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A few months ago, when the 9/11 Commission released footage of the communications between several command centers and the transportation network during the dramatic minutes of September 11, one phrase chilled me to the bones. It summarized how unprepared America was to face to the Jihadist onslaught. A pilot of an F-16 rushing to the scene over the Pentagon screamed on his radio: "God, the Russians had us...they had us." Since the end of the 1990s, Americans, were subjected to a campaign of intellectual subversion. The Jihadist factor, although identified by U.S. intelligence agencies as the driving force behind terrorism...

Sunday, June 20, 2004  Phase 2 Reader DL asks whether the simultaneous upsurge of attacks in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan is a sign of increasing Al Qaeda strength. From the very beginning there has been a debate within Al Qaeda over whether Osama's method of challenging America directly by attacking New York and Washington DC was correct or whether the alternative method of seizing power in one or more Muslim countries was the true path to victory. Michael Ledeen, in his book The Terror Masters observed that the wells of Islamic fundamentalism flow strongest in "moderate" countries like Egypt,...

Torture Existed Before Abu Gharib, But Why No Coverage?When the Abu Ghraib prison abuse crisis exploded, I analyzed the reactions coming from the Arab World. In an election year, the stakes are high for all parties involved. Each side wants a convenient "truth". The Bush Administration talked about "bad apples." While on the offensive, the opposition talks of a "systemic problem." President Bush went on Arab TV, while his opponents rushed to speak on behalf of the "humiliated Arab world." But as General Abuzeid put it since Day One, it sounds as if "the issue is making more noise in...

The slaughtering of Nick Berg is one small step for terrorists and a major leap for the West’s encounter with Jihadism. The videotape, posted on the Ansar website, is one of many horrifying acts perpetrated by the followers of Osama bin Laden. It has also become a shameful benchmark in the West’s liberal media reporting. The Abu Ghraib disaster, the behavior of few bad apples within the U.S. armed forces, triggered this major development that will influence the way citizens look at al-Qaeda's war on Americans. September 11 brought Mohammad Atta into the collective memory of this country and the...

The slaughtering of Nick Berg is one small step for terrorists and a major leap for the West’s encounter with Jihadism. The videotape, posted on the Ansar web site, was one of many horrifying acts perpetrated by the followers of Osama bin Laden. It ended up becoming a shameful benchmark in the West’s liberal media reporting.   One disaster, the behavior of few bad apples within the US armed forces, triggered a major development that will influence the way citizens will look at al Qaida's war on Americans. September 11 brought Mohammad Atta into the collective memory of this country...

Avoiding domestic politics while analyzing the terrorist threat facing America has been a major paradigm in my longstanding search for answers. But in an election year, the American political culture surrounds one with pitfalls and land mines no matter what your subject is about. This is why I believe that the 9/11 hearings of today were floating in dangerous waters. National security was unfortunately simmered with a dressing of Presidential wars. Something this generation of Americans has not escaped yet, despite the tragedy of September 11. It is sad to admit that, while Jihad is on rampage worldwide, most of...

The Trains of Jihad Derail Spain By Walid Phares FrontPageMagazine.com | March 19, 2004 As I heard the horrible news on the Thursday morning of the terrorist attacks in Spain, my mind turned to the news releases made by the Spanish government regarding the attacks. Madrid's conservative government was strangely insisting that the Basque separatists, ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna -- which means “Basque Fatherland and Liberty”), were responsible for the train bombings -- while most evidence was screaming otherwise. ETA, a leftist group, wasn't keen on the mass killing of workers in the past, nor was it known for not...

On September 11, 2001, America was attacked in two of its major cities. On March 11, 2004, Spain's major city was attacked. Terror reigned in both capitals, bloodshed was senseless in both countries and Jihad issued identical statements against both "infidel peoples." Is there a link? Is it the same war? Was it the same organization? Let's try to find an answer. When news reached me in New York this morning, I had just finished two days of meetings at three UN Security Council missions: France, Russia and the United States. Strikingly, the horrendous attacks in Madrid came to sadly...

Spain's 9/11 By Walid Phares FrontPageMagazine.com | March 12, 2004 On September 11, 2001, America was attacked in two of its major cities. On March 11, 2004, Spain's major city was attacked. Terror reigned in both capitals, bloodshed was senseless in both countries and Jihad issued identical statements against both "infidel peoples." Is there a link? Is it the same war? Was it the same organization? Let's try to find an answer. When news reached me in New York this morning, I had just finished two days of meetings at three UN Security Council missions: France, Russia and the United...

Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. State of the Union addresses have developed two audiences:  one in America and the other in the Middle East. In that latter region of the world, the White House words are resounding with both hope and hatred in all quarters between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. Never before, have American presidential speeches meant so much to so many in the Arab world and in the wider Middle East. Many people fear them, many others despise them, but a rising and unstoppable number of men and women from these warm lands are holding on...

How Arabs are reacting to Bush's State of the UnionWalid Phares, PhD (archive) January 26, 2004 Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. State of the Union addresses have developed two audiences: one in America and the other in the Middle East. In that latter region of the world, the White House words are resounding with both hope and hatred in all quarters between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. Never before, have American presidential speeches meant so much to so many in the Arab world and in the wider Middle East. Many people fear them, many others despise them, but...

When President Jacques Chirac delivered his televised speech about the Hijab (female Muslim scarf) in France, I believed there would be an immediate Jihad against France.  I anticipated a wide array of Jihadist offensives against Paris. My primary analytical reason was the strategic importance of the scarf to Islamic fundamentalists worldwide. According to religious radicals, the long scarf, which is supposed to cover the hair, and in some cases, the face of Muslim women, is not just a tradition but a religious duty called Fard Dinee. By Sharia law, affirm the Salafi (fundamentalist) clerics, women have to cover their head. And...

When President Jacques Chirac delivered his televised speech about the hijab (female Muslim scarf) in France, I believed there would be an immediate Jihad against France.I anticipated a wide array of jihadist offensives against Paris. My primary analytical reason was the strategic importance of the scarf to Islamic fundamentalists worldwide. According to religious radicals, the long scarf — which is supposed to cover the hair, and in some cases, the faces of Muslim women — is not just a tradition, but a religious duty called fard dinee. Per fundamentalist clerics, women have to cover. And by way of extension, those...

In his latest public statement, Osama bin Laden has made Iraq the central staging grounds for his perpetual jihad. In fact, Osama bin Laden's newest audiotape had three purposes: to assert his leadership of the violent Iraqi jihad against American troops after Saddam's capture, to warn the Saudis not to strip its school curricula of Islamist fundamentalism. and to halt any peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. His latest audiotape, which aired on al-Jazeera Television on Sunday, January 4, was in fact his opening speech for the new season of terror against the Kuffars. The war against the "infidels"...

Code Orange: The Reason Why By Dr. Walid Phares FrontPageMagazine.com | December 22, 2003 As soon as Homeland Security officials declared the Orange alert level yesterday afternoon, many in the U.S. rushed to assess the "necessity" of such an elevated warning. Unfortunately, most considered the evaluation self-centered. One main sound bite ruled the airwaves: "Beware of crying wolf." The concern that repetitive calls for Orange alert may well weaken the whole system is a glaring consumer-driven fallacy. One of the strategic tools in the War on Terror is popular mobilization, which, combined with such an alert, can deter a terrorist...

I remember from the days in Beirut, which I left in October 1990, how many called Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein: Al-Jassur. It means "The Darer," "The Courageous," and "The Macho."  A few months earlier, he had ordered the invasion and plundering of Kuwait. Arab nationalists in Lebanon and throughout the region praised his conquest of its small neighbor. "No more borders between the Arabs!," (la hudud bayna al-arab) they shouted. See when a big Arab fish eats a little Arab fish, he becomes a hero in the eyes of the radicals. The Ruler of Baghdad had always portrayed himself as...

Saddam Hussein's capture is cause for celebration, but his story must be seen in a larger context. It is part of the continuing and profoundly troubled saga of Arab nationalism. In the decades after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, liberal impulses were crushed by self-styled Arab nationalists. Instead of working for social development, democracy and freedom for minorities, rulers erected dictatorships and declared themselves the new Saladin. Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt, Moammar Khadafy of Libya, Hafez Assad of Syria, Yasser Arafat of Palestine, Hassan Turabi of Sudan and Saddam of Iraq...

What happened Saturday in Iraq? Yes, coalition forces captured Saddam Hussein. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. The historic moment is in fact broader, more significant and comprehensive. At first, you sink into the many details of the event. The commander of the one million-soldier army did not fire a shot. This was intriguing to many in the West and embarrassing to many anti-Americans in the region. "He should have killed himself," shouted Arab nationalists and Jihadists on al-Jazeera television. But the man who dodged arrest and conspiracies for three decades did not design himself for a heroic end. He...

With the arrest of Youssef Yee, Muslim Chaplain of the U.S. Armed Forces, a line was crossed. Not only he was trusted by the military and in principle checked thoroughly for a security background, but he was in charge of the single most sensitive mission entrusted by any member of America's defense arm: to counsel the archenemies of this nation, al-Qaeda members detained in Guantanamo. At first sight, most citizens are appalled enough at charges of spying for and collaborating with the enemy. But the man who was shuttling to Guantanamo was (allegedly) in bed with a category of...

Who is responsible for the suicide bombing in Baghdad? Sources from the Arab World speculate on who has an immediate interest in striking now. Analysts with inner knowledge of Middle East politics rush to review statements made by several vicious parties mentioned on the suspect list. At this point we do not know for certain who pulled off this act of destruction, but the usual suspects in all terrorist attacks are on the short list. Commentators in the West usually follow the judicial track. They wait for an FBI-like conclusion and the pieces of evidence. In sum, they treat each...