A bomb plot by an al Qaeda linked group in the Phillipines was foiled earlier in March of this year but the details are just beginning to come out. Other targets included the British and Australian embassies. Note that the suspect is free on bail.

Manila Standard:

Authorities earlier this year thwarted a plot by Islamic militants to mount a truck bomb attack on the US embassy in Manila, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales told AFP yesterday. The plot by the Jemaah Islamiyah would have involved "an attack on the US embassy using a 1,000 kg truck bomb," Gonzales said in an interview.

He said the explosives were recovered after Daud Santos, a Muslim convert who is allegedly a member of the JI-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, was arrested in a police raid in Manila in March.

Also eyed as targets were the embassies of Australia and Britain, key antiterror allies of the United States, Gonzales said. He said Santos is now free on bail, highlighting Manila's failure to pass an antiterrorist law that would enable the government to hold terrorist suspects for longer periods.

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Our allies in the Global War on Terror have reduced the jail sentence of Abu Bakar Bashir (Ba'asyir), the mastermind of the Bali nightclub bombing, by 4.5 months. Bashir, it will be recalled, had been sentenced to 30 months in an Indonesian prison for his role as leader of the terrorist group that killed 202 civilians in the Bali nightclub bombing. 88 of the 202 victims were Australians.

Bashir will now spend 25.5 months in prison.

That's about 765 days.

That's 3.8 days per victim.

Indonesia routinely sentences drug dealers to death by firing squad.

Another admitted terrorist involved in the mass murder at Bali was once spotted at the local Starbucks. They hate terrorism so much that Indonesian narcotics and drugs Brigadier-General Gorries Mere decided it would be a good idea to spring the terrorist from his jail cell and stroll down to the neighborhood cofee shop. Don't worry, though, after the terrorist in question had his fill of Double Latte Mochachino, he was promptly returned to prison. more...

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In the time it took to write this post, Egypt could have denided that it's citzens were involved in at least three acts of terror. Becaus as we all know, Egyptians never are involved in terrorism. Especially not al Qaeda linked terrorism.

Lying pieces of shit.

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If a TV reporter can interview a guy who says he knows where bin Laden is, why can't the CIA?

Bin Laden alive and well (thanks readers):

Osama bin Laden is alive and in good health, as is fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, a purported senior commander of the ousted Afghan religious militia said in a TV interview broadcast Wednesday. Pakistan's Geo television broadcast the interview with a man it identified as Taliban military commander Mullah Akhtar Usmani, a former Afghan aviation minister who said he still receives instructions from Omar.

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It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. It looks like an Australian idiot mailed some sort of biohazardous material to the Indonesian embassy. The Indonesians, you'll remember, are the ones who let the terrorist mastermind of the Bali bombing, Abu Bakar Bashir, which killed dozens of Australians, off with the light sentence of 4.5 days per victim. The attack may be related to the recent sentencing of Australian Beauty Queen Schapelle Corby to 20 years in prison for drug smuggling, a charge many believe to be trumped up.

Herals Sun:

THE white powder mailed to the Indonesian Embassy in Australia's first bio-terror attack contained bacteria from the same family as anthrax.

Prime Minister John Howard linked the potentially deadly threat to hysteria over the Schapelle Corby jailing.
"It's not an innocent white powder, it's some kind of biological agent," he said.

Fifty embassy staff were locked in their building last night as police and scientists investigated.

White powder spilled to the embassy floor when a staff member opened an envelope addressed to Ambassador Imron Cotan, who was out at the time. The envelope also contained a note.

Police and emergency services, including hazardous materials units, raced to the embassy.

Embassy staff are expected to stay locked inside for at least 48 hours until the powder is identified.

The PM was anxious about the results of the tests. "I'm not a scientist but they say it belongs to the bacillus group," he said.

The bacillus group includes various forms of bacteria, one of which is the causative agent of anthrax.

Mr Howard said he was staggered by the attack, an apparent reprisal over the jailing of Corby in Bali last week for drug smuggling.

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Clinton Watson Taylor, who you may remember had me on his radio show, has this piece up at the American Spectator. What is so interesting about this is that I had never heard of Ijju Sheikh until today, but I should have. India is our natural ally in the GWOT. India has been fighting Islamist forces since the day it was granted indepence. Both Pakistan and Bangledesh were carved out of India and then largely ethnically cleansed of their Hindu and other religious minority communities. Unfortunately, though, the Cold War imperetive forced the U.S. to become allies with Pakistan:

While the recent arrest of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, Al Qaeda's number-three man, is a significant victory in the war on terror, another largely overlooked arrest gives even more reason to rejoice. Ijju Sheikh, a fugitive suspect in one of India's worst terrorist attacks, was arrested in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on April 29. His capture shows that the noose is tightening on a sinister transnational mafia that both supports al Qaeda's existence, and imperils India's.

On March 12, 1993, a series of explosions ripped through the streets of Mumbai, killing 257 Indians and injuring 713. The serial attack, presaging Al Qaeda's coordinated-bombing modus operandi, involved nearly simultaneous detonation of car-bombs across the city in crowded bazaars and near major hotels and Mumbai's stock exchange. While India is no stranger to political violence, the attack has been retroactively dubbed "India's 9-11" for its shock and devastation.

Ijju Sheikh stands accused of smuggling the RDX explosives used in the bombing. Once a hotelier and sarpanch (city council chief) with political connections, Sheikh fled to Dubai after the bombing and only recently snuck back into India. He is also accused of smuggling gold and weapons, as well as being a top henchman to international gangster and terrorist Dawood Ibrahim.

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How can the same word mean something so different to two cultures? Take the word martyr for instance.

When Muslims speak of martyrs it is almost always in the context of referring to someone who was killed in battle or even blew himself up killing the Zionists/Crusaders/infidels.

When Christians speak of 'martyr' it is almost always in the context of referring to a person who is killed for the faith, but offers no resistance to those willing to kill them.

Same word, different meaning.

News INQ7:

FRIENDS of Father Rhoel Gallardo yesterday began the long and tedious process of gathering testimonies and documents to support his beatification as the "first Filipino martyr and saint of the new millennium."

Gallardo, a Claretian priest, was beheaded by the terrorist Abu Sayyaf group on May 3, 2000, after being held captive along with 56 teachers and students for almost two months in the jungles of Basilan province.

Then 34 years old, Gallardo was the first Catholic priest abducted and beheaded by the notorious al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group.

Yesterday, a group of Claretian priests and seminarians led by Fr. Bernardo Blanco, and Gallardo's relatives led by his parents Dominador and Raquel Gallardo, gathered at his tomb at the Himlayang Pilipino in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, to commemorate his 5th death anniversary and recall his heroic demise in the hands of terrorists.

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Religion of tolerance my ass. Islam is only tolerant as long as you think of tolerance in the 15th century conception of the term. I would really love to be wrong on this one, but name one Muslim country where a Christian may openly evangelize Muslims. Meanwhile, in the Islamophobic and intolerant West name one country that forbids Muslims from openly evangelizing Christians. Via Dhimmi Watch this AFP article:

Malaysian police arrested two Americans for allegedly distributing Christian religious pamphlets to Muslims, police said Wednesday.
The two men were detained on Monday and a local court had ordered them to be held for 14 days to assist in investigations, a police spokesman told AFP.

"We want to find out if they had breached any regulations in Malaysia," he said.

It is an offence in mainly-Muslim Malaysia to try to convert Muslims away from their faith.

Another police official named the two men as Ricky Ruperd, in his 30s, and Zachry Harris, in his 20s.

The official Bernama news agency said they were arrested for distributing pamphlets with religious content at Malaysia's new administrative capital Putrajaya, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of here.

Putrajaya police chief Mohamad Khalil Kadir Mohamad said the men were detained during routine checks by police and and were found to be without any travel documents.

A spokesman for the US embassy confirmed the detentions but would give no further details.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said earlier this month there was no ban on Bibles published in the Malay language but they must be stamped with the words "Not for Muslims"...

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Go check out Michelle Malkin. She's right, you know. Expect the next wave of terrorist to be Filipinos, Pakistanis, or Thais.

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1 Your trackback is busted! I can not access the trackback script to get the trackback url for pinging.

Anyway event the Filipines is going to start "profiling" OFWs who are returning from the MIddle East.

Posted by: Marcus Aurelius at April 11, 2005 02:37 PM (H4xh8)

2 Fundamental Islamic militancy is definitely taking root in SE Asia... but it's pretty clear it's spreading all over the world: look at the recent low-scale suicide attacks in Qatar and Egypt. And if its not actually spreading, the media is still so obsessed with it (understandably) that it hypes up every attack.

I just can't get over the notion of a "suicide bomber". It's just the most messed up thing in the world. I respect Japanese kamikazee pilots because they (thought they) were defending their way of life. But how the hell can you respect someone who straps on a bomb and strolls into the nearest congregation of civilians???

Four f*cking suicide bombers struck in Iraq today alone. How can there be so many people who are willing to die just so they can kill other Arabs - other Muslims?!?!?

When you look at the big picture it's impossible to really gauge whether or not we're winning this thing...

PROs -> terrorists on run; Afghanistan free; Iraq free
CONs -> terrorists recruiting more than ever; hundreds of suicide bombings in Iraq; other major attacks against Westerners in Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia...

Is it just that people are counting now... or are things actually getting worse??

Posted by: Martin at April 11, 2005 02:40 PM (oe5ye)

3 Things are getting worse and will continue getting worse as long as America keeps poking the hornet's nest with a stick.

Posted by: greg at April 11, 2005 02:57 PM (/+dAV)

4 I have to disagree with you when it comes to Michelle.



Cindy

Posted by: firstbrokenangel at April 11, 2005 04:09 PM (PEKrh)

5 Martin,
Very interesting question. Not easily answered. I bet there is a way to quantify this, just haven't figured it out quite yet.

Posted by: Rusty Shackleford at April 11, 2005 04:46 PM (JQjhA)

6 Ever question where they got their motivation from?

Posted by: Collin Baber at April 11, 2005 06:23 PM (FV4oJ)

7 Greg: "Things are getting worse and will continue getting worse as long as America keeps poking the hornet's nest with a stick."

Care to offer another solution to "poking the hornet's nest?" Oh wait, I know, it's the Clinton strategy. Ignore them they will go away.

Posted by: Marc at April 11, 2005 06:40 PM (D348l)

8 I caught the first sentence and assumed you were at it again. You really need to watch it sometimes, Admiral/Doctor

Posted by: The Babaganoosh at April 11, 2005 06:45 PM (2Sfuq)

9 Some alarm bells going off in the media and in the blogosphere, and some wondering if the US might be getting ready to send troops to another country. One Blogger takes it a bit too far: "Expect the next wave of terrorist to be Filipinos, Pakistanis,...
Weblog: Capital Region People
Tracked: April 11, 2005 09:22 PM
( I got to your trackback, but it seemed to take a few extra steps... not really broken, just testy!)

Posted by: Dave Lucas at April 11, 2005 09:28 PM (3i6S9)

10 I go to the phillipines every year by reason of a hobby of mine. I say bullshit. Listening and reacting to one in 10,000 is bullshit. Thats why I call it bullshit. Why not listen to the other 9,999 who only desire to come to America. If they knew how torturous the 13 hr flight was, they wouldn't wish to come.

Posted by: greyrooster at April 11, 2005 09:46 PM (CBNGy)

11 Dear Greyrooster,

What hobby might that be?

Posted by: Collin Baber at April 11, 2005 11:40 PM (FV4oJ)

12 Go check out Michelle Malkin. She's right, you know. Expect the next wave of terrorist to be Filipinos, Pakistanis, or Thais.

a few comments.

1) filipinos are 92-94% Christian and 4-5% Muslim. In Mindanao, where the Islamic terrorists operate, Christians constitute re 83% while Muslims 5%.

2) There are reports that Saudi Companies (fronting for terrorist orgs) are recruiting Filipino Muslim insurgents as Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) in Mindanao to undergo terror training in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

3) I have yet to read or hear any report about Filipinos Muslims or Indonesians or Thais becoming "suicide bombers". Our Muslim terrorists in RP usually plant bombs and detonate them from a distance or plan raids on gov't bldgs and ambush military convoys.

Maybe it's just an "Arab thing" or maybe Filipinos and other asians are just not as suicidal and hopeless as their arab brothers.

Fundamental Islamic militancy is definitely taking root in SE Asia... but it's pretty clear it's spreading all over the world: look at the recent low-scale suicide attacks in Qatar and Egypt. And if its not actually spreading, the media is still so obsessed with it (understandably) that it hypes up every attack.

it's been happening long before 9/11, long before the US invaded afghanistan and iraq. filipino muslims were secretly getting their training in afghanistan long before the US invaded iraq. we even had a madrid type of bombing on dec. 30, 2000 in the philippins, perpetrated by Jemaah islamiya terrorists -- 9 months before 9/11.

When you look at the big picture it's impossible to really gauge whether or not we're winning this thing...

PROs -> terrorists on run; Afghanistan free; Iraq free
CONs -> terrorists recruiting more than ever; hundreds of suicide bombings in Iraq; other major attacks against Westerners in Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia...

Is it just that people are counting now... or are things actually getting worse??

i can speak only on the situation in the philippines. are the terrorists getting more recruits from the philippines because of bush's policies, or are we just getting better at finding them and noticing them because we became more vigilant after 9/11?

here's what joseph mussomeli, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, had to say re that:

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/rp1/wwwhr533.html

Q: A recent development like the capture of that Palestinian national down in Zamboanga, how significant is that? Do you think that points to increased cooperation between al-Qaeda-linked groups and elements of the Abu Sayyaf?

CDA: I honestly don’t know enough about that specific instance to comment. I would say that, you know, it’s hard to say whether the JI links are getting stronger or we’re just becoming better at finding them. Maybe in the late 90s, it was just as bad and we just we’re too oblivious because we were focused on other parts of the world to know. But what we do find is that it seems that the links are stronger, that Mindanao is almost, forgive the poor religious pun, the new ‘Mecca’ for terrorism.

Posted by: john marzan at April 12, 2005 04:01 AM (CyMwG)

13 oops, i meant In Mindanao, where the Islamic terrorists operate, Christians constitute re 83% while Muslims 17%.

Posted by: john marzan at April 12, 2005 04:06 AM (9UlqZ)

14 Man With Suitcases Captured at Capitol

SWAT team heroically wrestles dirty laundry to ground.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4930070,00.html

Posted by: greg at April 12, 2005 08:27 AM (/+dAV)

15 John:

Interesting post - the only thing I take issue with is your statement that you have yet to be made aware of "any report about Filipino Muslims or Indonesians or Thais becoming 'suicide bombers'":

Jemmah Islamiya's three major post-9/11 attacks have all involved Indonesian suicide bombers (Bali nightclub, Jakarta hotel, Jakarta embassy). Also, don't forget that Zarqawi happily takes recruits from ANY nation - I think I'm right in remembering one of the bombers that attacked Britain's relocated Black Watch troops last year was described as being 'a Caucasian man'.

It's definitely not just Arabs that go in for this suicide bomber malarky. I think it's more a consequence of some serious mental conditioning and deep depression / anger; i.e. anyone can be sucked in.

The more I think about it, in fact, the more I realise that the liberal explanation of 'poverty under tyranny' turning people into suicide bombers is oversimplistic. While that clearly can be a factor (esp for the Palestinians & the Uzbeks, for example), in places like Iraq it just doesn't hold water: most Iraqis are now more terrified of and rstricted by the terrorists than they are the occupying force.

PS. Another day, another three suicide bombs (only killing Iraqi civilians, of course).

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050412/325/fg6ub.html

Posted by: Martin at April 12, 2005 02:53 PM (oe5ye)

16 Jemmah Islamiya's three major post-9/11 attacks have all involved Indonesian suicide bombers (Bali nightclub, Jakarta hotel, Jakarta embassy). Also, don't forget that Zarqawi happily takes recruits from ANY nation - I think I'm right in remembering one of the bombers that attacked Britain's relocated Black Watch troops last year was described as being 'a Caucasian man'.

It's definitely not just Arabs that go in for this suicide bomber malarky. I think it's more a consequence of some serious mental conditioning and deep depression / anger; i.e. anyone can be sucked in.

fine. them most of the fucked up suicide bombers are indonesians and arabs (in the mideast and recruits in europe).

okay na?

don't worry, i'm still supporting bush 100% on this and we are slowly and surely seeing a more stable iraq after the jan. 30 elections. attacks are decreasing and the terrorists are getting more desperate.

P.S. i'm not surprised by the fact that Indons are stupid enough to do this. their country is poor, corrupt and muslim... no wonder. didn't Jemaah Islamiya originate from their country? tsk tsk.

Now the strategy is for Filipino authorities to arrest all suspicious looking indonesians and saudis (threat profiling) in the philippines before the influence our filipino muslim brothers to go suicidal too... LOL!

Posted by: john marzan at April 13, 2005 12:14 AM (RdaH3)

17 "most of the fucked up suicide bombers are indonesians and arabs

Don't forget the Chechens

Posted by: Martin at April 13, 2005 06:30 AM (oe5ye)

18 "suicide bombers"? are you talking re beslan? but IIRC, many of the chechen terrorists escaped the beslan schoolhouse after murdering the little children and detonating the explosives.

not my definition of "suicide bomber".

but there were a few arabs among the hostagetakers...

Posted by: john marzan at April 13, 2005 08:30 AM (WQqjx)

19 i agree that you'll find a few non-arabs engaging in suicide bombings once in a while, but majority of the people that are doing this are still arabs, IMO.

Posted by: john marzan at April 13, 2005 09:12 AM (gTeDF)

20 No man - in 2003/4 there were frequent waves of suicide truck & belt bomb attacks in both Chechnya and Moscow; mostly carried out by 'Black Widows' (Chechen women whose husbands / brothers had been killed by Russian troops). They even brought down two commercial jets!

I just think its dangerous classifying suicide bombs as an Arab phenomena - not least of all because the belt technique was invented by the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The only reason Arabs tend to be the culprits is because the Middle East constitutes the bulk of the world's Muslim population.

Posted by: Martin at April 13, 2005 11:40 AM (oe5ye)

21 Martin: Good point. All muslims are bad for world peace. Arab or not makes no difference. Islam is from the gutter. It's more than this pie in the sky Allah thing. It's a racist, anti-christian, anti-hindu, anti-buddist, anti-Jewish, etc: It's all over the world, noting but trouble. Anyone denying this illrefutible fact is nothing but an ignorant liar. This is why it is practiced by the backward people and races of the world. Hundreds of years of jealousy rules these backward imbeciles. Intelligent modern people would never practice a religion based on hate.

Posted by: greyrooster at April 13, 2005 10:55 PM (CBNGy)

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SE Asia Jihad Watch. Do you think that those pesky Mennonites are behind this? Xinhua:

Four soldiers were injured Monday in a blast in Thailand's Muslim-dominated South, less than 24 hours after three bomb rocked the region, sources to Xinhua said.

In Yala, one of the three southernmost border provinces in the kingdom, an explosion occurred at 1:30 p.m. Monday on a college campus where a football was held. Four soldiers were seriously injured in the blast.

The bomb, planted in the area where the military vehicles were parked, was triggered by remote control, said the source.

The foot match was organized by local authorities in a bid to develop good relations with Muslim residents in 75 villages of the province.

On Sunday night, three explosions went off in Hat Yai town of the southern Songkhla province, killing two people and injuring dozens.

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Why does this not surpirse me? Sun Star

Authorities have arrested a Palestinian man who allegedly trained al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in the past and returned to the Philippines for a possible terror mission, government officials said Thursday.

Fawas Ajjur, whom security officials suspect may be an al-Qaida operative, was arrested Saturday in Zamboanga City as he arrived after a baffling, circuitous journey that took him to Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, the officials said.

Ajjur did not have a visa and was taken into custody by immigration agents at the Zamboanga airport, Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said.

He was later allegedly identified by captured Abu Sayyaf guerrillas as one of the foreign militants who trained them in bomb-making near Patikul town of Jolo island a few years ago, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

Related: Arroyo's approval ratings in the tank. It's just hard to take a person that openly pays ransom for hostages seriously when they say they are committed to fighting the war on terrorism.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:52 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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Where will the next wave of terrorists come from? Southeast Asia. Especially troubling are groups known to operate in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. More here.

And if that excellent article wasn't enough, check out this little tidbit that Digger turned up. Filipinos Among Foreign Terrorists Killed In Iraq.

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