Inside the bin Laden Raid

The latest New Yorker fills in a lot of the blanks from the May 1 Navy SEAL raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden.

Nicholas Schmidle's 8,400-word report starts with a call for more intelligence on bin Laden's possible hideout, then takes readers through planning and training for the raid and gives a riveting account of what happened inside the walled compound, including the crash of the first helicopter, which was supposed to send SEALs rappelling onto the house's roof. The mishap prompted the second helicopter to land outside the compound.

"No American was yet inside the residential part of the compound. Mark and his team were inside a downed helicopter at one corner, while James and his team were at the opposite end. The teams had barely been on target for a minute, and the mission was already veering off course," Schmidle writes.

But it didn't faze the SEALs, who regrouped and proceeded inside.

When two of bin Laden's wives tried to block the SEALs from reaching him, a SEAL shot one in the ankle, then tackled both in case they was wearing suicide bombs. "He would almost certainly have been killed had they blown themselves up," Schmidle writes, "but by blanketing them he would have absorbed some of the blast and potentially saved the two SEALs behind him."

Bin Laden then was shot and killed by one round to the chest and a second to the head.

There are good details about the assault, the subsequent intelligence gathering and the aftermath, including the role played by a Pakistani-American translator who stood outside the compound posing as a local police officer. When curious neighbors approached, he spoke to them in Pashto, instructing them to stay in their homes.

Read the whole thing here.

Anti-Israel Groups Blame Mossad for Norway Attack

A number of anti-Israel organizations have blamed the Jewish state and its supporters for the recent terrorist attack in Norway. The groups suggest that some pro-Israel and anti-Muslim sentiments expressed by Anders Breivik prove that Israel carried out or benefited from the attack, or that all pro-Israel supporters are dangerous.

An article on a Hamas website entitled "The Cancer of Christian Zionist Terror," makes the case. "Christian Zionism is the new Nazi beast, a kind of a Fourth Reich, looming on the horizon. It is evil, murderous and genocidal," said anti-Semitic writer Khalid Amayreh. "Just imagine the fact that we are talking about a combination of evil forces at work, including the nefarious powerful freemason cult, which penetrates many societies and governments, the Zionist movement, and neo-fascist Islamophobes seeking to ignite an internecine clash between Islam and the West."

"Today, it is Oslo; tomorrow it may be London, Paris, Berlin and Rome," he added.

Similar sentiments were expressed on the website of UFREE, the European network to support the rights of Palestinian prisoners. The group's statement on the Norway attack linked the summer camp massacre to pro-Palestinian advocacy, and maligned the terrorist for his pro-Israel views. "It has become known to the world that supporters of Israel are the real threat to world security and peace – they are the real source of terrorism," said the Oslo-based chair of UFree, Mohammed Hamdan.

Liberal Turkish newspaper Taraf published a report stating that the attacks could have been organized by Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad. "It is highly possible that the attacks are the handiwork of Mossad," reported the Kavkaz Center, a news site for Islamist separatists in Russia. "Norway repeatedly stated at an official level that it would become the first European country to recognize the independence of Palestine."

Freed Salah Presses UK Ban

Islamist Raed Salah, arrested and jailed in Britain last month, was released last Monday after the High Court in London granted the leader of the Northern Islamic Movement in Israel conditional bail.

Salah was barred from the UK for a speaking tour but still entered the country at London's Heathrow airport in June due to a glitch in the Britain's border computer system.

He contested the exclusion order placed on him by the Home Office. Tayeb Ali, Salah's lawyer in the deportation case, said Salah's release on bail is "the first step towards justice."

The Home Office objected to Salah's bail application based on his anti-Semitic remarks, links to the Hamas-tied Turkish charity IHH and Salah's own ties to Hamas. However, Salah's lawyer Raza Husain refuted the objections and his arguments found favor with UK Justice Stadlen.

Husain denied anti-Semitic arguments attributed to Salah, and argued that other statements the government cited were examples of free speech. Husain also denied that Salah has links to Hamas.

During the hearing, Husain said Salah denies writing an anti-Semitic poem that was circulated in the British press and "finds it offensive" due to its anti-Semitic sentiments.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism obtained a copy of the original poem in Arabic, which can be seen here, and an English translation here. Raed Salah's name appears on the top left of the poem titled "Letter to the Oppressors." The poem was published in the Islamic Movement's weekly Sawt al-Haqq wa-al-Huriyya in January 2002.

Salah has a track record of making anti-Semitic statements. He authored an article after 9/11 which purported that Jews were warned not to go to work at the World Trade Center that day. In 2007 Salah delivered a speech in Jerusalem invoking the anti-Semitic blood libel.

Salah was a passenger on the IHH Mavi Marmara boat that was part of the May 2010 flotilla and the scene of violence. During the voyage, Salah incited IHH operatives to violence with fiery speeches. In May, Salah gave a speech in Arabic to a crowd of thousands at IHH's ceremony in Istanbul to commemorate last year's violent clash (Translation available here).

In 2003, Salah was charged by Israel with funding Hamas. He agreed to a plea bargain in 2005 and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Salah founded the Al-Aqsa Foundation in Israel in 2000, which serves as the executive wing of Hamas' da'wah headquarters in Jerusalem.

Salah also is a trustee of the Union of Good, designated by the U.S. Treasury in 2008 as a terrorist entity created by Hamas.

The case against the government ban on Salah likely will be heard in September.

Shabaab Leader Omar Hammami Designated

The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted American al-Shabaab leader Omar Hammami, aka Abu Mansour al-Amriki, as well as a Kenyan fundraiser and recruiter for the organization. The sanctions bring to light al-Shabaab's efforts to recruit and fundraise from Western and East African communities.

"Hammami, a U.S. citizen, has been indicted in U.S. District Court in Southern Alabama on a three-count indictment for allegedly providing material support, including himself as personnel, to terrorists; conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, al-Shabaab; and providing material support to al-Shabaab," noted information accompanying the sanctions.

Hammami is recognized as one of the group's top military tacticians and trainers, a recruitment specialist who has focused on Western Muslims and the Somali diaspora, and a financial manager. He has organized suicide bombings, including an October 2008 attack in which a Somali-American from Minnesota killed more than 20 people. He has also featured in several of the group's recruitment videos, issuing statements in English and Arabic about the glories of fighting for an Islamic state.

Hassan Mahat Omar is a Kenyan recruiter and fundraiser for the organization, as well as an influential ideological leader of al-Shabaab. In this capacity, information accompanying his designation notes that he "exercises leadership and decision-making authority in al-Shabaab's internal political and operational decisions." A fatwa he issued against the Djibouti peace talks with Somalia's central government, is considered part of al-Shabaab's "religions justification to wage jihad against Somalia's Transitional Federal Government."

Omar is also "a key leader of a mosque in the Eastleigh section of Nairobi, Kenya, which he, along with known al-Shabaab leaders, uses to raise funds, recruit and disseminate propaganda on behalf of al-Shabaab." Kenyan and East African recruits have played an important role in filling gap's in the group's ranks, which have suffered al-Shabaab's brutal use of Sharia law and desertions.

The Treasury action freezes any U.S. assets belonging to the men and makes it illegal for people in the United States to engage in transactions with them.

Clinton Balks at Benchmarks in Foreign Aid Bill

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning she "will recommend personally" that President Obama veto a bill recently passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would potentially cut U.S. aid to some Middle Eastern countries.

"The bill includes crippling restrictions on security assistance where maximum flexibility is needed, especially with regard to the governments of Egypt, Lebanon, and Yemen, and to the Palestinian Authority (PA)," Clinton wrote Tuesday in a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.

The bill would place a hold on assistance for the PA and these Arab governments until the Obama administration provided "detailed criteria - e.g., concerning involvement of foreign terrorist organizations in such governments and in the PA, and confirming that the PA is not declaring independence."

According to a section-by-section summary of H.R. 2583 released by the Foreign Affairs panel, before Yemen can continue to receive security assistance, the president must certify that "no ministry, agency or instrumentality of the Government of Yemen is directly or indirectly affiliated with a foreign terrorist organization; and that no member of a foreign terrorist organization serves in any policy position in a ministry, agency or instrumentality of the Government of Yemen."

Another section requires the president to "certify to the appropriate congressional committees that no member of Hezbollah or any other foreign terrorist organization serves in a policy position in a ministry, agency or instrumentality of the Government of Lebanon" before aid can go there.

Assistance to Egypt would be conditioned on a presidential certification that the Egyptian government is not "controlled by a foreign terrorist organization, its affiliates or supporters … is fully implementing" the peace treaty with Israel; and "is destroying the smuggling network and tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza [S]trip."

Clinton also objected to the bill's provisions regarding U.S. aid to Pakistan. It requires that Pakistan make "demonstrable progress" in combating terror groups before it can receive some U.S. security-related assistance.

Read the full bill summary here.

Lawmakers Push for Tougher Stance Against Assad

Amid mounting evidence of Syrian government atrocities, bipartisan pressure from Capitol Hill is calling on the Obama Administration to take a more assertive stance against President Bashar Assad's Ba'athist regime. At a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing Wednesday, lawmakers criticized the administration for failing to make clear that Washington stands with the Syrian people against the dictatorship.

"How many more must die before we have the courage to stand up and say that Assad is illegitimate and must go?," said Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. He noted that more than 1,600 Syrian demonstrators had been killed in the last four months.

Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., blasted the administration for failing to take a strong public stance against Assad until it was clear he might actually fall. "We're hedging our bets here on the odd chance that he's going to be able to hang on," he said.

In prepared testimony, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights Michael Posner denounced "the Iranian and Syrian governments' continuing and worsening abuses against their own people."

They noted that public protests in Syria began in March with Syrian security forces firing on demonstrators calling for the release of children detained for weeks after writing political graffiti.

"That brutal act sparked the collective outrage of the long-oppressed Syrian people. The growing momentum for change, which has drawn people from across Syria to participate in peaceful demonstrations, is now into its fourth month," Feltman and Posner wrote. "Even as the Syrian military and security forces have besieged communities, conducted mass arrests, targeted emergency responders, tortured children, shot protestors with impunity, cut off water, Internet and telephone services, and barred an independent media, people have found ways to get their word out, through reports, images and videos taken by brave demonstrators and smuggled out."

The human-rights situation in Syria may be about to deteriorate further. Since protests began in late March, Friday prayers have been a rallying point for pro-democracy demonstrators in Damascus and other cities. Assad has often responded to protests outside Syrian mosques with brutal force. Ramadan, which begins next week, strings together 30 consecutive days on which prayers can become lead to demonstrations - a troubling prospect for a dictatorship which has been unable to suppress dissent using torture and murder.

U.S. Accuses Iran of Pact With al-Qaida

The U.S. Department of Treasury has announced the designation of several Iran-based al-Qaida agents and their facilitators which are part of a network "operating under an agreement between al-Qa'ida and the Iranian government." The action, which targets Iran's government as a supporter of al-Qaida, follows closely the Iranian designation of 26 major American figures for their "war on Islam."

"Today's action, taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, demonstrates that Iran is a critical transit point for funding to support al-Qa'ida's activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan," a Treasury news release said. "This network serves as the core pipeline through which al-Qa'ida moves money, facilitators and operatives from across the Middle East to South Asia, including to Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a key al-Qa'ida leader based in Pakistan, also designated today."

The designations included Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, a senior al-Qaida facilitator and handler working directly with Iran's government; Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, al-Qaida's overall commander of Pakistan's tribal area; Umid Muhammadi, a key facilitator of al-Qaida in Iraq; Salim Hasan Khalifa Rashid al-Kuwari, a Qatar-based fundraiser of al-Qaida's Iranian activities; Abdallah Ghanim Mafuz Muslim al-Khawar, another Qatar-based extremist fundraising for al-Qaida and facilitating the movement of individuals to Afghanistan; and, 'Ali Hasan 'Ali al-'Ajmi, a Kuwait-based associate of Khalil who has provided financial support to al-Qaida and its affiliates.

Notably, the list did not include information about senior al-Qaida leader Saif al-Adel, who is rumored to operate out of Iran or Pakistan.

"Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world today. By exposing Iran's secret deal with al-Qa'ida allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through its territory, we are illuminating yet another aspect of Iran's unmatched support for terrorism," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen.

The designations are the latest steps in America's campaign against Iranian support for terror and uranium enrichment. The action also follows Iran's designation of 26 American senior military and political figures, including former U.S. civilian administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In 2007, Iran placed the U.S. military and the C.I.A. on the nation's list of "terrorist organizations."

International Sting Blocks Hizballah Drug, Arms Deal

The role criminal enterprises like drug trafficking plays in financing Hizballah terror is exhibited in a new indictment announced Tuesday in New York. Four men are accused of plotting to use millions of dollars from heroin sales to buy missiles and automatic weapons for the Lebanese-based Shiite organization.

Four men arrested in Romania and the Maldives have been sent to New York to face drug trafficking charges and conspiring to provide material support to Hizballah.

Siavosh Henareh, Bachar Wehbe, and Cetin Aksu planned to use profits from heroin sales in the United States to buy missiles and automatic weapons for Hizballah, a Drug Enforcement Agency statement said. The deals, set up during meetings in Romania, Cyprus, Malaysia, and elsewhere, would have sent hundreds of kilograms of "high quality" heroin into the United States.

Aksu and Wehbe agreed to use the money generated to buy Stinger missiles, AK-47 rifles and other weapons for Hizballah, a summary of the case in the statement said.

Taza Gul Alizai, described as a Taliban supporter, is charged with conspiracy to engage in narco‑terrorism. He sold roughly five kilograms of heroin to a DEA source in 2008. Two years later, he set up a deal involving six AK-47s and 10 more kilograms of heroin to the source, who claimed to be with the Taliban. The heroin was targeted for sale in the United States and the weapons were for the Taliban.

Last month, Aksu and Wehbe signed a $9.5 million contract to buy 148 Stinger missiles, 5,000 AK‑47s, 1,000 M4 rifles, and 1,000 Glock handguns. During negotiations, Wehbe allegedly said he was acting on directions from Hizballah.

"Today's indictments provide fresh evidence of what many of us have been saying for some time: that there is a growing nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism, a nexus that increasingly poses a clear and present danger to our national security," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in the statement. "Combating this lethal threat requires a bold and proactive approach. And as crime increasingly goes global, and national security threats remain global, the long arm of the law has to get even longer."

The men could face life in prison if convicted.

Hizballah's international criminal operations were the focus of a recent House committee hearing, which focused on activities in the United States and Latin America.

MEMRI Series Analyzes Gaza Under Hamas

A series of reports by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) takes a look at life in the Gaza Strip since Hamas took over, battling Israel, Palestinian rivals Fatah, and itself. The first four chapters detail the group's struggles with traditional foes, while upcoming chapters will deal with the group's role in Islamizing the territory.

Part one deals with the group's struggle with its primary rival, Fatah, which it violently ousted from Gaza in 2007. Both in rhetoric and through violence, Hamas contiued trying to undermine Fatah and its supporters on the domestic and international level. The unexpected April-May reconciliation between the groups lowered tension, but failed to stem Hamas efforts to undermind Fatah's support in Gaza.

After seizing the Gaza Strip, Hamas controlled the use of rockets as a military and political tool against Israel, according to part two of the series. Cease fires are used to rearm, train, and fortify positions.

Part three discusses the group's desire to control and influence the territory's political and religious landscape, and to deal with practical issues of ruling such as taxation, issuing building permits, and build an economy. Part four shows how being in power has exposed rifts between various factions of the movement, as Hamas tries to strike a balance between governance and hard-line ideology.

Upcoming installments will deal with the group's struggle as a middle ground Islamist organization, and the pressure it faces from more rightwing and Salafi organizations. The final section will discuss the delicate balance the group has struck with Egypt, which has radically altered its relationship with the organization since Hosni Mubarak's fall.

To follow the series, click here.

Breaking News: Little Rock Jihadist Gets Life Sentence

Jihadist Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad received a life prison sentence Monday afternoon after pleading guilty to shooting two soldiers, one fatally, outside a Little Rock, Ark. Army recruiting center in June 2009. Muhammad never disputed killing Army Pvt. William Long as part of "a jihadi attack on infidel forces."

But his lawyers took the case to trial and tried to argue that Muhammad was suffering from a delusional disorder. He could have received the death penalty. But his trial was recessed Monday morning and Muhammad changed his plea to guilty.

Muhammad - formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe – converted from Baptist to Islam after enrolling at Tennessee State University in Nashville in the fall of 2003. He dropped out of school after three semesters and went to Yemen - ostensibly to teach English – in 2007. Muhammad became radicalized there and was deported back to the United States against his wishes in January 2009.

In the days before he attacked Long and Army Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, Muhammad attempted to attack an Army recruiting center in Kentucky, which he found closed, and attempted to firebomb what he thought was a Nashville rabbi's home.

Read more about the trial here and here.

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