News & Opinion on Terrorism & Strategic Communication — October 3, 2007
Saudi Cleric Prohibits Foreign Jihad. “In his fatwa, he stated that setting forth to wage jihad without authorization by the ruler is a serious transgression, and that young Saudis who do so are being misled by suspicious elements from both the East and the West who are exploiting them in order to accomplish their own aims, and who are actually causing serious damage to Saudi Arabia, Islam, and the Muslims.” (MEMRI, 10/2).
Terror Exercise Slated for Next Week Includes Phoenix. “The nation is preparing for its biggest terrorism exercise ever next week when three fictional ‘dirty bombs’ go off and cripple transportation arteries in two major U.S. cities and Guam, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.” (AP via Yahoo, 10/3).
State & Defense Split on Taliban Strategy. “As Afghanistan President Karzai offers to negotiate with the Taliban and provide them a place within the Afghanistan government, a visible split in tactics is evident between the U.S. State Department and the U.S. military.” (CT Blog, 10/2).
U.S. Strategic Broadcasting Needs Work. “Media is something America once did well. But today’s effort, the report on the conference said, is ‘something unrecognizable from the successful broadcasting experience of the Cold War. Important lessons of that time, which took 50 years to accumulate and refine, have been forgotten or purposefully discarded.'” (Chicago Sun Times, 10/2).
EU Considers Blocking Dangerous Web Sites. “German Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble welcomed the proposal by the EU Commissioner for the Interior, Franco Frattini, to bar access to certain Web sites as part of an anti-terrorism package he had prepared. Schäuble seems to want to go further than just barring Internet sites with terrorist content.” (Heise Online, 10/2).
Iraqi in Italy Allegedly Planned Ultralight Attacks. “As it seems the Iraqi had already taken some flight lessons on a engine ultralight aircraft, easier to fly compared to a common plane, and his intention was to teach how to pilot also to the members of the terrorist group.” (Avionews, 10/2).
