|
 |
 Copyright ©2003-2008 Anthony Canales |
|
 Anthony Canales is the President of the San Fernando Valley NRA Member’s Council. He works as a Quality Control Manager in Glendale, California. He is married with one son. The opinions expressed in 'News Briefs' belong soley to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Rifle Association of America or the NRA Members' Councils of California. |
|
Home
03-20-2008
12-31-2007 |
|
July 30, 2004
"...Bin Laden was also willing to explore
possibilities
for cooperation with Iraq, even though
Iraq's
dictator, Saddam Hussein, had never had an
Islamist agenda--save for his
opportunistic pose
as a defender of the faithful against
"Crusaders"
during the Gulf War of 1991. Moreover, Bin
Ladin
had in fact been sponsoring anti-Saddam
Islamists in Iraqi Kurdistan, and sought
to attract
them into his Islamic army.
To protect his own ties with Iraq,
(Former
Sudanese Parliament Speaker Hasan al-)
Turabi
reportedly brokered an agreement that Bin
Ladin
would stop supporting activities against
Saddam.
Bin Ladin apparently honored this pledge,
at least
for a time, although he continued to aid a
group
of Islamist extremists operating in part
of Iraq
(Kurdistan) outside of Baghdad's control.
In the
late 1990's, these extremist groups
suffered
major defeats by Kurdish forces. In 2001,
with
Bin Ladins help they re-formed into an
organ-
ization called Ansar al Islam. There are
indications
that by then, the Iraqi regime tolerated
and may
even have helped Ansar al Islam against
the
common Kurdish enemy.
With the Sudanese regime acting as
intermediary,
Bin Ladin himself met with a senior Iraqi
intel-
ligence officer in Khartoum in late 1994
or early
1995. Bin Ladin is said to have asked for
space to
establish training camps, as well as
assistance in
procuring weapons, but there is no
evidence that
Iraq responded to this request. As
described below,
the ensuing years saw additional efforts
to establish
connections...
Bin Ladin, no longer constrained by the
Sudanese,
clearly thought that he had new freedom to
publish
his appeals for jihad. At about the time
when the
Taliban were making their final drive
toward
Jalalabad and Kabul, Bin Ladin issued his
August
1996 fatwa, saying that '...We...have
been prevented
from addressing the Muslims,' but expressing
relief
that '...by the grace of Allah, a safe base
here is
now available in the high Hindu Kush
mountains
in Khurasan...". But the Taliban, like
the Suda-
nese, would eventually hear warnings,
including
from the Saudi monarchy.
Though Bin Ladin had promised Taliban
leaders
that he would be circumspect, he broke
this
promise almost immediately, giving an
inflam-
matory interview to CNN in March 1997.
The
Taliban leader Mullah Omar promptly '
invited'
Bin Ladin to move to Kandahar,
ostensibly in
the interests of Bin Ladin's own
security but
more likely to situate him where he
might be
easier to control.
There is also evidence that around this
time Bin
Ladin sent out a number of feelers to
the Iraqi
regime, offering some cooperation. None
are
reported to have received a significant
response.
According to one report, Saddam
Hussein's
efforts at this time to rebuild
relations with the
Saudis and other Middle Eastern regimes
led him
to stay clear of Bin Ladin.
In mid-1998, the situation reversed; it
was Iraq
that reportedly took the initiative. In
March 1998,
after Bin Ladin's public fatwa against
the United
States, two al-Qaeda members reportedly
went
to Iraq to meet with Iraqi intelligence.
In July, an
Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan
to meet
first with the Taliban and then with Bin
Ladin.
Sources reported that one, or perhaps
both, of
these meetings was apparently arranged
through Bin Ladin's Egyptian deputy,
Zawahiri,
who had ties of his own to the Iraqis.
In 1998,
Iraq was under intensifying U.S.
pressure, which
culminated in a series of large air
attacks in
December.
Similar meetings between Iraqi officials
and Bin
Ladin or his aides may have occurred in
1999
during a period of some reported strains
with
the Taliban. According to the reporting,
Iraqi
officials offered Bin Ladin a safe haven
in Iraq.
Bin Ladin declined, apparently judging
that his
circumstances in Afghanistan remained
more
favorable than the Iraqi
alternative. The reports
describe friendly contacts and indicate
some
common themes in both sides' hatred of
the
United States. But to date we have seen
no
evidence that these or the earlier
contacts
ever developed into a collaborative
operational
relationship. Nor have we seen evidence
indicating that Iraq cooperated with al
Qaeda in
developing or carrying out any attacks
against
the United States..."
-
Selected excerpts from "The
9/11 Commission Report-
Final
Report of the National
Commission On Terrorist
Attacks
Upon The United States",
Pages
61-66
"...Every picture has its shadows
And it has some source of light
Blindness, blindness and sight
The perils of benefactors
The blessings of parasites
Blindness, blindness and sight
Threatened by all things
Devil of cruelty
Drawn to all things
Devil of delight
Mythical devil of the ever present laws
Governing blindness, blindness and
sight..."
-Partial lyrics from the song
"Shadows and Light", by Joni
Mitchell, 1980
To All,
It seems that the links between al Qaeda and
Iraq are a bit more extant than perhaps the Democrat Nominee would want to
admit. But then it seems that the former Swift Boat commander, who have us
believe that he has risen Rip Van Winkle-like back into the political arena,
apparently has a lot more to obscure:
Shadows And Light:
The public's
reaction to John Kerry's acceptance speech last night will take a few days to
measure. But it is clear the day after that its real importance is predicated
upon what was not "there" as compared to what was actually said.
For example, as Dick Morris points out, Kerry
failed to highlight what he has done since returning from Viet Nam to
demonstrate that he is qualified to be President of the United States.
Normally a job candidate in the real world is expected to demonstrate both
managerial competency plus as much successful real world experience as is
possible. Thus, if Kerry was "straight" with the American People last night,
he feels that his 5 months of Viet Nam combat experience alone qualifies him
for the Oval Office.
Of course, if Morris is right, the basis of
Kerry's and other Liberal Democrat's theology may be that executive experience
is of less import than philosophical reliability ("...Anybody but
Bush...").
On the other hand, Thomas Oliphant of the
Boston Globe is "peeved", to say the least, that Kerry failed to take enough
time to bring the principles of Left Wing socialism out of the attic. Oliphant
kvetches that Kerry rushed through his speech, and thus blew a historic
opportunity to make The Sale.
After all, The Left is proud of it's
Nero-like dedication to the implementation of socialist rule and the
deconstruction of the Founder's original intent. Their collectivist faith in
Way-Left-Liberalism keeps them from any reasonable prioritizing of
governmental efforts (That explains why Kerry gave more details, as sparse as
they were, on dealing with environmentally-friendly ground transportation and
implementing a national single-payer health care program than with prosecuting
al Qaeda and coming up with credible strategic leverage on such terrorist
states as Iran).
The issue thus remains as to whether, as some
would believe, that Kerry is of a "presidential timber". If Kerry is, it is
more of the balsa than ash or hickory varieties of past and current occupants
of the White House. Any politician too "embarrassed" to not highlight his past
political achievements, as part of a close campaign, has something to hide
from the voter. In the age of the internet activist, and the blogger armed
with trillions and trillions of pixels, that is as much a challenge today as
Gary Harts' was a political age ago. If Kerry continues to run away from his
Senate resume, it will be no surprise that the voters will run away from him
in November. Stay tuned.
Stories can be found at:
Plain Dealing:
Joe Strupp reported yesterday at
Editorandpublisher.com about the appearance of of Doug Clifton on NRANews.com.
It seems that the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer was asked to defend his
paper's decision to publish the names of residents who have obtained concealed
carry permits in the Cleveland area.
Now, this type of news forum is important as
it is certain that only the media can hold itself to account for its actions.
The standards of absence of malice otherwise makes it improbable that court
suits and other forms of remonstrance can have any effect on any renegade news
organizations out there. As such, NRANews.com is off to a fast start in
joining the ranks of the Fair and Balanced (as opposed to the self-proclaimed
Liberal Newspaper, the New York Times).
But while it may have been Clifton's intent to
embarrass CCW permit holders, whether as retribution or as active antipathy to
their position, the unintended consequence may turn out to be a chilling
effect on criminal activity in Cleveland.
After all, as John Lott has noted in the past,
a relatively small number of CCW permits can account for a disproportionate
reduction of criminal activity.
That is partially because the risk factors of
criminal activity are perceived by the bad guys to have gone up.
If anything, the listing of the county of
residence of the permit holder (as opposed to the actual address, which may
put the permit holder at higher risk) may actually prove to be the kind of
publicity that CCW advocates will need to close the case for armed
self-defense in Ohio.
It will take time for the effects of CCW in
Ohio to be measured. But the actual effect will likely prove to be a reduction
of crime while, at the same time, confirming that it is "safe" to allow
concealed carry to go forward (No Dodge City comparisons can survive the
current experience.). But if NRANews.com keeps this up, the folks at CNN will
have to start brushing up their resumes. Stay tuned.
Story may be found at:
Respectfully,
Anthony Canales
SFVMC-NRA
Copyright 2004 Anthony Canales
All rights reserved.
|
|
