The beheadings and the websites

[DulceDecorum]

BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb 1, 2005 — Iraqi militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken an American soldier hostage and threatened to behead him in 72 hours unless the Americans release Iraqi prisoners.
The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried militants' statements, included a photo of what appeared to be an American soldier in desert fatigues seated with his hands tied behind his back.
<snip>
"Our mujahadeen heroes of Iraq's Jihadi Battalion were able to capture American military man John Adam after killing a number of his comrades and capturing the rest," said the statement, signed by the "Mujahedeen Brigades."
"God willing, we will behead him if our female and male prisoners are not released from U.S. prisons within the maximum period of 72 hours from the time this statement has been released," the statement said.
The claim, carried on the Web site ansarnet.ws, could not be verified.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=461413
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/02/01/international1240EST0559.DTL

Wednesday, 2 February, 2005,
A photograph of what Islamic militants claim is a captive US soldier may have been posed with a toy figure, an army doll manufacturer has said.
<snip>
Staff Sgt Nick Minecci, a US military spokesman in Baghdad, told the Associated press news agency that no units had reported anyone missing.
A Pentagon spokesman said investigations were continuing into the website's claim.
The Mujahideen Brigades has previously claimed responsibility for the abduction in April of three Japanese hostages, who were later released, and a Brazilian engineer missing since January.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4229347.stm

Oh my.
The terrorists are going to behead an action figure if we do not cooperate.
Oh, the horror!!

We were once concerned about their ability to effectively guard the al Qaqaa ammunition dump. But that was before the US military proved unable to prevent their toy dolls from falling into enemy hands.
WHAT ARE THE TERROR-MONGERS GOING TO DO
NOW THAT THEY ARE AS CREDIBLE AS THE WHITE HOUSE?
Incidentally,
this is NOT the first time terrorist messages have been posted on that website.

June 14, 2004
Statements posted on an ‘Islamist website,’ by individuals with alleged ties to Al-Qaeda leader and former CIA protégé Osama bin Laden, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Paul M. Johnson, a U.S. contractor in Saudi Arabia.
One of the statements said: "Our fighters of the Fallujah Brigade in the Arabian peninsula have kidnapped an American, a Christian, Paul M. Johnson Jr. born in 1955 and working as an aeronautics engineer," said the statement signed "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula" and published on the Islamist website (www.ansarnet.ws/vb/showthread.php?t=9351).
http://jackblood.net/stories/ansarnetaddress.htm

Friday, 16 July 2004
A contributor to the Global Islamic Media website (http://www.ansarnet.ws/vb) posted "Communique Number 16" to the site on 11 July. The communique, issued by Jama'at Al-Tawhid wa Al-Jihad -- a militant group associated with suspected Jordanian terrorist Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi -- claimed the group was responsible for the 8 July attacks. Two Turkish truck drivers were also killed on 8 July while transporting supplies near Samarra, NTV reported on 9 July. On 11 July, two U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded by a roadside bomb outside the city, U.S. Central Command reported. International media reported that the Iraqi national-guard headquarters was hit by four mortar strikes, which essentially leveled the building. By 12 July, U.S. troops surrounded the city. Families trying to flee the fighting were caught between U.S. forces and gunmen, LBC satellite television reported.
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/07/5-NOT/not-160704.asp

17 July 2004 - Al Qaeda Issues Demands to Italy; Threatens attacks
A statement posted on an Islamist website purported to be from the Al-Qaeda terror network demands Italy withdraw its troops from Iraq, under threat of a series of car bomb attacks.
"O Italian people, your government has participated in the war on Iraq and sent troops and arsenal to our country. We urge you for the last time to demand that it withdraw peacefully from Iraq," said the statement.
Dated July 17, it was signed "Khalid Ibn al-Walid Brigade, Al-Qaeda". Its authenticity could not be verified.
"If your government does not obey, the solution lies in successive car bomb" attacks, the statement said.
A group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq - Khalid Ibn al-Walid Brigade, is holding a Filipino hostage and has threatened to behead him if Manila does not push forward by a month the withdrawal of its contingent in Iraq.
It was not immediately clear if the same group issued Saturday's statement, posted on the website http://www.ansarnet.ws/vb.
http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/July2004/07italythreat.asp

November 6, 2004.
The statement was signed by Al Qaeda Group in the Land of Two Rivers (Iraq).
The headline introducing it had the full name of the organisation, "The Al Qaeda Group of Jihad in the Land of Two Rivers." It was posted on one of the main websites used for statements or videos by militant groups (www.ansarnet.ws/vb).
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1236128.htm

September 16, 2004
Here is a list of all the victims of Islamic Beheadings since late July this year.
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/046190.php

December 28th, 2004
SAMARRA, Iraq (AFP) - At least 43 people were killed as insurgents launched a string of attacks on Iraqi security forces and other targets, raising questions about their readiness to secure landmark elections next month.
The flurry of assaults followed the airing on Arabic television of a purported voice recording of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden naming fugitive Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi his Iraqi "emir" and calling for a boycott of the January 30 poll.
And Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for the failed assassination bid on Monday of a leading Shiite politician, according to an Islamist website.
<snip>
The US Central Intelligence Agency said it believed the voice on the recording was probably that of the Al-Qaeda leader
<snip>
The purported bin Laden message also anointed Zarqawi as leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Zarqawi's group said it was behind the attempted assassination Monday of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, chief of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Hakim escaped unscathed but 13 people were killed and scores wounded.
"A lion of the unit of candidates for martyrdom of the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers moved on Monday to eliminate one of the symbols of unbelief and treachery," said the statement on www.ansarnet.ws/vb, whose authenticity could not be confirmed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=748

15 Jan 2005
DUBAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Iraqi militant group Ansar al-Islam denied on Saturday it was behind the killing of an aide to top Shi'ite Muslim cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, according to an Internet message.
<snip>
Some media reports at the time said Ansar al-Islam had claimed responsibility.
The Web site message signed by Ansar al-Islam said: "In order to protect our credibility ... we announce that we were not behind that operation."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15520446.htm
HOW COME THIS WEBSITE HAS NOT BEEN SHUT DOWN?

08/21/03
Disinformation: CIA Posing as Al-Qaeda?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4513.htm

Tuesday, 30 December, 2003
Police in Germany are on high alert after a warning that Islamic militants are planning to attack a military hospital in the city of Hamburg.
<snip>
Hamburg police said in their statement they received the information from unnamed "security sources" at 1430 local time (1330 GMT), AP reported.
German intelligence services later said the warning came from a US intelligence agency.
The threat is thought to come from the militant group Ansar al-Islam, based in northern Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3357553.stm

01/06/04
Sources at the German intelligence bureau claim that CIA misinformed them about the alleged planned terror action in Hamburg December 30. Ansar al-Islam was accused of being behind the attempt.
According to information provided TV 2 Nettavisen by German intelligence, they are convinced that the CIA information is wrong, and they allegedly fear that American authorities planted the information.
German police have started an investigation after the terror alarm at the hospital in Hamburg December 30. So far, no evidence has been located that indicates that the terror alarm was genuine.
Also German police who were tipped off by the CIA, doubt that the terror alarm was real.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5483.htm

Tuesday, 20 August, 2002
In another development, US media are reporting that a group with links to al-Qaeda may have experimented with the deadly toxin ricin in northern Iraq in recent months.
<snip>
Footage shows three dogs being exposed to an unidentified vapour, which causes them to vomit and writhe in agony before dying.
Other tapes show how to make bombs, kidnap people, carry out assassinations and blow up bridges.
<snip>
US government advisers who have seen the tapes are reported to have found them "extremely significant".
In particular they showed interest in the fact that al-Qaeda appeared to have been able to produce a "predictably lethal chemical" demonstrated in the dog tapes.
An Algerian militant, Ahmed Ressam, convicted of a millennium bomb plot in the US in 2001, gave testimony about the use of dogs in experiments with cyanide at the al-Qaeda camp where he received training in Afghanistan.
Intelligence sources quoted by CNN say the experiments probably took place at the remote Darunta camp, where satellite images have in the past included the corpses of dogs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2203742.stm

The US has also claimed that Ansar al-Islam has links with Saddam Hussein, thus claiming a link between Hussein and al-Qaeda. The claims were rejected by Krekar, and a presentation by Colin Powell to the UN on February 5, 2003 was met with widespread skepticism (see United Nations actions regarding Iraq).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansar_al-Islam

Mon Jun 14th, 2004
As posted in Part 1, an Al-Qaeda website has posted the pictures of Paul M. Johnson's passport and his Apache helicopter business card.
But where is this website? Where is the original, not the many media references to it?
http://soj.dailykos.com/story/2004/6/14/21530/2155

Questions surround young American (Nick Berg)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=125&topic_id=11866

WHAT DOES THE RIGHTWING HAVE TO SAY?
ESPECIALLY SINCE THEIR FINGER IS ALWAYS ON THE TERRORIST'S PULSE.

07.22.04
Hosting Anime appears to run with impunity from at least one branch of the FBI. An agent from the Phoenix FBI recently told a reporter that the Internet Service provider was not suspected of being involved with terrorism, and that investigative efforts toward that end were going down the wrong road.
A few weeks ago the agent ominously said that it would not be a good idea for a reporter to look for additional information about the operators of Hosting Anime.
He added, "You could end up helping people you don't want to help. You may already have." The agent refused to clarify what he meant by the statement.
http://bushcountry.org/news/columnists/jreynalds/c_072204_jreynalds_terror_al_qaida_fbi.htm

07.30.04
It’s blatantly obvious that we’re engaged in a war against terrorism. Shockingly, there are as many as 20 Islamic terrorist web site on the Internet, some of which are allegedly on line because of a directive from the United States government to reluctant Internet service providers.
http://conservativetruth.org/opinionet/archives2/ccjr/2002/ccjr27.htm

01.26.05
It appears that Mawsuat may be the new site being used by al-Zarqawi after the former Internet outlet for his activities, Hosting Anime was sold, and the new owners refused to carry the same number of terrorist web sites that were hosted there before.
http://bushcountry.org/news/columnists/jreynalds/c_012605_jreynalds_zarqawi_terror.htm

DEMAND for ANSWERS:
Why are ISPs forced to carry terrorist web sites?
Islamist Terrorism in the USA -- on the Internet hosted by American ISPs.
ISPs are being forced by someone in the U.S. Government to carry websites devoted to terrorism. These organizations have been officially designated by the U.S. Dept. of Justice as terrorist. They have websites hosted by American ISPs, which collect money for terror and recruit in direct violation of U.S. laws!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/530866253

Ansarnet is hosted by the Houston-based Everyone's Internet (EV1). The company has repeatedly refused to respond to questions concerning its reported hosting both directly and indirectly of terror web sites.
Another web site which carried the picture, Baghdad al Rashid, appears to be hosted by an Internet Service Provider called Savvis. A call to the company was answered by an individual who said the company may or may not be directly or indirectly hosting the site. He explained that Savvis routinely sells space on its computer servers to people, who then lease that same space out to other groups or individuals. He asked that concerns be directed in writing to the company's abuse department.
Those responsible for Baghdad al Rashid appear to have provided false registration information. On Feb. 1, the day the action figure appeared to have been uploaded to the Internet, the site was registered to a Azoubair Ebno 3awam of Baghdad. On December 1, the site was registered to Hassan Alsayed purportedly of Aleppo Syria.
http://www.gopusa.com/news/2005/february/0202_islamic_dupe.shtml
NICE SEGUE.
NOW WE CAN ATTACK SYRIA.

[spooked911]

1. A few thoughts here

1) the USG wants terrorist websites operating because they think it is a good way to monitor these groups

2) how seriously are we supposed to take "terrorists" who do something like this action figure gag?

3) at least these "terrorists" seem to have a good sense of humor