Kate's Winds of War: 2003-06-23

JUNE 23/03: Welcome! Our goal is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Today's "Winds of War" is brought to you by Venomous Kate of Electric Venom.

MUST-READS

In true Apocalypse Now style, U.S. soldiers conducted a raid Saturday on an Iraqi community center which produced numerous classified Iraqi intelligence documents pertaining to WMDs, including "references to a nuclear program." Military officials describe the find as "potentially significant."

20 Questions on the current state of Iraq, with answers, from a Canadian reporter on the scene.Other Topics Include: scattered attacks in Iraq from both sides; learning from Machiavelli; Iran updates; that missing 727; Kenya alerts; Jemmah Islamiyah in SE Asia; More arrests from Riyadh; and terrorist fashion advice....

IRAQ BRIEFING

Military sources are reported to be carrying out DNA tests to determine if human remains found after a recent missile strike are those of Saddam Hussein. The Hellfire strike was launched on the basis of "firm intelligence" indicating that Saddam and his family were in a desert convoy near Syria. The Pentagon has not confirmed the report. (Via The Command Post.)

Ray of Pseudorandom Thoughts says the Americans could learn a lesson or 2 from Machiavelli. Joe thinks he's right.

One U.S. soldier was killed and another injured in grenade attacks in Iraq over the weekend. Intelligence officials believe that a group of hardline Ba'athists aided by foreign supporters, who call themselves as Awdah, or "The Return", is behind the string of fatal assaults.

Meanwhile, another Iraqi resistance group is making itself known. Calling itself the Iraqi National Front of Fedayeen (translated: "those who sacrifice themselves"), the group's purported spokesman appeared on Lebanese television over the weekend to disavow ties with Saddam Hussein's regime while pledging to kill U.S. soldiers.

LT Smash notes: "There are now well over 100,000 battle-tested US troops in the heart of Arab civilization, and all that our enemies have been able to do about it is launch an occasional sniper attack. At their current rate of assault, it will take about 800 years for them to take back Iraq." The rest of his thoughts are similarly pithy and to the point. (Hat Tip: Instapundit)

The Brothers Judd on Bremer's economic agenda for Iraq: Reaganomics?

Iraq returned as a player in the world oil market by making its first shipment of crude oil over the weekend; however, sabotoge continues to pose a major problem to continued shipments and the reconstruction of the country's infrastructure.

Gabriel Gonzalez guest-blogs from Paris, France re: the PFC Jessica Lynch story.

Much of the intelligence on Iraq's WMDs may remain private during the British inquiry into the information leading up to the war, and it is possible that certain intelligence agencies may not participate in the hearing at all.

Which "cards" have we captured so far? The CENTCOM list. And the visual version of "Ba'ath Poker," and our best poker hands to date.

The troops are still there. So is the Winds of Change.NET consolidated directory of ways you can support the troops. American, British and Australian. Anyone out there with more information, incl. the Poles and Czechs? [updated April 1, 2003]
THE WIDER WAR

Jay Manifold says: "we don't need a Department of Homeland Security; but we may need a Department of Defeated Former Enemies' Security."

Pejman is still covering Iran, noting that violence is becoming more likely. He also explains why NITV is important, and where key U.S. Congresscritters stand on the Iran Democracy Act - complete with contact addresses.

U.S. officials on Friday put all American interests in Kenya on a high terror alert, a move which the Kenyan government called wrong and misleading the following day. Since then, Kenya banned all flights to and from Somalia. No explanation for the ban has been offered, however it is believed to be related to intelligence indicating terrorist plans to use Somalia as an entrance point to Kenya for future attacks.

The terrorist group Jemmah Islamiyah (JI) is believed to be gathering support in Indonesia and six other Asian countries. Indonesian police have announced the arrest of ten JI members who were picked up in Sumatra earlier this month during separate operations. The 10 are believed to be connected to numerous bombing operations, and to have worked under the direct control of Riduan Isamuddin (a/k/a Hambali), the region's main agent for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group.

Rand Simberg points to evidence the 727 jet nicked from an Angolan runway was a repossession attempt, not a terrorist theft. (Hat Tip: Instapundit)

The latest trend in terrorist fashion accessories appears to be the mask. In addition to the Iraqi resistance spokesman mentioned above, al-Qaeda has apparently donned the new fashion. A recent video purportedly from the group features a masked man claiming to speak on behalf of al-Qaeda, the Taliban and followers of Afghan rebel leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who has been designated as a terrorist by the U.S. government. The video claims that bin Laden is still alive in Afghanistan, and that al-Qaeda was not only responsible for the attacks in Riyadh and Morocco, but is planning future attacks against Americans this month. Hekmatyar's group denies the authenticity of the tape.

In the continued investigation of the Riyadh bombings, Saudi officials arrested 44 more suspects, including four women who were plotting attacks on Mecca.

Pakistani officials have frozen Osama bin Laden's bank account and assets along with those of numerous organizations believed to have al-Qaeda ties. The $10 million dollars seized is considered a "small amount" in comparison with bin Laden's overall wealth and funding sources.

We try to close on a lighter note if possible, so today we're advising the fashion-conscious terrorists to take a clothing tip from this man, by wearing pink dresses with their turbans on all future video appearances. After all, it is officially summer and time to switch wardrobes away from those awful dingy browns and grays of Afghani winters.If you found something here you want to blog about yourself (and we hope you do), all we ask is that you do as we do and offer a Hat Tip hyperlink to today's "Winds of War". Thanks for reading!

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