Thursday December 11, 2008
A Bit More on Dawood Ibrahim and Why He Matters
Because of the high interest in my recent post on Dawood Ibrahim and requests for more information, I am adding to that the little more that I know and have learned in recent days.
Ibrahim is known to have at least 8 passports, all issued by India and all from Mumbai, where the recent attacks occurred. He uses well over a dozen aliases, which he uses, along with the names of henchmen and family members, to owe properties around the world, including in United Arab Emirate, Australia, Canada and Pakistan. He is also deeply involved in the informal hawala money transfer trade that moves billions of dollars a year, primarily among Pakistan, the Arab Peninsula and India.
This ability to cross relatively unimpeded between the worlds of legal business, organized criminal activities (kidnapping, extortion, drug running, smuggling of all kinds) and terrorism makes Ibrahim one of the primary "shadow facilitators" in the criminal-terrorist nexus.
Like Viktor Bout, Monzar al Kassar, A.Q Khan and others, these individuals are part of multiple networks, so targeting them brings the added value of making life more difficult for several organizations at the same time.
What makes Ibrahim so interesting is that he is Indian by birth, but now works with Pakistani radicals (and possibly, from time to time, with the ISI), making him, in the eyes of the Indian government, a traitor. This is particularly true given his role in funding Pakistani groups claiming the Kashmir, which is a flashpoint in India.
Yet, like A.Q Khan, he is able to find refuge in the Arab world, primarily, like Khan, Bout and others, in the United Arab Emirates, specifically in Dubai.
Like Bout, he seems to have sensed the new world of opportunities opening to him with the end of the Cold War and the rapidly changing international landscape, particularly the changes that globalization would bring.
In this sense, he was one of the pioneers of the shadow facilitator. While amassing his fortune, he funded the 1993 murderous Islamist attacks that killed more than 200 people, in a series of spectacular attacks that resemble the recent carnage. At that time, he was already deeply involved in the heroin trade, something he would then ply on behalf of the Taliban in later years.
Through his now famous D-Company, Ibrahim set out to acquire businesses and properties around the world. Through front companies, nominee share holders and other practices common in the new grey market world emerging, Ibrahim managed to acquire great wealth and show it off, yet have little of it in his name or directly traceable to him. The acquisitions also gave him great access to countries and cities around the world.
It is worth noting that Ibrahim owns multiple commercial properties in Karachi, from where the terrorists left for the recent attacks.
Despite what some commentators have said on previous blogs, there is a strong belief among some in intelligence community that Ibrahim provided the initial boat the terrorists boarded, before boarding a smaller fishing vessel at sea.
The lone survivor, in transcript published by the Financial Timesdoes not name Ibrahim but makes it clear multiple ships were involved in the journey.
We boarded the said launch and after journey of 1 hour we boarded a bigger ship by name Al-Huseini in the deep sea. While boarding the said ship, each of us was given a sack containing 8 grenades, one AK-47 rifle, 200 cartridges, 2 magazines and one cell phone for communication.
Then we started towards Indian coast. When we reached Indian waters, the crew members of Al-Huseini ship hijacked one Indian launch. The seamen from the said launch were shifted to Al-Huseini ship. We were then boarded the hijacked Indian ship. One Indian seaman was kept along with us.
At the gun point, he took us towards the Indian coast. After journey of about 3 days, we reached near sea shore of Mumbai. While we were at some distance from the shore, Ismail and Afadulla killed the Indian seaman, (Tandel) at the basement of the said Indian launch. Then we boarded floatable dinghi and reached Budwar Park Jetty as per the instructions received earlier.
The Ibrahims of the world matter. Attacking them should be among the highest priorities, not only in combatting radical Islamists, but the power of organized crime that is merging with it.
Ibrahim is known to have at least 8 passports, all issued by India and all from Mumbai, where the recent attacks occurred. He uses well over a dozen aliases, which he uses, along with the names of henchmen and family members, to owe properties around the world, including in United Arab Emirate, Australia, Canada and Pakistan. He is also deeply involved in the informal hawala money transfer trade that moves billions of dollars a year, primarily among Pakistan, the Arab Peninsula and India.
This ability to cross relatively unimpeded between the worlds of legal business, organized criminal activities (kidnapping, extortion, drug running, smuggling of all kinds) and terrorism makes Ibrahim one of the primary "shadow facilitators" in the criminal-terrorist nexus.
Like Viktor Bout, Monzar al Kassar, A.Q Khan and others, these individuals are part of multiple networks, so targeting them brings the added value of making life more difficult for several organizations at the same time.
What makes Ibrahim so interesting is that he is Indian by birth, but now works with Pakistani radicals (and possibly, from time to time, with the ISI), making him, in the eyes of the Indian government, a traitor. This is particularly true given his role in funding Pakistani groups claiming the Kashmir, which is a flashpoint in India.
Yet, like A.Q Khan, he is able to find refuge in the Arab world, primarily, like Khan, Bout and others, in the United Arab Emirates, specifically in Dubai.
Like Bout, he seems to have sensed the new world of opportunities opening to him with the end of the Cold War and the rapidly changing international landscape, particularly the changes that globalization would bring.
In this sense, he was one of the pioneers of the shadow facilitator. While amassing his fortune, he funded the 1993 murderous Islamist attacks that killed more than 200 people, in a series of spectacular attacks that resemble the recent carnage. At that time, he was already deeply involved in the heroin trade, something he would then ply on behalf of the Taliban in later years.
Through his now famous D-Company, Ibrahim set out to acquire businesses and properties around the world. Through front companies, nominee share holders and other practices common in the new grey market world emerging, Ibrahim managed to acquire great wealth and show it off, yet have little of it in his name or directly traceable to him. The acquisitions also gave him great access to countries and cities around the world.
It is worth noting that Ibrahim owns multiple commercial properties in Karachi, from where the terrorists left for the recent attacks.
Despite what some commentators have said on previous blogs, there is a strong belief among some in intelligence community that Ibrahim provided the initial boat the terrorists boarded, before boarding a smaller fishing vessel at sea.
The lone survivor, in transcript published by the Financial Timesdoes not name Ibrahim but makes it clear multiple ships were involved in the journey.
We boarded the said launch and after journey of 1 hour we boarded a bigger ship by name Al-Huseini in the deep sea. While boarding the said ship, each of us was given a sack containing 8 grenades, one AK-47 rifle, 200 cartridges, 2 magazines and one cell phone for communication.
Then we started towards Indian coast. When we reached Indian waters, the crew members of Al-Huseini ship hijacked one Indian launch. The seamen from the said launch were shifted to Al-Huseini ship. We were then boarded the hijacked Indian ship. One Indian seaman was kept along with us.
At the gun point, he took us towards the Indian coast. After journey of about 3 days, we reached near sea shore of Mumbai. While we were at some distance from the shore, Ismail and Afadulla killed the Indian seaman, (Tandel) at the basement of the said Indian launch. Then we boarded floatable dinghi and reached Budwar Park Jetty as per the instructions received earlier.
The Ibrahims of the world matter. Attacking them should be among the highest priorities, not only in combatting radical Islamists, but the power of organized crime that is merging with it.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
Monday December 8, 2008
Mexico: Growing Terror and Close to Collapse
One of the most amazing things to me in the recent electoral process was the complete absence of serious discussion by either camp of anything relating to Latin America.
While Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Ecuador have formed a new anti-U.S. and pro-Iranian axis, perhaps the most dangerous developments are taking place directly on our southern border. It is to the point where the Mexican government, despite commendable efforts by the Calderon administration, is barely hanging on.
I say this with deep sadness. I lived through the similar Colombian experience where the narco-violence shattered the country, almost took over the state, and claimed the lives of many of my friends, including journalists I worked with. That is part of the reason I cannot understand the lack of attention to the crisis.
We are looking at the creation of a series of mini narco-states along our border, and from our border heading south through Central America. Mexico's own southern border with Guatemala is now awash in cartel violence, and much of Guatemala is no longer under state control. El Salvador is a money laundering sanctuary, as is Panama, and Nicaragua, along with Venezuela, have become black holes where an increasing amount of cocaine transits.
This is a clear and present danger not only to the United States, which will (and already has) suffer from the spillover of violence and border security-but to the Mexican state as well.
The drug war there is taking an enormous toll. Even hospitals are no longer safe from the violence.
Senior police and government officials are assassinated with such frequency their deaths seldom make the news here at all. Some are killed because they are trying to do the right thing, some because they are on the losing side of an intra-cartel battle, but it is shredding the authority of the state.
Illegal immigration of non-Latin Americans, including Iranians, Chinese and Turks, is on the rise. Why does this matter? Because the cartels in their many different iterations and factions, thrive on instability, and their ability to move anything (drugs, people, weapons) across our border. Iranians and Turks arriving this way are not here to see the Empire State Building or the Grand Canyon.
The situation is grim on many fronts. Journalists are being shot and killed in record numbers, outpacing even Iraq. Those that are not dead-and there are some great and courageious journalists in Mexico-are largely silenced because of the threats.
While the United States has just released the first part of its $400 million for the Merida Initiative, the situation continues to be dire, and likely will be for some time.
The collapse of Mexico into the hands of drug traffickers is exacerbated by the global financial crisis. Remittances from the United States have dropped sharply, and Mexican migrants are returning home in droves. This has its positive side, but right now it means that more and more people will turn to drug trafficking to make a living, strengthening the narco side of the conflict.
This crisis has to be (another) priority for the Obama administration. The Bush administration seemed content to work on the margins and ignore the realities on the ground as long as possible. Obama will not have that luxury.
While Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Ecuador have formed a new anti-U.S. and pro-Iranian axis, perhaps the most dangerous developments are taking place directly on our southern border. It is to the point where the Mexican government, despite commendable efforts by the Calderon administration, is barely hanging on.
I say this with deep sadness. I lived through the similar Colombian experience where the narco-violence shattered the country, almost took over the state, and claimed the lives of many of my friends, including journalists I worked with. That is part of the reason I cannot understand the lack of attention to the crisis.
We are looking at the creation of a series of mini narco-states along our border, and from our border heading south through Central America. Mexico's own southern border with Guatemala is now awash in cartel violence, and much of Guatemala is no longer under state control. El Salvador is a money laundering sanctuary, as is Panama, and Nicaragua, along with Venezuela, have become black holes where an increasing amount of cocaine transits.
This is a clear and present danger not only to the United States, which will (and already has) suffer from the spillover of violence and border security-but to the Mexican state as well.
The drug war there is taking an enormous toll. Even hospitals are no longer safe from the violence.
Senior police and government officials are assassinated with such frequency their deaths seldom make the news here at all. Some are killed because they are trying to do the right thing, some because they are on the losing side of an intra-cartel battle, but it is shredding the authority of the state.
Illegal immigration of non-Latin Americans, including Iranians, Chinese and Turks, is on the rise. Why does this matter? Because the cartels in their many different iterations and factions, thrive on instability, and their ability to move anything (drugs, people, weapons) across our border. Iranians and Turks arriving this way are not here to see the Empire State Building or the Grand Canyon.
The situation is grim on many fronts. Journalists are being shot and killed in record numbers, outpacing even Iraq. Those that are not dead-and there are some great and courageious journalists in Mexico-are largely silenced because of the threats.
While the United States has just released the first part of its $400 million for the Merida Initiative, the situation continues to be dire, and likely will be for some time.
The collapse of Mexico into the hands of drug traffickers is exacerbated by the global financial crisis. Remittances from the United States have dropped sharply, and Mexican migrants are returning home in droves. This has its positive side, but right now it means that more and more people will turn to drug trafficking to make a living, strengthening the narco side of the conflict.
This crisis has to be (another) priority for the Obama administration. The Bush administration seemed content to work on the margins and ignore the realities on the ground as long as possible. Obama will not have that luxury.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
Thursday December 4, 2008
A Nuclear Venezuela
Almost unnoticed in the chaos created by recent terrorist events is the nuclear agreement signed between Russia and Venezuela signed when Russian president Medvedev visited Caracas last week. His visit coincided with the arrival of Russian naval ships for joint operations with the Venezuelan navy.
The ships, in their first post-Cold War venture into Latin America, included the Peter the Great, the flagship missile cruiser of the Russian navy, and several other vessels.
Under the accord, Russia would help Venezuela build a nuclear energy plant. Joint gas projects were also approved. Military co-operation is also high on the agenda of Mr Medvedev's talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
None of this would be alarming if Chavez were not a known sponsor of violent and radical movements across the hemisphere, from the FARC in Colombia to the worst elements (and a small minority of the overall parties) of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the FMLN in El Salvador.
His closest allies, such as Iran and North Korea, are rogue nations who have repeatedly lied and failed to abide by international nuclear agreements.
Having already spent $4.4 billion on Russian weapons in the past three years, and despite a sharp downturn in oil revenues, Chavez wants to go nuclear.
The reason he gives is electrical production as the prime peacetime use of the energy. But this raises several important questions.
The first is why, in his quest to acquire nuclear power since 2005, Chavez has insisted on involving the Iranians in the program? According to Russian press reports, the link in the new project will be made, at least indirectly.
Atomstroyexport, the same company building the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, would be the project operator in Venezuela.
The insistence on Iranian involvement in Venezuela's nuclear future had been enough to scare off both Brazil and Argentina for joint cooperative efforts. As Brazilian Ministry of Energy spokesman said in 2005,
"In the view of possible Iran participation, as President Chavez suggested, such a partnership would be risky for Brazil," he said. "Brazil is not interested in cooperating with countries that do not follow international treaties and whose nuclear programs are not monitored by competent authorities," the spokesman added.
Aside from the desire to involve Iran, several other issues stand out. The most notable is that Venezuela has a surplus of electricity and sells it to both Colombia and Brazil.
According to the Department of Energy country report on Venezuela, about 75 percent of Venezuela's electricity is generated by hydroelectric power, which slightly surpasses Venezuela's internal consumption needs. The surplus is generated by conventional thermal power, generated by locally-produced diesel and fuel oil. Venezuela is a net exporter of 25.8 billion kilowatthours (Bkwh) of electricity, primarily to Brazil, but also to Colombia.
So the rush to nuclear energy for this purpose does not seem credible.
Peaceful nuclear energy use in Latin America, as Brazil and Argentina have shown, have a place. But these are under the control of governments that are not sponsoring violence and not allied with radical Islamist regimes or other outlaw states.
The biggest danger we face is a nuclear bomb in the hands of terrorists, be they Islamists, Marxist or Fascist. Enriched uranium in the hands of Hugo Chavez will greatly exacerbate that danger.
The ships, in their first post-Cold War venture into Latin America, included the Peter the Great, the flagship missile cruiser of the Russian navy, and several other vessels.
Under the accord, Russia would help Venezuela build a nuclear energy plant. Joint gas projects were also approved. Military co-operation is also high on the agenda of Mr Medvedev's talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
None of this would be alarming if Chavez were not a known sponsor of violent and radical movements across the hemisphere, from the FARC in Colombia to the worst elements (and a small minority of the overall parties) of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the FMLN in El Salvador.
His closest allies, such as Iran and North Korea, are rogue nations who have repeatedly lied and failed to abide by international nuclear agreements.
Having already spent $4.4 billion on Russian weapons in the past three years, and despite a sharp downturn in oil revenues, Chavez wants to go nuclear.
The reason he gives is electrical production as the prime peacetime use of the energy. But this raises several important questions.
The first is why, in his quest to acquire nuclear power since 2005, Chavez has insisted on involving the Iranians in the program? According to Russian press reports, the link in the new project will be made, at least indirectly.
Atomstroyexport, the same company building the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, would be the project operator in Venezuela.
The insistence on Iranian involvement in Venezuela's nuclear future had been enough to scare off both Brazil and Argentina for joint cooperative efforts. As Brazilian Ministry of Energy spokesman said in 2005,
"In the view of possible Iran participation, as President Chavez suggested, such a partnership would be risky for Brazil," he said. "Brazil is not interested in cooperating with countries that do not follow international treaties and whose nuclear programs are not monitored by competent authorities," the spokesman added.
Aside from the desire to involve Iran, several other issues stand out. The most notable is that Venezuela has a surplus of electricity and sells it to both Colombia and Brazil.
According to the Department of Energy country report on Venezuela, about 75 percent of Venezuela's electricity is generated by hydroelectric power, which slightly surpasses Venezuela's internal consumption needs. The surplus is generated by conventional thermal power, generated by locally-produced diesel and fuel oil. Venezuela is a net exporter of 25.8 billion kilowatthours (Bkwh) of electricity, primarily to Brazil, but also to Colombia.
So the rush to nuclear energy for this purpose does not seem credible.
Peaceful nuclear energy use in Latin America, as Brazil and Argentina have shown, have a place. But these are under the control of governments that are not sponsoring violence and not allied with radical Islamist regimes or other outlaw states.
The biggest danger we face is a nuclear bomb in the hands of terrorists, be they Islamists, Marxist or Fascist. Enriched uranium in the hands of Hugo Chavez will greatly exacerbate that danger.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
Monday December 1, 2008
The Dawood Ibrahim Connection
As my colleague on the CT Blog, Vic Comras noted, the name of Dawood Ibrahim is now associated with the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Ibrahim reportedly provided the initial boat for the attackers, and has strong ties to al Qaeda.
What is interesting about Ibrahim, who has been designated a terrorist by OFAC and many other governments, is that he is a pioneer in the criminal-terrorist nexus. For many years he has provided the criminal links al Qaeda, the Taliban and Pakistani terrorist groups have needed to move money, personnel and equipment. Despite how well known his activities are, he has never been apprehended.
Here is something I wrote about him more than two years ago, which helps shed some light on a person identified as a terrorist and criminal mastermind.
Ibrahim, with his immense wealth, underworld connections, and ties to Bollywood, was one of the first big fish to cross over to work with radical Islamists, starting more than a decade ago:
A criminal kingpin, ally of al Qaeda, large-scale drug runner and financer of some of Bollywood's biggest movies, Ibrahim loves to hang out with movie stars and live the good life. Not exactly a natural ally of radical Islamist groups, but he appears to provide the muscle and know-how to attacks, rather than being the intellectual author of the violence he has pariticpated in. His ideology seems more firmly wedded to his financial well-being than to his religious beliefs.
Ibrahim has a enormous mansion in Karachi, Pakistan, but spends a great deal of time in Dubai, UAE. He has a long history of violence. His flamboyant life style made it difficult to believe that he was not protected by the Pakistani intelligence services for whom he worked, or officials in the UAE.
My friend David Kaplan did one of the best looks at him in U.S. News.
When the Treasury Department designated him in October 2003, hardly anyone paid attention. He had come across my radar screen, however, because of his reported role in the gold trade and in helping al Qaeda and the Taliban ship their money and gold reserves out of Afghanistan as the U.S. invaded in 2001. As my book describes, the Taliban and bin Laden kept much of their financial holdings in gold, for cultural and other reasons.
Ibrahim has kept a lower profile since his designation but prior to that used to consort fairly openly with starlets and actors in the epic Indian movies he bankrolled, reportedly making a large fortune in the process.
The Treasury Deparment's description of Ibrahim says in part that his criminal syndicate "is involved in large-scale shipments of narcotics in the U.K. and Western Europe.
"The syndicate's smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa are shared with Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network.
"Successful routes established over recent years by IBRAHIM'S syndicate have been subsequently utilized by bin Laden. A financial arrangement was reportedly brokered to facilitate the latter's usage of these routes.
"In the late 1990's, IBRAHIM traveled in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban.
"IBRAHIM'S syndicate has consistently aimed to destabilize the Indian government through inciting riots, acts of terrorism, and civil disobedience. He is currently wanted by India for the March 12, 1993 Bombay Exchange bombings, which killed hundreds of Indians and injured over a thousand more.
"Information, from as recent as Fall 2002, indicates that IBRAHIM has financially supported Islamic militant groups working against India, such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)."
Not much has changed since then.
Ibrahim reportedly provided the initial boat for the attackers, and has strong ties to al Qaeda.
What is interesting about Ibrahim, who has been designated a terrorist by OFAC and many other governments, is that he is a pioneer in the criminal-terrorist nexus. For many years he has provided the criminal links al Qaeda, the Taliban and Pakistani terrorist groups have needed to move money, personnel and equipment. Despite how well known his activities are, he has never been apprehended.
Here is something I wrote about him more than two years ago, which helps shed some light on a person identified as a terrorist and criminal mastermind.
Ibrahim, with his immense wealth, underworld connections, and ties to Bollywood, was one of the first big fish to cross over to work with radical Islamists, starting more than a decade ago:
A criminal kingpin, ally of al Qaeda, large-scale drug runner and financer of some of Bollywood's biggest movies, Ibrahim loves to hang out with movie stars and live the good life. Not exactly a natural ally of radical Islamist groups, but he appears to provide the muscle and know-how to attacks, rather than being the intellectual author of the violence he has pariticpated in. His ideology seems more firmly wedded to his financial well-being than to his religious beliefs.
Ibrahim has a enormous mansion in Karachi, Pakistan, but spends a great deal of time in Dubai, UAE. He has a long history of violence. His flamboyant life style made it difficult to believe that he was not protected by the Pakistani intelligence services for whom he worked, or officials in the UAE.
My friend David Kaplan did one of the best looks at him in U.S. News.
When the Treasury Department designated him in October 2003, hardly anyone paid attention. He had come across my radar screen, however, because of his reported role in the gold trade and in helping al Qaeda and the Taliban ship their money and gold reserves out of Afghanistan as the U.S. invaded in 2001. As my book describes, the Taliban and bin Laden kept much of their financial holdings in gold, for cultural and other reasons.
Ibrahim has kept a lower profile since his designation but prior to that used to consort fairly openly with starlets and actors in the epic Indian movies he bankrolled, reportedly making a large fortune in the process.
The Treasury Deparment's description of Ibrahim says in part that his criminal syndicate "is involved in large-scale shipments of narcotics in the U.K. and Western Europe.
"The syndicate's smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa are shared with Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network.
"Successful routes established over recent years by IBRAHIM'S syndicate have been subsequently utilized by bin Laden. A financial arrangement was reportedly brokered to facilitate the latter's usage of these routes.
"In the late 1990's, IBRAHIM traveled in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban.
"IBRAHIM'S syndicate has consistently aimed to destabilize the Indian government through inciting riots, acts of terrorism, and civil disobedience. He is currently wanted by India for the March 12, 1993 Bombay Exchange bombings, which killed hundreds of Indians and injured over a thousand more.
"Information, from as recent as Fall 2002, indicates that IBRAHIM has financially supported Islamic militant groups working against India, such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)."
Not much has changed since then.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
Tuesday November 25, 2008
The Holy Land Verdict in Perspective
My colleagues on the Counterterrorism Blog Matt Levitt and Andrew Cochran have discussed the sweep of guilty verdicts in the Holy Land Foundation case.
I wanted to add briefly, some perspective, which can only be gleaned if one goes through the voluminous exhibits, available at the NEFA Foundation site, which give the reasons for the trial to begin with.
The Holy Land Foundation was a direct outgrowth of the international Muslim Brotherhood, as are CAIR, MSA and other groups under the MB umbrella. The ties, based on the trial evidence, are outlined in this paper I co-authored for the NEFA Foundation. As described, the entire enterprise was not only to fund Hamas, but to set up the architecture to wage jihad in this country, with the aims of radically altering the entire U.S. system of government.
What is still most fascinating to me, after two trials, is that the most damning documents were not contested at all by the defense.
And herein is the main point, as I wrote earlier: The most compelling evidence of the Brotherhood’s true aims is contained in an internal memorandum written in 1991 by a senior Brotherhood leader and titled: "On the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America." In the document, the author is strikingly clear about the ultimate goal of the Muslim Brotherhood (referred to as Ikhwan) in the United States, as these quotes make clear:
"In order for Islam and its Movement to become "a part of the homeland" in which it lives, "stable" in its land, "rooted" in the spirits and minds of its people, "enabled" in the live of its
society and has firmly established "organizations" on which the Islamic structure is built and with which the testimony of civilization is achieved, the Movement must plan and
struggle to obtain "the keys" and the tools of this process in carry out this grand mission as a "Civilization Jihadist" responsibility which lies on the shoulders of Muslims and – on top
of them – the Muslim Brotherhood in this country…"
"The process of settlement is a "Civilization-Jihadist Process" with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim’s destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes,
and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack. But, would the slackers and the Mujahedeen be equal."
Still not clear on what they want to do? What role do the Ikhwan envision for themselves? They are happy to tell.
As for the role of the Ikhwan, it is the initiative, pioneering, leadership, raising the banner and pushing people in that direction. They are then to work to employ, direct and unify
Muslims’ efforts and powers for this process. In order to do that, we must possess a mastery of the art of "coalitions", the art of "absorption" and the principles of "cooperation". We need to adopt the principle which says, "Take from people…the best
they have", their best specializations, experiences, arts, energies and abilities. By people here we mean those within or without the ranks of individuals and organizations. (…) To me, there is no choice for us other than alliance and mutual understanding of those who desire from our religion and those who agree from our belief in work. And the U.S. Islamic arena is full of those waiting…, the pioneers."
As Andy points out, three is no longer any excuse for anyone in the US government to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood legacy organizations. Their currency is access, and without access they have nothing. If these pioneers want to present their real project to people in the marketplace of ideas, fine. But enough of the veneer of moderate, mainstream groups carrying out civil rights efforts. That much should be clear now.
I wanted to add briefly, some perspective, which can only be gleaned if one goes through the voluminous exhibits, available at the NEFA Foundation site, which give the reasons for the trial to begin with.
The Holy Land Foundation was a direct outgrowth of the international Muslim Brotherhood, as are CAIR, MSA and other groups under the MB umbrella. The ties, based on the trial evidence, are outlined in this paper I co-authored for the NEFA Foundation. As described, the entire enterprise was not only to fund Hamas, but to set up the architecture to wage jihad in this country, with the aims of radically altering the entire U.S. system of government.
What is still most fascinating to me, after two trials, is that the most damning documents were not contested at all by the defense.
And herein is the main point, as I wrote earlier: The most compelling evidence of the Brotherhood’s true aims is contained in an internal memorandum written in 1991 by a senior Brotherhood leader and titled: "On the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America." In the document, the author is strikingly clear about the ultimate goal of the Muslim Brotherhood (referred to as Ikhwan) in the United States, as these quotes make clear:
"In order for Islam and its Movement to become "a part of the homeland" in which it lives, "stable" in its land, "rooted" in the spirits and minds of its people, "enabled" in the live of its
society and has firmly established "organizations" on which the Islamic structure is built and with which the testimony of civilization is achieved, the Movement must plan and
struggle to obtain "the keys" and the tools of this process in carry out this grand mission as a "Civilization Jihadist" responsibility which lies on the shoulders of Muslims and – on top
of them – the Muslim Brotherhood in this country…"
"The process of settlement is a "Civilization-Jihadist Process" with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim’s destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes,
and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack. But, would the slackers and the Mujahedeen be equal."
Still not clear on what they want to do? What role do the Ikhwan envision for themselves? They are happy to tell.
As for the role of the Ikhwan, it is the initiative, pioneering, leadership, raising the banner and pushing people in that direction. They are then to work to employ, direct and unify
Muslims’ efforts and powers for this process. In order to do that, we must possess a mastery of the art of "coalitions", the art of "absorption" and the principles of "cooperation". We need to adopt the principle which says, "Take from people…the best
they have", their best specializations, experiences, arts, energies and abilities. By people here we mean those within or without the ranks of individuals and organizations. (…) To me, there is no choice for us other than alliance and mutual understanding of those who desire from our religion and those who agree from our belief in work. And the U.S. Islamic arena is full of those waiting…, the pioneers."
As Andy points out, three is no longer any excuse for anyone in the US government to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood legacy organizations. Their currency is access, and without access they have nothing. If these pioneers want to present their real project to people in the marketplace of ideas, fine. But enough of the veneer of moderate, mainstream groups carrying out civil rights efforts. That much should be clear now.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH