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. Monday's Winds of War briefings are given by Security Watchtower.
Top Topics
- Saudi authorities announced the results of counterterror operations in August thus far, including key losses inflicted against al Qaeda linked militants in the kingdom.
- India is involved in discussions with the U.S. over weapons sales, said to include the Aegis missile system, amphibious platform ships, anti-submarine aircraft and advanced Patriot air defense systems. Seeking greater regional security, India has also offered to help Afghanistan against the Taliban.
- An Algerian wanted in connection with the 7 July bombings in London, has been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand with 180 fake French and Spanish passports. British authorities are working to extradite the man.
- Meet Joe Roche, an American soldier who doesn't accept the defeatist view on Iraq.
Other Topics today include: Iran continues enrichment; democracy in the Middle East; Hamas bombmaker reappears; crackdown on MS-13; New York subway security; What to do with Venezuala; Able Danger probes; Paraguay taking flak over U.S. cooperation; Salvador knows importance of Iraq; Coite D'Ivoire rebels won't disarm; Counterterrorism in Djibouti; Peace Mission 2005; Uzbek government causes concerns; Al Qaeda to target Asian financial centers; Filipino forces hunt Islamic militants; Ulchi Focus Lens 2005; Sinn Fein wants IRA members to join police; Turkey softens stance towards Kurds; Dutch pilots train with U.S. counterparts; Dogs and IED's; Online jihadist efforts; Islamic scholar issues fatwa against suicide bombers; and more.
Iran & the Middle East
- Iran continues enrichment and says they are "not worried" about action from the U.N. Security Council.
- Others are warning that Iran cannot be trusted and should be pressured by the international community to stop enrichment.
- The status quo in the Middle East is crumbling, but a lot of work remains. What does democracy look like?
- Egypt and Israel agree on a Gaza border deal that will find 750 Egyptian police in charge of security
- A suicide bomber set off an explosion in a bus station on Sunday in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, wounding five. Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility, while Abbas condemned the bombing.
- In Egypt, Mubarak's political opposition is becoming emboldened and is now openly criticizing the regime on television.
- Christopher Hitchens makes the case that Iraq is a war to be proud of.
- Hamas has released a videotape of Palestinian bombmaker Mohammed Deif, wanted by Israeli forces for over a decade. Responsible for scores of killings in the past, Deif praised the Hamas "victory" in Gaza and called for the elimination of Israel.
America Domestic Security & the Americas
- Nineteen members of MS-13, a violent Salvadoran gang, were arrested and indicted in Maryland. Officials say it is the "tip of the iceberg" in dealing with America's most dangerous gang.
- The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is preparing to unveil their subway security plan, which includes an integrated camera network.
- U.S. authorities are training and working hard to prevent a London style attack.
- Protests held in Caracas turned violent as pro-government supporters attacked opposition protesters with rocks, tear gas, and bottles. What can we do about Venezuela?
- A third source has come foward to vouch that Able Danger had identified 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta in 2000, as the Senate prepares to schedule a hearing into the affair. There is some speculation about potential ties between Able Danger and Iran.
- Paraguay is defending their military cooperation with the United States to the disaproval of other South American nations.
- One of the staunchest allies of the U.S. led war on terrorism, Salvadoran troops understand the importance of helping in Iraq.
Africa
- Foreign Minister Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail declared that Somalia is "a breeding ground for international terrorism." A month ago, ICG warned al Qaeda linked jihadist had gained a foothold in Somalia.
- In Coite D'Ivoire, New Forces Rebel leader Guillaume Soro said there will be no elections in 9 weeks as 40,000 rebel fighters have yet to be disarmed, a precondition for reunification.
- Colonel Austin Bay reports from Djibouti on counterterrorism efforts by Task Force Horn of Africa, based in the small east African nation.
- Barundi's new President, Pierre Nkurunziza, was sworn into office on Friday and vowed to honor the peace accord that ended a 12 year civil war that took over 300,000 lives.
Russia & Central Asia
- Russia is cooperating with the United States to secure Russian nuclear weapon storage facilities from potential breeches by terrorists.
- Uzbekistan security services have been active in Tajikistan and Kygyzstan as the Uzbek Senate endorsed evicting U.S. forces from Karshi-Khanabad airbase.
- Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, responsible for the Beslan terror attacks last year, was promoted to second in command of the rebel government. Mourners are marking the first anniversary of the attacks in Beslan, and some are telling Vladamir Putin to stay away.
- Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) were held for several hours while trying to leave Russia. There's no confirmation to the rumor that Dick Durbin has been left behind in a gulag.
- Afghan President Hamid Karzai expects the September elections to be relatively peaceful.
- The Afghan National Army has begun deploying specialized troops on demining missions, conducting their first succesful operation.
- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Kabul, marking the first visit by an Indian leader to Afghanistan since 1976.
Far East & Southeast Asia
- With six-party talks scheduled this week over North Korea's nuclear program, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday to discuss negotiations.
- China and Russia concluded Peace Mission 2005 as concerns remain over China's intentions towards Taiwan, who is being pressured by Washington to play a bigger role in their own defense.
- U.S. Army Gen. Leon J. LaPorte assessed the North Korean conventional threat and discussed the reshaping of combined forces in South Korea.
- There remain concerns among security officials that al Qaeda will strike at Asian financial centers, possibly Tokyo, Sydney or Singapore.
- Filipino authorities are hunting for Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah terrorists believed to be plotting attacks in cities across the Philippines. On Sunday, a bomb exploded onboard a ferry docked in Basilan, injuring 30.
- Ulchi Focus Lens 2005, a joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise, continues this week despite calls from Pyongyang to end the war games.
- Bangladesh threatens to go nuclear in the future, with China's help, while other factions are seeking to "Talibanize" Bangladesh.
- Terror funds from the Middle East are still flowing into the Philippines.
Europe
- Spanish authorities have moved to extradite Abdelmajid Bouchar from Serbia, where he was detained on 23 July for immigration violations. Bouchar is a prime suspect in the 2003 Madrid train bombings.
- British officials have detained three men from the Welsh city of Newport under anti-terrorism laws and are preparing deportation orders for as many as 50 radical Islamic preachers.
- Iraq and Afghanistan aren't the only places where there is a debate over whether past militant activity should exclude participation in future security arrangements. In Belfast, Sinn Fein is seeking to erase past records of IRA members so they may join the Police services of Northern Ireland.
- Ankara appears to be softening their stance towards the Kurdish minority in Turkey, in an effort to pacify an insurgency that has claimed 35,000 lives over the last twenty years.
- Italy has denied visas to four Iraqi's believed to have ties with the insurgency. The group included Hassan al-Zargani, a representative in Lebanon of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and Salah al Muktar, a former figure in Saddam Hussein's Baath party and a former editor of Saddam Thawra newspaper.
- Dutch F-16 pilots are recieving training from American pilots as they look to play a bigger role in NATO in the future.
- A Saudi extremist living in Britain has shutdown his hate website, threatening to "move to a country that allows an acceptable degree of free speech." Meanwhile, other Islamists are attempting to organize a hackers jihad. Can you say e-hadists?
The Global War
- Prominent Islamic scholar Abu-Basir al-Tartusi, who specializes in Salafi doctrine's perspective on Jihad, has issued a fatwa prohibiting suicide operations.
- The Warfighter IED Conference highlighted the potential for using dogs in detecting IED devices, which some believe won't ever be repeated on the same scale as we've seen in Iraq.
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One update:
According to reports from Thailand's foreign minister, the nuclear talks will be delayed until mid to late September.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/08/28/nkorea.talks.ap/index.html
A fine first briefing. Welcome to Winds!
Another one you might consider adding... the Carnival of the Revolutions is up at One Free Korea!
Great article by Joe Roche. Let me preface this by saying every death of every U.S. military member is a tragedy. As a veteran, I fully understand what it means to a family when a soldier dies. But it bothers me that the Left so effectively uses casualty figures as a propaganda tool. These numbers alone are always reported devoid of context, which often means that the casual reader or listener has little overall perspective on this subject.
Our total casualties since the war in Iraq started are approximately 1,800 (from all causes -not just battle deaths). That is an average of 69 deaths per month. According the the National Safety Council statistics (the latest available are for year 2000), an the average death rate in the United States for pedestrians is 598 per month. In other words, walking down the street of your hometown is almost 10 times more lethal than driving a Humvee down the highway in Iraq. If death is truely the issue, where is the outrage about the carnage on our own streets?
In other news, Chuck Shumer is a moron:
Sen. Schumer urges use of oil stockpile
"Schumer said in a statement. "If there was ever a time for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be tapped, it would be now."
No, if ever there were a time, it would be Russian submarines knocking off super-tankers, or a nuke going off over the Saudi oil fields. Not gas prices spiking a nickel because of a big thunderstorm. Fundamentally unserious.
Excellent job, MH!
point-blank, I'm going to disagree with you. The death of a soldier who volunteered for service, knowing that this entailed putting themselves in harm's way for others' sake, is NOT a tragedy.
I'll let an ex-soldier, T.R. Fahrenbach, take it away:
And this, which may not apply to point-blank but certainly applies to some folks these days:
I'll also disagree re: "dangerousness." You're confusing absolute numbers with a relative indicator. How many pedestrans are there, vs. how many soldiers?
Being in the military is (often, but not always) more dangerous.
Having said that, absolute numbers comparisons can make it pretty clear that human life isn't the main motivator re: the war, or the death toll on America's highways - which is at least as preventable - would be more of a focus.
Nice work, MH, you're off to a fine start ;-)
Dutch F16 pilots have always been trained in the USA. It has nothing to do with WOT
Some people are never satisfied.
Boom operator Airman Charles Converse noted something different about the Dutch F-16 that slowly moved into place for a quick gas-and-go high above Afghanistan on Sept. 11. The pilot was proudly displaying the Stars and Stripes above the windscreen in his cockpit. The Dutch had not only put a flag in the aircraft; they put an American in it, too.
Maj. Beau Rogers, a U.S. exchange pilot with the Royal Netherlands air force since May, has been flying sorties out of here supporting Operation Enduring Freedom for two weeks. Stationed at Leeuwarden Air Base, one of three F-16 air bases in the Netherlands, Rogers rotates with Dutch pilots in the OEF area of responsibility.
Source
Later in the article:
Rogers had a chance to see the results of this training in action in recent missions. Together with Denmark, the Netherlands provides fighter support to troops on the ground in Afghanistan. In late August, approximately 40 Taliban and al-Qaida troops were killed when forward-air controllers called for support from F-16s here.
“It’s impressive that Denmark and the Netherlands are the only ones flying F-16s in the AOR. That’s a significant contribution to the war on terror,” Rogers said.
Great first briefing, MH.
Outstanding, MH. But not at all surprising. Exactly what one would expect.
Welcome to the team.
On Iran, it surely does not need to be noted here but I will note such anyway:
Many have been warning that Iran cannot be trusted for a long time. The only difference is that, as the hour draws near, fewer are able to easily ignore their warning or hope that 'something' happens to make it go away.
The comfort of distance and willful blindness has begun to erode.
Excellent Brief, MH.
Cheers.