Al Jazeera airs Bin Laden tape.(LIVE THREAD)

CNBC

[Keith]

Farmer...you make my point! ALL NATIONS ARE WILLING TO FORM ALLIANCES IF THEY ARE AGAINST THE ENEMY OF THE MOMENT!

We helped Hussein in the I-I war because we were concerned about containing Iran's Islamic fundamentalism. Al Qaeda and Iraq will help each other for the moment if it can involve hurting America...and will turn on each other at the first moment...but for now Saddam "Hitler" Hussein and Usama "Stalin" Bin Laden, are happy to work together...just like Churchill and "Uncle Joe"...

I don't think smart people expect this to last...and both are probably plotting the timing of double-crossing each other.

[Keith]

Ditt spørsmål til deltakeren: - Your question for the participant (Krekar)


...a moose once fragged my sister...

[piasa]

That article says nothing about the tolerances of the tubes.

The rockets are a violation of the agreements Iraq signed as well, even if we wanted to be charitable and pretend that's what they are for. The tolerances alone render the rocket argument wholly moot, and the Iraqis not only requested specific tolerances well beyond what you can afford to waste on rockets, they actually ordered even finer tolerances after finding the first inadeqate for their needs. There are no rockets that require such fine toolerances, nor olympic bicycles, as someone else desperately suggested. There is no need whatsoever for rocket tubes to be milled smoother than glass INSIDE and out, and no one would go to the expense to do it. Not to mention that "rockets" don't need to be resistant to the corrosives used in uranium enrichment.

Good grief. Think- near perfect milling INSIDE the tubes? What on earth for?

[Keith]

on the subject of the aluminum tubes, I believe that the former Iraqi nuclear scientist covered this well in his article in the WSJ today...

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003053

Iraq's attempt to import aluminum tubes of higher tensile strength than is needed in conventional weapons has been brushed aside by the IAEA's Mohammed El-Baradei. He claims there is no proof that these tubes were intended for modification and use in centrifuges to make enriched uranium. Yet he fails to report that Iraq has the machining equipment to thin these tubes down to the required thickness (less than one millimeter) for an efficient centrifuge rotor. What's more, they don't find it suspect that Iraq did not deliver all the computer controlled machining equipment that it imported from the British-based, Iraqi-owned Matrix-Churchill that manufacture these units.

If Powell was wrong, then the defector may have been responsible for this misinterpretation...?

By the way, FF, I want to commend you for the mature way you have handled this disagreement with most on this forum.

I personally feel that we will be using Iraq as a base for doing in Afghanistan and other hiding places for AQ exactly what you are suggesting...

[piasa]

Nothing like making the world's most expensive disposable rockets... just for decoration in case someone can appreciate the mirrorlike surface inside a tube befor ethey stuff it with explosive material. If only people could appreciate it while it's in the air for a few seconds before it explodes, too.

As some Iraqi might say : "And the extra money paid to make sure they can withstand corrosives is wonderful- I mean, what would people say if we unboxed a rocket and spilled corrosive on it from our nuclear "university research" facility, and it got stained before we launched it a few minutes later, and then when it hit and blew apart some Americans as designed--- what if the UN sees that we used cheaper, common aluminum plate materials that couldn't even hold up to a little mishandling by a nuclear scientist for years at a time instead of investing in the high grade stuff? I mean, we might hit someon important Kuwaiti. Can you imagine a rich Kuwaiti prince getting blown away by an inferior, common rocket? We might hit an American diplomat instead of some common people. They might sanction us again for insulting them with a blue light special...

No, only the best for us!"

We could make so many more rockets if we just used the stuff everone else uses, but that would be SOOOO tacky. So we went out shopped way above our means. Just wait until you see our platinum bullets and gilded porcelain grenades!

- Hussein's hairdresser

[unspun]

I've seen a picture of a moose in FR and from the way it looks, I wonder if it's Osama Bin Laden's sister.

Can anyone give us a comparison?

[unspun]

You want to know what a Grand Mufti is, eh?

I'm just too modest to say.

[valleygal]

Why was Jennings live from Phoenix? Oooh, wish we could've freeped him.

[Freedom2specul8]

", whether ours or msulim, so al Qaeda is telling their people to take shelter among civilians and fight within populated areas"

That is a good point! I am not sure though...they don't seem to care about civilians too much.. *(am thinking of them not caring that there were muslims in wtc..)

[Eurotwit]

Another kurdish leader claimed the other day that Krekar was primarily a showman or even a con artist.... A small-time player that wildy exagerated his own position, but when the spotlight hit him he is backpedalling... Who knows....I think kurdish politics is quite complicated and I would take anything the PUK says for the truth either....

Just one point: It seems that many on this thread are assuming either a full on Ansar-Iraqi union or a full on Ansar-Iraqi hostile relationship..... In fact if there is a connection it is more likely to be a lot more subtle than that.....I.e. Bagdadh might have supplied them with some limited weaponry in order to weaken the pro-american kurdish factions, but not access to his really deadly arsenal... Even helping Ansar with Ricin probably wouldn't constitute much of a threat to the Iraqi regime... Alliances like this are more complicated and not black and white...

Heck, it is a well established fact that even Turkey has supported various Kurdish factions which were defacto its enemies in a "divide and conquer" strategy..

However, even the presence of a limited strategic alliance of conveniance is scary, because under the right (wrong) circumstances it could be expanded...

[Eurotwit]

Hi, I am nost sure if you still check up on this, but the good Mullah answered my question on Abu Wael :-)

Here's the question and his answer

- Hei,
Det er mange som lurer på hvem Abu Wael egentlig er og det finnes motstridene rapporter. Siden du angivelig kjenner han kunne du kanskje klare opp saken en gang for alle: Hvem er Abu Wael?

Hello,
There are many people who are wondering who Abu Wael really is, and there exists contradictory reports. Since you are supposed to know him, perhaps you could clear up the matter once and for all: Who is Abu Wael?

Svar:
- Abu Wael er en araber fra Bagdad. Han er 70 år, og utdannet seg som advokat for 30 år siden. Han er en god muslim. De som sier at han er en agent for Irak, sprer bare propaganda. Jeg tror at hvis det fantes ett eneste bevis for det, ville amerikanerne legge det fram. Mange av hans venner sitter i Saddams fengsel, og hans kone ble arrestert av Saddam Hussein.

Krekar's answer:

- Abu Wael is an arab from Bagdad. He is 70 years old, and was educated as a lawyer 30 years ago. He is a good muslim (My comment: Just like Usama :-), very reassuring). Those who say he is an Iraqi agent is just spreading propaganda. I think that if even a single piece of evidence existed proving that, the Americans would put it forward. Many of his friends are locked up in Saddam's jails, and his wife was arrested by Saddam Hussein.


There you go... Straight from the Mullah... :-)

[Eurotwit]

A bit late, but this was Krekar's thought relating to this thread: the recent osama tape:

"I think it is basically a phsycological war between Al Qaeda and the US. I believe the recording is legit, but he is trying to motivate the Iraqis and telling them not to be afraid of the USA. He's telling them that he and his people had a hard time at Tora Bora, and that they are experienced in dealing with the Americans. It's Bin Ladens's point of view that the Americans cannot stand a long war. Iraq must therefore try to achieve a long war inside the cities, because the tall buildings will shield them from american rockets."

[Keith]

you assume that this is the only evidence we have. I disagree.

As for the Chinese and Pakis, I agree...who says we aren't doing both? But we aren't going to invade and use those countries for a base...we will with Iraq, and I approve.

[Angelus Errare]

"Another kurdish leader claimed the other day that Krekar was primarily a showman or even a con artist.... A small-time player that wildy exagerated his own position, but when the spotlight hit him he is backpedalling..."

Was he affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party or the PKK, perchance?

"Just one point: It seems that many on this thread are assuming either a full on Ansar-Iraqi union or a full on Ansar-Iraqi hostile relationship..... In fact if there is a connection it is more likely to be a lot more subtle than that.....I.e. Bagdadh might have supplied them with some limited weaponry in order to weaken the pro-american kurdish factions, but not access to his really deadly arsenal... Even helping Ansar with Ricin probably wouldn't constitute much of a threat to the Iraqi regime... Alliances like this are more complicated and not black and white..."

My own opinion is that al-Qaeda has a clear quid pro quo relationship with Iraq and that at this point their goals are interlocked. Additionally, I think that Abu Wael is likely a member of Ansar al-Islam's ruling council primarily to make certain that the group doesn't too big for its britches.

Regarding Krekar, he strikes me as somebody who is basically Ansar's PR rep and figurehead leader. He's reasonably charismatic, can think on his feet, and can provide religious authority for the group's activities. In other words, he's the Kurdish equivalent of Abu Hamza or Omar Bakri.

"I think kurdish politics is quite complicated and I would take anything the PUK says for the truth either...."

I would agree, except that the PUK has been uncharacteristically honest about the number of its peshmerga that Ansar has killed. While there is contradictory information as to size of Ansar ranging from 800 to 2,000 fighters, they've killed over 1,000 PUK soldiers ever since they first appeared on the scene in 2001. Clearly, the Ansar are making up for their smaller size with a mixture of ferocity, skill, and fanaticism that tends to be a hallmark of al-Qaeda affiliates.

Regarding Mullah Krekar's response, I think it goes without saying that he's hardly the most trustworthy individual on the planet:

"Those who say he is an Iraqi agent is just spreading propaganda. I think that if even a single piece of evidence existed proving that, the Americans would put it forward. Many of his friends are locked up in Saddam's jails, and his wife was arrested by Saddam Hussein."

There may actually be some truth to this. The Mukhabarat (particularly Section 999, the subdivision that Abu Wael is supposedly from) has a policy of taking family members of field operatives into "protective custody" as a kind of insurance policy so that the operatives' know that their family's lives are on the line should they complete their assignment.

But Mukhabarat or not, Abu Wael is every bit the terrorist as any other al-Qaeda foot soldier.

[lorrainer]

Me too, but he is biased with respect to Saudi Arabia, my hubby told me he was somehow related to the House of Saud.

Mansoor Ijaz is of Pakistani descent. He started out as a democrat, but now seems to be making sense. If you missed Brit Hume's Special report on Wed Feb 12, please watch/VCT/TiVo at 11:00 Central for some more of his analysis. Also interesting reads Here and Here --scroll down and look at the articles.