Posted on 09/10/2005 4:03:40 PM PDT by Gucho
September 10, 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Four years after his parents died when American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, Marcus Flagg said the United States must never forget the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks so the country never again experiences such a tragic day.
"If we don't honor it and remember it, it will happen again. History repeats itself," said Flagg, here for weekend commemoration activities marking the fourth anniversary of the attacks.
Flagg acknowledged it's painful to return to the Pentagon, where his parents, retired Navy Rear Adm. Wilson F. "Bud" Flagg and his wife, Dee, met their tragic end, along with their 182 fellow aircraft passengers and Pentagon employees.
"It's good to be back, but it's also sorrowful," said Flagg, who like his father, graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy, served in the Navy, then became a commercial pilot. "I know what happened not more than a couple yards from here. "
That makes the Pentagon a fitting start point for the Sept. 11 "America Supports You Freedom Walk," Flagg said. The walk begins in the Pentagon parking lot at 10 a. m. and ends near the Washington Monument, where country music star Clint Black will present a musical tribute.
"I think it's a wonderful tribute that the Pentagon is doing the memorial walk," Flagg said. "I can't think of a better place to start it. It's a great tribute to the passengers and crew of flight 77, and also to the soldiers, sailors and airmen" who were killed or injured, and the families they left behind.
Flagg said he also strongly supports the Pentagon Memorial Fund project, calling it a "fantastic tribute" to the lives stolen on Sept. 11.
During the days following the attacks, as he planned his parents' funerals at the U. S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Md. , Flagg said he felt "overwhelmed with gratitude" for the country's outpouring of support and patriotism.
He felt similarly moved earlier this year at an inaugural ball, where he met troops who'd been seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting the global war on terror that resulted. "Their courage and determination in the face of adversity inspired me," Flagg said.
That inspiration drove Flagg to join "Circles of Influence," an effort based at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Va. , that helps severely injured servicemembers and their families.
In July, Flagg traveled to Baghdad, Iraq, as a representative of families affected by the Sept. 11 attacks and to thank "as many soldiers as I could" for their contributions.
Many of the hundreds of troops he met told Flagg they had joined the military specifically because of attacks that claimed his parents and thousands of other Americans, he said.
"I considered it an honor to meet these men and women and was humbled to be in their presence," he said. "They expressed their pride in the job they are doing there. As a former naval officer, I understand and support them in their mission. "
Today, as the United States prepares to commemorate the fourth anniversary of Sept. 11, and as thousands of its servicemembers are serving the country around the world and at home, along the hurricane-decimated Gulf Coast, Flagg said America has good reason to be proud of its military.
Whether they serve "in Iraq, Afghanistan or along our southern coast, we all owe them a debt of gratitude," he said.
By John D. Banusiewicz - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2005 – On the day before the nation observes the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and as recovery efforts continue along the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast, President Bush praised the American spirit today in his weekly radio address.
The president said that as night fell on Sept. 11, 2001, the nation felt grief and sorrow. "Yet we also saw that, while the terrorists could kill the innocent, they could not defeat the spirit of our nation," Bush said.
"The despair and tragedy of that day were overcome by displays of selflessness, courage and compassion. And in the days and weeks that followed, America answered history's call to bring justice to our enemies and to ensure the survival and success of liberty. And that mission continues today."
As the anniversary of the attacks approaches, the nation remembers the fears and uncertainty of Sept. 11, Bush noted. "But above all," he added, "we remember the resolve of our nation to defend our freedom, rebuild a wounded city, and care for our neighbors in need."
The president also spoke of the destruction and misery caused in Gulf Coast states by Hurricane Katrina. "Once more our hearts ache for our fellow citizens, and many are left with questions about the future," he said. "Yet we are again being reminded that adversity brings out the best in the American spirit.
He said citizens have witnessed "the courage and determination of rescue personnel who willingly risk their lives to save the lives of others."
"We have seen the spirit of America's armies of compassion who have rallied in response to this tragedy," Bush noted.
He urged Americans to visit the USA Freedom Corps Web site at usafreedomcorps.gov to find out how they can help in the recovery effort. "The citizens of the Gulf Coast can count on their fellow Americans in this time of trial, and their government is standing with them, as well," he said.
The nation's collective spirit is good cause for hope, the president said. "Our greatest resource in such times is the compassionate character of the American people, because even the most destructive storm cannot weaken the heart and soul of our nation," he said. "America will overcome this ordeal, and we will be stronger for it.
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September 10, 2005
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, Tikrit, Iraq -- Task Force Liberty Soldiers continually work to better train Iraqi Security Forces here to take over when Coalition Forces withdraw from Iraq.
Infantrymen with 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry train some of Iraq’s Provincial High Crimes (PHC) unit to properly search buildings for some of Iraq’s high target individuals wanted by Coalition and Iraqi forces.
"We will control everything here if we continue to get more training and more information on how to do the missions and do our job the right way," said Capt. Ishmael Muhammed, PHC unit commander in Tikrit.
"I think they’re getting there," said Staff Sgt. Robert Young, a police liaison with Company A, Task Force 1-112, and native of Monaca, Penn. "The motivation is there with a lot of the Iraqis. For now, they still need our help, but in time, I believe they will function quite well."
The training that Task Force 1-112 is giving the PHC is set up to simulate a real mission.
"Their missions are to conduct raids for high-value targets " people wanted by Coalition Forces and Iraqi forces," Young said. "This prepares them to go out and conduct these missions more safely and be more effective to obtain their mission."
Members of the Provincial High Crimes unit practice clearing a building in Tikrit, Iraq. (Photo by Spc. Adam Phelps, 22nd Moblie Public Affairs Detachment)
Iraqi forces find the training useful in obtaining their objectives, Muhammed said.
"The training is very useful for us because we get more information on how to treat the people and on how to deal with the terrorists and also how to deal with problems around our sector and our community," he said.
Young said one of the reasons the 1-112 is successful with their training is their work in the civilian world.
"One thing that really helps is I’m a civilian police officer at home and I introduce myself that way to these guys, so I think they find that common bond in policemen all over the world," he said. "They understand I’m here to help a brother in blue. They are very receptive to that rather than a normal Coalition Soldier."
This training will also help Iraqi forces train themselves and spread what they have learned, Muhammed said.
"The training helps me out a lot because by this I’ll be able to give the training to my guys anytime I want," he said. "I will be able to train other people from other departments and that will help us out a lot to control our situation."
Young said that training the Iraqi police force better tactics is one of the most important missions in Iraq.
I believe it’s the most important in Iraq at this time, Young added. It is a policeman’s job to walk the streets.
Story by Spc. Adam Phelps - 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
September 10, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Afghan Defence Minister Gen Abdul Rahim Wardak has survived a gun attack at the airport of the capital, Kabul.
ROME, Sept 10 (KUNA) -- An Italian journalist who was nabbed by hooded gunmen in the heart of Gaza Strip on Saturday was set free later in the day. -- The Italian newspaper Couriere Della Sera reported on its website that its veteran journalist, Lorenzo Cremonesi, was set free in Gaza City.
The Palestinian official, Nabil Shaath, contacted the newspaper and informed it about the release of the journalist, saying he was in good condition. (pickup previous) -- In Gaza, Palestinian security sources said the journalist was set free after intervention of the command of the Palestinian organization, Fatah.
"The kidnappers were a group of young men who intended to pressure the Palestinian authorities to find jobs for them," a Palestinian source said.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Army troops arrested three suspected terrorists in an armed conflict near a check post in the Asha area between Mir Ali and Miranshah on Friday. A local woman was also killed in the incident.
A large number of arms and ammunition were also seized, official sources said. According to details, army personnel tried to stop a vehicle at Asha near an army check post, but the occupants neglected the order and fired at them. Security forces chased the vehicle, and arrested three men after a heavy exchange of fire. The gun battle left a local woman dead.
Security forces handed the men to intelligence officials for questioning. agencies
Colombo Launches Probe Into Saudia Bomb Hoax Stampede
Saturday, 10, September, 2005
RIYADH, 10 September 2005 — Passengers of the Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight SV 781, on which a bomb hoax sparked a stampede at the Colombo International Airport on Thursday, arrived here in a special Saudia aircraft yesterday morning at 8.20 in Riyadh.
Meanwhile, Colombo launched a full-scale investigation on the bomb hoax which triggered an emergency evacuation from the Riyadh/Jeddah bound flight Thursday afternoon. The grounded aircraft also left Colombo at 8 p.m. yesterday without passengers on board after airport authorities issued a clearance certificate for its takeoff.
“We are trying to trace the call which initially came to the airport telephone operator and then connected to the control tower,” airport chief Tiran Alles said. “An investigation is under way.”
Nineteen passengers who were seriously injured in the scramble to exit the Boeing 747 jetliner through emergency chutes were still in hospital yesterday, a day after the incident. A total of 62 out of the 430 passengers and 22 crew members were injured and most of them had minor bruises. Alles said they were probing the incident thoroughly. “We have had similar hoaxes in the past,” Alles said. “This is serious because a life has been lost and many more people were injured.”
The airline authorities have identified the dead woman as Fatima Aboosalih, 28, from Bibile, 225 km from Colombo. She was coming for employment as a maid to a household in Jeddah.
Among the arriving passengers, a Sri Lankan housewife who was coming with four children including a 1 1/2-year-old infant had lost her valuables worth SR200,000 which she claims she had put in her handbag.
“When the passengers were asked to evacuate, I carried baby Fakhira immediately and asked my children to get out of the plane as quickly as possible leaving the handbag,” Farhana Faroon told Arab News.
She added: “It had all my jewelry including a diamond set and Rs. 150,000 cash which I collected from the tenant of my house rented in Colombo.” Although she had minor bruises to her elbow, she opted to stay in the hotel without going to the hospital for medical treatment because she did not want to leave her children alone in the hotel.
“The airline officials gave all the handbags except mine to the respective passengers when we came to the airport on the following day for the Riyadh flight,” Farhana said. Accompanying Farhana were her children Fakhira, Fariha, Fadiya and Famidha. Her husband works as an accountant at a premier food establishment in Riyadh.
At the Riyadh airport, Farhana got only three of her five checked in bags and she was asked by the airport authorities to collect the rest of the luggage today presuming that the bags had been tagged to Jeddah, the final destination of the flight.
A banker who wished to remain anonymous said that the airline officials were cooperative in the emergency situation. “We were asked to remove our shoes and leave all belongings before we ventured to slide through the chutes,” he said, adding that he got even his shoes back when he came to the airport again to board the rescheduled flight. “I got all my accompanied bags, thanks to Saudia,” he said.
Mohammed Najeeb and Mohammed Izmi who work for King Faisal School in Riyadh said they did not get their bags and were asked to come the following day to collect them.
A senior official from the Saudi Arabian Airlines in Colombo told Arab News that all the passengers had identified their bags at the Colombo airport before loading. “There is no chance of bags getting lost, perhaps some could have been dispatched to Jeddah in an emergency situation of this nature. In such a case, they will be diverted to Riyadh again,” he added. He confirmed that Farhana had lodged a formal complaint in Colombo and had been assured that the airline would do its best to look into the matter.
Saudi ambassador in Colombo, Mohamed Mahmud Al-Ali was also on the flight but he escaped injury. He was on his way to attend the funeral of his father and got a SriLankan flight later though he was able to take only his hand luggage. “It was a long journey. I took a flight to Abu Dhabi and then to Madinah and finally I reached Tabuk in time for the funeral,” Al-Ali told Arab News.
Iraq's Justice Minister is seeking Mullah Krekar's extradition, claiming he's wanted for alleged crimes committed in Iraq.
Iraq wants Mullah Krekar to stand trial for past crimes within Iraq. (PHOTO: ERLEND AAS/SCANPIX)
09 Sep 2005
Justice Minister Abdel Hussein Shandal told TV 2 Nettavisen on Friday that Mullah Krekar "is an Iraqi citizen and should appear in court" for alleged crimes in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq.
"We're building a democratic state, and he will have the right to defend himself and have an attorney," Shandal said.
Shandal also claimed that Krekar wouldn't face the death penalty if he's sent to Iraq. He also promised that Krekar would not be extradited to any other countries if he returns to Iraq. Krekar has previously been sought by officials in Jordan for other alleged crimes.
Shandal said Krekar is suspected of terrorist activity and is charged with being responsible for a string of offenses and terrorist attacks in Northern Iraq when he led guerrilla group Ansar al-Islam.
Iraq's justice minister also charged that Krekar has motivated and encouraged Ansar al-Islam to make new terrorist attacks within Iraq while he's been in exile in Norway.
Krekar is fighting his possible deportation, and recently made remarks that were widely interpreted as threats to Norway if he's sent back.
Krekar denied he has encouraged Ansar al-Islam to attack the Iraqi government. "My case is with Norway," he told TV2 Nettavisen. "For three years now, I haven't done anything against the Iraqi government."
Friday 09 September 2005
A Palestinian convicted by Israel for being a member of the resistance movement Hamas, faces deportation after serving nearly a year in prison for a visa violation, a newspaper reported.
Atef Hasan Ismail Idais, 28, says he is not a member of Hamas.
He told a US court on Friday: "I have never been a member of Hamas," and accused Israeli officials of coercing a confession through torture, tying him to a child's chair in a windowless cell for weeks.
His lawyer, Robert Miller, said the conviction in Israel was "not worth the paper it is printed on".
Idais was sentenced by a judge on Thursday to a year in prison, which he has served since his arrest in September 2004. He could be released as early as Friday.
Upon his release he will be handed-over to immigration authorities who intend to deport him, Assistant US Attorney Nancy Winter told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Married to a US citizen
Idais, who has lived in the US since 2000, is married to an American citizen, and they have two children, a three-year-old and an 18-month-old daughter.
He was arrested last year for making a false statement on a US visa application.
He pleaded no contest and faced up to six months in prison under sentencing guidelines, but US District Judge John Padova said the case was unusual because of his "terrorism conviction".
Winter accused Idais of lying repeatedly and trying to manipulate the court and immigration service.
Student visa
He had entered the United States on a student visa, but he never attended college.
He was charged with failing to disclose a 1999 conviction in Israel for throwing stones, disturbing the peace, and membership in Hamas.
Idais also said he planned to attend a US university, but his family had run out of money.
Sat Sep 10, 2005
KABUL (AFP) - At least 30 suspected Taliban militants have been killed during an ongoing operation by Afghan and US-led forces in southern Afghanistan a week before parliamentary elections.
"During an operation in Grishk district of Helmand on Friday, Afghan and coalition forces killed 30 enemies and captured... 60 others," defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi told reporters on Saturday.
Azimi said a large number of weapons and ammunition were also seized from the captured fighters during the operation in the southwest province of Helmand.
Azimi said the operation involving Afghan and US-led forces was ongoing in the restive province where militants from the ousted Taliban regime regularly attack foreign and Afghan troops.
Two suspected suicide bombers were killed Wednesday as their explosives-packed car blew up in Grishk.
The Taliban, who were driven from power by US-led forces in late 2001, have vowed to disrupt the country's first parliamentary polls for three decades on September 18.
Taliban rebels and other Islamic militants have stepped up attacks on Afghan and foreign troops, tribal elders, mullahs and candidates in a bid to disrupt the US-backed vote.
A parliamentary candidate narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in which one of his bodyguards and an attacker were also killed in western Afghanistan, an official said Saturday.
Ghulam Nabi Balouch escaped unharmed when unknown gunmen opened fire on his campaigning vehicle just outside Herat city on Friday, the official said.
"Mr. Balouch survived, but one of his bodyguards was killed in the firing," Noor Ahmad Alizai, district chief of Kohsan district where the attack occurred told AFP.
He said one of the attackers was killed and another captured.
Investigations were underway to find out who was responsible for the incident, which followed an attack on a female candidate in eastern Afghanistan late Wednesday.
Six candidates have so far died in the political violence since early July when some 5,800 Afghan men and women signed up to run in the country's first parliamentary polls in more than 30 years.
More than 1,100 people have been killed this year in attacks blamed on the hardline rebels, including around 50 US soldiers.
By JACOB SILBERBERG - Associated Press Writer
Sat Sep 10, 2005 - 6:02 PM ET
TAL AFAR, Iraq - More than 5,000 Iraqi army and paramilitary troops backed by U.S. soldiers swept into this insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border Saturday, conducting house-to-house searches and battering down stone walls in the narrow, winding streets of the old city.
Late Saturday, the prime minister ordered the Rabiyah border crossing closed in an attempt to stanch the flow of insurgents from Syria, which is about 60 miles from Tal Afar.
While several hundred insurgents using small arms initially put up stiff resistance in the city's ancient Sarai district, Iraqi forces reported only two men wounded in the day's fighting. The U.S. military issued no casualty report for the 3,500 Americans in the operation.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabr said 48 insurgents had been captured.
As the day wore on, fighting quickly died down, said Col. H.R. McMasters, commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He said the joint force found the Sarai neighborhood nearly deserted once the shooting ended.
"The enemy decided to bail out," he said, adding, however, that 150 insurgents had been killed the last two days. Jabr put the number at 141 and said five government soldiers died and three were wounded in the same period.
McMasters said the vast majority of insurgents captured in that period were "Iraqis and not foreigners." Iraqi officials said Thursday that they had captured 150 foreign fighters.
South of Baghdad, police made the gruesome discovery of 18 men who had been handcuffed and shot to death after being abducted two days ago from their Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of the capital.
In recent weeks, dozens of bodies have been recovered, the apparent victims of tit-for-tat vengeance killings by Shiite and Sunni Arab death squads.
Baghdad International Airport reopened Saturday after a 24-hour closure, begun when a British security firm stopped working because it had not been paid for seven months. After overnight negotiations, the government agreed to pay half of what it owed, and employees of the London-based Global Strategies Group were ordered back to work.
With the Tal Afar offensive under way, the Iraqi defense minister signaled his U.S.-trained forces would not stop after this operation and vowed to move against insurgent bastions throughout the country.
"We say to our people ... we are coming," said Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi.
The latest drive against the stubborn insurgency began with just over a month to go until Iraqis vote on adopting a permanent constitution
Wrangling during the drafting of the charter, which faces stiff opposition from the country's Sunni Arab minority, highlighted distrust among Iraq's volatile ethnic and religious mix as well as worries that Iraq might eventually split apart.
Sunnis claim the document favors the long-oppressed Shiite majority and the Kurds, who have run a semiautonomous state in the north since the end of the first Gulf War. Both Shiites and Kurds appear eager to set up a loose confederation of mini-states after decades of repression by a centralized government in Baghdad.
The offensive in Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, is especially delicate because of the tangle of ethnic sensitivities.
About 90 percent of the city's 200,000 people — most fled to the countryside before the fighting — are Sunni Turkmen who have complained about their treatment from the Shiite-dominated government and police force put in place after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Addressing that complaint, Jabr announced Saturday that 1,000 additional police officers would be hired in Tal Afar after the offensive and that they would be chosen from the Turkmen population.
The Turkmen have a vocal ally in their Turkish brethren to the north, where Turkey's government is a vital U.S. ally and has fought against its own Kurdish insurgency for decades. Tal Afar is next to land controlled by Iraqi Kurds.
Turkey voiced disapproval of U.S. tactics when American forces ran insurgents out of Tal Afar a year ago. The Turkmen residents complained that Iraqi Kurds were fighting alongside the Americans.
U.S. and Kurdish officials denied the allegation, but the Turkish government threatened to stop cooperating with the Americans. The siege was lifted the next day and insurgents began returning when the Americans quickly pulled out, leaving behind only a skeleton force of 500 soldiers.
For those reasons, U.S. forces stood back during the new sweep through Tal Far, allowing Iraqi forces to break down doors in the search for insurgents. The Americans followed behind, securing positions while the Iraqis advanced.
"I can see why the terrorists chose this place for a fight, it's like a big funnel of death," Sgt. William Haslett of Rocklin, Calif., said of the twisting streets and alleys Tal Afar's old city.
Twelve hours after the offensive began, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said insurgents had been trying to "to isolate Tal Afar from the political process as we are preparing for the referendum on the draft constitution."
Al-Dulaimi, who joined al-Jaafari at the news conference, said he expected the offensive to last three days, and complained Iraq's neighbors had not done enough to stop the flow of foreign fighters.
"I regret to say that instead of sending medicines to us, our Arab brothers are sending terrorists," al-Dulaimi said.
Jabr, the interior minister, read al-Jaafari's order closing the border on Iraqi television late Saturday. The decree indefinitely shut the Rabiyah crossing to all transportation, including the railroad, except for vehicles with special permission from the Interior Ministry.
The order did not affect the frontier crossing near the insurgent stronghold of Qaim or the major highway into Syria.
Japan may extend Iraq troop mission
From correspondents in Kyodo
09 Sep 05
JAPAN is considering extending the mission of its defence forces in Iraq beyond a December 14 deadline with a view to pulling them out before the middle of next year, government sources said overnight.
The extension was likely to be for a year and the government would make a final decision on when to withdraw the troops after considering political developments in Iraq by late December when a full-fledged Iraqi government was established, the sources said.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said he plans to decide on whether to extend the mission after Iraq's referendum on a new constitution in October and subsequent developments.
But an extension beyond the December 14 expiration of the current mission would be unavoidable because even if the premier decided then to withdraw the troops, the pullout operation would take at least three months.
"We cannot make a conclusion before assessing political developments through December," a senior Japanese government official said on condition of anonymity.
Japan has some 600 troops in Iraq, 500 of which are providing medical services and rebuilding schools and roads in Samawah in southern Iraq.
Australian troops protect their Japanese counterparts.
To extend the mission, the Japanese government would revise the deployment period in the basic plan under a special measures law and then decide on the exact timing for withdrawal, the sources said.
The United States unofficially approached Japan in June on extending its deployment in Iraq and was likely to oppose their withdrawal any time soon, the sources said.
In August, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari sent a written request to Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura formally requesting that Japan extend the mission.
The mission had been due to end last December but was extended until December 14 this year.
Japan plans to build a thermal power plant in Samawah using funds from its budget for economic aid, with the aim of bringing it on-stream by mid-2007.
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16543206%255E401,00.html
Terrorists use Internet to spread propaganda
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Saturday, September 10, 2005
DUBAI: Stripped of its Afghan haven and chased across the globe, the Al-Qaeda terror network is increasingly resorting to "media jihad" four years after the September 11 attacks on the United States for which it took credit. The Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), heir to the "Global Front for Fighting Jews and Christians" set up by Osama bin Laden in Afghanis-tan in 1998, presents itself as the hub for Al-Qaeda propaganda on the Internet.
Its emergence is testament to the weight now being placed by Islamist militants on winning over minds to their cause through new media in the absence of any physical command headquarters, terror experts say.
"Unite, O Muslims of the world, behind the Global Islamic Media Front. Set up squadrons of media jihad to break Zionist control over the media and terrorize the enemies," the GIMF's "emir," who goes by the nom de guerre of "Salaheddin II," exhorts Al-Qaeda followers on the Internet.
The GIMF, is "a new base of Islamic information on the Internet. Our goal is to denounce the Zionist enemy," echoes his deputy, "Ahmad al-Watheq Billah."
"The Front does not belong to anyone. It is the property of all Muslims and knows no geographical boundaries. All IT and communication experts, producers and photographers ... are welcome to join," he writes.
It has so far posted some 350 documents on Islamist Web sites, including footage of military operations in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and other places where the mujahideen, or holy warriors, operate.
Its latest production, a five-segment six-minute film titled "Bloody Comedy," was "the fruit of the cameras of the mujahideen in the Land of Two Rivers [Iraq]," which "exposed American soldiers, Allah's enemies."
"To all Americans, watch how your sons fight. Don't believe what your media [report]," the Front wrote.
The video showed an army Humvee blown up by an explosive device in Iraq and a reporter for the U.S. television network Fox News reporting that two American soldiers were wounded in the "accident," but their injuries were not serious "and they resumed their work right after [receiving] some care."
The Front recently posted a so-called "Top Ten" of bloody attacks against U.S. forces carried out by the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers, the group of Al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The 17-minute video is aimed at "those who like to see American crusader blood flowing," the GIMF said.
One segment showed American soldiers' bodies torn to pieces in an attack near the Syrian border that was claimed by Zarqawi's outfit.
Another scene showed seven U.S. soldiers whose bodies were pulverized in a land mine explosion, before other U.S. soldiers came to collect their remains.
The Internet is also loaded with literature destined to recruit fighters and teach them the tactics of guerrilla warfare and also - primarily - how to manufacture explosives in an effort to groom lone terrorists not necessarily linked to Al-Qaeda or some local variation of the network.
"With the 'war on terror' continuing, Al-Qaeda can no longer find the space to meet, set up camps and train members, so it established a new 'command headquarters' on the Internet to spread fear among its adversaries and boost its men's morale," said Yasser al-Sirri, head of the London-based Islamic Observatory.
"The new generation of Islamist militants realized long ago that Al-Qaeda is no match for the United States and its allies. But the militants clearly have an edge in the propaganda battle, a crucial component of the war on terror," said Jason Burke, a British expert in terrorist groups.
"The terrorists have become producers and film directors, and video cameras have become their most potent weapon," he said. - AFP
Thanks for the graphic - nice touch. ;*)
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