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This program was recorded in one, 60-minute segment.
Introduction: The jihadi attacks in Brussels reminds us of a poem by Robinson Jeffers–“Be Angry at the Sun.”
That public men publish falsehoods
Is nothing new. That America must accept
Like the historical republics corruption and empire
Has been known for years.Be angry at the sun for setting
If these things anger you. Watch the wheel slope and turn,
They are all bound on the wheel, these people, those warriors.
This republic, Europe, Asia.Observe them gesticulating,
Observe them going down. The gang serves lies, the passionate
Man plays his part; the cold passion for truth
Hunts in no pack.You are not Catullus, you know,
To lampoon these crude sketches of Caesar. You are far
From Dante’s feet, but even farther from his dirty
Political hatreds.Let boys want pleasure, and men
Struggle for power, and women perhaps for fame,
And the servile to serve a Leader and the dupes to be duped.
Yours is not theirs.
In many recent programs, we have highlighted the use of Muslim Brotherhood Islamic fascists as proxy warriors and soldiers for corporatist economics in various parts of The Earth Island. (Among those are: FTR #‘s 862, 863, 878, 879, 880, 884, 885, 886.) We also presented a series of programs detailing Fara Mansoor’s landmark research about the George H.W. Bush faction’s installation of the Shiite Islamic fundamentalist government in Iran.)
Once again, the world was “shocked, shocked” at the Brussels attacks, when–once again–the ongoing strategic use of Islamic fascists blows back on the West. The frustration of Operation Green Quest, which revealed the profound links between the Bush/Grover Norquist/Karl Rove milieu and the funding of Muslim Brotherhood-linked terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks set the stage for other lethal blowback incidents from the use of Brotherhood proxies. The downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 and the Boston Marathon Bombing appear to be among those blowback incidents.
The Syrian bloodbath stems from the use of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda-linked combatants backed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar by elements of CIA to remove the Assad regime in Syria. ISIS is a direct outgrowth of the so-called Arab Spring and the Syrian covert “op.”
An examination of the Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium highlights the profound presence of that organization there, its infiltration of government and civil society and links between its leadership and the milieu of the Bank al-Taqwa and Youssef Nada. Al-Taqwa cements the Nazi/Islamist relationship that is at the heart of the power group we have analyzed.
Do not fail to note that the milieu of the Brussels bombers may have been targeting nuclear power plants in that country and that ISIS may be looking to go nuclear. ” . . . On Friday, the authorities stripped security badges from several workers at one of two plants where all nonessential employees had been sent home hours after the attacks at the Brussels airport and one of the city’s busiest subway stations three days earlier. Video footage of a top official at another Belgian nuclear facility was discovered last year in the apartment of a suspected militant linked to the extremists who unleashed the horror in Paris in November. . . .”
Again, many listeners may be confused by the dualistic commitment on the part of the U.S. and the West. In addition to the Muslim Brotherhood’s corporatist economic philosophy, jihadis are useful as proxy warriors. Several articles from Consortium News provide depth and clarification to this dynamic.
An insightful article by Daniel Lazare on the Consortium News website notes a significant feature of the U.S. bombing in Syria: ” . . . As the Times put it at the time: ‘Any airstrikes against Islamic State militants in and around Palmyra would probably benefit the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. So far, United States-led airstrikes in Syria have largely focused on areas far outside government control, to avoid the perception of aiding a leader whose ouster President Obama has called for.’ The upshot was a clear message to ISIS to the effect that it had nothing to worry about from U.S. jet bombers as long as it engaged Assad’s troops in close combat. The U.S. thus incentivized ISIS to press forward with the assault [on Palmyra]. Although residents later wondered why the U.S. had not bombed ISIS forces “while they were traversing miles of open desert roads,” the answer, simply, is that Washington had other things on its mind. Rather than defeating ISIS, it preferred to use it to accomplish its primary goal, which was driving out Assad. . . .”
Lazare makes an important summary point: ” . . . Simply that America’s fundamental ambivalence toward ISIS, Al Qaeda, and similar groups — its policy of battling them on one hand and seeking to make use of them on the other — is what allows Sunni terrorism to fester and grow. . . .”
Naumann Sadiq makes another important point–that the ISIS attacks in Europe began after the West began bombing ISIS, an act that constituted a “betrayal” of the organization by the powers that had previously supported it. ” . . . . If we look at the chain of events, the timing of Paris and Brussels attacks is critical: Islamic State overran Mosul in June 2014; the Obama administration started bombing Islamic State’s targets in Iraq and Syria in August 2014; and the first Islamic State incident of terrorism on Western soil took place at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, followed by the November 2015 Paris attacks and the March 2016 Brussels bombings. . . .”
Another Daniel Lazare article from Consortium News notes the use of other Sunni jihadist groups as proxy warriors in Syria: ” . . . But it otherwise tilted toward Al Nusra Front, as Al Qaeda is locally known, which it now regarded as less dangerous, or toward groups with which Al Nusra is closely aligned. . . Similarly, the U.S. resisted classifying a Salafist army known as Ahrar al-Sham as terrorist even though it collaborates closely with Al Nusra and its ideology is virtually identical, as Stephen Gowans recently noted at the Global Research website. . . . The same goes for a Free Syrian Army unit known as the 13th Division, which the US has long backed even though it maintains “a tacit collaboration with Nusra” according to The Wall Street Journal “and even shared with the group some of its ammunition supplies. . . . Mohammad Alloush, who enjoys strong US backing as the chief rebel negotiator at the Geneva peace talks, is a leader of yet another Salafist group called Jaysh al-Islam, which issued a blood-curdling call to exterminate Syria’s Alawite community in July 2013. . . . But while one might think this would place Jaysh al-Islam beyond the pale, former Ambassador to Syria Robert S. Ford praised it a year later as one of the “moderate” rebel forces that were making life “particularly painful” for the Damascus government. . . . Secretary of State John Kerry assailed Assad for bombing rebel positions in Aleppo even though it is clear that so-called “moderates” have intermingled with Al Nusra fighters to the degree that it is impossible to attack one without affecting the other. . . . Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for US military forces in Iraq, conceded in a press briefing that “it’s primarily al-Nusra who holds Aleppo . . . .”
Adding yet another layer of intrigue to the scenario we are delineating, King Abdullah of Jordan has charged that Turkey is deliberately sending ISIS terrorists to Europe. We note that the EU has made a sweetheart deal with Turkey, overlooking its burgeoning Islamic fascism and blatant trampling of civil liberties and freedom of the press in order to win Erdogan’s cooperation in limiting Islamic migration to the continent.
Program Highlights Include:
- Review of the support voiced for ISIS by Haikan Fidan, the chief of Turkish intelligence.
- Review of the personnel involved with al-Taqwa.
- Jordanian King Abdullah’s charge that Turkey is sending Islamist fighters to Libya and Somalia.
1. The program begins with discussion of the Belgian Muslim Brotherhood’s links with the milieu of Youssef Nada and the Bank al-Taqwa. Bassem Hatahet is one of the principal figures in this constellation. ” . . . . Security sources in Belgium describe Mr. Hatahet as the most important Muslim Brotherhood figure in Belgium, and a Bassem Hatahet was listed in a 1999 phonebook belonging to Youssef Nada, a self-described leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who was designated by the U.S. in 2002 as a terrorism financier. . . .”
… A 2002 report by the Intelligence Committee of the Belgian Parliament explained how the Brotherhood operates in Belgium:
“The State Security Service has been following the activities of the International Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium since 1982. The International Muslim Brotherhood has had a clandestine structure for nearly 20 years. The identity of the members is secret; they operate in the greatest discretion. They seek to spread their ideology within the Islamic community of Belgium and they aim in particular at the young people of the second and third generation of immigrants. In Belgium as in other European countries, they try to take control of the religious, social, and sports associations and establish themselves as privileged interlocutors of the national authorities in order to manage Islamic affairs. The Muslim Brotherhood assumes that the national authorities will be pressed more and more to select Muslim leaders for such management and, in this context, they try to insert within the representative bodies, individuals influenced by their ideology. With this purpose, they were very actively involved in the electoral process to carry out the election of the members of the chief body for the management of Islam in Belgium. Another aspect of this strategy is to cause or maintain tensions by positing that a Muslim or Islamic association is a victim of Western values, hence the affair over the Muslim headscarf in public schools. . . . .”
…. A January 2007 article posted on the Internet describes a Bassem Hatahet as a member of the FIOE [a Brotherhood affiliate in Belgium]. He is 43-years old and was born in Damascus, Syria, where he likely still has relatives. Various sources list a residential address for Mr. Hatahet in northwest central Brussels.
Security sources in Belgium describe Mr. Hatahet as the most important Muslim Brotherhood figure in Belgium, and a Bassem Hatahet was listed in a 1999 phonebook belonging to Youssef Nada, a self-described leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who was designated by the U.S. in 2002 as a terrorism financier. . . .
. . . . Far more successful have been the Belgian-based components of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), particularly the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO), which have managed to achieve official status at the UN, as well as with the Council of Europe and the European Commission. In addition, the location of the FIOE national office in Brussels has resulted in elevating the status of the Belgian branch that recently reported becoming “very active.” Leading the FIOE office in Brussels is Bassem Hatahet, whose name appears on virtually all of the paperwork associated with the Muslim Brotherhood organizations in Belgium.
This would appear to confirm Mr. Hatahet’s role as the most important figure in the Belgian Brotherhood as reported by the Belgian security services. . . .
. . . . 4. The Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO)
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Brussels, FEMYSO is the youth and student division of FIOE and will be discussed later in this report. . . . .
- Hadia Himmat is the former FEMYSO Vice President and likely the daughter of Ali Ghaleb Himmat, long-time head of the IGD and Mr. El- Zayat’s predecessor and close associate of Youssef Nada, the “foreign minister” for the International Muslim Brotherhood and also a former member of the IGD. . . .
2. Embodying the dynamic we have covered in connection with the development of ISIS, the Syrian-born Hatahet has been serving with the anti-Assad jihadi forces in Syria. Those forces, of course, have received the support of elements of Western and American intelligence.
…The website of the Syrian National Council, the umbrella group representing the opposition to the regime of Syrian President Assad, confirms the Muslim Brotherhood affiliation of one of its members as first reported by the GMBDW in 2008. The SNC website identifies Bassem Hatahet as a member if its “Muslim Brotherhood Alliance.” Mr. Hatahet was identified as a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium by a 2008 NEFA Foundation report . . . .
3. Just imagine if ISIS, a suicidal “state”, had hacking capabilities and not just for critical infrastructure like dams but the kind that can literally go “critical”: nuclear plants. And beyond hacking, just imagine if ISIS had the ability to infiltrate nuclear facilities and either steal radioactive material or cause a meltdown. Would fear of a massive, overwhelming retaliatory attack really dissuade ISIS from attempting to a nuclear facilities into giant dirty bombs?
The attacks in Brussels were basically the rushed Plan B for the terror-network. Plan A was some sort of nuclear attack, and with a security guard for the national radioactive elements institute at Fleurus murdered after the Brussels attack, it’s rather unclear just how abandoned Plan A really is at this point. It seems ongoing. As we see in the first article, it’s the nuclear research facilities that hold the highly-enriched uranium that could be used to build an actual primitive nuclear bomb.
As a dragnet aimed at Islamic State operatives spiraled across Brussels and into at least five European countries on Friday, the authorities were also focusing on a narrower but increasingly alarming threat: the vulnerability of Belgium’s nuclear installations.
The investigation into this week’s deadly attacks in Brussels has prompted worries that the Islamic State is seeking to attack, infiltrate or sabotage nuclear installations or obtain nuclear or radioactive material. This is especially worrying in a country with a history of security lapses at its nuclear facilities, a weak intelligence apparatus and a deeply rooted terrorist network.
On Friday, the authorities stripped security badges from several workers at one of two plants where all nonessential employees had been sent home hours after the attacks at the Brussels airport and one of the city’s busiest subway stations three days earlier. Video footage of a top official at another Belgian nuclear facility was discovered last year in the apartment of a suspected militant linked to the extremists who unleashed the horror in Paris in November.
Asked on Thursday at a London think tank whether there was a danger of the Islamic State’s obtaining a nuclear weapon, the British defense secretary, Michael Fallon, said that “was a new and emerging threat.”
While the prospect that terrorists can obtain enough highly enriched uranium and then turn it into a nuclear fission bomb seems far-fetched to many experts, they say the fabrication of some kind of dirty bomb from radioactive waste or byproducts is more conceivable. There are a variety of other risks involving Belgium’s facilities, including that terrorists somehow shut down the privately operated plants, which provide nearly half of Belgium’s power.
The fears at the nuclear power plants are of “an accident in which someone explodes a bomb inside the plant,” said Sébastien Berg, the spokesman for Belgium’s federal agency for nuclear control. “The other danger is that they fly something into the plant from outside.” That could stop the cooling process of the used fuel, Mr. Berg explained, and in turn shut down the plant.
The revelation of the video surveillance footage was the first evidence that the Islamic State has a focused interest in nuclear material. But Belgium’s nuclear facilities have long had a worrying track record of breaches, prompting warnings from Washington and other foreign capitals.
Some of these are relatively minor: The Belgian nuclear agency’s computer system was hacked this year and shut down briefly. In 2013, two individuals managed to scale the fence at Belgium’s research reactor in the city of Mol, break into a laboratory and steal equipment.
Others are far more disconcerting. In 2012, two employees at the nuclear plant in Doel quit to join jihadists in Syria, and eventually transferred their allegiances to the Islamic State. Both men fought in a brigade that included dozens of Belgians, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, considered the on-the-ground leader of the Paris attacks.
One of these men is believed to have died fighting in Syria, but the other was convicted of terror-related offenses in Belgium in 2014, and released from prison last year, according to Pieter Van Oestaeyen, a researcher who tracks Belgium’s jihadist networks. It is not known whether they communicated information about their former workplace to their Islamic State comrades.
At the same plant where these jihadists once worked, an individual who has yet to be identified walked into the reactor No. 4 in 2014, turned a valve and drained 65,000 liters of oil used to lubricate the turbines. The ensuing friction nearly overheated the machinery, forcing it to be shut down. The damage was so severe that the reactor was out of commission for five months.
Investigators are now looking into possible links between that case and terrorist groups, although they caution that it could also have been the work of an insider with a workplace grudge. What is clear is that the act was meant to sow dangerous havoc — and that the plant’s security systems can be breached.
“This was a deliberate act to take down the nuclear reactor, and a very good way to do it,” Mr. Berg, the nuclear agency spokesman, said of the episode in a recent interview.
These incidents are now all being seen in a new light, as information is mounting from investigators that the terrorist network that hit Paris and Brussels may have been in the planning stages of some kind of operation at a Belgian nuclear facility.
Three men linked to the surveillance video were involved in either the Paris or the Brussels attacks.
Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui, the brothers who the authorities say were suicide bombers at the Brussels airport and subway station, are believed to have driven to the surveilled scientist’s home and removed a camera that was hidden in nearby bushes. The authorities believe they then took it to a house connected to Mohammed Bakkali, who was arrested by the Belgian police after the Paris attacks and is accused of helping with logistics and planning. The police found the videocamera during a raid on the house.
Belgium has both low-enriched uranium, which fuels its two power plants, and highly enriched uranium, which is used in its research reactor primarily to make medical isotopes, plus the byproducts of that process. The United States provides Belgium with highly enriched uranium — making it particularly concerned about radioactive materials landing in terrorist hands — and then buys isotopes.
Experts say the most remote of the potential nuclear-related risks is that Islamic State operatives would be able to obtain highly enriched uranium. Even the danger of a dirty bomb is limited, they said, because much radioactive waste is so toxic it would likely sicken or kill the people trying to steal it.
Cheryl Rofer, a retired nuclear scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and editor of the blog Nuclear Diner, said Belgium’s Tihange nuclear plant has pressurized water reactors, inside a heavy steel vessel, reducing the danger that nuclear fuel could leak or spread. She said that the Brussels bombers’ explosive of choice, TATP, might be able to damage parts of the plant but that the damage would shut down the reactor, limiting the radiation damage.
And if terrorists did manage to shut down the reactor and reach the fuel rods, they would have to remove them with a crane to get the fuel out of them, Ms. Rofer said. And then the fuel would still be “too radioactive to go near — it would kill you quickly.”
While experts are doubtful that terrorists could steal the highly enriched uranium at the Mol reactor without alerting law enforcement, some nuclear scientists do believe that if they could obtain it, they could recruit people who know how to fashion a primitive nuclear device.
Matthew Bunn, a specialist in nuclear security at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said another worry was the byproducts of the isotopes made at Mol, such as Cesium-137.
“It’s like talcum powder,” he said. “If you made a dirty bomb out of it, it’s going to provoke fear, you would have to evacuate and you have to spend a lot of money cleaning it up; the economic destruction cost could be very high.”
The discovery of the surveillance video in November set off alarm bells across the small nuclear-security community, with fresh worries that terror groups could kidnap, extort or otherwise coerce a nuclear scientist into helping them. The official whose family was watched works at Mol, one of five research reactors worldwide that produce 90 percent of the radio isotopes used for medical diagnosis and treatment.
Professor Bunn of Harvard noted that the Islamic State “has an apocalyptic ideology and believes there is going to be a final war with the United States,” expects to win that war and “would need very powerful weapons to do so.”
“And if they ever did turn to nuclear weapons,” he added, “they have more people, more money and more territory under their control and more ability to recruit experts globally than Al Qaeda at its best ever had.”
...
Others are far more disconcerting. In 2012, two employees at the nuclear plant in Doel quit to join jihadists in Syria, and eventually transferred their allegiances to the Islamic State. Both men fought in a brigade that included dozens of Belgians, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, considered the on-the-ground leader of the Paris attacks.One of these men is believed to have died fighting in Syria, but the other was convicted of terror-related offenses in Belgium in 2014, and released from prison last year, according to Pieter Van Oestaeyen, a researcher who tracks Belgium’s jihadist networks. It is not known whether they communicated information about their former workplace to their Islamic State comrades.
At the same plant where these jihadists once worked, an individual who has yet to be identified walked into the reactor No. 4 in 2014, turned a valve and drained 65,000 liters of oil used to lubricate the turbines. The ensuing friction nearly overheated the machinery, forcing it to be shut down. The damage was so severe that the reactor was out of commission for five months.
...
4. Didier Prospero, a security guard with G4S security, was assigned to a Belgian nuclear power plant. Whether or not it is relevant, that is the same company for which Omar Mateen–the Orlando killer–worked.
Prospero was shot to death (as was his dog) and his security pass was missing. This incident heightened fears of a terrorist attack on a nuclear plant.
With Brussels still reeling in the aftermath of the deadly bombings this week, the murder of a nuclear power plant security guard and the theft of his badge has compounded fears that Belgium’s two sprawling nuclear plants could be vulnerable to attacks.
The security guard was found dead in his home in Charleroi, a post-industrial region known for its derelict factories and slag heaps. Didier Prospero, who worked for U.S.–owned security company G4S [owned by Wackenhut–D.E.], was discovered shot dead in his bathroom on Thursday night. Belgian daily Derniere Heure (DH) reported that Prospero’s children found him, and that his dog had also been shot. His security pass was missing but deactivated after his body was found, DH said.
A police spokesperson was unable to provide VICE News with further information about the case due to the ongoing investigation. Belgian prosecutors told DH that they had not found any correlation between the guard’s murder and terrorism. Nevertheless, the timing of his death days after the bombings in Brussels fueled concerns that militants could be trying to get their hands on materials to build a radioactive dirty bomb. . . .
Hours after suicide bombings rocked Brussels transport hubs on Tuesday, killing 31 people and injuring hundreds, Belgium’s Tihange nuclear plant was partially evacuated, and all workers who were not strictly necessary were sent home early. The head of Belgium’s nuclear regulatory agency said on Tuesday that, while there were no direct threats to the plant, the move to partial-evacuation was “based on new information and the events of [Tuesday]. Extra security measures were taken.”
However, the claim that there hadn’t been a direct threat mounted against Belgium’s nuclear infrastructure isn’t entirely accurate. In February, Belgian authorities discovered 10-hours worth of secretly recorded video footage showing one of the country’s top nuclear scientists coming and going from his home. The material was discovered during a counter-terrorism raid on the home of Mohamed Bakkali, who was arrested and charged with terrorism and murder associated with the November 13 Paris attacks. Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui — brothers who authorities believe were the alleged suicide bombers at Brussels’ airport and subway — are suspected to have planted the camera, which was hidden in bushes near the scientist’s house.
Experts and officials have contended that surveilling the nuclear official, who had access to secure areas of a nuclear research facility in Mol, was part of a grander scheme to take him hostage and force him to hand over radioactive material.
DH reported on Thursday that the suicide bombers who self-detonated on Tuesday were originally planning an attack on nuclear facilities. However, as Belgian police started closing in on their extremist network and arrested suspected terrorists such as Salah Abdeslam, DH said, militants were under pressure to carry out an attack as soon as possible, and abandoned the grander plan of targeting Belgium’s nuclear infrastructure.
Sébastien Berg, the spokesman for Belgium’s federal agency for nuclear control said a potential attack poses a number of risks. First, that terrorists infiltrate the plant and shut down their operations, which would send about half the country into a blackout.
Another fear, Berg said, was of “an accident in which someone explodes a bomb inside the plant.” Lastly, Berg said, “the other danger is that they fly something into the plant from outside,” which would stop the cooling process of the fuel and force the plant to shut down.
Until two years ago, security around the plants was fairly lax. In 2014, Belgian officials installed security cameras and developed a plan to combat cyberattacks. They also mandated that all employees move in groups to avoid sabotage by a lone wolf.
Just 11 days before the attacks shook Brussels, Belgium’s two nuclear facilities — which contain seven reactors — were guarded by unarmed security personnel. On March 11, the Belgian government deployed 140 troops to beef up security at the nuclear facilities, a temporary solution until a new armed police force is trained to take over. . . .
5. Reports of leaked comments made by Jordan’s King Abdullah to US Congress members back in January are going to be particularly controversial in the wake of Brussels attacks: Not only does Turkey have a policy of promoting ISIS in Syria, but the flow of ISIS members into Europe is also part of Turkey’s policy. So says the King. Yikes:
“Turkey Is Deliberately ‘Unleashing’ ISIS Terrorists into Europe, Says Jordan’s King Abdullah” by Matt Broomfield; The Independent; 3/27/2016.
Turkey is exporting ISIS-linked terrorists to Europe, according to King Abdullah of Jordan.
The monarch’s remarks came in a meeting with members of the US Congress, in which he said that Islamist militants were being “manufactured in Turkey” and “unleashed” into Europe.
He also used the debriefing, held after a cancelled rendezvous with US President Barack Obama, to remind the US politicians of Turkey’s alleged complicity in buying ISIS oil.
“The fact that terrorists are going to Europe is part of Turkish policy,” said King Abdullah. “Turkey keeps on getting a slap on the hand, but they are let off the hook.”
Arguing that the autocratic Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan believes in a “radical Islamic solution to the region”, King Abdullah said.
“Turkey sought a religious solution to Syria, while we are looking at moderate elements in the south and Jordan pushed for a third option that would not allow a religious option.”
The meeting was held on 11 January, but details of the King’s opinions have only just been leaked by Middle East Eye.
Although Turkey and Jordan are officially allies, the refugee crisis has heightened tensions between the two nations. King Abdullah is understood to have been angered by the EU’s generous offer of cash and diplomatic ties in return for Turkey limiting the onward flow of refugees into the continent.
At roughly 75 million, Turkey’s population is over ten times that of Jordan’s, meaning the Arab nation is hosting a proportionately greater number of refugees. . . .
6. Abdullah also accused Turkey of supporting Islamist militias in Libya and Somalia.
. . . . Abdullah said that Erdogan believed in a “radical Islamic solution to the region”.
He repeated: “Turkey sought a religious solution to Syria, while we are looking at moderate elements in the south and Jordan pushed for a third option that would not allow a religious option.”
The king presented Turkey as part of a strategic challenge to the world.
“We keep being forced to tackle tactical problems against ISIL [the Islamic State group] but not the strategic issue. We forget the issue [of] the Turks who are not with us on this strategically.”
He claimed that Turkey had not only supported religious groups in Syria, and was letting foreign fighters in, but had also been helping Islamist militias in Libya and Somalia. . . .
7. During a Skype interview in October of 2015, Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey’s inteligence service, railed against Russia trying to suppress Syria’s Islamist revolution and asserted that “ISIS is a reality and we have to accept that we cannot eradicate a well-organized and popular establishment such as the Islamic State; therefore I urge my western colleagues to revise their mindset about Islamic political currents, put aside their cynical mentalité and thwart Vladimir Putin’s plans to crush Syrian Islamist revolutionaries.”
“Turkish Intelligence Chief: Putin’s Intervention in Syria Is Against Islam and International Law, ISIS Is a Reality and We Are Optimistic about the Future”; AWD News; 10/18/2015.
Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, known by the MIT acronym, has drawn a lot of attention and criticism for his controversial comments about ISIS.
Mr. Hakan Fidan, Turkish President’s staunchest ally, condemned Russian military intervention in Syria, accusing Moscow of trying to ‘smother’ Syria’s Islamist revolution and serious breach of United Nations law.
“ISIS is a reality and we have to accept that we cannot eradicate a well-organized and popular establishment such as the Islamic State; therefore I urge my western colleagues to revise their mindset about Islamic political currents, put aside their cynical mentalité and thwart Vladimir Putin’s plans to crush Syrian Islamist revolutionaries,” Anadolu News Agency quoted Mr. Fidan as saying on Sunday.
Fidan further added that in order to deal with the vast number of foreign Jihadists craving to travel to Syria, it is imperative that ISIS must set up a consulate or at least a political office in Istanbul. He underlined that it is Turkey’s firm belief to provide medical care for all injured people fleeing Russian ruthless airstrikes regardless of their political or religious affiliation.
Recently as the fierce clashes between Russian army and ISIS terrorists raging across the war-torn Syria, countless number of ISIS injured fighters enter the Turkish territory and are being admitted in the military hospitals namely those in Hatay Province. Over the last few days, the Syrian army with the support of Russian air cover could fend off ISIS forces in strategic provinces of Homs and Hama.
Emile Hokayem, a Washington-based Middle East analyst said that Turkey’s Erdogan and his oil-rich Arab allies have dual agendas in the war on terror and as a matter of fact they are supplying the Islamist militants with weapons and money, thus Russian intervention is considered a devastating setback for their efforts to overthrow Syrian secular President Assad.
Hokayem who was speaking via Skype from Washington, D.C. highlighted the danger of Turkish-backed terrorist groups and added that what is happening in Syria cannot be categorized as a genuine and popular revolution against dictatorship but rather it is a chaos orchestrated by Erdogan who is dreaming to revive this ancestor’s infamous Ottoman Empire.
8. An insightful article by Daniel Lazare on the Consortium News website notes a significant feature of the U.S. bombing in Syria: ” . . . As the Times put it at the time: ‘Any airstrikes against Islamic State militants in and around Palmyra would probably benefit the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. So far, United States-led airstrikes in Syria have largely focused on areas far outside government control, to avoid the perception of aiding a leader whose ouster President Obama has called for.’ The upshot was a clear message to ISIS to the effect that it had nothing to worry about from U.S. jet bombers as long as it engaged Assad’s troops in close combat. The U.S. thus incentivized ISIS to press forward with the assault [on Palmyra]. Although residents later wondered why the U.S. had not bombed ISIS forces “while they were traversing miles of open desert roads,” the answer, simply, is that Washington had other things on its mind. Rather than defeating ISIS, it preferred to use it to accomplish its primary goal, which was driving out Assad. . . .”
Lazare makes an important summary point: ” . . . Simply that America’s fundamental ambivalence toward ISIS, Al Qaeda, and similar groups — its policy of battling them on one hand and seeking to make use of them on the other — is what allows Sunni terrorism to fester and grow. . . .”
“How US-Backed War on Syria Helped ISIS” by Daniel Lazare; Consortium News; 3/31/2016.
. . . . So the U.S. and its allies helped Islamic State by tying down Assad’s forces in the north so that it could punch through in the center. But that’s not all the U.S. did. It also helped by suspending bombing as the Islamic State neared Palmyra.
As the Times put it at the time: “Any airstrikes against Islamic State militants in and around Palmyra would probably benefit the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. So far, United States-led airstrikes in Syria have largely focused on areas far outside government control, to avoid the perception of aiding a leader whose ouster President Obama has called for.”
The upshot was a clear message to ISIS to the effect that it had nothing to worry about from U.S. jet bombers as long as it engaged Assad’s troops in close combat. The U.S. thus incentivized ISIS to press forward with the assault. Although residents later wondered why the U.S. had not bombed ISIS forces “while they were traversing miles of open desert roads,” the answer, simply, is that Washington had other things on its mind. Rather than defeating ISIS, it preferred to use it to accomplish its primary goal, which was driving out Assad.
The Blowback
But what does this have to do with Brussels and Lahore? Simply that America’s fundamental ambivalence toward ISIS, Al Qaeda, and similar groups — its policy of battling them on one hand and seeking to make use of them on the other — is what allows Sunni terrorism to fester and grow. . . .
9. Naumann Sadiq makes another important point–that the ISIS attacks in Europe began after the West began bombing ISIS, an act that constituted a “betrayal” of the organization by the powers that had previously supported it. ” . . . . If we look at the chain of events, the timing of Paris and Brussels attacks is critical: Islamic State overran Mosul in June 2014; the Obama administration started bombing Islamic State’s targets in Iraq and Syria in August 2014; and the first Islamic State incident of terrorism on Western soil took place at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, followed by the November 2015 Paris attacks and the March 2016 Brussels bombings. . . .”
“Europe’s Terror Blowback” by Nauman Sadiq; Consortium News; 4/3/2016.
. . . .This arrangement of an informal pact between the Western powers and the Sunni jihadists of the Middle East against the Shi’a‑Iranian axis worked well – at least for the Western powers and the Sunni jihadists – up to August 2014, when Obama Administration made an about-face on its previous “regime change” policy in Syria and started conducting air strikes against one group of Sunni jihadists battling against the Assad regime, the Islamic State.
The Islamic State had transgressed the prescribed mission of “regime change” in Syria and overran Mosul and Anbar in Iraq. The Islamic State also threatened the capital of another steadfast American ally: Masoud Barzani’s Erbil in the oil-rich Iraqi Kurdistan — and began decapitating Western hostages.
(However, other Sunni jihadist forces, such as Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front and its close ally, Ahrar al-Sham, continued to focus on ousting Assad and thus continued receiving Western weapons, including U.S.-made TOW missiles that were crucial for last year’s successful offensive by the Saudi-backed Army of Conquest in Syria’s Idlib Province.)
After the West’s 2014 shift in the Syrian strategy (bombing Islamic State forces both in Iraq and Syria) and the Russian military intervention in 2015 on the side of Syria’s Alawite-Shi’a regime, the momentum of Sunni jihadists’ expansion in Syria stalled. Many now feel that their Western “allies” betrayed the Sunni jihadist cause, engendering bitterness and a desire for revenge.
If we look at the chain of events, the timing of Paris and Brussels attacks is critical: Islamic State overran Mosul in June 2014; the Obama administration started bombing Islamic State’s targets in Iraq and Syria in August 2014; and the first Islamic State incident of terrorism on Western soil took place at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, followed by the November 2015 Paris attacks and the March 2016 Brussels bombings. . . .
10. Yet another useful article by Daniel Lazare from Consortium News notes that the Saudis, with U.S. backing, are utilizing Al-Qaeda as military allies against the Houthis in Yemen. ” . . .By subjecting AQAP to periodic drone strikes, it not only winds up killing civilians – such as the 14 members of a wedding party that the U.S. mistakenly targeted in December 2013 – but fairly encourages AQAP members to intermingle with other anti-Houthi forces by making it clear that is the one place it will not bomb. . . .”
The U.S. continues to back Al Qaeda’s Al Nusra Front in Syria, as well as allied jihadist groups: ” . . . But it otherwise tilted toward Al Nusra Front, as Al Qaeda is locally known, which it now regarded as less dangerous, or toward groups with which Al Nusra is closely aligned. . . Similarly, the U.S. resisted classifying a Salafist army known as Ahrar al-Sham as terrorist even though it collaborates closely with Al Nusra and its ideology is virtually identical, as Stephen Gowans recently noted at the Global Research website. . . . The same goes for a Free Syrian Army unit known as the 13th Division, which the US has long backed even though it maintains “a tacit collaboration with Nusra” according to The Wall Street Journal “and even shared with the group some of its ammunition supplies. . . . Mohammad Alloush, who enjoys strong US backing as the chief rebel negotiator at the Geneva peace talks, is a leader of yet another Salafist group called Jaysh al-Islam, which issued a blood-curdling call to exterminate Syria’s Alawite community in July 2013. . . . But while one might think this would place Jaysh al-Islam beyond the pale, former Ambassador to Syria Robert S. Ford praised it a year later as one of the “moderate” rebel forces that were making life “particularly painful” for the Damascus government. . . . Secretary of State John Kerry assailed Assad for bombing rebel positions in Aleppo even though it is clear that so-called “moderates” have intermingled with Al Nusra fighters to the degree that it is impossible to attack one without affecting the other. . . . Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for US military forces in Iraq, conceded in a press briefing that “it’s primarily al-Nusra who holds Aleppo . . . .”
“The Secret Behind the Yemen War” by Daniel Lazare; Consortium News; 5/7/2016.
. . . . Rather than rolling Al Qaeda back, it makes clear that, whatever their misgivings, pro-Saudi forces have come to rely on it as a useful asset in the anti-Houthi struggle and that, consequently, they have encouraged its growth. Since the Saudis are backing the anti-Houthi forces, this makes them complicit in AQAP’s expansion. And since the U.S. is backing the Saudis, this makes America complicit, too.
Indeed, America’s role is even worse. By subjecting AQAP to periodic drone strikes, it not only winds up killing civilians – such as the 14 members of a wedding party that the U.S. mistakenly targeted in December 2013 – but fairly encourages AQAP members to intermingle with other anti-Houthi forces by making it clear that is the one place it will not bomb.
The result, in effect, is a highly effective machine for fueling apocalyptic fervor, spreading Islamic militancy, and encouraging AQAP to extend its tentacles throughout the broader anti-Houthi movement. The only ones who are in the dark as to why AQAP can prosper under such conditions are the foreign-policy experts back in Washington. . . .
. . . . Washington still tilted toward Islamic State when it came to combatting Syrian government forces, which is why it refrained from bombing ISIS fighters as they converged on Palmyra in May 2015 even though they would have been perfect targets as they traversed miles of open desert.
But it otherwise tilted toward Al Nusra Front, as Al Qaeda is locally known, which it now regarded as less dangerous, or toward groups with which Al Nusra is closely aligned.
“Moderate these days is increasingly becoming anyone who’s not affiliated with ISIL,” Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. explained in March 2015 – and indeed the White House made no objection a month later when so-called moderates joined with Al Nusra to launch a major offensive in Syria’s northern Idlib province. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Climbing into Bed with Al-Qaeda.”]
Covering for Salafists
Similarly, the U.S. resisted classifying a Salafist army known as Ahrar al-Sham as terrorist even though it collaborates closely with Al Nusra and its ideology is virtually identical, as Stephen Gowans recently noted at the Global Research website.
The same goes for a Free Syrian Army unit known as the 13th Division, which the US has long backed even though it maintains “a tacit collaboration with Nusra” according to The Wall Street Journal “and even shared with the group some of its ammunition supplies.”
Mohammad Alloush, who enjoys strong US backing as the chief rebel negotiator at the Geneva peace talks, is a leader of yet another Salafist group called Jaysh al-Islam, which issued a blood-curdling call to exterminate Syria’s Alawite community in July 2013. Jaysh al-Islam, it informed the Alawites, “will make you taste the worst torture in life before Allah makes you taste the worst torture on judgment day.” But while one might think this would place Jaysh al-Islam beyond the pale, former Ambassador to Syria Robert S. Ford praised it a year later as one of the “moderate” rebel forces that were making life “particularly painful” for the Damascus government.
Genocide is permissible, apparently, as long as it’s not too extreme. More recently, Secretary of State John Kerry assailed Assad for bombing rebel positions in Aleppo even though it is clear that so-called “moderates” have intermingled with Al Nusra fighters to the degree that it is impossible to attack one without affecting the other. After Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for US military forces in Iraq, conceded in a press briefing that “it’s primarily al-Nusra who holds Aleppo,” . . .
Looking Back from 1984
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