Egypt's Coalition of Bullies

Having watched Egyptian bloggers for a while now, they seem to consider most traditional news media as not just biased, but arms of either the International Muslim Brotherhood or the government-dominated rubber-stamping Justice system. The Military has its own influence as well. The assumption of bias holds in most countries, but bloggers in Egypt seem to be looking at the news institutions themselves a perpetrators of deliberate ruse.

Yet, together the three, Government, Brotherhood and Military, with their own news sources seem to form a fairly stable influence infrastructure by Middle Eastern and African Standards. When one gets too powerful, the other two form short term alliances. A similar dynamic occurred in the Soviet Union between the Military, the KGB, and the Kremlin.

The three groups are too focused on each other to spend too much time on other things, except the occasional heated persecution of Coptic Christians. When these groups have nothing else in common, and they become self-destructive, they turn their leaders turn their destructive behavior on Christians. What occurs is a kind of coalition of bullies dynamic since this is the one thing upon which they agree.

In this way, the government demonstrates it has an Islamic heart, and the Brotherhood can show that it has influence in society. This happened in 2005 when the Copts were attacked and murdered for several months at a time when there were some Brotherhood leaders in prison that the government refused to release. After the attacks, tensions eased between the two.

This will only change with prayer, and when the Copts are guaranteed rights. These must include:

• The right to report incidents, and the right to appeal them.
• The right to appeal without being accused of embarrasing the government.
• Non-Egypt based bloggers can pick up the Egyptian Coptic posts and put them on servers elsewhere, moving to insure they protect the identities of those who sent the blogs.

It is not only Coptic loggers who post. They and others are already serving as a way to expose the government, Even though a blogger was recently sentenced to 4 years in prison for insulting Islam and the government. A Brotherhood Blogger has also been put in prison. Those of us in the Blog community have a responsibility to get the word out.

-Shimron Issachar

Al Qaeda Trying To Take the Pan African Jihad to the Next Level

Ethiopia

• Ethiopia is now surrounded on three sides by Regimes supporting Jihad or Jihad Rebels.
• Ethiopia's support of the transitional Somali government in the current civil war in Somalia war reflects that understanding. Their move was a preemptive strike.
• The Union of Islamic Courts, (UIC) the Somali rebel group, using an Ethiopian Muslim Rebel Group, The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)who has been fighting along side them in Somalia just attacked a Chinese oil field in Eastern Ethiopia, with 200 soldiers.
• They killed 74 Ethiopian workers and kidnapped 7 Chinese workers.
  

Somalia

• This is a counter-Attack, trying to retake the initiative they lost when they were attacked by Ethiopian-reinforced government troops before they could attack. (The Union of Islamic Courts had been massing on the Ethiopian border before they attack)
• The UIC, directing the ONLF, will try and leverage the 7 Chinese Hostages to get two things:

1) Chinese pressure on the Ethiopian Government to withdraw from the Somali civil war

2) Freedom to secede from Ethiopia.

• The ONLF will claim it only wants Independence
• If Successful, They will then join Somalia on the side of the UIC to continue their offensive Against Ethiopia.
• The plans are that Somalia, once again controlled by the UIC will once again become the staging are for the Jihad underway against North Africa.
• Recruits will again be brought in, trained and assigned to units in Somalia

Nigeria

• The recently botched elections in Northern Nigeria will be used as Justification for the Muslim Uprising in the North
• Jihadists will try and bring in forces that have been training in under governed areas of Niger and Mali just for this moment.
• The 12 states under Sharia law in the North will then try and launch a civil war, or use the presence of al Qaeda rebels in Northern Nigeria to get concessions
• If they get the concessions they are looking for, They will use these al Qaeda units to attack Western CHAD

CHAD

• Sudan, already in Eastern CHAD, needs a place to move their genocidal forces as the UN Troops come in.
• They will try and send the units across CHAD, supported by government Aircraft, to cut the country in half
• They will try and join up with Jihadist forces coming in from North Eastern Nigeria.

Al Qaeda, now free to recruit and train Jihadist in both the East and the West will then try and launch a new, strengthened call for the Next Caliphate, and ask for recognition for new Islamic republics- In NOrthern Nigeria and Southern Chad. Al Qaeda in Iraq, Somalia, Eriteria, and possibly Madagascar would liekly recognize them.

Prevention: Things that could stop the plan

• If China decides that they need to make a statement, and sends a hostage rescue team to get their oil workers-things could get complicated for their plan.
• If The US sends forces against al Qaeda units as they move as they did in Somalia
• If the Nigerian government decides not to negoitate but attack Northern Nigeria
• A significant Act of God, as has happend before, that thwarts the plan
• Shia movement in Africa that interferes with this sunni plan.(Iran, Hizballa, etc)

My Point is:

Do you guys see the same thing?

Comment

Global Guerrilla Swarming

Swarming tactics have been used successfully in wars throughout history by a variety of organizations from the tribal Parthians (horse archers) to 20th century Germans (U-boats).

Global guerrillas (next generation terrorists) will likely use swarming tactics as part of their doctrine. This technique, in combination with new market-based financing techniques is what's called a killer combo.

Definition. A good place to start an analysis of swarming is Sean Edwards' "Swarming on the Battlefield (PDF downloads). Here's his excellent definition of swarming: a primary maneuver that results in an attack from multiple directions (all points on the compass) by 5 or more (semi) autonomous units on a single target/unit.

The Rest @ Global Guerillas

Jihadists Attack Chinese Oilfield in Ethipoia

Rebels stormed a Chinese-run oilfield in eastern Ethiopia today, killing 74 workers and destroying the facility, guerrillas and government officials said.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front, an ethnic Somali group that has fought alongside insurgents in Somalia, also kidnapped seven Chinese workers, said an Ethiopian government official, Bereket Simon. "This was a cold blooded killing," Mr Bereket, a special adviser to the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, told Associated Press.

Ethnic Somali rebels kill 74 at Chinese oilfield in EthiopiaAnita Powell in Addis AbabaTuesday

Rebels stormed a Chinese-run oilfield in eastern Ethiopia today, killing 74 workers and destroying the facility, guerrillas and government officials said.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front, an ethnic Somali group that has fought alongside insurgents in Somalia, also kidnapped seven Chinese workers, said an Ethiopian government official, Bereket Simon. "This was a cold blooded killing," Mr Bereket, a special adviser to the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, told Associated Press. "This was organised."

The rebel group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to AP. It also warned all international oil companies not to operate in the region.
China's official Xinhua News Agency identified the Chinese workers and Ethiopian guards as employees of the Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, a division of a huge state-run oil company.

Xu Shuang, the general manager of Zhongyuan, based in Addis Ababa, said nine of its Chinese oil workers were killed, seven Chinese workers were kidnapped and 65 Ethiopians were killed.
The attack took place early this morning in Abole, a small town 75 miles from the Somali regional state's capital Jijiga, close to the Somali border. Mr Bereket said several Ethiopian soldiers were wounded in the gunbattle. "The army is pursuing them. We will track them down dead or alive. We will make sure these people will be hunted and be brought to justice."

The Rest @ Guardian Unlimited

Al Qaeda Targeting Christians?

On Sunday, 15 April 2007, The Voice of Martyrs and their blog , and others recently reported that there had been a bombing in Gaza City of a Christian bookstore.

-In the past year, 127 churches have been started in the entire Middle East region.

On Monday, 16 April, 7 Christians were kidnapped on Jolo Isalnd in the Southern Philippines. Their heads were sent to the Military on the Island. on 18 April. An al Qaeda affiliate. Or you can read the same report from ABC news that left out that they were Christians


On Wednesday, 18 April In Ankara, Turkey three Christians were executed in a bookstore
[One Lutheran-Germany Missionary and two Turkish Nationals]. Though no group claimed responsibly, there are growing ties between groups in Turkey and Al Qaeda that go back several years . 10 Al Qaeda members were arrested 5 months ago, and 3 more 3 Months ago.

Terrorist Financing: Status Update

Most of the charges against Saudi businessmen, senior members of the Al-Saud family and institutions accused of financing Al-Qaeda in civil litigation led by South Carolinabased law firm Motley Rice have been dismissed by US judges.

Other US lawsuits against members of the Saudi elite have also failed, but the lawsuits just keep coming. Thus a mogul of the Arab/Islamic financial and media scene, Al-Baraka Investment and Development CorporationAl-Baraka Investment and Development Corporation chairman Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel - who was among those accused in the Motley Rice case - had a suit filed against him last December on behalf of US insurance companies focusing on suspicions of terrorist financing;within the month the case was dismissed by US judge Richard Conway Casey.

A legal source active in defending terrorism finance cases was highly critical of the way such litigation was being dealt with in the USA, calling it a "big mess." Talking to GSN from the Gulf, he argued that there were still no specific procedures in place to fight against claims of links to terrorism, while defence teams suffered from a lack of co-operation from US authorities and the abuse of information; he described this as a "Kafka-like jurisprudence targeting Muslims."

Civil litigation lawyers have not given up on Saudi and other Gulf nationals, but they are increasingly focusing their efforts on major international banks and their alleged role in terrorist financing - representing a shift away from Al-Qaeda towards Hamas and Lebanon's powerful Hizbollah movement.

The Rest @Zawya.com

China Intervens to Help Bring Sudan in Line

China has made it increasingly clear that, where Africa's concerned, Western donors must take the new kid on the block seriously.

China comes with an impressive legacy of economic growth and a new package of solutions for Africa's problems. But it also comes with different rules, such as not interfering in another country's affairs, and giving massive loans with no political strings attached.
At the same time, China wants to look good on the international stage and boost its role as a world leader - and that's where Darfur comes in.

Competition is rife between China and Western donors, and they strongly disagree on many issues. When China and the United States get together to discuss Africa - as increasingly they seem to do - their main focus is Darfur, experts from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told a meeting at London's Chatham House this week.

China had long opposed international plans to enlarge the peacekeeping force in Darfur. But recently it has been the trigger in getting Sudan to adopt aspects of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan for a larger international force in Darfur, according to Bates Gill and Stephen Morrison, authors of the CSIS report China's Expanding Role in Africa: Implications for the United States.

"We have seen a dramatic alignment with the West on Darfur," said Morrison. "It all remains to be seen as to what that delivers in terms of results."

China's official policy of non-interference isn't just a question of ideology. It's also a question of branding, according to Morrison. "China is going to work very hard as a South-South donor because this is what sets it apart from the U.S. and other Western donors - so the non-interference brand is very important."

Yet the "brand" belies reality, explained Gill, because China does actually interfere when it's in its interests, for example in North Korea. "It intervenes more quietly and differently than other interventionists," he said. "We'll see it probably doing more of this in Sudan in the future."

The Rest @ Alertnet from Rueters