:: IslamistBlog ::

:: Saturday, June 28, 2003 ::

Iran and Al Qaeda

Despite consistent denials from Tehran, the Iranian government seems to be involved in negotiations with Egypt, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia over some high-ranking Al Qaeda operatives that they seem to have arrested.

The Iranians refuse to release the identities of the detained Islamist operatives.

6-28-2003, Middle East Online: Iran negotiating extradition of senior Al-Qaeda members


:: Mullah 1:20 PM [+] ::
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Yemen steps up Anti-Islamist activity

Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden. This particular story involves anti-Islamist actions in response to an attack on an army medical convoy.

6-25-2003, Middle East Online: Yemen steps up sweep for Islamist extremists


:: Mullah 1:14 PM [+] ::
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News, More News, and Even More News

I was too busy in June to do much analysis. However much news has transpired. Here's a link to some of the news stories of interested to the Anti-Islamist campaign.

Islamist/Anti-Islamist operations:
6-27-2003, CNN: Iran denies arresting bin Laden's top aide
6-27-2003, WorldNetDaily: Al-Qaida No. 2 man in custody?
(related, 2-28-2003, WorldNetDaily: Al-Qaida tied to Iran intelligence, military
6-25-2003, Reuters: U.S. Documents Link Muslim Cleric to Al Qaeda
6-25-2003, Fox News: Officials: White House Slow to OK Drones to Kill Bin Laden
6-25-2003, Fox News: Yemeni Troops Kill 10 Islamic Militants During Raid
6-24-2003, Fox News: U.N. Report to Reveal Emergence of New Generation of Terrorists, Consultant Says
6-24-2003, Houston Chronicle: Terrorists possibly targeting Texas
6-20-2003, WorldNetDaily: Arab journalist calls Saudi Arabia cradle of terror
6-20-2003, CNN: U.S. Embassy in Kenya closed after threat
6-19-2003, CNN: Ohio trucker joined al Qaeda jihad
6-19-2003, ABCNews: Hide in Plane Sight
6-17-2003, MSNBC: Al Qaeda in America: The Enemy Within
6-12-2003, CNN: FBI: Rigged cell phones might trigger bombs
6-11-2003, Reuters: France Says Arrested Man Is a Top Al Qaeda Leader



Iranian problems:
6-19-2003, CNN: U.S., Iran argue over nuke report
6-11-2003, Reuters: Report: Iran Nuke Experts Visited N.Korea This Year
6-11-2003, BBC: Iranians protest against clerics
6-11-2003, Washington Times: U.S. says Iran harbors al Qaeda 'associate'

Islamists in Pakistan:
6-8-2003, AP News: Pakistan Doesn't Need Taliban's Islam, President Musharraf Says

:: Mullah 12:13 PM [+] ::
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:: Mullah 12:13 PM [+] ::
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Islamist Conviction

Political and religious conviction is not necessarily created by material dearth, nor is it abrogated by wealth.

Humans don't quite operate the way Marx posited.

Materialism is not the be-all and end-all -- especially in the Middle East. No sooner than the remains of the twin towers littered the southern tip of Manhattan Island did a hue and cry erupt that poverty had to be stomped out before we could ever expect to deter or defeat terrorism. Well-educated, well-fed people don't resort to fanatical action. Or so many well-educated, well-fed people posited.

And that may be true in some cases -- or even many cases. But as it turned out in the case of 9/11, none of the men who flew the planes into the buildings were poorly educated or POOR. In fact they were largely middle class by Middle Eastern standards and pretty well educated to boot. Mohammad Atta had been studying engineering in Hamburg, along with some of his cohorts. Conviction doesn't always come because of a hungry belly or an empty mind. Quite the contrary. The religious conviction of the Islamist movement has to be regarded as quite pure. Osama bin Laden himself, who apologizes the Islamist creed and plans Islamist attacks and plainly funds them, is one of the richest men in the world. He was rich when he went to Afghanistan to help the Muslims rid that land of the Soviet invader. He is perhaps richer today. Let us be reminded of the purity of his faith by focusing on a Surah in the Quran:

"March forth, whether light or heavy, and fight with your wealth and your lives in the path of Allah; that is better for you, if only you knew" [Quran IX:41]

Indeed. It seems the wording might well have been "Fly forth ..." for fly forth they certainly did; sadly, to the ruin of many, rather than the better of all. In any case this is a Surah that is repeatedly used by the Islamists to urge donation of body, soul, and bank account to the cause of spreading the gospel of the Quran by pen and by sword (or hijacked airplane).

Here is an article that reviews the subject of the relation between wealth and education and support for violent political methods, based on studies conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, some researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Seeking the Roots of Terrorism

What is it about being smart and wealthy that can make us wish to live in a cave and plan the destruction of whole countries?

Mullah Mills
:: Mullah 3:28 PM [+] ::
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