Australia’s Jihad Jack cleared

Mr Thomas was retried after the Australian Court of Appeal quashed the 2006 conviction on the grounds that his initial testimony was inadmissible because he had been coerced by the police under interrogation.  Mr Thomas was the first individual to be prosecuted under the country’s 2006 anti-terrorism laws. >>>>>

Jihadists or dupes? Fort Dix terror trial opens

Their clients, they said, were young men who had been manipulated by paid government informants into a conspiracy they had no intention of carrying out. “He talked the talk, but was never going to walk the walk,” Rocco Cipparone Jr. said of his client, lead defendant Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer.

Cipparone and the other defense attorneys challenged both the credibility and motivation of the two key government witnesses, Mahmoud Omar and Besnik Bakalli. Both, he said, were “lifelong criminals” who had reasons to create a conspiracy where none existed.  >>>>>

Iraq War Appears Over in Most Provinces, Pentagon Data Show

As a result of the troop surge throughout 2007 and the “awakening” in the Anbar Province, al Qaeda operatives apparently have been ejected from former strongholds in the Baghdad Province and the Anbar Province. Military campaigns directed against al Qaeda are now focused in the northern-most regions of Iraq.  >>>>>

Spanish police arrest 12 Islamist suspects

The raids targeted networks suspected of hiding and aiding the escape of al Qaeda members, a police statement said, including some linked to the 2004 Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800.  >>>>>

Defections hit Afghan forces

After fighting the Taliban for the past seven years, many working for the Afghan security forces are now switching sides…

“Our soil is occupied by Americans and I want them to leave this country. That is my only goal,” he added.  >>>>>

Bush White House ‘endorsed torture’

The Bush Administration explicitly endorsed torture techniques used by the CIA on al-Qaeda suspects, according to secret memos obtained by The Washington Post.  The Post has identified two documents sent by the White House to then CIA Director George Tenet in 2003 and 2004, endorsing controversial interrogation techniques such as ‘waterboarding’. >>>>>

Pak warns US against border violations

Pakistani Government sources were quoted by the Dawn News channel on Monday as saying that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had told British officials on the same day that violations of Pakistan’s frontiers would not be tolerated...

Islamabad says the strikes are an infringement of its sovereignty and are counterproductive in the battle against militants. Pakistani civilian and military leaders have frequently protested over the US incursions into Pakistan’s tribal region, with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani terming the attacks as an ‘act of terrorism’. >>>>>

Exodus of Christians as killers step up religious cleansing in Iraq

Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, has ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the problem. Yesterday the UN expressed concern at the recent violence against Mosul’s Christian community.

Some Christians blame al-Qaeda for the attacks while others speculate that Kurdish elements might be involved as part of a political ploy to coerce minority sects into supporting Kurdish parties before forthcoming provincial elections. This allegation is strongly denied by the Kurdish authorities. >>>>>

There is still nothing conclusive as to which side or who did it.  This doesn’t stop the West from capitalizing on this to make it appear as if Christians are not free under Islamic rule.  There is no Islamic rule in Iraq; and secondly, both Christians and Muslims in the region are both Iraqis and Arabs, excluding the Kurdish and other ethnic differentials.  This is a phony instigation effort to work towards continuing to divide the society into smaller groups, one especially that the West is nurturing to eventually help its agenda upon their resettlement in the region.

Iraq says time for British troops to go: report

LONDON (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was quoted on Monday as saying it was time for British combat forces to leave the south of the country because they were no longer needed to maintain security and control.

Maliki told The Times newspaper in an interview there might still be a need for their experience in training Iraqi forces and on some technological issues, but the emphasis was now on business links.  >>>>>

Troop pull-out leaves government on brink

The US must now be wondering whether it was all worth it. Western backing for the unpopular Somali government and US support for the Ethiopian intervention has created a groundswell of anti-West sentiment in Somalia.

The Islamist leaders they were so keen to oust are the same ones they are now engaged in negotiations with. US officials have met both Sheikh Sharif and the more hardline Sheikh Aweys in an effort to find a peace deal.

Meanwhile, in Somalia, the Islamists taking control of towns and villages across the country are considered far more extremist than Aweys. “They are real international jihadis,” said one Nairobi-based diplomat. “The Americans’ fear of al-Qaeda in Somalia is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.”  >>>>>

Christians flee Iraqi city after killings, threats, officials say

The Rev. Bolis Jacob, of Mosul’s Mar Afram Church, told AP he couldn’t understand the attacks. “We respect the Islamic religion and the Muslim clerics,” he said. “We don’t know under what religion’s pretexts these terrorists work.” >>>>>

The good reverend cannot understand because the Christians lived under peace with the Muslims before the was invaded and occupied.  This appears to be more of a false-flag operation in order to pit one group (Christians) against another (Muslims) without this having been the case prior.  There is no proof of this that is public yet; but it is part of the occupiers’ modis operandi.  There is also no proof that the leaflets threatening the Christians were actually committed by Muslims.

Aircraft bombs Islamist stronghold in Somalia

BAIDOA, Somalia, Oct 9 (Reuters) – An unidentified aircraft bombed an Islamist rebel stronghold in Somalia on Thursday, witnesses said, but it was unclear if there were any casualties.

U.S. forces have launched several airstrikes inside Somalia in recent months against al Shabaab insurgents who have been fighting Somalia’s weak Western-backed interim government and its Ethiopian military allies since the start of last year.  >>>>>

Seven Years in Afghanistan: From “War on Terror” to “War of Terror”

October 7, 2008. Seven years ago today the U.S. began the assault on Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban regime and produced the present mess. Abetted by U.S. bombing and commando operations, the Northern Alliance took Kabul on November 13, 2001. This was the initial U.S. response to 9-11, an assault on the U.S. by Saudi Islamist fanatics based in Afghanistan. The al-Qaeda attacks killed 3000 people. By March 2002 the U.S. bombing had produced that many Afghan civilian fatalities. This was just the beginning. >>>>>

Sources: Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace

The talks — the first of their kind aimed at resolving the lengthy conflict in Afghanistan — mark a significant move by the Saudi leadership to take a direct role in Afghanistan, hosting delegates who have until recently been their enemies.

They also mark a sidestepping of key “war on terror” ally Pakistan, frequently accused of not doing enough to tackle militants sheltering on its territory, which has previously been a conduit for talks between the Saudis and Afghanistan.  >>>>>

This story actually legitimizes the notion that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban had a marriage.  In effect, there is no al-Qaeda.  There is merely a response to an invasion, ethnic cleansing, torture and other horrors against humanity.  These very same people who have been defending their own homeland, have been conveniently lumped together to be identified by the West as Al-Qaeda.

The Taliban, or the government of Afghanistan at the time of that country’s invasion and occupation, are a group of people whom have been focusing internally – and simply desire to live out their own culture, under their own sovereignty.

The continued connection between the two groups, with Osama bin Laden purported to be acting as liaison, is something that the West needs in order to continue its marching orders on the War on Terror.  Interestingly enough, Pakistan and Afghanistan are commencing to ‘flip-flop’ on roles that neither wanted to take on, regardless of which side of the spectrum they fall on.

Egyptians Challenge BBC Al-Qaida Poll Result

Despite this evidence, Egyptians simply are not buying it. Many here argue that these surveys often skew actual evidence to the contrary.

“Egyptians do not understand what al-Qaida truly is,” began a freelance journalist who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, “so when someone asks people here how they view the organization many will indeed say they support or view them favorably.”

The journalist believed this is due to a lack of information. For example, she talked about how it was not until watching a large amount of Western news sources – including CNN and the BBC – did she become aware of the full intentions of the terror network.  >>>>>

In other words, it is not that the journalist is unaware of reality, it’s just that the journalist here had not been brainwashed about al-Qaeda until watching CNN and BBC.  Many people have a different take on al-Qaeda because the news in the Middle East happens to be a lot less editorialized and inclusive of fantasy and fiction.

There is a lot more objectivity and accountability for what one rights.  The people of these lands have far less exposure to news such as the Western addiction to 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week, up-to-date news viewing and commentary.

Even CNN and CNN International do not cover the same things, nor do they cover the same news item the same way. The Westerners believe that they have better news coverage than anything else in the world; but other news organizations around the world would probably say something to the effect that “‘frame-for-frame’, and ‘reel-for real,’ they are far better because there is more objective news whereby journalists are more accountable.  Heck, most major news sources can point to their adversary and show how ‘they are not real news sources,’ for a host of reasons.

The people around the world are paying attention to the differences, quality and content of information they are getting.

Incidentally, Egyptians are Arabs, and therefore, includes a great amount of Christians as well, all living in a secular, not religious society.  Many Westerners fail to recognize this point, as they fail to recognize that the largest religious group of Arabs in the U.S. are Christian, and not Muslim.  This poll includes Christians is my point. (In case readers point to ‘those people’ would naturally support al-Qaeda.

Palin, Biden fight over change, economy, war on terror

On foreign policy, Palin and Biden disagreed over whether Iraq or Afghanistan was the “central front” in the US war against terrorism.  Biden guaranteed that if there was another terrorist attack on US soil, it would come from Al Qaeda remnants on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Palin pointed to comments from Al Qaeda’s leadership that Iraq was the key battlefront.

The two also disagreed sharply over when and how to pull troops out of Iraq.

“We will end this war. For John McCain there is no end in sight,” Biden said, arguing the need for a strict timetable. “Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq,” Palin retorted, saying the president must listen to commanders on the ground.  >>>>>

Appeals Court Overturns Two Terrorism Convictions, Citing Errors by Judge

Finding that a Yemeni cleric and his assistant had been deprived of a fair trial because of errors by the presiding judge, a federal appeals panel in New York on Thursday overturned their convictions in a prominent terrorism case once hailed by the Bush administration as a significant blow to Al Qaeda.  >>>>>

Somalia: Islamist militiamen ‘destroy church in south’

Militiamen razed the cathedral on Wednesday straight after prayers to mark the end of the holy muslim fasting month of Ramadan, al-Sharq al-Awsat reported.

“This is retaliation for the destruction of a mosque in the Ethiopian city of Harar and the construction of a church where the mosque stood,” said Al-Qaeda linked ‘Young Mujahadeen’ formation, which claimed the attack.  >>>>>

‘Obsession’ not based in reality

The Free Press and the Detroit News should be acknowledged for their decision not to distribute the hateful film, recognizing its divisive aims. Muslims and other supporters of peaceful, religious diversity are grateful. Both presidential hopefuls, Obama and McCain must also distance themselves from this type of election year tactic. It is time that the mainstream media and people of good will stand up to fear mongering and bigotry during the election season, especially when America is facing so many challenges at home and abroad.  >>>>>

New Pakistan spy chief appointed

Lt Gen Ahmed Shujaa Pasha is a former head of military operations who launched recent offensives against militants near the Afghan border.  He takes over amid mounting US pressure on Pakistan to do more to combat the Taleban and al-Qaeda. >>>>>