Grim warning for the UK and US

[Quiet Riot]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/08/04/zawahiri.london/

(CNN) -- Osama bin Laden's No. 2 man in al Qaeda has threatened more destruction in London, saying that British Prime Minister Tony Blair would be to blame.
In a video broadcast Thursday on Arabic-language TV station Al Jazeera Ayman al-Zawahiri also issued a warning for the United States.

Wondering why Bin Laden isn't doing these videos anymore? Don't even remember when the last tape or video was made by him.  Hopefully the puke is buried under a couple tons of rock from a collapsed cave....

 

[Infanteer]

Wondering why Bin Laden isn't doing these videos anymore? Don't even remember when the last tape or video was made by him.   Hopefully the puke is buried under a couple tons of rock from a collapsed cave....

...because, most likely, he knows that his number 1 weapon - fear - is best exercised under the spector of uncertainty of his where-abouts, his condition, etc, etc.

Either that, or he is indeed buried under a rock from a lucky shot.  Either way, it probably doesn't matter, because the Islamic Insurgency is humming along without him.

Interesting to see that Zawahiri is still alive - I thought that the US had concluded that they got him in an airstrike.

 

[McG]

Wondering why Bin Laden isn't doing these videos anymore?

Maybe he's been following the polls:

Bin Laden's support falls among Muslims
Negative opinion of Jews and Christians on the rise: poll
Chris Cobb
Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service
Friday, July 15, 2005

Support for suicide bombers and al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has dropped throughout the Muslim world, according to a major multinational survey released Thursday.

But the survey suggests anti-Jewish sentiment is overwhelming and in two countries nearly 100 per cent of people surveyed said they had a very unfavorable view of Jews. There is also significant negative opinion of Christians throughout the Muslim world.

The Washington-based Pew Research Center tested public opinion in six predominantly Muslim nations -- Pakistan, Lebanon, Turkey, Morocco, Jordan and Indonesia -- and non-Muslim countries, including Canada, the U.S., India, China and several European countries. Pew interviewed 17,000 respondents either in person or by telephone from late April to the end of May.

The report, released less than a week after the London suicide bombings, suggests people in Muslim countries are increasingly unhappy about terrorist attacks that target innocent civilians and overall, fewer have confidence in bin Laden.

The views of bin Laden are mixed. In Lebanon, only two per cent say they have any degree of confidence in him and in Turkey, only seven per cent express any confidence in him. Support in Morocco for the world's most wanted man is down from 49 per cent two years ago to 29 per cent. In Indonesia, the public is evenly split, which is a major loss of confidence since 2003 when 58 per cent of Indonesians were bin Laden supporters.

Only in Pakistan and Jordan has support for bin Laden increased. In Pakistan, more than half say they place some degree of confidence in him, up from 45 per cent in 2003. Pakistani men are twice as likely to support bin Laden than are women.

"There are some signs, especially in Indonesia, Morocco and even Turkey, where they've had their own experience with terrorist bombings, that there's less support than there was in 2003 for suicide bombings and for bin Laden," Pew director Andrew Kohut said Thursday.

As with opinion over bin Laden, views on suicide bombings and other violent acts against civilians vary. In Turkey, Morocco and Indonesia, fewer than 15 per cent say suicide bombings and other acts of violence in defence of Islam are justifiable and in Pakistan only 25 per cent share that view, down from 41 per cent a year ago.

The margin of sampling error ranged from two to four percentage points.

 

[Infanteer]

That survey was discussed in detail here:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/32059.210.html

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

No terrorist group has to act upon their threats anymore, a few small bombings , a few fake bombs, some real terrorists running around is enough to keep every western nation busy making new rules, spending money they do not ahve to spend to prevent, secure, and investagate  anything that moves.  Untill they  stop fearing the terrorists on such large scales and stop with the band aid coverage of making things safe for the mr and mrs public, the terrorists  win the battle, but not the war.  If people are stopped from doing the everyday  normal stuff in their lives, that  is how the terroriists win.

The terrorism outbreaks in The States and the rest of the world have impacted on my  recreational fun more then it has on my everyday  life.
I am one of those strange people who like to watch trains,  in the US now it is borderline illegal to photograph and watch trains. Stop to watch a train in some locations expect a cop to come by and ask for ID, be run thru the computer, checked for out standing warrants, and if lucky  just asked to move on.  Worse case they detain you for questioning.  I have been stopped and questioned. Was 3 blocks from my house.

That  may sound like a minor event and waste of time but there 100s of thousands of people who enjoy that  hobby  of train watching and now many are staying home , not buying film, buying gas for trips,  cameras, food and other railfan items because they  do not want the hassle with police and risk being arrested by an officer who does not understand the idea of watching trains.  Money  is not being spent as much as it once was on the hobby.

In my  book the terrorist wins that battle.  All the threats made now in the world , the government leaders have to react , spend more money. This week in Canada, spending money  on bus,subway cameras, no fly  list starting in 2006,  truck drivers who haul the dangerous cargoes need a more stiff background check,  locomotive crews need a stiffer background check,  this costs money, and  the money is not there for all the programs now that need funding, and they add  a few hundred more to be funded by  the terrorist alerts.

I hope the leaders of these groups are not dead, for the simple reason we know who they are, just do not know where they are right now. If we kill the leadership, they  will become Icons in their religions, and their followers will only become more zealous in their cause.
If we put the leadership in jails, the jails will become targets for outbreaks, more terror plots to make us deliver the leadership back to their people. It is a no win situation as I see it. We will never rid the world of terrorists and terrorism but we might be able to control it better.

 

[GO!!!]

Well then.

I guess we should just give up and allow the terrorists and others who would do us harm to do so. It's just too inconvenient to try to stop them.

Can you imagine - being asked for ID? What a ridiculous infringement of rights!?!

I can only hope that me or one of my loved ones is not a victim of "a few small bombings" just because someone like you was too lazy to carry his picture ID, and railed against security measures.

I suppose we should stop screening airport passengers luggage and open our borders with no controls as well. It's just too much of a pain to try and stop terrorists and criminals.

The bottom line is that more than a few terrorist groups have acted. I think that it is worth showing up to the airport 30 minutes early for the better chance that the plane won't be hijacked, and that an inconvenienienced "railfan" is preferable to a derailed train filled with poisonous chemicals.

Perhaps you should visit the 9-11 memorial site in NY, just to witness the cost of complacency.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

i agree that changes are needed, but not band aid changes.  video camera are not going to stop a few bombings. 
i guess I was not very  clear.  they do not have to go after large scale targets any more, just empty backpack againist a building in a down town core is enough to bring an entire area to a stand still.  last month in ottawa there was at least one false alarm. it shut down part of ottawa downtown core, a person came by and claimed it, sparkes street mall area.  a briefcase had the MPs and the Ottawa Bomb squad called out in ottawa , saw the story in the Sun over the weekend.

news story in the paper yesterday's Ottawa Sun, about how a reporter moved unclaimed baggage around the airport in Ottawa.  that  has to be better  controlled.  if anyone can walk up and take a bag or leave a bag, that is serious break down in security

Photo ID, no law in Canada requires you to carry ID.


I never said anything about stop screening luggauge or people flying.

I think the whole security thing has to re thought and made to sound sense.

here is an example of railfan in the States actuall event.

Off duty police officer who has watched trains for over 30 years, 20 year vet of a large city  police force. Local person sees him standing by tracks, calls the police, the polce show up, he gives ID, even shows his badge,  FBI is called, they seize his notes and log book going back 20 years of pictures and locomotives. Reason for taking the notebook that  lists pictures he has taken terrorist might use it to stop a train.
that was report of CNN  2002, summer I think. i will look for exact dates if required.

another example in the States man stops to watch a  train, he is standing on a bridge police are called by passing drivers. They check him out and tell him not to jump.

Showing up 30 minutes before a flight is no longer allowed, some flights  expect to be there 2 hours or more early.
The guards need more training,  the equipment they  use or are suppose to be using needs to be turned on and used.  Cases have been reported that new equipment is too costly  to run or no one trained touse it so it just sits there.

Like they said in london after the bombings they the people of London are not going to let them stop everyday  life because of bomb threats. WW 2 did not stop everyday  life in London and they  were being bombed daily. Terrorists will win if we do give up and stop living life as we do now.


No terorrism group has to do anything anymore, they  know all they have to do is make a threat and they  will make an event had to attend for the average joe on the street.
Example Superbowl biggest sporting event in the USA. Having aircraft flying over head on combat air patrols,  every one searched upon entering the stadium,  sure takes the fun out of it for some people, but does not stop people from going. Hundreds of extra police officers, the over time is killing local budgets and burning out officers and taking them off cases where the police work is needed.

More security at the border that is a joke. 

Guy on east coast, can get into the States from Canada carrying a chainsaw, covered in blood,  because he has American ID and they cannot stop him from going in because he has not broken a law they know of yet. same guy later wanted in Canada for murder of 2 people.

Terrorists in my view are winning the little battles and we are winning the war.  But like in all wars the winners end up paying more then the losers. We are paying to fight the terrorists with troops, equipment, moving the troops adn equipment, over time and costs of extra police etc.  we are creating laws to deal with the threats and the aftermath, all this is costing even more money.

The terrorists are winning the money  battles.  a few terrorists hiding in caves and moving by night are living on the cheap, we send helicopters, apcs, troops, and other assets after them , that is not cheap, has to be done but that is required.

we kill the leadership, more are going to take their place and they  will have new heros to worship and another reason to go after us non muslims.  we have to cut the legs off the terrorists, go after the followers, the money people then the leadership. once the money and the followers start to dry  up , the leadership should fall.

I really do believe if we give up our daily lives and freedoms the terrorists will win without having to do anything. They  would only have to be there threatening us with a new act of terror.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

FHG,

We do what we have to do, within our legal parameters and means. They are a difficult enemy to pin down, fight and deciminate. Education of the ignorant masses will go a long way to alleviate the burden. Education will take the better part of two generations to accomplish, IF we stick to it. Other than stepping outside the legally, western, accepted norms, what do you suggest? Personally, I say identify the threat. Let's use our intelligence assets, to track and identify the players. From the highest to the lowest. Confirm their involvement, then eliminate them. Bring back "black ops", "wet works", call it what you will. Shoot them down as they're found and pick up the casings, then deny, deny, deny. If a certain Goverment doesn't seem to be doing their share (Pakistan), don't tell them what your doing. Identify the training camps and send in a couple of Tomahawks. Elimate Warlords and others that contribute to the problem, and the next guy, and the next guy. We're not always going to be right, innocents will get killed, but as many innocents that are slaughtered daily by the opposition? Suck it up, Buttercup. The idea of fighting them on the Rules of Combat is a joke. They don't respect it, why should we? We're better than them, we're above that barbaric activity? Bullshit. We learned the same lesson how many times? You fight them on their rules or risk a prolonged, unwinnable, and costly conflict. Trust me, the next generation of politicians and soldiers that replace us, will not be so obliging to the UN and the Geneva Convention if this continues. I only hope I'm still only in the early stages of aluminum pot syndrome to vote for them. That's my $00.02.

 

[GO!!!]

FHG

Alright voice of eternal opposition - let's hear your brilliant ideas to deal with terrorism, seeing as you oppose all exisitng ones, you must have a few good ones  :