The Political Conundrum!

My buddy, fellow 1SG, fellow milblogger, and co-host on the You Served Blog Talk Radio show, CJ Grisham has written a great blog post titled Thank You, President Bush. I encourage you to head over to this site and read it. You can read it at http://www.soldiersperspective.us/2008/11/07/thank-you-president-bush/

(Co-Editor's Note: Evan was interviewed on MSNBC about this on November 19 - watch here.)

During several recent conferences concerning extremist radicalization and the web, I have frequently commented that the Internet can often serve as a double-edged sword for terrorist organizations: while it may certainly help facilitate their recruitment and communications, the web also offers a wide interactive arena for dissent within these organizations, and it increases the likelihood of overly-talkative terrorist leaders becoming ensnared in awkward Sarah Palin-like moments -- caught in the spotlight by virtue of their own language.

Perhaps no one within the senior ranks of Al-Qaida has demonstrated this trend better than its own Deputy Commander Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Liberated from the shackles of Al-Jazeera by Al-Qaida's access directly to the Internet, Dr. al-Zawahiri has issued dozens upon dozens of audio and video recordings over the past seven years from various hideouts presumably along the Pakistani-Afghan border. Yet, seemingly, the more recordings he has issued, the more he has dragged himself into quarreling with other jihadi leaders around the globe. In the past two years, al-Zawahiri has strongly criticized the Palestinian Hamas movement for "abandon[ing] the movement of martyrdom operations" in exchange for a tense peace with Israel. For its part, Hamas has not taken kindly to Dr. al-Zawahiri's arrogant "advice." When asked about the frequent recordings from al-Zawahiri attacking Hamas, one Hamas spokesman replied, "We do not tell Al-Dhawahry [Al-Zawahiri] what to do in Afghanistan since we are not aware of his situation...His judgments and opinions are his; but they are not correct. More importantly, we are not awaiting approval or blessing from anyone except Allah." A second voice from Hamas, Osama Hamdan, was even quoted by the official website of the Muslim Brotherhood on the matter: "Al-Zawahiri's statements and criticism towards Hamas movement have no effect on the movement's attitude... What Al-Zawahiri said isn't a criticism, it is an unjustified defamation and attack against Hamas movement and its leaders."

Nor have the Palestinians been the only ones subject to the wrath of al-Zawahiri. In recent years, as Al-Qaida's hopes for the jihad in Iraq have abruptly faded into the sunset, Dr. al-Zawahiri has published a box set of multimedia messages condemning "secular" and "nationalist" Iraqi insurgents for abandoning their Al-Qaida brethren, and ordering them to "obey" Al-Qaida's local leadership in Iraq. One can only forgive their natural skepticism at why Al-Qaida would select a Jordanian, and then an Egyptian to lead its organization inside of Iraq. Earlier this year, I asked the Sunni insurgent group known as the "Al-Rashideen Army"--an avowedly jihadi group--to explain why it had failed to acknowledge Dr. al-Zawahiri's recorded orders. A spokesman from the group responded, “There is a problem in Tibet for China—is it possible for me to prescribe the solutions for their problem? We are a people in this region for 6000 year before Christ, end[ing] with Islam, and we are fully capable of rolling and managing our own affairs. We do not need others to tell us what to do.” When I posed the same question to the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI), the insurgents scoffed, "The statements of al-Zawahiri do not obligate us whatsoever, and the errors of Al-Qaida in regards to spilling the blood of the innocent are more numerous than can possibly be covered in a single response, statement, or interview."

Now, Dr. al-Zawahiri has begun his assault on the U.S. President-Elect -- before Barack Obama has even taken office. Clearly, Al-Qaida is seeking to undermine the surge of popularity and enthusiasm for the Obama victory that has spread throughout the developing world, and particularly in Africa -- where Al-Qaida has strong vested interests in at least two ongoing military conflicts. There certainly are ways to accomplish this -- as was demonstrated by Al-Qaida's skillful use of imagery of Barack Obama at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. However, by indulging in divisive labels such as "House Slave" or "House Negro", Dr. al-Zawahiri has strayed from being merely disrespectful into being entirely disreputable and dishonorable. By playing the race card so quickly and so brazenly, al-Zawahiri may end up causing backlash against Al-Qaida in the very constituencies he is seeking to woo. It also invites the question, how is this a legitimate criticism coming from the senior leadership of Al-Qaida, which is dominated almost solely by Arab Egyptians and Saudis? Moreover, what would Malcolm X have thought of an organization, Al-Qaida, that at one time offered a higher salary to its Arab membership than its Black African adherents? One might imagine that the financial guru responsible for overseeing this inequitable arrangement -- Egyptian national Mustafa Abu al-Yazid -- would have been punished for his bigoted actions. In fact, al-Yazid has since been promoted to the number 3 position in Al-Qaida, right behind Dr. al-Zawahiri. This is hardly the type of image that Al-Qaida would like to see proliferate in critical regions adjacent to jihadi conflict zones in Somalia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania.

The Indian navy sank a suspected pirate "mother ship" and chased two attack boats into the night, officials said Wednesday, as the owners of a seized Saudi oil supertanker negotiated for the release of their vessel and its $100 million cargo.

"On time. On target. Never quit!" is not a catchphrase, but a promise that Naval Special Warfare Combat Crewmen make to their country, their brothers and themselves that they will complete their mission every time.

This morning's airstrike in Pakistan's Bannu region targeted a senior al Qaeda leader with close ties to Osama bin Laden.

Don’t let up, never waiver and don’t sit back thinking you are done for the year. This has been the problem in the past and why CJCS Mullen has stated that the war in Afghanistan was on the wrong path for the last 2 years. It looks like this year they are not going to let up and they are going to continue killing 24/7/365. Thanks goodness there is now a renewed focus on the battle in Afghanistan and people realize it is not just a war of Teddy Bears and school supplies.

Read what I am talking about here…http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-usafghan19-2008nov19,0,3095222.story

The government sought Tuesday to dismiss concerns that it might try to delay rollout of the new GI Bill, pledging to be ready to handle growing claims in veterans education benefits after abandoning plans to hire a contractor.

Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites. The message appeared aimed at persuading Muslims that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies.

A Navy recruiter is in jail in Madera, Calif., after being arrested Nov. 12 on charges that allege he showed sexual photos of himself to young females he was attempting to recruit.

The recent, audacious hijacking of a Saudi oil tanker by Somali pirates, with at least some of the ransom money destined for Islamist militants, shows just how quickly the future has arrived.

The criminal-terrorist groups on the Somali coast (largely controlled by radical Islamists of the al-Shabaab group, a self-declared affiliate of al Qaeda central) have in essence declared themselves at war as a joint enterprise, against the rest of the world. Even the Saudis are angry enough to try to join international efforts to combat the groups fed by their own theological teachings.

These loose-knit groups now join the FARC in Colombia, the Taliban in Afghanistan/Pakistan and others as full-fledged terrorist-criminal enterprises that are the future. I have long warned that this threat will, unfortunately, have to be a tier-one priority for the incoming administration. These latest developments show just how dangerous it is to not deal with these issues in their infancy.

Unlike the FARC and Taliban, which rely on drugs, the Somali groups have used innovative thinking to generate their wealth. This too, is what we will see more and more of, as groups intersect along the terrorist-criminal pipeline and find overlapping interests and talents.

They took what was at hand, a vital artery in world commerce-including oil shipments-and found the weakness in the system, namely, a complete lack of protection of valuable cargo flowing past them.

The pirates, acting largely from economic motives, now hold a staggering amount of wealth in their hands. The operative concern has to be not only the criminal funds, but the use of these funds to arm and support radical Islamists. Al-Shabaab is likely to share the wealth, and we will see them suddenly armed with new, sophisticated weapons and communications as they move to finish off the weak and ineffective transitional government.

Already the hijackings are having a huge effect on commerce through one of the most obvious choke points in the world's shipping commerce. My full blog is here.