Wednesday February 6, 2008
One Step Forward, Several Back in Combating Islamism
As my colleague Jeffrey Imm has recently noted, there has been a alarming few steps back in identifying the Salafist/jihadist threat we face in any way with a growing current of Islam.
The new threat assessment, the State of the Union, (as noted by Andrew Cochran here) both fail to mention Islamism by name.
Our government is not alone. The British government has has decided the Islamist radicals are now to be called criminals so Muslims won't be offended.
But as George Weigel rightly noted, we are fighting "jihadism, the religiously inspired ideology which teaches that it is every Muslim's duty to use any means necessary to compel the world's submission to Islam. That most of the world's Muslims do not accept this definition of the demands of their faith is true—and beside the point. The jihadists believe this. That is why they are the enemy of their fellow Muslims and the rest of the world."
Amidst this lack of fundamental understanding of what the war we are engaged in is really about, there is a small bit of good news.
A Pentagon source has confirmed reports that Maj. (Reserve) Steve Coughlin, a primary briefer on radical Islam in the Pentagon for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been retained in some fashion.
Coughlin's contract with DOD was set to expire in March, and was not going to be renewed, in part because he clashed with those who felt he was too harsh in his assessments of Islamism.
Coughlin, for one, understood the importance of words and the need to identify the enemy by name.
The move by DOD to keep Coughlin on in some manner was announced by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), who carried out her own inquiry into the matter, and said in a press release that "Major Coughlin will be associated with another office program within the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he will continue to spread his message." It is not clear what that really means.
What remains just as unclear, however, is perhaps the most important question: what will happen to Hersham Islam, the person who has gone to some lengths discredit Coughlin, and who seems to have a long history of association and friendship with the Muslim Brotherhood.
He is also a close aide of Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, who takes what Mr. Islam says on matters large and small relating to Islamists very seriously.
Because of this relationship, Mr. Islam has had great success in bringing ISNA, CAIR and other publicly identified Brotherhood organizations, including unindicted co-conspirators in major criminal cases, into the Pentagon.
But should he even be there? There are reasons to think not. As the Investigative Project outlines, Islam was involved in trying to get England to invite foreign emissaries to his office, in direct contradiction of U.S. policy.
Others have raised issues of substance about Mr. Islam's official biography on a DOD website. The biography has since been taken down.
So, no Islamist references (separating personal Islamic beliefs from the political Islamist project of the Brotherhood, al Qaeda et al), by the government. No definition of the enemy except vaguely as "extremists," with no hint of what they might be extreme about. A modest victory by keeping one person who understands language from being totally cut out of the loop. Not much to be hopeful about there.
The new threat assessment, the State of the Union, (as noted by Andrew Cochran here) both fail to mention Islamism by name.
Our government is not alone. The British government has has decided the Islamist radicals are now to be called criminals so Muslims won't be offended.
But as George Weigel rightly noted, we are fighting "jihadism, the religiously inspired ideology which teaches that it is every Muslim's duty to use any means necessary to compel the world's submission to Islam. That most of the world's Muslims do not accept this definition of the demands of their faith is true—and beside the point. The jihadists believe this. That is why they are the enemy of their fellow Muslims and the rest of the world."
Amidst this lack of fundamental understanding of what the war we are engaged in is really about, there is a small bit of good news.
A Pentagon source has confirmed reports that Maj. (Reserve) Steve Coughlin, a primary briefer on radical Islam in the Pentagon for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been retained in some fashion.
Coughlin's contract with DOD was set to expire in March, and was not going to be renewed, in part because he clashed with those who felt he was too harsh in his assessments of Islamism.
Coughlin, for one, understood the importance of words and the need to identify the enemy by name.
The move by DOD to keep Coughlin on in some manner was announced by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), who carried out her own inquiry into the matter, and said in a press release that "Major Coughlin will be associated with another office program within the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he will continue to spread his message." It is not clear what that really means.
What remains just as unclear, however, is perhaps the most important question: what will happen to Hersham Islam, the person who has gone to some lengths discredit Coughlin, and who seems to have a long history of association and friendship with the Muslim Brotherhood.
He is also a close aide of Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, who takes what Mr. Islam says on matters large and small relating to Islamists very seriously.
Because of this relationship, Mr. Islam has had great success in bringing ISNA, CAIR and other publicly identified Brotherhood organizations, including unindicted co-conspirators in major criminal cases, into the Pentagon.
But should he even be there? There are reasons to think not. As the Investigative Project outlines, Islam was involved in trying to get England to invite foreign emissaries to his office, in direct contradiction of U.S. policy.
Others have raised issues of substance about Mr. Islam's official biography on a DOD website. The biography has since been taken down.
So, no Islamist references (separating personal Islamic beliefs from the political Islamist project of the Brotherhood, al Qaeda et al), by the government. No definition of the enemy except vaguely as "extremists," with no hint of what they might be extreme about. A modest victory by keeping one person who understands language from being totally cut out of the loop. Not much to be hopeful about there.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
Monday February 4, 2008
Al Libi's Life and Death Show Interesting Connections
The recent death of Abu Laith al-Libi in Pakistan shows several interesting things about the _jihadist_ groups operating in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, and their ties to Iraq.
The first is the prominent role that Libyans have been playing in recent times inside the al Qaeda structure and on its periphery. It is interesting to note that, in the CTC-West Point study of foreign fighters in Iraq Libyans were second only to Saudis (19 percent to 41 percent) in the number of people sent to fight.
"The obvious discrepancy between previous studies of Iraqi foreign fighters and the Sinjar Records is the percentage of Libyan fighters. No previous study has indicated that more than 4 percent of fighters were Libyan. Indeed, a June 2005 report by NBC quoted a U.S. government source indicating that Libya did not make a top ten list of origin nationalities for foreign fighters in Iraq."
As the study noted, Libya "contributed far more fighters per capita than any other nationality, (in the documents studied) including Saudi Arabia."
The report further noted that "The apparent surge in Libyan recruits traveling to Iraq may be linked the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group’s (LIFG) increasingly cooperative relationship with alâ€Qa’ida, which culminated in the LIFG officially joining alâ€Qa’ida on November 3, 2007."
This alliance was engineered by al-Libi, and seems to have paid almost immediate dividends for both the core al Qaeda in Afghanistan/Pakistan, and the Iraqi jihadis. This inter-connectivity now between the groups-the ability to transfer technology, training and recruits among different fronts-is one of the most dangerous developments of the past 12-18 months.
As the NEFA Foundation translation of the ode to al-Libi noted, he was responsible for the recruitment and training of many jihadists.
European analysts who have reviewed the same documents pointed out that almost all of the Libyans whose documents were found come from the same small area of Libya, essentially one city of fewer than 100,000 people.
The second connection of interest comes in the communication and face-to-face meeting between al-Libi and Libyan officials, who are trying to reach a truce with the group.
Gadaffi may have paid his way into international respectability because of the oil reserves he sits on, but at heart remains staunchly anti-Western, pan-Islamic and pan-Africanist.
Not that these concepts and beliefs can reside in his mind as whole process without deep internal contradictions. But it does mean that he will act for his own best interests, even if it means helping (or at least reapproachment) with his enemies if it serves the various agendas in his mind-the primary being his own private interests.
The third connection, and the most obvious one, is the ongoing, public ties between senior leaders of the jihadist movements and the Pakistani political establishment and intelligence services. That is the life blood of much of the jihadist movement, and until that is cut, it matters little how much we fiddle around the edges of the problem.
The first is the prominent role that Libyans have been playing in recent times inside the al Qaeda structure and on its periphery. It is interesting to note that, in the CTC-West Point study of foreign fighters in Iraq Libyans were second only to Saudis (19 percent to 41 percent) in the number of people sent to fight.
"The obvious discrepancy between previous studies of Iraqi foreign fighters and the Sinjar Records is the percentage of Libyan fighters. No previous study has indicated that more than 4 percent of fighters were Libyan. Indeed, a June 2005 report by NBC quoted a U.S. government source indicating that Libya did not make a top ten list of origin nationalities for foreign fighters in Iraq."
As the study noted, Libya "contributed far more fighters per capita than any other nationality, (in the documents studied) including Saudi Arabia."
The report further noted that "The apparent surge in Libyan recruits traveling to Iraq may be linked the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group’s (LIFG) increasingly cooperative relationship with alâ€Qa’ida, which culminated in the LIFG officially joining alâ€Qa’ida on November 3, 2007."
This alliance was engineered by al-Libi, and seems to have paid almost immediate dividends for both the core al Qaeda in Afghanistan/Pakistan, and the Iraqi jihadis. This inter-connectivity now between the groups-the ability to transfer technology, training and recruits among different fronts-is one of the most dangerous developments of the past 12-18 months.
As the NEFA Foundation translation of the ode to al-Libi noted, he was responsible for the recruitment and training of many jihadists.
European analysts who have reviewed the same documents pointed out that almost all of the Libyans whose documents were found come from the same small area of Libya, essentially one city of fewer than 100,000 people.
The second connection of interest comes in the communication and face-to-face meeting between al-Libi and Libyan officials, who are trying to reach a truce with the group.
Gadaffi may have paid his way into international respectability because of the oil reserves he sits on, but at heart remains staunchly anti-Western, pan-Islamic and pan-Africanist.
Not that these concepts and beliefs can reside in his mind as whole process without deep internal contradictions. But it does mean that he will act for his own best interests, even if it means helping (or at least reapproachment) with his enemies if it serves the various agendas in his mind-the primary being his own private interests.
The third connection, and the most obvious one, is the ongoing, public ties between senior leaders of the jihadist movements and the Pakistani political establishment and intelligence services. That is the life blood of much of the jihadist movement, and until that is cut, it matters little how much we fiddle around the edges of the problem.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
Friday February 1, 2008
Another Colombian Drug Lord Found (Dead) in Venezuela
One of Colombia's main drug lords, who had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, has been found dead in Venezuela, where he had been living for some time.
Wilber Varela, AKA "Soap," was a leader of the massively violent and powerful Northern Valley cartel, a former hitman, who is now suspected of being killed by his own men.
Such is the life in one of the most violent of the cartels. Previous leaders (Ivan Urdinola, Diego Montoya etc.) earned their infamy by chopping up their victims with chainsaws and dumping the bodies in the Cauca River, earning the body of water the title of "River of Death." This was terrorism in the name of greed rather than religion.
But what is more interesting is that Varela seems to have been living in the Venezuelan city of Merida. This is significant because Chávez government does not cooperate with international drug interdiction efforts and had made not efforts to apprehend him.
U.S. and Colombian officials have been increasingly concerned as Venezuela has developed into one of the major transshipment points for cocaine heading not only for the United States, but to Europe as well.
In the past week, according to Colombian and wire service reports, Colombia officials have confiscated 2.5 tons of cocaine and 36 kilograms of heroin in transit along the Colombian coast, nearing Venezuelan waters.
The dope belonged to a set of twin paramilitary leaders, known as The Twins (Los Mellizos).
U.S counternarcotics officials say that Venezuela has increasingly become a black hole in tracking drug flights and go-fast boats. Venezuelan branches of several European banks are suspected of moving much of the money laundering operations to Spain and other European centers, in part because of an unexpected side effect of globalization.
That is, the Europeans have a readily-available 500 Euro note, worth about $750 US. This is much larger than the US $100 bill, which means that large amounts of money in the Euro note is far less bulky to transport than the US currency is.
But back to Varela, and his protection in Venezuela. It is a dangerous sign when one nation turns a blind eye to criminal elements moving in. Varela's whereabouts were not unknown to Colombian authorities, who asked the Venezuelans to take action. None was taken.
Leaders of the FARC have often been hosted in Venezuela, sought refuge there and been active there. Drug traffickers, with no pretense of a political agenda are also finding refuge. A bad omen for the future of the Bolivarian Revolution.
Wilber Varela, AKA "Soap," was a leader of the massively violent and powerful Northern Valley cartel, a former hitman, who is now suspected of being killed by his own men.
Such is the life in one of the most violent of the cartels. Previous leaders (Ivan Urdinola, Diego Montoya etc.) earned their infamy by chopping up their victims with chainsaws and dumping the bodies in the Cauca River, earning the body of water the title of "River of Death." This was terrorism in the name of greed rather than religion.
But what is more interesting is that Varela seems to have been living in the Venezuelan city of Merida. This is significant because Chávez government does not cooperate with international drug interdiction efforts and had made not efforts to apprehend him.
U.S. and Colombian officials have been increasingly concerned as Venezuela has developed into one of the major transshipment points for cocaine heading not only for the United States, but to Europe as well.
In the past week, according to Colombian and wire service reports, Colombia officials have confiscated 2.5 tons of cocaine and 36 kilograms of heroin in transit along the Colombian coast, nearing Venezuelan waters.
The dope belonged to a set of twin paramilitary leaders, known as The Twins (Los Mellizos).
U.S counternarcotics officials say that Venezuela has increasingly become a black hole in tracking drug flights and go-fast boats. Venezuelan branches of several European banks are suspected of moving much of the money laundering operations to Spain and other European centers, in part because of an unexpected side effect of globalization.
That is, the Europeans have a readily-available 500 Euro note, worth about $750 US. This is much larger than the US $100 bill, which means that large amounts of money in the Euro note is far less bulky to transport than the US currency is.
But back to Varela, and his protection in Venezuela. It is a dangerous sign when one nation turns a blind eye to criminal elements moving in. Varela's whereabouts were not unknown to Colombian authorities, who asked the Venezuelans to take action. None was taken.
Leaders of the FARC have often been hosted in Venezuela, sought refuge there and been active there. Drug traffickers, with no pretense of a political agenda are also finding refuge. A bad omen for the future of the Bolivarian Revolution.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
Wednesday January 30, 2008
An Interesting View of Qaradawi and US Entities
The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), one of the main entities under federal investigation in Northern Virginia, is hosting its annual conference this year in Cape Town, South Africa.
What is interesting is that the press release from the National Awqaf Foundation announcing the event lists Yousef Qaradawi, the leading theologian of the Muslim Brotherhood, as an important affiliate of IIIT, something that has not been publicly stated before.
The official statement, from Awqaf, which is co-hosting the event, says:
The IIIT board and executive members comprises of the foremost scholars, academics and intellectuals in the Muslim World, including the Leading Islamic Theologian Dr. Yusuf Al-Qardawi, the former Finance Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Anwar Ebrahim, the exiled Iraqi leader Dr. Ahmad Totonjie and the Founder and Rector of the International Islamic University (IIU) in Kuala Lumpur, Professor Dr. Abdul Hamid Ahmad Abu Sulayman, to name a few.
The State Department and other continue to host IIIT and embrace them in the outreach program, in large part because no charges have been filed against the group in almost-six years since the raids on their offices in Herndon, Virginia. The group has consistently denied any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
IIIT, founded in 1980 and, the press release says, is a "platform for the Islamization of Knowledge paradigm, the Institute has become a forum through which Muslim scholars have rekindled an ongoing debate on Islamic intellectual endeavour and thought.
"The Institute is committed to the development of Islamic scholarship in contemporary social sciences and humanities and is dedicated to the revival and reform of Islamic thought. Its methodology is to help Muslims deal effectively with modern social challenges and ultimately contribute to the progress of civilization, by giving it a specific meaning and direction derived from Divine guidance."
But Qaradawi's possible involvement with IIIT would cast the prominent Islamist think tank in a different light. His work is not unknown to IIIT, whose website lists several books by the theologian in its "Books" section.
Qaradawi is banned from entering the United States for his strong anti-Semitism and his blessing to those seeking to kill American troops in Iraq.
For a reprise of some of Qaradawi's statements, see my previous posting here.
One of the highlights is this, from last year:
Our religion commands us, we are fighting in the name of religion, in the name of Islam, which makes this jihad an individual duty in which the entire nation takes part, and whoever is killed in this (Jihad) is a martyr. That is why I ruled that martyrdom operations are permitted, because he commits martyrdom for the sake of Allah and sacrifices his soul for the sake of Allah."
The press release also states that:
The delegation will be hosted in South Africa by the Office of Ebrahim Jadwat (a long standing associate of the IIIT), Awqaf South Africa and the Muslim Students’ Association of the Cape.
Jadwat's online biography lauds his long-standing association and admiration for Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, who "continues to serve as a source of inspiration."
Deedat, who died in 2005, was well-known for his public anti-Jewish, anti-Christian and anti-Hindu stances. The New York Times in 2004 called Deedat a "a vocal anti-Semite and ardent backer of Osama bin Laden."
I am not sure what conclusions one can draw from this, but IIIT appears to have interesting friends in interesting places.
What is interesting is that the press release from the National Awqaf Foundation announcing the event lists Yousef Qaradawi, the leading theologian of the Muslim Brotherhood, as an important affiliate of IIIT, something that has not been publicly stated before.
The official statement, from Awqaf, which is co-hosting the event, says:
The IIIT board and executive members comprises of the foremost scholars, academics and intellectuals in the Muslim World, including the Leading Islamic Theologian Dr. Yusuf Al-Qardawi, the former Finance Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Anwar Ebrahim, the exiled Iraqi leader Dr. Ahmad Totonjie and the Founder and Rector of the International Islamic University (IIU) in Kuala Lumpur, Professor Dr. Abdul Hamid Ahmad Abu Sulayman, to name a few.
The State Department and other continue to host IIIT and embrace them in the outreach program, in large part because no charges have been filed against the group in almost-six years since the raids on their offices in Herndon, Virginia. The group has consistently denied any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
IIIT, founded in 1980 and, the press release says, is a "platform for the Islamization of Knowledge paradigm, the Institute has become a forum through which Muslim scholars have rekindled an ongoing debate on Islamic intellectual endeavour and thought.
"The Institute is committed to the development of Islamic scholarship in contemporary social sciences and humanities and is dedicated to the revival and reform of Islamic thought. Its methodology is to help Muslims deal effectively with modern social challenges and ultimately contribute to the progress of civilization, by giving it a specific meaning and direction derived from Divine guidance."
But Qaradawi's possible involvement with IIIT would cast the prominent Islamist think tank in a different light. His work is not unknown to IIIT, whose website lists several books by the theologian in its "Books" section.
Qaradawi is banned from entering the United States for his strong anti-Semitism and his blessing to those seeking to kill American troops in Iraq.
For a reprise of some of Qaradawi's statements, see my previous posting here.
One of the highlights is this, from last year:
Our religion commands us, we are fighting in the name of religion, in the name of Islam, which makes this jihad an individual duty in which the entire nation takes part, and whoever is killed in this (Jihad) is a martyr. That is why I ruled that martyrdom operations are permitted, because he commits martyrdom for the sake of Allah and sacrifices his soul for the sake of Allah."
The press release also states that:
The delegation will be hosted in South Africa by the Office of Ebrahim Jadwat (a long standing associate of the IIIT), Awqaf South Africa and the Muslim Students’ Association of the Cape.
Jadwat's online biography lauds his long-standing association and admiration for Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, who "continues to serve as a source of inspiration."
Deedat, who died in 2005, was well-known for his public anti-Jewish, anti-Christian and anti-Hindu stances. The New York Times in 2004 called Deedat a "a vocal anti-Semite and ardent backer of Osama bin Laden."
I am not sure what conclusions one can draw from this, but IIIT appears to have interesting friends in interesting places.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH
Monday January 28, 2008
Sami al Arian Loses Appeal on Subpoena
The ongoing legal saga of Sami al Arian, the former University of South Florida professor who confessed to working with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, continues, this time with a victory for the government.
The NEFA Foundation has just posted the opinion of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that the government did NOT violate its plea agreement with Al Arian by issuing a subpoena for him to testify in a ongoing investigation into Muslim entities in in Northern Virginia, known as the Safa Network.
The Northern Virginia prosecutors want al Arian's testimony regarding the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT),one of the more prominent groups in the cluster of think tanks, businesses and charities registered to the same address in Herndon, Virginia.
The most interesting piece of public evidence pointing to what the government wants al Arian to testify about comes from where al Arian's World and Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE) states that it's main U.S. funder is IIIT.
IIIT was raided by federal officials in March 2002 as part of Operation Greenquest. No charges have been filed against IIIT.
Interestingly, the State Department continues to sponsor the trips of IIIT leaders as part of their outreach program. Recently, the featured traveler was Abubaker Al Shingieti, a former Sudanese senior official whose jobs included Director of Political Affairs for the Sudanese President, when Sudan was both a center for terrorist activity and strongly under the influence of Muslim Brotherhood leader Hassan Turabi.
In filings unsealed in 2006, al Arian's lawyers argued that their client's life would be in danger if he were forced to testify. An odd thing to claim, given that the appeal for quashing the subpoena was based in part on the assertion that al Arian knew nothing of any value for the Northern Virginia case.
So IIIT, who presents itself as a moderate academic institution, would kill him? The PIJ? For something he knows nothing about. More than passing strange.
Al Arian also argued that, in reaching his plea agreement to one count of supporting PIJ, he explicitly said that he would not testify in any other government cases.
That, ruled the appeals court, was not true. Al Arian was already held in contempt following his refusal to testify when the subpoena was first issued in October 2006. Now he is one big step closer to either testifying (unlikely) or spending considerably more time in jail than the initial 57-month sentence, followed by deportation, that he initially agreed to.
The NEFA Foundation has just posted the opinion of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that the government did NOT violate its plea agreement with Al Arian by issuing a subpoena for him to testify in a ongoing investigation into Muslim entities in in Northern Virginia, known as the Safa Network.
The Northern Virginia prosecutors want al Arian's testimony regarding the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT),one of the more prominent groups in the cluster of think tanks, businesses and charities registered to the same address in Herndon, Virginia.
The most interesting piece of public evidence pointing to what the government wants al Arian to testify about comes from where al Arian's World and Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE) states that it's main U.S. funder is IIIT.
IIIT was raided by federal officials in March 2002 as part of Operation Greenquest. No charges have been filed against IIIT.
Interestingly, the State Department continues to sponsor the trips of IIIT leaders as part of their outreach program. Recently, the featured traveler was Abubaker Al Shingieti, a former Sudanese senior official whose jobs included Director of Political Affairs for the Sudanese President, when Sudan was both a center for terrorist activity and strongly under the influence of Muslim Brotherhood leader Hassan Turabi.
In filings unsealed in 2006, al Arian's lawyers argued that their client's life would be in danger if he were forced to testify. An odd thing to claim, given that the appeal for quashing the subpoena was based in part on the assertion that al Arian knew nothing of any value for the Northern Virginia case.
So IIIT, who presents itself as a moderate academic institution, would kill him? The PIJ? For something he knows nothing about. More than passing strange.
Al Arian also argued that, in reaching his plea agreement to one count of supporting PIJ, he explicitly said that he would not testify in any other government cases.
That, ruled the appeals court, was not true. Al Arian was already held in contempt following his refusal to testify when the subpoena was first issued in October 2006. Now he is one big step closer to either testifying (unlikely) or spending considerably more time in jail than the initial 57-month sentence, followed by deportation, that he initially agreed to.
POSTED BY DOUGLAS FARAH