For The Record #657: Targeting the Centers of Finance
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NB: This stream contains both FTRs 656 and 657 in sequence. Each is a 30 minute broadcast.
Introduction: While John McCain touted himself and the GOP as successful defenders of American security against the terrorist threat, there were no major terrorist incidents during the U.S. presidential campaign. With the U.S. and the world beset with major economic problems, the “terror front” exploded with a major, headline-garnering attack on Mumbai, India’s financial and cinematic center–an incident that occurred at the same time as the surfacing of a report of al-Qaeda targeting of the New York City subway system. (Osama bin Laden has explicitly said that the destruction of the U.S. economy is the key to bringing down the United States.) Noteworthy is the fact that, shortly after the election, al-Qaeda’s number two man (Ayman al-Zawahiri) issued a racist communique in which he labeled Obama a “house negro” and said that Obama’s plan to shore up the troop deployment in Afghanistan would not result in victory. In the wake of the Mumbai attacks, strategic analysts have noted that a redeployment of Pakistani troops to shore up positions on the border with India would weaken Pakistani forces policing the tribal areas adjoining Afghanistan, a development that would help the Taliban and its Muslim Brotherhood allies! The Mumbai incident has also created a potential diplomatic crisis for the incoming Obama administration.
The Mumbai attacks have indeed heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. Of additional significance in this context is the evidence of involvement of the ISI (Pakistani intelligence) with both the 9/11 attacks and the Lashkar-e-Taiba–the perpetrators of the Mumbai assault. In addition to its strong links to the Pakistani intelligence service, Lashkar is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic fascist organization that parented al-Qaeda, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The attacks against India’s financial center took place as India was falling prey to the global economic crisis, making the attack all that more sinister. An eye to the future of the Indian/Pakistani conflict must be a fearful gaze, understanding that Lashkar-e-Taiba is linked not only to Pakistani intelligence but also to the A.Q. Khan nuclear network. Also terrifying is the fact that Lashkar has–according to Indian intelligence–targeted Indian nuclear facilities. Shortly after the originally-scheduled date for the Mumbai assault (9/27), the brother of the head of Lashkar was deported from the United States.
Program Highlights Include: Reports that the Mumbai attackers were high on coke and other drugs; review of credible reports that Mohamed Atta and the 9/11 hijackers in Southern Florida were also frequent dope users; Pakistani media reports blaming the attacks on-you guessed it-“the Jews” or, more precisely, “Hindu Zionists”; an attack on EU headquarters in Kosovo for which three German intelligence were blamed. See entire post.
