Posted on 04/23/2008 5:47:50 PM PDT by LSUfan
TOKYO, April 23 (KUNA) -- Ayman Al-Zawahri, Al-Qaida's second man and deputy of Osama bin Laden, has vowed to punish Western countries that participated in the Iraq war, hinting that Japan could be a target, Kyodo News Agency reported Wednesday.
Al-Zawahri was answering Kyodo News' questions along with hundreds of other questions submitted by Al-Qaida followers, critics, and journalists for more than a month on major Islamic websites used by Islamic militants.
A 2-hour-and-36-minute audiotape of answers surfaced Tuesday on militant websites, the agency said, adding that the message is one of two lengthy audiotapes by Al-Zawahri answering questions posted last year. In response to a question signed by Kyodo if Japan remains a target because it had sent troops to Iraq, Al-Zawahri said, "Japan provided the so-called assistance under the flag of the Crusader coalition as part of the propaganda for the Crusader forces invading the homelands of Islam. "It did not provide this assistance through charitable organizations and thus it is participating in the Crusader campaign against the lands of Islam." "Why did the Japanese start the aggression on us within the alliance of the Americans ... our Islamic faith incites us to resist the despots and tyrants, even if they were the most powerful force on earth ... so will Japan learn a lesson from this?" he said, according to Kyodo. Japan sent a 600-member non-combat Self-Defense Force group to Samawa in southern Iraq to carry out reconstruction work such as repairing buildings and providing medical assistance. The decision was unpopular with the Japanese public because many said it violated Japan's pacifist Constitution.
Although it withdrew its troops in 2006, Japan still maintains Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) airlift activities to and from Iraq, based in Kuwait. "If Japan had given up their arms, why did it send troops to our lands under the flag of the Crusader campaign?" asked Al-Zawahri, raising doubts about the humanitarian nature of the ASDF mission that was deployed to Iraq.
In 2004, Al-Zawahri reportedly called for attacks on the interests of the US and Britain as well as their allies. Al-Zawahri appeared with bin Laden in video tapes released shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington.
Al-Zawahri was answering Kyodo News’ questions along with hundreds of other questions...A 2-hour-and-36-minute audiotape of answers surfaced Tuesday on militant websites...”
He could have saved time on the video by just recording “we want to see everyone dead.”
Western countries?
Looks like a thinly veiled reference to US Forces in Japan.
Cowboys and muslims? Ninjas and muslims? Bring it on.
Yeah right, those Al Qaida types will blend in SO well in Tokyo...no one will EVER take notice.
Just wait till they get a dose of Japanese cops.
Maybe he meant “Westernized.”
Is Al-Queda really that stupid?
The Japanese people are not as “peaceful” naturally as they have been since the end of WWII.
Methinks the sheetheads are about to bite off more than they can safely chew.
> Yeah right, those Al Qaida types will blend in SO well in Tokyo...no one will EVER take notice.
Actually they will. There is a large and growing Pakistani, Iranian and Saudi population in Tokyo.
Yes, but hardly unnoticable. The Japanese youngsters may be all soft now, but mark my words, an attack on Japanese soil by al Qaeda would ignite the Japanese and may be their own equivalent of “waking the sleeping giant,” as Tojo said of the US back in the day. Japanese nationalism is an odd basket of mixed things, but one thing it does not contain is any tolerance for Islamo-fascist radicalism.
Another civilized nation inviting the Jackals in its midst
With all the yapping from this fat muzzie, Why is He still alive?
Wow, and Japan has really been a minor player in the War on Terror.
It is easy for you to say "bring it on."
Thanks but no thanks.
Don't overate all the Japanese to be such ballsy Samurai warriors to each man, woman, boy and girl. Pacifism and lukewarmness on the WOT overall runs extremely deep here, at least with many of the average Hiroshi and Yukiko on the street.
In this day and age, a lot has changed from "the old days", and some of that is Western imagery and romanticism, not necessarily based on reality or the true body politic here anymore, at least in 2008.
Sorry to hear that. But, of course, much the same was believed of America by the Japanese prior to Pearl Harbor. Hopefully, we will never have to find out one way or another.
Pre-Pearl Harbor.
And Post-Hiroshima.
They dictate two different mental outcomes on the part of the populace.
I’ve never been to Japan, but from what I hear, they don’t play that PC bullshit.
Hi AIT. I would think a terror attack could be very dangerous in Japan due to large crowds in the cities and lots of mass transit. Many Japanese did become very pacifist and anti-nuke after WWII. But how do you think they would react to a terror attack on their soil?
Not a chance. Al Qaeda can barely pull off a job in the UK, where Muslims are nearing 10% of the population. Japanese can easily watch the few Muslim radicals among them, and Al Qaeda wouldn’t waste their precious resources.
How soon before the Shinto Temples fly the Crescent Flag of the Islamofacists?
I haven't been in Japan for almost 6 years now but I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan near Tokyo, from 1998 to 2002 and there were many Middle Eastern types living there working on workers visas and yes you're right these guys stand out like a sore thumb.
Do they know that certain famous Lizard named Godzilla is from Japan he won’t be too amused
> How soon before the Shinto Temples fly the Crescent Flag of the Islamofacists?
My guess is never. Most Japanese do not really understand why a person should be limited to only one religion. As a saying goes: “Japanese are born in a [Shinto] shrine, get married in a [Christian] church and are buried in a [Buddhist] Temple”.
Also, I do not think it is possible to explain to Japanese cops why they should not use racial profiling.
It would be anything but a unanimous, martialist/militarist/pissed off World War II "Tenno Heika, Banzai!"-type, Tom Cruise-movie romantic samurai Japan of the Old Days in response to al-Qaeda. Where would they strike? There would without a doubt with the Japan of 2008 be a strong, not insignificant voice rising saying "see, we got joined at the hips with the Americans in their international exploits, and now we have become a target". I personally think the relatively non-interventionist Minshuto Party and maybe even the Communists (as minor as they are) would make considerable gains. There are elements of what some FR posters view in Japan--I think perhaps--influenced by manga, anime, martial arts, samurai lore, kamikaze imagery, etc., but these are not necessarily in the majority anymore, any more so than all Americans are unanimously "go get 'em" type Magnificent Seven Cowboys on the War on Terror (particularly Iraq engagement). Most Americans, like it or not, in fact want the hell out, don't they--despite the cock of the walk swagger of it's current leader?
> Yes, but hardly unnoticable. The Japanese youngsters may be all soft now, but mark my words, an attack on Japanese soil by al Qaeda would ignite the Japanese and may be their own equivalent of “waking the sleeping giant,” as Tojo said of the US back in the day. Japanese nationalism is an odd basket of mixed things, but one thing it does not contain is any tolerance for Islamo-fascist radicalism.
That would be really hard to predict. There will definitely be a subset of the Japanese population that would want to revert back to isolationism. Than again one of the reasons that Koizumi (former prime minister) was so popular is his continued visits to the Yasukuni shrine (Japanese war memorial) in spite of global condemnations and hurt feelings. Personally, I think it could go either way.
They are already here. At least a handful and that is all that took our own 9-11. And probably making dry runs on the trains, unfortunately.
that aspect is true, yes, about profiling
Japan let in tens of thousands of Muslims, especially from Pakistan, Iran and Malaysia, in the 1980s and 1990s to work as cheap illegal labor. For awhile there, you couldn’t get more than 30 yards from any major train station without some Iranian trying to get you to buy counterfeit phone cards. I believe that several new mosques have been built around the country.
Have Al Quada hear of Godzilla????
I wouldn’t mess with the people of Japan. They can be formidable.
One can extrapolate out the percentage of Muslims who are either hard core terrorist cell possibility, as well as potential terrorist supporter-classification, you could come up with close to 5,000 to 6,000 potential Islamofascist terorists on the archipelago, traipsing around day in and day out. Certainly more than enough to form some cells on the side, and put their plans of action into place.
Maybe 5,000 to 7,000 Islamists could be ethnic Japanese. Take just a hard core fascist/radical 10 percent of that, 500-700, and you have more than enough of a base to carry out acts of terror without "standing out like a sore thumb" as has been asserted by some on this thread.
Hopefully the national policy agency and the Prime Minister's intelligence community apparatus follows these people around with a passion.
You mean Iranjin don't you?
And yes I bought some of those cards that went for a tenth the price of new ones.
Oh, no, there goes Tokyo...
That would not end well for the terrorists.
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