On Wednesday Sept. 5^th, German police stopped a major terrorist attack. The planned bomb consisted of 730 kilogramms of hydrogen peroxide to be mixed with other chemicals. The explosive power would have been equivalent to 550 kilogramms of TNT. The IHT reports the possible targets were the Ramstein US Air Force Air Base and Frankfurt International Airport. The suspects had been under observation for 10 months, the chemicals had been clandestinely rendered harmless by German authorities. What caused the final arrest? Two things: 1) they had just recieved a call from north Pakistan urgently ordering them to follow through within 14 days. 2) a local village policeman blew the surveillance cover by literally telling them at a routine road stop that they were on a watch-list. German intelligence immediately knew the policeman had blown their cover. How? They had bugged the car [Spiegel, rough translation].
posted on Sep 8, 2007 - View this thread

Transcript of the most recent Osama bin Laden tape. [pdf]
posted on Sep 7, 2007 - View this thread

Special operations were fully engaged in Iraq back in 2003. Since that time the mission has (officially) shifted focus a bit to hunting down high value individuals like Osama bin Laden and a cavalcade of al-Qaida stars. But if that’s the case why are we drawing down our forces in Afghanistan? Apparently a bunch of things are going on folks are hard pressed to figure out: “Nobody understands — other than the SecDef — what the hell Kearney is supposed to do,” the Pentagon source said. “Is he supposed to be the future JSOC commander, or is the intent to continue JSOC as a three-star billet? Only the SecDef, as far as I know, knows. There’s been absolutely no explanation.”
posted on Mar 8, 2006 - View this thread

Osama threatens attacks, offers truce Now THIS should be interesting. Do we deal with terrorists or take a chance of another 9/11?
posted on Jan 19, 2006 - View this thread

Pakistan plans on building a fence along the Pakistan/Afghan Border to help curb the war on terror. I wonder if they will incorporate a money slot for terrorists without a fake passport?
posted on Sep 13, 2005 - View this thread

Taking Stock of the Forever War. "A terrorist leader four years ago, Osama bin Laden is now an ideology as well — and a viral movement. Terrorist attacks worldwide are on the rise. Iraq could well end up a 'failed' state. Maybe it's time to stop fighting on their terms." Also, Osama bin Laden: Lost at Tora Bora. (bugmenot)
posted on Sep 10, 2005 - View this thread

what the news in america isn't telling us. Here is the Full transcript of Bin Ladin's speech
posted on Nov 1, 2004 - View this thread

This is a message to our neighbours north of the Mediterranean, containing a reconciliation initiative as a response to their positive reactions. Osama bin Laden's latest message to the world. (more inside)
posted on Apr 15, 2004 - View this thread

Why use an ax when you can use a bulldozer? Der Spiegel article, summarizing what we have learned about the inception and planning of the 9/11 attack from interrogating captured planners.
posted on Nov 14, 2003 - View this thread

Is Osama bin Laden an anti-American activist? Few newspapers would phrase it as such, yet many seem to print something similar when it's this guy: Paul Hill, a religious leader proud of his upcoming martyrdom, and expectant of his "reward in Heaven" for the deaths he brought for his cause. Is he or isn't he a terrorist? And if the answer is no, what reasons do/should the American media give? Nationality? Race? Religion?
posted on Sep 3, 2003 - View this thread

Terror's myriad faces
Al-Qaeda, conceived of as a tight-knit terrorist group with cadres and a capability everywhere, does not exist in that form. It barely existed before the war in Afghanistan in 2001 destroyed Osama bin Laden's carefully constructed infrastructure there. It certainly does not exist now. Instead, we are facing a different kind of threat. Al-Qaeda can only be understood as an ideology, an agenda and a way of seeing the world that is shared by an increasing number of predominantly young, predominantly male Muslims. Eliminating bin Laden and a few hundred senior activists will do nothing to counter this al-Qaeda. Hundreds more will come forward to fill their ranks. Al-Qaeda, however understood, will continue to operate. The threat will remain and it will grow.
See also Sowing The Dragon's Teeth.
Or, alternately, Hercules and the Hydra.
posted on May 20, 2003 - View this thread

An excellent piece of media analysis by Michael Wolff in New York Magazine looking at the current summer-movie-plot version of Al Qaeda being artfully constructed by the NY Times ...
Then, perhaps most disconcertingly, the overall narrative itself is patently a dumbed-down rehash. It's Cold War stuff. There is the ubiquitous and yet unknown and unknowable enemy. There's the international jihad, which, with only minor adjustments, replaces the international communist conspiracy. There's the sudden purported hegemony of the Muslim world -- a new Soviet-bloc-style ideological monolith. There is the otherworldly dedication of operatives bent on overthrowing the West. There are the cells. There is the myth of superhuman discipline. There is now, even, the developing Kremlinology of the next tier of men who replace Osama. And at the center of the story, of course, is the bomb. Whether in massive retaliatory form or as a dirty-bomb package, it serves the same effect.
(link cribbed from Altercation)
posted on Jul 1, 2002 - View this thread

The Columbus Day Threat "Let the whole world know that we shall never accept that the tragedy of Andalusia be repeated in Palestine," Osama bin Laden said in his taped cave-side address. "We cannot accept that Palestine will become Jewish." Reuven Koret's Israel Insider column may explain the FBI's alert to terrorist activity: "Columbus Day, October 12, commemorates the founding of America in 1492, and 1492 represents the year in which Islam was driven out by Christianity. In bin Laden's mind, these two events are inextricably linked."
posted on Oct 12, 2001 - View this thread

Britain releases document that proves Osama Bin Laden is guilty...
Make of this what you will.....
posted on Oct 4, 2001 - View this thread

"Umm, hi, Mum, I'm not going to be able to make lunch today..."
More evidence that Bin Laden is indeed the guilty party. (NYT link)
posted on Oct 2, 2001 - View this thread

A lot of people have been asking for "proof." Here is your proof. And it makes for chilling reading.
posted on Oct 1, 2001 - View this thread

Text of Osama's Fatwah: "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies--civilian and military--is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam..."
posted on Sep 21, 2001 - View this thread

Just think of what could be if Bin Laden gets his hands on this stuff. Makes you wonder what he has in the tool shed.
posted on Sep 20, 2001 - View this thread

Discovery Channel's Show on Terror Anyone see this show? I thought it was informative but rather over dramatic....
posted on Sep 20, 2001 - View this thread

How To Launder Money If the "terrorism can't be overpowered, it can only be undermined" train of thought holds true, then the money funding terrorist activities needs to be cutoff, especially considering they may directly profit from it (and theoretically at least, it's easier to choke off funds than grass roots ideology). From what I've read Osama bin Laden's money comes from wealthy fundamentalist sympathizers, "rogue" governments and the heroin racket. Governments create, maintain and oversee the money apparatus, but if money laundering can't be stopped I don’t see how terrorism can either, um short of eradicating poverty, "the petri-dish for the culture of suicide bombing."
posted on Sep 19, 2001 - View this thread

Not trying to be alarmist or anything but this article frightens me. It was from July and they explicitly name Bin Laden as trying to aquire nuclear materials. It is possibly nothing, but made me wonder.
posted on Sep 17, 2001 - View this thread

bin Laden has a mentor?
posted on Sep 14, 2001 - View this thread

Cancer, and Carcinogens "This event is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not an 'act of war.' It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to metastasize."
posted on Sep 13, 2001 - View this thread

Bin Laden under house arrest Just read this article. I haven't seen this posted anywhere yet, so...
posted on Sep 12, 2001 - View this thread

Remote Yemen May Be Key to Terrorist's Past and Future -- an old NYTimes article with some insight into Osama bin Laden, his homeland and culture. Also, Yemenis' traditions under fire.
posted on Sep 11, 2001 - View this thread

Osama Bin-Laden confederate due to be sentenced tomorrow. Saudi citizen Mohammed al'Owhali, convicted for arranging the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Africa, is due to be sentenced on September 12, 2001. From indications, that would be at the US Courthouse in Foley Square, which is about a mile from the World Trade Center. A possible reason for the timing?
posted on Sep 11, 2001 - View this thread