these two soldiers are still being held. Barely anything has been written on them until today, when it came out that they may soon be officially classified as "dead". It's unfortunate that no one seemed to put much sustained pressure on Hezbollah to release them. These are the two soldiers that were kidnapped during a cross-border raid in July of 2007. They are the reason that Israel attacked Hezbollah, and the fact the they are still being held is the reason Hezbollah is claiming victory, while Olmert struggles to stay in power in Israel.

Musharraf Says Election Vital to Anti-Terrorism Fight

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a31ISoTro0dY&refer=home
This article is on the Pakistani elections for parilament that are coming up tomorrow. During these last few weeks of camaigning there has been terrorist attacks. Most recently was yesterday (the final day of campaigning)suicide bomber killed at least 38. he attacker, driving a car laden with explosives, struck in the northwestern tribal town of Parachinar yesterday, about eight miles (13 kilometers) from the border with Afghanistan. He targeted the offices of opposition election candidate Syed Riaz Hussain Shah. In this article, President Pervez Musharraf said tomorrow's parliamentary elections are vital to Pakistan's fight against terrorism. In this article the attacks during the campainging were not called terrorist attacks, they were called by militant attacks, including the Dec. 27 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. This surpised me. So I wonder why in some countries they call attacks, "Acts of Terror" and in other countries they are called "militant attacks". I also wonder about AL Queda's presents in the tribal villages of Pakistan. I hope you guys like the article and can fill me in on some new info.
Thanks
Austin Conners

Facebook and the FARC

A recent Economist article took a different take on terrorism and media. In class last week we discussed the benefits and drawbacks of the media with regards to terrorism. Specifically, how terrorist organizations benefit from new media like the internet, satellite TV stations, and cheap video production equipment and costs. This article didn't discuss internet anonymity or recruiting techniques, but how it can be used for counter-terrorism measures. Oscar Morales created the Facebook group "One million voices against the FARC," which organized marches against the terrorist organization on February 4th. Apparently, most Colombians are sick of the FARC and are standing up to them in some degree. 700-plus hostages later, the FARC no longer has the support (whether passive or active) of the public, and most people are blaming them (instead of the Colombian government) for the continuation of the hostage crisis. It's interesting to see another use of the internet...and one which doesn't benefit terrorists. Who would have thought Facebook could be a counter-terrorism tool--organizing over a million people to demonstrate to the world and the FARC, itself, a change in public sentiment?

Al-Qaeda Defeated in Baghdad

From the article: " Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proclaimed on Friday that Al-Qaeda had been routed in Baghdad thanks to a security plan launched a year ago, and would soon be defeated throughout the country."

Though it seems the surge in Iraq has had an affect on the amount of attacks and casualties in Iraq since its inception (attacks down 62 percent since last June in all of Iraq), it is hard for one to say that Al-Qaeda has been "routed" or "defeated" completely. In our studies of the network structure in terrorist groups, especially Al-Qaeda, it cannot be fully known the extent to which the organization exists or doesn't exist. This announcement may signal better success but to infer that the job in Baghdad is complete is very hard to accept.

Greg

Terrorists see Women as to weak to rule countries

"It’s no wonder why the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wassallam) said, “The nation that has entrusted its affairs to a woman cannot be successful.” Aside from a woman’s weakness of her period and the affects it has on her (as has been proven scientifically), the pressure around her will be so great and momentous that it will be easy for her to make an enormous mistake that is rooted in her emotional veins. If Clinton is elected as President, it would be good for the Ummah. Why? Because America would crumble very fast. "

This puts forth a very intresting point of view from the terrroist perspective that women are not an enemy because they are weak. If muslims extremists see women as so weak how can we use that to a counter-terroist tool ?

U.S. Presidential Elections

I remember a question being raised in class asking if terrorist organizations are concerned about and observing the current presidential elections. I found an interesting review of the candidates by a website that spreads various terrorist propaganda. It is clear that these people are paying attention to the current race and thinking of what will happen when one of them is elected. The thing that I found most interesting in this analysis is that the author claims that whoever is put into the oval office will be elected according to Allah's will.

Suicide Bombers' Burial

I've never realized what happened to suicide bombers' bodies after the attacks. This is an interesting article that explains it. If you read it, notice what the mullahs says about killing oneself and others.  The article discusses the debate over this.

Israeli-sponsored terrorism?

I found an interesting article online today. You can find it here

Basically Saudi Arabia seems to be siding with the Palestinians, and saying that what Israel is doing to them is state sponsored terrorism. Saudi Arabia said that the international community needs to take a stand and pressure Israel to end these "atrocities".

I find this very interesting. I don't know enough about the entire situation to form an educated opinion, but I do know (from this class and others), that Palestinian terrorists constantly carry out suicide bomb missions against Israel. Is that not considered terrorism, or atrocities, by Saudi Arabia? While I understand the Palestinian grievances, I don't think terrorism is the way to address them, and I certainly don't place blame on Israel for trying to defend their cities.

What do you think? Who is guilty of terrorism here in this situation?

Terrorism may become a salient issue in polls

http://www.livemint.com/2008/02/11003646/Terrorism-may-become-a-salient.html
I found this article on the effect of terrorism on voting. This article specifically talks about The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It discusses how tactics on terrorism may have to become one of the parties main platforms. During the UPA rule, a series of terrorist attacks have taken place in the last four years. All these terrorist attacks have also occurred in then Congress-ruled states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have led to the allegation that the Congress party is “soft on terror” and lacks the political will to curb terrorism. This is the main reason that he UPA has changed it tactics and views. I wonder if anyone knows if terrorism has been effecting voting in other countries besides that United States. Also, is changing Parties platform the only way to change public opinion on its views on terrorism . I hope that this gets some interesting convo.
Thanks
Austin Conners

A New Generation

The Al - Qaeda in Iraq is recruiting children to carry out their operations. The US and Iraqi forces recently released a footage showing children under the age of 11 participating in terrorist activities. We discussed in class that terrorists tend to recruit individuals who can be easily persuaded to carry out their operations. Children of that age are easily brainwashed and ask little if any questions. Besides that, these children are recruited for attracting other young children and teenagers. Also, since children raise very little suspicion by their activities, it is easy for them to carry out any operation as long as they have the proper training.

Australian anti-terrorism

I found this interesting article that described recent efforts from Australia to combat anti-terrorism. You can find the article here

I this article it is says that the EU recently agreed with Australia to share information about airline passengers traveling from Europe to Australia. The US and Canada already have access to this information, and now Australia will be able to check private data of passengers.

I think it's good to see Australia and the EU cooperating to increase the anti-terrorism efforts of Australia. I hope that similar agreements can be made with other countries.

Organization in Lebanon

This Economist article discusses three problems in Lebanon threatening its "peace." One, predictably, is the car bomb that killed Wissam Eid in late January. The article, referring to Eid's position as an intelligence officer investigating assassinations for the UN says, "his death sent the chilling message that someone will stop at nothing to wreck the case before it comes before a special international tribunal due to be set up in the Hague." This is interesting to me because of the obvious organization required to plan the sabotage of the UN's investigation. In class on Friday, Group C presented on the Irgun and different components of the organization (the Sea, Delek, HATAM, HAT...you can see this on the powerpoint presentation they emailed everyone). This was the first discussion we've had on organizational structures (other than the existence of recruiters) within terrorist organizations, and it got me thinking about the division of labor: only some terrorists are actual militant fighters, others plan, others gather intelligence, etc. So Wissam Eid's murder was more than a car bomb fatality and more than an assassination; it involved lots of strategic planning from people with different assignments within the same organization. Furthermore, it was only part of a larger strategy to botch a UN investigation. When you think beyond the headlines, you can see how much organization and effort actually go into successful attacks.

Terrorist Television Programs

I read this story a while back; it relates directly to the discussion that we had in class about the attempts of terrorist organizations to indoctrinate youth through media programs. Not only does this Hamas channel have children's programs, they also have "MTV-type" programming, which would most likely target the teen demographic. I think it is interesting that this program is part of a "new strategy" for Hamas, as they try to use a more passive approach with which to penetrate Palestinian political and social systems. The members of Hamas definitely realize the importance that public support plays in their cause, and this program is their attempt to garner positive public opinion.

Humor

Jihadomerate

Following a story by the NYT in one of my previous posts about a 21-year old in North Carolina, I found a really interesting website called The Ignored Puzzle Pieces of Knowledge thats main purpose is to expose readers to the happenings in the lands of jihad. I did not find a specific affiliation for this website, from what I understand it is basically just trying to expose all us "hypocrites and infidels." The story on the main page was very interesting to me. They talk about how the U.S. got all bent out of shape over an Al-Qaeda video of a young boy with lots of guns dressed as Mujaahideen. They call us hypocrites by displaying a picture of a row of American boys holding and aiming rifles. Sure, in boy scouts I learned how to shoot and was extremely happy when one of my leaders had an automatic rifle for us to play with, but I think they are comparing apples and oranges. I believe that the firearm education and exposure are meant to ultimately lead to different ends.

A few terrorist websites

Here are some English-language terrorist websites I found. Enjoy!

Hizbollah

Islamic Army in Iraq

Some guy known as the "Baghdad Sniper"

There are some videos on those sites, so you may see things you wish you hadn't. But I noticed something interesting about those videos. Often, they'll launch a rocket somewhere, and no matter where it hits, it's considered a success. It's almost funny to see a rocket miss a Hummer, then hear the terrorists celebrating like they actually hit it. Oh well.

Another contest

Seeing that no one has posted anything today, I thought it might be fun to have another little contest. So, I am asking some questions about the individual pictured here.

Here are the contest rules: The first student with a correct answer to any of these questions gets a brownie point. Students answering more than one question are disqualified from the contest. All answers must come in comments appended to this post. Good luck!

Questions:

1. What is the name this man was born with?

2. What was the name he took when he converted to Islam?

3. What is he usually called in the press?

4. What is his ethnic background?

5. When he performed his attack, what country was he a citizen of?

6. What was the explosive he used in his operation?

Abu Hamza al-Masri to be extradited to US

British courts have just ruled the al-Masri can be extradited to stand trial in the US. He is currently serving a prison sentence in England for "inciting racial hatred". In America he will be tried for a variety of crimes, including conspiracy to build a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon. I think this is very interesting. It shows that now, more than ever, western governments are willing to prosecute Muslim clerics who are outspoken extremists. I believe this is a good step in fighting terrorism. It seems like much of the hatred the radical Muslims have comes from their religious leaders. I think this sends a message to other Muslims leaders that they need to watch what they say. I'm wondering what the class thinks on this. Do you think that prosecutions like this can make a significant difference?

Al Qaeda seen planning attack on U.S.

This was just posted at the Washington Times - Story

From the story:

"Senior al Qaeda leaders have diverted operatives from Iraq across the globe and are increasing preparations to strike the United States, senior intelligence officials told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday. They said the terrorists had plans to attack the White House as recently as 2006.

"'Al Qaeda is improving the last key aspect of its ability to attack the U.S. — the identification, training and positioning of operatives for an attack in the homeland,' said Michael McConnell, director of national intelligence, which oversees all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies."

Greg

Globalization bleeds into Training Movies

Many people are going to be digusted by this type of video that shows Al queda training children as soldiers. Article on Video. Something that I couldn't help noticing about the video was that the boys were all running around in nice jerseys and training pants with what logo on them Addiads and Nike both American companies. It is intresting that these organizations say that they are motivated by the desire to resist the influences of western culture show the boys in so blatantly american clothes which no doubt are popular. Is it a good recruitment method to give recruits nice american clothes to join the war against america ?