Monday Winds of War: May 02/05

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

• The co-opting of pirates by al Qaeda should come as no surprise. We ought to pay attention, though - many high piracy areas are also key chokepoints for the world economy. The Fourth Rail offers a comprehensive briefing on the issue, with maps.

• The protection racket: Qatar is paying off al Qaeda to prevent them from attacking the small and vulnerable nation.

• Seven are wounded in multiple terrorist attacks in Cairo, Egypt. A man detonated a bomb, while two women shot up a tourist bus; all three are dead. The Egyptian government has arrested 226 suspects.

Other Topics Today Include:

Do the Iranians want regime change?; EU-3/Iran nuke talks collapse; Iranian nukes scares Russia; Israel gets bunker-busters; Abbas' "iron fist"; The Saudi's strategic shift?; Saudis whip terrorism (wink-wink); Chavez, Castro heart the "Axis of Subversion"; Akbar gets death; GIA leader bagged; AU commits to Darfur; Tired Taliban; Tough times in Jammu and Kashmir; Norks' missiles; European arrest roundup; The Balkan beat; ETA on the move; Death to Sweden; Kofi's lynchers; CEOs VIPs for AQ; Osama kicks it? Nope; and much, much more…

IRAN REPORTS

• Have the Iranian people lost the will to fight the Islamic regime? Iranians Masoud Kazemzadeh and Shahla Azizi look at the motivations of the Iranian public and speculate on the types of events which can cause them to rise against the theocratic government.

• Rafsanjani says Iran will go ahead with refining Uranium. Kofi Annan cautions against strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities and stated Iran is cooperating in the EU-3 talks. The EU-3 talks are dead at the moment.

• Russian President Putin claims a nuclear Iran frightens Russia, and would support taking the matter to "other avenues" if the EU-3 talks broke down.

• Chester looks at the possibility of the digital revolution in Iran. Regime Change Iran responds.

• Visit Regime Change Iran for the comprehensive briefing of the past week's activities.

THE MIDDLE EAST

• Donald Sensing asks if the Iraqi insurgency is following the failed Cuba notion of freedom-fighting proposed in Carlos Marighella's Mini-Manual of the Urban Guerrilla.

• Israel will be getting some of those bunker busting bombs. Hello, Iran?

• Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli Arabs to interrogate them, then later released them.

• Israel rejects a US plan to arm Palestinian police forces. The last time that happened, they were turned on Israelis, so perhaps their apprehension is understandable.

• Abbas wants to maintain the truce with Israel and orders police to use an "iron fist" to keep law and order among Palestinian terrorists. Best 'o luck. Israel believes the peace will shatter as soon as the Gaza withdrawal is complete.

• Russia drops the idea of conducting a Middle East peace conference.

• Professor Bernard Lewis looks at the historical change that is occurring in the Middle East, and obstacles to it.

• Saudi Arabia may be making a strategic shift of defense partners from the United States to France. Meanwhile, the Saudi judge that encouraged youngins to head to Iraq to fight Jihad claims the tape is his, but he was misunderstood.

• Crown Prince Abdullah claims the Saudis have whipped terrorism in the Magic Kingdom. All is well, nothing to see here, please invest petrodollars.

• The UN has sent a team to monitor Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon.

• Mauritanian police arrest a GSPC cell.

• Michael Totten enthusiastically declairs the Cedar Revolution has been won by the Lebanese opposition. The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board agrees.

THE AMERICAS

• Chavez loves Castro, Castro loves Chavez, and they both love the 'Axis of Subversion' nickname given to their claque.

• Sgt. Akbar is sentenced to death for his role in murdering soldiers prior to the Iraq war.

• The Department of Homeland Security is launching an investigation into the suspected terrorist attack dry run by Syrian passengers on Flight 327 reported by Annie Jacobson.

AFRICA

• The leader of the GIA, Boulenouar Oukil, has been captured, along with Mohamed Chama.

• The African Union sends 5,500 additional troops to Darfur as peacekeepers.

• Dan Darling excerpts portions of the State Department’s terrorism report in relation to African nations.

• The UN peacekeeping force in the Congo is proving ineffective at disarming the militias, and fear chasing the fighters into the jungles.

ASIA & AUSTRALIA

• "Trying Times for Tired Taliban" - the "Brutal Afghan Winter^TM" claims a new set of unfortunate quagmire victims.

• Lean times for Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Hizb-ul-Mujahhiddin in Jammu and Kashmir?

• Is India’s state-run airline’s purchase of 50 Boeing aircraft a move towards closer relations with the United States? More from Nitin Pai.

• Islamists are making inroads in Sri Lanka, and are beginning to enforce Sharia law.

• North Korea may have the capability to strike the United States with a nuclear missile.

• Pakistan's Frontier corps clash with the Bugti tribe.

EUROPE

• Russian police kill four Islamists and arrest two Wahhabis in the southern region of Kabardino-Balkariya.

• The Balkans may serve as a jumpoff point for al Qaeda attacks on Europe.

• France detains five recruiters that were sending fighters to Iraq.

• Al Qaeda's strength may arise from European Muslims that adopt the Islamist ideology.

• ETA may be planning attacks on Olympic sites in Spain.

• Two senior members of the ETA, including a military commander beleived to be the ETA leader, have been arrested.

• A suspect in the Theo van Gogh murder has been reported to have returned to the Netherlands.

• Internet Haganah discovers Sweden may be the target of Islamic extremists based on internet threats (hat tip to little green footballs).

• Italy will try seven Islamists suspected of aiding Ansar al-Islam in Iraq.

THE GLOBAL WAR

• Kofi Annan believes the "lynch mob" is out to get him in the wake of the Oil For Palaces Food scandal.

• CEOs are now prime targets of terrorists.

• There were rumors Osama bin Laden was dead, but these turned out to be false.

• The US State Department releases the list of 40 terrorist organizations as well as the Country Reports on Terrorism 2004. Cuba, Iran, Syria and North Korea are designated State Sponsors of Terrorism. Armed Liberal shares some thoughts on the report, and points out the majority of the deaths and attacks occur in two countries at war: Iraq and India.

We try to close on a lighter note if possible.

• Daily Pundit finds a Darwin Awards nominee: why guns and booze don't mix.

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