Jihadists on the Move in Syria, Lebanon

Al-Qaida likely will benefit from the escalating civil war in Syria, according to Ed Husain, a former activist with Muslim Brotherhood front organizations and Hizb ut-Tahrir in Great Britain. Currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Husain writes that in their enthusiasm over the possible end of the Assad dictatorship, Westerners are neglecting the growing threat from al-Qaida operations in Syria.

He suggests that the terror group is poised to benefit from the violence in Syria regardless of whether President Bashar Assad stays in office. If Assad and his cohorts remain in power, radical Islamists will continue to "support the jihad of the Sunni Muslims against an Alawite infidel, as they see it. Assad offers them a rallying point," Husain writes, adding that al Qaida franchises in Syria will likely forge alliances with Sunni religious leaders and local tribes.

If Assad is overthrown, al-Qaida would gain de facto control of sections of Syria to use as a strategic base for jihadists in the region.

He believes the violent Islamists benefit from the indulgence of Syrian revolutionaries fighting to topple Assad. Syrian opposition troops regard the al-Qaida fighters entering the country as "welcome Arab and Muslim volunteers, mujahideen, religious brethren," Husain writes. "Not since the days of the Afghan jihad against the Soviets has global jihadism found this rare combination of native Sunni hospitality, a powerful cause, available cash, eager Arab support, Western acquiescence and the constant arrival of young Muslims to fight under its banner to create an Islamist government."

At least 21 people were killed Friday when a Syrian fighter jet bombed an apartment building in the eastern city of Mayadin, and at least 15 more were reported dead in Daraya, a Damascus suburb. Human-rights groups say more than 20,000 have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011.

As the violence continues in Syria, there are growing indications that the war between Assad loyalists and jihadists is spreading to neighboring Lebanon. Supporters and foes of Assad clashed Friday in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city. At least three people, one of them a Salafist sheikh, died in the fighting and 21 were wounded.

Early Friday, gunmen in downtown Tripoli attacked a security kiosk where Lebanese Army security cameras were located, witnesses said. Within hours, masked gunmen were seen burning shops around Tripoli, while smoke blanketed the city and residents hid in their homes. Prime Minister Nijab Mikati said Friday that the Lebanese Army had been given a "green light" to restore order after four days of clashes in the city in which 16 Lebanese were killed (11 of them soldiers) and 120 wounded.

Taliban Steps Up Attacks on NATO

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, said Thursday that up to 25 percent of fatal attacks on Americans there may be the result of Taliban coercion or infiltration of Afghan security forces.

Earlier this month, NATO officials attributed 10 percent of attacks to the Taliban. At least 40 members of NATO's Afghanistan force have been killed by Afghan soldiers or policemen (these incidents are known as "green-on-blue" attacks) this year, with at least nine slain in the past two weeks.

In one recent attack in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, an Afghan policeman who had just returned from vacation grabbed a colleague's weapon and opened fire, wounding several members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

The Taliban boasted that it had carried out the attack. "An infiltrator mujahid turned his gun on American terrorists in the district headquarters," said a statement on the Taliban's Voice of Jihad website. "The brave hero left the headquarters after the successful attack and joined up with Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate in the district."

Taliban leader Mullah Omar recently issued a statement observing that the group had established the "Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration" department "with branches…now operational all over the country" to encourage defections.

The Long War Journal reports that the number of green-on-blue attacks rose from two in 2008 to six in 2010 and 26 this year.

Although NATO commanders have attributed 90 percent of the attacks to personal enmity and cultural differences, the major spike began in 2011, "just after President Barack Obama announced the plan to pull the surge forces, end combat operations in 2014, and shift security to Afghan forces," LWJ said in an analysis published Thursday. "While cultural and personal differences may play a role in the increase in attacks, Taliban and defections by Afghan security personnel who have decided to ingratiate themselves with the Taliban by attacking NATO forces likely play a far more significant role in the green-on-blue attacks than NATO admits."

The Afghan government disagrees with NATO's analysis, blaming foreign spies for the upsurge in attacks on Western forces. But without a far more comprehensive study of the problem, it is impossible to say why the number of attacks is increasing.

NATO officials have responded by setting up a "guardian angel" system of soldiers whose responsibility is to protect their colleagues from attack by Afghan forces who are supposed to be their allies.

Read the full Long War Journal analysis here.

Iran Orders Terror, Hizballah Plans Galilee Takeover

Iran and its terrorist proxy in Lebanon are making an increasing series of threats and provocative action in response to international pressure to halt its nuclear weapons program and as Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syrian continues to teeter.

More than 10,000 Hizballah fighters, mostly special forces, finished a three-day drill last week that included practicing to occupy Israel's Upper Galilee, the Jerusalem Post reports. The preparations were ordered by Hizballah leader Hasan Nasrallah, who made a speech last week threatening thousands of Israeli casualties from Hizballah rocket fire.

Meanwhile, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered members of its Quds Force to increase terrorist attacks against western targets abroad, London's Telegraph reports. The order followed a report Khamenei commissioned which found a combination of United Nations economic sanctions and Assad's potential fall threatened Iran's national security.

The country "cannot be passive" in facing those threats, the report concluded. Syria is a key ally for the Islamic Republic, and serves as a transit route for weapons destined for Hizballah in Lebanon.

"The Iranian regime now seems determined to retaliate for what they regard as the West's attempts to influence the outcome of the Syrian unrest," a western intelligence source told the Telegraph's Con Coughlin.

Quds Force members are suspected in a series of attempted terrorist attacks in Europe and South Asia, primarily aimed at Israeli targets. Israel also has blamed Iran for the bombing of a tourist bus in Bulgaria that killed five Israelis and the Bulgarian bus driver last month.

Iraqi National Pleads Guilty to Supporting al-Qaida

An Iraqi national living in Bowling Green, Ky. pleaded guilty Tuesday to all 12-counts in a superseding indictment that included attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) and conspiracy to transfer, possess and export Stinger missiles.

Mohanad Hammadi was indicted in May 2011 along with Waad Alwan on 23 counts related to helping terrorists, including al-Qaida fighters in Iraq.

Alwan, a fellow Iraqi national living in Bowling Green, pleaded guilty last December to all counts in the original indictment that included conspiracy charges related to killing U.S. troops in Iraq using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and sharing information on how to build and use IEDs with AQI members.

Both men were granted refugee status through the United States' Iraqi refugee program set up in 2007. Their entry exposed gaps in the screening of people seeking asylum under the program.

Alwan came under investigation of the FBI in 2010. He was approached by an FBI informant to work with a group to ship money and weapons to the mujahideen in Iraq. Alwan told the informant he fought alongside Iraqi insurgents between 2003 until his arrest by Iraqi authorities in 2006. He was later released.

FBI experts later found Alwan's fingerprints on an unexploded IED discovered by U.S. military personnel in Bayji, Iraq in September 2005.

In January 2011, Alwan recruited Hammadi to help in the shipment of weapons and money that he believed were intended for AQI and other Iraqi militants. The weapons included rocket-propelled grenade launchers, machine guns, cases of C4 plastic explosives, and sniper rifles. Hammadi and Alwan also discussed shipping "Strelas," a Russian-made, portable, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile launcher.

"In open court today, Mohanad Hammadi admitted to engaging in terrorist activities here in the United States. He admitted that he tried to send numerous weapons from Kentucky to Iraq to be used against American soldiers," said U.S. Attorney David J. Hale said in a Justice Department press release. The guilty plea "sends a strong message to anyone who would attempt similar crimes that they will face the same determined law enforcement and prosecution efforts."

Hammadi faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for December 26.

Administration Missing Boko Haram's Islamist Motives

The Obama administration continues to treat religion as a non-factor in Nigeria's Islamist campaign of violence, despite the group repeatedly broadcasting its motives, argues Raymond Ibrahim for the Gatestone Institute. But while the political correctness continues to mask the intolerance of Islam, Nigeria continues to bleed.

In early August, Boko Haram released a video calling on Nigeria's Christian president to "repent and forsake Christianity." According to Ibrahim, the Islamist group's violent campaign reflects a general lack of tolerance in Nigeria's Muslim north, which broke out in rioting in April 2011 after Nigeria reelected the Christian president in a landslide vote.

But despite the obvious religiously-motivated intolerance, Ibrahim states that the "administration has agreed to spend $600 million in an USAID initiative launched to ascertain the "true causes" behind Boko Haram's murderous bloodlust."

"Once again, then, reality is easily ascertained—at root, Boko Haram's terror campaign is entirely motivated by religion—even as the Obama administration refuses to designate the group as a terrorist organization, spends millions of U.S. tax dollars on superfluous initiatives (or diversions), and pressures the Nigerian president to make concessions, including building more mosques, the very structures where Muslims are radicalized and recruited to Boko Haram's jihad," he notes.

CAIR's Continued Embrace by Chicago Elected Officials

Chicago area politicians again embraced the head of the city's Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter during a public event, despite his organization's roots in a terror support network and ongoing hostility toward law enforcement.

Ahmed Rehab spoke Wednesday at an Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) DREAM Relief Rally with U.S. Sen.  Dick Durbin, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Gov. Pat Quinn.

Organized by Gutierrez and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) the DREAM rally was in honor of the Obama administration's June 15 decision to permit "DREAM Act-eligible youth temporary relief through 'deferred action.'"

The FBI cut off its outreach to CAIR in 2008, writing that it was not an "appropriate liaison partner" due to evidence showing the organization and its founders were part of a Hamas-support network in the United States. And Rehab has his own history of radical activity, but the Illinois politicians haven't let that get in their way.

When asked during a 2006 BBC interview to condemn Hamas, Rehab evaded the question, like many of his CAIR counterparts. "Do I condemn the hospitals run by Hamas or the schools that help children learn, in Hamas? No. I don't condemn that," Rehab said. "But I do condemn the blowing up of Tel Aviv pizzerias or cafes."

Rehab also reflexively opposes law enforcement counterterrorism measures. In the wake of the New York Police Department's surveillance controversy, Rehab labeled the NYPD's actions as "illegal" and "unconstitutional."

"Anyone aware of such egregious violation of our Constitution and the very spirit upon which it stands ought to report it," he said.

Yet in January, Emanuel lauded CAIR-Chicago's efforts, saying it "has provided a comprehensive array of invaluable services to the Muslim-American community and has facilitated important partnerships and civil rights advocacy opportunities for Muslim Americans throughout the Chicagoland area."

Last month, Emmanuel appointed Rehab to his "New Americans Advisory Committee."

Durbin issued two letters of praise for CAIR-Chicago. In 2011, Durbin visited the Mosque Foundation, whose leadership has been cited in federal court documents as part of support front groups for Hamas.

Gutierrez also praises and works with Rehab. He lauded CAIR-Chicago's efforts at its March banquet and condemned the New York Police Department surveillance tactics. CAIR-Chicago honored Gutierrez that night with its Courage in Leadership Award.

Quinn also endorses CAIR, providing the group with a statement to display on its webpage. "I want to commend CAIR-Chicago for your ongoing commitment to serving the needs of Chicago's Muslim population and for working toward ensuring justice and civil rights for all the communities you serve," Quinn said.

It's natural for government officials to include a Muslim representative in their functions, especially one involving the plight of immigrants. The issue, as the FBI put it, is whether CAIR makes an "appropriate liaison partner," given its documented history in a Hamas-support group. CAIR has never addressed this, other than issuing blanket denials which are directly contradicted by the record. By embracing Rehab and lauding his organization, these politicians legitimize CAIR in a way in which law enforcement clearly disagrees.

Islamists Crack Down on Egyptian Dissidents

A series of reports out of Egypt is creating concern about the future of free expression under the country's new Islamist-dominated government.

Author Youseef El-Qaeed says the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper refused to run an article Sunday that was critical of the Muslim Brotherhood. The article, El-Qaeed told Ahram Online, criticized Brotherhood members involved in beating an Egyptian journalist who allegedly made false statements about the group and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

An Al-Akhbar editor denied the allegation, saying El-Qaeed never handed in a story. The newspaper, like other state-controlled media outlets in Egypt, saw its secular editors replaced by Islamists last week.

"He has no contract with us, we did not censor his article and we haven't received any articles from him at all," editor Mohamed Hassan El-Banna told Ahram Online. "Moreover, Al-Akhbar will not publish any articles from any journalists outside the newspaper, we have the finest writers in house and they're the ones who deserve to write."

El-Qaeed said he had a contract with Al-Akhbar's previous editor.

Ahram Online cited a separate example in which a journalist was instructed to change a story critical of the Brotherhood.

Meanwhile, another journalist and a television host face incitement charges for statements critical of Morsi. A Sky News report indicates other journalists have been physically attacked after publishing criticism of the Brotherhood.

A prominent cleric has issued a fatwa calling on followers to attack people at an anti-Brotherhood rally scheduled for next Friday, the Egyptian Independent reported, citing an Al-Masry Al-Youm story. Sheikh Hashem Islam, a member of Al-Azhar University's fatwa committee, called the protestors "ratters against democracy and freedom."

He invoked a Quranic verse which instructs: "Resist them; if they fight you, fight back, if they kill you, you are in paradise, if you kill them, there is no blood money."

In July, Islam appeared on Hamas television in Gaza, calling suicide bombings – or "martyrdom operations" – "among the deeds most pleasing to Allah, according to a video translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Islamists Appointed Editors of Egyptian State Media

A controversy has erupted over the appointment of Islamist editors for Egypt's state-run media, reports Al-Masri Al-Youm's English language website, the Egypt Independent. The move allows Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to translate political dominance to media monopolization, a development that many journalists protested in Cairo last month.

State-run Al-Ahram printed the list of new editors without comment, provoking outrage at independent papers. They included: Abdel Naser Salama for Al-Ahram, Mohamed Hassan al-Bana for Akhbar Al-Youm, Suleiman Qenawy for Al-Akhbar, Gamal Abdel Raheem for Al-Gomhurriya, Shaker Gamal Eddin for the Middle East News Agency (MENA), and Essam Abdel Aziz for Rose al-Youssef magazine. The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice News, called the shuffle "National papers in a new dress."

Independent papers Youm7, Al-Watan, and Al-Tahrir responded by printing mostly blank editorial pages, while only the words "in protest of the Brotherhood's attempts to control press and media." Independent paper Al-Shorouk called for the formation of a private media bloc to confront the MB. Privately owned daily Al-Dostour reported on a protest Wednesday outside of Egypt's parliamentary Shura Council, calling for the removal of the new editors and the resignation of the MB-affiliated head of the Journalists' Syndicate.

Egyptian Minister of Information Salah Abdel Moqsoud clarified the meaning of the move Monday. He "stressed the need of differentiating between media freedom and freedom of incitement or sedition among the sects of the community, or using a method of public defamation on satellite channels," in a statement carried by AllAfrica.com. In the past, such language has translated to eliminating criticism of Islam.

Jordan Arrests 2 Americans Entering Syria

Jordan intends to deport two Muslim Americans arrested by its security forces last month, reported Jordanian independent al-Sawsana on Thursday. The two were apprehended along Jordan's border with Syria, and conflicting reports suggest they were either journalists documenting the Syrian civil war or fighters bent on joining the rebels.

The two Americans were named Jonathon Rahimi and Domino [possibly Dominic] Vassiliou, defense attorney Musa Abdallat told al-Sawsana. According to the paper, they were apprehended while working as photojournalists trying to enter Syria.

They had "planned to photograph the unfortunate events Syria has witnessed since the outbreak of the revolution," the news agency claimed. "Camera equipment was seized with them."

But another Jordanian news source, Saraya News, claimed the pair had more sinister intentions. Saraya News reported July 19^th that the two were picked up after trying to "undertake fighting" and "to join the armed groups against the Syrian state."

That story might fit better with other details presented by al-Sawsuna, including Musa Abdallat's representation of Jordanian Islamist groups. The paper also reported that Abdallat was seeking the pair's release to a third-party country, as the duo did not want to be sent back to the United States.

Former U.S. Soldier Sentenced to Life in Fort Hood Bomb Plot

A former U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to launch an attack on the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Naser Jason Abdo was arrested in Killeen, Tex. in July 2011 for attempting to detonate a bomb in a restaurant popular with soldiers stationed at Fort Hood. At the time of his arrest, he was found to be in possession of a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol and a copy of bomb-making instructions from al-Qaida's Inspire magazine.

Abdo was found by police at America's Best Value Inn and Suites in Killeen, Tx. During questioning, he "admitted that he planned to assemble two bombs in the hotel room using gun powder and shrapnel packed into pressure cookers to detonate inside an unspecified restaurant frequented by soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas." He told police "he intended to conduct an attack against Killeen and Ft. Hood."

A convert to Islam, Abdo enlisted in the U.S. military and was based at Fort Campbell, Ky. with the 101st Airborne Division. But Abdo's religious beliefs started to conflict with his military career. In June 2010, after only one year in the Army, he filed for conscientious objector status prior to his first deployment to Afghanistan. He was granted the objector status and his unit was deployed to Afghanistan without him. In his application for objector status, Abdo questioned "whether going to war was the right thing to do Islamically." His objector status was however put on hold in May 2011 after he was charged with possession of child pornography. He went AWOL two months later during the July 4^th weekend.

In an August 2010 interview with ABC News, Abdo said he hoped to avoid deployment to Afghanistan, and his year-long experience in the Army had shown him that "no Muslim should serve in the U.S. military." He also said that "a Muslim is not allowed to participate in an Islamicly unjust war." He was also quoted on the Islam Policy website saying he did not "believe I can involve myself in an army that wages war against Muslims. I don't believe I could sleep at night if I take part, in any way, in the killing of a Muslim…"

During an initial court appearance where he was charged with possessing an unregistered weapon, Abdo called out the name of the accused 2009 Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan as he was taken out of the courtroom. "Nidal Hasan Fort Hood 2009," he shouted to the crowd. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and American-born Muslim, was charged in 2009 for killing 13 people in a deadly shooting rampage at a readiness center at Fort Hood. Hasan's trial is scheduled to start Aug. 20 in Killen, Tx.

"This prosecution demonstrates two important points. First, the prevention of tragic events such as Mr. Abdo was planning can be averted by alert citizens who pass along their concerns to law enforcement officials and by law enforcement officers who diligently perform their duties. And second, that those who use or plan violence to further their twisted agendas will be prosecuted as aggressively as the law allows and will, as in this case, spend the rest of their lives staring at the walls of a prison cell," a Justice Department press release quoted United States Attorney Robert Pitman saying.

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