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☆ Why attackers use vehicles as weapons to kill innocent people in crowds
▼ + stars: | 2025-01-05 | by ( Holly Yan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

Radical Islamist terror groups such as ISIS and AQAP, al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, have long advised supporters to use heavy vehicles as deadly weapons. Why some choose vehicles over other weapons“A vehicle attack doesn’t require any special training,” CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen said. The attack killed 32-year-old civil rights activist Heather Heyer. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images Israeli security forces and emergency personnel gather at the site of the vehicle attack. Why it happened: ISIS said the attack was retaliation for France’s role in the fight against ISIS.

Persons: –, Afghanistan –, Din Jabbar, Jabbar, ”, “ mow, Allah, Peter Bergen, “, ” Bergen, Axel Schmidt, Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, Al Abdulmohsen, It’s, ” Al Abdulmohsen, Abdulmohsen, Al Abdulmohsen’s, Darrell E, Brooks, ” Brooks, Bebeto Matthews, Craig Ruttle, Kena Betancur, Andy Kiss, Sayfullo Habibullaevic, Saipov, Abu Bakr al, David Armengou, Mariano Rajoy, Ryan M, Kelly, Heather Heyer, James Alex Fields Jr, Fields, Daniel Sorabji, Khuram Shazad, Rachid Redouane, Youssef Zaghba, Butt, Anjem, Lauren Moorhouse, Rakhmat Akilov, Akilov, Ahmad Gharabli, Menahem Kahana, Micky Rosenfeld, Avigdor Lieberman, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu, Tobias Schwarz, Ariel Zurawski, Sean Gallup, Kaiser Wilhelm, Markus Schreiber, Michael Kappeler, Michael Sohn, John MacDougall, Rainer Jensen, Odd Andersen, Moe Zoyari, Anis Amri, Amri, John Minchillo, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, Artan, Anwar al, Awlaki, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, Carl Court, Bouhlel, Bernard Cazeneuve, ” Cazeneuve, CNN’s Brian Todd, Jennifer Arnow, Sandi Sidhu, Ivana Kottasová, Nic Robertson, Matthew Chance, Benjamin Brown, Brad Parks, Nic F, Anderson Organizations: CNN, Army, ISIS, FBI, ” CNN National Security, Magdeburg, Reuters, Authorities, New York, NYPD Police, New York Police Department, NYPD, AP, AP Police, Barcelona, Islamic, Dodge Challenger, US Department of Justice, African, DOJ, “, Getty, Police, Swedish, Getty Images Israeli, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial, AP Authorities, Getty Images Police, DPA, EPA, Ohio State University, Ohio State University student, Islamic State Locations: New Orleans, Afghanistan, Texas, Qaeda’s, Yemen, Magdeburg, Germany, Saudi Arabian, Saudi, Waukesha , Wisconsin, Waukesha, Wisconsin, New York, New York City, Manhattan, Uzbekistan, United States, Iraq, ” Barcelona, Spain, Barcelona, Las, Charlottesville , Virginia, Charlottesville, London, Borough, AFP, Stockholm, Sweden, Swedish, Jerusalem, Old City, Islamic State, –, France, Berlin, ”, Italy, Columbus , Ohio, Nice

☆ Christians in Middle East celebrate Christmas under the shadow of instability and war
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-24 | by ( Mostafa Salem | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Three weeks since the rebels’ successful campaign to topple Assad, Syria’s Christians now join those in Lebanon and Palestinian territories to celebrate Christmas amid great uncertainty and fear in the region. Under Bashar al-Assad, Christians were allowed to celebrate their holidays and practice their rituals but like all Syrians faced tyrannical limitations on freedom of speech and political activity. Al-Sharaa has maintained that his group will protect minorities and religious sects of Syria but has yet to call specifically for the protection for Christians ahead of the Christmas celebrations. Hilda Haskour, a 50-year-old Aleppo resident who identifies as Syriac Catholic, is preparing to celebrate Christmas but says there’s still worry among Christians. “The war will end, and we will rebuild again, but we must guard our hearts to be capable of rebuilding.

Persons: Assad, Syria’s, Bashar al, Hayat Tahrir, Sham, Ahmad al, Abu Mohammed Al Jolani –, Sharaa, “ Hayat, Al Sham, ” George, George, Hilda Haskour, there’s, “, ” Haskour, ‘, Bethlehem Anton Salman, Salman, HAZEM BADER, Issa Kassissieh, Santa Claus, Menahem Kahana, of Jerusalem, ” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Israel, ” Tony Batte, Hassan Nasrallah, ” Batte Organizations: CNN, West Bank, Getty Images, Catholic Locations: Syria’s, Lebanon, Palestinian, Syria, Damascus, Aleppo, Jesus, Bethlehem, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, AFP, Jaffa, Jerusalem's Old City, Parish, Jerusalem, Beirut, New York

☆ Now that Syria is free of its dictator, the rebels’ biggest challenge is to learn how to govern
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-10 | by ( Mostafa Salem | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The sound of celebratory gunfire filled the streets of Damascus in the hours following the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. At least 28 people were killed by that celebratory gunfire, the Syrian health minister told Al-Arabiya news channel. People shoot in the air as they celebrate the fall of the Syrian government in Damascus, Syria on Sunday. After the capture of Damascus, the rebels instructed Assad’s Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali to continue his duties alongside his cabinet until a transitional team is assigned. ‘Anyone is better than Assad’Residents of Damascus told CNN they were happy Assad is gone but remained concerned over the Islamist ideology followed by the rebels.

Persons: Bashar al, Tahrir, Ugur, …, ”, Assad, Mohammad Ghazi al, Jalali, Industry Mohammad Samer al, Khalil, ” Jalali, ‘ we’ll, ’, “, Abu Mohammad al, Ahmad Al Sharaa, Al Qaeda’s, Louai Beshara, ” Al, Jolani, Aaron Y, Hayat, Abu Mohammed al, Abdulaziz Ketaz, Assad ’, Al Jolani, Ranim, we’ve Organizations: CNN, Islamist, Al, Assad’s, Sky News Arabia, Assad government’s, Industry, US, ISIS, Getty, Syrian Salvation Government, Washington Institute Locations: Damascus, Arabiya, Syria, Israel, Moscow, Homs, Al Qaeda, Iraq, AFP, Idlib, Aleppo, “, UN, Hayat Tahrir, Umayyad, Sunday, Turkey, Kurdish, Iran

DAMASCUS, Syria — Jubilant Syrians waving flags clambered Monday onto a government tank abandoned in the capital city's main square and took selfies. Then they chained it to the back of a truck and dragged it through the streets past cheering crowds. Hours after Assad fled, HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani arrived at a Damascus mosque wearing military fatigues. Still, President Joe Biden on Sunday declared, "At long last, the Assad regime has fallen." “We will engage with all Syrian groups, including within the process led by the United Nations, to establish a transition away from the Assad regime," he said.

Persons: Syria —, Bashar al, Assad, Assad's, Hafez al, Vladimir Putin, Abu Mohammad al, Jolani, he’s, Ahmad al, Al, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, ”, Ghazi al, Maciej Duszczyk, Richard Engel, Corky Siemaszko Organizations: AK, U.S, United Nations, Sunday, Golani, European Union Council Locations: DAMASCUS, Syria, Lebanon, Damascus, Tahrir, Russia, Al Qaeda’s Syria, U.S, Soviet, Qardaha, Syrian, Europe, Britain, Germany, Finland, New York City

Smoke rises as a member of the rebels, led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen in Aleppo, Syria, on November 29. Mahmoud Hasano/ReutersSyria’s rebel coalition consists of Islamist and moderate factions who, despite their differences, are united in fighting the Assad regime, ISIS and Iran-backed militias. He created Jabhat al-Nusra, al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, and operated the group until a public split with in 2016 over ideological differences and opposition to ISIS. The Syrian National Army (SNA): The “Syrian National Army” incorporates dozens of factions with various ideologies that receive funding and arms from Turkey. In Syria’s south, fighters from the country’s Druze religious minority have also joined the fight, a local activist group told CNN.

Persons: Mahmoud Hasano, Assad, Al Sham, Abu Mohammad al, al, Sham, Tal Rifaat Organizations: Reuters, ISIS, Hayat, Organization for, Jolani, Syrian National Army, Liberation, Sharia, Free Syrian Army, Syrian Democratic Forces, Peoples ’, CNN Locations: Rashideen, Aleppo, Syria, Iran, al Qaeda, United States, Iraq, Syrian, Turkey, Kurdish, Tal, Daraa

Smoke rises as a member of the rebels, led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen in Aleppo, Syria, on November 29. Mahmoud Hasano/ReutersSyria’s rebel coalition consists of Islamist and moderate factions who, despite their differences, are united in fighting the Assad regime, ISIS and Iran-backed militias. The Syrian National Army (SNA): The “Syrian National Army” incorporates dozens of factions with various ideologies that receive funding and arms from Turkey. In Syria’s south, fighters from the country’s Druze religious minority have also joined the fight, a local activist group told CNN. Druze are fighting in the southern city of as-Suwayda, which neighbors the Daraa province, where opposition forces claim to have taken control of Daraa city.

☆ Abu Mohammad al-Jolani: How Syria’s rebel leader went from radical jihadist to a blazer-wearing ‘revolutionary’
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-06 | by ( Mostafa Salem | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

His mission was to establish Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat Al Nusra. Sharaa is now commanding thousands of men in an armed rebellion threatening to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “This new formation has no relation to any external party,” he said at the time, distancing it from his radical Islamist past. It was also the start of Jolani’s gradual transformation from the classic anti-West jihadist, to a more palatable revolutionary. He conducted operations against ISIS including the 2023 high-profile killing of ISIS leader Abu Hussein Al-Husseini al-Qurashi.

Persons: CNN — Ahmed Al Sharaa, Abu Bakr al, Al, Jabhat Al Nusra, Bashar al, Assad, He’s, guerre Abu Mohammed al, Jolani, Fateh, Al Sham, ”, Abu Hussein Al, Husseini, “, Dareen Khalifa, Hayat Tahrir, Abu Mohamed al, Omar Haj Kadour, Al Qaeda Organizations: CNN, PBS, Palestinian, Israel, Organization for, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Group, Getty, Al Locations: Syria, Iraq, Abu, Syrian, Sharaa, Saudi, Riyadh, Golan, Damascus, Al Qaeda, Hayat, United States, Russia, Idlib, Hama, Brussels, Besnaya, Turkey, AFP

Syria CNN —The goal of Syria’s rebel coalition, as it wrests another major city from government control this week, is ultimately to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad, according to Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the militant leader of the main group driving the country’s armed opposition. Syria’s opposition forces are decentralized and made up of different ideologies, albeit united by a common goal of upending the Assad regime. As CNN sat down to interview al-Jolani, news broke that forces under his command had captured the city of Hama. Al-Jolani told CNN that incidents of abuse in prisons “were not done under our orders or directions” and HTS had already held those involved accountable. “We are talking about a larger project – we are talking about building Syria,” Al-Jolani continued.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Abu Mohammad al, Jolani, Hayat, ”, Abdulaziz Ketaz, upending, “, al, Al Nusra, Al Jazeera, – Ahmed al, –, Ibrahim Hatib, chokehold, ” Al, “ Hayat, Sham, ” CNN’s Mostafa Salem, Isil Sariyuce Organizations: Syria CNN, CNN, Getty, United, Terrorist Organization, Organization for, United Nations, Foreign Terrorist Organization, “, Al, Air Defense Brigade, Assad Russian, Iran’s, Guard, Syrian Air Force, Russian Locations: Syria, Hayat Tahrir, Qaeda, Syrian, Hama, AFP, Aleppo, Iran, Russia, al Qaeda, United States, Al, Iraq, US, Turkey, Idlib, Anadolu, ”, “ Hayat Tahrir

☆ Syrian rebels capture second major city as army withdraws from Hama
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-05 | by ( Mostafa Salem | Eyad Kourdi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Syria’s army said it is withdrawing from Hama, a symbolic and strategically important central city, marking a second major gain for a newly formed rebel coalition that also captured Aleppo last week. Rebels had been unable to capture the city since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. The rebels vowed to advance further south, to the city of Homs, another major city about 165 kilometers (100 miles) from the capital Damascus. Syria’s civil war began during the 2011 Arab Spring as the government suppressed an uprising against Assad, who has been president since 2000. The country plunged into a full-scale civil war as the protests turned into an armed rebellion.

Persons: CNN —, Rebels, ”, Bashar al, Assad, Abu Mohammad Al Jolani, Hayat, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, –, Hafez al, Assad –, Jolani, Hassan Abdulghani, Hama Organizations: CNN, SANA, Rebels, ISIS, United, Terrorist Organization Locations: Hama, Aleppo, Syria’s, Iran, Russia, Syria, Damascus, Hayat Tahrir, Al, al Qaeda, United States, Homs

☆ Rebel groups have taken Syria’s second-biggest city. Here’s who they are
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-02 | by ( Mostafa Salem | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The rebel coalition consists of well-established armed Islamist factions who, despite their differences, are united in fighting Assad, ISIS and Iran-backed militias. Hayat Tahrir Al ShamThe most prominent and formidable one of those rebel groups is Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), also known as the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant. Rebel groups were delivered a severe blow after the loss of Aleppo to the Syrian regime in 2016. Hall said Syrian groups relying on Turkey has become “problematic” as it sets its target on Kurdish controlled areas instead of the Assad regime. “Being entirely reliant on Turkey, rather than fighting the good fight for the Syrian people they’re fighting the fight for the Turkish government.

Persons: Bashar Al, Assad’s, Assad, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, Abu Mohammad al, al, Jolani, ”, ” Natasha Hall, Hall, Bashar al, Mahmoud Hassano, Sham who’s, Al Sham, Ahmed al, Dalati, …, ” Hall Organizations: CNN, ISIS, Hayat, Organization for, Terrorist Organization, PBS, Middle, Washington DC, Strategic, International Studies, Syrian National Army, Liberation, Sharia, ”, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party Locations: Russian, Aleppo, Syrian, Iran, Hayat Tahrir, al Qaeda, United States, Iraq, Syria, Qaeda, Idlib, …, Assad, Turkey, Turkish

☆ Killing of Nasrallah is a key prize for Israel, but it’s too early to write off Hezbollah
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-29 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In 2008, Israel killed Hezbollah’s military leader, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus, Syria, yet the group only gathered strength in the years that followed. Four years earlier, Israel killed a founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in an airstrike. The US has its own history of killing terrorist leaders in the hope that it will cripple its foes. ISIS also carried out devastating terrorist attacks in the West, for instance, in Paris in 2015 that killed 130 people. The UN estimates there are about four hundred members of al Qaeda living in Afghanistan today.

Persons: CNN — , Hassan Nasrallah, Israel, don’t, Imad Mughniyeh, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, masterminds, Mohammed Deif, Abu Musab al, Zarqawi, al, ”, Barack Obama, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, Donald Trump, Qasem Soleimani, Soleimani, Trump, “ Soleimani, Osama bin Laden, bin Laden, Bin Laden’s, Laden, Ayman al, Zawahiri, didn’t, Nasrallah, it’s Organizations: CNN, US, ISIS, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, Hamas, United, Taliban, Hezbollah, CIA, US Navy, UN, Israel Locations: Beirut, Israel, Damascus, Syria, Gaza, al Qaeda, Iraq, Qaeda, Portugal, Paris, Syrian Kurdish, Mosul, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Baghdad, Yemen, United States, Pakistan’s, New America, Abbottabad, Iran

A Tuareg militant group spokesman said some Malian troops and Russian fighters had also been captured during the battle. According to some unofficial Russian Telegram channels, as many as 80 Russians were killed. The commander – call-sign Rusich – said on Telegram he was trying to convey a message to the Russian Defense Ministry. And in Syria five years ago, a disastrous attack by Russian mercenaries on an oil refinery led to dozens of casualties. One of them was an IED attack on a Russian vehicle in the same region of Mali as the latest devastating assault.

Persons: Nusrat al, JNIM, ”, Andriy Yusov, Yusov, Wagner, Wagner “, –, Sergei Shevchenko, Nikita Fedyanin, “, Korotkov, Africa Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Yunus, Bek, Yevkurov, al Organizations: CNN, Russian, Russian Telegram, Kremlin, Kyiv, Ukraine’s Security, Russian Defense Ministry, Corps, Grey, Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian Federation, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Central African, Wagner PMC, Deputy, SITE Intelligence Group Locations: Mali, Algerian, Islam, Africa, Malian, Russian, London, Syria, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Bakhmut, Ukraine, Niger, Burkina Faso, Moscow, Togo

The Yemen-based branch of Al Qaeda said on Sunday that its leader, Khaled Batarfi, had died. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as A.Q.A.P., released a video announcing Mr. Batarfi’s death, showing images of him wrapped in a white funeral shroud overlaid with a black Al Qaeda flag. The United States government once considered Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations. The United States previously offered a $6 million reward for information about Mr. al-Awlaki, and $5 million for tips about Mr. Batarfi. Born in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Batarfi traveled in the 1990s to Afghanistan and fought alongside the Taliban before joining Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, according to a U.S. informational sheet about him.

Persons: Al Qaeda, Khaled Batarfi, Batarfi’s, ”, Gregory D, Johnsen, “, Ibrahim Al, Batarfi, Saad bin Atef, Awlaki Organizations: Al, United, Gulf States Institute Locations: Yemen, Al, Al Qaeda, United States, American, Washington, Sudanese, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda’s

☆ C.I.A. Violently Cut Off 9/11 Suspect When He Tried to Talk About Attacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

wanted him to discuss Al Qaeda’s future plans, not the attacks that had horrified America a year and a half earlier, Dr. James E. Mitchell, the psychologist, said. So when the prisoner, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mentioned Sept. 11, they would slam him, naked, into a wall. That month, interrogators would waterboard Mr. Mohammed 183 times at a secret overseas C.I.A. prison in the mistaken belief, Dr. Mitchell said, that a nuclear attack in the United States was imminent. But Mr. Mohammed still was not saying what his captors wanted to hear.

Persons: Al Qaeda’s, James E, Mitchell, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Mr, Mohammed, ” Dr Locations: America, United States

☆ Opinion: Bad behavior test isn’t just about George Santos
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Michael Ryan | Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

What they do results from neurons firing in assorted regions of the brain, the product of an array of causes they can’t control. Every now and then someone bursts out crying — a member of his family has been killed, or his house destroyed. • Join us on Twitter and FacebookThere was no visible sign of progress on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Writing before the summit, Frida Ghitis noted, “Biden may want Xi to help bring down the temperature on the world’s ongoing wars and help prevent new ones from igniting. “Today’s miseries of flying derive from this choice to deregulate airlines and unleash them into the Hunger Games of ordinary incentives.

Persons: Robert M, Sapolsky, ”, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Douglas Heye, Tim Burchett, Kevin McCarthy, elbowing, McCarthy, Heye, Burchett, tortuously, Mike Johnson, Johnson, George Santos, “, ” Drew Sheneman, Julian Zelizer, Santos, ” “ Santos, Trump, ” Zelizer, John Avlon, Clay Jones, Nikki Haley’s, Nikki Haley's, Nikki Haley, Haley, she’d, Cupp, Hussein Ibish, ” “, Israel —, Abbas —, Fatma, Khan Younis, there’s, —, Jessica Rosenberg, Joe Biden, ” Biden, Rosenberg, “ Biden, “ Aviva Klompas, speechwriting, Laden, Osama bin Laden, Peter Bergen ,, bin, bin Laden, ’, Walt Handelsman, Joan Steinau Lester, Xi Dana Summers, Biden, Xi Jinping, Frida Ghitis, Xi, ” Peter Bergen, Juvenal, Stephen I, Vladeck, they’ll, Stephen Brobeck, ” Trump’s, Donald Trump, Dean Obeidallah, “ I’m, Barack Obama, Peter Bergen, Megan Fox, Mike Coppola, Megan Fox isn’t, Patricia Grisafi, Tupac Shakur, Billy Corgan, Alicia Keys, Mary Lambert, Florence Welch, Halsey, Lana del Rey, Bob Dylan, Grisafi, Ganesh Sitaraman, Sitaraman, ” Don’t, Fareed Zakaria, Jill Filipovic, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift Judi Ketteler, Noah Berlatsky, Nicolas, Elizabeth Debicki, Diana, Daniel Escale, Holly Thomas, Princess Diana, irresistibly, ” Thomas, Prince Charles ’, Camilla Parker, Bowles, Mohamed Al, Dodi, Spencer, Diana cavorting Organizations: CNN, Teamsters, House Republican, “ Tennessee Republican, Democrats, George Santos of New, Content Agency Santos, Long Island Republicans, GOP, Guinness, World Records, Democrat, CNN Former UN, New Hampshire, Trump, Fox News, West Bank, Gulf States Institute, Fatah, Palestinian Authority, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, “ Aviva, United Nations, Guardian, Agency, Biden, San Francisco Wednesday, China, Twitter, Consumer Federation of America, Democratic, Fox, “, Hunger Games, Liberty ’, Netflix Locations: George Santos of, George Santos of New York, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New, Israel, Gaza, Washington, Gaza City, Minneapolis, Iran, United States, America, al Qaeda, San, Ukraine, China, Mexico, Kansas City , Missouri, New Hampshire, Nazi Germany, Ohio, Al

☆ Opinion: Osama bin Laden was a mass murderer, not a TikTok influencer
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

He is the author of “The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden.” The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Bin Laden’s al Qaeda affiliate in Iraq helped to trigger the Iraqi civil war in 2006, during which tens of thousands of Iraqis died. And this is only a partial list of the mayhem carried out by bin Laden and his followers. The “Letter to America” also decries the United States’ role in global warming, American tolerance for homosexuality and the drug culture that exists in the United States. It might behoove those posting on TikTok to understand some of this history before praising bin Laden’s purported brilliance.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Osama bin Laden, CNN —, bin Laden, ”, bin, Bin Laden’s, I’ve, “, Nelly Lahoud, ” Lahoud, Facebook Lahoud, “ Bin Laden Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, Guardian, Israel, Hamas, Saudi, Palestine, US Navy, Team, ISIS, US Army War College, Twitter, Facebook Locations: New America, America, al Qaeda, Africa, Qaeda, Iraq, Indonesia, Bali, London, United States, Palestine, Israel, Islam, Al Aqsa, Jerusalem, Al, Quds, Pakistan, Syria, Abbottabad, Vietnam

☆ Opinion | Are There Lessons for Israel From America’s Response to 9/11?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Other lessons do apply, but not in any simple way. But not every aggressive path America took after 9/11 looks mistaken in hindsight. The long-term debacle of our Afghanistan occupation doesn’t make our initial decision to topple the Taliban unwise. Setting out to destroy the Islamic State’s caliphate rather than seeking stable coexistence was a correct and successful call. Reportedly that kind of cruise-missile minimalism is what Bin Laden expected from America after Sept. 11 as well.

Persons: doesn’t, Al, Clinton, Al Qaeda’s, — Locations: Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America

☆ Opinion: The 9/11 attack wasn’t an intelligence failure. The Hamas attack may be
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Hamas’s attacks are also being ascribed to an intelligence failure, just as 9/11 was. But this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the 9/11 attacks, which were not so much an intelligence failure as a policy failure. Intelligence distributed to officials in the George W. Bush administration included warnings entitled, “Bin Ladin Planning High Profile Attacks,” “Bin Ladin Attacks May Be Imminent,” and “Planning for Bin Ladin Attacks Continues, Despite Delay.” (“Bin Ladin” was the spelling used by the US government at the time.) Certainly, the Hamas attacks in Israel were a surprise, just as 9/11 was, but it is premature to label it an intelligence failure. Right now, we have no idea if there were signals amid the “noise” coming into Israeli intelligence about a likely Hamas attack.

Persons: Peter Bergen, ”, Osama bin Laden, George W, Bush, “, Shin Bet, can’t, Benjamin Netanyahu, Roberta Wohlstetter, Bruce Riedel, couldn’t, Netanyahu, Richard Hecht, wasn’t Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, CIA, Intelligence, Twitter, Facebook, Israeli Defense Forces Locations: New America, Israel, Texas, United States, Egypt, Syria, Gaza, Pearl Harbor

☆ Iraq to summon US ambassador over remarks about Christian leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid speaks during a news conference as an ancient artifact brought back from Italy is exhibited, following his visit to Rome, in Baghdad, Iraq, June 18, 2023. REUTERS/Ahmed SaadJuly 20 (Reuters) - Iraq's president said late on Wednesday he would summon the United States ambassador to Baghdad over critical remarks by a U.S. State Department spokesperson regarding the Iraqi government's treatment of a top Iraqi Christian leader. "I will say we are disturbed by the harassment of Cardinal Sako ... and troubled by the news that he has left Baghdad," Miller told a press briefing. The Iraqi Christian community is a vital part of Iraq's identity and a central part of Iraq's history of diversity and tolerance," Miller said. Rashid was "disappointed by accusations leveled against the Iraqi government" by Miller and so would summon the ambassador, a presidency statement said.

Persons: Abdul Latif Rashid, Ahmed Saad, Matthew Miller, Cardinal Louis Sako, Sako, Pope Francis, Rashid's, Cardinal Sako, Miller, Rashid, Hatem Maher, Timour, Timour Azhari, Leslie Adler, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . State Department, State Department, Chaldean Catholic, Iraqi, Vatican Embassy, Chaldean, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome, Baghdad, Iraq, United States, Iraqi, U.S, Iran, Iraq's, Kurdistan, Vatican, Islamic State

☆ Qatar’s prime minister met with top Taliban leader in Afghanistan earlier this month, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Qatar’s prime minister met secretly with the Taliban’s top leader earlier this month in Afghanistan, two sources familiar with the meeting confirmed to CNN. The meeting happened in the southern city of Kandahar on May 12, between the Taliban Supreme Leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada and Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. The meeting, first reported by Reuters, is believed to be the first between Akhundzada and a foreign leader. Despite American warnings to the Taliban not harbor terrorists, Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri took up residence in Kabul before being killed in a US drone strike last July. Qatar serves as the US protecting power in Afghanistan, where it does not have a diplomatic presence.

Persons: CNN —, Haibatullah, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim, Biden, Antony Blinken, Qatar’s, ”, Qatar’s Al Jazeera, Thani, Al Qaeda’s, Ayman al, Zawahiri Organizations: CNN, Taliban, Qatar’s, Reuters, State Department, ” CNN, US State Department, Qatari Embassy, US Locations: Afghanistan, Kandahar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al, Thani, Qatar, Washington, Al, Doha, Kabul, Kabul –

☆ War Court Proceedings Stream to Guantánamo From a Secret Chamber in Virginia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — For hearings in the destroyer Cole bombing case this month, the Guantánamo war court was mostly empty. Skeletal teams for the prosecution and the defense sat in the cavernous chamber, silently watching an 80-inch screen over the witness stand. On it lawyers argued and witnesses testified from a secret courtroom 1,300 miles to the north outside Washington. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the George W. Bush administration created a war crimes court at Guantánamo to be out of reach of the U.S. courts. But now, increasingly, lawyers are examining witnesses and making arguments in the remote annex — four miles from the Supreme Court and 10 miles from C.I.A.

☆ Al Qaeda's new leader Adel has $10 million bounty on his head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Michael Georgy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Zawahiri's death piled pressure on the group to choose a strategic leader who can carefully plan deadly operations and run a jihadi network, experts on al Qaeda say. The department’s Rewards for Justice programme is offering up to $10 million for information on Adel, whom it says is a member of "al Qaeda’s leadership council” and heads the organisation’s military committee. He and other Al Qaeda leaders were placed under house arrest in April 2003 by Iran, which released him and four others in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in Yemen. OPERATIVE TO LEADERAdel, one of the few remaining al Qaeda old guard, has been close to the central command for decades, experts say. Adel gained more jihadi credentials after he joined other Arab militants fighting Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan, where he eventually headed a training camp before becoming a senior figure in al Qaeda.

☆ Fears of Losing Out to China Put U.S. Under Pressure Over Kenya Base
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Michael M. Phillips | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MOKOWE, Kenya—Kenya is asking the U.S. to pay for the expansion of a joint counterterrorism base, raising concerns in Washington that the East African country could turn to China if the Americans balk, according to U.S. officials. The Kenyan military has drawn up plans for a new runway long enough to handle jet fighters at Manda Bay Airfield, a hub for U.S. and Kenyan operations against al-Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in neighboring Somalia, the U.S. officials said.

☆ Osama bin Laden, Big Man on Campus
▼ + stars: | 2001-09-11 | by ( Christopher Nadon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Wonder Land: After the massacres of Oct. 7, the burden is now on Israel to end the war in Gaza. Images: Reuters Composite: Mark KellyCollege students haven’t always been persuaded by Osama bin Laden ’s prose. Yet when his 2002 “Letter to America” went viral among young Americans earlier this month, I wasn’t surprised. I had assigned the document for a course on religion and politics when it first appeared. Students found it compelling as a clear and concise statement of al Qaeda’s motives, intentions and understanding of world and Middle Eastern history.

Persons: haven’t, Osama bin Laden, America ”, intoned Organizations: Kelly College Locations: Israel, Gaza

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