05-02-2005, 06:09 PM
by B.Raman
<b>INTERNATIONAL JIHADI TERRORISM--A US PERSPECTIVE</b>--<i>PART I</i>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"There were 52 incidents in Kashmir that were included in the chronology that was issued last year; 284 in 2004. The number of victims in Kashmir in 2003 was 776; in 2004, it was 1,872. The number of killed in Kashmir in 2003 was 111; and in 2004, it was 434. And in the chronology that we are issuing, you will see that is listed under -- for each of the individual incidents, listed under India, but it identifies Kashmir as the location for the attack." (Zelikow)
"And just to clarify, of course, all attacks in Kashmir occurred in either India or Pakistan.' (Laughter) (Zelikow) He could not satisfactorily explain whether the figures relating to J&K included in the latest analysis included only incidents which had taken place inside J&K or also included incidents in Indian and Pakistani territory outside Kashmir which, in the NCTC's view, were related to Kashmir<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>INTERNATIONAL JIHADI TERRORISM: A US Perspective</b>---<i>Part II </i>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->4. Another point which I have been stressing whenever and wherever I could is that the US has been unwise in projecting Islam as a monolothic religion, the global jihadi movement as a monolith, and bin Laden as the undisputed leader of the global jihadi movement and in imparting to him a larger than life size image as a master strategist, a Napoleon of the global jihadi movement<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> "The global jihadist movement â including its most prominent component, al-Qaâida â remains the preeminent terrorist threat to the United States, US interests and US allies. While the core of al-Qaâida has suffered damage to its leadership, organization, and capabilities, the group remains intent on striking US interests in the homeland and overseas. During the past year, concerted antiterrorist coalition measures have degraded al-Qaâidaâs central command infrastructure, decreasing its ability to conduct massive attacks. At the same time, however, al-Qaâida has spread its anti-US, anti-Western ideology to other groups and geographical area<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->16. It is surprising that these experts, who often tend to over-focus on the writings and statements of the late Abdullah Azam, have paid so little attention to the interview given by an unidentified leader of the HUM (then known as the Harkat-ul-Ansar) to Kamran Khan of the "News" of Islamabad in February,1995, which was carried by the paper under the title <b>"Jihad World-Wide". </b>This interview contained a detailed account of the role of the HUM in the jihad in the Southern Philippines. <b>Kamran Khan</b> subsequently came out with another investigative report on the efforts of Ramzi Yousef to export jihad to Saudi Arabia.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>INTERNATIONAL JIHADI TERRORISM: A US Perspective--<i>Part III </i></b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India has been a major beneficiary of the decision of the Bush Administration to transfer the responsibility for the compilation and analysis of statistical data relating to significant international terrorist attacks from the Counter-Terrorism Division of the State Department to the newly-created National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) presently headed by John Brennan as the acting Director.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->11. However, it fails to take note of the sanctuaries enjoyed by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and other Indian terrorist organisations in Bangladesh territory and of the activities of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), a member of bin Laden's International Islamic Front ( IIF), from Bangladesh territory. As in the case of Pakistan, in the case of Bangladesh too, one is struck by a marked reluctance in the State Department to openly articulate concerns over the emergence of the country as a new web of jihadi terrorism, with serious implications for South and South-East Asia. To be concluded <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>INTERNATIONAL JIHADI TERRORISM--A US PERSPECTIVE</b>--<i>PART I</i>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"There were 52 incidents in Kashmir that were included in the chronology that was issued last year; 284 in 2004. The number of victims in Kashmir in 2003 was 776; in 2004, it was 1,872. The number of killed in Kashmir in 2003 was 111; and in 2004, it was 434. And in the chronology that we are issuing, you will see that is listed under -- for each of the individual incidents, listed under India, but it identifies Kashmir as the location for the attack." (Zelikow)
"And just to clarify, of course, all attacks in Kashmir occurred in either India or Pakistan.' (Laughter) (Zelikow) He could not satisfactorily explain whether the figures relating to J&K included in the latest analysis included only incidents which had taken place inside J&K or also included incidents in Indian and Pakistani territory outside Kashmir which, in the NCTC's view, were related to Kashmir<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>INTERNATIONAL JIHADI TERRORISM: A US Perspective</b>---<i>Part II </i>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->4. Another point which I have been stressing whenever and wherever I could is that the US has been unwise in projecting Islam as a monolothic religion, the global jihadi movement as a monolith, and bin Laden as the undisputed leader of the global jihadi movement and in imparting to him a larger than life size image as a master strategist, a Napoleon of the global jihadi movement<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> "The global jihadist movement â including its most prominent component, al-Qaâida â remains the preeminent terrorist threat to the United States, US interests and US allies. While the core of al-Qaâida has suffered damage to its leadership, organization, and capabilities, the group remains intent on striking US interests in the homeland and overseas. During the past year, concerted antiterrorist coalition measures have degraded al-Qaâidaâs central command infrastructure, decreasing its ability to conduct massive attacks. At the same time, however, al-Qaâida has spread its anti-US, anti-Western ideology to other groups and geographical area<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->16. It is surprising that these experts, who often tend to over-focus on the writings and statements of the late Abdullah Azam, have paid so little attention to the interview given by an unidentified leader of the HUM (then known as the Harkat-ul-Ansar) to Kamran Khan of the "News" of Islamabad in February,1995, which was carried by the paper under the title <b>"Jihad World-Wide". </b>This interview contained a detailed account of the role of the HUM in the jihad in the Southern Philippines. <b>Kamran Khan</b> subsequently came out with another investigative report on the efforts of Ramzi Yousef to export jihad to Saudi Arabia.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>INTERNATIONAL JIHADI TERRORISM: A US Perspective--<i>Part III </i></b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India has been a major beneficiary of the decision of the Bush Administration to transfer the responsibility for the compilation and analysis of statistical data relating to significant international terrorist attacks from the Counter-Terrorism Division of the State Department to the newly-created National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) presently headed by John Brennan as the acting Director.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->11. However, it fails to take note of the sanctuaries enjoyed by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and other Indian terrorist organisations in Bangladesh territory and of the activities of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), a member of bin Laden's International Islamic Front ( IIF), from Bangladesh territory. As in the case of Pakistan, in the case of Bangladesh too, one is struck by a marked reluctance in the State Department to openly articulate concerns over the emergence of the country as a new web of jihadi terrorism, with serious implications for South and South-East Asia. To be concluded <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->