Posts Tagged al qaeda

What Happened On 9/11

Posted by Brian in News on 11/Sep/2020 07:00

I never thought there would be a need for this video.
From PragerU:

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FBI Confirms Naval Base Attack Committed By al-Qaida

Posted by Brian in News on 24/May/2020 12:51

From Patriot Post:

Attorney General William Barr announced on Monday that Mohammed Alshamrani, the Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd lieutenant studying at Naval Air Station Pensacola who shot and kill three U.S. Navy sailors last December, was not a “lone wolf” but was in fact acting in direct coordination with al-Qaida. Barr explained that the FBI was able to make this determination via data retrieved from his Apple cellphones.

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Reflections on Ramadi

Posted by Brian in News, Opinion, Threat Watch on 1/Jun/2015 07:00

“Reflections on Ramadi is republished with permission of Stratfor.”

Analysis

Editor’s Note: This analysis was written by Stratfor’s lead military analyst, Paul Floyd, who served in the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, a core component of the United States Army Special Operations Command. He deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan in a combat role.

The Iraqi city of Ramadi has fallen again into the hands of the Islamic State, a group born of al Qaeda in Iraq. That this terrorist organization, whose brutality needs no description, has retaken a city once fought for by American soldiers troubles me. I served two deployments in Ramadi, fighting al Qaeda. Comrades died in that fight. I was shot in Ramadi. My initial reaction, like that of many veterans, is to ask what the hell it was all for, when nothing seems to change. The whole endeavor was a costly bloodletting and it seems the price we paid yielded no actual benefit. Yet, Memorial Day is as much a day for reflection as it is for remembrance and commemoration. And in reflecting, I have had to sit back and define exactly what we are memorializing on this day. Read the rest of this entry »

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U.S. Born al-Qaeda Member Killed in Pakistan

Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 9/Dec/2014 07:00

From CNN:

Pakistan’s army said it killed an al Qaeda operative who grew up in the United States and was on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists.

Shukrijumah, a senior commander, is thought to have served as one of the leaders of al Qaeda’s external operations program, according to the FBI, hatching plots to attack the West.

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3-Star General On His Book “Why We Lost”

Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch, Warriors on 11/Nov/2014 09:59

From NPR:

“I am a United States Army General, and I lost the Global War on Terrorism.”

Those are the frank opening words of a new book by retired Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Bolger, Why We Lost: A General’s Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Bolger continues:

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Jordan Could Be the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’s Next Target

Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 27/Jun/2014 07:58

“Jordan Could Be the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’s Next Target is republished with permission of Stratfor.”

Summary

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, buoyed by its recent successes in Iraq, wants to expand its regional reach. Reports that Iraq has withdrawn forces from western towns close to its 180-kilometer (110-mile) border with Jordan have left Amman feeling vulnerable, and the Hashemite kingdom, certainly a target of interest for the jihadist movement, has deployed additional security personnel along the border.

However, taking on Jordan would be tough for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The group has the ability to stage terrorist attacks in the country, but significant constraints will prevent it from operating on the levels seen in Iraq and Syria.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Iraqi Security Forces Routed By Islamists

Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 17/Jun/2014 12:37

From The Daily Mail:

The Iraqi government policemen and soldiers in Mosul abandoned their weapons and uniforms with barely a fight against the army of black-clad killers from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terror group.

The gunmen quickly laid their hands on a mass of abandoned U.S. military equipment to add to their massive arsenal, ranging from Humvee vehicles to night-sights and body armour.

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President Denied Requested Airstrikes Against al-Qaeda In Iraq

Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 14/Jun/2014 12:25

From The New York Times:

As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki secretly asked the Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist staging areas, according to Iraqi and American officials.

But Iraq’s appeals for a military response have so far been rebuffed by the White House, which has been reluctant to open a new chapter in a conflict that President Obama has insisted was over when the United States withdrew the last of its forces from Iraq in 2011.

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Worsening Violence in Iraq Threatens Regional Security

Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 13/Jun/2014 14:37

“Worsening Violence in Iraq Threatens Regional Security is republished with permission of Stratfor.”

Summary

Battles continue to rage across northern Iraq, pitting jihadist group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant against Iraqi security forces and their allies. The growing reach of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has escalated an already brutal campaign in Iraq. Alarmingly quick advances by the militants across an important region of the Middle East could draw in regional powers as well as the United States.

Analysis

Using hit-and-run tactics, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIL, has sought to keep Iraqi security forces dispersed and under pressure. ISIL has achieved this by striking at areas where security forces are weak and withdrawing from areas where Baghdad has concentrated its combat power. The jihadists have been working hard to improve their tradecraft by developing skill sets ranging from staging complex ambushes to using Iraqi army equipment effectively in surprise raids. ISIL has also sought to better develop its ties with local Sunni communities. Read the rest of this entry »

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Al Qaeda Inspire Magazine Encouraging Lone Wolves

Posted by Brian in Threat Watch on 21/May/2014 12:51

From SOFREP:

The first section of the article was aptly named “OSJ Bomb School” and provided step-by-step instructions on how to make a car bomb “…even in countries with tight security and surveillance.” The explanation was simple, the individual parts and pieces don’t raise concern when purchased or acquired but, when assembled they can create a devastating explosive device. The list of items that are said not to raise suspicion when bought individually include: epoxy, Christmas lights, barometers, gas grill propane tanks, and oxygen cylinders.

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Panel Says White House’s Failure To Negotiate Gaddafi Surrender Resulted In Benghazi Attack

Posted by Brian in Opinion on 26/Apr/2014 07:39

From The Daily Mail:

The Obama administration’s unwillingness to help broker a peaceful exit for the Libyan strongman, ‘led to extensive loss of life (including four Americans)’ when al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked U.S. diplomatic facilities in the city of Benghazi,’ the commission told reporters.

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Future Terrorist Threats

Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 31/Mar/2014 12:15

From Insurance Journal:

Unrelenting pursuit of al Qaeda’s leaders has degraded its operational capabilities but not dented its determination. The spread of its ideology and its establishment of new footholds in Africa and the Middle East demonstrate al Qaeda’s resiliency and guarantee new generations of terrorists to continue its global terrorist campaign. And al Qaeda is not the only terrorist threat.

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Gauging the Jihadist Movement, Part 1: The Goals of the Jihadists

Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 2/Jan/2014 08:38

“Gauging the Jihadist Movement, Part 1: The Goals of the Jihadists is republished with permission of Stratfor.”

By Scott Stewart

Editor’s Note: The following is the first installment of a five-part series examining the global jihadist movement. Part 2 analyzes insurgent and terrorist theory. Part 3 defines the jihadist movement and evaluates its various elements. Part 4 looks at franchises and grassroots jihadists and Part 5 scrutinizes the al Qaeda core as well as gauging the overall implications for security. 

Quite often when I am doing speaking engagements, client briefings or press interviews, I am asked questions like: “Given the events in Syria and Libya, is the jihadist movement stronger than ever?” It is a good question, but it is also one that is not easily answered in a five-second sound bite or a succinct quote for print media — it really requires some detailed explanation. Because of this, I’ve decided to take some time to provide a more thorough treatment of the subject in written form for Stratfor readers. As I thought through the various aspects of the topic, I came to believe that adequately covering it requires more than one Security Weekly, so I will dedicate a series of articles to it.

When gauging the current state of the jihadist movement, I believe it is useful to use two different standards. The first is to take jihadists’ goals and objectives and measure their progress toward achieving them. The second is to take a look at insurgent theory and terrorism models to see what they can tell us about the state of jihadist militant networks and their efforts. This week we will discuss the first standard: the jihadists’ goals and objectives. Next week we will discuss insurgency and terrorism theories, and then once we have established these two benchmarks we can use them to see how the various elements of the jihadist movement measure up. Read the rest of this entry »

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Head of MI5 Warns of Isalmic Threat

Posted by Gary in News, Threat Watch on 10/Oct/2013 13:06

From: BBC News

MI5 chief Andrew Parker

MI5 chief Andrew Parker

Threats to the UK are growing more diverse and diffuse, he said, but warned: “It remains the case that there are several thousand Islamist extremists here who see the British public as a legitimate target.”

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Zawahiri Urges Attacks on U.S. Economy

Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 27/Sep/2013 08:21

From The Telegraph:

“We should bleed America economically by provoking it to continue in its massive expenditure on its security, for the weak point of America is its economy, which has already begun to stagger due to the military and security expenditure,” he said, according to SITE, a jihadist monitoring group. “America is not a mythic power and the Americans, after all, are humans who can be defeated, felled and punished.”

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