Global Affairs: - Knowing the adversary

Islamic Jihad, what is next? Everything you need to
know about the invisible adversary
by Felipe Rodriquez

14 September 2001


The attack on the World Trade Center in New York is a new phase in an ongoing global religious and ideological conflict, started in 1990, with the gulf war.

The mother of all wars, as Saddam Hussein called
it, and is unlikely to end for some time.

To understand it, we must look at the Western world's exploitation and colonization of Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations.

Economic and geopolitical moves that benefit only the western democratic capitalist structures are the primary
cause of this terrible conflict.


USAMA BIN MUHAMMAD BIN IN LADEN


The Taliban consider Osama Bin Ladin to be a holy man, because of his incredible service in the Afghani war against the Russians, and the
reconstruction of Afghanistan. Osama Bin Ladin has fought hundreds of battles in Afghanistan, and has been wounded numerous times.

He went to Afghanistan around 1982, and took with him a large amount of construction equipment, and a team of engineers, to rebuild the war torn country.

He is a devout Muslim, and answers to Allah and certain important Islamic teachers, such as Sheik Safar Ibn `Abd Al-Rahman Al-Hawali.

He founded the "Al Qaeda" movement, with Muhammad Atef. The movement was initially setup to record the movements of Mujahedin in Afghanistan.

Later the goal changed to driving the United States forces out of Saudi Arabia, where the US setup a military base since the beginning of the Gulf War. Many devout Muslims see this as a hostile invasion of the Islamic holy land, comparable to the invasions of the crusaders in the past. Some years later the goal changed once again, into what it is now; to attack Israel, the US and its allies wherever it can.

The justification of these acts, in the mind of the Muslim activist, comes from the foreign occupation
of the holy cities: Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.

It is simplistic and short sighted to assume that Osama Bin Laden is the great leader behind the attacks on the WTC, the Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam US embassies, the hit on USS Cole in Yemen and various other terrorist attacks.

Islamic religious activism is the glue that binds this global terror movement together.

Removing Osama Bin Ladin from the scene will not remove this global movement, and will not end terror. Killing him will only motivate thousands of Muslims to volunteer for the ultimate sacrifice.

The Islamic radical movement resembles a hydra, A serpent represented as having many heads, one of which, when cut off, is immediately succeeded by two others.

The movement cannot be eradicated by violence and retaliation, such deeds will only make it stronger and increase popular support in the Islamic world.

To understand how this works, lets look at Hizbollah and Hamas.

These Islamic organizations have been setup in such a way that they are almost impossible to eradicate.

There is always double redundancy in the leadership, because any leader can expect to be assassinated by their enemies at any time.

The effectiveness of this redundancy is demonstrated by the fact that Hizbollah and Hamas still exist today, despite the fact that many of its leaders have been assassinated by Israel and others.

We must assume that the leadership of the organization that hit the WTC, and other targets in the past, is organized in a similar way, building on the experience of Islamic organizations in Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere.

Hamas and Hizbollah have integrated Islamic thought in their society by providing numerous services to their communities. Schools and hospitals are provided for free or at cost. And they materially support families, widows and orphans that have been victims of aggression by their enemies.

Hizbollah operates numerous businesses, that together with donations fund the activities of the organization. These social activities provide the organizations with enormous popular support, it is an effective way of disseminating the virtues of Islam, and strengthening its base. It has also created a strong platform to recruit martyrs for the violent Jihad (Holy War) against Israel and its allies.

From documentation that was seized in Africa, after the Nairobi bombing, there is a strong indication that a cell structure was used to limit the risks to the terrorist organization that hit the African embassies, allegedly the same organization that hit the WTC in 2001. A cell structure is often used by violent groups. It is implemented in such a way that cell members only know a limited amount of members of the organization, and only have limited access to information about the planned activities of the group.

Typically cell members only know the coordinator of the cell, and the coordinator only knows one higher placed member of the organization. The aim of the cell structure is to protect the organization, in case of arrests and torturous interrogations.

The violent faction of the Islamic activist movement, such as the Islamic front for Jihad, is mostly invisible. It has been hardened through years of struggle in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is acutely aware of its security requirements, because numerous Islamic activists have been assassinated in the past.

The WTC attack, and the other attacks in the past demonstrate that they have relatively good communication security; they most likely assume that all electronic communication is monitored by the US and its allies through their global Echelon surveillance system and the FBI's Carnivore software.

Human infiltration of these groups is not likely either, most of these Islamic activists have been working together for many years. An infiltrator would have to speak fluent Arabic, would have to have intimate knowledge of the Quran and Islamic religious rituals, and would have to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, Martyrdom, to earn the trust of the organization.

In 1853 adventurer Richard Burton managed to disguise himselfe as a Muslim Derwish, participate in the Pilgrimage to Mecca and Al- Madinah, and came back alive.

But he was the exception to the rule, and he did
not try to infiltrate a terrorist organization that expects infiltration attempts.


INTENTIONS AND MOTIVATIONS



"The people of Islam awakened and realized that they are the main target for the aggression of the Zionist-Crusaders alliance. All false claims and propaganda about "Human Rights" were hammered down and exposed by the massacres that took place against the Muslims in every part of the world.
The latest and the greatest of these aggressions, incurred by the Muslims since the death of the Prophet (ALLAH'S BLESSING AND SALUTATIONS ON HIM) is the occupation of the land of the two Holy Places"

(Source: A DECLARATION OF WAR, by Osama Bin Laden)

A growing group of Islamic scholars and activists feel that the military installations of the United States in Saudi Arabia represent a hostile foreign invasion into their holy land. They believe that the three most holy places in the Islamic world, Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, are occupied by Zionists and Christian crusaders. They also believe that most Muslim nations are victims of neo-colonialist exploitation by the capitalist western world. A holy war, Jihad, was declared in 1996 to struggle against exploitation and occupation.

In 1998 a Fatwah was declared by Sheikh Usamah Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ladin, Ayman al-Zawahiri, amir of the Jihad Group in Egypt, Abu-Yasir Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, Egyptian Islamic Group, Sheikh Mir Hamzah, secretary of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan and Fazlul Rahman, amir of the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh.


This Fatwah reconfirms the holy war against Israel, the US and its allies. A quote from this Fatwah:

"The