If Al Qaeda strikes the West in the coming months, it’s likely the mastermind will be a stocky Egyptian explosives expert with two missing fingers.
His alias is Abu Ubaida al Masri. Hardly anyone has heard of him outside a select circle of anti-terrorism officials and Islamic militants. But as chief of external operations for Al Qaeda, investigators say, he has one of the most dangerous — and endangered — jobs in international terrorism.
He has overseen the major plots that the network needs to stay viable, investigators say: the London transportation bombings in 2005, a foiled transatlantic “spectacular” aimed at U.S.-bound planes in 2006, and an aborted plot in this serene Scandinavian capital last fall.
But pursuers have captured or killed his predecessors and have been gunning for him. He prowls Pakistani badlands one step ahead of satellites and security forces.
Although periodic reports of his death have proved false, rumors resurfaced after recent American airstrikes. Asked whether Masri is alive, a Western anti-terrorism official said, “It’s a question mark.”
Masri himself can be described that way. Authorities know only bits and pieces of his biography. They know his face, having identified an unreleased photo, but not his real name.
“He is considered capable and dangerous,” said a British official, who like others in this report declined to be identified. “He is not at the very top of Al Qaeda, but has been part of the core circle for a long time. He is someone who has emerged and grabbed our attention as others were caught or eliminated in the last couple of years. Perhaps he rose faster than he would have otherwise.”
I know this is not anything to laugh at, but somehow the image of “an explosives expert with two missing fingers” made me chuckle. I will now do 2 hours of community service as penance.
This article shows insight into the terrorist organisions, but shows another and greater danger. Why is this information in the public realm? Intelligence agencies need to stop their own leaks and do a better job at policing themselves and dealing with the threat. You never hear the Israli Massad talking about things. You only hear of them after they have taken decisive action. Maybe what the west needs to do is hire Massad to take care of the situation. Fund them well enough, and Al Quida probably would not exist anymore. No more talk, take action to protect our freedoms and lifestyle.
NEVER “telegraph your moves before you make them” seems to have been forgotten in the intelligence community. The public does NOT have the “need to know!”
The Christian (or post-Christian) West does not have the ‘stones’ to act ruthlessly enough to discourage Al-Qaida. Both Syria and Saudi Arabia have ended their internal Al-Qaida problems by ruthlessly kidnapping, torturing and killing off the family members of known and suspected terrorists – particularly their sons and grandsons. While there are still Saudi and Syrian terrorists, they don’t act within the boarders of their countries. Call it a devil’s bargain, but it works for them.
OK, I’ll call it the devil’s bargain, but I won’t enter into it.
Look, we all know how to end suicide/homicide bombings. The bomber’s family, starting with spouse, children, parents, siblings, whoever, are taken to the public square and shot, in a number equal to those killed by the bomb. I guarantee the bombings will stop and similar tactics used for other terrorist acts would be equally effective.
But we CAN’T do that. The ends do NOT justify the means (write that 500 times on the blackboard). Torture is morally wrong. And, outside of the fevered world of [i]24[/i], it’s not effective. People who know have said that the information you get is no more reliable than what you get through other means.
Words Matter,
I could not enter that bargain either. Part of what makes the West ‘Christian’ is this sense of morality toward the innocent (including those related to the ‘guilty’). The barely-legitimate Middle Eastern dictators do not share that same view.
During the Boer War, the British rounded up the wives and children of known Boers, herded them into God-awful refuge camps, and burned their farms; and then waited for illness to start killing off the women and kids. The Boers began surrendering and recruitment dropped to nothing, but Britain suffered massive outrage from the the rest of Europe and back home. I suspect the U.S. would suffer an even greater world indignation.
Words Matter, I have lived in the Middle East 12 years. What you suggest is something we would never have the stomach for. Sounds like a good idea to me, about as good as many other ideas, but it will not work. The enemy would only strive to get even. There will never be real peace in the Middle East, as there is no forgiveness in their world view.
I fear that in the long run we will be in Iraq for many years; and that we will be attacked by Iran and will be involved there as well. Regrettably we are in it for keeps. This is the new Cold War, and it is a war that we cannot afford to lose. We must remain on the attack. Islamic fundamentalists are not going to stop. It only takes one individual bomber to destroy the peace. This is the threat that people in Iraq, Israel and other Middle East countries live under every day. Is that how you want to live in your home town? We may criticize GWB, but there has not bee a successful terrorist attack on US soil since 9-11. Pax.