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Weekend warning and the dogs of war Dave Francis Is it possible that the attacks we saw on the US September the 11th were a prelude? Could this have been the left jab, setting up its intended victim for the knockout blow? That may be the idea the terrorists have. In August, federal officials were warned by security forces from allied nations that more than 200 terrorists had plans to slip into the US with the intention of creating a massive, unprecedented wave of terrorist attacks. Mossad gave valuable, credible information to agents of the CIA and FBI that a massive attack on US interests was being planned, and that movements in the US, Afghanistan, and Iraq led analysts to suspect the attacks were imminent. It had been noted that there were more than 200 members of Osama bin Ladins Al Qaeda spotted leaving Afghanistan for the Shouman region of northern Iraq. They are holed up in the cities of Biwar and Tiwal, in the Uman district, which is a stronghold of Jund al Islam, a radical group funded by Osama bin Ladin. It is now understood that they were pulled out of Afghanistan starting in July in preparation for the hostilities that have begun in earnest with the attack on the US. These men represent the commanding cadre of bin Ladins forces. Sources say there are more and more indications that the terrorist group responsible for this past action in New York and Washington may have plans for another attack which may take place on Saturday, the 22nd. At least four people who are wanted for questioning, including a doctor who has been arrested in San Antonio and is suspected of being involved on some level with the hijackers had flights booked for Saturday. Senator Bob Graham, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said that the attacks were "part of a larger plan with other terrorism acts, not necessarily the hijacking of airplanes", and terrorist acts of a different nature may follow. Particular concern is raised over the possibility of chemical or biological attack on population centers, perhaps through the food or water supply. The FBI is currently searching for 223 people who they suspect have ties to the organization(s) responsible for the attack on the WTC and Pentagon. Of this group, one fourth are licensed pilots. 115 people are currently in custody in the USA, and are being questioned about their possible knowledge of the terrorists and their activity. Federal officials arrested three men in Detroit after a search of their home revealed airport identification tags, hand drawn diagrams of an airport. The men had come to the attention of federal officials as they tried to find Nabil al Marabh, listed as a potential conspirator in the terrorist attacks. Al Marabh, a former Boston cabdriver has ties to some of the hijackers disappeared from the USA after a conviction last December for stabbing a man who had been a guest in his home. Later reports are that al Marabh was arrested hours ago in Chicago. He was taken into custody without incident. Two passengers were arrested in Fort Worth aboard an Amtrak train that had left from St. Louis Mo. They had been booked on a flight that had been diverted to, and landed in St. Louis right after the WTC attacks. When detained, they were carrying box cutters like the ones used in the highjackings. They also had a large amount of cash, more than 20,000 dollars, and hair dye in a box with them. One of the men is a certified pilot. Carrying box cutters, hair dye and money isn't illegal, but considering the recent events, it is suspicious. On September the 12th, federal officials went to the Cayman Islands to question three men who had been arrested two weeks ago after an anonymous tip that they were planning a terrorist attack on the US. The men have identified themselves as Nez Nazar Nezary, Mohammad Raza Hussani and Ali Sha Yusuf and are being held in a Cayman detention facility. Preliminary investigations reveal that they are probably Afghanis, and they claim to have paid for passage on a ship in Turkey bound for Canada. They claim they were put ashore and told they were in Canada, only to find out later they were really in the Caymans. Cayman officials though say that the men came from Cuba, and had been traveling on Pakistani passports. It is hard to determine the identities of any of the suspected terrorists, since they have a very successful network of support, including a department whose specialty, 'identity theft' was aided by the theft of blank passports in Albania, the confusion during the gulf war, where many people were missing, and many documents were taken, later to be used by terrorists, and also by a network set up in Italy that specializes in creating new personas for members of the Islamic Jihad. Intelligence sources say that Italy has become the place to go for Jihad members who need new and better papers for travel. Saudi officials have confirmed that at least five of the hijackers from the 11th were impersonating Saudi nationals, who are at home in Saudi Arabia, unaware there identities were being used. Al Qaeda, bin Ladins group, has approximately 25,000 men under arms, and the Israeli secret service estimates that more than 2000 members of Al Qaeda are in the USA, many of them US nationals. Some of them are rumored to be in the US Armed forces. It should be remembered that Ali Mohammed, a 48 year old Egyptian/American who testified about the 1988 embassy bombing in Nairobi and Dar as Salaam had been a sergeant in the US special forces at Fort Bragg after becoming a naturalized US citizen. He gathered information to aid Al Qaeda in its attacks. Although he was convicted in the Manhattan trial, Mohammed avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison in return for his testimony. Al Qaeda has a wide range of dedicated fighters, and at their disposal for Al Qaeda is an operational budget of 125 million dollars annually that bin Ladin provides from his personal fortune. Bin Ladin, once involved heavily in the construction trade, as was his entire family, now is heavily involved in cell phone and satellite companies, many of which he owns and registers in Adis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. On a military note, the dogs of war are beginning to bark. Rumors here have it that the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions, the cream of the crop for US airborne forces, are currently being airlifted to Pakistan. Arrival is expected soon. They are being brought to the northern part of Pakistan, in preparation for an assault on the Afghan city, Kandahar. They will operate out of Dar Ismael, in the Punjab region of Pakistan, near the foot of the Suleiman mountain range. The largest forces of Al Qaedas military wing are located in the Faragna valley, adjacent to Tajikistan. Tajikistan may be a focal point, since bin Ladin has established many training grounds for fighters there, and in neighboring Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, which has long been established as the nuclear test site for the Soviet Union is also rumored to be a market where, for a price, any sort of weaponry can be purchased from hijacked Russian stockpiles. These could include nuclear and biological weapons. Last year, bin Ladin began working with Islamic insurgents in the Sinkiang province of China, and has achieved a corridor of cooperation with them. The Chinese Uighir tribe in the region has militant ambitions. There are an estimated 60 million Chinese Muslims. It is whispered in intelligence circles that the United States, with cooperation of British and Turkish troops are planning to also attack forces in Iraq, with an emphasis on killing or capturing as many of bin Ladins top echelon leaders as possible. Turkish troops have been massing along the border with northern Iraq in anticipation of the order to go. There are some 30,000 British soldiers being lifted into Oman right now, in preparation for an attack on the Basra area of Iraq, in the second prong of an effort to topple Saddam Hussein, defeat the forces of terrorism that have coalesced there, and avenge the attacks on September 11th. The third prong of the attack will be an attack on central Iraq, facilitated by airlifted troops and armor. Air support will be provided by US forces already based in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Dave Francis DJF |