The Political Conundrum!

This is one you will want to check out. After checking out the trailer below, head over to http://www.outsidethewire.com/

The good news yesterday was the conviction on all counts of Monzar al Kassar,the international weapons trafficker and friend of numerous terrorist organizations.

Al Kassar and his accomplice, Luis Moreno Godoy were convicted in New York of conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals; conspiracy to murder U.S. officers and employees; conspiracy to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles; conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a designated foreign terrorist organization; and money laundering. The convictions represent the first time anyone has been charged with and convicted of the anti-aircraft missile statute.

Al Kassar, like Viktor Bout and others, are part of the shadowy world of facilitators that work across criminal and terrorist organizations, supplying them with what they need-from weapons to passports to money laundering services.

Successfully targeting these shadow facilitators hurts both groups and is one of the more effective ways of crippling the terrorist/criminal enterprises they empower.

As I wrote when he was arrested (and you can find the indictment and other articles here too), the arrest sprang from a sting operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to whom he thought he was selling surface-to-air missiles which he hoped would kill Americans. The US won al Kassar's extradition from Spain in order to stand trial in the United States.

It was the same template the DEA used to arrest Viktor Bout in Thailand. The conviction augers well for what would be a very similar case against Bout, if he ever gets here. My full blog is here.

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a new statement from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban) rejecting Afghan President Hamid Karzai's solemn offer to Mullah Omar to "guarantee his security and safety" if he would agree to willingly participate in peace negotiations. The Taliban assert that "Karzai and his masters should know, personal immunity and power obtainment is not an issue for Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid." Further, "Our people may remember that at the first months following the American invasion of Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai was reiterating the same appeals and polished assertions for members and the rank and file of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, claiming no member of Taliban, whether senior or junior, would be harassed merely by being a member of Taliban. Then, we saw with our own eyes that thousands of defenseless Taliban were arrested and kept in containers and dungeons of Qallae Jangi. They were consequently mercilessly martyred -- an unforgettable tragedy reminiscent of Mr. Karzai’s retracting his promise... one can conclude that the hackneyed words and assertions by Mr. Karzai are aimed at throwing dust in the eyes of the people. Ironically, Karzai has not the authority to take up the dialogue by his own nor can tell the nation the truth.”

A copy of the statement can be accessed on the NEFA Foundation website.

It was four years ago today, that I got the call. A call that changed my life significantly in the Army. I had lost friends outside the military and I had even lost friends in the military and in war. But this was the first time I had lost one of my soldiers. Not just any soldier, but one of those soldiers that stands out amongst all of them. Because of Iraq being several timezones ahead, he was killed in a terrible ambush on the 20th and it was on the morning of the 20th EST that I got the call.

My Commander and good friend called me around 7:30 in the morning with the words “we lost one”. I remember walking in my living room and then quickly moving to the steps to sit down. I asked him who, and the reply was simply “Roustum”. I was in a hazy daze. I remember that too. The world had stopped, all of my senses seemed to be shut down….just paused.

My mind was racing trying to make sense of it, thinking of just 5 days earlier when I, along with most of our Family Readiness Group, were at the VFW putting together Christmas boxes to ship to my soldiers. I remembered standing side by side with a mom who always impressed me and was so nice and my mind though of her when those officers in uniform along with a deputy would be walking to her door to tell her the news.

My schedule was shot that day. Everything I had on my plate, that I thought mattered was quickly forgotten. I didn’t care about anything or anyone except to find out what happened. The rest of the day was a day full of phone calls, between the Commander and I, the Battalion and Brigade HQs, and eventually family members. Many were wounded that day, and as those wounded soldiers were being treated in hospitals between Iraq and Germany, they were calling home. Two humvee loads of soldiers were wounded that day, and of course one of those soldiers, SGT David Roustum was lost forever.

It killed me and my wife to stay silent as families kept calling through the day as they either suspected something or were told something by their soldier who was forward deployed. Until Dave’s family was notified I could not be the comforter, instead I had to be the soldier. This meant that I had to deny knowing anything and could only advise the families to please not spread rumors until we knew something official. That was a quandary that I hated being in. These families were hurting for their own soldiers and they were hurting for a family they did not know of yet, but they were sure they knew personally.

During the day there were problems trying to find a Notification officer and someone from State called me to ask me if I could serve in that role. Typically the Army likes to use someone from outside the unit and not someone the family may ever see again to be the notification officer delivering the terrible news. For them to ask me was against the norm, but I knew they would only do it if they had to. My heart sank when they asked as I could not think of worse task, but at the same time I would step up and do it if asked. After that call, I quickly started checking my Class-A uniform and making sure everything was there and ready to go. For a while after that I just wondered how I would do it, what I would say, if I could maintain my composure.

Several hours later I got a call telling me they found someone outside the unit that could do the notification and I was greatly relieved. I could not imagine delivering that news and then having to face the family later.

It was four years ago today, that started a path in my career and life that I would say would be the lowest point in my military career and the highest point in my career. Let me explain what I mean by that. The lowest becuase I had to bury one of my soldiers. A soldier, that I along with the Commander, had to pick to send to combat without us becuase the National Guard did not want the whole company, they just wanted our soldiers. The highest point in my career because we pulled out all the stops and did everything we could to render the highest honors we could for one of our fallen brothers. The Commander and I worked every deal we could with anyone we could to get anything the family wanted for the funeral service with full honors. Even though I was not serving side by side with my men in combat, I could at least serve one of them by providing him the honors he deserved.

It has been four years today since that call came, and let me tell you time may heal becuase over time we eventually turn back to life and focus on things but it really never gets easier. I have talked with Dave many times since that day and I still do today. I miss him greatly as does many other people who ever had the pleasure of knowing him personally.

That is a phrase from the French which translates into “The more things change, the more they stay the same”.

As per CNN this morning “More than half of the people named so far to Obama’s transition or staff posts have ties to former President Bill Clinton’s administration.”

Now that is what I call change…..NOT!!

Some other examples:
Dashcle for HHS
Clinton for Sec of State
Holder for AG

I predict the following:

The ignorant*, uninformed and easily swayed sheep of this country who voted for the big O because he brought HOPE and CHANGE are not going to vote in 4 years. In fact I think many will turn their back on the political process well before hand once they see that the big O is going to be nothing more than a puppet for the Clinton-ites. The young and dumb will wonder what Change will will like since most of what it is starting to look like are the faces of the Clinton administration.

I can’t say I blame the Obama for turning to so many Clinton folks, I mean who does he know? He is the most inexperienced President this country has ever put into office and short of his new special adviser whom he met when she hired Michelle Obama into the Chicago’s Mayor office back in the day, everyone else is past Washington insider….the same Washington insiders that the American people who voted for the Big O wanted a change from.

Well guess what people, you are about to reap what you sow. In the words of my past Battalion Commander and friend….”Hope is not a method”.

Click here to listen to the Audio blog / Podcast

Please, Please, PLEASE do me a favor and watch the video below. It is not some right wing freak or Bill O’Rielly or even Ann Coulter. It is plain, every day citizens like you that voted. These interviews were done as soon as they came out from voting. The power of the vote is a powerful thing. How can it be left in the hands of such uninformed people? The questions are real, the correct answers are on record. We need to institute a national exam in order to vote. If you are ignorant*, you should not be allowed to vote. That SHOULD BE THE LAW.

*Definition of Ignorant as per www.dictionary.com
1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned: an ignorant man.
2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact: ignorant of quantum physics.
3. uninformed; unaware.
4. due to or showing lack of knowledge or training: an ignorant statement.

(Co-Editor's Note: Walid Phares was interviewed on C-SPAN on November 20 about this tape - watch here.)

As observers were awaiting the release of the "official" al Qaeda position regarding the election of Barack Obama as the new President of the United States, seasoned experts on the Jihadist movement had little doubts as to the substance of the main message. As I have outlined in my appearances on Arabic television channels since November 4, Bin Laden or his second in command was expected to declare that their "Jihad" will continue despite the election of an African American President and despite Obama’s intention to withdraw from Iraq. Ayman Zawahiri did just that on Wednesday in his latest message to his supporters and his enemies: even if the war ends in Iraq, the global war will continue everywhere.

The tape was expected to appear a couple weeks after the election because of al Qaeda's method of monitoring the reactions of the international community, of the Arab and Muslim world and also of other Islamist authorities. The Bin Laden-Zawahiri style is to give the "last word," like a Caliph would. The points raised in the tape were almost all predicted by experts familiar with the Jihadi-combat mind set: Although a new president was elected - one who would reverse some of Bush’s policies, the new president will devise new strategies to defeat al Qaeda.. Zawahiri isn't buying the version proposed by other anti-American critics of Washington's War on Terror. Most of Europe's left, the Arab authoritarian regimes, and the Islamist fundamentalist establishment have all welcomed the news of an Obama victory and are tailoring new proposals for the region's future (of course to their advantage). But not al Qaeda. That's why this Zawahiri message is important. It is telling the world and allies that there will be no respite in the conflict.

The al Qaeda’s number two had to address the election of a Black President of the United States because of the two massive changes this choice has brought to the Jihadist agenda: On the one hand, Obama is very popular in the eyes of international public opinion; on the other hand the President elect is planning on withdrawing from Iraq and pushing forward in Afghanistan. All this changes al Qaeda's game. Zawahiri's tape had to address these "challenges" as pressure was mounting among Jihadists to deal with this election. Hence, the main points presented by the audio message are as follows:

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.

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 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.