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READYING THE CRUSADE - ARMIES, PRESS, PUBLIC

October 2, 2001

FORWARD THE CRUSADE - AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ...IRAN...LEBANON, PALESTINIANS...

MID-EAST REALITIES © - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 10/02: Anyone with an ear tuned to Washington's politicians, lobbyists, and opinion molders can hear it quite loudly and clearly at this point. After taking down Osama bin Laden's al Queda network (said to be in some 50+ countries), after changing the government in Afghanistan, the American-led crusade (now more politely known by Colin Powell's term "campaign") will attempt to march on through the Middle East, next stop Baghdad. After that Hezbollah will be dealt with in Lebanon -- the Syrians to be told they better get out of the way or else -- and then if the Israelis have their way at least Iran's advanced weapons programs will be destroyed one way or another.

After (maybe even during) this destructive orgy designed to forcefully reassert a new "new world order", Pax America-style, expect then an attempt to impose a "Palestinian State" -- not a real Palestinian State of course but rather one created essentially by the Israelis themselves (aided as always by the Americans of course) designed to further disguise the forced colonization of the bulk of the resource-rich areas across the Green Line that were captured in the 1967 war, another one of those historic Middle East moments facilitated by the Americans.

No matter how many denials and obfuscations come from official Washington and those trying to camouflage what is really going on, the American course -- one greatly influenced by the powerful Israeli/Jewish lobby in the US -- is now set and about to start rolling across the enlarged Middle East in a modern-day assertion of domination like was done by ancient armies from Europe in centuries past.

MULLAH OMAR IN HIS OWN WORDS

[The Guardian - Wednesday September 26, 2001]

This12-minute interview with Mullah Omar Mohammad, the Taliban leader, was conducted in Pashtu for the publicly-funded radio channel Voice of America. The broadcast was pulled last Friday, following objections from the State Department and the National Security Council.

Voice of America interviewer: Why don't you expel Osama bin Laden?

Omar: This is not an issue of Osama bin Laden. It is an issue of Islam. Islam's prestige is at stake. So is Afghanistan's tradition.

VOA: Do you know that the US has announced a war on terrorism?

Omar: I am considering two promises. One is the promise of God, the other is that of Bush. The promise of God is that my land is vast. If you start a journey on God's path, you can reside anywhere on this earth and will be protected... The promise of Bush is that there is no place on earth where you can hide that I cannot find you. We will see which one of these two promises is fulfilled.

VOA: But aren't you afraid for the people, yourself, the Taliban, your country?

Omar: Almighty God... is helping the believers and the Muslims. God says he will never be satisfied with the infidels. In terms of worldly affairs, America is very strong. Even if it were twice as strong or twice that, it could not be strong enough to defeat us. We are confident that no one can harm us if God is with us.

VOA: You are telling me you are not concerned, but Afghans all over the world are concerned.

Omar: We are also concerned. Great issues lie ahead. But we depend on God's mercy. Consider our point of view: if we give Osama away today, Muslims who are now pleading to give him up would then be reviling us for giving him up... Everyone is afraid of America and wants to please it. But Americans will not be able to prevent such acts like the one that has just occurred because America has taken Islam hostage. If you look at Islamic countries, the people are in despair. They are complaining that Islam is gone. But people remain firm in their Islamic beliefs. In their pain and frustration, some of them commit suicide acts. They feel they have nothing to lose.

VOA: What do you mean by saying America has taken the Islamic world hostage?

Omar: America controls the governments of the Islamic countries. The people ask to follow Islam, but the governments do not listen because they are in the grip of the United States. If someone follows the path of Islam, the government arrests him, tortures him or kills him. This is the doing of America. If it stops supporting those governments and lets the people deal with them, then such things won't happen. America has created the evil that is attacking it. The evil will not disappear even if I die and Osama dies and others die. The US should step back and review its policy. It should stop trying to impose its empire on the rest of the world, especially on Islamic countries.

VOA: So you won't give Osama bin Laden up?

Omar: No. We cannot do that. If we did, it means we are not Muslims... that Islam is finished. If we were afraid of attack, we could have surrendered him the last time we were threatened and attacked. So America can hit us again, and this time we don't even have a friend.

VOA: If you fight America with all your might - can the Taliban do that? Won't America beat you and won't your people suffer even more?

Omar: I'm very confident that it won't turn out this way. Please note this: there is nothing more we can do except depend on almighty God. If a person does, then he is assured that the Almighty will help him, have mercy on him and he will succeed.

BLAIR DECLARES WAR ON TALEBAN

By Philip Webster

[The Telegraph, UK, 2 October]: THE PRIME MINISTER will declare war on Afghanistan’s Taleban regime today, telling them that their troops and military hardware will be attacked because they have refused to give up Osama bin Laden.

In a dramatic appearance at the Labour conference, Tony Blair will make plain that the deadline has expired for the handing over of the “prime suspect” of the American attacks.

According to senior aides, he will promise that military action will be proportionate and that everything “humanly possible” will be done to avoid civilian casualties. Action would be aimed at bin Laden’s military installations and training camps as well as at “Taleban troops, supplies and finances”.

Mr Blair will declare that the Taleban had the chance to surrender the terrorists but had chosen not to. Allied forces would eliminate their hardware, disrupt their supplies and target their troops.

His stark language will inevitably refuel speculation that military action is close, especially in the light of Pakistan’s acceptance yesterday that the Taleban’s days were numbered. President Musharraf said: “It appears that the United States will take action in Afghanistan. We have conveyed this to the Taleban.”

In Afghanistan, too, preparations for war gathered pace with the Taleban Defence Minister, Mullah Obaidullah, telling troops: “Fight hard, defend your country. If your enemy is strong, our God is the strongest.”

President Bush, however, appeared to play down expectations of imminent action, saying that America would “slowly but surely” get its targets. Reviewing “progress” in his campaign against terrorism, Mr Bush focused on hundreds of arrests around the world. But he also said that 29,000 American troops had been committed to the fight and he is reported to have approved a package of covert aid to anti-Taleban Afghans.

He also re-emphasised his determination to punish other states that shield terrorists. King Abdullah of Jordan had said that America had promised not to attack any Muslim state other than Afghanistan. But the White House said: “It is wrong. What the President told the king is those who harbour terrorists will meet the same fate as the terrorists.”

American war planning was meanwhile boosted by Uzbekistan’s agreement to open its air space for US military operations. President Karimov said: “Uzbekistan wanted to make its own contribution to the liquidation of terrorist bases in Afghanistan.”

As the build-up continued, Mr Blair had talks with Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, in Brighton yesterday and spent last night telephoning world leaders and finalising his speech.

According to advisers, Mr Blair will say today that “lasting good emerging from the shadow of evil” must be the memorial to the victims of September 11. The atrocity brought home the reality of inter-dependence that the global community must turn into a force for good. That meant working to destroy the machinery of terror, fostering greater understanding between nations and faiths, and addressing the injustices in the world.

Mr Blair was reported to have written the first draft of his speech in a single evening at Downing Street last week. Half will be devoted to international affairs and the rest to domestic matters, including a restatement of his intention to expand the use of the private sector in the public services. His advisers said that the two would be be linked by a common theme: the power of community to be a force for good.

He will say that the world has come closer together in the past three weeks, and while he will acknowledge that people feel anxious about what might lie ahead, he will add that “the dangers of inaction are greater than the dangers of action”.

That action will include a number of new measures to clamp down on terrorism that will be announced when Parliament sits for a special session on Thursday, but these will not include proposals to introduce identity cards. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, said yesterday: “I am not interested in addressing this issue purely on the back of the attack on the World Trade Centre.”
Mid-East Realitieswww.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/10/433.htm