The Political Conundrum!

In an effort to get the word out as soon as possible, I am giving a big H/T to my fellow Afghan Lessons Learned milblogger, WOTN for the tip on this and I hope he does not mind I am repeating his blog here on Bouhammer. Please take a moment and join me in voting for FingerTipNews.

One of the disturbing and little noticed events of recent weeks was the crash (or destruction) of a Boeing 727 in the desert of Mali.

The crash is disturbing for many reasons, among them these three: 1) the aircraft was carrying between 2 to 3 tons of cocaine, far more than other, smaller aircraft and boats that have been detected in recent months, indicating an escalation of the trade through the Trans-Sahel region; 2) The region where the aircraft was found, most likely torched by its crew to destroy evidence, in a area of heavy operation of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM); and 3) the aircraft departed from Venezuela, now Latin America's primary transshipment hub from Latin America to West Africa, and source of all the major air shipments of cocaine that have been interdicted in West Africa.

Finally, as the Observer article notes, British, U.S. and French authorities in West Africa have discovered HCL labs, used to make finished cocaine for the European market, as well as capsules and other items for making Meth capsules there, also likely for export to Europe.

All this points to a disturbing set conclusions. One is that the Colombian and Mexican traffickers are feeling sufficiently confident in their ability to move product through West Africa and upping the size of their loads based on that confidence. In testing new routes they always start small, to minimize losses if the route isn't working. Once they are confident they flood the zone. It seems that this is the first indication that the West Africa zone is now being flooded.

Another is that there could be a growing role of at least some branches of al Qaeda or other Islamist terrorist groups now willing to help move or protect the drugs as they move north. The crash indicates the cocaine was not going to be moved to Europe via boats, as it was far inland. The Tuareg and other groups that control the smuggling routes north through the Sahel will be making much more money as they move into the cocaine protection and movement business, much as the FARC in Colombia found itself awash in cash when they did. My full blog is here.

U.S. Army Spc. David Harris (left) and Staff Sgt. Nash Stratton, both with Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, arrive at Combat Outpost Sangar, Zabul, Afghanistan, on Nov. 17, 2009. Harris and Stratton are deployed to Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez, U.S. Air Force.

Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano will travel to New York City on Dec. 2-4 to meet with private sector leaders in the real estate, professional sports, financial and media industries to discuss the shared responsibility to protect critical infrastructure and build a national culture of readiness and resiliency.

Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano hosted her third roundtable meeting with private sector leaders to discuss the shared responsibility of the private sector in supporting the Department’s mission and highlight ongoing cooperative efforts to enhance critical infrastructure protection, readiness and resiliency.

The NEFA Foundation has released a series of photographs of rockets prepared by the nascent Al-Qaida-aligned Tawheed wal-Jihad Movement in the Gaza Strip. The trademark banner visible in the background of several of the images was borrowed by Tawheed wal-Jihad from Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq."

See also: The official political platform of the Tawheed wal-Jihad Movement in Palestine

I have said those worlds on this blog more times than I can remember. Anyone that I know who has been to both has said the same exact thing and told me I was dead on with that statement. Now it seems yet another soldier with experience in both reinforces the idea yet again.

“Before deploying here we were given training on language, culture, everything. I thought that since I was an Iraq combat veteran, I didn’t need any of that stuff. I was wrong. Both countries may be Muslim but this is a totally different place,” says Sgt. Michael McCann, returning from a patrol in the east-central province of Logar.

Another example is the terrain:

Soldiers and officers involved in combat operations all cite the more punishing geography and climate, those focused on development the bare-bones infrastructure, and intelligence specialists the even greater difficulties in identifying the insurgents as among the many sharp contrasts between Afghanistan and Iraq.

“The sheer terrain of Afghanistan is much more challenging: the mountains, the altitudes, severity of weather, the distances. That wears on an army,” says Maj. Joseph Matthews, a battalion operations officer in the 10th Mountain Division. “You can flood Baghdad with soldiers but if you want to flood the mountains you are going to need huge numbers and logistics.”

Read the entire story at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34186274/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

I have said those worlds on this blog more times than I can remember. Anyone that I know who has been to both has said the same exact thing and told me I was dead on with that statement. Now it seems yet another soldier with experience in both reinforces the idea yet again.

“Before deploying here we were given training on language, culture, everything. I thought that since I was an Iraq combat veteran, I didn’t need any of that stuff. I was wrong. Both countries may be Muslim but this is a totally different place,” says Sgt. Michael McCann, returning from a patrol in the east-central province of Logar.

Another example is the terrain:

Soldiers and officers involved in combat operations all cite the more punishing geography and climate, those focused on development the bare-bones infrastructure, and intelligence specialists the even greater difficulties in identifying the insurgents as among the many sharp contrasts between Afghanistan and Iraq.

“The sheer terrain of Afghanistan is much more challenging: the mountains, the altitudes, severity of weather, the distances. That wears on an army,” says Maj. Joseph Matthews, a battalion operations officer in the 10th Mountain Division. “You can flood Baghdad with soldiers but if you want to flood the mountains you are going to need huge numbers and logistics.”

Read the entire story at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34186274/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a communiqué issued by a group calling itself “Muwahiidun ar-Rusi” ("The Russian Monotheists") claiming responsibility for the bombing of "the largest subterranean natural gas storage facility in the world" in Stavropol, Russia. The communiqué was posted by Kavkaz Center, the official mouthpiece of the Chechen insurgents. Kavkaz stated that it "does not have reliable evidence about the organization...Let us remind that the same organization announced its participation in the sabotage at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant."

The complete text of the communique can be accessed via the NEFA Foundation website.

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a new communiqué from Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, leader of Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq" (ISI) titled, “A Letter to the Knights of Baghdad”. In his statement, al-Muhajir argued that “the big [martyrdom] deeds that are bold and unique are an absolute necessity in breaking the bones of kuffar in continuing the liquidation war, using all Jihad methods, as these cannot be given up at all.” He urged his followers to spend “everyday thinking, even for one hour, in solitary, about how to defeat a certain hardship and how to advance a certain weapon and how to ambush a certain target…”

A complete English translation of Abu Hamza al-Muhajir's letter can be accessed via the NEFA Foundation website.