[iwar] [fc:The.War.Against.Bin.Laden;.Propaganda.and.Special.Operations]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-09-18 22:25:41


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Subject: [iwar] [fc:The.War.Against.Bin.Laden;.Propaganda.and.Special.Operations]
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18 Sep 2001 - 09:00CDT

The War Against Bin Laden; Propaganda and Special Operations

Opinion/Editorial

By C. L. Staten, CEO and Sr. National Security Analyst
                 Emergency Response &amp; Research Institute

Chicago, IL (EmergencyNet News) -- The "Iraq News," among others, in the
past few days raised the question of whether or not the American public
(or some significant segment there of) should "buy" into the premise
that one man--Usama bin Ladin--and his "group" are alone responsible for
Tuesday's carnage in New York City and Washington, D.C.? Obviously, this
is an interesting question posed by an interesting source. 

The "Iraq News" article is only one of dozens published by various media
organizations and authors in the past two days that seemingly attempt to
divert attention from Bin Laden or other radical Muslim militants and
blame the destruction of the World Trade Center on "the Israelis",
"American right-wing extremists," "the CIA," or any number of other
far-fetched attackers. 

The simple answer to the Iraq News question is NO.  It was not simply
one man who carried out the well coordinated and well-planned terrorist
operations against America.  But, increasing evidence would suggest that
he motivated, supported, financed, and probably coordinated the attacks
through surrogates in various "compartmentalized cells," who had been
planning the attacks for an extended period of time. 

This discussion begs another question that seems to be on the lips of
any number of commentators on the 24-hour-a-day news stations recently;
Would killing Usama Bin Laden solve the problem of terrorism directed
against the U.S.A.? Again the answer is another simple one...NO...just
killing Bin Laden will not solve the problem. 

In many ways, Bin Laden is more than just a man...to some, he is an
almost mythical symbol of a most radical wing of Muslims that believes
that violence is the best path to establishing world-wide Islam.  It
should be noted that this is an infinitesimally small portion of the
overall Muslim population and that Bin Laden and the other terrorist
groups do not represent "Islam the peaceful religion," but rather, Islam
"the expansionist geopolitical strategy."

The prime problem that is facing an international counter-terrorist
effort is the fact that there are probably dozens or even hundreds of
small "cells" that participate in the Al-Qaeda network.  They are
located in many different countries and answer to Bin Laden through a
bewildering "chain of command," if it can even be called that.  It is
believed by ERRI analysts that they engage in the use of any number of
"cut-outs," and use sophisticated "tradecraft" that uses both low/high
technology methods in a "convoluted" communications system. 

Simply capturing or killing Bin Laden will only accomplish one of dozens
of goals that will be necessary to end the actions of this al-Qaeda
network.  If/when Bin Laden falls, he will probably be replaced by Ayman
Al-Zawari, a leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad.  Should Al-Zawari fall,
he will be replaced by any number of other extreme radicals, who will
all attempt to carry on with the mission of jihad and death. 

In order to effectively dismantle this network, it will require a
complex series of unconventional attacks on both terrorist nodes (cells)
and their leaders...in any number of countries and even in the United
States itself.  If the U.S.  effort expects to be successful, it is
likely to be a war of "shadow warriors," including U.S.  special
operations forces against martyrdom-intent suicide-bombers.  It will
require that unprecedented cooperation and coordination between
America's military, intelligence and emergency service agencies. 

It will also include a major psychological operations component as the
U.S.  government attempts to counter sophisticated propaganda efforts by
our enemies, who will attempt to exploit religious frictions and
continue to paint the United States as a "racist nation" that engages in
religious intolerance towards Muslims. 

If a historic perspective serves us, we should learn lessons from
Kashmir, Chechnya, Israel, the Philippines, and other places where
Islamic guerillas have operated for many years.  It will also be a
protracted struggle that is likely to be costly, both in terms of human
lives and materials.  But, it is a war that must be fought if America
hopes to assure our homeland safety and maintain our rightful place in
world... 

Emergency Response &amp; Research Institute
EmergencyNet News Service
6348 N. Milwaukee Ave. #312
Chicago, IL 60646, USA
773-631-3774 - Voice/Messages
773-631-4703 - Facsimile
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