TERRORISM NEWS

How Al Qaeda views a long Iraq war

'A letter from Al Qaeda leaders found in Iraq shows that the group sees the war as a boon for its cause.'

In appearances across the US, President Bush has been campaigning against withdrawing troops from Iraq, arguing that to leave now would hand a historic victory to Al Qaeda and inspire new generations of jihadists to attack the US.

But a letter that has been translated and released by the US military indicates that Al Qaeda itself sees the continued American presence in Iraq as a boon for the terror network, which has recently shown signs of expanding into the Palestinian territories and North Africa.

"The most important thing is that the jihad continues with steadfastness ... indeed, prolonging the war is in our interest," says the writer, who goes by the name Atiyah. The letter, released last week, was recovered in the rubble of the Iraqi house where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, former leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed by a US bomb in June.

If the letter is accurate, it provides a window into the group's strategic thinking on Iraq that differs starkly from the one the Bush administration has been expressing publicly.....

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War or Rumors of War?

What's going on with the current bustle around U.S. naval stations? According to Time, the Navy has issued “Prepare to Deploy Orders” (PTDOs) to a strike group including minesweepers, a submarine, an Aegis class cruiser, and a mine hunter.

Taken alongside disclosures that the chief of naval operations asked his planners for a rundown of how a blockade of Iranian oil ports would work, these military preparations led Time to conclude cautiously that the United States “may be preparing for war with Iran.”

Military officials downplay these recent moves as routine. But given the administration's recent history of manufacturing threat, misreading intelligence, and misrepresenting war plans, it is tempting to read between the lines—especially when increasingly hot rhetoric is coming from Washington.

Asked whether the United States will do anything to stop the Iranians from having a nuclear bomb, Vice President Dick Cheney paid lip service to diplomacy before emphasizing that “we think they should not have a nuclear bomb … the President has always emphasized no options have been taken off the table.” President Bush leveled some barbed criticism at Iran during his recent UN General Assembly address. Tehran continues to “fund terrorism, and fuel extremism, and pursue nuclear weapons,” he said. “Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.”

What might push this combative rhetoric over the edge toward war? Iran's purported interest in nuclear weapons and its insistence on the right to enrich uranium have been portrayed as one and the same.

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Wanted: a world leader

A Globe columnist recently wrote that "realists" such as Michael Ignatieff are right to give responsibility for world security to the West and its leadership to America. However, the U.S. leadership role is sadly collapsing before our eyes at a time when dangers abound.

The mess of Iraq is nowhere a good leader would have gone, and it's getting worse — in July and August, more than 5,000 Iraqi civilians died in sectarian violence in Baghdad alone, as Iraq careens toward break-up.

All told, there have been 2,700 U.S. dead and thousands maimed; financial costs in the hundreds of billions; new highs in Iran's prestige; the metastasis of jihadism; and, very pertinent to Canadian risk, deepened danger from jihadists in Afghanistan who revived when the U.S. yielded priority to its war on Iraq.

This is not what the Bush administration intended: U.S. intelligence agencies admit that the war on Iraq has aggravated the dangers of terrorism. The damage to confidence in the United States, even among most Americans, is startling as human rights take a tumble, and the truth spreads of the manipulative use of disinformation that the war's dishonest proponents in Washington and London foisted on their citizens.

The American reputation, including its reputation for competence, has plummeted around the world. Other responsible leaders don't try to debate this harsh set of outcomes; it is so tragically obvious. But, for them, it's bad news in dangerous times.

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Condi Rice, 9/11 and Another Nest of Lies

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have committed perjury in her testimony before the 9/11 Commission in May of 2004. At a minimum, her testimony was a convenient mishmash of half-truths and omissions which served to paint the White House as innocent bystanders as the attacks of 9/11 unfolded. Certainly, her testimony omitted the fact that the two most senior intelligence officials in the nation delivered a stern warning regarding an impending terror attack two full months before 9/11.

Sunday's edition of the Washington Post carried a story titled "Two Months Before 9/11, an Urgent Warning to Rice." The story described a desperate attempt by CIA chief George Tenet and CIA counterterrorism chief J. Cofer Black to draw Rice's attention to the looming threat of an al-Qaeda strike against the United States. Tenet and Black insisted on a meeting with Rice on July 10, 2001. This meeting was first reported by Bob Woodward in his new book, "State of Denial."

"Tenet had the NSA review all the intercepts," read the Post story, "and the agency concluded they were of genuine al-Qaeda communications. On June 30, a top-secret senior executive intelligence brief contained an article headlined 'Bin Laden Threats Are Real.' Tenet hoped his abrupt request for an immediate meeting would shake Rice. He and Black, a veteran covert operator, had two main points when they met with her. First, al-Qaeda was going to attack American interests, possibly in the United States itself ... Second, this was a major foreign policy problem that needed to be addressed immediately. They needed to take action that moment - covert, military, whatever - to thwart bin Laden."

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Considering the claim made by Bob Woodward. We should take another look at Condoleezza Rice facing 9/11 Commission. If Woodward is correct then clearly Rice lied. Will questions now be asked and clarity demanded ? I doubt it.....

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President Musharraf: Daniel Pearl's killer was a MI6 spy

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has disclosed that Omar Sheikh, who kidnapped and murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl and is now facing death penalty, was actually the British secret Agency MI6’s agent and had executed certain missions on their behest before coming to Pakistan and visiting Afghanistan to meet Osama and Mullah Omar.

General Musharraf’s book has also given a new twist to the whole drama of kidnapping and murder of American journalist as many believe here British national Omar Sheikh might use Musharraf’s memoir to plea his innocence after, quite surprisingly, Musharraf tried to give a clean chit to Omar despite his role in kidnapping which is punishable with death in Pakistan.

It has been reported that General Musharraf has written in his book that while Omar Sheikh was at the London School of Economics (LSE), he was recruited by the British intelligence agency MI6, which persuaded him to take an active part in demonstrations against Serbian aggression in Bosnia and even sent him to Kosovo to join the jihad.

At some point, he probably became a rogue or double agent.

The local media is discussing the possibility that Omar would use evidence from President Musharraf’s memoirs to save himself from the hangman. General Musharraf appeared to exonerate Omar Sheikh in his book In the Line of Fire.

Sheikh, 32, who was brought up in Wanstead, east London, has been on death row since 2003 after being convicted of orchestrating the kidnap and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter.

The Times, which is carrying extracts of Musharraf autobiography has reported that General Musharraf appears to have changed his mind about the Briton’s guilt, saying he now believes that the man who beheaded the American hostage was Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. The Times has reported that Rai Bashir, Sheikh’s lawyer, said that he intended to use the memoir to force a new appeal hearing.

The Times report said General Musharraf appears to contradict the original claim that the British militant callously planned Pearl’s murder, saying: "Only later did I realise that Omar Sheikh had panicked because the situation had spiralled out of his control."

Bashir said: "After reading the book, if I feel necessary, I will quote the book in my arguments in favour of my client. It can be used as evidence." Three other men jailed for life for their part in the crime have lodged appeals.

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The former British cabinet minister Michael Meacher has been making exactly the same claim for some considerable time now.

US: The list of Shame

Who voted Yea and Nay on torture and detention...

Iraqi government divides after "bomb plot" foiled

Sunni and Shi'ite political leaders in Iraq clashed publicly on Sunday over U.S. allegations a bodyguard for a top Sunni politician may have plotted an al Qaeda suicide attack on the vast Green Zone government compound.

Rifts between parties in the four-month-old unity government broke the surface as data indicated sectarian violence may have claimed a record number of victims last month and a new mass kidnap saw 26 meat factory workers seized by gunmen in Baghdad.

Police found a total of 50 bodies in the city over 24 hours.

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Colin Powell says he was fired by Bush Admin.

Colin Powell claims he was 'fired' by the Bush Administration, according part of Powell's official biography published in the Washington Post. Powell and the Bush Administration used the cover story that Powell resigned of his own accord from his position as Secretary of State