Now that the hoopla over the successful United States "hit" on arch terrorist Osama bin Laden has begun to fade into the annals of history, the stark realization that the US and the free world are still bereft of a concrete plan of action to stem the tide of al-Qaeda terrorism is beginning to set in. Having spent close to 10 years assiduously tracking down the elusive 9/11 mastermind, we hasten to remind the CIA, along with the various and sundry intelligence networks, that the task of eradicating Islamic radicals bent on global domination demands replication of the kind of "muscle" that bagged bin Laden.
Taking a cursory glance at the modern state of Israel's 63-year history and the bold modalities employed to confront the existential perils presented by a veritable panoply of terrorist organizations, it would appear that the Jewish state can teach the world a lesson or two in the area of "focused foiling". Having enshrined targeted assassinations as the pillar of their counter-terrorism doctrine, Israel has succeeded in creating a profound cumulative effect on the vast array of terror organizations in its midst. Leaving Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in a state of obfuscation and disarray through the routine elimination of their leaders; such actions clearly serve as a viable deterrent for those next in line for succession into their predecessors' shoes.
For a brief historical retrospective, let us recall that the long arm of the Mossad often launched surprise attacks terrorists in the most remote locations. In April 1973, Ehud Barak (who was dressed as a woman), led Israeli commandos as they landed in Beirut and "took out" senior members of the Fatah movement including Yusuf Najjar who was Yassir Arafat's deputy and Fatah spokesman Kamal Nasir. Israel also had a direct hand in the 1979 explosion in Beirut that killed Hassan Ali Salamah, founder of Fatah's elite Force 17. In April of 1988, yet another brash operation was undertaken when an Israeli commando force under the leadership of former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon landed in Tunis and killed Khalil al-Wazir, known by his nom de guerre Abu Jihad. This reprehensible miscreant was the head of the PLO's military branch and the second in seniority in the organization.
Subsequent to a bloody barrage of suicide attacks which claimed the lives of dozens of Israelis, agents from the Mossad shot and killed Fathi Shiqaqi, the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in October of 1995 in Malta. Yahya Abdel-Tif Ayyash, the notorious Hamas operative, better known to many by his sobriquet "The Engineer" was the next in line for Israeli retribution when in 1996 he made his last call in Beit Lahya, Gaza using a booby trapped cellular phone that exploded in his hands. For those who don't remember, he was responsible for masterminding suicide attacks in which 50 Israelis died and 340 were wounded.
Other Hamas leaders targeted for their role in the Al-Aqsa intifada of 2000 included Mahmoud Adani, killed in February of 2001, Jamil Jadallah, killed in November 2001, Salah Shahade, killed in July 2002, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, killed in March 2004, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, killed in April 2004 and Adnan al-Ghoul, killed in October 2004. And the list goes on.
In terms of vanquishing terrorism, targeted assassinations can be classified as a measured response in that they exclusively focus on actual perpetrators of militant attacks, while dramatically reducing collateral damage in terms of civilian and non-combatant casualties. In a 2010 article entitled "Targeted Killings Work" that appeared in Infinity Journal, the argument was made that targeted assassinations are a strategy that entails "limited force in support of policy" and that it has proven most successful.
The context of the article specifically related to proclamations from Hamas that called for cease fires and "periods of calm" in 2004 after the hub of their leadership had been targeted by Israeli forces. The article states that Israeli targeted killings throughout "the 2000-2005 armed rebellion represented a successful strategy" because "the tactics never undermined Israeli policy enough to alter Israel’s overall political objectives" and because Hamas' will to perpetuate armed violence was broken, albeit temporarily.
And for those who are of the opinion that targeted killings are extrajudicial; thus standing in direct contravention to the values and norms of a democratic society, let it be known that on December 14, 2006, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that targeted assassination is indeed a legitimate form of self-defense against terrorists.
Perhaps the United States should follow Israel's lead in terms of beefing up their intelligence, getting down to the nitty-gritty and taking the gloves off. Al-Qaeda leaders and others in their coterie have promised to exact revenge against America, its president and its people. One would have to be exceptionally naive at best and abysmally ignorant at worst to take such saber rattling lightly. Let's not forget Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian surgeon who joined a jihadi cell when he was just 15. His militant group Al Jihad is believed to have played a pivotal role in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and according to reports, Zawahiri is viewed as al-Qaeda's most significant ideological mouthpiece. Some terrorism experts believe that he was more instrumental in the 9/11 attacks than even bin Laden.
The wanted list, however, doesn't stop here. As a top ranking member of Al Qaeda, Saif Al-Adel was indicted by the United States for his role in the same 1998 bombings in Tanzania and there is speculation that he may now be the military commander of the terrorist group. Also an Egyptian, al-Qaeda member Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah has orchestrated the establishment of terrorist training facilities in Somalia and assisted Saif al-Adel in providing military intelligence and training to al-Qaeda members in the Sudan.
Terrorists come in variant forms, shapes and sizes and are not necessarily limited to minimalist cave dwellers. They can be also be found as heads of state in that bastion of instability known as the Middle East and their names can also be Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Muammar Gaddafi and Bashar al-Assad. The time is long overdue to reconsider all options in the ongoing war on terror; to learn lessons from the intrepid Israelis and to prepare to gird our loins for the battles that lie ahead.
Jewish festivals are mostly unknown in the Muslim world, especially the non-Arab Muslim nations, though Christmas, Easter and Halloween are greatly known and even celebrated by the Muslims. In Bangladesh, each year, more than 3 million Christmas cards are sold and it is a public holiday. But, unfortunately, Bangladeshis never heard of Jewish festivals even before 2003, when we launched our only anti-Jihadist and pro-Israel newspaper, Weekly Blitz.
Weekly Blitz has been publishing articles and features on Jewish religious festivals including Rosh Hashanah as well as Yom Kippur. At our personal initiatives, we made English and Bangla version of Holy Torah available in Bangladesh, which also was very much unavailable in this country before 2003. Now copies of Torah are purchased by Muslim readers even in Bangladesh and only in 2009, more than 5,000 copies of Bangla version of Torah was sold. We certainly are not making any profit from such projects.
Weekly Blitz is the only newspaper in the Muslim world, which organizes annual Rosh Hashanah party in the Capital city, which is participated by people from various religious groups, including Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Bahais, Ahmadiyas etc. When we initiated the celebration in 2005, it was attended only by 20 people. But, this year, our celebration will be attended by over 200 people. There is indication of interest by various important people in the society in participating in the Rosh Hashanah celebration. This year, we also are organizing a mini-seminar titled ‘Understanding Jewish Festival’, where university teachers, scholars, editors and religious leaders are invited as speakers. We really should have made a larger function, as we are unable to invite hundreds of people, who are still willing to participate. We are forced in doing that, because of our limited fund.
Many, who participated in our past events of Rosh Hashanah in Bangladesh, are saying that, gradually this event is turning into an example of religious tolerance. Every year, during Rosh Hashanah, we make strong statements against Jihad and Islamist extremism. Moreover, we oppose Holocaust denial. Due to our continuous efforts, significant portion of local intellectuals and editors are gradually raising voice in favor of establishment of relations between Bangladesh [third largest Muslim nation] and Israel and also are pronouncing Israel to be the homeland for the Jewish people.
Anti Semitic and anti-Israel activities of Iranian embassy in Bangladesh, which is spending huge amount of money each year in such heinous venture, are greatly opposed by many locals as well recruitment of Bangladeshis by the so-called Palestinian embassy in Dhaka and sending them to fight against Israel is almost stopped.
Ultra Islamist militancy group such as Hizbut Tahrir is already banned by Bangladesh government in 2009 due to continues editorials and investigative reports published in Weekly Blitz. We now are actively working in getting a book and DVD named ‘Dajjal’ banned, which contains serious offensive comments against Jews and Christians. Bangladesh government is reportedly considering putting ban on this group too, very soon.
In 2006, a minor girl was raped by the Muslim clergy in Chittagong district in Bangladesh. When local press published the report, the clergy and some of the very influential religious leaders in the locality tried to justify this crime by saying, the girl was from a Jewish family. Immediately on seeing this statement, Weekly Blitz not only started publishing reports and editorials, I personally met the minister in the government with the demand of justice for the child. As a result, the culprit was arrested and now serves life term in prison for raping the minor Jewish girl.
In 2008, in another incident, a Jewish family [Jews in Bangladesh mostly suppress their religious identity and pronounce them to be ‘Jehovah’s Witness’ to avoid social and state repressions], was attacked by Muslim youths and their 15-years old daughter as well the wife of the Jewish man was gang raped. We once again brought this matter to the attention of the government, and the culprits are already in prison, facing trial.
These are just some of the examples of accomplishments of Weekly Blitz since 2003. But, just because of our editorial policy, Weekly Blitz office was bombed in July 2006 and attacked in October the same year. I was physically assaulted in 2006 [October] as well as abducted at gun point in February 2008. My office was again attacked and ransacked in February 2009. I knew with certainty that, some elements, encouraged by the Islamist militancy groups and anti-Israel groups were behind such attacks. We got no protection from the government.
In 2009, armed men intruded into my house with assassination plan.
Though US Congress passed resolution in 2007 [HR 64], demanding immediate end of all forms of harassment tactics on me as well as protecting me from attacks and taking actions against the attackers, there is in reality, no action from the government. I am facing sedition, treason and blasphemy charges in Bangladeshi court since 2003, for my stand in favor of Israel. According to Bangladeshi law, sedition bears capital punishment.
Shall I leave Bangladesh with my family and take political refuge in the West? This is what thousands of my friends keep on asking. But, I was offered political asylum in USA, UK, Australia, Canada and many other countries. I humbly told all of them that, I am unwilling to leave Bangladesh. Rather, I am determined to combat militant Islam and will not rest, until it is completely defeated.
Some of my friends ask why I am taking risk of my life. I told them, because I want to see a peaceful world and defeat of militant Islam.
But, the sad thing is, my newspaper, Weekly Blitz, is already at the verge of closure, because, we never received even a single advertisement for our editorial policy favorable to Israel. We have been surviving with generous help from some individuals and organizations. While pro-Islamist media is continuing visible conquest and expansion, this only pro-Israel and anti-Jihadist newspaper is facing imminent closure, due to financial constraint. Can anyone, keep us on their prayers, during Rosh Hashanah please? Can anyone extend their hands?
The Palestinian/ Israeli debate is an issue that I feel like is too complex for me to truly understand. It is an issue where in my opinion both sides are simultaneously fundamentally wrong and fundamentally right.
Recently, Egypt has jumped once more into that breach by fortifying the system of underground tunnels that run beneath the border between Egypt and Gaza. Egypt is reportedly doing this because in addition to the goods, and humanitarian supplies that are smuggled through the pathways to Gaza, the tunnels are being used to smuggle arms to militants in the region. The video below explains it in more detail.
Now, I’m no expert but I feel like generally people can agree that the arms trade in the Middle East in general -- and in Gaza in particular, is a pretty bad thing. But ever since Israel instituted a blockade on Gaza in an act of self-defense, Palestinians have been limited in their ability to get the supplies and goods necessary to sustain themselves. However, as the video points out, Israel ships needed supplies into the area.
It has been a longstanding norm to frame the conflict in this region as a tension between Israel’s need to protect itself from the existential threat of Palestinian terrorism and the Palestinian desire to reclaim what they deem to be Israeli occupied territories. It would be a colossal understatement to say this description is a gross oversimplification but hey it’s gonna have to do.
I submit that the tension in this particular instance is between Israel’s need to protect themselves from the existential threat of terrorism and the need for Gazans to, you know, survive the siege.
First off, let’s address this notion that the blockade is somehow categorically justified because Israel is shipping in supplies.
If I were to keep 30 puppies in a single room, without letting them leave for any reason. Feed them only what someone who hates puppies and also pays for the food decides according to their whim, and give only most of them shots. That wouldn’t really be cool right? It’s kind of like that. Substitute puppies with human beings,“someone who hates puppies” with a significant cross-section of Israelis, and “food/shots” with well, food and shots (humanitarian supplies) and hopefully you see my point.
Next up is Egypt. Jews for Justice for Palestinians has a really detailed analysis of this topic. The piece points out that if Hamas were allowed to join its ideological allies in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, they could gain political power that would threaten Hosni Mubarak. You should check out the whole thing but I think this paragraph summarizes some of the other motives behind Egypt’s decision to fortify themselves against Hamas nicely:
"But two other factors seem to have been decisive in convincing Cairo to bend to American and Israeli pressure and close the vice on Gaza’s Palestinians, along with those who support them. The first was a US threat to cut hundreds of millions of dollars of aid unless it cracked down on arms and other smuggling. The second is the need for US acquiescence in the widely expected hereditary succession of Mubarak’s ex-banker son, Gamal, to the presidency. So, far from protecting its sovereignty, the Egyptian government has sold it for continued foreign subsidy and despotic dynastic rule, sacrificing any pretence to its historic role of Arab leadership in the process.”
So the threat from Hamas towards Egypt has more to do with them as a political organization than it does with them as a terrorist organization.To steal a phrase from Henry Kissinger, The U.S./Egyptian interest in eliminating terrorism has become for the people of Gaza, little more than a “dictatorship of the virtuous".
WASHINGTON -- On Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not just reject President Obama's latest feckless floating nuclear deadline. He spat on it, declaring that Iran "will continue resisting" until the U.S. has gotten rid of its 8,000 nuclear warheads.
So ends 2009, the year of "engagement," of the extended hand, of the gratuitous apology -- and of spinning centrifuges, two-stage rockets and a secret enrichment facility that brought Iran materially closer to becoming a nuclear power.
We lost a year. But it was not just any year.
It was a year of spectacularly squandered opportunity. In Iran, it was a year of revolution, beginning with a contested election and culminating this week in huge demonstrations mourning the death of the dissident Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri -- and demanding no longer a recount of the stolen election but the overthrow of the clerical dictatorship.
Obama responded by distancing himself from this new birth of freedom. First, scandalous silence. Then, a few grudging words. Then relentless engagement with the murderous regime. With offer after offer, gesture after gesture -- to not Iran, but the "Islamic Republic of Iran," as Obama ever so respectfully called these clerical fascists -- the U.S. conferred legitimacy on a regime desperate to regain it.
Why is this so important? Because revolutions succeed at that singular moment, that imperceptible historical inflection, when the people, and particularly those in power, realize that the regime has lost the mandate of heaven. With this weakening dictatorship desperate for affirmation, why is the U.S. repeatedly offering just such affirmation?
Apart from ostracizing and delegitimizing these gangsters, we should be encouraging and reinforcing the demonstrators. This is no trivial matter. When pursued, beaten, arrested and imprisoned, dissidents can easily succumb to feelings of despair and isolation.
Natan Sharansky testifies to the electric effect Ronald Reagan's Evil Empire speech had on lifting spirits in the Gulag. The news was spread cell to cell in code tapped on the walls. They knew they weren't alone, that America was committed to their cause.
Yet so aloof has Obama been that on Hate America Day (Nov. 4, the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran), pro-American counter-demonstrators chanted "Obama, Obama, you are either with us or with them," i.e., their oppressors.
Such cool indifference is more than a betrayal of our values. It's a strategic blunder of the first order.
Forget about human rights. Assume you care only about the nuclear issue. How to defuse it? Negotiations are going nowhere, and whatever U.N. sanctions we might get will be weak, partial, grudging and late. The only real hope is regime change. The revered and widely supported Montazeri had actually issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons.
And even if a successor government were to act otherwise, the nuclear threat would be highly attenuated because it's not the weapon but the regime that creates the danger. (Think India or Britain, for example.) Any proliferation is troubling, but a nonaggressive pro-Western Tehran would completely change the strategic equation and make the threat minimal and manageable.
What should we do? Pressure from without -- cutting off gasoline supplies, for example -- to complement and reinforce pressure from within. The pressure should be aimed not at changing the current regime's nuclear policy -- that will never happen -- but at helping change the regime itself.
Give the kind of covert support to assist dissident communication and circumvent censorship that, for example, we gave Solidarity in Poland during the 1980s. (In those days that meant broadcasting equipment and copying machines.) But of equal importance is robust rhetorical and diplomatic support from the very highest level: full-throated denunciation of the regime's savagery and persecution. In detail -- highlighting cases, the way Western leaders adopted the causes of Sharansky and Andrei Sakharov during the rise of the dissident movement that helped bring down the Soviet empire.
Will this revolution succeed? The odds are long but the reward immense. Its ripple effects would extend from Afghanistan to Iraq (in both conflicts, Iran actively supports insurgents who have long been killing Americans and their allies) to Lebanon and Gaza where Iran's proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, are arming for war.
One way or the other, Iran will dominate 2010. Either there will be an Israeli attack or Iran will arrive at -- or cross -- the nuclear threshold. Unless revolution intervenes. Which is why to fail to do everything in our power to support this popular revolt is unforgivable.
RIAD Malki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority, would like to see Australian troops posted to the Gaza Strip as peacekeepers. More than that, he would be happy, in the event of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories, to have Australians posted in the West Bank.
Malki told me this in a meeting in Ramallah earlier this week. Specifically, he would like Arab, probably Egyptian, forces to come into Gaza, to stop rockets being fired at Israel and, in his words, to "stop any Israeli incursions into Gaza".
Then, he says, the Palestinian forces in Gaza should be professionalised. But to provide security, he says the Palestinians "are willing to accept international forces, NATO, American or Australian forces, in Gaza or the West Bank. We will go the extra mile. We will take away any excuse from the Israelis (not to withdraw from Palestinian territories)."
At the moment, Malki's proposal is unrealistic. The Palestinian Authority cannot guarantee its own security in Gaza. Egypt, let alone the US or Australia, would be unlikely to commit troops and the Israelis would not accept a restriction on their right to self-defence.
Nonetheless, in the unlikely event that a peace deal is reached between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the question of international forces to monitor the deal and perhaps to guard borders will become a real one.
Given Australia's remarkable history of involvement in the Middle East, the question of our participation should be given serious consideration by Canberra.
The fact that the Palestinian foreign minister suggested Australian soldiers reflects the high reputation of our troops. But it also demonstrates that Australia's deep friendship with Israel has not remotely diminished our credibility with the Arab world.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former treasurer Peter Costello are visiting Israel as part of the inaugural Australia Israel Leadership Forum, organised by Melbourne businessman Albert Dadon.
Gillard deserves particular praise for attending the forum, as she was subject to a nasty campaign from the Left to try to intimidate her out of going. The Left internationally is going through one of its periodic bouts of trying to isolate Israel. This is one of those demented moments where allegedly progressive opinion believes it's the height of creativity to engage the mullah dictatorship in Iran, as it steals elections and pursues nuclear weapons, but wrong to visit a democratic ally such as Israel.
The Rudd government has stood four square against this nonsensical position, as demonstrated in Kevin Rudd's long telephone conversation with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, earlier this week.
Rudd, who follows the Middle East with forensic attention to detail, discussed Netanyahu's speech responding to US President Barack Obama's Cairo address to the Muslim world. Specifically Rudd and Netanyahu discussed the prospect of a Palestinian state and the situation in Iran. Read more here...
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she is not surprised that her upcoming visit to Israel has sparked opposition at home.
Labor colleagues have expressed concerns about the dialogue with Israeli leaders this week.
MP Julia Irwin, an executive member of the Australian Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group, has said the trip to Israel is unnecessary.
And several other MPs voiced concern during a recent caucus meeting.
Ms Gillard said it was hardly surprising that there are a range of views on the issue.
"There's obliviously a debate, a very real debate about matters in the middle east, and so I suppose a politician's visit ... is going to be remarked upon,'' Ms Gillard told ABC television.
Labor are "strong friends and supporters'' of Israel.
The party strongly supports "a two state solution, with secure borders to recognise the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian people.''
"That will be my message in Israel,'' she said.
Ms Gillard is leading the delegation to the inaugural Australia Israel Leadership Forum, which includes former treasurer Peter Costello, Liberal frontbenchers Chris Pyne and George Brandis, and Labor backbenchers Mike Kelly and Mark Dreyfus.
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