Al Qaeda: Tip of the Brotherhood's Spear

I strongly suspect that al Qaeda is the Muslim Brotherhood's "tip of the spear" in the Middle East and North Africa.  It is noteworthy that every time the Muslim Brotherhood is active in taking over a nation, al Qaeda happens to be involved.

Here are some considerations about the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda:

(1) Plausible Deniability.  Even though al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood share similar ideologies (through Egyptian Islamic theorist Sayyid Qutb), the Brotherhood does not currently acknowledge affiliation with al Qaeda.  This gives the Brotherhood plausible deniability should they utilize al Qaeda as its military arm to achieve its goals through violent jihad.

(2) Jihad is Obligatory.  According to "Reliance of the Traveller," a book on Sharia Law, it is obligatory (mandatory) for Muslims to either participate in the violent form of jihad, or provide assistance to those executing jihad.  The formation of "al Qaeda" groups gives Muslims an outlet to fulfill this obligation.

(3) Military Arm.  The organizational name of "Al Qaeda" presents a recognizable image that will readily attract jihadis in pursuit of the goals of Islam.  It is therefore convenient to establish a branch of al Qaeda anywhere the Muslim Brotherhood wants to undertake military action.

(4) Enemy of the United States.  Since the United States is at war with al Qaeda, if al Qaeda appears in a nation that is in revolution, the United States will feel obligated to prevent the al Qaeda forces from taking over the government, capturing chemical weapons, etc.  The United States must therefore get involved in the conflict and back the rebels who don't call themselves "al Qaeda."  This "other" rebel group would also be backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.  In this manner the Muslim Brotherhood receives support from the American taxpayer in the achievement of their goals.

These are my thoughts and are by no means certainties.  However, I do believe they deserve investigation, as I believe there is a plausible linkage between the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda.

--Against All Enemies

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Lara Logan Video: We're Being Lied to About Afghanistan

I highly recommend that you watch all 19 minutes of this exceptional video where Lara Logan discusses how we as the American people are being lied to about the strength of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.  She makes some very insightful comments throughout, especially when she says that if you do not properly understand your enemy, you cannot possibly devise a proper strategy to defeat him.  Recall that Lara was sexually assaulted in Egypt covering the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Disclaimer: These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions or official positions of any United States Government agency, organization or department.

Turkey Authorizes Military Strikes Into Syria

After a mortar attack that killed five Turkish civilians, the Turkish government has authorized the use of force against Syria (which is not necessarily the same as declaring war).  Turkey's membership in NATO creates a potential challenge for the United States as hostilities between the two nations may drag us into the conflict, which we should avoid.

Syria is positioned as yet another nation to fall to the Muslim Brotherhood.  Now that the Brotherhood controls most of North Africa, they are shifting their focus eastward.  Back in the early 1980s, Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez, crushed a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood, the most notable of which was the siege of the town of Hama in 1982.  Now the Brotherhood wants to kick out the ruling Shia Alawite clan and replace it with a Muslim Brotherhood-controlled government.

Supporting this theory is the appearance of al Qaeda fighting against the al-Assad regime.  I find it curious that everywhere the Muslim Brotherhood takes over, al Qaeda shows up first.  This is why I believe that al Qaeda is really the tip of the spear for the Muslim Brotherhood, and thus why we see al Qaeda in Syria now.

If we support the overthrow of the al-Assad regime, we are doing the Brotherhood's dirty work for them.  Yes, al-Assad is bad.  Yes, he is associated with Iran.  But I believe that facilitating the expansion of Muslim Brotherhood power in the Middle East is ultimately far worse.  The Brotherhood seeks the destruction of the West (which coincides with the objectives al Qaeda), so the US and its Allies facilitating the Brotherhood's control of another nation-state is by its very nature suicidal.  We've already done this in Libya and Egypt--it must stop.

Regarding our current state as a nation, we are not standing on solid ground.  We are being crushed by an enormous national debt that is increasing exponentially.  Inflation is increasing, with no end in sight due to the Federal Reserve implementing "Quantitative Easing 3."  Our military is about to take a huge cut in their budget that will be devastating in its consequences.  The domestic conflict between constitutionalism and socialism create the conditions for internal strife and will be exacerbated by deteriorating economic conditions.  Any war we undertake at this moment in time must be waged only if the security of our nation is truly threatened.  Intervention in Syria certainly does not meet that criteria--we should not sacrifice the lives of our citizens or our wealth (do we have any left?) to advance the goals of our declared enemy, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Iran is a different case, but linked to Syria for obvious reasons.  I fear that our forward deployment of two, and reportedly soon to be three, Carrier Strike Groups to the Persian Gulf region places us in a very vulnerable position.  Similarly, the deployment of two carrier battle groups to Japan may also put us at risk (five carriers is about half our fleet of eleven).  Should our carriers in the Middle East and Pacific be attacked with some success and our economy further destabilized, America will be hard pressed to recover.  America and its interests will become vulnerable.

But vulnerable to whom, you ask?  Well, Russia and China.  As we face a precipitous reduction of our military spending, they are increasing theirs.  China is becoming more and more aggressive in the Pacific.  These two nations have everything to gain from America's demise.  Should they be able to neuter our ability to project power amidst an economic collapse, China and Russia have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fill the vacuum that is created.  We must be on guard.

(AAE Note: We have seen conflicting reports as to whether the USS Stennis battle group is in the Middle East or Pacific.  Could be deliberate misinformation or deception.)

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Disclaimer: These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions or official positions of any United States Government agency, organization or department.

Arab Spring Update, 18 July 2012

What follows are all open source reports, so some may be fact, some may be fiction, and some may be downright deception.  Nevertheless, we are witnessing many interesting developments in the Middle East, especially considering that the US Presidential election is coming up in November.  Looking back to the 20th Century, war possibly assisted the advancement of progressive agendas for Presidents like Woodrow Wilson (WWI), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (WWII), and Lyndon Baines Johnson (Vietnam).

Iran:

• United Arab Emirates inaugurated their new 236-mile oil pipeline that bypasses Straits of Hormuz with a capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day.  (Associated Press)  This will help to lessen the impact of any efforts by Iran to shut down the Straits.
• The "floating base" USS Ponce and mine clearing robots (mini-subs) have been moved to the Persian Gulf to prevent Iranians from closing the Straits of Hormuz. (New York Times)
• A 20-nation mine clearing exercise is scheduled in the Persian Gulf for September 16-27 in response to Iranian threats to shut down the Straits of Hormuz.  (NewsMax)
• A third US carrier group (USS John C. Stennis) will be sent to the Persian Gulf months early in order to keep two carrier groups on station.  (Associated Press)
• The US is building a radar site in Qatar that will reportedly complete a defense system designed to protect US and Allied interests in the Middle East from Iranian aggression.  (Wall Street Journal)
• Some speculate that an attack on Iran will happen in October. (speculation from DEBKAFile)

Syria:

• Syria's former ambassador to Iraq claims that Bashar Assad will not hesitate to employ chemical weapons to put down the uprising in Syria. (UPI)
• Bomber kills Assad's brother-in-law, Syrian defense minister, and senior military general.  (Reuters)
• Reports of heavy Saudi Arabian troop movement toward Jordanian/Iraqi borders.  (DEBKAFile; cannot verify with another source)
• Russians moving 11 ships to the Mediterranean. (New York Times)

Libya: Initial Parliamentary election results place the liberal (non-Islamist) alliance of Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril's National Forces in the lead with 39 seats.  The Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction party gained 17 seats.  The other 24 seats were won by other factions.  We have yet to see the results of the liberal and Islamist efforts to build coalitions.  (Haaretz)  This could actually be good news, but we need to see the rhetoric and platform for the National Forces Alliance to truly understand the implications of this election for the security of the West, Israel, and the future of the Caliphate.

Egypt: Tantawi and the ruling generals disbanded the Islamist-dominated Parliament, which the Supreme Constitutional Court upheld.  However, the Muslim Brotherhood President Mursi told the Parliament to reconvene, which they did.  Secretary Hillary Clinton visited Egypt afterwards to voice her support for full civilian rule, the military assuming a pure military role, to encourage the Egyptian government to support women and minority rights, and respect the peace treaty with Israel. (BBC, LA Times)

Tunisia: The government has declared that the hard-line Islamist group, Hizb al-Tahrir, can become a legitimate political party in Tunisia.  Hizb al-Tahrir calls for the restoration of the Caliphate, and attempted to hold a conference in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, to further their cause (see the AAE post on the conference).  In May, the Tunisian government legitimized Islah Front , a hard-line Salafi Islamist group, as a political party.  (EuroNews/Reuters)

Mali: After the coup in March and the attempt by Tuareg rebels in the north to secede from Mali, Islamists linked to al Qaeda have since hijacked the secession effort in the north.  (FoxNews)  So how is it al Qaeda shows up everywhere that Sunni Muslims are fighting either Shia or those outside of Islam?  I contend that al Qaeda is acting as the tip of the jihadist spear for the Muslim Brotherhood, a relationship that has since been strengthened by the death of Osama bin Laden.

Disclaimer: These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions or official positions of any United States Government agency, organization or department.

You Can Run But Not Hide

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Especially if your name is Anwar al-Awlaki.

Born in the United States to parents of Yemeni origins.  His parents returned to Yemen when he was 7.  He lived in Yemen for 11 years then returned to the United States to attend university.  He graduated Colorado State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and was the President of the University's Muslim Students Union.  He was a leader in al-Qaeda and took over leadership of the organization when Bin Ladin was killed.

al-Awlaki was the English voice of al-Qaeda.

The U.S.-born terror mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed, Fox News confirms.

The government of the Republic of Yemen officially announced the death, saying Awlaki was targeted and killed about 5 miles from the town of Khashef in the Province of Jawf.

The operation was launched earlier today at around 9:55 AM, local time.

Yemeni security and tribal officials said an air strike thought to have been carried out by U.S. aircraft on Friday targeted a convoy of cars traveling in the eastern province of Marib but could not say whether al-Awlaki was in the convoy.

The 40-year-old al-Awlaki is believed to have inspired and even plotted or helped coordinate some of the recent attacks on the U.S., including the failed Christmas Day 2009 bombing of an airliner heading for Detroit, Michigan, and the also unsuccessful plot to send mail bombs on planes from Yemen to the United States in October.

The American-born son of Yemeni parents rose to prominence as Al-Qaeda's English-speaking voice and electronic messenger, spreading its terrorist credo via a blog, social media posts and email exchanges with such people as the U.S. Army major accused of a murderous shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

The Pakistani-American man who pleaded guilty to the May 2010 Times Square failed car bombing attempt told interrogators he was "inspired" by al-Awlaki after making contact over the Internet. Al-Awlaki was further believed to have had a hand in mail bombs addressed to Chicago-area synagogues, packages intercepted in Dubai and Europe in October 2010.

Yemen had in the past reported the deaths of Al-Qaeda leaders who were later found to be alive. Al-Awlaki was last reported to have been killed in December 2009.

Al-Awlaki is on a U.S. kill-or-capture list and is accused by Washington of inspiring several attacks in the United States.

The Yemeni officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.

Yemen is the Arab world's most impoverished nation and has become a haven for Al-Qaeda militants.

Source

Yemen has claimed this kill.  The US claims it was done by a drone.  All that matters is this scumbag is dead and getting his just reward.

Piece of candy anyone?