INTERVIEWING SADDAM

Courtesy of the FBI

FBI Agent Gets to the Truth

01/28/08

Imagine sitting across from Saddam Hussein every day for nearly seven straight months—slowly earning his trust, getting him to spill secrets on everything from whether he gave the order to gas the Kurds (he did) to whether he really did have weapons of mass destruction on the eve of war (he didn’t). All the while gathering information that would ultimately be used to prosecute the deposed dictator in an Iraqi court. 

That was the job of FBI Special Agent George Piro, who told his story Sunday, January 27, on the TV news program 60 Minutes.

Soon after U.S. special forces pulled Saddam out of a spider hole on December 13, 2003, the CIA—knowing the former dictator would ultimately have to answer for his crimes against the Iraqi people—asked the FBI to debrief Hussein because of our longstanding work in gathering statements for court.

That’s when we turned to Piro, an investigator on our terrorism fly team who was born in Beirut and speaks Arabic fluently. Piro was supported by a team of CIA analysts and FBI agents, intelligence analysts, language specialists, and a behavioral profiler.

Piro knew getting Saddam to talk wouldn’t be easy. He prepped by carefully studying the former dictator’s life so he could better connect with Saddam and more easily determine when he was being honest. It worked: during the first interview on January 13, 2004, Piro talked about Saddam’s four novels and Iraqi history, which impressed Hussein. Saddam asked for Piro to come back. 

From that day forward, everything Piro did was designed to build an emotional bond with Saddam and to get him to talk truthfully. To make Hussein dependent on him and him alone, Piro became responsible for virtually every aspect of his life, including his personal needs. He always treated Saddam with respect, knowing he would not respond to threats or tough tactics. As part of his plan, Piro also never told Hussein that he was an FBI field agent, instead letting him believe, for the sake of building credibility, that he was a high-level official who reported directly to the President. 

An FBI agent fingerprints Saddam shortly after his capture.

It took time. Piro spent five to seven hours a day with Saddam for months, taking advantage of every small opportunity that presented itself, including listening to Hussein’s poetry. Eventually, Saddam began to open up. 

Among Saddam’s revelations:

• Saddam misled the world into believing that he had weapons of mass destruction in the months leading up to the war because he feared another invasion by Iran, but he did fully intend to rebuild his WMD program.
• Piro told 60 Minutes that Saddam considered Usama bin Laden “a fanatic” and a threat who couldn’t be trusted. 
• The former dictator admitted “initially miscalculating President Bush and President Bush’s intentions,” Piro said, thinking the war would be more like the shortened air campaign of the Gulf War.
• Saddam never used look-alikes or body doubles as widely believed, thinking no one could really play his part. 
• Hussein made the decision to invade neighboring Kuwait in 1990 following an insulting comment by one of its emirs.

Piro was so successful at befriending Saddam that the former dictator was visibly moved when they said goodbye. “I saw him tear up,” Piro said during the television interview. 

Joe Persichini, Assistant Director in Charge of our Washington office and Piro’s boss, told 60 Minutes that Piro’s expert work in revealing Saddam’s secrets was “probably one of the top accomplishments of the agency in the last 100 years.” 

 

Technorati tags: fbi, saddam, Usama bin Laden, Osama, Hussein, interrogation, kurds, wmd, us special operations forces, iraq

Mother replaces Son on Front Lines

Courtesy of Link to Multi-National Force Iraq

Mother Replaces Son on Front Lines

KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE — As many parents anxiously await the next phone call from their sons and daughters serving in Iraq, one mother journeyed across the Atlantic to not only see her child; but to replace him on the front line.

Atop a remote guard tower, mother and son stand post peering across the barbed wire into the desolate desert plains surrounding Kirkuk Regional Air Base, Iraq. In this setting, the role of the caretaker is reversed as Senior Airman Derrick Johnson instructs his mother, Staff Sgt. Tammi Johnson, on perimeter defense practices.

Staff Sgt. Johnson, a reservist with the 507th Security Forces Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., arrived Jan. 20 and will receive a complete week of training from her son before he heads back to the U.S.

"This is all just a big coincidence," said Senior Airman Johnson, a reservist with the 610th Security Forces Squadron from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas. "When I found out she was coming to replace me, my jaw dropped just wondering what the chances were of this occurring."

The coincidence of this pair choosing to serve in the same military branch and career field is only trumped by the fact that out of the thousands of Air Force security forces Airmen and numerous deployment locations - Staff Sgt. Johnson, 42, was randomly selected to relieve her son in the guard post which they currently sit.

This chain of events was put into play in March 2006 when Senior Airman Johnson, 20, visited a local Air Force recruiter. His mother, who was a civilian at the time, accompanied him on the trip.

"My son was graduating from high school and talked to me about the Air Force, and as his mother, I naturally wanted to go to the recruiter with him," said Staff Sgt. Johnson. "As a joke, the recruiter asked if I was interested in joining up. I laughed it off at first, but then he started asking questions about my age and how long I had previously served."

Staff Sgt. Johnson initially joined the Air Force in 1983 and worked in the personnel career field for several years before separating.

"I gave it some real thought for awhile and talked to the recruiter some more," she said. "When I previously served, I was always interested in the security forces career field; I'm an active person and don't enjoy doing paperwork.

"The recruiter said there were some openings in security forces, so I hemmed-and-hawed about it," she said. "My son was joining the same career field, but I knew we'd be stationed at different places, so I decided to just do it."

Both joined the Air Force Reserve that spring; Staff Sgt. Johnson was able to keep her job for the local school district in their hometown of Moore, Okla., and Senior Airman Johnson could serve his country while attending college full time.

Her son offered a nod of support to his mother as she took an oath to return to duty for the Air Force.

"She always talked positively about her time in the military," he said. "I got the impression she really enjoyed life in the Air Force, and I thought that was the place she needed to be. The reserves were a great option because she could keep her job at home.

"I was all for it, but when she chose the security forces career field, it was a little strange because that's what I do," he added. "But she knows I would support her doing whatever made her happy."

Staff Sgt. Johnson found out she would replace her son in Iraq shortly before he left six months ago. As a mother would, Staff Sgt. Johnson initially felt nervous about her son's deployment.

"At the time, I wished I could've deployed first," she said. "We received the same training, so I was aware of the various threats security forces Airmen can face while deployed. But at the same time, I know he is well-trained and intelligent, so that helped put my mind at ease."

Senior Airman Johnson now spends most of his time preparing to leave Kirkuk and training his mother on the duties he performs from the guard post. This entails maintaining close surveillance of the base perimeter and beyond for suspicious activity. Security forces also conduct base patrols, anti-terrorism measures and identification checks.

"I've been asking Derrick tons of questions," she said. "A car rolled real slowly by the perimeter of the base today, and I started getting nervous. But Derrick was there to tell me it was the Iraqi police, and everything was alright. He knows right off-hand what to do, and I don't feel intimidated or stupid when I ask him the simplest questions."

They both feel the deployment has given them time to bond and a shared experience that only draws their mother and son relationship closer. Without this short week together in Kirkuk, they would not see each other for more than a year.

"This just adds another layer to our relationship. How many mothers and sons can say they were together in the same place in a war zone?" said Senior Airman Johnson. "This is something we can always talk about in the future and have a very good idea of what the other went through."

As a staff sergeant, Senior Airman Johnson's mother is just one rank above him; but she might as well be a four-star general. Senior Airman Johnson feels hard-pressed to think of a time when he wouldn't take orders from her, he said.

"You have to find the right balance because she is my mother and we are working side-by-side," he said. "She understands and listens to the experiences I've encountered, which will help her. But really, she outranks me on many different levels. You can never outrank your mother."

Together for now, Staff Sgt. Johnson and Senior Airman Johnson sit in a Kirkuk guard tower sharing a few laughs and the common bond of serving for their country. While a mother and son together in combat may sound unusual to some, this pair would not have it any other way.

"This is what I originally joined for in 1983," Staff Sgt. Johnson said. "I was young and an idealist, and felt serving was a responsibility for all citizens. Some of my friends back home think I'm crazy for leaving my job and doing this at the age I am. But I feel more complete as a person by serving for the Air Force and our country."

As for Senior Airman Johnson; he admits to taking some light-hearted jabs from the guys every so often. But like any good Airman, he vows to take on the wingman role and train his mother on the duties that helped keep Kirkuk safe for the past six months.

"I've heard some of the guys ask, 'Is your mommy here to replace you yet?'" he said. "My friends back home who serve in the military think it's strange to picture their mothers in Iraq with a helmet, weapon and flak vest. None of that bothers me though; it brings us closer together, which is what matters most."

Technorati tags: iraq, multi-national forces, kirkuk, us forces, Air Force Reserve, 610th Security Forces Squadron, 507th Security Forces Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base

Jordanians rally in support of Hamas in Gaza

Hat tip to Michael Savage

Link to:  Jordanians rally in support of Hamas in Gaza

(ynetnews.com) Muslim Brotherhood activists march in Amman to protest Israel's closure on Gaza, and call on Hamas to resume suicide bombings.  Chanting slogans urging Islamist Hamas militants to resume suicide bombings against Israel, thousands of Jordanians marched in the capital on Friday to protest against Israel's blockade of Gaza. Source: YNETNEWS.COM

Here is a little more background regarding the Brotherhood that I posted previously:

Muslim Brotherhood

This link provided will give you an opportunity to explore The Brotherbood.in more depth that you normally do not received from the lame-stream media.

Source: Encyclopaedia of the Orient
"Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."—Muslim Brotherhood

Term used for congregations in Islam that are somewhat differentiated from the general community of Islam. The Arabic term, 'al-ikhwān, used for religio-political groups streching back in time to the Wahhabis of Arabia and is used today for groups of Islamists.

For Sufis the Arabic term tarīqa, designating the congregation of Sufis centered around the same leader, is also translated to "brotherhood". "Method", "system" or "path" would be correct translations, but the followers of a tariqa are grouped as a brotherhood.

Technorati tags: tarīqa, Sufis, brotherhood,Islam, terrorism, religio-political, wahhabis

Why are the Islamists still messing with Spain?

Hey, Last I knew Spain elected a socialist, withdrew from the war on terror and capitulated to the Mohammedans.

What the hell are radical islamists still doing messing with Spain. The socialist government has done everything other than force conversion to Islam?

Courtesy of MSNBC: Spain arrests 14 terror suspects

MADRID, Spain — Fourteen suspected Islamic militants arrested in Spain on Saturday may have been planning a terrorist action in Barcelona, the interior minister said.

....

The arrests in Barcelona were prompted by information from several unspecified European intelligence agencies, and there was evidence the suspects — 12 Pakistani nationals and two people from India — could have been planning "a terrorist action" in the northern city, he told a news conference.

Rubalcaba said police found four timers.

....

Civil Guard officers made the arrests as part of raids planned with the National Intelligence Center, the Spanish equivalent of the CIA, Rubalcaba said. Five homes were searched overnight he said.

When are the infidels and Kuffers going to wake up? Maybe radical islam should be designated as illegal?

Hillary Panders to ILLEGALS

Crossposted from my friend Big Dog's Weblog

Hillary Panders to ILLEGALS

Hillary Clinton is in Nevada and she is pandering to the ILLEGAL population. While touring a poor area she met with Hispanics who are down and out and not making very much money. Some guy yelled that his wife was ILLEGAL and Hillary replied that «no woman is illegal.»

Hillary was asked if she would give driver's licenses to ILLEGALS in two debates. The first one she flopped all over and gave two different answers. The second time she flat out stated «No!» Does this mean she will give licenses to women who are here illegally because she does not view them as ILLEGAL?

Is Hillary playing up the first woman to run ploy by trying to make people believe she is interested in women's rights or that she views women differently than men? Did she discriminate by excluding men when she said that no woman was ILLEGAL?

Hillary Clinton will say anything to anyone to get elected. She knows that many women supported her in New Hampshire and that Hispanics are upset with the Republican Party because its members believe in the rule of law, something the Clinton crime family has had trouble with in the past. She breaks the law and has no problem pandering to others who do the same. She also knows that saying what she did makes more Hispanic women likely to vote for her.

Of course, she could have been giving them a veiled message that they could vote in the elections because she says they are not ILLEGAL.

Hillary is Satan.

Source:
Review Journal

Others with similar posts:
Outside the Beltway, Rosemary's Thoughts, Right Truth, Adam's Blog, Shadowscope, Cao's Blog, Adeline and Hazel, Pursuing Holiness, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

• Categories: Link Fest, Political
• Tags: Hillary, hispanics, illegals, poor, satan

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali stands by his views

The Church of England bishop who provoked a storm by claiming Islamic extremists were making some areas "no-go" zones for non-Muslims has said he stood by his comments. "I deeply regret any hurt and do not wish to cause offence to anyone, let alone my Muslim friends, but unless we diagnose the malaise from which we all suffer we shall not be able to discover the remedy," he said.

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali's article in The Sunday Telegraph.

For todays article, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali stands by his views

Bishop warns of no-go zones for non-Muslims

Courtesy of UK Telegraph

According to Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, Islamic extremists have created “no-go” areas across Britain where it is too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter, one of the Church of England’s most senior bishops warns today.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali claims that people of a different race or faith face physical attack if they live or work in communities dominated by a strict Muslim ideology.

The Muslim Council of Britain today described his comments as “frantic scaremongering”, while William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said the bishop had “probably put it too strongly”.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the idea of no-go areas was “a gross caricature of reality”.

New honor killing, this time in Jordan (and the guy was arrested)

Courtesy of Fox News: New honor killing, this time in Jordan (and the guy was arrested)

AMMAN, Jordan — A Jordanian man was charged Tuesday with premeditated murder for allegedly killing his 30-year-old daughter because she was dating, government officials said.

The suspect, whose name was not released, confessed to the crime and told authorities he had "cleansed" his family's honor, according to a police official who requested anonymity in line with police regulations.

The father suspected his unmarried daughter was dating, because she went out frequently but told her parents that she was socializing with female friends, the police official said.

The killing occurred in Shuneh, a town in western Jordan inhabited by conservative Bedouin tribes. According to local Bedouin custom, women are not permitted to speak to male strangers, and men have strict control over female relatives.

Monday's killing was the first suspected "honor killing" in Jordan this year. (Bosun's comment one has to wonder how many a year occur in Jordan)

Mexican Soldiers Incursions into the United States?

Mexican soldiers
ID'd invading U.S.

Government report documents dozens
of armed campaigns in Texas, Arizona

A federal document obtained and released by Judicial Watch reveals that there were dozens of armed incursions by Mexican soldiers and police into the United States during Fiscal Year 2007.

The report was obtained by the Washington-based organization that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and it documents 29 confirmed incidents along the U.S.-Mexican border involving Mexican military and/or law enforcement personnel during that time. Read the full article at WND.com:  Mexican soldiers ID'd invading U.S.

Is it up to the Arabs to bring Peace to the Middle East?

Courtesy of MEMRI: Link to MEMRI
Special Dispatch - Egypt/Reform Project
January 10, 2008
No. 1807

Egyptian Liberal Authors: It Is Up to the Arabs to Bring Peace to the Middle East

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit: HTML Link .

In recent articles in the Arab print and electronic press, Egyptian liberal authors wrote that it is up to the Arabs to take steps to advance peace with Israel. On January 7, 2008 in the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, prominent Egyptian intellectual Dr. Mamoun Fandy proposed that the Arabs use President Bush's visit to the Middle East to demonstrate that they are serious about resolving the conflict. On December 5, 2007 in the liberal Arab e-journal Elaph, Egyptian author and researcher Kamal Gabriel wrote that the promise of normalization is the only card the Arabs have left to play at the negotiationing table, but that until they take steps to replace a culture of hatred with a culture of peace, this promise will not be taken seriously.

Following are excerpts from the two articles: 

Mamoun Fandy: 99% of the Cards are In the Arabs' Hand
In a January 7, 2008 op-ed in the Arab London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Mamoun Fandy urged President Bush's Arab hosts to take dramatic steps during his visit to advance peace on both the Palestinian and Syrian tracks in order to demonstrate to the West that the Arab peace initiative is serious. He also argued that Israeli concerns are legitimate and need to be addressed:

"The late president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, used to say that 99% of the playing cards in the Middle East are in the hands of the United States. On the eve of U.S. President George Bush's visit to the Arab region, I say that 99% of the playing cards, and a solution in the Middle East, are in the Arabs' hands.

"First of all, we shouldn't depend too much on President Bush's visit to the region. Visits by heads of state do not produce anything, for the most part. But it will offer media and political momentum. Perhaps this momentum will be utilized to move towards arriving at solutions to pending issues. And perhaps it will not be so utilized, and that which is pending will remain pending.

"Will the Arabs be able to take advantage of Bush's visit to turn the tables? Will the Arabs adopt a dramatic stance that throws the responsibility [for peace] into the American and Israeli courts? Such a stance would require a lot of courage...

"The truth is that there is a serious Arab peace initiative, but its credibility in the West and Israel is limited, in that the West, and America and Israel in particular, have not seen a translation of the Arabs' peaceful intentions [into reality]. They still do not believe in the Arabs' desire for peace... The Israeli narrative is the prevailing one. The Israelis say to the Americans and the West: We made peace with two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, and the experience has proven a failure, since in both countries there is still hatred of Israel."

Bring Syria into the Equation to Isolate Iran

"The powerful question that the Israelis ask the West, and which certainly finds attentive ears there, is this: What strategic return is there for the state of Israel in making peace with the Arabs, given the failure of the experience with Egypt and Jordan?

"The sum of what Israel's friends in Western societies repeat constantly is that the Arabs want a situation of 'not marriage, not divorce' with Israel – in other words, they want to leave things hanging.

"That given, how can the Arabs [use] the U.S. president's visit... to change this impression and win over American and Western opinion?

"Bush's statements have been clear as to the vision of establishing two states, Palestinian and Israel, [living] side by side. He has also been clear on containing Iran in order to ensure stability in the Gulf... It is no secret that the Iraqi and Palestinian dossiers run through Iran and Syria, and if President Bush wants to isolate Iran, the Arab key to [achieving] this isolation is in breaking up the Syrian-Iranian relationship and Syria's return to the Arab ranks. In other words, bringing Syria into the equation and looking for a solution.

"This is especially true given that the features of the solution to the Syrian-Israeli track are fully known... and according to the latest indications from Israel, the solution between Syria and Israel is possible and easy.

"What if one or more of the Arab leaders whom U.S. President George Bush will be meeting in his coming trip to the region secretly arranged to invite Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to meet with them in the presence of President Bush? Let the meeting take place in Egypt or Abu Dhabi, for example. This could be the drama that changes public opinion in the West, the U.S., and Israel on the Arabs' seriousness regarding peace.

"This could change the dialogue completely. In the U.S. there are presidential elections that are shaping the American conscious. An event like this would force itself into all the presidential debates, and this is something that would convince the American people of the seriousness of the Arab proposal...

"This is what I meant when I said that 99% of the playing cards are in the Arabs' hand. Democracies yield before such political initiatives, because they create popular pressure in their countries. This is what Sadat understood, and he made good use of this.

"I know there are many among us who hate Sadat. For some of the Arab leaders, the very thought of their doing what Sadat did could be sufficient cause to not take the direction he took. This is not because Sadat was bad, but rather because there are elements that have succeeded in making of Sadat a traitor in the Arab collective memory. Thus, accusations of treason have become a limitation that prevents us from taking any courageous step.

"Those who are in the know about Bush's visit to the region say that the primary goal of his trip is the visit to Saudi Arabia, due to its weight in the Arab and Islamic worlds, and due to its global importance at a time when the price of a barrel of oil has reached almost $100 – this in addition to the special relation between President Bush and King 'Abdallah. President Bush does not hesitate, in any of his speeches, to praise King 'Abdallah as a man who honors his word and as a leader with great integrity.
"That given, why shouldn't the Arabs make use of this relationship, which is based on the mutual trust between King 'Abdallah and President Bush, to advance their interests?...

"On the Palestinian side, what is needed is the unification of Palestinian ranks under the banner of the Saudi king, in his capacity as patron of the Mecca Agreement. Instead of seeking the patronage of Jordan, as they did in the past, let them try Saudi patronage this time. Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas's recent visit to the kingdom was a step on the right path. It is inconceivable that at a time when the world has begun to agree on the justice of the Palestinian cause, we find that the Palestinians themselves are the ones laying waste to themselves through their internal division and factionalism."

"Perhaps the Time Has Come for the Arabs... To Seriously Consider Israel's Strategic Apprehensions"

"And perhaps the time has come for the Arabs, and the Palestinians in particular, to seriously consider Israel's strategic apprehensions. The Israeli question on the nature of the Palestinian state is a logical and legitimate question. Will this state add stability to the region, or add instability? The Gaza model says that it [will be] a state that in no way participates in regional stability, whereas the West Bank model indicates that the newborn state will move the region towards stability...

"As I said earlier, visits by heads of state do not produce immediate results. But George Bush is a practical man, and he managed to impose the Annapolis document on the Palestinians and the Israelis – even though the two sides announced, before the conference, that they had not reached agreement.

"The Arabs can make Bush's visit into an historic visit by focusing on working with the pragmatic side of the president's personality, in place of the old Arab way, which wastes the time allotted for the meetings by entering into the labyrinthine history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and by grumbling about a 'double standard.'

"The Arabs hold the playing cards today. The question is: Will they play them well?"(1)

Kamal Gabriel: The Cultural Elites Have an Allergy to 'Normalization with the Zionist Enemy'

In a December 5, 2007 op-ed in the liberal Arab e-journal Elaph, Egyptian researcher and author Kamal Gabriel wrote that the only card the Arabs have at the negotiating table is the 'normalization card,' but that in order for this card to be credible, the Arabs need to uproot the culture of hate and replace it with a culture of peace:
"Many are the allergic diseases from which our audacious cultural elites suffer... but the greatest and harshest allergic symptom among the heroes of the microphone, the satellite channel, the car bomb, and the explosives belt is the allergy to 'normalization with the Zionist enemy'...

"The [purported] traitors to the 'unchanging national principles,' and the [so-called] agents of colonialism, think that 'normalization' is a goal for which all peoples should strive, and that wars and conflicts among all the nations of the earth must necessarily come to an end – and this end is always a return to peace and the reign of normal conditions – i.e. the reign of 'normalization.'

"As for the heroes and mujahideen of pan-Arabism and political Islamism, they don't reject peace and normalization in essence or in principle; they just make it conditional upon the preservation of 'our nation's unchanging principles.'

"While [the expression] 'our nation's unchanging principles' is fine and elegant, these principles are nothing more than the demand for 'destroying the rapacious Zionist entity' and turning Israel, through the return of all of the refugees, into one great democratic Islamic Palestinian mass republic...

"[According to these pan-Arabists and Islamists,] if the Zionist enemy and its supporters want peace, there is no need for negotiations and conferences... They need to accept 'our nation's unchanging principles' in a state of subjection, and let them return to us the land occupied since 1967, and allow the entry of 5 million Palestinian refugees into the land occupied in 1948. Only then can we consider the issue of normalization with them, and especially with the noble promises conferred by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, [i.e.] that it would allow Jews who immigrated [to Israel] to return whence they came without slaughtering them like sheep – despite the fact that they are basically the descendants of apes and pigs. And the Jews who were originally from Palestine will enjoy the excellent humane treatment that minorities enjoy in the other Arab regions!"

The Normalization Card is the Only One Left in the Arabs' Hand – After the Violence Card Backfired

"But let's leave aside the heroes, the valiant men, and the mujahideen. Let's examine the gallant discourse of the secretary-general of our illustrious Arab League ['Amr Moussa]. We find him saying 'no to normalization for free.' This, then, is the diplomatic-political way of thinking, which holds the cards in its hands in order to play them on the table, and in return for them obtains the most that it can – or, in our way of thinking, everything that we want. We won't give the cards to a rival as a free gift, so as not to be left only with [the option of] pleading.

"In principle, this is an excellent and unobjectionable tactic, which bespeaks a laudable patriotic stance... But in [its] practical implementation, two problems arise. The first is that this is the only card [remaining] in the hand of the gallant ['Amr Moussa]... after the cards of violence and martyrdom-bombers... led to adverse, calamitous results for our Palestinian people – the harshest of which are the separation fence, border closures, and roadblocks on all the streets, which turned the West Bank and the Gaza Strip into a big prison...

"The second problem, and the more serious one, is the nature of the 'normalization' card... If, for instance, you play the normalization card against the card of withdrawing Israeli forces from occupied territory, we find that the withdrawal of these forces can be carried out immediately – within days or weeks – and the completion of its execution can be confirmed. Thus the believability of this card can receive material expression...
"As for the normalization card, which means relations of normal peace between peoples, and not just relations of non-aggression between states – waving it at the negotiating table requires proof of its believability. This depends on more than one factor: first, proving one's good intentions and sincere desire to carry out [normalization]; second, ability to carry it out; and third, guarantee of continuance [of normalization]..."

"The Problem with the Normalization Card Is that It Is Like a Check that Doesn't Have Sufficient Funds to Cover It"
"Now how does 'Amr Moussa imagine that normalization, his only card, can be traded in, and how can he prove to the other side [that the Arabs have] good intentions and the desire to carry out [normalization] when the Arab media, both official and unofficial, incites the masses against peace, against the rapacious Zionist enemy, and against the Jews, the enemies of Allah?

"How can he prove that the Arab regimes are capable of implementing peace and popular normalization when, with the president of the Palestinian Authority hardly controlling his own living quarters, the Palestinian street is contested by radical organizations of every kind... And this is the case also with the fighting masses in many Arab capitals...

"How can our negotiators give guarantees that normalization will continue, given that this is contingent on a culture of peace that doesn't exist. It is not absent just between the Arabs and the perfidious Zionist enemy; it is fundamentally absent among the internal components of the Arab countries. These countries have proven, throughout the years, their abject failure to normalize relations with their own minorities...So who will take seriously their promises of peace and normalization with the Jews, the enemies of Allah?

"The promise of normalization is like a promise of operations by armed forces whose arms have not yet been purchased, and who have not been mobilized or trained for combat...

"But in fact it is worse than that. The mission of preparing the capability and the readiness for peace does not just depend on a campaign of spreading the culture of peace; it demands first uprooting the culture of hostility and hatred that we have had an unparalleled success in planting in the region, and which has produced for us the blessed yield of internecine fighting in more than one Arab country.

"True, normalization is a vital need for Israel, and it is the only thing it is lacking, after they achieved everything they wanted in terms of taking territory and establishing a powerful state and culture [of their own]. For the sake of achieving normalization, they could go to the farthest limits and make the most painful concessions, as they put it. But the problem, as we have laid it out, is that we hold the normalization card in theory, but on the practical level, we don't hold it, and we are not able to put it in play and carry it out...

"The problem with the normalization card is that it is like a check that doesn't have the funds to cover it. In order for it to be accepted, funds need to be put behind it, and it needs to be stamped with an 'acceptable for payment' stamp.

"[This stamp is] the spreading of the culture of peace, first of all among our peoples. We need to start practically putting it into practice long before we reap the fruits, as that is the nature of cultural transformations. [We need to do this] in order to convince the Israeli people that we have truly decided to accept it among us, and that the only thing standing between it and final peace is just the politicians sitting down together and signing peace agreements. The Israeli people could then force its government to submit to the requisites for peace. I say 'could,' since it is also possible that we will offer peace without receiving the minimum of our legitimate demands, in which case our governments would refrain from signing a final peace, and we would retreat from the path of normalization..."(2)

Endnotes:  
(1) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 7, 2007.
(2) www.elaph.com, December 5, 2007.

*********************

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available on request.
MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with proper attribution.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-Mail: memri@memri.org
Search previous MEMRI publications at www.memri.org

Adam Gahdan, the bearded boy wonder of Osama Bin Laden

Courtesy of MEMRI

Inquiry and Analysis – Jihad & Terrorism
January 7, 2008
No. 415

"In Spite of the Trials and Tribulations a Bright and Promising Future Is in Store for Islam and Its Champions": American Al-Qaeda Operative Yahya Adam's Desperate Attempt to Turn Americans against Their Government and His Urgent Call to Mujahideen to Attack Bush in His Coming Visit to the Middle East

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MEMRI HTML article, Yahya Adam

By. E. Alshech*

On January 6, 2008, Al-Qaeda's media company Al-Sahab posted on the Islamist website Al-Ikhlas (hosted by NOC4Hosts Inc., Tampa, FL, USA) a video message by Yahya Adam to the American people which includes also an urgent appeal to the mujahideen in Palestine and Saudi Arabia to greet George Bush with "bombs and traps" in his upcoming visit to the Middle East.

[To view this clip visit Video Clip Link ]

In the midst of the serious setbacks Al-Qaeda experiences in the various fronts, Yahya Adam, also known as Azzam the American, portrays America and its allies as losing the battle with the mujahideen everywhere. He attributes the supposed ability of "lightly-armed mujahideen" to defeat "the strongest and best equipped army on earth" to what he views as the mujahideen's superior moral standing.

Yahya Adam then engages in a theological discussion, the purpose of which is to enhance the impression that what he describes as immoral behavior by America throughout the world in fact stems from the corrupt nature of America's religious creed. He explains that though Christianity was initially rooted in monotheism, it turned into "Jesus-worship, Mariolatry, iconolatry, cross-worship, saint-worship, and even Pope- and priest- worship" and betrayed the commitment to worship God alone as prescribed in the Bible. His suggestion for non-Muslims is to adopt Islam, thus abandoning moral corruption and escaping hellfire.

In order to demonstrate his rejection of America and what he views as its inferior moral standing, Yahya Adam destroys his American passport in front of the camera, explaining this act as a "symbolic rejection of American citizenship which honorable decent and compassionate people are ashamed to carry."

Most importantly, in a desperate attempt to turn Americans against their government, he portrays the current administration as a group of "militant fanatics" which through its policy attempts to hasten the Christian Apocalypse. He explains that it is this administration's policy that put Americans on a collision course with Islam and Muslims. He then advises Americans to put pressure on American representatives in Washington, "whether Republicans or Democrats, to heed the legitimate demands of the Muslims as spelled out by Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, Sheikh Ayman Al-Zawahiri and others..." Moreover, he calls upon Americans, both civilians and military, to forsake Christianity and convert to Islam in order to escape divine punishment.

He closes his message by announcing the inevitable victory of Islam, saying: "In spite of the trials and tribulations a bright and promising future is in store for Islam and its champions, and a bleak and barren future is in store for unbelief and its advocates and helpers. So if you are not on the side of Islam, or are in the ranks of its enemies, then ask God for guidance and make the right choice, and repent before it is too late."

*Dr. Alshech is the director of the Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project at MEMRI.

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