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BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World
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Subject: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 11 May 07 - 10:13 AM I thought it might be of interest to track real elements of terrorism and views about them, rather than being terrorized by generalized terror in the interests of neoconservatism. The Council on Foreign Relations makes these observations on the state of Al Qaeda: " FIERCER FOE Al Qaeda is a more dangerous enemy today than it has ever been before. It has suffered some setbacks since September 11, 2001: losing its state within a state in Afghanistan, having several of its top operatives killed, failing in its attempts to overthrow the governments of Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. But thanks largely to Washington's eagerness to go into Iraq rather than concentrate on hunting down al Qaeda's leaders, the organization now has a solid base of operations in the badlands of Pakistan and an effective franchise in western Iraq. Its reach has spread throughout the Muslim world, where it has developed a large cadre of operatives, and in Europe, where it can claim the support of some disenfranchised Muslim locals and members of the Arab and Asian diasporas. Osama bin Laden has mounted a successful propaganda campaign to make himself and his movement the primary symbols of Islamic resistance worldwide. His ideas now attract more followers than ever. Bin Laden's goals remain the same, as does his basic strategy. He seeks to, as he puts it, "provoke and bait" the United States into "bleeding wars" throughout the Islamic world; he wants to bankrupt the country much as he helped bankrupt, he claims, the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The demoralized "far enemy" would then go home, allowing al Qaeda to focus on destroying its "near enemies," Israel and the "corrupt" regimes of Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. occupation of Iraq helped move his plan along, and bin Laden has worked hard to turn it into a trap for Washington. Now he may be scheming to extend his strategy by exploiting or even triggering a war between the United States and Iran. Decisively defeating al Qaeda will be more difficult now than it would have been a few years ago. But it can still be done, if Washington and its partners implement a comprehensive strategy over several years, one focused on both attacking al Qaeda's leaders and ideas and altering the local conditions that allow them to thrive. Otherwise, it will only be a matter of time before al Qaeda strikes the U.S. homeland again." From a New York Times editorial quoting the May/June 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs. Of course, Bin Laden is one human being, nothing more, no matter how grandiose his ideas. And he may have, under his direct inflence, several thousand others, I guess. Our biggest challenge is to remedy the indirect impact that induces dramatization in hundreds of thousands who are tired of being poor, too suppressed by their religious leaders to think straight, or too hungry to care which way is up. This is partly a PR problem, partly a diplomatic one, and perhaps partly a police and intell problem. It is not a military problem. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Wesley S Date: 11 May 07 - 11:00 AM For those who might be interested here's a link to Global Incident Map.com |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: dianavan Date: 11 May 07 - 12:34 PM Some of those 'global incidents' are not very significant. Click on the icons to read about them. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 11 May 07 - 12:38 PM It's a good resource though if you are trying to correlate events. Thanks, Wes. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: GUEST,petr Date: 11 May 07 - 02:33 PM Richard Perle said that the fact that Iraq harbored Abu Nidal was enough reason to go in.. More than once Bush referred to Abu Nidal as the guy who masterminded the Achile Lauro hijacking. (he got his terrorists wrong).. Im sure the US would take a dim view if any country were to harbor a terrorist who blew up an airliner for instance. -- apparently not when the terrorist is CIA operative Luis Posada Cariles who blew up a Cuban airliner killing all aboard, and masterminded other bombings in Havana.. ANd the country harboring him?? THe US. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: JohnInKansas Date: 11 May 07 - 04:53 PM The map linked by Wesley S shows all "incidents" for a fairly short time period. I did find some difficulty separating incidents where they're closely packed, but a list appears lower down. Somewhat different in purpose and content, Terrorist Attacks shows "significant" Al Qaida and other terrorist attacks beginning in 1993 and running through September 2006. It's old history, but may still be interesting to those who haven't seen it. This link doesn't show the latest activities, and it omits the ones like "school closed because 9 year old girl says her boyfriend heard someone say some kids said they were going to do something." These "minor" incidents do, of course, need to be tracked and investigated - to prevent terrorists from hiring 9 year old girls to carry out their plots. Similar to the other one, you can click on a dot to see what happened there, or for those who like something more flashy, clicking the "Play" button will light up the events in chronological sequence - to get an idea of the "ebb and flow" of terrorism I suppose. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: dianavan Date: 12 May 07 - 03:24 AM That is a very interesting link, John. I really like the play button. I had no idea there were so many al qaeda arrests prior to 9-11. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: GUEST,This machine kills fascists Date: 12 May 07 - 09:31 AM Actual state of terrorism... The Republicans needed the myth of 9/11 to start the wholesale bankrupting of the American middle class. America must be destroyed in order to achieve globalization, and you destroy a country by stealing its pocketbook. So the Republicans (with Democratic help) created the absurd myth of 19 men with boxcutters. The middle class is now being bankrupted with war taxes. The Democrats have constructed their myth ahead of time. It is just as phony and will be just a costly, and it too is terrorism. Global warming. What a scam. You're being slapped upside the head with lies as patently false as those involving 19 boxcutters, and because of global warming you're going to be taxed through the nose should the Democrats get to squat in the Oval Office the next time around. America will now lurch from one bogus "official myth" to another, and the middle class will be terrorized into throwing money at the myth-of-the-day until we are reduced to third-world status. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 12 May 07 - 11:20 AM Wow, that's persuasive, detailed, and communicative....not. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: skipy Date: 12 May 07 - 11:38 AM Another "Guest" post! Skipy |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: GUEST,This machine kills fascists Date: 12 May 07 - 12:47 PM The truth hurts, but an understand of myth-making is necessary if we are to free ourselves of the people bent on our destruction. Democrats in America think their time is coming, but they know that at the end of their time the country will be in even worse shape than it is now. And they hate themselves for allowing themselves to be so weak. America's borders are wide open while we're "at war with terrorism." The first thing you do in a war is close your borders, but the Bush cabal has left the borders open and we now have as many as 30 million undocumented criminal illegals running around. Which one is al Qeada? Who knows? PANIC! The news feeds you constant fear when there's no need for it. Just close the borders and deport the illegals. But that would harm both heads of the single political party in America. The Democrats have enough Republican support to end the war tomorrow, but they won't because they're part of the same military-industrial organism that grows fat off the war. The Democrats endorse the terrorism of the Bush administration. And meanwhile, the Democrats are looking beyond the Bush era. The Democratic era will need a new bogeyman, and its name will be eco-terrorism. Americans will be forced off their land because of global warming junk science, while land is confiscated for superhighways regardless of ecosystems. Cross-kingdom gene-splicing will continue unabated while we're fed crap commercials about "little Maria" having to flee her home in the clear-cut Amazon rain forest to seek a Phd in nursing at M.I.T. so she can "help the world." You will be focused on the individual while the rights of the masses are gutted. You yourself will lose all you have to the eco-terrorists, and then when you've lost all your property and are paying 110% of your income to the company biostore, you'll rebell and seize some new false cause that'll mean even more taxation and loss. Understanding how myths are created by the elite is essential to throwing off their yoke. Notice how patiently they built up to the "war for oil" in Iraq by first creating and endlessly repeating the myth of "peak oil." Junk science said the world was "running out of oil" so that when the middle east was invaded you'd be able to understand the aggression in terms you're familiar with. Greed and avarice. You can picture Halliburton and Cheney wanting oil and money, so you accept the war as one for profit. But it's not that at all. It is a way to SHUT OFF the oil supply, bankrupt the U.S., and demonize us in the eyes of the world. The "American Empire" is going to extend its reach over the western world with the myth of global warming. Already, phony "carbon offsets" are being treated as money. Carbon offsets are a total scam, yet you read about Al Gore and the Queen of England using them, so you believe they have some validity. The elites are constantly indoctrinating you in this way. Learn to identify and analyze their myths. If they can be defused early enough, they become harmless. Look at the example of 9/11. If there is another "attack" of that kind in America, half the population will think "Dick Cheney" rather than "Ossama bin Laden." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 12 May 07 - 02:08 PM Oi, you do rattle on. Deconstructng the myths you live by is very good advice, including myths about brave clear-sighted heros battling against hopeless odds to bring down dark conspiracies. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Stringsinger Date: 12 May 07 - 04:03 PM It's interesting how so many "knowledgeable" people seem to know about Al Quaeda. Where do they get their information? From doctored tapes? Foreign policy pundits with an axe to grind? "Reliable" sources such as the 911 Investigation papers from Washington? Does anyone know if bin Laden is still alive? How could an old man with a dialysis machine trailing behind him do much of anything? I smell a rat. "Terrorism" continues to be a buzz-word for political opportunists. The real terror is lazy thinking on the part of the electorate and the stupidity of violating the US Constitution by the White House. What the US is doing in Iraq is sheer "terrorism". Frank |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Rapparee Date: 12 May 07 - 04:57 PM Having been on the receiving end of bomb threats and having dealt with a "suspicious white powder" immediately after the Sept. 11 attack, I can assure you that a little paranoia is a good thing. However, I really think that the paranoia is being overdone. On the other hand, nobody promised anyone total and complete security or a life completely free from all danger. Ain't never happened, and it ain't happening now. I guess it never will. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 12 May 07 - 05:01 PM Being alert, being prepared to act, and being aware of the potential for insanity in human beings and catastrophes in physical systems, is ordinary sanity; dozy security in a sort of Main Street wondferland has never been a realistic perpsective even when nothing bad did happen. But I am not in terror, and I refuse to be placed there by people who want to create the world as a terrifying place. It is not. It is a place of challenge and delight, but until the day my chute fails to open, I ain't buying terror. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: GUEST,This machine kills fascists Date: 12 May 07 - 06:37 PM Yes, I do prattle on. Just thinking out loud, and now I'll take those thoughts, add a bit about the "Cold War" myth and how Reagan milked the last drop out of gullible taxpayers with his Star Wars vs The Evil Empire terrorism, and I'll have an article. An article on a worthy topic--the myths fed to us by the govts and media of the world. A relevant topic. A smack-yerself-in-the-head, "I should've seen that" topic when explained properly. Pardon me for honing what I had to say about it on this particular thread. And for those of you who don't live in terror, check out this link. You've probably seen it already. The "BUSH RESIGNS" screen CNN ran for 12 seconds, "by accident." This in itself is terrorism, forcing America and the world to contemplate what would happen should stumblebutt GWBush be forced to leave: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1832128/posts Hate to admit I've forgotten my Bible, but it says something about 18 months of tribulation under the Anti-Christ, doesn't it? The Bush junta seems to be playing out certain cultural myths, particularly Biblical ones, so maybe that's our future. GW resigns then Dick Cheney has a go at the world with the nuclear arsenal of the U.S. until he's replaced in, well...18 months or so. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Rapparee Date: 12 May 07 - 09:53 PM Mark 13: No man knows the day or the hour except the Father -- and He ain't tellin'. Since you don't know, why worry about it? Got other things to do than worry about terrorism, Bush, Cheney, and a whole raft of "What Ifs??" Been there, played in the game, quit worrying about it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: GUEST,This machine kills fascists Date: 13 May 07 - 02:23 AM Resignation isn't an option. These animals have to be fought constantly...just as constantly as they're fighting you. So it raises your blood pressure a bit. So what? Your offspring won't HAVE any blood pressure if this isn't fought every step and every word of the way, right now. The shadow govt of the US has to be exposed to the light of day, along with the Mossad and MI-6 terrorist govts. They're running the world and ruining the world. It's worth worrying about, and taking action about. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: InOBU Date: 13 May 07 - 04:59 AM Well, our whole idea of politics based on terrorism against us, does not include terrorism committed by our proxies. We use the threat of terrorism against us, to commit unspeakable acts, such as torture. Ever hear of Orlando Bosch, and Luis Posada? When I was young in the age of John Kennedy, through books like Profiles in Courage, we learned that the brave did not torture. At my law school reunion, I was reminded that this wisdom has been abandoned by some empowered people in the United States. Edwin D. Williamson, a former legal advisor to the Department of State, spoke on a panel on public policy and constitution law in response to terrorism. For him, the question was not should or should we not torture, but when and how. Another alum of my school, Barry Sabin, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department in Washington, DC, defended the institution of the detentions at Guantanimo Bay. All the panelists, even the one who spoke against both these contentions, accepted as fact that we live in a new world where there is a special new danger called terrorism, which suddenly appeared on the world scene in September of 2001, a new horror which changes all the rules of law for civilized nations. October 6, 1979, flight 455 from Caracas, Venezuela was bombed killing all the civilians on board, and Cuba lost its Olympic fencing team. The flight was downed by two bombs set to go off, one, then a while later the other. The plane struggled to return to its point of origin after the first bomb set the cabin on fire, the second bomb brought it down. The masterminds of the bombings, Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada were not trained by Al Queda, they were trained by the CIA. Bosch did not disappear into the hills of Afghanistan, he lived openly in Florida. George Bush, the elder, granted him political asylum. Orlando Bosch ... worked for years with Frank Sturgis, making 11 private air strikes on Cuba. In September of 1968, he fired a bazooka into the hull of a Polish ship at anchor in Miami Harbor. He was sentenced to ten years for that, but was out in 1972, resuming his terror campaign. His career of bombings and killings ranks him as one of the most prolific murderers of our nations history, and yet, he lived openly and worked openly as a terrorist in the United States until his death of natural causes. Barry Sabin's response to my question, referring to Bosch, and asking if the world has not really changed, and more, if we are not in part responsible for the world as it now is, responded that four of Bosch's associates were recently tried and found guilty in the US. Interestingly, we did not torture them or send them out of the scope of American law. Nor have we atoned to Cuba for the harm we have caused that nation by our toleration (at least, aid most likely) of decades of terrorist attacks on that neighbor. The question, has the world really changed, the question of our own support of terror went unanswered. In order for law to be law, it must be applied to all with the same standard of fairness and reliability. Law is not law when it is applied one way to friends and another way to perceived enemies. We cannot call for torture for others and expect the world to be outraged when our citizens are tortured, and more, we cannot use terror as a tool and stand in such outrage when it is used against us, that we abandon rule of law in our own nation. It takes courage to atone for our actions, and it takes courage to live free. Torture is an act of cowardice. Well, the post script to this story, is that Luis Posada WAS arrested, as Sabin said. Less than a week after he referred to this arrest in explaining we were getting tough on terrorism, Posada was released. I expect, in spite of his bombing campaign against tourist hotels in Cuba, he will, like Bosch, be granted asylum. Weep for the nation folks. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Rapparee Date: 13 May 07 - 09:42 AM Didn't say I wasn't doing anything about it, I just said I'd stopped worrying about it. As for the Mossad, etc. running the world -- heard that back in the '60s, along with a lot of other stuff that's still being bruted about. The Black Helicopters will have a helluva fight to take me or mine, assuming they come for us at all.... London, Dublin, Cork, Paris, Madrid, Haifa, Berlin, Moscow and many, many other places live or have lived with terrorists. So does the US -- Columbine, VT, the Atlanta Olympics, Oklahoma City, East Central, South Chicago, South Bronx, Harlem, South Boston...shall I go on? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 13 May 07 - 11:01 AM Thanks, InOBU, for the précis. Appreciated. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Dickey Date: 13 May 07 - 11:48 AM Who's afraid of the big bad wolf Big bad wolf, big bad wolf? Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Tra la la la la Long ago there were three pigs Little handsome piggy-wigs For the big, bad very big very bad wolf They didn't give three figs Number one was very gay And he built his house of hay With a hey hey toot He blew on his flute And he played around all day Number two was fond of jigs And so he built his house with twigs Heigh diddle-diddle He played on his fiddle And danced with lady pigs Number three said "Nix on tricks I will built my house with bricks" He had no chance To sing and dance 'Cause work and play don't mix Ha ha ha! The two little Do little pigs just winked and laugh, ha ha! Who's afraid of the big bad wolf Big bad wolf, big bad wolf? Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Tra la la la la Came the day when fate did frown And the wolf blew into town With a gruff "puff-puff" he puffed just enough And the hay house fell right down One and two were scared to death Of the big bad wolfie's breath "By the hair of your chin-ny-chin, I'll blow you in" And the twig house answered yes No one left but number Three To save the piglet family When they knock He fast unlocked And said "Come in with me!" Now they all were safe inside And the bricks hurt wolfie's pride So, he slid down the chimney And, oh, by Jimney In the fire he was fried Ha ha ha! The three little Free little pigs rejoice and laughed, ha ha! Who's afraid of the big bad wolf Big bad wolf, big bad wolf? Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Tra la la la la Frank Churchill and Ann Ronell |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Ebbie Date: 13 May 07 - 01:11 PM One of those incident pegs is from Dec. 23-32(!), 1999 in Kandahar. It mentions that the terrorists used box cutters. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: GUEST,This machine kills fascists Date: 13 May 07 - 02:03 PM Nice piece, InOBU. Hope you disseminate it. Posada was in the news recently. it is indeed shameful: Demonstrations were held throughout Cuba after a U.S. court released terrorist Luis Posada Carriles from a Texas jail. Posada is to go to trial May 11 on charges of entering the U.S. "illegally." But the people of Cuba want him to be tried for blowing up a commercial Cuban airliner in 1976.... http://www.workers.org/2007/world/posada-0503/ Israel is a self-admitted torture and terrorist state, Rapaire. You're talking about crime and I'm talking about state-sponsored terrorism. Oddly, some of the crimes you mention can be shown to be state-sponsored terrorism, but then you've lived with the myth built up around some of those incidents for so long that you wouldn't be able to distinguish between the myth and facts, so why go into all that? Over 50,000 students were graduated from the School of the Americas, at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Students trained in terrorism. The school had such a bad reputation it was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Strategic Cooperation. But it still cranks out terrorists. http://www.motherjones.com/news/hellraiser/2005/03/WHISC.html |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 01 Oct 08 - 06:14 PM On October 7, 2008, the National Research Council will release a new report entitled PROTECTING INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TERRORISM: A FRAMEWORK FOR PROGRAM ASSESSMENT. Sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Science Foundation, this report examines data mining and behavioral surveillance and the privacy issues that these technologies raise, and provides policy makers with a systematic framework for assessing any information-based government program according to its utility, its compliance with existing law and American values, and its impact on privacy. The report will be released at a one-hour public briefing starting at 12:30 p.m. in the Lecture Room of the National Academy of Sciences building, 2100 C St., N.W.; a light lunch will be served beforehand starting at 11:30 a.m. PARTICIPATING FROM THE COMMITTEE THAT WROTE THE REPORT: -- William Perry (co-chair), former U.S. secretary of defense and Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. -- Charles Vest (co-chair), president, National Academy of Engineering, Washington, D.C. -- Fred Cate, distinguished professor of law, adjunct professor of informatics, and director, Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, Indiana University, Bloomington Those who cannot attend can listen to a live audio webcast and submit questions using an e-mail form at http://national-academies.org. If you are planning to attend, please pre-register with Jacqui Sovde, at jsovde@nas.edu, so that we know how many lunches to have available. ================ Jon Eisenberg, Ph.D. Director Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, The National Academies jeisenbe@nas.edu 202-664-1235 (find-me-anywhere) 202-334-2605 (backup--main office) 500 Fifth Street NW, Keck 959, Washington, DC 20001 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: GUEST,number 6 Date: 01 Oct 08 - 06:21 PM Forget terrorism Yanks ... it's old hat, sorta like the communist bogey man ... now it's the 'threat of losing your job' ... that's it, hand over your hard earned pay in tax dollars to the government can save the banks. biLL |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 31 Oct 08 - 03:14 PM The al Qaeda figure believed to be organizing a new terror attack against the United States is dead, a senior U.S. official tells ABCNews.com. The al Qaeda figure believed to be organizing a new terror attack against the United States is dead,... The al Qaeda figure believed to be organizing a new terror attack against the United States is dead, a senior U.S. official tells ABCNews.com. The official says the U.S. now has evidence that Khalid Habib was killed in an unmanned air strike two weeks ago in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan. Until now, there had been no official confirmation of reports of Habib's death from local militants in the area. The official says the U.S. now has evidence that Khalid Habib was killed in an unmanned air strike two weeks ago in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan. Until now, there had been no official confirmation of reports of Habib's death from local militants in the area. "He was the person responsible for planning and organizing attacks in the Pakistan and overseas, including the U.S.," the senior official said. "This was a really big deal that has not received much attention." Considered the number four leader of al Qaeda, Habib was a long-time associate close to both Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Habib had been reported killed by Pakistani officials several times over the last few years, only to re-emerge at the center of what U.S. official say is the al Qaeda operational command. The death of Habib is the most significant result of a controversial two-month long U.S. offensive in Pakistan employing CIA-controlled unmanned aircraft, known as Predators, equipped with powerful Hellfire missiles. There have been more than a dozen Predator strikes in the last two months as the U.S. has sought to disrupt efforts by al Qaeda to organize new terror attacks from its safe haven locations inside Pakistan. Ya gotta wonder if those who live near the Paki border are feeling a bit terrorized themselves about now... A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Richard Bridge Date: 31 Oct 08 - 03:31 PM The term "Paki" is grossly insulting in the UK. As bad as the N word. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Actual State of Terrorism in the World From: Amos Date: 31 Oct 08 - 06:05 PM REally? My apologies--I have had no exposure to its use in that way. "...Pakistani border." A |
