Reader fan mail from an IP in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Am I wrong but isn't Nazi ideology illegal in the Netherlands? Wrap that same ideology under the banner of Islam, though, and the Left goosesteps into line to protect this vile speech and pretends that such sentiment is not common. How come I get similar comments nearly every day, the vast majority of which trace to Europe?

This could be right out of Mein Kampf.
more...

Posted by: Rusty at 08:37 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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UPDATE: The men have been caught and they are Chechens.

Via ITB this from Reuters:

Three Chechen men who were overheard at a bus stop talking about becoming “heroes before Allah” were detained and questioned on Friday after sparking a major security alert in Germany, but police said they did not appear to have been planning an attack.

Hamburg police said the men, aged from 21 to 25, had been found after a manhunt in which more than 1,000 officers had thrown up overnight roadblocks and scoured GermanyÂ’s second city.

Hamburg police chief Reinhard Chedor told a news conference: “At the moment I don’t believe there were any concrete attack plans.” He said the men were being held for further questioning and declined to give further details.

Elections are coming up in Germany and Schroedder is trailing in the polls. Now is the time to get tough on terrorists. Notice the Clintonian policy of not starting a manhunt for the terrorists because police didn't want to interfere in a criminal investigation. Treating terrorism as common act of criminality is what gave us 9/11. Also, recall that Hamburg was at the center of the 9/11 plot. Radical Islamists roots run deep in that city.

LA Times:

More than 1,000 police officers were deployed Thursday to search for three suspected terrorists, a police spokesman said.

Roadblocks and controls were set up at 12 points in this northern port city after an Arabic-speaking witness overheard the men praising Allah and heroism Wednesday at a bus stop. One was carrying a backpack.

Police said the three men had been recorded by video surveillance cameras and their pictures would be released.

"We don't know at this point whether there is something to the tip or not," Hamburg state Interior Minister Udo Nagel said at a news conference. There were no concrete clues about any attack, he said.

The witness told police he heard one of the men use the phrase "heroism before Allah." The men then boarded a bus.

A police official said the launch of the search and release of information was delayed a day because the police did not want to jeopardize their initial criminal investigation.

Posted by: Rusty at 08:32 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Presses Universitaires de France has published a new book which documents the speeches of top al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Aymal al Zawahiri. LeMonde runs a full page review of the book, but pans it because the prose of Zawahiri can't really be compared to the genius of the Ayatollah Khomenei or with the Muslim Brotherhood's Sayyid Qutb--those guys really knew how to put antisemetism and islamofascist utopianism into words!.

And besides, says the Le Monde reviewer, how come the authors of the book didn't challenge al Qaeda's assertion that jihad is somehow a call for violence when every one know that jihad is an internal struggle thing, right?

You gotta love the French.......

Hat tip: No Passaran

Posted by: Rusty at 05:31 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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(Hamburg, Germany) The Hamburg State Superior Court found Moroccan citizen Mounir al-Motassadeq, 31, guilty of membership in the 9-11 terrorist organization and sentenced him to seven years in prison, less than half the 15 years imposed on him in 2003 verdict that was overturned.

From Expatica.com:

Presiding Judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt ruled that Motassadeq had been the "polite, friendly, reserved" member of an eight-man terror cell. Led by an Egyptian, Mohammed Atta, it formed in the German port city of Hamburg in autumn 1999.

"From being friendly, nice young men, they turned into fanatics," said Schudt. Motassadeq had "gone along" with this, not dissociating himself, and had taken over administrative tasks for the group.

Three of the cell members including Atta later piloted hijacked planes that were used as missiles on September 11, 2001 in attacks on New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. U.S. President George W. Bush declared a "war on terrorism" in response.

"The complete picture shows the accused to have been a member of a terrorist organization, but not to have been an accessory to the murderers of September 11," said Schudt.

Companion post/pic at Interested-Participant.

UPDATE: As Lawhawk notes in the comments of a related post, that's 1.17 days per victim for Mounir al-Motassadek

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 02:56 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Followers of this will not be surprised, but evidence continues to mount that Bosnia is becoming the focus point for global jihadis in training. But, wait, I thought Bosnia........??

AINA:

Terrorists who previously targeted the U.S. are now in Bosnia, where they have access to a "one-stop shop" of jihad training camps, weapons and illegal Islamic 'charities' -- all at the doorstep of Europe, terrorism experts said.

"[Convicted terrorist] Karim Said Atmani recently returned to Bosnia after being released early from French prison for 'good behavior,'" terrorism expert and author Evan Kohlmann said.

Atmani, a Moroccan, was linked to the "millennium bomb plot" and convicted by a French court of colluding with Osama bin Laden. He has been linked to the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), an organization responsible for airplane hijackings and subway bombings in France...

Also finding haven in Bosnia is Abu el Maali, who like Atmani, was a foreign national who fought in the Bosnia war. El Maali was later accused by French authorities of attempting to smuggle explosives in 1998 to an Egyptian terrorist group plotting to destroy U.S. military installations in Germany. He was also accused of leading terrorist cells in Bosnia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"This activity is very significant," said Kohlmann. "Senior members of the former Muslim Brigade and their top commanders are still there, and they're still active."....

Cybercast News Service has also obtained a video that terrorism analysts say depicts an active jihad training camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a region previously described by analysts as an ideal gateway for terror missions into Europe.

The video, which is over four minutes in length, shows outdoor maneuvers, explosives training and training inside what appears to be a school gym. Exercises in hostage-taking are also shown....

The presence of active jihadist camps in Bosnia-Herzegovina was also confirmed by attorney and counter-terrorism expert Darko Trifunovic, who previously served as a diplomat in the foreign service of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kohlmann said that the main camps used during the war have been closed, and a different tactic for jihad training has emerged: disguising them as youth camps. "These days, usually the kind of jihad camp you'll see in Bosnia and other countries are so-called 'youth camps.'" They are usually led by a former member of the mujahadeen, someone with military experience, and perhaps a fundamentalist cleric, said Kohlmann....

Al Qaeda cells were set up in Bosnia in the early 1990s by Ayman al Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, and bin Laden was said to visit the area twice in the mid-1990s," Brown added. "Iran was very involved in supporting the Islamist separatist movement in Bosnia, and Hezbollah was doing training there in the 1990s."

Training also takes place inside youth centers and school gyms, according to Trifunovic....

Posted by: Rusty at 01:38 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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The Army of Ansar al-Sunnah has released a video in which they claim they are testing explosive devices in Sweden. They also threaten to use the 'high explosive' device. The video may be downloaded here (hat tip: Doubletap). Images from the video posted below.

While the video proports to be from Ansar al-Sunnah, it bears the markings of an Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) production. The IAI uses a free version of Elecard for its video productions. However, the two groups are both affiliated with al Qaeda and have been known to collaborate in the past.

Sweden has a sizeable Kurdish and Arab immigrant population. While most Kurds are very pro-American, a very small minority supports the establishment of a Taliban-like state. The Army of Ansar al-Sunnah is an offshoot of now defunct Kurdish Army of Ansar al-Islam, and may also include Arab elements.

The Army of Ansar al-Sunnah is notorious for murdering hostages in Iraq. The group recently released a propaganda video showing the remains of Marine sniper Jeffrey A. Boskovich. For more information on the evil deeds of The Army of Ansar al-Sunna, I suggest doing a Jawa search for 'ansar'.

Was this video really produced by violent jihadis living in Sweden as it claims? It remains a distinct possibility. I have a feeling this post will be updated in the coming days. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 05:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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A Tunisian air flight between Sicily, Italy, and Tunisia has crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. Conflicting reports estimate the number of dead between 7 (Xinhua) and 19 (EItB). 39 people were aboard the plane, many have survived.

No indication on what the cause of the crash was. Reports seem to suggest that the plane was suffering some sort of technical malfunction. However, a number of al Qaeda communiques specifically mention Italy as a target for terror operations. Developing...Reuters:

At least seven people were killed and 20 injured when their Tunisair flight from Italy to Tunisia made an emergency landing in the sea off Sicily on Saturday after reporting a technical fault, emergency services said.

The pilot of the plane, which had 39 people on board, made a distress call to Palermo airport at 3:24 p.m. (2:24 p.m. British time), requesting to make an emergency landing, an official at Italy's civil aviation authority told Reuters.

The plane landed about 12 miles (19 km) out at sea at 3:40 p.m. and shortly afterwards survivors were seen on the wings of the floating plane. A Tunisian government official told Reuters by telephone that 24 of 35 passengers, all Italians, survived the crash.

ANSA newswire said the death toll was at least nine.

Survivors brought to shore at Palermo were seen being helped out of rescue launches, many with bloody faces and ripped clothes, some yelling in pain. The port was milling with ambulances while helicopters buzzed overhead.

The twin-turboprop ATR 72 had taken off from Bari in southern Italy, heading for Djerba, Tunisia, police said.

ATRs are made by Avions de Transport Regional, based in France, and can carry up to 72 passengers. Earlier, emergency services had identified the plane as the smaller ATR 42 model.

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