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 briefing is brought to you by Colt of Eurabian Times and Steve Schippert (aka USMC_Vet) of The Word Unheard.
Top Topics
- A general manager at Iraq's Health Ministry expects the Iraq stampede death toll to hit 1000. The stampede on a Baghdad bridge was brought on by fears of suicide bombers among the crowd during a Shi’ite pilgrimage to memorialize Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, who died in 799. With Sunni mortar attacks near the Shi'ite pilgrims' destination shrine two hours earlier putting the crowd already on edge, the massive loss of life on the bridge is surely viewed as indirect windfall dividends by Investors in Jihad. With the majority of the deaths women and children unable to withstand the human crush, the Sunni jihadists would be wise to celebrate their ‘success’ in psychological warfare very quietly.
- Why should they celebrate quietly? In Battle at the Border, Bill Roggio ‘encourages’ the media to take a closer look at the co-opting of the Albu Mahal tribe in the Qaim region. The Sunni tribe has clearly chosen sides and is none too pleased with al Qaeda’s kidnapping and murder of 31 tribe members who joined the Iraqi security forces. The Baghdad Investors in Jihad would be wise to take careful note. Developments such as this continue to be routinely and shamefully downplayed. But if you want to know about the latest US casualty…well, just do the Google Search. Scott Johnson agrees in ’The Media Quagmire’.
- Walid Phares summarizes recent developments in Lebanon. Lebanon has accepted UN Commission requests to interrogate former Lebanese security officials regarding the Hariri assassination, current Lebanese MP’s flee to Paris fearing Syrian/Hezbollah retaliation and American-Lebanese leaders point to an attempt by Hezbollah and pro-Syrian Lebanese officials to infiltrate communities of Lebanese natives abroad via ‘official’ émigré appointments from Beirut. It is, after all, a UN Commission investigating and interrogating them…only now while Hariri was assassinated 14Feb05. That said, four former generals and a former MP were detained Wednesday. Also see: John Batchelor.
Other Topics Today Include: Meet the new Iranian Cabinet; Iran, Nukes, the EU and comic strips; Wahhabi extremist recruitment in US prisons; Abu el-Maali (Junior Osama) in Bosnia; Chinese Cyberspies; a hunger strike at Gitmo; Two SEALS, seditious protesters, tolerance and the limits thereof and much more...
THE MIDDLE EAST & IRAN
- Kenneth Timmerman rightly turns the tables on Germany's chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, as Schroeder’s own appeasement has fed the Iranian nuclear crisis. Schroeder has said in campaign efforts that “the military option must be removed from the table.” (Aside: Speaking of Fine German (Linguistic) Engineering...)
- Going forward (figuratively), why not meet the fine men who make up the new Iranian cabinet? Aptly titled Iran the Model.
- Iran is heading to New York with confidence that it has enough support (Russia and China) to stave off any measurable UN sanctions. In the report, a former Clinton administration ‘non-proliferation analyst’ pronounced that the EU negotiating team was ‘standing strong’ on this one. (Since when? Did we miss something? There is a natural disconnect in logic between ‘EU negotiating’ and ‘strong’.) It gets better… A French (shudders) non-proliferation analyst actually said, “Russia does not want to have another nuclear power in its region.” Oh. Well that explains why they have been building all of their nuclear plants. …And my daughter wonders why Daddy doesn’t read the comics. Who needs pictures, sweetheart?
- Muqtada Al-Sadr may hold some powerful strings and significant influence. His reaction (and the following it fosters) to the stampede may be an indicator of what the future holds for the Sunni-Shia struggle for power in Iraq. He is a figure to watch closely in the coming days.
- Matt's just about had it with the post-pullout attacks and wonders if Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has a crack problem.
AMERICAN DOMESTIC SECURITY & THE AMERICAS
- The FBI is in the process of looking very closely at US prison populations for extremist Muslim converts who may be intent on Jihad upon release or coordinating Jihad while incarcerated. Wahhabist recruitment of prisoners in the US has gone unchecked and unchallenged. In fact, in May 2003, the Center for Security Policy published 5 ways in which the Saudi Arabian government could and should show they are not complicit in supporting terrorism on US soil, and the #1 suggestion was for the Saudis to abandon support for the Wahhabist recruitment practices in US prisons.
- Might Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama National Guard units be facing a No-Home Homecoming? Mrs. Greyhawk points to where you can help.
AFRICA
- Evan F. Kohlmann reports at Global Terror Alert that Algerian militant commander Abu el-Maali (sometimes referred to as ‘Junior Osama bin Laden’) has resurfaced in Bosnia. (PDF)
- As the Egyptian election draws nearer, it's 'all in the family' for the Mubaraks.
ASIA
- Zachary Abuza notes that the growing lethality of attacks in Southeast Asia is due in large part to the fact that there is a major technology transfer going on and that the recipients of that technology are the learning terrorists in that region. “In short, while Al Qaeda’s training camps in Afghanistan no longer exist, technological transfer by personal instruction and the internet is transforming terrorism.”
- Have you read Time’s The Invasion of the Chinese Cyberspies? You should.
- Indonesia claims Jemaah Islamiyah hobbled. As mentioned above…maybe they’re just busy training MILF in the Philippines.
EUROPE
- Chirac to Iran: If you don’t come back here and talk [respond to EU negotiators] we are going to make you go over there and talk [at the UN]. Yup. The EU negotiators are ‘standing strong’. Who knew Chirac was a hardliner?
- Did you know that there really is no al Qaeda? No, really. And my neighbor…he has this magic rabbit…
THE GLOBAL WAR
- Guantanamo detainees have gone on a hunger strike. Is the food really that bad? Interstingly, al-Jazeera chose to call it a 'protest fast'. How quaint.
- Remembering the children of Beslan: Beslan mourns a year after siege.
A SECTION OF ITS OWN
- Matthew Heidt’s post, Stop Using My Service as a Shield for Your Sedition, deserves its own categorical section. So…I made one. The Frogman shares ‘Words of Wisdom’ from a fellow SEAL and Navy Chief. They are definitely that. Be sure to read on as he concludes with the legal definition of sedition…along with a note of encouragement for those who would display such behavior in his presence. Boys and girls, the Secret Code Word for the day is: CONCUR.
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COMIC BOOK UPDATE v1.01a (Beta):
As if on queue in support of the 'standing strong' assertion, the EU and US have decided not to press for an emergency IAEA meeting that could have triggered a trip to the 'dreaded' UN Security Council.
This is like reading Doonesbury...I don't like the characters, I don't like the script nor it's author(s), and the humor is unamusing.
You really can't make this stuff up...can you?
Forgive for the dated reference above. But on the other hand, does it really matter where in the strip that frame falls? It's like watching a Monty Python movie...the scenes can be shown in any sequence. It matters little and you will laugh just as hard in any event.
[Aside: Monty Python's Spamalot on Broadway in NYC is an absolute must see. Definitely 4 Stars (and two empty halves of coconuts.)]
Foreign Press Review
http://www.avsam.org/fpr/
Regarding the Beslan attack, I have not read of any reprisals against Muslims in that area due to the attack.