Sahara a new terror front

Washington Times ^ | 6/07/04 | Damien McElroy, LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

[kattracks]

LONDON -- The United States has opened a secret war against Islamic terrorists in the southern Sahara after learning that a group linked to al Qaeda bought heavy weapons with money obtained from the German government in a ransom deal, military and diplomatic sources said.

[Travis McGee]

Good intell.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

we should be funding african nations to clean house

[Southack]

"In a significant breakthrough in March, the U.S. military helped orchestrate the ambush and capture in western Chad of Amari Saifi, the Salafist group's leader."

[Southack]

There is no doubt in my mind that we tracked the hell out of that $7+ million ransom payment, regardless of what Germany wanted.

They got it, bought SAM's, and then we captured their leader.

The world has so little idea of how well we are playing this game...

[onyx]

Stupid ass Germany.
Did you read that?
Self absorbed and short sighted.

[bayourod]

"they can bury weapons in the sand, mark the exact position with their satellite equipment, and then move off along the camel trails with other tools and equipment"

A person could probably make a fortune exporting metal detectors to that area.

We'll soon have solar powered drones that can stay airborne for days and search the desert with infrared and magnetic instruments.

Besides, the shifting sands of the desert may naturally expose weapons caches.

[John Valentine]

"Kerry has no experience negotiating with foreign nations."

I believe that John Kerry engaged in (illegal) negotiations with the Vietnamese on two occasions in the mid to late 1970s while Henry Kissinger was meeting with North Vietnamese representatives in Paris.

Others on FR can probably fill in the details.

[dennisw]

Nuke 'em from orbit.

[livius]

Interesting article. The Sahara has always seemed to me like a place that was just biding its time to become a problem.

[TomGuy]

The War on Terrorism is bigger than we know. It is being fought on fronts that receive little or no media attention.

al-Qaeda and similar loosely-knit Islamofanatical groups entrenched in various areas of the world over the last 10-20 years.

We have fronts or involvements in many areas -- Africa, South and Central America, Indonesian and Philippine Islands, Asia, Europe. The Islamofanatics are on most continents and inside many nation.

The War on Terrorism is truly a World War.

[CPOSharky]

we should be funding african nations to clean house

We are funding African nations, but the money goes into the leaders pockets. And they sure aren't cleaning house.

[Travis McGee]

It's the only way. (Alien)

[bayourod]

"John Kerry engaged in (illegal) negotiations with the Vietnamese "

How could I forget about that; he must not have mentioned it today. Was that negotiating or consulting, conspiring, advising, and assisting? Maybe he was negotiating how much money he wanted them to funnel into his organization.

[dennisw]

Here's some real Jihadist evil--->>

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=11303#comments

[dennisw]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040607/photos_wl_uk_afp/040607182509_lizzd0jv_photo1

[risk]

Lots of 4GW implications here.

[Travis McGee]

Indeed.