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Walid Phares, the recently announced co-chair of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Middle East advisory group, has a long résumé. College professor. Author. Political pundit. Counterterrorism expert. But there's one chapter of his life that you won't find on his CV: He was a high ranking political official in a sectarian religious militia responsible for massacres during Lebanon's brutal, 15-year civil war. During the 1980s, Phares, a Maronite Christian, trained Lebanese militants in ideological beliefs justifying the war against Lebanon's Muslim and Druze factions, according to former colleagues. Phares, they say, advocated the hard-line view that Lebanon's Christians should work...

Dr. Walid Phares, an expert on the Middle East and on terrorism, currently has a media alert scrolling across his website—projections from his latest book The Coming Revolution are “materializing in Sudan, Tunisia, Lebanon and now Egypt.” Phares suggested there could be “enormous” implications—not just for Egypt but for the world. He told Dow Jones Newswires, "It all boils down to who controls what. When you have a broken-down situation like this, the Suez Canal will not be completely protected by Egyptian armed forces…" DJN also said according to Dr. Phares, "Extremist elements of the opposition 'would drag [the region]...

Professor Walid Phares on Catholic TV EWTN on the Jihadi attacks against the Copts in Alexandria and the Assyro-Chaldeans in Baghdad as well as on his new book, The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East. (about 20mins)

The FBI's arrest of Farooque Ahmed of Ashburn, Va., for allegedly assisting al Qaeda in planning multiple bombings around the nation's capital paints a sobering picture of the threat we still face from jihadists. The FBI charged the 34-year-old computer engineer, husband, father of one and naturalized U.S. citizen with "providing material support to terrorists and collecting information for a terrorist attack." Emphasizing the gravity of the case, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride remarked that Mr. Ahmed was "accused of casing rail stations with the goal of killing as many Metro riders as possible...

Even President Obama has admitted that we're falling down on the job when it comes to fighting the war on terror. In 2002, one would-be shoe bomber forced millions of travelers to take off their shoes. In 1996, terrorists planned to bring down aircraft on transatlantic flights by smuggling liquid explosives onto plane. They were thwarted but they succeeded in preventing passengers from bringing liquids into airline terminals. Lesson number one: In this terror war, the jihadists have the upper hand. THEY are in charge. THEY are the ones who choose to use a new weapon and they are also...

.......... Stealth analysis “Saifullah” of North Carolina spent his 20s and 30s (or so we know) in his rural home. His neighbors saw him walking the dog and never heard him threatening anyone, per the media reports. By popular American standards he would be a regular guy. But by jihadi doctrine he was performing taqiyya. Combatants “in the path of Allah,” as instructed by ideologues to “fake” normalcy, and lie if needed, about their real beliefs so that the deception of the enemy is full. The question is how many other American “Saifullahs” are practicing taqiyya and since when? Are...

Perhaps the most challenging task for analysts and commentators to accomplish after having listen to President Obama's speech in Cairo (addressed to the "Muslim World") is to know how to read it, understand the links between the points he made, capture the arguments inserted by his speech writers and thus analyze the text as a major policy change since 9/11. In short, I would recommend for readers to establish a "map of the speech" before venturing to its various exotic suggestions and hints. Evidently, each political constituency in America, the region and the international community has its priorities and will jump to the part it...

A successful counter-terrorism operation led by the FBI and the New York City Police Department ended with the arrest of four New York City men in connection with plots to bomb Jewish synagogues and gun down military planes in upstate areas. ———— Today’s announcement of the foiled terror plot is a stark reminder that we are still under attack — eight years after the September 11 massacres. And if we are under attack, it means that we are still at war, a real one, not a “man-made disaster.” ————- According to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly the suspects, identified as James...

As the U.S. administration and its allies are devising a new strategy for the next steps in Afghanistan, the jihadists have already begun their next move — but this time it’s inside Pakistan. As I’ve written over the past few months, we need to look at Afghanistan, Pakistan and India as one regional battlefield where the “other side” is coordinating strategically, acting methodically and for sure beating the international coalition in speed. If Washington and its allies fail to see the big picture in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, which unfortunately may be the case now, the...

Al Jazeera television is known for airing Islamic extremist videos and even hosted an on-air birthday celebration for convicted Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar who murdered four Israelis in 1979. "It is a professional institution but it is a militant institution that wants to convey an ideological Jihadi message," said Walid Phares, a terrorism analyst for FOX News. Critics charge that the Jihadist message now is making its way to public broadcasting in America.

Israeli raids on Hamas' infrastructure, along with troop movements around Gaza and the shelling of Israel by that organization, are troubling but certainly not surprising. Sadly, it's not the first time we've seen these images. Tragically, seven years after September 11 they seem to connect with similar bloodshed in Mosul, Kabul and Mumbai. Even if both sides in the current Gaza conflict insist that their confrontation is at the center of the world, in reality it isn't. Car bombs and missiles in Beirut, Baghdad and Islamabad are all horrifying. There is no "top horror" anymore, even in the never-ending cycle...

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), an association of the world's Islamic states, is pushing the United Nations to outlaw "defamation" of religion in general, and of one religion in particular. My remarks that follow are based on 27 years of researching in the field of international relations and conflicts, and on a decade of teaching Religions and World Politics. Since I published my first book in Arabic in 1979, where I addressed the issue of relationships between civilizations and cultural blocs worldwide, I have had the opportunity to publish ten books and hundreds of articles focusing on the rise...

How will Obama deal with this threat? We have Carter II in the making.

South Ossetia: The perfect wrong war By Walid Phares By now, days after Georgian forces stormed the capital of south Ossetia and Russian units counter attacked across the breaking away province and beyond; a devastating war has spread across the Caucasus causing death, destruction and displacement of populations. All wars are terrible -- even the legitimate ones where country, freedom and survival at are at stake. But this war is particularly unnecessary, could have been avoided and above all is wrong; in fact I call it the perfect wrong war. Unfortunately, when battles are raging with tanks, artillery, bombs and...

The Winning Side of the Iraq Campaign by Walid Phares In his latest assessment of the state of the campaign in Iraq President Bush drew strategic assertions regarding the measurement of success and the risks of failure on that battlefield, in what we can coin as the next stage in the confrontation against the forces of terror in the region. The successful surge Practically the military surge has denied al-Qaeda and the Mahdi militia the realization of their current objectives. So far al-Qaeda wasn’t able to create an "Emirate" in the Sunni triangle, nor even to reconstitute a Fallujah-like enclave:...

Looking at the President's Assessment of the Iraq Campaign By Walid Phares April 1, 2008 President Bush's March 27 assessment of the state of the war in Iraq raised important strategic assertions that warrant greater attention from the public and the defense and national security sectors. The principles announced by the president with regard to the measurement of success and the risks of failure on the Iraqi battlefield constitute a series of components of what I would coin as the next stage in the confrontation against the forces of terror in the region. The surge's success The 2007-2008 military surge...

Published: March 18, 2008 ‘The Confrontation: Winning the War Against Future Jihad’ – The New Book from Dr. Walid PharesThe Editors Dr. Walid Phares, the Director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, is a respected author whose latest book is available to the public today. Titled The Confrontation: Winning the War Against Future Jihad, Dr. Phares, who has been acclaimed by peers as the “one who can best understand the minds of the Jihadists,” will finally tell us what he thinks should be done “globally” about the threat posed by Jihad. His first two...

Chad's future Taliban enters capital while the West is asleep The Transatlantic Conservative 3 February 2008 With the so called "rebel" attack on N'Djamena it becomes increasingly clear that the jihadist government and militia of Sudan expand their operations to neighboring Chad. Saudi-Arabia, Syria and Iran back the hardliners in Khartoum. The racist genocidal ethnic cleansing policies of the Arab muslim tribes in power in the Sudanese capital will can't be stopped by UN or EUFOR intervention troops anymore. Their only possible base of operations against the jihadis from Sudan WAS Chad. Chad is another piece of the map of...

With the selection of the next US President bound to affect the very survival of the American people, all the old rules of politics and elections are out the window.

The Best Person for the Job by Walid Phares, Ph.D. When it comes to US Presidential elections, the post 9/11 era has changed the rules of engagement for national security experts and for those who can read the Jihadists’ minds. While the counterterrorism community should let the voters chose their chief executive first, then later offer expert advice to the President, unfortunately, the world has changed. Indeed, since the 9/11 and the engagement of the nation in the war with Jihadism, the selection of the US President can fundamentally affect the very survival of the American people. Whoever occupies the...

The Candidate Who Can See the Enemy, Can Defeat It by Walid Phares The post 9/11 era has changed the rules of engagement for national security experts and for those who can read the mind of the Jihadists, when it comes to US Presidential elections. While the principle was that the counter Terrorism community should let the voters chose their candidates and select their chief executive first, then offer the expert advice to the President later, unfortunately for that principle, things have changed. Indeed, since the attacks against New York and Washington and the engagement of the nation in the...

Bhutto’s Murder: Al Qaeda’s Security BlanketWalid Phares Former Pakistani Prime Minster Benazir Bhutto was murdered by the combined forces of Jihadism in Pakistan because of her potential actions in that country. In short, Jihadists executed her to preempt her future war of ideas. This is the bottom line, and here is why. The long-term plan of the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan during the 1990s was to eventually spread to Pakistan and seize power and ultimately, after 1999, to seize Pakistan’s nukes, too. Miscalculating on September 11th, Osama bin Laden lost Kabul and the Jihadi war room crossed over to their...

The conflict we call the War on Terror still continues at the end of 2007 and all indications are that its battlefields are expected to spread further, and escalate, in the upcoming year. The following is a global assessment of the confrontation that has taken place since 2001, though the systematic war waged by the Jihadi forces against democracies and the free world began at least a decade before 9/11. This evaluation isn't comprehensive or definitive, but a collection of observations related to major benchmarks, directions and projections. Global cohesion lacking The main powers and allies involved in the War...

Future Jihad: How Bin Laden Outsmarts the US with al Qaeda Propaganda Walid Phares What is interesting about the latest audio message of Usama Bin Laden, carried by al Jazeera, is its delayed argument. Strangely he is trying to convince the Europeans - seven years later - that they are wrong to have followed the United States into Afghanistan. Why? In his speech - irrespective of the ritual investigative questions regarding its location, technology and other details - the central issue appears to be his growing concern with the European role in Afghanistan, and perhaps because of it, the potential...

The oddest of all factional relationships is the open alliance between the Jihadists and the so-called "antiwar" neo-Left movement in the West. The jumble of causes thrown together is mind-bending: globalization hobnobs with the caliphate, class struggle with Wahabism, proletariat with infidels, and North Korea with Palestine. While still shedding each others' blood, the Reds (neo-Left) and the Dark Greens (Islamists) are conducting a joint offensive against both democracy-pushing America and the democracy-craving Middle East. They are not letting old or new grudges get in their way. The Wahabis fiercely fought the Soviet Communists in Afghanistan; the Muslim Brotherhood and...

Iran's Plan for Iraq   By Walid PharesWorld Defense Review | Monday, September 10, 2007 [Part one of a series on "Freedom Lines," adapted from seminars conducted for the U.S. House of Representatives' Caucus on Counter Terrorism, summer 2007]In March 2003, the United States made a strategic decision to send troops into Iraq and defeat the Saddam Hussein regime militarily. This decision is still being debated nationwide and internationally as to its legitimacy and rationality.One camp claims Washington didn't have a right to change the regime and engage in an armed confrontation with Iraqis. Another camp says Saddam was...

No matter what its historical relevance or context, the political and legal dimensions of historical jihad cannot be played out in the international or public policy affairs of modern society. FSM Contributing Editor Dr. Walid Phares explains why modern Jihad is unquestionably against the law. ____________________________________________ Why Military Jihad in Modern Times Is Illegal By Walid Phares One of the strangest, but not unexpected, battles of words and ideologies is over the claims made about the Muslim perception of jihad and Jihadism and their impact on public speech. Although there are various clashes on this level, it is appropriate here...

Western apologist literature has convinced and confused readers, including those in America’s Defense intelligentsia, that Jihad is not as lethal as it is. FSM Contributing Editor Dr. Walid Phares opens our eyes to the stunning successes of this enemy’s disinformation campaigns. For full article see: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/terrorism.php?id=1157956

The current media rush to interpret what the US Government is releasing in terms of potential infiltration by an al Qaeda cell (or cells) to strike this summer is warranted but still unfocused. ABC News and AP have reported new official "concerns" of an attack on the US homeland this summer. ABC specified that (according to its sources) the Terrorists intend to attack a Government facility. Furthermore, as reported widely in the press, "new intelligence suggests a small al Qaeda cell is on its way to the US, or may already be here." The report added that the White House...

Expert: Britain Is Jihad Central NewsMax.com July 1, 2007 "Britain is at War with the Jihadists, that's the bottom line" says Dr. Walid Phares. British officials "need to cope with the reality that they are the target of a Jihad war," Dr. Phares told Jack Riccardi on San Antonio's KTSA Saturday. Dr. Phares, director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a visiting fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy and several books on the Islamic jihad against the West including the most recent "Future Jihad," said that Britain "is one of the most...

Car Bomb Jihad By Dr. Walid Phares FrontPageMagazine.com | July 2, 2007British authorities are to be commended for successfully averting two (maybe more) car bomb attacks in London last week. At the same time, much of the reaction of Britain’s counter-terrorism community reveals that the country is not wholly prepared to deal with the terrorism threat. Let's begin with the contradictory statements made by British authorities after the car bombs had been identified. On one hand, Britain’s new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said after an emergency meeting of top officials that “we are currently facing the most serious and sustained threat...

In this interview, FSM Contributing Editor Walid Phares discusses the “War of Ideas.” Walid warns us; the West is not winning against radical Islam’s intent upon a new Caliphate stretching from China to Morocco. Read how he envisions defeating the new fascism that we face. Question Period: War of the Worlds By Walid Phares Walid Phares is a Lebanese-American historian who has just released his sixth book, The War of Ideas: Jihadism versus Democracy. He is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington and a visiting fellow with the European Foundation for Democracies in...

In analysis exclusive to "The Tank," Middle East terrorism expert Walid Phares discusses the ongoing Syro-Iranian offensive against the West; its aims, and its three primary fronts: Eastern (Afghanistan), Central (Iraq), and — in much of today's analysis — Western (Lebanon and Gaza). Also, what we may expect in the coming months.

Many observers interpret the victory of Nicholas Sarkozy in the French presidential elections as a desperate plea from Europeans to begin a more vocal, effective resistance to urban Muslim terror throughout the Continent. FSM Contributing Editor Walid Phares brings us his expert analysis. __________________________________________________ When I was leaving Paris at the end of October 2005 after a visit to France, I had two things in mind: First, I had seen the beginning of the urban intifada, which would soon engulf about two hundred cities and towns. Second, I was able to have my book Future Jihad received by Minister of...

Walid Phares: Iraqization is right, but surrendering to fascist regimes is wrong Dec. 6, 2006 Washington DC, December 6, 2006. Mideast Newswire In his first analysis of the the Iraq Study Group recommendations, Mideast expert Walid Phares told three media outlets in the US, Europe, and the Middle East, that "the Iraq Study Group's recommendations resemble a salad bowl. The document contains some rational suggestions that should have been adopted by the Bush Administration years ago, and also some suicidal ideas that were tested decades ago and failed miserably." Phares, a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of...

War Stories Investigates: The Jihad Sunday, October 15, 2006 at 8 p.m./11 p.m. ET Hosted by Oliver North The word is everywhere, but what does it mean? Jihad — holy war or struggle — now threatens innocent people of every faith. Al Qaeda may now be at the top of the terror ladder, but the roots of this global war are deep in history. Tune in this weekend as Oliver North explores what every person should know about jihad. In proven "War Stories" tradition, this episode brings historical context to today's events. As you will see, the jihad being...

"Global Trends 2015" Terrorism-Related Excerpts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following items are terrorism-related items from the National Intelligence Council's "Global Trends 2015: A Dialogue About the Future With Nongovernment Experts" report (December 2000). Transnational Terrorism (page 50) States with poor governance; ethnic, cultural, or religious tensions; weak economies; and porous borders will be prime breeding grounds for terrorism. In such states, domestic groups will challenge the entrenched government, and transnational networks seeking safehavens. At the same time, the trend away from state-supported political terrorism and toward more diverse, free-wheeling, transnational networks—enabled by information technology—will continue. Some of the states that actively sponsor...

As we mark the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America, and we review the half a decade of war on terror since, the central question that comes to the minds of both experts and policymakers is this – who is winning the war and where are we in its prosecution? And to refine, is al Qaeda on the retreat, is Afghanistan working, is Iraq surviving the challenge, and is Lebanon’s Cedars Revolution on the rise or has it been defeated? Is Hezbollah’s war changing the U.S. strategy regarding Iran and Israel? And finally, is the U.S. homeland secure,...

As we mark the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America, and we review the half a decade of war on terror since, the central question that comes to the minds of both experts and policymakers is this – who is winning the war and where are we in its prosecution? And to refine, is al Qaeda on the retreat, is Afghanistan working, is Iraq surviving the challenge, and is Lebanon’s Cedars Revolution on the rise or has it been defeated? Is Hezbollah’s war changing the U.S. strategy regarding Iran and Israel? And finally, is the U.S. homeland secure,...

The video tape issued by al Qaeda’s “as-sahhab” production, in which Ayman Zawahiri introduces Jihadist Adam Gahdan to the world as a senior speaker to the American people on behalf of the movement, should be taken seriously. Not necessarily at the level of detecting the next terror attack but at the level of understanding this prelude to future Jihad both in America and within the West. I wasn’t surprised at all by the 45 minutes elaboration by convert Gahdan regarding all of the issues he raised. For “Azzam al Amrikee” is the clearest specimen of Jihadism’s second generation within the...

The "Azzam" Threat: A prelude to Future Jihad in AmericaOver at the Counterterrorism Blog the ever-insightful Walid Phares has posted a preliminary explanation and analysis of the new videotape from Azzam the American, aka Adam Yehiye Gadahn. A few choice details: [...] In short, the “Azzam” video reconfirms clearly, in an English language that academic translators won’t be able to distort, that al Qaeda’s movement worldwide and in the United States is seeking total annihilation or conversion of the enemy: American and other democracies. 4) Argumentation tactics: The “speech writer,” emulating many commentators on al Jazeera or al Manar, hopes...

Expert: Iran Poised To Be 'Mother of All World Threats' Dave Eberhart, NewsMax Friday, Aug. 11, 2006 WASHINGTON -- For anyone who still thinks the Israeli-Lebanon war is just a border scuffle, one Middle East expert shouts a dire warning: "As soon as a cease fire occurs, the ‘Hezbollah Blitzkrieg' will crumble the ‘Lebanese Republic of Weimar' and install its own ‘Khumeinist Republic' on the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The consequences of such a development are far beyond imagination for the region and the world. Hezbollah would have paved the way for Iran to create the mother of all...

Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in. Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now? Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to...

REUTERS' HIJACKING LEBANON'S ANSWER TO THE UN? By Walid Phares A few hours after a Franco-American draft for a UN Security Council resolution was released, pro-Hezbollah lobbies and allies launched a campaign to hijack the response of Lebanon to the United Nations. As noted by seasoned observers the campaign started at the top with an alert release by News Agency Reuters written by Lin Noueihed. The article, put out early Sunday has reached the four corners of the Globe and its title has framed the position of the Lebanese people in a "no" to the UN expected resolution. Amazingly enough,...

Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in. Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now? Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of...

When Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah held his press conference to declare his new victory over his enemy, Israel, he was triggering –probably without knowing- a new era in the history of Lebanon and the region. “We will continue in faithfulness to our line,” he declared, in legitimizing his cross border attack on an Israeli patrol, killing soldiers and kidnapping two. But the real “fidelity” Nasrallah was referring to wasn’t to his captured men in Israeli jails, but to the regimes decision-makers in Tehran and Damascus. The “operation of July” came as a tipping point in a larger...

here's a short byte.. The taking of innocent hostages and their beheading in front of a camera, the footage of which was sent to al-Jazeera and posted on Salafi websites, is an act disconnected from humanity. In the 1940s, Hitlerian evil engaged in genocide, but its perpetrators did not air their diabolical acts in movie theatres. Zarqawi surpassed the Nazis qualitatively, but thankfully not quantitatively. Regardless of the geopolitical maze in Iraq and in the region at large, and regardless of the state of the terror war, the elimination of this Jihadi terrorist has put an end to an ongoing...

Paris and London, June 3, 2006 Over the past nine months, speeches by Usama Bin Laden, Ayman Zawahiri, other Jihadi cadres and the documents found after the arrest of Terror-architect Abu Mus’ab al Suri all put the West and democracies on notice: the second generation al Qaida is marching. The “Jihad country-list” includes those countries whose troops are engaged in battles against the Terrorists around the world or whose police force is attempting to disrupt the cells at home. Beyond the "regular" countries-targets such as the United States, UK, Australia, Russia, India, Jordan and Israel, many others "infidel" countries made...

Should we be surprised by the watershed debate following Zacarias Moussaoui's trial ending? Not really. The jury rendering of its recommendation is not unusual throughout the American legal war with Terrorism: For the five years court struggle to try al Qaida members and other terrorists in the US legal structure hasn't been working. After the classroom, America's court room is too alien to the conflict. In short Moussaoui's case is not the only one to display a systemic crisis, all other cases did and will continue to do. My take on it, as an analyst of past and future terror...

WASHINGTON – On April 26, 2005, pictures of the "last" Syrian soldiers were seen around the world. Today, on the first annual withdrawal of the Syrian regular forces from Lebanon, there are reasons for celebration and other reasons for great concern. While Syrian road blocks have vanished from Beirut and the various regions of Lebanon, many questions are still troubling the minds of most Lebanese and their friends around the world. The truth – the whole truth – is not yet fully out in the open. What caused the abrupt Syrian withdrawal, and is the latter complete? What is causing...