The Counter Terrorist Magazine - April/May 2012

Z e t a s A m b u s h • L A P D S I S • M u s li m B r o t h e r h o o d • Al J a z e e r a

Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals

Counter The

april/may 2012

Volume 5 • Number 2

islamist economic warfare: jihad with money

An SSI Publication ®

April/may 2012 USA/CANADA $5.99

www.thecounterterroristmag.com The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 1

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Counter

The Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals april/may 2012

Volume 5 • Number 2

COVER story:

30

contents

30

8

46

58

Islamist Economic Warfare: Jihad with Money

by Kevin D. Freeman

FEATURES:

8

Firsthand: LAPD Special Investigation Section

By Larry Winston and Brian Davis

20

Case Study: Los Zetas Cartel Ambush in Houston

By Jennifer Hesterman

46

Al Jazeera: News Organization or Propaganda Network?

By M. Zuhdi Jasser

58

The Muslim Brotherhood Reinvented

By Dean T. Olson

departments: 6 From the Editor From the Halls of Montezuma…

44 Book Review You Don’t Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the

Wind Blows

69

Innovative Products

Mattracks, The Hero, Peephole Reverser

72 Training Review Confined Quarters Defensive Tactics

Cover: Israeli boy standing in his house that was destroyed by a Qassam rocket.

Photo: Edi Israel

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 5

From the Halls of Montezuma…

By Chris Graham

I

n 2008 the U.S. Department of Defense warned of the possible “rapid and sudden collapse” of Mexico.1 In the intervening years, Mexican organized crime factions, gang elements, and corrupt government personnel have made strides toward making that happen. Thousands are killed each year and Mexico currently exists in a state of chaos.

The progress made by Islamic supremacist groups around the world captivates the attention of any who have more than a passing interest in current events, and Iran’s strategic ambitions may be one of the factors most likely to exacerbate global conflict; however, the issue of Mexico could directly affect the security and finances of Americans more abruptly than almost any other threat.

Excluding less lethal threats, such as economic warfare, cyber-attacks, and electromagnetic pulses, Mexican crime and conflict has the ability to bring low-intensity conflict into the lives of Americans more rapidly than any other likely threat. Border security is clearly a priority to the American citizen. Security efforts are as complex as the agendas of those who influence our security policies. Politicians often attempt to frame our evaluation of them, on this subject, in terms of dollars spent on border security projects.

Obviously, the only true measure of the effectiveness of our border security operations is the number of illegal incursions or infiltrations made in a given period of time: 100 in a year would suggest a highly effective operation. 1,000 would suggest room for improvement. 100,000 or more would suggest that our border security operations are highly inadequate. They are, in fact, highly inadequate.

Adding to confusion on the subject is the odd testimony of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder when subpoenaed by the U.S. Congress. Mr. Holder described a U.S. operation named “Fast and Furious” that facilitated the transfer of thousands of American firearms to Mexican crime groups resulting in the deaths of an unknown number of Mexicans and at least one U.S. law enforcement agent.2 More than a year has passed since this operation was exposed. Mr. Holder’s unlikely assertion that his investigations still have not determined who is responsible for this debacle3 suggests very strongly who is, in fact, responsible. And the fact that the operation consisted of encouraging U.S. firearms vendors to transfer guns for transport to Mexican crime groups in order to be tracked, with, apparently, no serious effort made to actually track them suggests a motive.

The Counter Terrorist has as much interest in the tragic Mexican crime war on our doorstep as it does in modern jihad and any other form of unrestricted warfare. If you have experience in this conflict that others can learn from, I look forward to hearing from you.

Semper Fidelis, Chris Graham *Editor’s note: If you received a copy of Vol. 5 No. 1 with faulty print on page nine, you may access the entire issue for free at http://onlinedigitalpublishing.com/ publication?i=96637.

http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2008/JOE2008.pdf accessed Feb 29, 2012. http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2012/02/house-lawmakers-accuse-holder-of-obstructingfast-and-furious-probe/ accessed Feb 29, 2012.

3 http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-12-08/fast-and-furious-holderhearing/51746552/1 accessed Feb 29, 2012.

1 2

Counter The

From The Editor:

Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals

Volume 5 • Number 2 April 2012/MAy 2012

Editor Chris Graham Director of Operations Sol Bradman Director of Advertizing Carmen Arnaes Director of Production Kelli Richardson Contributing Editors Eeben Barlow Jennifer Hesterman Richard Marquise Tom Nypaver Steve Young Graphic Design Morrison Creative Company Copy Editor Laura Town Office Manager Lily Valdes Publisher: Security Solutions International 13155 SW 134th St. • STE 204 Miami, Florida 33186

ISSN 1941-8639 The Counter Terrorist Magazine, Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals is published by Security Solutions International LLC, as a service to the nation’s First Responders and Homeland Security Professionals with the aim of deepening understanding of issues related to Terrorism. No part of the publication can be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

The opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the authors represented and not necessarily the opinions of the publisher.

Please direct all Editorial correspondence related to the magazine to: Security Solutions International SSI, 13155 SW 134th Street, Suite 204, Miami, Florida.

33186 or info@thecounterterroristmag.com The subscription price for 6 issues is $34.99 and the price of the magazine is $5.99.

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Firsthand:

LAPD

Special Investigation Section

By Larry Winston and Brian Davis

Counter The

8 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

To Protect and to Serve. Photo: Skyfox11

In the early 1990s, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Special Investigation Section (SIS) detectives received a bank robbery case from the FBI and the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division. The case involved four suspects: three males and one female; all were African American.

T

hey were suspected of committing four takeoverstyle bank robberies within Los Angeles County. In three of the four robberies, the female suspect forced bank security guards into a prone, face-down position, straddled them, and shot them in the back of the head, killing them. The suspects used stolen vans in each of the robberies and despite numerous surveillance photos from each robbery site, the detectives could not identify any of the subjects. Some of them wore disguises.

As a result of a reward offered by the Wells Fargo Bank, an untested informant provided a name and possible address for one of the male suspects. The suspect was identified using the department’s database. A record check revealed one outstanding felony warrant for a robbery/ purse snatch. The suspect had several arrests for burglary, grand theft auto, and robbery, two convictions for purse snatching with the use of a knife, and 18 months served in state prison.

SIS has strict guidelines to adhere to before “working” a case.

Generally, the unit will not work a suspect with an outstanding warrant.

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SIS has strict guidelines to adhere to before “working” a case. Generally, the unit will not work a suspect with an outstanding warrant. After all, that is an order from a judge requesting the arrest of an individual. However, “generally” means just what it implies—there is some wiggle room. In this case, we had four violent suspects. Locating the suspect with the warrant and taking him into custody might not have brought us any closer to stopping the other three suspects that were violent bank robbers responsible for at least three murders. So, in this case, the unit received approval from command-level personnel to work the case.

Based on the level of violence, or lack of violence exhibited from a suspect’s prior actions, and tactical concerns, Brian Davis, the senior field supervisor, would, on many occasions, allow the unit to observe a crime “go down” and then affect a tactical arrest of the suspect or suspects after the crime has occurred.

In this case, however, the level of violence demonstrated was extreme.

Davis advised the team that if the suspects were “looking” at a bank, that they should be prevented, at all costs, from entering the bank.

At 0700 hours, on a warm Monday morning in July, the unit set up on the address of the possible suspect. It was a multilevel, multiunit apartment building located in one of Los Angeles’ south-end, ganginfested regions. The informant supplied an address for the suspect but no apartment number and no vehicle information. An observation point, established by Larry Winston, provided a view of the rear of the building and a rear parking

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lot that appeared to be used by the residents of the building. A second point was established to provide a view of the front of the building as well as most of the street parking.

Because of the gang activity in the area, it was decided not to “chase down” every person leaving the area. This would only “heat up” the neighborhood and limit our effective time to remain in an undercover capacity. It was hoped that personnel at the two observation points would be able to identify the suspect from booking photos and the unit would follow him in order to gather information on him and the other suspects.

The unit maintained the observation points for 12-hour days for eight days and saw no one that matched or even came close to the suspect description. No bank robberies matching the distinct method of these robberies occurred during this time frame.

On day nine at approximately 1030 hours, Winston observed a suspect matching the description of the booking photo exit a rear security door of the apartment building and enter a brown 1987 Toyota Celica. The unit followed the suspect to various locations throughout the immediate area. Manpower on this day consisted of 12 detectives, partnered in six cars, and two supervisors, each riding by themselves, along with one air unit. Several hours into the surveillance the suspect, still alone, parked his vehicle behind a blue 1989 Chevy Astro van. Winston observed the suspect as he entered the driver’s side of the van, started the motor, and drove to the rear parking lot of his apartment building. He exited the van and was

followed on foot back to his vehicle.

He then drove his vehicle back to his residence and parked next to the Astro van. A check of both license numbers revealed the Toyota to be registered to an unknown elderly female at the apartment address of the suspect. The Chevy van was a North Hollywood Division stolen vehicle, taken three days prior. No further activity was observed and the surveillance was ended at 2200 hours of day nine.

On day 10, the unit set up on the suspect’s apartment at 0600 hours. Both vehicles were still in the rear parking lot. The operation was supported with 12 detectives and two supervisors. An air unit was on standby.

At approximately 0800 hours, the suspect and three others (two males and one female) were observed together in the rear parking lot of the apartment. The suspect and two others (one male and the female) drove away in the Toyota. The third unknown male followed in the stolen van. The surveillance continued with the assistance of the air unit and traveled through residential neighborhoods into the business districts of Wilshire Division and eventually ended in Hollywood.

At approximately 0945 hours, the suspects parked the stolen van at a Builders Emporium parking lot at Sunset Boulevard and Western Avenue. All four suspects entered the Toyota. They proceeded west on Sunset, apparently paying no particular attention to several banks they passed. At approximately 1020 hours, the suspects drove past a Bank of America located at Sunset and Argyle Boulevard. They circled the block twice, each time stop-

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ping at an alley just west of the bank doors. The suspects eventually returned to the Builders Emporium and parked. One of the suspects retrieved a large plastic trash bag from the trunk of the Toyota and placed it into the back seat of the stolen van.

All four suspects proceeded directly back to the vicinity of the Bank of America in the stolen van.

Two blocks east of the bank the van parked in a small alley at the rear of a liquor store. Winston worked his way in on foot, and while pretending to rummage through a trash bin, was able to observe one suspect filling a five-gallon plastic pail with water from the rear of the liquor store. (Criminals often throw money bundled with explosive dye packs into water in an attempt to deactivate the explosive and to limit

14 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

contamination to their hands or clothing.)

The suspects drove away from the alley. The air unit maneuvered so as not to be audible to the suspects and handed them off to SIS ground units. They observed the suspects circle the bank again.

This time the female was observed by a footman to be wearing a large afro wig and dark glasses.

This disguise matched the surveillance photo of the female that had killed three security guards. Based on this information and the obvious preparation by the suspects, Davis ordered the suspects to be taken into custody as soon as possible. He phoned the bank, identified himself as a police officer, informed a bank employee of the imminent threat, and asked the bank manager to lock the doors.

The SIS units continued to follow the stolen van until it stopped momentarily in the alley just west of the bank doors. Three of the suspects moved to exit the vehicle wearing sweatshirts (with hoods up) armed with 9mm handguns and a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun.

The SIS vehicles converged and performed a vehicle containment maneuver. Detectives armed with M1A4 assault rifles, 12-gauge shotguns, and .45 cal. 1911-style pistols positioned themselves to cover the suspects without creating a crossfire.

A detective provided verbal commands to the suspects. They were removed from the stolen van using felony prone procedures, searched, and handcuffed. All four were taken into custody without incident.

The vehicle containment technique boxes the suspect vehicle in,

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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 15

but still leaves an open background and a field of fire area should the situation require it. The procedure has designated roles based on position, which generally determines which detectives will take charge of the suspects within the vehicle and which will be shooters if the need arises. It also designates detectives for clearing the vehicle, handcuffing suspects, and setting perimeters in case of a runner. It provides for a well-guarded safe area in which to place the suspects for searching and handcuffing as well as a vantage point to use in clearing the vehicle.

The maneuver requires perfect timing and a lot of training. Its sequence is determined by the suspects’ actions as well as traffic considerations and background.

Once the maneuver has begun, it is

16 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

a coordinated show of overpowering force. The speed of the vehicle containment technique, when performed correctly, leaves suspects with two choices: give up or risk being shot. 97% make the correct decision. The technique works on suspects in vehicles or on foot.

LAPD’s SIS originated from a 1965 department surveillance unit.

Its purpose was to follow individuals who were suspected of violent crimes and arrest suspects when detectives were sure that they had an airtight case that would ensure a conviction. The unit originally consisted of 9 detectives. Today, the unit consists of 19 detectives and one lieutenant. All 19 detectives work one case at a time until its conclusion.

In the early days, training con-

sisted of firearms training only. The surveillance training was “on-thejob” learning. Over the past 47 years, the unit has built upon the foundation laid by the original nine members and developed tactics for vehicle, foot, and airborne surveillance involving both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

The unit has enjoyed many successes in surveillance and the arrest of armed suspects. SIS has evolved into a highly trained, well-armed tactical unit that is often called upon to interdict armed subjects on-the-move in vehicles. The tactics employed by the unit often involve vehicle-containment techniques.

The SIS has been called “SWAT on wheels.”

Many crimes fall under the purview of the SIS. The unit is tasked

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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 17

to handle: violent takeover bank robberies, street robberies, burglars, rapists, cop killers, killer cops, and all kidnap-for-ransom cases in Los Angeles. The SIS can boast that in its 47 years, it has recovered every kidnap victim in kidnap-for-ransom cases it has ever worked.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s motto is “To protect and to serve.” It states that the essential goal of the LAPD is to protect the right of all persons within its jurisdiction to be free from criminal attack, to be secure in their possessions, and to live in peace.

SIS has been the object of numerous federal civil suits since the early 1980s. Civil rights attorneys have claimed that the SIS operates in contradiction of the LAPD’s mot-

18 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

to. The news media has reported time and time again that the unit is “secretive and controversial” because it stands by and watches crimes occur before taking action, allegedly putting the public at risk. Ultimately, the truth of the matter is that the SIS is not overly secretive. It is listed in the department’s manual just like every other section or division in the LAPD. Controversial? Maybe in the eyes of civil rights attorneys or other untrained “tacticians.”

•

ABOUT THE AUTHORs Mr. Winston’s 30 years of service with the Los Angeles Police Department include 17 years with the Special Investigation Section (SIS).

His instruction experience includes

providing training to agencies throughout the United States, including numerous federal agencies and the U.S. military. Mr. Winston is a principal of the Tactical Surveillance Institute (www.tacticalsurveillanceinstitute.com).

Mr. Davis has 30 years experience in criminal surveillance and supervision of specialist units of the Los Angeles Police Department, including the Special Investigation Section (SIS). His instructional experience includes providing training to agencies throughout the United States, including numerous federal agencies and the U.S. military. Mr. Davis is a principal of the Tactical Surveillance Institute (www.tacticalsurveillanceinstitute.com).

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Case Study:

Los Zetas Cartel Ambush in Houston

By Jennifer Hesterman

Counter The

20 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

US-Mexican border on the Rio Grande river. Photo: Dan Davis

Houston is a major distribution hub for illegal drugs. Every advantage the city enjoys makes it a magnet for drug trafficking: major highways, access to waterways and ports, and strong international trade.

C

artel activity in Houston has steadily increased over the last few years.

On the afternoon of November 21, 2011, confidential informant Lawrence Chapa was doing what he had done many times before: drive a semi loaded with drugs for delivery to unsuspecting traffickers, under the watchful eyes of a joint counterdrug task force. Chapa was a 53-year-old licensed big rig driver with the “street cred� and mannerisms necessary to be a productive informant.

He had an arrest record for cocaine possession, resisting arrest, and assault on a store clerk just a few months before, but he was a long-term asset, reportedly on the books for at least 10 years.1 His family was unaware of his prior cooperation

with the feds and shocked he would risk his life for this operation, possibly done in the name of making a few bucks.

On the day of the operation, Chapa rendezvoused with law enforcement in the morning at the US/Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley. The vehicle used for the operation was a fuel truck, which is commonly employed by traffickers to avoid detection and limit searches to the external chassis if pulled over and challenged. This load was a mere 300 pounds of marijuana, nothing compared to the thousands usually delivered. Plainclothes officers trailed Chapa.2 When the truck arrived in the Houston area, the buyers informed Chapa of a change in the delivery destination. He made his way down Bourgeois Road (a

Two shooters ran to the truck, pulled open the cab door, and fired on an unarmed Chapa, who put his hands in the air.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent arresting a suspect.

Photo: U.S. Govvernment

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 21

Their weaponry and tactical skill make them a formidable force.

They repeatedly demonstrate willingness to brutally confront law enforcement.

22 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

suburban area of northwest Houston) in Harris County, an area with a quiet neighborhood, nice homes, and an elementary school.

As he headed up the dead-end road, toward an industrial park, several black, high-end SUVs converged at an intersection and opened fire. The truck cab was quickly sprayed with bullets.3 Two shooters ran to the truck, pulled open the cab door, and fired on an unarmed Chapa, who put his hands in the air.4 A gunman pulled Chapa from the cab, throwing his lifeless body on the ground.

Officers raced to the scene, running over one of the gunmen in an attempt to stop the shooting. A Harris County deputy in plainclothes was downed by friendly fire when he was misidentified.5 Fortunately, he will make a full recovery from a gunshot wound to the leg.

Perpetrators In the chaos, several vehicles fled the scene, leaving behind four shooters and a Lincoln Navigator. Police chased several gunmen on foot through the adjacent neighborhood and made successful apprehensions.6 Eric De Luna, 23, was born in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, but grew up in the Houston area. De Luna was the leader of the group and reportedly recruited the other three men arrested in the attack.

According to an affidavit signed by a member of the Pasadena Narcotics Task Force, just four days prior to the ambush, De Luna was stopped in a town outside of Houston as he left a stash house (later found to contain rifles and bulk narcotics).7 Police confiscated $5,600 from De Luna’s clothing and decided to let him go, possibly for surveillance reasons. According to court records obtained from

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the Harris County district clerk, two months prior to the Chapa killing, De Luna was charged with aggravated assault by knife. He posted a $40,000 bond and was awaiting arraignment at the time of the attack.8 De Luna is reportedly the gunman hit by a police car during the attack as officers tried to suppress his fire.

Fernando Tavera, 19, is a U.S. citizen from Houston and confessed to killing Chapa, exclaiming to arresting officers, "I emptied my clip into [Chapa]."9 Tavera had a prior misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in Harris County. Ricardo Ramirez, 35, also from Nuevo Laredo, and Rolando Resendiz, 34, from Matamoros, the other two shooters, also have prior brushes with law enforcement in the Houston area. A fifth gunman who fled the scene, Alfredo Gomez, was arrested several weeks after the shooting.

The five men have been charged with

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From left to right, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director Kenneth E. Melson; U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Janet Napolitano; Mexican Attorney-General Eduardo Medina-Mora and Mexican National Public Security System Executive Secretary Jorge Tello Peón.

Photo: Chuck Reed

capital murder and reportedly identified as connections to the Los Zetas drug cartel in their separate confessions. Louis Guthrie, director of Special Crimes and Narcotics for the Liberty County Sheriff's Department, stated: "This shootout is the latest example of cartel-related violence to hit the streets of Houston and Harris County.”10

Los Zetas The Zetas were originally trained by the Mexican government to protect their leaders from cartel violence. At some point, the group flipped, became the paramilitary “enforcer” wing of the Gulf cartel and recruited new members. Their weaponry and tactical skill make them a formidable force. They repeatedly demonstrate willingness to brutally confront law enforcement. A Stratfor report indicates that Los Zetas is now the largest cartel in

24 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

Mexico, operating in 17 states, or more than half the country, while its rival and second-largest cartel, Sinaloa, had operations in 16 states.11 Despite losing 17 of its leaders in 2011, the Zetas remain a formidable, transnational force. They are reportedly at war with the Sinaloa cartel and gaining territory.

According to law enforcement personnel, Zeta tactics in the United States are adapted to avoid detection. They use “cloned vehicles,” such as replicas of delivery trucks and ambulances, to run drugs and other contraband. Group members are extremely proficient at falsifying paperwork for big rig trucks to successfully navigate weigh stations and other checkpoints.

We should not underestimate the sophistication of this group; undetected, it plans and practices for operations, performing surveillance and patiently waiting for the right time to strike. The brazen daytime attack on a casino in Monterrey, Mexico, in August 2011 that left at least 52 people dead is an example of the escalation and calculation of Zeta violence: 12 gunmen entered the casino and started shooting into the crowd.

Attackers simultaneously doused exits with gasoline and threw grenades into the building to start multiple fires. Such attacks are less about the target and more about the message.

Assassination?

Chapa’s accused killers will have their day in court later this year. Questions over the Houston attack persist, such as: if the shooters knew Chapa was an informant, wouldn’t they assume he was being followed by law enforcement and not attack? Most close to the investigation believe this speaks to the culture of the Zetas to carry out planned attacks in city limits, during the daytime, and with disregard for

the presence of law enforcement.

Based on Tavera’s statement indicating Chapa was the target, the fact that the load was just 300 pounds, the shooters were numerous, armed, and lying in wait (after calling in a venue change), suggests that this may have been a hit on Chapa.

Somehow, he was compromised, and paid the ultimate price. Perhaps the attack in Houston wasn’t a failed mission for the Zetas—it was a successful elimination of an enemy.

Some of the most compelling evidence of Zeta hit squads in the United States came in January 2012 during the trial of Gerardo Castillo-Chavez, a Zetas-linked hitman on trial for racketeering and weapons charges. During his trial, several Zetas previously convicted of murdering U.S. citizens confirmed the presence and activity of “sicario” (assassin) cells in Laredo, Texas. Castillo-Chavez and several other Zetas in Laredo were rolled up in “Operation Prophecy,” an investigation of the killing of Americans in vicinity of the border.12 Recent murders by cartels, including the Gulf Cartel and the spinoff Zetas, included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jaime Zapata and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

The cartels routinely issue a “green light,” authorizing the killing of police and military in our country. In early 2010, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the Barrio Azteca issued a “green light” authorizing the murder of law enforcement officers in El Paso.13 Shortly thereafter, members of the Aztecas, who often carry out hits for the La Linea cartel, targeted and killed U.S. consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton and her husband across the border in Ciudad Juarez. The husband of another consulate employee, Jorge Salcido, was also killed in the attack.14

Zeta Concerns Increasing Reach in the United States The recent arrest of 15 Zeta cartel members in Chicago highlighted the movement of drugs from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, via a U.S. fugitive working for the Zetas, through Texas and into Chicago. The street value of this cell was staggering: feds seized $12.4 million in cash, and approximately 250 kilograms of cocaine.15 According to the FBI, in addition to border states, Zeta cells are believed to be present in other states, including Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia.16

Interaction with Dark Networks After the Zetas tortured and killed three bloggers in Mexico for negative chat

about the group in online forums, the hacker group “Anonymous” engaged, initiating “Operation Cartel” and vandalizing websites with anti-Zeta propaganda.

The cartel retaliated by locating and kidnapping an “Anonymous Iberoamerica” member. When the hacker group threatened to release 25,000 personal emails exposing the identities of 60 Los Zetas members, the cartel released the victim.

However, it was a victory for the Zetas: the victim had a note in his pocket saying for every name Anonymous published, they would kill 10 civilians, starting with the victim. Anonymous called a “truce” with the Zetas and backed away from its campaign.17

Nexus with Street Gangs The FBI’s 2011 Gang Assessment indicates a number of alarming trends, including that U.S. street gangs are

growing in size, operating at the border, and forming ties with cartels and other drug trafficking organizations.18 The 1.7 million gang members in our country are now engaging in nontraditional crimes, such as human trafficking and alien smuggling. They are acquiring formidable weaponry and showing new sophistication in terms of recruitment and communication. Law enforcement also believes the Zetas may have already used MS-13 in several operations in the United States, providing training and weaponry.

FTO Designation Stalled In April 2011 Congressman Michael McCaul from Texas’ Tenth District, located just outside of Houston, introduced HR 1270, which would put Mexico's six biggest cartels on the State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).19 With many recognizing the

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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 25

criminal threat, but not the national security threats, the bill will likely remain in committee and never get to the floor. As a result, our country is inhibited in prosecuting those who provide material support to the Zetas, and we cannot mount a broad, coordinated effort to attack the organization’s financing, logistics, and operations with the purpose of dismantling

P R O B L E M

the group. Lacking this legislation, our government will likely see each event as an individual crime and not leverage our fusion centers to connect dots.

The Way Ahead Studying the Houston attack and the increased scope, sophistication, and violence shown by the Zetas, several truths

are self-evident. The Mexican cartel connections to CONUS incidents are often under acknowledged. As a result, our population is insufficiently informed of the threat, and will be caught unprepared in the crossfire in their neighborhoods.

Law enforcement is already heavily tasked dealing with standard criminal elements in our country, but we now have Zetas who brazenly threaten citizens as well.

The Zetas employ guerilla warfare tactics, use the element of surprise, and learn from failures and adapt accordingly.

This rogue special operations unit has announced its arrival in our country: are we prepared?

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26 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

Ms. Hesterman is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. She is a senior analyst for the MASY Group, and vice president of Academic Research and Development for the 5th Generation Warfare Educational Institute. She authors a scholarly blog, www. counterterrorforum.com, and her upcoming book is Terror Groups (CRC,2013).

End notes http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/How-one-man-s-drugmission-ended-in-violent-death-2342566. php 2 http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Zeta-soldiers-launchedMexico-style-attack-in-2283370.php 3 http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/ mexican-cartel-tactical-note-7 4 http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/How-one-man-s-drugmission-ended-in-violent-death-2342566. php 5 http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Police-let-suspect-go-4days-before-a-deadly-2555838.php 6 http://www.khou.com/home/Undercover-officer-shot-in-northwest-HarrisCounty-134260588.html 1

“toknowledge is critical deter the threat of terrorism.�

Elena Mastors, Ph.D. | Dean, School of Security & Global Studies Dr. Mastors represents the caliber of AMU scholar-practitioners, combining in-depth field research with academic rigor. A foremost expert in political-psychology pertaining to counter-terrorism, she taught at the U.S. Naval War College and frequently lectures on subjects of conflict, terrorism, and political leadership. A published author, her works include, Breaking al-Qaeda: Psychological and Operational Techniques and The Lesser Jihad: Recruits and the al-Qaida Network.

Learn More at www.amuonline.com/counter-terrorist

Education | Management | Public Service & Health | Science & Technology | Security & Global Studies Circle 211 on Reader Service Card AMU_Counter Terrorist_0212.indd 1

2/17/122012 9:38 AM27 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Police-let-suspect-go-4days-before-a-deadly-2555838.php 8 http://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/edocs/ public/Search.aspx 9 According to Alfredo Gomez, 29, a prosecutor who read a preliminary summary at the arraignment 10 www.texasgopvote.com/restore-families/security/los-zetas-ambush-houstondeputy-shot-friendly-fire-003562 11 http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/ mexico-security-memo-guns-money-andlos-zetas-incursions-sinaloa-territory 12 http://www.gsnmagazine.com/ node/25526?c=border_security 13 http://www.elpasotimes.com/portlet/ article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentIte mRelationshipId=2929574 14 http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/ March/11-ag-299.html 15 http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/ states/newsrel/2011/chicago111611.html 16 http://insightcrime.org/insight-latestnews/item/1223-mexicos-zetas-gangexpand-influence-in-us-fbi 17 http://www.theatlanticwire.com/ technology/2011/11/anonymousbarrett-brown-armed-mexican-drugcartels/44578/ 18 http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/october/gangs_102011 19 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill. xpd?bill=h112-1270 7

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Other sources: Interview with M.M., a Texas law enforcement officer Previous interviews with DEA and FBI agents working cartel issues on the Mexican border http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/ video?id=8440277&pid=8439923 (raw video from the scene) http://www.borderlandbeat. com/2011/11/spillover-violence-riddlesgrow-with.html Circle 207 on Reader Service Card

28 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 29

Islamist Economic Warfare:

Jihad with Money

by Kevin D. Freeman

Counter The

30 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

Wall Street. Photo: Poco a poco

“Al Qaeda’s supporters are aware of the cracks in the Western financial system as they are aware of the lines in their own hands.”

— Osama bin laden, in a 2001 interview Photo: FBI

I

t was not a coincidence that the World Trade Center towers were targeted by Islamic radicals. On February 26, 1993, a truck bomb was detonated with the intention of knocking the North Tower into the South Tower, killing thousands of people.2 The attack was a failure, but alQaeda didn’t give up. Despite an increase in security, the towers remained a primary target until planes brought them down less than a decade later in the worst act of terrorism ever perpetrated on American soil, killing more than 3,000. The target wasn’t chosen solely to produce casualties, however. A crowded stadium on a Sunday afternoon might have provided an easier opportunity to wipe out close to 100,000 football fans. The Trade Center towers likewise weren’t chosen just for their symbolic value. That could more easily have been accomplished by destroying a national monument. Instead, the main

reason the World Trade Center was selected was that it was the most densely concentrated zone of capitalist finance in the world.

To many strict Muslims, free market capitalism is a violation of what is right.

It is viewed as human in origin and thus contrary to the divine plan of Allah as revealed in the Koran.3 Perhaps the most significant disagreement with capitalism is based on the concept of interest or increase, also known as riba, which is considered forbidden to a Muslim.4 In response to the rise of capitalism, Islamic economic principles were adapted into an approach known as shariah-compliant finance (SCF)—jihad with money—in the early twentieth century.5 One of the fastest-growing forms of finance in the world today, SCF was largely constructed in its modern form by Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al Banna,

Besides the issues of greed and interest, jihadists also despise capitalism because of its ability to fund Western military might.

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 31

Mohamed el-Beltagy, a Muslim Brotherhood member running for the lower house of parliament as an independent, campaigns in his district in the Shobra el-Khaima neighborhood of Cairo two days before the parliamentary election. Photo: Al Jazeera English

who “designed political, economic, and financial foundations to enable Muslims to fulfill a key form of jihad mandated by the Koran—financial jihad.”6 According to Yusuf Qaradawi, an Egyptian Islamic theologian and host of ash-Shariah walHayat (Shariah and Life) on Al Jazeera—a show with an audience of 60 million spanning the globe—“I like to call it Jihad with money, because Allah has ordered us to fight enemies with our lives and our money.”7 Besides the issues of greed and interest, jihadists also despise capitalism because of its ability to fund Western military might.

Monin Khawaja, a Canadian citizen who attended Pakistani terror training camps and was later convicted of participating in a bomb plot in Great Britain, wrote, “We have to come up with a way that we can drain their economy of all its resources, cripple their industries, and bankrupt their systems in place, all so that they are

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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 33

forced to withdraw their troops, so they cannot afford to go to war. . . . We need constant economic [jihad], blow after blow, until they cripple and fall, never to rise again.”8 These thoughts were echoed

by Osama bin Laden in his so-called “Letter to the American People”: We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and trading with interest. . . . You are the nation that permits Usury, which has been forbidden by all religions. Yet you build your economy and investments on Usury. . . . You are a nation that permits gambling in all its forms. [sic] The companies practice this as well, resulting in the investments becoming active and the criminals becoming rich.9 To replace capitalism with SCF, capitalism must first be destroyed, as bin Laden understood. Immediately after

The only question is how would the financial jihad be carried out?

9/11, he explained how crucial it was to target the financial heart of the United States: I will talk briefly and concentrate on the need to continue the jihad action, militarily and economically, against the United States. . . . The economic bleeding is continuing to date, but it requires further strikes. The young people should make an effort to look for the key pillars of the US economy.

The key pillars of the enemy should be struck, God willing. They shook America's throne and struck at the US economy in the heart. . . . This is a clear proof that this international usurious, damnable economy—which America uses along with its military power to impose infidelity and humiliation on weak people—can easily collapse. Thanks to Almighty God, those blessed attacks, as they themselves admitted, have inflicted on the New York and other markets more than a trillion

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dollars in losses. . . . It is very important to concentrate on hitting the US economy through all possible means.10 The conflict between shariah finance and capitalism is almost universally understood in the Islamic world. As another example, in 2002 then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad founded the Islamic Financial Services Board to develop a “universal Islamic banking system” with the purpose of abolishing the “slavery” of the Western international monetary system.11 In a PBS interview in July 2001, Mohamed observed, “In the old days you needed to conquer a country with military force, and then you could control that country. Today it's not necessary at all.

You can destabilize a country, make it poor, and then make it request help. And

[in exchange] for the help that is given, you gain control over the policies of the country, and when you gain control over the policies of a country, effectively you have colonized that country.”

Mohamad, bin Laden, Khawaja, Qaradawi, and al Banna represent various countries and Islamic backgrounds.

But, they all agreed on the principles of shariah finance and recognized the role of jihad with money. The only question is how would the financial jihad be carried out? I believe that the answer can be found in a Chinese book, published by the People’s Liberation Army in 1999 under the translated title Unrestricted Warfare: The goal should be to use all means whatsoever—to force the enemy to serve one’s own interests. . . . Financial warfare

has become a “hyperstrategic” weapon that is attracting the attention of the world. This is because financial war is easily manipulated and allows for concealed actions, and is also highly destructive. . . . The most unsettling aspect of financial terrorism is “hot money” which is able to launch destructive attacks upon a nation’s economy within several days, and the target varies from national central banks to poor people.13 The Chinese strategy book went on to describe the process for conducting financial warfare, including the ability to cause a stock market crash and pointing to the techniques of George Soros.14 Soros is a well-known, multibillionaire hedge fund manager known for dramatic financial movements and a strongly leftist philosophy. The Chinese authors likened him to a “financial terrorist,”

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Soros talks in Malaysia. Photo: Jeff Ooi

presumably for his success in breaking the British pound and allegedly attacking Asian economies.15 It is reasonable to suspect that bin Laden himself not only read but followed the directions of the Unrestricted Warfare manuscript. Bin Laden was mentioned several dozen times in its pages, mostly in close proximity with mention of Soros. In fact, the Chinese authors even made the point that linking the approaches of bin Laden and Soros, traditional terrorism and financial warfare, would produce a “supra-domain combination” that

would be far more lethal than a direct military strike.16 When bin Laden was killed, American special operations personnel uncovered a document that outlined a “strategy concept for an attack on Europe’s economy.”17 Interestingly, the document did not mention specific targets. Rather, it was a “concept strategy” that would appear to be much in line with the Unrestricted Warfare approach.18 Is it merely coincidence that bin Laden’s financial jihad focus was on Europe even as the European economy appears to have been under attack?

There is reason to consider the possibility that the stock market crash in 2008 may have been triggered as an act of financial jihad.

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 37

There is reason to consider the possibility that the stock market crash in 2008 may have been triggered as an act of financial jihad. Circumstantial evidence, at least, seems to support the possibility of that hypothesis. We know in hindsight, according to a George Soros op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, that the collapse began with financial attacks known as “bear raids” perpetrated against Western financial institutions, such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.19 These banks (both with Jewish origins, making them perhaps even more abhorrent to Islamic supremacists) made their money from forbidden riba, in the forms of speculation and interest.

As such, they were ideal targets for financial jihad. This principle was explained by Nigerian Muslim Bank robbers as reported in AllAfrica.com: Spokesman of the group, Abu Zaid, said: "Let me confirm to you that our warriors had actually attacked three banks, namely Bank PHB, First Bank of Nigeria and Unity Bank where they carted away huge sums of money. We took the measure because the mode of operations of the banks was not based on Islamic tenets." 20 In a similar way, the January 2011 Inspire Magazine (al-Qaeda’s English language publication) cover story explained “the Rule of Dispossessing wealth from unbelievers,” justifying any attack on Western financial institutions.21 What destroyed Bear Stearns and Lehman, according to Soros, were bear raids using financial means, including unlimited short selling and complex credit derivatives once described

by Warren Buffett as “financial weapons of mass destruction.”22 Is it coincidence that Islamic authorities Circle 343 on Reader Service Card

38 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

authorized short selling under shariah finance just before the market turmoil?23 Mahathir Mohamed once commented, “We know that players in the stock market can also destroy the stock market simply by short selling. And to short sell you don’t even need to have the shares.”24 A postmortem Bloomberg review of trading data seemingly confirmed that this was, in fact, the mechanism used to bring down Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.25 It’s clear that radical Islamists have the motive to attack capitalism. The financial crisis, overleveraged system (debt), and development of complex derivatives and other financial weapons provide the opportunity. The one remaining question then becomes whether or not they have the means to do so.

The fact that Gaddafi had more than $200 billion in investable assets stashed around the world, a huge multiple of what was expected and four times as much as Warren Buffett is reported to have, should answer the question.26 This is the same Gaddafi who had been caught giving money to radical Islamic groups for various plots in the past.27 In addition, there are numerous reports of a “golden chain” of Islamist billionaires who have supported bin Laden and other terrorists.28 Of course, this doesn’t even include the trillions of dollars held by Middle East Sovereign Wealth Funds, mostly controlled by SCF.29,30 There should be no doubt that the means exist for a financial attack if not an all-out economic war. With oil over $100 per barrel, the risk grows exponentially with nearly another $500 billion sent to the Middle East annually.31 There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle and it is the complex subject to which I dedicated the book Secret Weapon: How Economic Terrorism Brought Down

A lone fire engine at the crime scene in Manhattan where the World Trade Center collapsed following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

Photo: Chief Photographer's Mate Eric J. TIlford. the U.S. Stock Market and Why It Can Happen Again.32 What we can be certain of, however, is that some Islamists firmly believe in a “jihad with money” that sanctions financial terrorism, especially against riba-based institutions. We also know, according to Chinese military documents, that a modern form of financial terrorism can be a destabilizing stock market attack using bear raid techniques attributed to George Soros.

Finally, it appears that those very techniques were used extensively in 2008 and played a serious role in our financial collapse, and the issues unfolding in Europe more recently.

Fortunately, our economy appears to have stabilized somewhat in the past two years. If 2008 was a financial terror

attack by jihadists, however, there is little cause for rest. As they persisted with the Twin Towers, finally succeeding in 2001, we must be vigilant to prevent another financial attack, this one aimed at destroying our very way of life.

•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mr. Freeman is author of Secret Weapon: How Economic Terrorism Brought Down the U.S. Stock Market and Why It Can Happen Again (www. secretweapon.org). He has consulted for and briefed members of the US House and Senate, CIA, DIA, FBI, SEC, DOJ, and Homeland Security on the issues of economic warfare and financial terrorism. He authors the blog www. globaleconomicwarfare.com.

As they persisted with the Twin Towers, finally succeeding in 2001, we must be vigilant to prevent another financial attack, this one aimed at destroying our very way of life.

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 39

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end notes “TERRORISM FINANCING: ORIGINATION, ORGANIZATION, AND PREVENTION,” U.S. Congress.

Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. 108th Congress, 1st Session, 31 July 2003. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2004. 194p.

[Hearing]. http://www.odl.state.ok.us/ usinfo/terrorism/ideologies.pdf; accessed January 2012.

2 Childers, J. Gilmore; Henry J. DePippo (1998-02-24). "Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings: Foreign Terrorists in America: Five Years After the World Trade Center". US Senate Judiciary Committee. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. http://web.archive.org/ web/20071227065444/http://judiciary. senate.gov/oldsite/childers.htm. Accessed January 2012.

3 Clancy N. Childs, “A Comparative Analysis of Capitalist and Islamic Economic Systems,” Final Paper, AAPTIS 331 – Section 3, April 22, 2002, http:// www.isu.ac.ir/farsi/academics/economics/ edu/dlc/2rd/01/other/1.2.pdf, accessed January 2012.

4 Ibid.

5 Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqi, “Shariah, Economics and the Progress of Islamic Finance: The Role of Shariah Experts,” SEVENTH HARVARD FORUM ON ISLAMIC FINANCE, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 21 April 2006, http://www.siddiqi.com/mns/ Role_of_Shariah_Experts.htm, accessed January 2012.

6 Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen, “The Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) Shari`ah Financing and the Coming Ummah,” published in “Armed Groups: Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism, and Counterinsurgency,” chapter 28, US Naval War College, June 2008, 1

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http://www.acpr.org.il/nativ/0811-6rehrenfeldE1.pdf, accessed December 2012.

7 “Panorama: Faith, Hate and Charity,” BBC, July 30, 2006, http:// www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/ stories/2006/07_july/30/panorama.shtml, accessed August 2011.

8 Matthew Levitt, “TERRORISM SALON: Matthew Levitt on Al Qaeda’s Economic Warfare,” TheWashingtonNote.com, 30 July, 2008, http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/ archives/2008/07/terrorism_salon_29/, accessed September 2011 9 “Full text: bin Laden’s ‘letter to America,’” Guardian (UK), November 24, 2002, http://www.guardian.co.uk/ world/2002/nov/24/theobserver, accessed August 22, 2011.

10 Osama Bin Laden, FBIS translated text of message carried on Al-Jazirah satellite channel television, 27 December 2001, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ MewNews/message/4339, accessed March 2009.

11 Gamal Essam El-Din, “A financial jihad,” Al-Ahram Weekly, 21 - 27 November 2002 (Issue No. 613) http:// weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/613/ec2.htm, accessed June 2009.

12 Commanding Heights interview with Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad conducted 2 July 2001 for PBS, http://www.pbs. org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/ minitext/int_mahathirbinmohamad. html, accessed September 2011.

13 Col. Qiao Liang and Col. Wang Xiangsui, Unrestricted Warfare (Panama City, Panama: Pan American Publishing Company, 2002), 43, 40, 127 14 Ibid, 16, 39 15 Ibid, 36 16 Ibid, 163 17 “Al-Qaeda plotting against European

economy, report says,” M&C News, Aug 24, 2011, http://www.monstersandcritics. com/news/europe/news/article_1658910. php/Al-Qaeda-plotting-againstEuropean-economy-report-says, accessed January 2012 18 Ibid.

19 George Soros, “One Way to Stop Bear Raids,” The Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/ article/SB123785310594719693.html, accessed January 2012.

20 Hamza Idris And Yahaya Ibrahim, “Boko Haram - Why We Are Attacking Banks - Sets Terms for Ceasefire,” 14 July 2011, http://allafrica.com/ stories/201107140416.html, accessed January 2012.

21 Thomas Joscelyn, “Anwar al Awlaki: Jihadists should steal from disbelievers,” The Long War Journal, January 17, 2011, http://www.longwarjournal.org/ archives/2011/01/anwar_al_awlaki_jiha. php#ixzz1iYgon833, accessed January 2012 22 “Buffett warns on investment 'time bomb,’” BBC News, 4 March 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/2817995.stm, accessed January 2012.

23 Joanna Slater, “When Hedge Funds Meet Islamic Finance,” The Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2007, http://online.wsj.com/ article/SB118661926443492441. html?mod=googlenews_wsj, accessed January 2012 24 Commanding Heights interview with Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad conducted 2 July 2001 for PBS, http://www.pbs. org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/ minitext/int_mahathirbinmohamad. html, accessed September 2011.

25 Gary Matsumoto, “Naked Short Sales Hint Fraud in Bringing Down Lehman,” Bloomberg News, March 19,

2009, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/ news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aB1jlqmFO TCA, accessed January 2012 26 Muammar Gaddafi spirited over $200 billion out of Libya: Report,” The Economic Times, 22 October 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ news/politics/nation/muammar-gaddafispirited-over-200-billion-out-of-libyareport/articleshow/10450416.cms, accessed January 2012 27 Écrit par Point de Bascule, “The Muslim Brotherhood and Gaddafi were partners not too long ago,” 28 February 2011, http://pointdebasculecanada.ca/ articles/1467.html, accessed January 2012 28 Glenn R. Simpson, “List of Early al Qaeda Donors Points to Saudi Elite, Charities,” The Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2003, http://www67. homepage.villanova.edu/andrew.gasperi/ article%204.htm, accessed January 2012 29 “Sovereign Wealth Funds Backgrounder,” Council on Foreign Relations, January 28, 2009, http://www. cfr.org/international-finance/sovereignwealth-funds/p15251, accessed January 2012 30 Tahir Jawed, “Hedge Funds Home In On Islamic Investors,” FINalternatives, November 6, 2008, http://www. finalternatives.com/node/5994, accessed January 2012 31 Gal Luft, Oil Dependency is America's Financial Ruin, The Cuttying Edge, March 31, 2008, http://www. thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?arti cle=401&pageid=&pagename=, accessed January 2012 32 Kevin D. Freeman, “Secret Weapon: How Economic Terrorism Brought Down the U.S. Stock Market and Why It Can Happen Again,” (Regnery, 2012)

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Book Review

You Don’t Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows

By Karin Asbley, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, et al.

T

he (1969) riots known as the “Days of Rage” mark the turning point of a small domestic group from protesting and rioting to the initiation of a violent terrorist campaign to achieve their demands. This series of events is highly instructional today for the understanding of domestic militant groups and their operational transformation. Their experience also demonstrates the multitrack strategy that is popular to this day in which nonviolent groups and terrorists maneuver in tandem for the realization of shared objectives.

Some of those associated with the Days of Rage, Karin Asbley, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, et al., published “You Don’t Need to be aWeatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows” (New Left Notes, 1969). This document reveals tactics, strategy, and ideology from one of the most dangerous domestic terrorist groups the USA has experienced. It can be accessed at www.archive.org.

The writers describe their objectives: “…the goal of the revolutionary struggle must be the control…of…wealth in the interests of the oppressed peoples of the world.” They add, “…we determine who are our friends and who are our enemies according to whether they help US imperialism or fight to defeat it.”

The Weather-people understood that “…oppression falls heavier on…workers [it] is worsened through rising taxes, inflation and the fall of real wages….” They decided that “Our heroes are no longer

44 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

Reviewed by: Chris Graham

‘

‘

‘

Bill Ayers. Photo: Thomas Good struggling businessmen…we…look to Mao…the [Black] Panthers, the Third World, for our models…”

The writers state, “In all our work we should try to formulate demands that… tie us to…separate struggles…to show that we’re one multi-issue movement…”

They assert that “Agitational demands for impossible, but reasonable [sounding] reforms are a good way to make a revolutionary point.” They add, “Mixing different issues, struggles and groups demonstrates …there is one system...so all these different problems have the same solution, revolution.”

The revolutionaries suggest, “To win a war with…the imperialists will require a (clandestine) organization of revolutionaries…” They understood that “…young

people have less stake in a society (no family, fewer debts, etc.)…” and add, “In jail-like schools, kids are fed a mish-mash of…lies while being channeled into job and career paths set up according to the priorities of monopoly capital.” The writers state, “Activists and cadres …will help expand and deepen the movement in… schools.” It is worth noting that some of the document’s writers do the “channeling” now as college professors.1 The revolutionaries predicted, “Winning state power in the US will occur as a result of the military forces of the US overextending themselves around the world…struggle within the US will be a vital part of this process, but when the revolution triumphs in the US it will have been made by the people of the whole world.” They insist, “…when imperialism is defeated in the US, it will be replaced by socialism—nothing else.”

The writers observe, “When the petit bourgeoisie’s interest is for fighting imperialism on a particular issue, but not for overthrowing it and replacing it with socialism, it is still contributing to revolution…” and, they admonish, “The development of revolutionary Marxist-Leninist-Maoist collective formations…is…the responsibility of every revolutionary.”

•

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/ local/Controversial-Professor-Bill-AyersSpeaks-With-Occupy-Chicago-Protestors--134045388.html accessed 2-7-12 1

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Al Jazeera:

News Organization or Propaganda Network?

Counter The

46 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

Photo: Al Jazeera English

More than 10 years have passed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and we face a dramatically increasing terror threat from radical Islamist groups, based here at home and abroad.

By M. Zuhdi Jasser

T

his threat continues to grow because we, as a country, continue to myopically focus on the symptom of terror and have failed to realize that we are, in fact, in an ideological war against militant Islamism, the violent offshoot of the deeper, more pervasive theopolitical construct of political Islam or “the Islamic state.” The bin Ladens of the world are merely by-products of the primary ideological threat. Despite bin Laden’s recent demise, al-Qaeda and groups like it will continue to reshape themselves with new ideological leaders and handlers around the world because we have yet to effectively engage in the battle against the ideology that creates Islamist extremism.

According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, of 228 recent arrests on terrorism charges, more than 80 percent (186) involve defendants “driven by a radical Islamist agenda.”1 Yet the United States’ current National Strategy for

Counterterrorism2 fails to name the ideology we are fighting. Further, the strategy fails to identify the threat posed

by Islamist indoctrination3 that exists to propagandize young Muslims to support and participate in a worldwide jihad against the United States and the West.

Groups such as al-Qaeda and Hezbollah have been extremely effective at gathering new recruits and encouraging “lone wolves” through global media and Islamist programming.

If we truly hope to defeat terrorism, we must engage in the ideological conflict.

Islamism will not be defeated by bullets or valor in combat. It will only be defeated in an open war of ideas where we pit Western principles of universal equality and individual liberty under God against political Islam and Islamist interpretations of shariah. As British Prime Minister David Cameron recently noted, we must not only remove the militants, we must

Sadly, the enemy provides daily tutorials to the world via the Internet and satellite programming on how it uses global media to spread its supremacist ideas while the West largely remains asleep.

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 47

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48 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

drain the pool in which they swim.4 That pool is their ideology.

Sadly, the enemy provides daily tutorials to the world via the Internet and satellite programming on how it uses global media to spread its supremacist ideas while the West largely remains asleep.

Cyberjihad, which understandably receives a lot of publicity, is effective for radicals when Islamist Muslims are looking to cross the firewall of nonviolence to violence. The Internet aptly serves the radicalization process moving susceptible Muslims toward that endpoint of militant jihad as the NYPD Report on Radicalization in the West: Homegrown Threat illustrated so well.5 But television is the most effective radicalizer because it provides a daily diet of Islamist propaganda and indoctrination that permeates culture.

Television media can be far more effective in swaying and moving large numbers of people because they do not depend upon the navigation of certain websites and ideas. It has far less competition and can actively and passively radicalize people through the fostering of a media culture that is dominated by Islamist ideas. Muslims who are raised in an Islamist political culture will slowly slide toward sympathy and deeper bonds with militant Islamist organizations.

The Islamist political culture has many hallmarks, most notable of which is the prevalence of Islamic supremacist ideas, nonfactual conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism, and anti-Israeli and antiAmerican sentiments.

Whereas Islamist websites serve as a resource that may answer some questions for budding Islamists, the psychological indoctrination of Islamists usually begins within more insidious elements of the “Muslim” culture. As we observe the transformations sprouting from what was dubbed the “Arab Spring,” there is no

doubt that the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube played a major role in mobilizing and unifying the opposition in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria, to name a few. But, again, the Internet simply served as a vehicle for that change.

It is certainly playing a growing role in what is “Muslim culture and ideology,” but it is still outpaced by the profound impact of major satellite television networks like Al Jazeera or Al Manar. In fact, Al Manar identifies its mission on its main website as “psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy.”6 Regardless of the medium, the United States continues to be “missing in action” in the war of ideas within all outlets. And when the United States does venture into “Muslim” media, it does so from a position of defense rather than offense.

One of the reasons many in the United States and Israel are watching the revolution in Syria with hope is the profoundly negative impact that the fall of the Bashar Assad regime would have upon Hezbollah and its radical Islamist operations in Lebanon. The amount of resources that are funneled from Iran through Syria into the coffers of Hezbollah are untold, but crucial to the organization.

A central part of the Hezbollah operation is its television broadcasting arm, Al Manar. Recent reports out of Lebanon are that Hezbollah has taken over the Lebanese government as announced by Prime Minister Najib Mikati in June 2011.7 Its rise to power has been to the result of many factors, not least of which is its information war advanced from its terrestrial and satellite station, Al Manar.

Al Jazeera Al Manar is overt in terms of propaganda TV for Islamist ideology, but it is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the global reach of Islamist ideological programming. Al Jazeera, which is much

more well known in the West and operates freely in Western countries, uses many similar tactics. Terrorism analyst, Walid Phares, describes Al Jazeera as “Jihad television.” Although it is not run by a terrorist organization like Hezbollah, it is owned and operated by the autocratic Qatari government’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Thus, according to the Department of State (as reported in the Guardian from recent WikiLeaks files), it is basically a major policy arm for the Qatari government and they note that its programming is used as a bargaining tool in international negotiations.8 Al Jazeera is based in Doha, Qatar, and was launched in 1996. It has grown to be the most watched satellite television station in the Middle East. The Qatari government claims to champion press freedom elsewhere, but generally does not tolerate it at home,” the US embassy stated when the French director of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom resigned in June 2009. He cited restrictions upon his “freedom to report” in his departure.

Yet the same organization refused to stop airing bin Laden’s videos citing journalistic freedoms.

Al Jazeera’s programming has many of the same traits as Al Manar, tending toward incitement, and anti-Americanism and anti-Israeli propaganda. But they are often more subtle and less direct because Al Jazeera seeks a more “mainstream” audience. When Ghassan Bin Jeddo, a well-known Al Jazeera journalist, confirmed a report that he was leaving Al Jazeera in April 2011, he reportedly stated that Al Jazeera was an “operation room” for incitement and mobilization.”9 One of Al Jazeera’s most popular shows has been “Religious Law and Life” (al Shar’iah wal hayat), which features Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the senior spiritual leader of the Global Muslim Brotherhood network. He is perhaps the leading Sunni

Bashar and Asmaa al-Assad in Moscow. Photo: Rakkar cleric among Islamists and Salafists.

During a typical show, for example, one viewer addressed a question to Sheikh alQaradawi. He inquired about the role of the righteous (al-salihun) in the Koran in the liberation of the holy places of Islam and the victory of the (Muslim) nation.

Al-Qaradawi connected righteousness to those who were responsible for liberating lands. He confirmed the Hadith (saying of the Prophet Muhammad) that states that Jews who fought Muslims must be killed.

Nevermind that many other scholars have dismissed that Hadith as fabricated.

Regardless, Al-Qaradawi’s anti-Semitism is deep and hateful. He has condoned

The amount of resources that are funneled from Iran through Syria into the coffers of Hezbollah are untold, but crucial to the organization.

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 49

Riots in Egypt, 2010. Photo: Jerry Jackson suicide bombing in Israel and Iraq. He said that “the righteous were the source of hope and aspiration and they would bring about the liberation of Jerusalem, as well as Palestine, Gaza, and all the lands ruled

by the enemies of Islam.”10 These are the radicalizing positions of a leading icon on Al Jazeera.

His websites www.qaradawi.net and www.Islamonline.net have had large

selections dedicated to explaining the theological importance of the Islamic state and the method of implementing shariah in an Islamic democracy. They are some of the most trafficked sites by Muslims

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Al Jazeera building in Doha, Qatar. Photo: Giorgio Montersino around the world and virtual clinics in Islamist indoctrination. His ideas are clearly the underpinnings for the Islamist movement globally and Al Jazeera has provided him with a platform of which he could have never dreamed.11 According to Eileen Toplansky, in the American Thinker : At a conference in June 2011 at the National Press Club, the panel of experts concluded that ‘the network’[Al Jazeera] is often used by terrorists to deliver their messages to ‘the world’ and has ‘actually helped radical [groups] such as al-Qaeda, Hizb’allah and Hamas in their efforts to radicalize Muslims.’ The Al Jazeera Arabic language network has ‘frequently served as a mouthpiece for Muslim Brotherhood figures’ according to conference members.

Furthermore, independent TV producer Jerry Kenney alleges that ‘[i]n effect, foreign propagandists have hijacked public television stations made possible by the American taxpayers.’ He voiced concern that in the past ‘public TV stations adhered to production standards that put a substantial emphasis on accuracy in content’ but he affirms ‘obviously

something has changed.’12 Thus, the often incendiary footage and vigorously anti-American and antiIsraeli viewpoints fall in line with the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood. This becomes exceedingly clear when one looks at the close relationship that exists between the ruling family in Qatar and the global Muslim Brotherhood where al-Qaradawi is a prime example. Al Jazeera has over 60 million regular viewers. Its Arabic broadcasts are far more overtly anti-American and anti-Western than its English broadcasts.

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conducting propaganda efforts against our own people as evidenced in 2002 by the media’s outcry against the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Influence.13 Yet, this aversion should not preclude us from participating in a robust campaign against the foundations of Islamist ideology.

When we look back at the cold war, one of the most important tools we utilized was the programming of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe that highlighted the benefits of a free society and revealed the ideological underpinnings of communism and socialism. This battle against militant Islamism is in many ways more significant than the ideological battle against communism because with the Soviet Union we had an enemy that respected the validity of the concept of “mutually assured destruction.” Our Islamist enemies do not have that fear and, in fact, can glorify individuals within their society who are willing to sacrifice themselves to inflict damage on the “Great Satan.”

With regard to Al Manar and Al Jazeera, the following policy recommendations need consideration: • Sanctions against Al Manar’s funders and satellite providers.

• Just as our own media is critical of its own funding sources and perceived bias, there needs to be an ongoing campaign of critique with respect to Al Manar’s and Al Jazeera’s conflicts of interests with autocrats, absence of journalistic ethics, and inherently corrupt operations.

• Western media need to build a firewall around them with regard to refusing to “do business” with so-called media agencies that promote violence and Islamist ideas that are not compatible with free societies.

• Nonprofit groups and mediamonitoring organizations must openly counter the mainstreaming of Al Jazeera into American households via regular cable

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56 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem attacks regional bloc after it rejects proposed amendments to observers mission. Photo: Al Jazeera English networks and expose the ethical lapses that the English and Arabic networks exhibit frequently.

To win this war and bring true national security, the United States and its allies have to be willing to engage in the ideological battle. We must help foster a debate within the Muslim consciousness about modernity and the role of shariah in governance. We must help foster a debate about “the Illusion of the Islamic State,” a powerful phrase that former president of Indonesia and longtime head of one of the world’s largest Muslim organizations, Kyai Haji Abddurrahman Wahid (1940–2009), described in his work with Mustapha Bisri. 14 We need to engage leading American Muslims who are liberty-minded and anti-Islamist to take the offense and reshape the narrative of freedom and liberty against agents of the Islamic state. If we are able to shape the narrative of liberty as being one fully open to Muslim devotion and practice as long as there is a separation of mosque and state, that can ultimately be the way toward victory in the war of ideas. With the right context and opportunities,

Muslims around the world can embrace the idea of individual liberty codified in a form of governance that separates mosque and state and protects freedom of religion for all.

We must shape our own narrative that the United States is not an enemy of Islam, but an enemy of governments and ideologies that usurp individual freedom through theocratic ideologies like Islamism. Understanding the types of ideas, programming, and networks disseminated and promoted on Al Manar and Al Jazeera is of the highest priority from every vantage point in our counterterrorism efforts. We cannot continue to allow Al Manar and Al Jazeera to define who we are as a Western society with no ideological push back or alternatives. Winning the ideological war will minimize the need for military intervention and set the stage for real national security. This will not be a battle won in a two-week campaign. It will be generational and require an unparalleled commitment from our people and our government, but it is the only path that will bring true victory.

•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jasser is a devout practicing American Muslim and a former physician to the U.S. Congress. He is the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD, www. aifdemocracy.org).

End Notes

Islamists Dominate DOJ Terror Lists Prosecutions. Investigative Project on Terrorism. March 9, 2011.

2 National Strategy for Counterterrorism. The White House.

June 2011.

3 A Communiqué in Response to the National Strategy for Counterterrorism. American Islamic Leadership Coalition. July 2011 4 Radicalization and Islamic Extremism. Prime Minister’s Speech 1

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at Munich Security Conference.

February 5, 2011.

5 Mitchell Silber and Arvin Bhatt.

NYPD Report on Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat.

NYC Policy Department, 2007 6 Avi Jorisch. Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballah’s Al Manar Television. Washington Institute of Near East Policy. 2004 pg. 26.

7 Terrorist Group takes over Lebanon. CBS News. June 13, 2011.

8 Robert Booth. WikiLeaks cables claim al-Jazeera changed coverage to suit Qatari foreign policy. The Guardian. December 6, 2010.

9 Al Jazeera director resigns in protest of coverage. IPT News. April 25, 2011.

10 Sheikh Qaradawi, March 15, 2009. Al Jazeera programming in “Anti-Semitism on Arab media: the popular Qatari TV channel Al-Jazeera

is still used as a venue for blatant antiSemitism,” by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, March 19, 2009 11 M. Zuhdi Jasser. As the West Sleeps Islamists work on establishing a worldwide Islamic state. Family Security Matters. August 8 and 25 2008.

12 Eileen Toplansky. American War Museum and Al Jazeera. American Thinker. July 24, 2011.

13 Eric Schmitt and James Dao. “A 'Damaged' Information Office Is Declared Closed by Rumsfeld”. The New York Times. February27, 2002 14 The Illusion of an Islamic State: How an Alliance of Moderates Launched a Successful Jihad Against Radicalization and Terrorism in the World’s Largest Muslim-Majority Country, p. 35. Jakarta: Wahid Institute, Maarif Institute and LibForAll Foundation Press, 2011

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 57

Rally in Damascus, Syria, December 2008. Photo: Jane Houle

The Muslim Brotherhood Reinvented Counter The

58 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

The Muslim Brotherhood, al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin in Arabic, was established in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna believed that Islam’s decline and the societal ills that plagued the Islamic world stemmed from secularism. To restore the former glory of the Islamic world, al-Banna stressed returning to the origins of the faith as practiced by its founders.

By Dean T. Olson

T

he ultimate goal was, and remains to be, to reestablish the global Islamic empire called the caliphate. Since its founding, the Ikhwan has grown into the largest and most influential Islamic supremacist organization in existence with followers throughout the Middle East, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Brotherhood alumni are founders of terrorist groups such as Hamas,1 and al-Qaeda,2 and operate in the Palestinian territories.

When Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was toppled from power in February 2011,

the U.S. government and many Western media observers optimistically predicted that freedom and enlightenment would sweep the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Some Western analysts have suggested that the Egyptian Brotherhood has a “conservative” camp and a “reformist” camp, and that it is important to support the so-called reformist wing.3 Others feared that radical regimes dominated by the Brotherhood would enforce Iranian style theocracies in the region.

The idea of reformation in the

Long adept at secrecy and obfuscation, the Brotherhood has a history of cloaking its real intentions by using reassuring terms like the current title of the group’s Egyptian political apparatus, the Freedom and Justice Party.

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 59

The Muslim Brotherhood has proven to be a dangerous movement that both motivates terrorists and inspires insurgent activism.

History demonstrates that the Brotherhood is a highly deceptive organization.

Brotherhood is at odds with the organization’s own comments, however: “There are no competing factions within the Muslim Brotherhood,” said Saad al-Husseini, Brotherhood MP and a newly-elected Guidance Bureau member.

“We all share the single goal of reforming society…The election results did not represent a victory for one faction over another, and no one was excluded,” alHusseini added,“This is just government propaganda.”4 For most of its history, the Brotherhood has successfully avoided internecine division, evidenced by the limited abilities of governments to infiltrate the group and dismantle it.

Fears of Brotherhood influence have proven justified after Egypt’s Lower House convened January 23

with Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party and allied Salafist parties Al Nour, AlAsalah, Al-Fadilah, and Al Islah, winning 360 out of its 498 seats, an astounding 72 percent.5 Although reassuring to the gullible, such terms belie the Brotherhood’s goal to implement shariah by describing it as the group’s form of democracy and freedom.

Yousef al-Qaradawi, the top Brotherhood theologian, admits that “our democracy is different”6 and that secular democracy like that in the West does not honor God and is immoral. He states, “What I am for is a genuine type of democracy, for a society driven by the laws of Shari’ah…

Our democracy…is well connected to the laws of Shari’ah…We have pillars of our Shari’ah that we have to abide by.”7

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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 61

Mohamed Badia -General Guide of Muslim Brotherhood- during opening ceremony of Alexandria Muslim Brotherhood main office Photo: Mohamedhph

What Qaradawi fails to mention is that all law must come from Allah, “subhane wa ta’ala” in Arabic. Western-style democracy does not exist in Qaradawi’s version of democracy because it is wholly incompatible. Islamists insist that Allah is the only source of law and “He does not share His [authority to] lead with anyone.”8 There certainly is room for concern given that the Brotherhood’s charter calls on members to deflect attention through their long-established “flexibility” strategy—“muruna” in Arabic. To spread Islam and shariah, Brotherhood adherents also routinely practice concealment, known alternatively as either “taqiyya”9 or “kitman.”10 Muruna calls for a minority group of Muslims to use all legal means to infiltrate majority-dominated, nonMuslim secular and religious institutions, starting with universities.11 As a result, Islamist Muslim and non-Muslim university graduates enter the nation’s workforce, including government and

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civil service, where they are poised to subvert law enforcement agencies, intelligence communities, military branches, foreign services, and financial institutions.12 Muruna involves the tactical expressions of taqiyya. One aspect of muruna is gradualism. In a June 11, 2011, article on the website of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, veteran movement member Sheikh Ahmad Gad argued that the implementation of Shariah in Egypt must be achieved gradually, by preparing the peoples’ hearts and minds for it and introducing it in stages.13 He proposed learning from the methods of the early Brotherhood, which worked in a step-by-step fashion, and called on Al-Azhar University in Cairo to focus on promoting the implementation of Shariah. The following are excerpts from the article:14 “There Is No Hope for Reform

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A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood at a protest on election night in Mansoura displays ballots that he said were removed from a polling station earlier in the day by a monitor from another political party to demonstrate how easy it was to manipulate the electoral process.

Photo: Al Jazeera English

The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 63

Cairo - Islamic district - Al Azhar Mosque and University. Photo: Daniel Mayer Without a Return to Divine Rule…”

“Following the blessed popular revolution on January 25, 2011, there was a debate between the majority, which hopes and yearns for the implementation of Allah’s shariah, and the minority, which uses Islam as a tool of intimidation and fears the Islamists and a return to

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64 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

the Middle Ages….This minority, which denies the results of the referendum while calling for democracies made up of those who oppose a religious state or a caliphate state, and advocate a return to the tyrannical secular regime that corrupted the land and the people – a minority [that receives] prominent

media coverage…Islamic shari’a ruled for centuries, but became distant and absent for centuries more…This nation will have no chance of success, [except] by that which caused it to succeed in its beginning.15 [However,] we must not impose Islamic shari’a, forcing the people to adopt something about which they are ignorant and with which they are unfamiliar… If we do this, [various] ploys will be used to circumvent it, and there will be hypocrisy. [People] will exhibit Islamic [behavior] only outwardly…”16 On November 20, 2011, Qaradawi, arguably the most influential Sunni cleric in the world, called on Muslims to embrace “gradualism.”17 The doctrine of gradualism is successful because many fail to appreciate the ability of Islamists to be skillful political strategists.

Gradualism is an intelligent form of jihad based on pragmatism, patience, long-term planning, and self-evaluation.

Islamists evaluate their performance and recalibrate their strategy accordingly. The West often misinterprets this as being “moderate,” when in reality, simply not all Islamists are as reckless as al-Qaeda.

“Gradualism in applying the Shar’ia is a wise requirement to follow,” Qaradawi declared, stating that Mohammed followed it.18 The Brotherhood is in the process of completing the fourth phase in Egypt, and it remains to be seen who will ultimately hold the reigns of power in other MENA countries emerging from the “Arab Spring.”

In this stage, Islamists begin to implement shariah by describing it as their form of “democracy” and “freedom.”

They will argue that each democracy is different and so people must be tolerant of their version. Qaradawi explains, “What I am for is a genuine type of democracy, for a society driven by the

In December, the Brotherhood’s supreme guide, Mohamed Badi, outlined six phases: shariah over the individual; shariah over the family; shariah over the society; shariah over the government; the resurrection of the caliphate and finally, “mastership of the world.”

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A boy with a Qassam rocket, in Sderot, Israel. Photo: Giorgio Montersino

laws of Shar’ia that is compatible with the values of freedom, human rights, justice and equity.”

Hamas also acts in accordance with gradualism. In December, a leader of Hamas stated that it was working toward the “interim objective of liberation of Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem.”20 The destruction of Israel, or in the Islamists words, the “liberation of all [emphasis added] Palestine,” follows.21 Wherever the Brotherhood and similar Islamist groups operate, there is a phased strategy—even in the United States. The Islamic Circle of North America, one of the most powerful Muslim-American groups in the United States and a Brotherhood-affiliated group, explained its five phases in its handbook published in 2010 and it very closely follows what Badi said in Egypt.22 The phases are: educating yourself; converting your family; outreach into the community; and “establish an Islamic society” on the state level and then a “united Islamic state, governed by an elected khalifah in accordance with the laws of Shar’ia.”

An FBI memo written in 1988 likewise documented that a source, believed to be within the ranks of the Brotherhood in the United States, described a six-phased

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plan.23 At the time, the Brotherhood, specifically the International Institute of Islamic Thought and the North American Islamic Trust, were working on the first phase. It included creating “political action front groups with no traceable ties” so that it can “peacefully get inside the United States government and also American universities.” The source told the FBI that Brotherhood operatives “claimed success infiltrating the United States government.”24 In 2004 the FBI seized another Brotherhood strategy document that describes its “work in America as a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within.” It describes five phases:25 • The “secret establishment of leadership” • “…gradual appearance on the public scene.” This phase calls for “infiltrating

various sectors of government,” “gaining religious institutions,” “gaining public support and sympathy,” and “establishing a shadow government.”

• “Escalation phase.” This focuses on “utilizing mass media” and the document says that this stage is “currently in progress.”

• “Open confrontation with the government through…political pressure.”

It also calls for “training on the use of weapons domestically” and says that there are “noticeable activities in this regard.”

• The final phase: “Seizing power to establish their Islamic Nation under which all parties and Islamic groups are united.”

The Muslim Brotherhood has proven to be a dangerous movement that both motivates terrorists and inspires insurgent activism. History demonstrates that the Brotherhood is a highly deceptive

Wherever the Brotherhood and similar Islamist groups operate, there is a phased strategy—even in the United States.

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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 67

organization. Its attempts at rebranding must be viewed with caution and historical awareness.

•

About the Author Mr. Olson is a retired sheriff’s department bureau commander.

He is the author of Tactical Counterterrorism: The Law Enforcement Manual of Terrorism Prevention (May 2012 release, Charles C. Thomas Publishing).

Endnotes Olson, Dean T., 2009. Perfect Enemy: The Law Enforcement Manual of Islamist Terrorism, Charles C. Thomas Publishing, Springfield, IL, p. 22.

2 Ibid, p. 104.

3 Lynch, Marc, 2008. The Brotherhood’s Dilemma, Middle East Brief No. 25, Crown Center for Middle East Studies or Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., p. 3.

4 Ibid, p. 11.

5 Pipes, Daniel, Farahat, Cynthia, 2012. Don’t Ignore Electoral Fraud in Egypt, Egypt’s Lower House election is a sham of the military leadership, National Review, January 24, 2012. http://www. nationalreview.com/articles/288975/ 1

68 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

don-t-ignore-electoral-fraud-egypt-danielpipes 6 de Vries, Idries, 2012, An Open Letter to Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, New Civilization, International Affairs Middle East, 04 January 2012 7 Ibid.

8 Lynch, Marc, 2008. The Brotherhood’s Dilemma, Middle East Brief No. 25, Crown Center for Middle East Studies or Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., p.3 9 Olson, Dean T., 2009. Perfect Enemy: The Law Enforcement Manual of Islamist Terrorism, Charles C. Thomas Publishing, Springfield, IL, p. 211.

10 Ibid, p. 211 11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 Gad, Ahmad Sheikh, 2011. There Is No Hope for Reform Without a Return to Divine Rule, http://www. ikhwanonline.com, June 11, 2011.

14 MEMRI, Article on Muslim Brotherhood Website: Implement Shari'a in Phases, Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 3969, July 5, 2011.

15 Gad, Ahmad Sheikh, 2011. There Is No Hope for Reform Without a Return to Divine Rule, http://www.

ikhwanonline.com, June 11, 2011.

16 Ibid.

17 Bostom, Andrew, 2011. Qaradawi: Sharia “Gradualism” For Egypt—And Beyond, December 9th, 2011, www. andrewbostom.org/ 18 Mauro, Ryan, 2012. The Islamist Plan for Victory: “Gradualism,” Family Security Matters, January 17, 2012, http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/ publications/id.11234/pub_detail.asp.

19 Ibid.

20 Marcus, Itamar and Zilberdik, Nan, 2011. Palestine Media Watch Bulletins, Hamas leader Haniyeh: Goal is destruction of Israel, Dec. 27, 2011, http://palwatch.org/main. aspx?fi=157&doc_id=6024 21 Ibid.

22 CSP, 2010. Shariah The Threat to America, An Exercise in Competitive Analysis, Center for Security Policy, Washington, DC, p. 144.

23 Poole, Patrick, 2006. The Muslim Brotherhood “Project,” Front Page Magazine, 5/11/2006 24 Ibid.

25 Poole, Patrick, 2006. The Muslim Brotherhood “Project,” Front Page Magazine, 5/11/2006.

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April/May 2012 Volume 5 • Number 2

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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012 71

Training Review

Confined Quarters Defensive Tactics

O

n a cold autumn day in

upstate New York, 13 members of the Oneida County Sheriff’s Counter Narcotics Task Force assembled in a low-profile building. The building, surrounded by run-down houses, chain-link and distressed picket fences, appeared to pose no threat to the hustlers and dealers that rolled down the neighboring streets in lowered Cadillacs with glittery paint jobs and chromed rims. In fact, the task force members based themselves in what seemed to be the epicenter of a “Narcotics Wall Street.”

The task force had requested the development of a defensive tactics program designed to be useful in confined spaces, like that of the vehicles in which these undercover agents operated daily. Most defensive tactics programs are similar in that they train man against man, counteredged weapon, weapon disarms, and weapon-retention techniques. Most programs focus on training the trainee in an open area from a standing position. There are very few programs that train officers what to do against armed and multiple attackers from a seated position within a vehicle. After multiple correspondences over a period of several weeks, I built the program tailored to the needs of undercover counter-narcotics operations.

Training began at the safe house with a study of the schematics of different motor vehicles on a dry-erase board. We discussed the types of seating arrangements in different vehicles an undercover might encounter. I narrowed the seating possibilities down to five. The explanation was basic, mathematical, and pragmatic in approach. Afterward, we discussed pain compliance versus mechanical failure.

72 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2012

By Andrew Curtiss

Trainee (driver side) disarming an attacker (passenger) and applying a joint lock.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Curtiss.

I explained that the temporary or permanent disruption of faculties on an attacker is far more effective than that of pain compliance techniques. This lecture led to practical application where students slapped, poked, and struck various points on each other’s body to experience the sensation of numerous pressure points used in pain compliance techniques. After studying pressure points, we moved into a brief discussion of “vital targets.” We talked about escalation and use of force, and the moral, ethical, and legal dilemmas officers can encounter for exploiting the vital and non-vital targets of their attacker’s body.

Immediately following the vital target and deadly force lecture, the class studied the principles and fundamentals of joint locks and joint manipulations, and their practical application. Not straying far

from what the officers are accustomed to practicing, I showed them the ways to maximize the effects of joint locks that they already knew and how to seamlessly transition to cuffing procedures. For the brief practical, the students practiced joint locks, manipulations, and restraining one another.

I asked the officers what they would say if I told them that they could counter any attack with one or two of the same counter techniques. One student, an officer who had been serving for more than 10 years and a defensive tactics instructor, spoke up: “I’d say you’re full of shit.”

I explained that there are a limited number of ways in which an officer may be attacked. Based on position in the vehicle, I narrowed it down to no more than four directions of attack that the officer may encounter. I then specified three

general attack types in each position.

I challenged the officers to present another way in which an attack could come. None of the 13 students were able to disagree with this logic. I demonstrated two counter techniques to each of the three types of attacks from all four directions. The officers practiced first in mock vehicles made up of desks and chairs, and then in three vehicles that sat in the garage bay of the building. The training was progressive in that each attack was practiced in a stationary manner. Then the officers practiced against slow attacks and fast attacks under known scenarios.

After the trainees learned the basic attacks and counters from inside the vehicle in all positions, they took a lunch in town.

The afternoon training began with a brief discussion on counter-weapon techniques and weapons retention. After the lecture, the students learned to take the very same techniques they learned before

lunch and apply them to weapon disarms and retention. Again, they conducted practical application sitting at desks arranged like the seating of a motor vehicle and in actual vehicles.

The last portion of the training revolved around countering multiple attackers and using the vehicle as a weapon. This training was unique in that I narrowed down all possibilities of attack from multiple attackers down to one or two per position in the vehicle. I then covered using only one of two possible techniques that they already knew and had been training on that day against all attacks from multiple attackers. The students also learned to manipulate and limit possible attacks by using seatbelts, and the seat, steering wheel, brake, and emergency brake of the vehicle.

The day’s training culminated with live-action scenarios in real vehicles. Each trainee ran an unknown scenario against

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unarmed, edged-weapon and pistolarmed attackers in each seating position of the vehicles. The day was filled with rapid intense instruction on a variety of topics. At the end of the day all were exhausted. Later, the officers were issued their training certificates. I departed and the task force prepared for a raid on a major drug dealer that evening.

•

About the Author Mr. Curtiss is a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran of multiple international deployments. He is a licensed professional martial arts fighter, and the author of Combat Application Techniques: Principles of Destruction and 1984 Redux.

Curtiss writes two columns for the “Examiner”: The Fort Worth Libertarian and Fort Worth Martial Arts Examiner.

He is the founder of The Academy of Combat Application Techniques (www. knife-and-h2h-combat.com).

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Has cutouts so the buttons can still be worked while it’s holstered. Has 2¼" metal clip on back of holster so it can be worn on a 2" duty belt or clipped to a MOLLE tactical vest.

$39.95 ea

Special Operations Harness

Bite Suit

available in black, coyote or multicam*

$1,189.95

with plastic buckles

$149.95

with metal cobra buckles

$199.95

*with attachments for MOLLE pouches and K-9 camera

Muzzles $69.95

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Malinois

German Shepherd

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