Monday Winds of War: Apr 04/05

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. In addition, we also have our in-depth Iraq Report today.

Today's Winds of War briefing is brought to you by Bill Roggio of the fourth rail and evariste of Discarded Lies.

Top Topics

• This analysis looks at the implications for US security and policies in the Mideast in light of Chinese energy opportunism. Two specific recent events are cited as telling - an editorial exposing the Communist regime's paranoia and hostility towards the US program of Middle East democratization, and a Chinese promise to Iran to block any moves against it in the Security Council.

• Sandia boffins want to "abolish anonymity, the terrorist's friend, and establish a voluntary decentralized surveillance system." This was one of a many different approaches under discussion via worksops, scenario sessions, etc. The Sandia article explains.

• The PLO is inviting Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join the party. Abbas cannot muster the will to crack down on Palestinian "gunmen" who attack his own seat of government. Now that's moderate! When Palestinian security chiefs resign over the lawlessness, it must be real bad.

• Arthur Chrenkoff's latest Good News from Afghanistan item is up today!

Other Topics Today Include:
The Islamic revolution is over; Khomeini set aside a cool 2.5 bil for nukes in 2004; Saudi terror duplicity; Hamas terrorist admits of Syrian training; Day 1 of the Minutemen; FBI to blame in intel turf wars; Al Qaeda can carry out attacks at will in N. Africa, Europe; Mugabe ready to forgive wicked Blair; Pakistan finna blow; AQ Khan met Al Qaeda; Musharraf imitates Comical Ali; Zarqawi wants to imitate Chemical Ali; Mullah Krekar faces deportation at sweet long last; Al Qaeda are bourgeois pigs; surprising Al Qaeda progress on weaponizing bioagent; Osprey undergoing final tests and much, much more...

IRAN REPORTS

• Canada briefs an Iranian official on airline security.

• NCIRI is reporting that Khomeini set aside $2.5 billion in mid-2004 for the express purpose of obtaining 3 nuclear warheads. In the same article, author Jerome Corsi says Iran's nuclear threat can now be considered "imminent". Meanwhile on April 1st, Islamic Republic Day, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards warned the US of "certain defeat" if we went to war with them.

• Iran's revolution is over: the young people hate it; all the revolutionaries who believe in the revolution are in their 50s, as this Sunday Herald piece notices.

THE MIDDLE EAST

• Saudi duplicity: NBC News interviews government-paid Saudi clerics who encourage young Saudis to kill Americans in suicide attacks in Iraq, even while the Saudi government carries out an elaborate, showy national campaign against terrorism.

• A Hamas terrorist in prison admitted to the AP that he received 5 weeks of training in a Hamas camp in Syria.

• Abbas's Palestinian Authority is moving to clear out its death row.

• Syria will withdraw completely from Lebanon by the end of April, it claimed.

• Iranian interference in Israel: wanted Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades terrorists said that Islamic Jihad terrorists with whom they liaised have been receiving payments from Iran via Hezbollah to pay for suicide bombings for the last four years. The method? Western Union.

• Pro-Syrian factions in Lebanon are threatening to delay the elections if a new electoral system based on proportional representation-which would favor them-isn't adopted.Meanwhile, there have been at least four bombings in the last two weeks.

• Foreign terrorists are arrested in Iraq, and one is an American.

• The U.S. State Department is asking Israel to give up its nuclear weapons.

• Al Qaeda in Iraq attacks the Abu Ghraib prison.

• Saudis nab Al Qaeda in raids.

AMERICAN DOMESTIC SECURITY & THE AMERICAS

• New York's JFK Airport appears to be of interest to jihadis.

• Ten years after the Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI has searched Terri Nichol's home and discovered blasting caps in the crawl space. Now that's thorough!

• Are the terrorists building an Islamic Army in America by recruiting inmates into Islam?

• The INS (or whatever it's called these days) arrested 14 illegal immigrants from Brazil who were working at Logan Airport. Don't you feel safe and cozy?

• A Cuban terrorist is seeking asylum in the US (and is already here), raising thorny questions for the Bush administration. Venezuela may extradite him and is also asking the US to extradite two other Venezuelans accused of 2003 terrorist bombings of the Spanish and Colombian missions in Caracas.

• Here's a firsthand report of the first day of the border vigilante group called the Minutemen's activities. Michelle Malkin's new immigration blog has substantial coverage, including the first encounter between a Minuteman and an illegal .

• The Presidential Commission on intelligence said turf wars between the CIA and FBI were crippling effective intelligence work and put most of the blame on the FBI. Speaking of the commission, Bill has a great analysis of their findings.

• Scary Mexican propaganda about the Minutemen isn't deterring some illegal migrants.

• A plan to embed RFID chips in US passports isn't gaining many fans-some say it may even let terrorists and criminals identify Americans easier. The government says they can't be read from farther away than 4 inches, however. That second link also contains an email address where you can send your own thoughts to the feds on the matter.

• The Air Force is temporarily losing oversight of $200 billion in weapons programs to the Pentagon because its civilian ranks are too thin after the departure of key figures. Meanwhile an Air Force general with CENTCOM praised Airmen's contributions to the war in Iraq.

AFRICA

• The Algerian GSPC is stepping up attacks.

• Morocco's counterterror agency says Al Qaeda is growing stronger in North Africa and can carry out suicide attacks there and in Europe at will.

• Sudan's ruling party condemned the UN security council resolution that refers war crimes suspects to the Hague tribunal.

• A former Marine who is a ceasefire monitor in Darfur says the death toll is likely to rise to 15,000 a month soon.

• Mugabe is ready to reconcile with Tony Blair, calling his rigged election an anti-Blair poll. He regards Blair as his chief enemy.

ASIA & AUSTRALIA

• In Afghanistan, an appeals court cut the sentences of three Americans who ran freelance jails and tortured Afghanis in half or less than half, while refusing to reverse their guilty convictions.

• Pakistan test-fired a short-range nuclear missile.

• This analysis says that the CIS is a toothless and shallow alliance.

• This ominous report in Asia Times says Pakistan is approaching the boiling point.

• Nepal's ex-prime minister, just released from a 2-month house arrest, categorically denied that his party would ever join forces with the Maoists unless they laid down their arms.

• The Kyrgyz president in exile agreed to resign after talks with a delegation from parliament. He won't be coming back to Kyrgyzstan as his safety can't be guaranteed.

• A nationwide strike called by Islamists put Quetta, Pakistan in a complete standstill and affected business in several other parts of the country in order to try to force Musharraf to step down. It didn't work.

• Musharraf, doing the Comical Ali routine, denied that the army had any role in politics, denied that he was interfering in government affaris, and also denied that Pakistan was under US influence. If you're trying to believe six impossible things before breakfast, you're halfway there!

• AQ Khan had frequent meetings with Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.

• A kidnapping at sea in the Philippines appears to be the doings of an Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang.

• Spring is back and so are the Taliban, with several deadly incidents recently.

• Bill Rice looks at the geopolitical and military implications of the US weapons sales to Pakistan and India.

• The Counterterrorism Blog's newest member Zachary Abuza looks at terrorism in Southeast Asia. Robi Sen and Nitin Pai provide a comprehensive briefing of Southeast Asia.

• Is radical Islamism on the wane in Pakistan? Color me skeptical, but they certainly do not draw them out to the streets like they used to.

• Jemaah Islamiah is planning high casualty attacks along the lines of the Bali bombing.

• Malaysia is concerned about piracy in the Malacca straits and foreign intervention if it is not brought under control.

• The United States increases involvement in Central Asia as part of its policy of layered defense and active engagement in the region.

• Terrorists bomb Thai airports, killing one policeman. The attacks occur after Thailand indicates it would scale back activities against Muslim terrorists in its Southern regions.

• China is blocking Japan's attempt to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

• Love on the rocks. Maoist rebels in Nepal may be encountering some tough times.

EUROPE

• German intelligence has learned that Zarqawi is planning a major chemical attack on Europe.

• Spain has arrested 13 more people tied to the 3/11 attacks. Over 20 others are already imprisoned, and over 50 more are considered suspects but not in jail.

• The Independent looks at the differences and similarities between the postmortem intelligence assessments in the UK and US.

• Norway is finally to deport Ansar al Islam's leader, Mullah Krekar.

• Belmont Club looks at an interview with Hirsi Ali and her fight against the intransigence of European politics.

THE GLOBAL WAR

• Tigerhawk summarizes a lecture by Michael Doran on al Qaeda and its long term strategy.

• The majority of Al Qaeda recruits are from the middle class, often married with college education. But this sympathetic look at Zarqawi shows he might be the exception to the rule.

• Their so 21^st century. Online missile training, courtesy of al Qaeda.

• The Army is equipping the Talon robotic warrior with grenade launchers. The Navy is designing some unmanned predator nautical vehicles of its own.

• The NYT editorial board comes out against FCS (Future Combat Systems). Set aside your prejudice (if any) that it's the NYT ,and read this, their argument is compelling.

• Al Qaeda had made surprising advances in weaponising a specific (but unidentified) biological agent, according to the Presidential Commission's report.

• The Washington Post's take on the Stryker is inaccurate and outdated, according to Stratfor, which gives the vehicle high marks and says its troubles are normal shakeout for a first real deployment in a war zone.

• Australia refused NATO's request to increase its Afghanistan contingent of 1 by 150, though it has increased its Iraqi contingent by 450.

• A look at the priorities of the oldest and one of the largest unified US military commands, PACOM-the US Pacific command-from its new commander, William Fallon. He also warned that the Philippines in particular face a coordinated terrorist threat.

• The Marines are preparing to put the Osprey through its final tests to see if it's ready for full-scale production yet.

• DARPA is funding a $12 million grant to develop an unmanned trauma pod-telesurgery for wounded soldiers in the battlefield.

• New Kevlar shorts will protect soldiers from shrapnel and small-arms fire, from the waistline to the knee-especially the femoral artery, which can kill very quickly if severed.

• Despite many well-publicized setbacks, US intelligence remains among the best in the world.
  

We try to close on a lighter note if possible.

• Check these morons out.

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