Winds of War: Feb 24/05

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 are given by me, Colt, of Eurabian Times.

TOP TOPICS

• Confessions, confessions. Terrorists and Syrian officers on Iraqi TV spell out quite clearly that the war in Iraq is regional. Dan has the analysis here. Hammorabi has more.

• A senior Lebanese politician says Lebanon will co-operate with the UN investigation in to the murder of Rafik Hariri. The Lebanese government has offered to step down, though who exactly would accept their resignation is not made clear. Lebanese investigators believe the killers were trained in and came from Iraq. At least one Lebanese protester wants the U.S. to invade, while Syrian intellectuals demand Assad leave pronto. Hezbollah stays neutral. Chirac wants Syria to leave Lebanon, and warns of UN sanctions. Even the UN is issuing deadlines: get out by April. Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League, says Syria will withdraw troops from Lebanon. True to form, Syria suggests the Jews did it.

• A U.S. citizen is charged with plotting to kill President Bush and providing support for al-Qaeda. The indictment says he, along with ten others, planned to murder the president in 2002-2003, either by shooting him or with a car bomb. UPDATE: Rusty Shackleford looks at the Muslim Brotherhood connection.

• Ayman al-Zawahiri warns that the West faces peril unless they start playing dhimmi.

Other Topics Today Include: diplomatic delusions with Iran; mass-release of terrorists; Lebanon as a model for retreat; NATO would send troops to Israel; A-Q may go for soft targets in Kuwait; successes in Yemen; American Muslim charged with plot to kill president; Saudis extradite American jihadi; Madrid tower fire - arson?; Dutch intelligence watch Saudi-funded mosques; Theo van Gogh revisited; FSB nails Beslan financier; GSPC more of a threat post-Hattab; Pakistani troops to fire on U.S. forces; Taliban to give in?; serious warning of attack in Aceh; Phillipines arrests thwart attacks; three arrested suicide bombers in Kenya; GSPC ambushes army; and much more.

IRAN

• Another week, another announcement that Iran will not give up its nuclear program.

• Chirac: maybe if we gave them something, to prove how nice we are?

• Israel: maybe we should bomb them?

• Germany: maybe we should meet with them?

• Bush: don't worry, we're not ruling anything out.

• Germany and the U.S. demand that Iran cease its nuclear quest.

• Kurds have clashed with Iranian security forces in three towns.

• A report that Osama Bin Laden has been captured by Iranian forces has been denied.

• Iran boosts ties with Pakistan, to the tune of $1 billion in trade per year.

THE MIDDLE EAST

• Union of Good - a Middle Eastern charity funneling cash to Hamas.

• "So, what should the PA do if the confiscate heavy weapons?" A fair question, given Israel's willingness to hand over security to the PA, a question to which the Ministry of Defence has no answer?

• In another move to calm tensions and boost moderate, reformist democrat Abu Mazen, Israel has released 500 terrorists. More specifics here.

• An Israeli-Arab who aided Hezbollah and other terrorists has been sentenced to ten years.

• Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has informed delegates at a Jewish conference in the U.S. that the ad-hoc fleeing from Lebanon is the model he wants Israel to follow in Gaza. He also said that, post-retreat, he expects the situation around Gaza to be similar to the Lebanon-Israel border. 28 Israelis, most of them civilians, have been killed along the Lebanese border in the last four years.

• Shabak sneak dummy-bombs in to three of four hospitals 'targeted' in an exercise

• NATO offers to send troops to Israel after a peace-treaty is signed.

• Two senior PA 'officials' must have been chatting, when one of them said you know, we haven't killed anyone in a while.

THE GULF

• Concerns are mounting that al-Qaeda may turn to attacking 'soft-targets' in Kuwait.

• The Carnival of the Liberated is, as ever well worth your time.

• Yemen has foiled an attack on Western embassies.

• Yemeni authorities are also about to put 13 more A-Q terrorists on trial.

• Good news about the Marine who shot a terrorist playing dead in a jihadi stronghold in Fallujah - he won't be charged.

THE AMERICAS

• An FBI informant who set himself on fire says he did it to get more money from the Feds.

• A TV and radio advertising campaign has given the U.S. new leads in the hunt for terrorists in Pakistan.

• The Saudis are handing over a wanted American terrorist.

• Nearly half of those killed on September 11th, 2001, cannot be identified.

• B. Raman looks at the challenges facing John Negroponte.

EUROPE

• Interpol says we are not prepared for bio-terrorism.

• The Madrid skyscraper fire - arson?

• Dutch intelligence is keeping an eye on six suscpicious Islamic groups. The Interior Ministry from August 2004 describes the groups and/or mosques as "associations with an outspoken Salafist character originating from a mission and finance from Saudi Arabia".

• Samir Azzouz, a member of the Hofstad Group, was charged today with plotting to blow up various targets in the Netherlands.

• Dan Darling: The Murder of Theo Van Gogh, Part 2.

• An interesting look at Italy's lack of success in convicting suspected terrorists.

• CAMERA looks at the Mohammed al-Dura scandal. More from CNS News.

• Two al-Qaeda men who tried to buy uranium for a suicide attack are on trial in Germany.

• A jihadi, who converted in prison after setting someone on fire, has been found hanged by his own belt. Oh well.

• The FSB says they've killed a senior al-Qaeda financier in Russia. The spokesman said he was involved in the Beslan slaughter late last year. SITE has a nice picture. Pravda (yeah, I know) describes him as the organizer of terrorist act in Beslan.

• Shamil Basayev marries again, and took the opportunity to discuss killing people.

• Nine Russian soldiers have been killed in an attack on a military base in Grozny.

• RFE has a good analysis of the jihadis' plans for the Northern Caucasus.

• Tightening al-Qaeda's European grip. Read the whole thing. Conclusion: the death of Hattab means GSPC attacks in Europe are more likely.

• The U.K. seeks closer ties with Saudi Arabia.

• The Hindustan Times has a brief, though interesting, look at the British jihadis, who avoid mosques and keep a low profile.

ASIA & AUSTRALASIA

• Pakistani soldiers have been ordered to fire on U.S. troops who cross the border from Afghanistan.

• The case against Abu Bakar Bashir is wrapping up.

• The UN warns that a lack of development in Afghanistan could lead it to becoming a terror-haven once again. A lot has been said about the UN report showing Afghanistan being 173rd of 178 countries (Arthur Chrenkoff has a rebuttal here), but the change from 'could' to 'is' is progress not to be scoffed at.

• Captain Ed looks at the possibility that the Taliban is giving up.

• A Talibaddie has been captured in Baluchistan.

• Warnings of a terrorist attack in Aceh have been given an unfortunate boost in credibility by sightings of two known JI operatives.

• In the Phillipines, police believe that the arrests of two JI terrorists thwarted several major attacks.

• An Australian terrorist just sentenced in Lebanon is wanted for a shooting at a New South Wales police station.

• Another Aussie is to be tried for training with Lashkar e-Taiba.

AFRICA

• The proposed UN peace-keeping mission to southern Sudan is expected to cost $1 billion. Expect news of the UN's child-sex ring in Sudan to be featured on Winds of War soon.

• The Sudanese government bombs eight more villages, but in better news, Darfur rebels have ambushed a government convoy.

• Three men arrested in connection with the murder of a BBC journalist in Somalia may be trained suicide bombers.

• The GSPC has ambushed an Algerian army patrol, killing ten soldiers.

• Algeria puts the number of dead in the civil war at 150,000. On the plus side, they think the GSPC number at something like 300-500.

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