Battlefield Shifts Westward

The war with extremist Islam has just entered a new phase. Times of London: Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan and Iraq have issued orders for British cells to conduct a “low-tech” campaign of abductions and beheadings.

ISLAMIC terror cells in Britain have been instructed to carry out a series of kidnappings and beheadings of the kind allegedly planned by the nine terrorist suspects arrested in Birmingham last week.

The “strategic” assassination instruction was issued by Al-Qaeda’s leaders in Pakistan and Iraq to dozens of their followers in this country. It was uncovered by MI5 last autumn, senior security sources say.

… The revelation explains the recent deployment of a permanent SAS unit to London. The unit has been placed on 24-hour standby to respond to a terrorist attack in the capital. It would aim to carry out a hostage rescue mission within minutes of being alerted.

… One well placed source said: “Cells in the UK have been alerted to carry out this type of attack as opposed to the more sophisticated type of bombing in which you place a large number of volunteers at risk. All you need for a beheading is a bit of courage and a sharp knife.” 

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, I was puzzled by the lack of follow-on. I asked the terrorism and security experts I was talking to at that time why al-Qaeda didn’t do the logical thing.  Activate the domestic cells for a series of synchronized low-intensity suicidal attacks with guns or bombs.  A dozen people killed by Islamic gunmen in each of a dozen US cities at the exactly same time on a Tuesday morning rush hour, or in the malls on a Saturday afternoon, would bring the United States to a screeching halt.  (And no, I’m not giving them ideas. This kind of thing is (A) obvious and (B) has been discussed quite a bit.)  We knew the cells existed.  Two al-Qaeda operatives picked up in Jordan had been Boston cabbies just a couple of years earlier.

The experts pointed out that no … quite rightly to date … al-Qaeda was fixated on dramatic large-scale attacks.  Planes falling out of the sky.  International landmarks exploding.  They don’t like the pennyante nature of small-scale attacks of a sort considered part of the normal fabric of life in their own neighborhoods.  Because the audience wasn’t us. The audience was the Islamic world. 

Now, the audience is Europe’s Muslims, hence the plan to abduct and behead British Muslims.  Europe has been teetering on the brink of open ethnic warfare for some time, with brief outbursts in France. The al-Qaeda leadership isolated in their Waziri caves and dodging Hellfire missiles in Anbar apparently have just figured out that they can influence this situation. They’ve also figured out this blowing up planes thing isn’t working out for them. 

Reporting on the developments in the UK suggests the focus is on Muslims who collaborate with the hated Crusaders … Muslims who are British soldiers and cops. It is only a matter of time before they turn their attention to the United States and “low-tech”  operations here. And it is only a matter of time before they expand their list of beheading candidates to other sectors of the population. The Times article also discusses plans for vehicle-borne fertilizer bombs.  If you’ve grown numb to the horrific death toll in Baghdad marketplaces … 130 killed by a pickup truck bomb here, 65 killed by a car bomb there … think about one of those things coming through the glass doors of your local supermarket or mall.

All of which is another reason why it is important to keep al-Qaeda busy and to keep killing terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq … and to step up operations in Waziristan, local sensitivities notwithstanding.

Closer to home, the question is, are you ready for it?  Do you think your local cops and the FBI are?  The Brits have deployed the SAS.  Do you figure we have sufficient counterterrorism forces ready to go?

Protein Wisdom picks up the Euroball and runs with it:

I suspect that we’ll begin to see a vocal howling by the population of such countries for draconian governmental measures once that first throat is slit, or that first school is shot up.

What will be soon evident, I think, is a stunning philosophical inversion come spectacularly to light:  as Europeans who once denounced the US for forcefully prosecuting the war against Islamists begin to recognize that their social liberalism and western guilt won’t protect them from encroaching fascism gilded and reinforced with religious pretense.

Yeah, only I think the Euros will blame us for AQ’s head-detachment operations. In his Protein Wisdom, Jeff doesn’t think its coming here, by the way.

LGF on a call for jihad at UC Irvine.

The Warrior Class puts on his Sun Tzu goggles and has a gander.

Dan, not Riehly impressed.

Welcome, Small Dead Animals, et al.  Stop in, look around and make yourself at home. We’ve got George Soros in a thong and hot Hungarians with machine guns, a command performance of “The Man Who Would be King,” and other stuff. I could also use some help with a Game Theory issue. Oh yeah, Charlize Theron just came over and is saying stupid stuff, but will make out with you if you stop asking her about it.

 

Topics: Britain, GWOT, al qaeda

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:43 am on Sunday, February 4, 2007

23 Responses to “Battlefield Shifts Westward”

  1. Right Wing Nation Says:

    [...] this from Jules Crittenden: The war with extremist Islam has just entered a new phase. Times of London: Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan and Iraq have issued orders for British cells to conduct a “low-tech” campaign of abductions and beheadings. [...]

  2. arthurplang Says:

    Do you figure we have sufficient counterterrorism forces ready to go?

    Probably not, but do you figure that might have something to do with the fact that Bush ignored the threat of Islamist terrorism and instead went after the anti-Islamist secular dictator Saddam — cheered on by folks like yourself?

    Terrorists are gangsters, and like stopping any gangsters, stopping them is a law-enforcement issue. But Bush diverted resources from stopping the Islamists and instead put all our eggs in the basket of a) Endless war in the Middle East and b) Establishing an Islamist state in Iraq.

    But I’m glad you’re coming around to admitting that terrorism is a law-enforcement issue and not something that can be handled by sending armies to anti-Islamist states.

  3. Purple Avenger Says:

    …but do you figure that might have something to do with the fact that Bush ignored the threat of Islamist terrorism and instead went after the anti-Islamist secular dictator Saddam — cheered on by folks like yourself?

    Terrorists are gangsters, and like stopping any gangsters, stopping them is a law-enforcement issue.

    You answer your own question in the next sentence (presuming your assertion is in fact true). Military ops have had no significant impact on local law enforcement here in the US. If it has, its nothing the media whines about.

  4. arthurplang Says:

    Military ops have had no significant impact on local law enforcement here in the US.

    What about federal law enforcement? The money we spent targeting anti-Islamist dicators could, at the very least, have been spent on something useful.

  5. svolich Says:

    Arthurplang, are you proposing that we reduce the size of our military by a couple of hundred billion per year, and create huge new federal police force? Expanding the size of the FBI by 10,000%? Turning the US into a police state?

    It could work, I don’t think I like the idea, though.

  6. Wake up America> Says:

    Off with Their Heads!!!!

    I DO understand the Muslim accusing the government, after all it worked SO well here in America when the Democrats made those same statements about Bush when Zarqawi beheaded Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley…..it was all Bush’s fault.

  7. Purple Avenger Says:

    What about federal law enforcement?

    What about it? The left already whines about listening to terrorist phone calls, I can’t imagine how they’d react to a major domestic increase in Bushitler’s “Secret police”.

  8. Public Secrets: from the files of the Irishspy Says:

    Beheading Britain

    There have been some interesting blog posts and news items about the Islamofascist plot uncovered in Britain to capture, torture, and behead a UK Muslim soldier. Here area few links for you: Jules Crittenden comments on the battlefield moving westward,

  9. The Warrior Class Blog » Who is Your Audience? Says:

    [...] This post by Jules Crittenden (who if fast becoming one of my favorite commentators) about the change in tactics by Al Qaeda touches upon an often over-looked aspect of modern strategy: The experts pointed out that no … quite rightly to date … al-Qaeda was fixated on dramatic large-scale attacks. Planes falling out of the sky. International landmarks exploding. They don’t like the pennyante nature of small-scale attacks of a sort considered part of the normal fabric of life in their own neighborhoods. Because the audience wasn’t us. The audience was the Islamic world. [...]

  10. proteinwisdom Says:

    Jules –

    It’s not so much that I don’t think it’s coming here — rather, I think that if it does, it will be either a strategic major miscalculation or a sign that they are reaching desperation status. Right now, al Qaeda can rely on the anti-war crowd, war fatigue, the majority of the media and the academic class, and many politicians to weaken the country for them. Why risk waking us up again?

    No, should those kind of attacks begin — video footage of school children lying dead in the gore of a shot-up elementary school — I think it will bring about the end of fantasies of a new Caliphate in short order.

  11. CavMedic Says:

    Jeff-they think we’re all like the above mentioned. They figure, one last push and we’ll fall apart (just look at the Spanish). Heck, they might even be right-if there is another big attack a good many people will just scream “BUUUUSH!!!” and demand that congress move ahead with impeachment rather than respond forcefully.

    I think they’re wrong, but you wouldn’t know it by the trolls here and on other boards.

  12. saltydog Says:

    PM: I fervently hope you are right. However, the enemy has suffered few consequences for their actions. Rather, they have been consistently encouraged and emboldened by the reactions of those in the west. They are never blamed for what they do; to the contrary, they are excused, and the victim is blamed. The post by arthurplang is only a small taste of the way their propaganda has become the reigning meme throughout the media, the universities, and in every other public venue–including the government and within this administration. They have effectively hog-tied Bush.

    Who, or what is left to stop them?

  13. Purple Avenger Says:

    Why risk waking us up again?

    Indeed. Its not like we’re hard to hit. We’re very easy to hit. Play the edges, split the west. Classic divide and conquer strategy.

  14. Micajah Says:

    AQ, if they know us, will peel off the Europeans first, just as they did with Spain. It’s apparently the UK’s turn right now. AQ won’t come for us within our own borders until they’re ready. They will attack us outside our own borders in an effort to encourage an isolationist mood, and they will attack our allies and potential allies to chase them away — leaving our hand wringers to call for our own retreat from the field. If they know us, we will be among the last to experience frequent terrorist attacks within our own land. They got what they thought they needed with the 9/11 attacks — we came to them. Now, we have to hope they come to regret ever wanting us to come to them.

  15. RebeccaH Says:

    I agree that if beheadings suicide bombings do happen here in the US (or in the UK and elsewhere in Europe), Bushitler’s Amerikkka will be blamed for stirring up the hornets’ nest. After all, none so blind as those who will not see, no?

  16. Bill's Bites Says:

    More good news from Britainistan (Updated)

    Al-Qaeda tells British cells to carry out wave of beheadings ISLAMIC terror cells in Britain have been instructed to carry out a series of kidnappings and beheadings of the kind allegedly planned by the nine terrorist suspects arrested in Birmingham

  17. NoisyRoom.net » Blog Archive » Battlefield Shifts Westward Says:

    [...] Courtesy of Jules Crittenden: [...]

  18. alphie Says:

    Even if this article were real instead of some fringe right hairball coughed up by one of Rupert Murdochs tabloid hacks…

    … wouldn’t it be a breach of security to report this info?

  19. Luther McLeod Says:

    Always an enabling response Alphie, were you as concerned re Berger’s pants? Or the NY Time’s many breaches of security?

  20. Micajah Says:

    Alphie, if you would read the article you would see that the matter was kept secret since last autumn. The British investigated, identified suspects, conducted surveillance, provided protection to probable victims of the conspiracy, and arrested the suspects they had identified once it became apparent they were about to carry out their murder conspiracy. Once the arrests were made, anyone with a modicum of intelligence would realize that any other terrorist cells would know that the authorities were aware of their intentions. So, the answer to your question is apparently, “no, it wouldn’t be a breach of security to explain why several suspects were arrested for conspiracy to murder.”

  21. NixGuy.com » Al Qaeda Plot in the UK Says:

    [...] Keep in mind that the terrorists are doing this because they think they are winning.  They’re in it for the long haul and their audience this time, as Jules points out is the Western Muslims who think they don’t have to choose sides.  The terrorists want them to know that if they aren’t actively helping Al Qaeda, they are enemies of Islam. [...]

  22. The Thunder Run Says:

    Web Reconnaissance for 02/05/2007

    A short recon of whats out there that might draw your attention.

  23. JabbaTheTutt Says:

    Protein Wisdom sensibly writes: “Right now, al Qaeda can rely on the anti-war crowd, war fatigue, the majority of the media and the academic class, and many politicians to weaken the country for them. Why risk waking us up again?”

    They can’t help themselves. Murder is what they do. If they are not murdering, they aren’t preparing to go to heaven. We’re not dealing with rational people, who are thinking strategically on how to win a war. They know that at some time, they are going to attack us, so why wait around? Kill, kill, kill! Allahu Akbar!

Leave a Reply

Trackback URL

You must be logged in to post a comment.

zoloft long distance running G Postmessage Propecia Smiley Post accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Lipitor Congestion lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Prozac And Men difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Clomid Steroids symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Canine Prednisone Side Effects prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Subaction Showcomments Propecia Optional Watch accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Order Propecia Online lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Penis Growth Pills difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Zoloft Paxil Differences symptoms of zoloft working!

cipro and std treatment,

Female Version Of Viagra prednisone stopped taking side effects;
cough and wheezing with lipitor;
U 3312 Viagra Cialis accutane timeline clomid dosage lutenizing hormone short G Postmessage Cialis Subject Online lipitor drug cost lipitor is there a generic; Accutane Before After difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Subaction Showcomments Cialis Archive Watch symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Alternatives To Zoloft prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Adding Prozac To Drinking Water accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Prozac And Percocet lipitor drug cost lipitor is there a generic; Propecia Baldness difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Prednisone And Mania symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Prednisone 10 Mg prednisone stopped taking side effects;
difference between lexapro and celexa
Subaction Showcomments Cialis Smile Newest accutane timeline clomid dosage lutenizing hormone short Side Effectts Of Cipro lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Zoloft And Lorazepam difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Diuretic Lasix symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Prostatitis And Zithromax

prednisone stopped taking side effects;

cough and wheezing with lipitor; Medication And Prednisone accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Levitra Vs Viagra lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Generic Lexapro difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Query Lowest Cialis Price Online symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Buying Nolvadex prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa G Postmessage Propecia Subject Remember accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Get Off Prozac lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Cialis Vision difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Prednisone 20mg symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Prozac Dose Side Effect prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Is Ultracet Addictive accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Nexium Canada lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Nexium Side Effects difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Cheapest Cialis symptoms of zoloft working!

cipro and std treatment,

Prozac Weight Gain prednisone stopped taking side effects; cough and wheezing with lipitor; Cheap Cialis accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Clomid Side Effects lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Treatment Of Ocd With Zoloft difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Levitra Side Effects symptoms of zoloft working! cipro and std treatment, What Is Prednisone Used For prednisone stopped taking side effects;
difference between lexapro and celexa
Accutane And Results accutane timeline clomid dosage lutenizing hormone short Mexican Rx Cialis Low Price lipitor drug cost lipitor is there a generic; G Postmessage Propecia Smiley Reply difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Purepac Prednisone symptoms of zoloft working!

cipro and std treatment,

Cialis Effect On Women prednisone stopped taking side effects; cough and wheezing with lipitor;
Prednisone Causes Cancer
accutane timeline clomid dosage lutenizing hormone short Accutane Buy Canada Pharmacy lipitor drug cost lipitor is there a generic; Herbal Meds Compatible With Clomid difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Prozac Suicide Class Action Lawsuit symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Prednisone Without Prescription prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Cipro For Uti accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Zoloft Dosage lipitor drug cost lipitor is there a generic; Cipro Rem Sleep difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Lexapro Weight Gain symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Bad Side Effects Of Prednisone prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Esophageal Achalasia Swallowing Difficulties Nexium accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Prednisone Poison Oak lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Cialis Story difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Nexium Cost symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Cheap Generic Cialis prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Canine Prednisone accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Resting Heart Rate Lipitor lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Manufactor Of Prozac difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Prednisone Titration symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Prozac And Weight Gain prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Nexium Rebate accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Zithromax Cost lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Prednisone For Dogs difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Cipro Dose Cat symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Symptoms Of Zoloft prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Alcohol And Zoloft accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Subaction Showcomments Cialis Thanks Newest lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Drug Interaction Prozac Sulfamethoxazol Trimethoprim difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Simcor Vs Lipitor symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Akathisia Zoloft prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Prednisone Homeopathic Replacement accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Zoloft Negative Side Effects lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Prednisone Homopathic Replacement difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Lasix Online symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Cialis Overnight prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Tadalafil Cialis From India accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Subaction Showcomments Cialis Thanks Watch lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Zoloft Generic difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Accutane Long Term Side Effects symptoms of zoloft working! get a prescription for propecia Zoloft Thin Blood prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Multiple Sclerosis Lipitor Bad Reaction accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Clomid Pdr lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Zoloft Akathisias difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Cipro Warnings symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Secret Side Effects Of Zoloft prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Prednisone And Blood Pressure accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! New Drug Cialis lipitor drug cost
prednisone stopped taking side effects;
Subaction Showcomments Propecia Archive Newest difference between lexapro and celexa prednisone menstrual cycle! Side Effects Of Cialis symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Info Levitra prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Buy Lasix Without Prescription accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Cialis For Order lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Buspar Zoloft difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Prednisone Information symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost

Buy Clomid

prednisone stopped taking side effects; cough and wheezing with lipitor; Lipitor Instructions Side Effects accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Cialis Injury Lawyer Ohio lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Zoloft Side Effects difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Weaning Off Prednisone symptoms of zoloft working!

cipro and std treatment,

Prozac Side Affects prednisone stopped taking side effects; cough and wheezing with lipitor; Cialis Faq accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Zoloft With Wellbutrin lipitor drug cost lipitor is there a generic; Lexapro Withdrawal
difference between lexapro and celexa
clomid with triplets Cialis 20mg symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Atavan And Prozac prednisone stopped taking side effects; difference between lexapro and celexa Prozac Long Term Use accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Prednisone Tremors lipitor drug cost prednisone stopped taking side effects; Accutane Attorneys California
difference between lexapro and celexa
clomid with triplets Levitra Medicine symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Lipitor And Muscle Pain prednisone stopped taking side effects;
difference between lexapro and celexa
How Does Cialis Work accutane timeline clomid dosage lutenizing hormone short Stopping Zoloft lipitor drug cost lipitor is there a generic; Side Effects Lexapro difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Prednisone Dogs Shrink Tumor symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost India Viagra Cialis Vicodin prednisone stopped taking side effects;
difference between lexapro and celexa
Buy Cialis In The Uk accutane timeline clomid dosage lutenizing hormone short Cialis Lawyer Ohio lipitor drug cost lipitor is there a generic; Average Dose For Zoloft difference between lexapro and celexa accutane timeline Zoloft Overdose symptoms of zoloft working! lipitor drug cost Snorting Lexapro

prednisone stopped taking side effects;

cough and wheezing with lipitor; Buy Clomid Online accutane timeline symptoms of zoloft working! Atlanta Accutane Law Suits lipitor drug cost