Madrid Commuter Massacre. Why did this happen ?

[krsna]

Commuters describe Madrid blast chaos

 

 

Dozens were injured and hospitals have asked people to donate blood

Commuters in Madrid have described the terror and chaos as a series of explosions ripped through trains in the Spanish capital.

Dozens were killed and hundreds injured in what one Spanish government minister has described as "a massacre".

 

The morning rush hour came to a standstill to the sound of wailing sirens as emergency services dealt with the dead and injured.

 

"I saw many things explode in the air, I don't know, it was horrible," said civil servant Juani Fernandez, 50, on the platform at Atocha station when the blasts happened.

 

"People started to scream and run, some bumping into each other and as we ran there was another explosion.

 

You could hear people screaming, on the platform there were dead and injured, people were running covered in blood

 

Isabel Vega,

student

"I saw people with blood pouring from them, people on the ground," he told the Associated Press news agency.

 

Student Isabel Vega, still visibly shaken by the experience, told Spanish Efe television: "It has been chaotic, horrific.

 

"You could hear people screaming, on the platform there were dead and injured, people were running covered in blood."

 

Francisco Torres, from Madrid, told BBC News Online he was travelling in a train about 50 metres from one of the blasts at Atocha station and could feel the carriage shake.

 

'Shocking'

 

"People got off quickly but I still feel we all kept calm. It was only one minute later that two more bombs exploded in rapid succession.

 

"It was at this point that people rushed out of the station. People crying. It was shocking."

 

HAVE YOUR SAY

There was a very big blast in the trains and everything that happened after that has been very confused

 

Ignacio, Madrid, Spain

 

 

Send your eyewitness reports

Other witnesses told Spanish National Radio they saw people lying on the ground and train cars destroyed.

 

Travellers at Santa Eugenia station described how people were thrown, or threw themselves, to the floor as the blasts happened.

 

Buses have been used as ambulances to carry the injured and hospitals have appealed for people to donate blood.

 

'Hellish'

 

Emergency worker Oscar Romero said the devastation was the worst he had seen in his job.

 

"There were people destroyed, blown up, without legs," he said.

 

"There were two cars in pieces with bodies underneath."

 

A woman who lives near the El Pozo station on the line leading to Atocha said: "The scene I am seeing is hellish.

 

"I can see people inside the remains of the train."

 

 

[Kulapavana]

like all other horrible activities, this is due to kama, or material desire to enjoy by posessing things.

[Guest guest]

the basques have been bombing spain for years,

they want an independent homeland.

[livingentity]

they can have Nevada.

[Kulapavana]

I was reading the latest news and it looks like this attack might have been done by some Islamic group. Pretty sophisticated attack for Basques, but who knows... so many lunatics out there /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[livingentity]

Arab Paper Gets Spain Bombing Claim

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF

 

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said Thursday it had received a claim of responsibility for the Madrid train bombings issued in the name of al-Qaida.

 

The five-page e-mail claim, signed by the shadowy Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, was received at the paper's London offices. It said the brigade's ``death squad'' had penetrated ``one of the pillars of the crusade alliance, Spain,'' and carried out what it called Operation Death Trains.

 

 

 

``This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam,'' the claim said.

 

Referring to Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the statement asked: ``Aznar, where is America? Who will protect you, Britain, Japan, Italy and others from us?''

 

The newspaper faxed the claim to The Associated Press office in Cairo.

 

The statement warned the United States that a major strike is approaching.

 

``We announce the good news for the Muslims in the world that the strike of the black wind of death, the expected strike against America, is now at its final stage - 90 percent ready - and it is coming soon, by God's will,'' the claim said.

 

Asked about the claim of responsibility, White House spokesman Sean McCormack said ``we've seen the news reports and we're going to determine what the facts are.''

 

The message also referred to last year's attack on Italian paramilitary police serving in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

 

``When we attacked the Italian troops in Nasiriyah and sent you and America's agents an ultimatum to withdraw from the anti-Islam alliance, you did not understand the the message. Now we have made it clear and hope that this time you will understand,'' the statement said.

 

``We, at the Abu Hafs brigades, have not felt sad for the so-called civilians,'' the statement in an apparent reference to the hundreds of casualties in Thursday's attacks in Madrid.

 

``Is it OK for you to kill our children, women, old people and youth in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir? And is it forbidden to us to kill yours?'' the claim asked.

 

The statement said another al-Qaida squad, Jund al-Quds or Soldiers of Jerusalem, had carried out Tuesday night's attack on a Masonic lodge in Istanbul, Turkey.

 

``All the Masons would have been killed but there was a technical fault. So because God wished it, only three were killed,'' the statement said.

 

In the attack, two suicide bombers opened fire in the lodge's dining hall, killing a waiter and wounding five other people. The attackers then detonated rudimentary explosives. One assailant died in the blast while the other was severely wounded.

 

[gHari]

At least Nevada is safe now. You really went out on a limb there Living Entity.

 

[livingentity]

the the Basque can still have Nevada!!! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

There is quite a large Basque community in Reno already and they have become fairly wealthy off the gambling industry and restaurant business.

 

[Dervish]

I pray that no devotee in Spain was hurt by this terrorist act.

 

Every group that wants to be treated with respect or given some level of independence needs to read a book about Gandhi, even watch the Ben Kingsley movie. I don't understand people sometimes.

[Guest guest]

i dont buy it for a second, sounds like the work of

the u.s intel or british intel or the mossad who are all famous for being rogue powers playing fast and loose with the law without government approval,all in order to

give their for-profit regimes something to point

at and say "i told you so", for those who dont

believe the u.s or britain would do something like that

remember they just invaded and killed 10's of thousands

of iraqi civilians and have contaminated the country

and the u.s. soldiers with "depleted" uranium which

is made from nuclear waste and radioactive,all for

profit,and the mossad had a plan to dress up as palestinians

years ago and assassinate George the first(he planned on cutting aid to israel if they didn't compromise with

the palestinians) in spain

until one of their ex agents told a U.S. senator

and they put a stop to it.

=========================================

By Paul Rockwell

 

The international dispatches about the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq - replete with graphic details about overcrowded hospitals, U.S. cluster bomb shrapnel buried in the flesh of children, babies deformed by U.S. depleted uranium, farms and markets destroyed by U.S. bombs – do not make pleasant reading. The mounting evidence from the invasion of Iraq establishes what many Americans may not want to face: that the highest leaders of our land violated many international agreements relating to the rules of war. Unless we address the war crimes of the Bush administration - and the prima facie evidence is overwhelming - we betray our conscience, our country, and our own faith in democracy.

The United States is bound by customary law and international laws of war: the Hague Conventions of 1889 and 1907, the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and the Nuremberg Conventions adopted by the United Nations, December 11, 1945 - all of which set limits beyond which, by common consent, decent peoples will not go. Under the Constitution, all treaties are part of the supreme law of the land. Humanitarian law rests on a simple principle: that human rights are measured by one yardstick. Without that principle, all jurisprudence descends into mere piety and power. Nor do violations of the laws of war by one belligerent vindicate the war crimes of another.

 

Of all the violations of the laws of war by the highest officials of our country, none is more alarming or portentous than the widespread, premeditated use of depleted uranium in Iraq. Eleven miles north of the Kuwaiti border on the "Highway of Death," disabled tanks, armored personnel carriers, gutted public vehicles – the mangled metals of Desert Storm - are resting in the desert, radiating nuclear energy. American soldiers who lived for three months in the toxic wasteland now suffer from fatigue, joint and muscle pain, respiratory ailments - a host of maladies often known as the Gulf War Syndrome.

 

Ever since the end of Desert Storm, when the Pentagon unloaded 350 tons of depleted uranium, American officials have been well aware of the health hazards of the residue that is collected from the processing of nuclear fuel. When President Bush and the Pentagon authorized the use of depleted uranium for the shock-and-awe campaign against Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration not only committed a war crime against the people of Iraq, it demonstrated reckless disregard for the health and safety of American troops.

 

Article 23 of the Geneva Convention IV is clear and unambiguous: “It is forbidden to employ poison or poisoned weapons, to kill treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army, to employ arms, projectiles or material calculated to cause unnecessary suffering.” The Geneva Protocol of 1925 explicitly prohibits “asphyxiating, poisonous or other gasses, and all analogous liquids, materials or devices.”

 

The radiation produced by depleted uranium in battle is a poison, a carcinogenic material that causes birth defects, lung disease, kidney disease, leukemia, breast cancer, lymphoma, bone cancer, and neurological disabilities.

 

Depleted uranium is much denser than lead and enables U.S. weapons to penetrate steel, a great advantage in modern war. But under the Geneva Conventions, “the means of injuring the enemy are not unlimited.” When DU munitions explode, the air is bathed in a fine, radioactive dust, which carries on the wind, is easily inhaled, and eventually enters the soil, pollutes ground water, and enters the food chain. Unexploded casings gradually oxidize, releasing more uranium into the environment. Handlers of depleted uranium in the U.S. are required to wear masks and protective clothing - a requirement that Iraqi and American soldiers, not to mention civilians, are unable to fulfill.

 

After the Gulf War in 1991, Iraqi hospitals recorded a surge in cancer and birth defects. Hospital statistics from Basra show that in 1988 there were 11 cancer cases per 100,000 people. By 2001, after schools, homes, and entire neighborhoods were leveled from the air, the number increased to 116 per 100,000. Breast and lung cancer and leukemia showed up in all areas contaminated by depleted uranium. Dr. Jawad al-Ali, cancer specialist at the Basra Training Hospital, noted that, “The only factor that has changed here since the 1991 war is radiation.” Thirteen members of his staff, all present when the hospital area was bombed, are now cancer patients.

 

The Christian Science Monitor recently sent reporters to Iraq to investigate long-term effects of depleted uranium. Staff writer Scott Peterson saw children playing on top of a burnt-out tank near a vegetable stand on the outskirts of Baghdad, a tank that had been destroyed by armor-piercing shells coated with depleted uranium. Wearing his mask and protective clothing, he pointed his Geiger counter toward the tank. It registered 1,000 times the normal background radiation.

 

The families who survived the tragic decade of sanctions, even the children who recently survived the bombing of Baghdad, may not survive the radiated aftermath of military profligacy. Uranium remains radioactive for two billion years. That's a long time for reconstruction.

 

According to Dr. Doug Rokke, U.S. Army health physicist who led the first clean-up of depleted uranium after the Gulf War, “Depleted uranium is a crime against God and humanity.” Rokke's own crew, a hundred employees, was devastated by exposure to the fine dust. “When we went to the Gulf, we were all really healthy,” he said. After performing clean-up operations in the desert (mistakenly without protective gear), thirty members of his staff died, and most others - including Rokke himself-developed serious health problems. Rokke now has reactive airway disease, neurological damage, cataracts, and kidney problems. “We warned the Department of Defense in 1991 after the Gulf War. Their arrogance is beyond comprehension.”

 

The growing outcry against the use of depleted uranium is not a matter of minor legal technicalities. The laws of war prohibit the use of weapons that have deadly and inhumane effects beyond the field of battle. Nor can weapons be legally deployed in war when they are known to remain active, or cause harm after the war concludes. The use of depleted uranium is a crime whose horrific consequences have yet to run their course.

 

Years ago in the midst of France's brutal war in Algeria, the philosopher Jean Paul Sartre admonished the French intelligentsia:

 

“It is not right, my fellow-countrymen, you who know very well all the crimes committed in our name. It's not at all right that you do not breathe a word about them to anyone, not even to your own soul, for fear of having to stand in judgment of yourself. I am willing to believe that at the beginning you did not realize what was happening; later, you doubted whether such things could be true; but now you know, and still you hold your tongues.”

 

 

[Kulapavana]

"sounds like the work of

the u.s intel or british intel or the mossad who are all famous for being rogue powers playing fast and loose with the law "

 

that is quite possible too. I'm convinced that 9/11 happend either because these services allowed it to happen (and even used their agents to secretly help the terrorists) or outright organized it from scratch.

[krsna]

Full text: 'Al-Qaeda' Madrid claim

 

This is a transcript of the videotaped message claiming al-Qaeda carried out the Madrid train bombings, as translated by the Associated Press.

We declare our responsibility for what happened in Madrid exactly two-and-a-half years after the attacks on New York and Washington.

 

It is a response to your collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies.

 

This is a response to the crimes that you have caused in the world, and specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there will be more, if God wills it.

 

You love life and we love death, which gives an example of what the Prophet Muhammad said.

 

If you don't stop your injustices, more and more blood will flow and these attacks will seem very small compared to what can occur in what you call terrorism.

 

This is a statement by the military spokesman for al-Qaeda in Europe, Abu Dujan al-Afghani.

 

 

 

[Dervish]

New Spain prime minister may pull troops out of Iraq

 

Promising a fight against terrorism at home, Spain's prime minister elect says that if the United Nations does not take over control of Iraq, he will pull 1,300 Spanish troops out of Iraq in June. "I think Spain's participation in the war has been a total error," Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference today.

[theist]

Score one for Bin Laden and co. That is why the bomb went off two days before the election.

[Dervish]

I hope to be far away before the USA election. Oh yeah, it'll be Kartik. Joy /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[krsna]

Prayers and fears of Madrid's Muslims

 

By Dominic Bailey

BBC News Online, Madrid

 

 

Muslims in Spain are worried.

 

Muslims fear a backlash could wreck their lives

 

Exactly who was behind the Madrid train bombings is still not certain but three of the five being questioned are Moroccan, one of whom is reported to be linked to attacks in Casablanca last year.

 

There is a large Moroccan immigrant community in Spain and many fear reprisals against their families, businesses and places of worship.

 

Islamic leaders in Spain were quick to denounce the 11 March Madrid attacks, even though the finger of blame was initially pointed at Basque separatists Eta.

 

At least eight Muslims were among the 200 people killed and more than 40 among the hundreds of injured.

 

But talk of al-Qaeda links has again muddied the perception of Islam and made ordinary Muslims feel insecure in the land they have happily made their home.

 

Rumours of repercussions

 

The white stone and marble Cultural Islamic Centre and mosque stands out against the backdrop of high-rise flats along the M-30 motorway out of Madrid.

 

For a Muslim to kill a person unjustly is to kill everyone. There is no justification to kill

 

Mohamad Saleh

 

Inside it is a cool oasis of serenity that echoes with the imam's call to prayer.

 

But the number of prayer times has been reduced and entrance to regular visitors is restricted.

 

The centre's secretary, Mohamad Saleh, says the safety precautions are necessary.

 

"We are worried about the repercussions that there may be against Muslims," he said.

 

After 11 September eggs were thrown at the mosque and some Muslims were sacked from their jobs simply because of their religion.

 

There are already reports of abuse on the street, Arab businesses having windows broken and rumours of demonstrations outside the mosque being planned.

 

Moorish memories

 

"We felt for the victims, the same as everyone, this sort of desperate terrorism affects all areas," said Mr Saleh.

 

"But people shouldn't punish a religion or country because of who commits a crime. If a Christian kills, are all Christians blamed? Are the Basques blamed if Eta attack?

 

 

The Islamic centre in Madrid preaches tolerance

 

"These people are terrorists and terrorists are criminals wherever they are from.

 

"They cannot have real faith or know God. For a Muslim to kill a person unjustly is to kill everyone. There is no justification to kill."

 

A banner reading "No to terrorism. Solidarity and condolences to the victims and their families" hangs under the arch of the centre's entrance.

 

There are about 500,000 Muslims in Madrid and on Fridays between 1,500 and 2,000 faithful pray at the mosque.

 

Most are from Morocco, Algeria and other Arab states.

 

Spain has a long, if bloody, history with its Arab neighbours to the south.

 

Many Arabic dishes, words and architecture survive in modern Spain, remnants from the Moorish conquest of the peninsula which ended in 1492.

 

'Good people'

 

But now, many immigrants who have made the country their second home don't feel safe.

 

A 46-year-old Algerian, who would not give his name, said there had been threats and people were afraid.

 

Here in Madrid there is a mix of everyone, Jews, Muslims, Christians - it is like a big family and we all have our way of life

 

Ahmed Jbari

 

"I feel one of the people here and feel for them but I don't like the way they now look at us in the street," he said.

 

"A friend of my wife's came home pale and frightened the other day after a group of kids threatened her, shouting 'Dirty disgusting Moors'."

 

But he said the Spanish were genuinely good people and hopefully would move on with their lives.

 

Moroccan immigrant Rabii, 26, playing draughts with bits of cardboard outside the mosque, said it still had to be proved that al-Qaeda was to blame.

 

"The people coming over here are not here for jihad, they are coming here to find a better future. But now we can't go to the mosque and they are stopping us praying."

 

A greater concern for him was that the difficult task of finding a job would be made harder after the attacks.

 

After the pain, peace

 

Businessman Ahmed Jbari, 53, from Tangiers, says the adverse reactions are down to ignorance.

 

"Here in Madrid there is a mix of everyone, Jews, Muslims, Christians - it is like a big family and we all have our way of life.

 

"But people who break the windows should be blamed, not others. Here 29 pay for what one has done."

 

Moroccan street-seller Abdellate Fechaaui, 30, was among the hundreds of Muslims who joined the march of millions against terrorism after the Madrid attacks.

 

Abdellate and his colleagues had one message for the Spanish people and the bombers: "We are with the Spanish people and are feeling the same pain as everyone. We want peace."

 

 

[Kulapavana]

Source: www.justresponse.net

Published: November 26, 2003 Author: By The Daily Ummat of Karachi

Who was behind 9/11? – an interview with Osama Bin Laden

By The Daily Ummat of Karachi

 

Daily Ummat: You have been accused of involvement in the attacks on New York and Washington. What do you want to say about this?

 

Osama Bin Laden: In the name of Allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. Praise be to Allah, Who is the creator of the whole universe and Who made the Earth as an abode for peace for the whole of humankind. Allah is the Sustainer, who sent the Prophet Muhammad for our guidance. I am thankful to Ummat Publications for giving me the opportunity to convey my viewpoint to the people, particularly the valiant and Momin [true Muslim] people of Pakistan who refused to believe the lies of the demon [Pakistani military dictator General Pervez Musharraf].

 

I have already said that I am not involved in the September 11 attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other human beings as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people. Such a practice is forbidden even in the course of battle. It is the United States which is perpetrating every sort of maltreatment on women, children and common people of other faiths, particularly the followers of Islam. All that has been going on in Palestine for the last 11 months is sufficient to invoke the wrath of God upon the United States and Israel. There is also a warning for those Muslim countries that witnessed all of this as silent spectators. What had earlier been done to the innocent people of Iraq, Chechnya and Bosnia? Only one conclusion could be derived from the indifference of the United States and the West to these acts of terror and the patronage of the tyrants by these powers, namely that America is an anti-Islamic power and is patronising anti-Islamic forces. Its friendship with the Muslim countries is just show, or rather deceit. By enticing or intimidating these countries, the United States is forcing them to play a role of its choice. Cast a glance around and you will see that the slaves of the United States are either rulers or enemies of Muslims.

 

The US has no friends, nor does it want any because the prerequisite of friendship is to come to the level of the friend or consider him on par with yourself. America does not want to see anyone equal to it. It expects slavery from others. Therefore, other countries are either its slaves or its subordinates. However, our case is different. We have pledged slavery to God Almighty alone and after this pledge there is no possibility of becoming someone else's slave. If we did that it would be disregardful both to our Sustainer and to his fellow beings. Most of the nations of the world who are upholding their freedom are the religious ones, which are the enemies of the United States, or which the US itself considers to be its enemies.

 

The countries which do not agree to become US slaves are China, Iran, Libya, Cuba, Syria [Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Sudan, Indonesia, Malaysia] and Russia. Whoever committed the act of September 11 are not the friends of the American people. I have already said that we are against the American system, not against its people, whereas in these attacks, common American people have been killed. According to my information, the death toll is much higher than what the US Government has stated. But the Bush administration does not want the panic to spread. The United States should try to trace the perpetrators of these attacks within itself; the people who are a part of the US system but are dissenting against it. Or those who are working for some other system; persons who want to make the present century as a century of conflict between Islam and Christianity so that their own civilization, nation, country, or ideology can survive. They may be anyone, from Russia to Israel and from India to Serbia. In the US itself, there are dozens of well-organized and well-equipped groups capable of causing large-scale destruction. Then you cannot forget the American Jews, who have been annoyed with President Bush ever since the Florida elections and who want to avenge him.

 

Then there are intelligence agencies in the US, which require billions of dollars worth of funds from Congress and the government every year. This [funding issue] was not a big problem until the existence of the ex-Soviet Union but after that the budget of these agencies has been in danger. They needed an enemy. So, they first started propaganda against Osama and the Talibans and then this incident happened. You see, the Bush Administration approved a budget of 40 billion dollars. Where will this huge amount go? It will be provided to the same agencies which need huge funds and want to exert their importance. Now they will spend the money for their expansion and to increase their importance. I will give you an example. Drug smugglers from all over the world are in contact with the US secret agencies. These agencies do not want to eradicate narcotics cultivation and trafficking because their importance would be diminished. The people in the US Drug Enforcement Department are encouraging drug trade in order to show performance and get millions of dollars worth of budget. General Noriega was made a drug baron by the CIA and, in need, he was made a scapegoat. In the same way, whether it is President Bush or any other US President, they cannot bring Israel to justice for its human rights abuses or to hold it accountable for such crimes. What is this? Is it not that there exists a government within the government in the United Sates? That secret government must be asked who carried out the attacks.

 

Daily Ummat: A number of countries have joined the call of the United States to launch attacks on Afghanistan. These also include a number of Muslim countries. Will Al-Qaeda declare a jihad against these Islamic countries too?

 

Bin Laden: I must say that my duty is just to awaken the Muslims; to tell them what is good for them and what is not, what Islam says and what the enemies of Islam want. Al-Qaeda was set up to wage a jihad against infidelity, particularly to counter the onslaught of the infidel countries against the Islamic states. Jihad is the sixth undeclared pillar of Islam. [The first five being the basic holy words of Islam: that there is only one God in the entire universe and that Muhammad is the last Prophet of God; prayers; fast; pilgrimage to Mecca; and giving alms.] Every anti-Islamic person is afraid of the jihad. Al-Qaeda wants to keep the jihad alive and active and make it a part of the daily life of the Muslims. It wants to give it the status of worship. We are not against any Islamic country. We do not consider a war against an Islamic country to be a jihad. We are in favour of an armed jihad only against those infidel governments that are killing innocent Muslim men, women and children just because they are Muslims. Supporting the US act is the need of some Muslim countries and the compulsion of others. However, they should think about what will remain of their religious and moral position if they support the attack of the Christians and Jews on a Muslim country like Afghanistan. The orders of Islamic Shariah [jurisprudence] for such individuals, organizations and countries are clear and all the scholars of the Muslim brotherhood are unanimous about them. We will do the same, which is being ordered by the Ameer-ul-Momeneen [the commander of the faithful Afghans] Muhammad Omar and the Islamic scholars. The hearts of the people of Muslim countries are beating with the call of jihad. We are grateful to them.

 

Daily Ummat: The losses caused in the attacks in New York and Washington have proved that giving an economic blow to the US is not too difficult. US experts admit that a few more such attacks could bring down the American economy. Why is Al-Qaeda not targeting their economic pillars?

 

Bin Laden: I have already said that we are not hostile to the United States. We are against the [uS Government] system, which makes other nations slaves of the United States, or forces them to mortgage their political and economic freedom. This system is totally under the control of American-Jews, whose first priority is Israel, not the United States. It is clear that the American people are themselves the slaves of the Jews and are forced to live according to the principles and laws laid down by them. So, the punishment should reach Israel. In fact, it is Israel, which is giving a blood bath to innocent Muslims and the US is not uttering a single word.

 

Daily Ummat: Why is harm not caused to the enemies of Islam through other means, apart from the armed struggle? For instance, urging the Muslims to boycott Western products, banks, shipping lines and TV channels.

 

Bin Laden: The first thing is that Western products could only be boycotted when the Muslim fraternity is fully awakened and organized. Secondly, the Muslim companies should become self-sufficient in producing goods equal to the products of Western companies. Economic boycot of the West is not possible unless economic self-sufficiency is attained and substitute products are brought out. You see that wealth is scattered all across the Muslim World but not a single TV channel has been acquired which can preach Islamic injunctions according to modern requirements and attain an international influence. Muslim traders and philanthropists should make it a point that if the weapon of public opinion is to be used, it is to be kept in the hand. Today's world is of public opinion and the fates of nations are determined through its pressure. Once the tools for building public opinion are obtained, everything that you asked for can be done.

 

Daily Ummat: The entire propaganda about your struggle has so far been made by the Western media. But no information is being received from your sources about the network of Al-Qaeda and its jihad successes. Would you like to comment on this?

 

Bin Laden: In fact, the Western media is left with nothing else. It has no other theme to survive for a long time. Then we have many other things to do. The struggle for jihad and the successes are for the sake of Allah and not to annoy His bondsmen. Our silence is our real propaganda. Rejections, explanations, or corrigendum only waste your time and through them, the enemy wants you to engage in things which are not of use to you. These things are pulling you away from your cause. The Western media is unleashing such a baseless propaganda, which makes us surprise but it reflects on what is in their hearts and gradually they themselves become captive of this propaganda. They become afraid of it and begin to cause harm to themselves. Terror is the most dreaded weapon in the modern age and the Western media is mercilessly using it against its own people. It can add fear and helplessness in the psyche of the people of Europe and the United States. It means that what the enemies of the United States cannot do, its media is doing for them. You can understand what will be the performance in war of a nation that suffers from fear and helplessness.

 

Daily Ummat: What will be the impact of the freezing of Al-Qaeda's accounts by the US?

 

Bin Laden: God opens up ways for those who work for Him. Freezing accounts will not make any difference for Al-Qaeda or other jihad groups. With the grace of Allah, Al-Qaeda has more than three alternative financial systems, which are all separate and totally independent from each other. This system is operating under the patronage of those who love jihad. What can we say about the United States when not even the world combined can budge these people from their path? These people are not hundreds but thousands and millions. Al-Qaeda comprises modern educated youths who are as aware of the cracks inside the Western financial system as they are aware of the lines in the palms of their hands. These are the very flaws of the Western fiscal system, which are becoming a noose for it and this system could not recuperate despite the passage of so many days.

 

Daily Ummat: Are there any safe areas other than Afghanistan, where you can continue jihad?

 

Bin Laden: There are areas in all parts of the world where strong jihadi forces are present, from Indonesia to Algeria, from Kabul to Chechnya, from Bosnia to Sudan, and from Burma to Kashmir. Then it is not the problem of my person. I am a helpless fellowman of God, constantly in the fear of my accountability before God. It is not the question of Osama but of Islam and, in Islam too, of jihad. Thanks to God, those waging a jihad can walk today with their heads raised. Jihad existed when there was no Osama and it will continue to exist even when Osama is no longer here. Allah opens up ways and creates love in the hearts of people for those who walk on the path of Allah with their lives, property and children. Believe it, through jihad, a man gets everything he desires. And the biggest desire of a Muslim is the life after death. Martyrdom is the shortest way of attaining an eternal life.

 

Daily Ummat: What do you have to say about the Pakistani Government policy regarding the attack on Afghanistan?

 

Bin Laden: We are thankful to the Momin and valiant people of Pakistan who erected a blockade before the evil forces and stood in the first line of battle. Pakistan is a great hope for the Islamic brotherhood. Its people are awakened, organized and rich in the spirit of faith. They backed Afghanistan in its war against the Soviet Union and extended all its help to the Mojahedin and Afghan people. Then these are the very Pakistanis who are standing shoulder to shoulder with the Taliban. If such people emerged in just two countries, the domination of the West would diminish in a matter of days. Our hearts beat with Pakistan and, God forbid, if a difficult time comes we will protect it with our blood. Pakistan is as sacred for us as a place of worship. We are the people of jihad and fighting for the defense of Pakistan is the best of all jihads to us. It does not matter for us as to who reforms Pakistan. The important thing is that the spirit of jihad is alive and stronger in the hearts of the Pakistani people.

 

Note: This interview was published by JUST Response on November 26 2003. It first appeared on September 28 2001 in the Karachi-based The Daily Ummat, Pakistan's second largest Urdu morning newspaper, to whom we express our grateful acknowledgement. Explanations and additions in square brackets were added by the translator.

 

[Kulapavana]

Source: www.adlusa.com

Published: September 17, 2001 Author: http://www.adlusa.com/adl//4000isra.htm

4000 Israeli Employees in WTC Absent the Day of the Attack

 

Manar TV - Sept 17, 2001

With the announcement of the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York, the international media, particularly the Israeli one, hurried to take advantage of the incident and started mourning 4000 Israelis who work at the two towers. Then suddenly, no one ever mentioned anything about those Israelis and later it became clear that they remarkably did not show up in their jobs the day the incident took place. No one talked about any Israeli being killed or wounded in the attacks.

 

Arab diplomatic sources revealed to the Jordanian al-Watan newspaper that those Israelis remained absent that day based on hints from the Israeli General Security Apparatus, the Shabak, the fact which evoked unannounced suspicions on American officials who wanted to know how the Israeli government learned about the incident before it occurred, and the reasons why it refrained from informing the U.S authorities of the information it had.

 

Suspicions had increased further after Israeli newspaper Yadiot Ahranot revealed that the Shabak prevented Israeli premier Ariel Sharon from traveling to New York and particularly to the city's eastern coast to participate in a festival organized by the Zionist organizations in support of the "Israel".

 

Aharon Bernie, the commentator at the newspaper, brought up the issue and came up with a negative conclusion, saying no answer. He then asked about the clue behind the Shabaks position in preventing Sharons participation, and again without giving an answer. Bernie added that Sharon, who was delighted for having his speech on top of the festival agenda, asked the head of the organization to mediate and convince the Shabak to change its position, but his attempts were in vein.

 

The next day after Sharons secretary officially announced that Sharon would not participate the incident took place. For its part, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper revealed that the FBI arrested five Israelis four hours after the attack on the Twin Towers while filming the smoking skyline from the roof of their company's building.

 

The FBI had arrested the five for puzzling behavior. They are said to have been caught videotaping the disaster in what was interpreted as cries of joy and mockery.

 

[Guest guest]

You mean only devotees should be safe? No one else deserves mercy?

[Dervish]

Everybody deserves mercy, but the Madrid devotees came to my mind first (especially since I met several of them). You can hit me over the head now.

[krsna]

Who is winning the war?

 

 

Jane Corbin

BBC Panorama reporter

 

 

"You love life and we love death." The chilling phrase leaps out of the video issued by a man calling himself al-Qaeda's military commander in Europe.

 

 

Al-Qaeda's attack could have had political motive

 

These words have been repeated many times in the past two and half years - in audio tapes, emails and interviews emanating from Osama Bin Laden and his lieutenants.

 

They are certain that their willingness to lose their own lives in order to kill as many innocents as possible in spectacular terror attacks will ultimately deliver them victory in the war of attrition they declared against "the Jews and the Crusaders" back in 1998.

 

The American declaration of a "war against terror" in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks played into Bin Laden's strategic goal of creating a pan-Islamic empire harking back to a medieval caliphate.

 

Political coup

 

The war in Iraq has presented a new opportunity for a battered al-Qaeda to swell its depleted ranks with new recruits and offshoot organisations.

 

In many Muslim minds it has aggravated the already festering sore of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

 

And now the Madrid bombings have given al-Qaeda its biggest political coup to date - the power to swing an election in Europe.

 

Since the ousting of the Taleban from Afghanistan in 2001, al-Qaeda's leadership has been under pressure and on the run.

 

However, back in the spring of 2002 an American intelligence officer at Bagram airbase told BBC's Panorama that he feared the American military boot had not crushed al-Qaeda but merely scattered them to the far corners of the earth, where they would prove impossible to eradicate.

 

Patient

 

In December, on Islamic websites that have carried al-Qaeda statements in the past, Islamist militants were discussing how attacks might bring about a socialist victory in Spain.

 

Jane Corbin

 

How right he was. The following 12 months saw more carnage - in Bali, east Africa and on the shores of the Mediterranean. Al-Qaeda has never been a single organisation - its name means "the base" - and Bin Laden has always seen it as an umbrella for disparate extremist Islamist groups.

 

But since 9/11 and the destruction of its geographical centre in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda has become a global movement, a franchise operation that no longer depends on the centre for military and financial backing.

 

Much is made by western governments of al-Qaeda's inability to fight a war now its training camps have been destroyed. But there are signs of similar small-scale facilities cropping up once again either side of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 

And an estimated 15,000 men passed through the camps before they were obliterated.

 

Al-Qaeda has never in the past adhered to western timetables or anniversaries. It has been content to wait and plan patiently for the best moment and place to strike.

 

Bold militants

 

 

The Istanbul bomb came as Bush and Blair gathered at an anti-terrorism gala

 

But recently the terror group gave notice of a more carefully honed political sense when one of its local affiliates bombed the British Consulate in Istanbul in November.

 

The attack came on the very day that George Bush and Tony Blair were celebrating their special relationship and their determined stance against terrorism at a glittering state gala in London.

 

In December, meanwhile, on Islamic websites that have carried al-Qaeda statements in the past, Islamist militants were discussing how attacks might bring about a socialist victory in Spain and the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.

 

There was speculation that such an event would increase the pressure on Blair to pull out British troops. If they were feeling bold enough then to try to influence the outcome of democratic elections, how much bolder will they feel now?

 

For years, Bin Laden has been exhorting his followers to oust what he calls corrupt Arab regimes in Saudi and the Gulf states. His chance of success in undemocratic states with efficient and ruthless police forces was slim.

 

It is so much easier not only to hit "soft" targets such as railway trains but also to influence what al-Qaeda sees as soft political targets - namely, European democracies.

 

Hit list

 

The reaction to the Spanish bombings in Britain has built slowly over the past few days, as al-Qaeda is identified as the likely culprit.

 

Alerts on the London underground and headlines about white powder sent to embassies show how anxiety is building to levels unseen since the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

 

Yet in this war it is impossible to gauge how close this country is to becoming the next target, beyond Bin Laden's repeated threat that Britain is at the top of his hit list.

 

The frozen, haunted look on Bush's face as an aide whispered news of the World Trade Centre attack was echoed on the face of the defeated Spanish prime minister José María Aznar at the Madrid vigil.

 

Tony Blair knows and fears that look, and cannot afford to dismiss lightly any information gleaned by his intelligence and police chiefs.

 

Real threat

 

A very real terror threat has been created in Iraq where little existed before - and Europe will feel the effect of that.

 

Jane Corbin

 

Eighteen months ago, it was a threatened surface-to-air-missile attack on Heathrow airport over which the security forces sweated. Just such an attack had been tried in Mombasa in Kenya, although luckily it failed.

 

People laughed and accused politicians of cynical manipulation when tanks were deployed around the airport, but the threat was real.

 

At least two suicide bombers are known to have been recruited in the UK by Bin Laden's former military commander, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Those men have not yet been found.

 

On the other hand, there have been incidents here that are more difficult to read. A crude laboratory, allegedly to make the biological poison ricin, was uncovered in Wood Green, London, in January 2003.

 

A group of Algerians were arrested, but so far there have been no terror-related charges and the ricin scare may well turn out to have been overblown.

 

Hollow claims

 

 

The Iraq war could have led to more al-Qaeda recruits

 

The controversial British anti-terrorism legislation of 2001 has had an effect that has heartened many in the security community.

 

Some of the top figures on the suspects list were rounded up and disappeared into Belmarsh Prison. Others hastily chose to take "extended holidays" to places such as Pakistan and have never reappeared.

 

But this legislation worries many liberal-minded citizens across the political divide, as does the threatened backlash that terror brings against our long-established and law-abiding Muslim communities.

 

Bin Laden was mocked last spring for not immediately carrying out his much-vaunted threat to make the earth burn beneath the boots of US and British soldiers.

 

Winning the war?

 

Yet as the months have passed the war in Iraq has exposed the hollowness of US claims that al-Qaeda and Saddam were linked.

 

It has also resulted in the creation of a new terror threat from one of al-Qaeda's franchises, and a virulent and deadly one that numbers hundreds of westerners among its victims.

 

A very real terror threat has been created in Iraq where little existed before - and Europe will feel the effect of that.

 

Bin Laden has every reason to believe that he is so far winning the battle - not the "war on terror" waged by US helicopters and special forces on Afghan borders - but the war against innocent civilians and western democracies .

 

 

[krsna]

COWARDS' WAY OUT

 

April 4, 2004 -- MADRID, Spain - At least three men wanted for last month's horrific Madrid railway bombings blew themselves up yesterday after a failed bid to shoot cops who swarmed their apartment building.

The bomb killed one special forces agent and wounded 15 police officers in the Madrid suburb of Leganes.

 

The force of the blast blew out part of the exterior walls on the first and second floors of the brick apartment building.

 

Police had approached the building at around 7 p.m. Madrid time to make arrests as part of a manhunt for suspects in the March 11 bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800.

 

When cops first arrived, the apartment occupants chanted at them loudly in Arabic and sprayed the street with gunfire, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.

 

Over the next two hours, police evacuated as many people as they could from the building and surrounding area and prepared for an assault on the apartment, he said.

 

"The special police agents prepared to storm the building and when they started to execute the plan, the terrorists set off a powerful explosion, blowing themselves up," Acebes said.

 

 

"There are three that could have blown themselves up, but the possibility of more is not ruled out," he said.

 

Police believe some of the suspects may have carried out the March 11 train bombings, he said.

 

After the blast, floodlights lit the wreckage in the exposed rooms of the building. Pieces of concrete littered the floor and wires dangled from the ceilings.

 

The investigation into the train attacks have focused on the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, which has links to al Qaeda.

 

International arrest warrants have been issued for five Moroccans and a Tunisian, identified as Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet and described as the bombers' leader.

 

Another 15 suspects are already in custody. Six have been charged with mass murder and nine with collaborating with or belonging to a terrorist organization. Eleven of the 15 charged are Moroccan.

 

Earlier yesterday, Acebes said a bomb found under the tracks of a high-speed train line Friday was made of the same brand of explosive, Goma 2 Eco, that was used in the Madrid train attacks.

 

Train service has resumed, but the lines have been heavily guarded.

 

Meanwhile, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported yesterday that the Spanish Embassy in Egypt received a letter from an Islamic militant group threatening new attacks if Spain did not withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

In the letter, the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, a group that also claimed responsibility for the March 11 attacks, threatened to strike against Spanish diplomatic missions in North Africa and the Mediterranean region unless Spanish troops are withdrawn in four weeks. Post Wire Services

 

[krsna]

Press shudders at new terror deaths

 

Sunday's Spanish press reflects the fear and uncertainty in the country after the explosion in which at least four terror suspects and a policeman were killed in a Madrid suburb.

 

The story makes front page headlines throughout the country, with some papers also reporting the discovery in France of bombs the Basque separatist group Eta were allegedly planning to set off in Spain.

 

And a paper seen as close to Eta in the Basque Country seeks to explain the causes behind the onslaught of Islamic terrorism.

 

 

'Panic'

 

 

"New terrorist blow in Madrid," runs a headline in the leading daily, EL Pais.

 

It quotes a resident of the southern Leganes area where the incident took place as saying: "It spread panic in the neighbourhood."

 

The Jihad suicide death makes its debut in Europe

 

El Pais

The report says that during "the intermittent shoot-out" which continued for a few hours "there could be heard shouts in Arabic".

 

Describing it as "a spectacular display", El Pais comments that "the Jihad suicide death makes its debut in Europe".

 

Front-page reports in another top Madrid daily, ABC, are hardly designed to calm the nation's nerves, covering not only the Madrid operation but also a French operation in which bombs allegedly being prepared by the Basque separatist group Eta for attacks in Spain were discovered in a police raid.

 

An ABC headline speaks of "Koranic chants in the midst of a shoot-out".

 

"The fanaticism of the Islamic terrorists was again manifest in a most dramatic manner, as in the full heat of the shoot-out, they were engaging in Islamic chants.

 

"It was a clear demonstration they would stop at nothing: 11 March, the killing of 200 people, yesterday, to die a martyr's death at any cost."

 

"The terror returned to Madrid yesterday", says a headline in Barcelona's El Periodico. The other major Barcelona daily, La Vanguardia, proclaims in a bold headline: "The terrorist menace".

 

'Hit the deck!'

 

Madrid's El Mundo carries a front-page headline "Massacre in Madrid", and some dramatic eyewitness reports.

 

"I only thought about saving the children," says one local called Jose, noting that a group of kids were playing football in the street when the shooting broke out. "We were all at risk, but they were the most important, so I threw myself on top of them."

 

They never made any noise, always said hello

 

Neighbour in El Mundo

"Hit the deck, everybody hit the deck!," shouted a policeman, according to the report.

 

"There was shooting," says Jose. "They were repeating the word Allah over and over as well as Islamic prayers. They were terrifying cries."

 

A neighbour of the dead men says "they appeared very educated".

 

"They never made any noise, always said hello," he said, but he thought it strange they tried to hide their faces.

 

His pregnant wife had told him that, unable to sleep, she had heard people entering the neighbouring flat at 30-minute intervals. "I asked her: Could they be terrorists?"

 

"Everybody makes a noise opening the front door. But they didn't. They were very stealthy," El Mundo quotes the neighbour as saying.

 

Causes

 

The Basque daily Gara, which backs Basque separatism, urges Spain and the West to "look to the causes" of Islamic terrorism.

 

Support for Israel, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the presence of American troops in Islamic countries are the principle reasons for Islamic anger, Gara argues.

 

"Behind groups like al-Qaeda is a desire to end the dependency of the Islamic East on the West, to reduce the Western presence in its zone of influence, and to overthrow governments like that of Saudi Arabia which is considered an ally of Islam's enemies."

 

 

[krsna]

Islamic Militants Promise to Turn Spain into an "Inferno"

 

Spains Interior Minister Angel Acebes confirmed that at least three leading suspects in the bombings - Tunisian Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, Jamal Ahmidan and Moroccan Abdennabi Kounjaa - were killed in the suicide blast.

Islamic militants are promising to turn Spain into an "inferno" unless the country halts it support for the U.S. and removes Spanish troops form Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reportedly, a letter signed by al-Qaida warns of more terror attacks. Spanish authorities say the letter was sent to a conservative Spanish newspaper close to the time of a weekend blast that killed several key suspects near Madrid. The letter is apparently from the same group that claimed responsibility for the March 11th bombings in Madrid.

 

Spanish police this morning confirm the ringleader of the Madrid train bombings is dead. Over the weekend five of the bombing suspects blew themselves up to avoid arrest. The powerful blast was caught on tape. One police officer was killed.

 

Meantime, forensics experts are trying to identify more of the terror suspects who blew themselves up

 

[krsna]

"Ignorance is the Greatest Terrorist"

 

 

Many people today are trying to make sense out of the worldwide political phenomenon known as "the war on terrorists". As devotees of Krsna and followers of the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita, we are fortunate to have a unique viewpoint on this issue. It is interesting to see how both the Muslim and Western Christian cultures want to designate themselves as the 'divine', and to relegate the other to being the 'demoniac'. This is, of course, an attempt to create the illusion that this cultural clash is somehow or other the fight between good and evil. According to the definitions given in Bhagavad-Gita, both sides are demoniac -- it's really just the demons fighting over material resources that are actually the property of Krsna.

 

 

Everyone is absorbed in the bodily conception, thinking 'this is my country', 'this is my religion', 'this is my body', etc. They think they own a particular piece of this planet, and they know what God thinks and wants. They believe that God looks favorably upon their country, their cause, their religion. Of course, no such sastric or 'biblical' phenomenon is going on, it is simply the modes of material nature acting and reacting.

 

What made the Battle at Kurukshetra distinctly different from today's war isn't the fact that there were divine and demoniac elements doing battle, but more that Krsna had arranged the battle to take place. Sri Krsna was personally on the battlefield, and the resultant death of all those on the battlefield was simply a way to rid the world of a particular burden. This burden was caused by the mentality of the personalities who were disposed of. They thought they had a lot of political power, and wanted to lord it over the material world. They were totally absorbed in the concepts of 'me and mine', and 'this is my kingdom'. Krsna considered this to be a burden on the planet. Krsna went on to dispose of his own Dynasty right after he departed, because they shared this mentality. Out of pride, they behaved like false gods, and subjected the pious persons to miserable condition. Consequently, Krsna eliminated them altogether.

 

We have to keep in mind that our main business as spiritualists is to rise above all these goings-on in the material world, and to focus on becoming Krsna Conscious. We must share the blessings of the Sankirtana Movement with as many others as possible. The so-called danger from terrorist attacks is just one of many problems we have in this material world. In fact, it's a very small problem compared to others. Our biggest problems are old age, disease and death. The energy, money and manpower directed towards protecting us from terrorism is a total illusion and a waste of resources.

 

We have to protect and take care of our family members, but at the same time we must keep in mind the orders of the Sampradaya Acarya, Srila Prabhupada, who taught us that the Sankirtana Movement is a far greater cause than any war on terrorism. While our family members, neighbors and fellow citizens may not appreciate our prioritization, we should keep in mind that Krsna instructed Arjuna to fulfill his duty as a ksatriya, and to fight simply because he was asked to do it for the pleasure of Krsna. Likewise, we must continue to fight the real battle, not against the terrorists, but against material illusion and ignorance.

 

Rocana dasa