“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” — Hosea 8:7 It may be surprising to hear, but it is a plain historical fact that modern international jihad originated as an instrument of US foreign policy. The “great menace of our era” was built up by the CIA to wage a proxy war … Continue reading “They Sow the Cyclone – We Reap the Blowback”
Tag: al-qaeda
Where Does ISIS Get Those Wonderful Toys?
In the 1989 film Batman, after the caped crusader rescues a damsel in distress from the Joker using a fancy zipline gun, the clown prince of crime, played by Jack Nicholson, asks in bewilderment: “Where does he get those wonderful toys?” Especially upon seeing Batman’s nicest toys — his armored Batmobile and his military-grade Batwing fighter plane, … Continue reading “Where Does ISIS Get Those Wonderful Toys?”
Salafists Gaining Ground
The main impact of US intervention in the Middle East has been to destabilize, polarize, and radicalize the region. Especially, it has fomented a vast, multi-country, new sectarian civil war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. On each side, the most sectarian forces have gained from the conflict. And benefiting the most have been fanatically intolerant … Continue reading “Salafists Gaining Ground”
The Israeli-Jihadist Alliance
It’s seems counterintuitive, to say the least. Indeed, it seems quite mad. And yet we now have all the evidence we need to point to a de facto Israeli alliance with Al Qaeda. The bombing of Damascus suburbs by Israeli jets – purportedly in order to prevent the Syrians from supplying Hezbollah with long range … Continue reading “The Israeli-Jihadist Alliance”
Did Anyone Ever Bother to Get the Pakistani Perspective?
The U.S. targeting of Abu Yahya al-Libi, the number-two man in al-Qaeda, continues the American quest to kill its way out of its terrorist problem using pilotless drones, Special Forces raids, and other secret methods. Gen. David Petraeus, former commander of the U.S. military’s central command and author of its counterinsurgency manual, used to believe … Continue reading “Did Anyone Ever Bother to Get the Pakistani Perspective?”
US Treasury Claim of Iran-al-Qaeda ‘Secret Deal’ Is Discredited
The U.S. Treasury Department’s claim of a "secret deal" between Iran and al-Qaeda, which had become a key argument by right-wing activists who support war against Iran, has been discredited by former intelligence officials in the wake of publication of documents from Osama bin Laden’s files revealing a high level of antagonism between al-Qaeda and … Continue reading “US Treasury Claim of Iran-al-Qaeda ‘Secret Deal’ Is Discredited”
Crackpot Anti-Islam Activists, ‘Serial Fabricators,’ and the Tale of Iran and 9/11
Behind a mysterious Dec. 22 Associated Press story about “finding of fact” by a district judge in Manhattan Friday that Iran assisted al-Qaeda in the planning of the 9/11 attacks is a tapestry of recycled fabrications and distortions of fact from a bizarre cast of characters. The AP story offers no indication of the nature … Continue reading “Crackpot Anti-Islam Activists, ‘Serial Fabricators,’ and the Tale of Iran and 9/11”
Why al-Qaeda Won
With the 10th anniversary of the crime that was 9/11, the question inevitably crops up: Who won, the United States or al-Qaeda? According to the politically correct answer, although al-Qaeda has been decimated, it has been a Pyrrhic victory for Washington. In defeating al-Qaeda, the U.S. government engaged in many unnecessary violations of human rights … Continue reading “Why al-Qaeda Won”
Al-Qaeda’s Project for Ending the American Century Largely Succeeded
A decade after its spectacular Sep. 11, 2001 attacks on New York City’s twin World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon and despite the killing earlier this year of its charismatic leader, Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda appears to have largely succeeded in its hopes of accelerating the decline of U.S. global power, if not bringing … Continue reading “Al-Qaeda’s Project for Ending the American Century Largely Succeeded”
Al-Qaeda Lost the Battle Long Ago
Osama bin Laden didn’t live to see the 10th anniversary of 9/11. And his organization, according to many U.S. government insiders, is on its last legs since his death at the hands of U.S. Special Forces in May. “We’re within reach of strategically defeating al-Qaeda,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently observed. Others disagree, pointing to … Continue reading “Al-Qaeda Lost the Battle Long Ago”