Posts Tagged ‘al Qaeda’

Islamic Terrorists In Italy Plotted To Kill Pope Benedict XVI

Saturday, April 25th, 2015

Italian authorities arrested 18 people affiliated with al Qaeda who plotted to kill Pope Benedict XVI and knock over the Pakistani government.

And mainly I’m just posting this because: A.) It’s a slow news Saturday, and B.) It gives me an excuse to put up Eddie Murphy’s “Shooting the Pope” bit. “I guess the guy figured, ‘Hey look, I want to go to Hell and I don’t wanna wait in line.'”

(Hat tip: Jihad Watch.)

Iraq: It’s All George W. Bush’s Fault

Thursday, June 12th, 2014

(Note: This headline is only slightly factitious.)

The problem with George W. Bush’s Middle East policy is that there’s no political gain there, no matter how great the price or resounding the achievement, that Obama can’t throw away through his manifestly gross incompetence. Al Qaeda in Iraq’s successor organization, the Sunni Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) “consolidated and extended their control over northern Iraq on Wednesday, seizing Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, threatening the strategic oil refining town of Baiji and pushing south toward Baghdad, their ultimate target.”

That’s the same ISIS that captured Mosul, where they seized $429 million worth of Iraqi dinars from the local bank, making them the richest terrorist army in the world.

Remember when Obama declared that “al Qaeda is on the run”?

And remember when Obama pulled out of Iraq and walked away without a status of forces agreement there?

Now two battalions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds forces have deployed to Iraq, ostensibly to support Maliki’s Shiite government. So now, in theory, we’re allied with the Mullahs in Iran in Iraq against the Isalmists we’re supporting in Syria against the Iran-aligned government of Bashar Assad.

About the only good news out of the region is that the Kurds are holding their own. An independent Kurdistan would be far from the worst development in the region, and would probably freak out both Iran and Turkey enough to distract them from further mischief elsewhere.

The current situation highlights the age-old truth that the Middle East is filled with people whose deepest desire appears to be to kill and gain power over members of rival clans/tribes/factions/confessions/etc. This has been true for pretty much all of recorded history save when a strong power (Ottoman, British, Baathist) is able to keep those tendencies in check through heavy policing, military occupation, or a brutal security state apparatus. The presence of our troops there gives the natives a distraction and a target, allowing them to temporarily stop killing each other in preference to killing us. The exceptions to this rule, such as multicultural Lebanon circa 1946-1974, have proven frustratingly ephemeral.

Israel provided a temporary target of unifying hatred, but the Jewish state’s defensive measures have made it increasingly difficult to get close enough to any Jews to kill them, hence back to the old internecine pursuits.

Bush43’s foreign policy in the Middle East and the decision to invade Iraq stems, in large measure, from Bush41’s decision not to let Schwartzkopf take Baghdad in The Gulf War. Whether doing so would have brought all on all our Iraqi troubles two decades earlier is debatable. There is much to say for toppling a totalitarian thug like Saddam, not least of which was liberating the children’s prison, where children as young as 5 were tortured to make their mothers talk. Perhaps the ideal strategy would have been to depose and execute Saddam and his top regime supporters in 1991, then immediately leave and let Iraqi factions kill each other rather than our troops. But I doubt anyone put forward that idea as a serious suggestion at the time.

Bush43 ultimately succeeded in largely pacifying Iraq, but the cost was high and, as recent events proved, the gains were temporary. The problem with interventionist policy in the Middle East is that there is no gain safe from the feckless impulses of surrender and appeasement that dominate the Democratic Party’s thinking today. The Scoop Jackson wing of the Democratic Party is dead, and Obama and Kerry perfectly embody the combination of naivete, hubris, multilateralist, and hostility to the military that dominates today. They love signing treaties and “the peace process,” even though it’s all process and no peace.

It turns out that Ron Paul may be right for the wrong reasons. Because no foreign policy gain in the Middle East is safe from Democratic incompetence, Republicans should not pursue any interventionist foreign policy there, especially in the name of impossible “stability”. No interventionist accomplishment there can endure long past the end of a Republican President’s term, because there is no gain safe from the likes of Kerry and Obama. And since there is no indication the nature of the Democratic Party will be changing any time soon, a military interventionist foreign policy there, no matter how well-intentioned, well-planned, and well-executed, must be doomed to ultimate failure.

In hindsight, the liberation of Iraq turns out to be a tragic mistake, because Bush underestimated how decisively his hard-won gains could be undone by the incompetence of his successor.

A Quick LinkSwarm on Syria

Monday, June 17th, 2013

So Obama is (maybe) going to be shipping arms to Syrian rebels. I think this is a remarkably bad idea for a number of reasons, none of them that Bashar Assad isn’t a murderous thug who oppresses his own people, supports terrorism, and attacks and destabilizes neighbors like Lebanon and Israel. All that is true, and Assad certainly deserves a bullet in his head for his sins.

But there’s zero compelling evidence that toppling him is in the United State’s best interests, that America has any vital interests at sake in the Syrian civil war, or that al Qaeda-related Islamslist thugs won’t come out on top, impose Sharia law, and export Sunni-branded terrorism every bit as vicious and deadly as Assad’s Shia-backed variety. Indeed, the history of Libya and Egypt suggests that they are likely to be considerably worse. And predicting that Sunni Islamists are likely to come out on top of a post-Assad power struggle is like predicting that guys are going to wake up with no memory of last night in a Hangover sequel: we’ve seen this movie before.

Anyway, here are a few links for the current situation in Syria.

  • Who makes up the opposition to Assad in Syria? “An array of rebel militias heavily infiltrated by radical Islamists and al Qaida loyalists with no central command.” In other words: exactly who those of us paying attention have said they are.
  • Victor Davis Hanson makes the case that intervention in Syria is a bad idea. I’m glad I’m not the only one.
  • Michael Totten can’t make heads or tails of Obama’s plans for Syria…including whether we’re actually arming the rebels or not.
  • Speaking of Totten, he links to this piece that argues. “The Islamic Republic[of Iran]’s headlong intervention in Syria is akin to Nazi Germany’s surge of military forces into the Battle of Stalingrad in the fall of 1942 – an operationally competent, strategic blunder of epic proportions.” Not buying it, especially the part that says “Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ultimate defeat is a foregone conclusion.” His argument of Irnaian-backed losses being unsustainable also sounds remarkably like the “flypaper strategy” some said would kill off the supply of radical Islamists by drawing them to the insurgency and killing them in Iraq, and we all know how well that theory turned out…
  • Syrian Headlines One Year From Now

    Friday, June 14th, 2013

    New Syrian President Greets American Ambassador

    “A New Era”

    Syria Pledges Cooperation in Iraq, Lebanon

    Israel Claims New Syrian Government Shipping Arms to Hamas

    Damascus Under Sharia
    “They beat my wife,” claims distraught shopkeeper

    Syrian chemical weapons missing?

    Sunni, Shia Clashes in Lebanon Intensify

    They’re Back: How Hezbollah Survived the Fall of Assad

    New Round of Rocket Attacks Hit Tel Aviv, 2 Dead

    Iran Withdraws From Nuclear Weapon Talks

    American Solider Missing in Damascus
    Syrian government pledges “full cooperation”

    Hostage Video Released for Kidnapped Smith

    Mother issues tearful plea for Smith’s return

    Sunni Mosque Bombed in Karbala
    Iraqis blame Iran

    Alawite Insurgency Flares Again

    Syrian military talks end without agreement

    Clashes in Lebanon Spread, 31 Dead

    Syria Denies Involvement in Preschool Bombing

    Egyptian-Syrian Cooperation Pact Signed

    KLM 411 Flight Kuwait Missing

    KLM 411 Wreckage Found in Dessert

    Investigators Say KLM 411 Shot Down
    Iraq Denies Its Planes Were in Area

    Al-Qaeda Claims Responsibility for KLM 411
    “This is only the beginning.”

    Syrian Government Denies Supplying MANPADS to Al-Qaeda

    Jerusalem Hospital Bombed
    18 dead, more feared in wreckage

    IDF Invades Gaza
    Fierce Fighting
    First Large Incursion Since 2012

    More Lebanese Rockets Hit Tel Aviv

    UN Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

    Israel Displays Cache of Hamas Weapons, Claims Syrian Origin

    Syria Denies Shipping Weapons to Hamas
    “More lies from the criminal Zionist entity”

    Six months after kidnapping, few leads on Pvt. Smith
    Mother: “I pray every night.”

    U.S Embassy in Damascus Overrun; Ambassador, 12 Others Feared Dead

    Obama: Embassy overrun by protesters of anti-Islamic cartoon

    Lebanese Civil War Heating Up Again

    (Related.)

    Your Top Stories, All Mashed Together

    Friday, November 16th, 2012

    To much going on. Here’s a sampler:

    First up, Unions kill Hostess. By calling a strike against a company that was already in bankruptcy, against the advice of the Teamsters, who had already taken a look at the Hostess books, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union ensured that instead of a 6% pay cut, unionized workers would take a 100% pay cut. Way to go, unions!

    Israel still seems to be gearing up for a ground offensive in Gaza. And by firing rockets at Tel Aviv, Hamas pretty much guarantees that the only faction in Israeli politics urging restraint will retink their position. “I get a lot less liberal when you want to kill me.”

    Lefties are trying to boycott Papa Johns for daring to lay people off because of ObamaCare. “If this is anything like the Chick-fil-A buycott, and you want Papa John’s for dinner, you’d better get your order in now.” It’s amazing that any business in America ever has to declare bankruptcy, given there are so many liberals around who can tell them exactly how much profit they “need”…

    Former general and former CIA head David Petraeus testifies on Benghazi. He says his report said the attack was launched by al Qaeda, but higher-ups in the Obama Administration deleted the reference. The more we hear about Benghazi, the more it appears that Fox News was right.

    LinkSwarm for October 6, 2011

    Thursday, October 6th, 2011

    A smattering of news on this and that:

  • Michael Totten recommended this Theo Padnos piece in The New Republic on Assad’s Syria and the personality cult the Assads have made of Alawi.
  • Stratfor says that not only was the Anwar al-Awlaki killing itself a blow to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but it also got Samir Khan, the creator and editor of AQAP’s English-language magazine: “individuals who possess the charisma and background of al-Awlaki or the graphics and editorial skills of Khan are difficult to come by in Yemen.” Evidently graphics designers aren’t big on hanging out in Yemen and preaching jihad. Who knew?
  • The Club for Growth agrees with me (and Ted Cruz) that the China currency bill is a bad idea.
  • University of Wisconsin-Stout caves in over their stupid Firefly poster mess.
  • Finally, not a link, but I did want to note that I received a mailer for State Representative Dr. Charles Schwertner, declaring his candidacy for the Texas State District Senate District 5 seat currently held by the retiring Steve Ogden. I thought it was notable since I don’t think I’ve ever received a political flyer this far out (the primary is March 6, 2012), much less for a local race. I suspect this, along with the mention of the $300,000 he has in his war chest, is a preemptive show of strength designed to deter other candidates from jumping into the race. So far it seems to be working, as I haven’t seen reports of anyone else running.
  • This Month in Jihad

    Monday, July 11th, 2011

    Well, I’m not really updating it weekly anymore, am I?

    So here are some notable Jihad-related stories from the last month or so:

  • Geert Wilders acquitted.
  • Pakistani generals helped sell nuclear secrets to North Korea. Lovely.
  • Christopher Hitchens, who is probably considerably more pro-Palestinian and skeptical of Israel than I am by a good measure, questions the motives of the “Gaza Flotilla,” noting the many ties of the organizers to Hamas, and of Hamas to Assad’s Syria and the Islamic Republic of Iran. “The intended beneficiary of the stunt is a ruling group with close ties to two of the most retrograde dictatorships in the Middle East, each of which has recently been up to its elbows in the blood of its own civilians.”
  • Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will face the death penalty. Good news, but why did it take a year and half to get to this point?
  • Al Qaeda leader Ilyas Kashmiri is dead.
  • At least 29 women in Leeds have UK courts to thank for preventing forced marriages.
  • Baby’s first jihad.
  • Robert Spencer on the possible Hindu roots of Islam.
  • The Unexpected Return of This Week in Jihad

    Friday, June 10th, 2011

    I stopped doing This Week in Jihad because it was eating up too much of my time. But this week there were enough big Jihad-related stories to justify putting one up:

  • Michael Totten has an interesting interview with Claire Berlinski on the situation in Turkey. If Turkey put up a status update, it would read “Mood: Delusional.” Also, is it just me, or does Berlinski look an awful lot like Dr. Lisa Cuddy on House?
  • Rep. Peter King to hold a hearing on Muslim radicalization in U.S. prisons.
  • Extensive New York Times piece on the Cosmos Foundation, Turkish Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, Atlas Construction, and charter schools in Texas. NYT calls Gulen a moderate. JihadWatch disagrees. Also, Gulen has hired George W. Bush’s PR rep Karen Hughes.
  • You know that “unarmed peace flotilla”? Yeah, not so much.
  • Female Kuwaiti “activist” calls for the return of sexual slavery to keep rich Muslim men from committing adultery. Sisters are doing it to themselves. And somewhere, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is kicking himself.
  • Strafor analyzes the latest al Qaeda video and sees a message of defeat. “The very call to leaderless resistance is an admission of defeat and an indication that the jihadists might not be receiving the divine blessing they claim.” The also show how al Qaeda ignorance of American gun control laws (no, you can’t buy automatic weapons at a gun show, since you need to fill out a form, undergo a background check that can take up to 90 days, and have a local law enforcement “chief” authorize your form (among other requirements), and that assumes you live in a state they haven’t been outlawed in) has lead to the arrests of several Jihadests looking to purchase them.
  • And Still More Bin Laden Fallout

    Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

    A few more post-Osama postmortem tidbits:

  • Ace of Spades presents a timeline of the hunt for Bin Laden.
  • It turns out that, despite initial reports, Bin Laden was unarmed when the SEAL team sent him to Allah. I’ve got absolutely no problem with that, but you know there are some liberals who will get their panties in a knot over the very thought.
  • Just like there are people who are saying that we shouldn’t be celebrating Bin Laden’s death because he was, you know, a human being and all. To which I reply:

  • Iowahawk brings the praise:

    Little did I know that this untested young Commander-in-Chief would muster the courage to read his weekly Gallup numbers and, in one daring unilateral extra-judicial targeted hit job, toss aside every single idiotic foreign policy principle of his election campaign. Perhaps most satisfyingly, it was a mission made possible thanks to information extracted by methods he previously banned as “illegal torture.”

  • We didn’t just get Osama’s ass, we got his hard drive.
  • Muslim Brotherhood to English media outlets: Osama Bin Laden was a dirty stinking terrorist, and we’re glad hes dead. Muslim Brotherhood to Arab outlets: Osama Bin Laden was a great holy warrior who achieved martyrdom at the hands of the infidels.
  • The Pakistani ISI was shocked, SHOCKED to find out Bin Laden was living in their country.
  • According to Wikileaks, the CIA puts the ISI in the same category as Hezbollah and Hamas. About damn time.
  • Can’t figure out which side Pakistani is on? Don’t worry. Neither can Pakistanis.
  • Still More Bin Laden Fallout

    Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
  • The ever-readable and redoubtable Christopher Hitchens.
  • James Taranto in the Wall Street Journal. Including why we went in with troops rather than B-52s: “The president wanted proof that bin Laden was dead. So he assembled a small death panel, which went to the compound in Pakistan and shot him.” Heh.
  • The White House seems to be unclear on some of the details of the operation. Not a good idea to be handing the “deathers” ammunition this early.
  • Three cheers for Dick Cheney’s assassination squad.
  • Stratfor on al Qaeda’s decentralized nature, and what Bin Laden’s death means for Jihadism.
  • And now, in honor of Bin Laden’s demise, and stolen from Dwight’s pal Borepatch, here’s Achmed the Dead Terrorist:

    Believe it or not, thought I had seen the “I Kill You!” pic, I had actually never seen the video before going to Borepatch’s site. Given that this video has over 133 million hits, I may be a wee little bit behind the curve on this one. Tune in next week when I cover such cutting edge Internet phenomena as Mahir’s website, an animated dancing baby, and cat pictures with funny misspelled captions…