The Religion Terrorists and the Information Technology Terrorists

The Information Technology terrorists are getting as sophisticated as the religious ones--particularly those of the Islamist type. Hearing what the information security companies are finding makes me think I'm back in Iraq.

The information terrorists seem to be learning a great deal from the religious terrorists. Their tactics continue to improve and their attacks mount. But the one thing they haven't learned yet is to try and make a moral case for their terrorism. It's been working for the religious terrorists--many people take their moralistic claims hook, line, and sinker.

Information Week reported recently about the number of phishing attacks on banks around the world.

The number of hackers attacking banks worldwide jumped 81% from last year, according to figures released at the BlackHat security conference Thursday. Researchers from SecureWorks also reported that hackers going after the company's credit-union clients increased by 62% from last year.

So why are there so many more hackers this year than last? Joe Stewart, a senior security researcher at SecureWorks, told InformationWeek that highly technical and savvy hackers are no longer the only ones in the game.

Hackers no longer need to be technical wizards to set up an operation to steal people's banking information and then rob their accounts or sell their identifying information to an even bigger cybercriminal. Hacking toolkits and malware are for sale in the online underground. All hackers need are basic technical skills and the knowledge of where to go to buy what they can't build themselves.

"You go to a Web site and pay a $100 to several hundred dollars, and you can buy a turnkey exploit package," said Stewart. "You can buy the malware too, and then you're in business You put these components up on a Web site and immediately start infecting people. All you really need to know how to do at this point is set up a Web site."

This new ease-of-use is evident in the numbers.

With time, terrorists improve their tactics. It doesn't matter if the religious ones are in Iraq or not, they'll find a way to become better at the atrocities they commit. They're getting very good in Europe, fairly good in Canada, and they're starting to appear in the US.

Below is the part of the IW article that sounded the most interesting. Change a few words of it, and it sounds like raiding terrorist hideouts in Iraq.

"The amount of stolen financial data we have found since the first of the year has been daunting," said Don Jackson, a security researcher with SecureWorks and the discoverer of the Gozi and Prg Trojans. "With the Gozi, Prg, and BBB Trojans alone, we found millions of dollars of data sitting in their stolen repositories. These data caches contained thousands of bank-account and credit-card numbers, Social Security numbers, online payment accounts, and user names and passwords, and we're finding new caches of stolen data every day -- evidence that more and more criminals are getting into the game."

"Criminals are getting into the game" ... you could say that about the religious terrorists as well. They're mostly just criminals.

Hopefully the information terrorists don't start studying Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin to soon, or we might find them announcing to the world that they are simply getting their due from the greedy capitalist pigs of America as well.

How Many Mistakes? Who is to Blame?

The tightrope we walk in Iraq is sometimes broken by senseless acts of American soldiers. Is this story one of them, or is it another in the long line of deaths than can be chalked up to the provocations of terrorism?

If the story is as the people in the story say, an American soldier is a murderer. It's not that easy, however. The provocations that Americans live under every day explains how something like this could happen.

If the Iraqi people really want violence to stop in their country, they have to speak out more loudly against sectarian strife, whose flames are constantly fanned by al Qaeda in the Iranians.

Making Sense of the Iranian Juggernaut

After reading The UN Exposed by Eric Shawn, I now understand how Iran can be so brazen in its efforts to further its interests by destabilizing the world.

Iraq thumbed its nose at the United States and the United Nations for a lot of years. Why? Because France, Russia, and China thumbed their noses at regulations detailed in UN Resolution 661 regarding the UN Oil for Food program, while they hopped right into bed with Saddam Hussein.

Did you ever get an idea that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said neener neener to the world just because he felt like it? Well, not really. It's because he and his mullahs understand the pattern of getting away with it. He watched Iraq do it for several years. Right now (and for the last several years--have China and Russia/Soviet Union really ever been US allies?) it's pretty hard to call the 3 stooges of the UN Security Council (Russia, France, and China) allies. With allies like these...

The Iranians support all sorts of terrorism:

• Hamas
• Hizballah
• al Qaeda
• Taliban
• Iraqi Shiites
• Iraqi Sunnis
• Kuridstan Workers Party
  

Why? Because they know they can with impunity. They watched Saddam break all kinds of international rules, including supporting terrorism--very successfully with the help of the United Nations. Until the British and the Americans said 'Enough'.

It's simple economics for the 3 Stooges. If they can make money while destroying the American hegemon, they don't care about the long-term consequences.

Military Success and Political Failure in Iraq

Don't ask how bad the government is functioning in Iraq right now--not good. But the Iraq and Coalition forces are making some impressive gains right now.

There's a reason for the increased number of US casualties over the last little while in Iraq. Instead of sitting back on the FOBs (Forward Operating Bases), more of our soldiers are taking it to the terrorists. And while the Iraqi government is seen by some as on life support, the military is making great strides in securing areas of the country and of Baghdad. Here are some highlights:

* In those of Baghdad neighborhoods where terrorists held sway, Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops, are establishing an effective presence, allowing a slow return to normal. Reassured by the troop presence, the inhabitants of at least one neighborhood, Amiriyah, have chased away a terror outfit entrenched there since 2003.

Reports indicate that in the last 10 weeks the various armed enemies of new Iraq have suffered their heaviest losses since the start of the conflict four years ago.

* the insurgents are suffering a significant number of defections while an unknown number are believed to have left Iraq, presumably to pursue "jihad" in other Muslim countries.

* Coalition and Iraqi forces have seized weapons from the insurgents on an unprecedented scale. More than 20 bomb-making factories have also been discovered and neutralized in and around Baghdad.

* The morale of both U.S. and Iraqi troops has been boosted by the decision by the Democrat Party to tone down its campaign against U.S. military commitment to Iraq. There is a feeling in Baghdad that the possibility of America opting for a cut-and-run strategy has decreased. That, in turn, has encouraged the Iraqi military to stop hedging its bets and enter the battle with greater resolve.

Additionally, residents in Baquba are helping the coalition forces rout out the insurgents after having been terrorized for months.

JFK Plot Just Another Episode of "Keystone Cops"?

The New York Times didn't think that the plot against John F. Kennedy Airport was important, apparently. Do you? I do. It doesn't matter if the latest attempt to attack America seemed to be just another episode of Keystone Cops.

The Times apparently put the story somewhere around page 30 in hard copy this morning, deeming it not very significant. Does it matter that the plotters were nowhere near being able to carry out their plot? Does it matter that they would very likely not have succeeded in causing nearly as much damage as they had hoped? Does it matter that there is no evidence that they were affiliated with al Qaeda?

No.

What matters is that they are plotting against us. What matters is that they are trying to attack us.

Back in 2003, the average insurgent in Iraq couldn't shoot straight, let alone attack in any kind of formation. Back then, he couldn't camouflage his roadside bombs very well, either. Even if we didn't take the insurgency seriously in 2003 Iraq, we would be foolish not to take the budding insurgency in the United States in 2007 seriously.

They were Keystone Cops once, not being able to get hardly anything right. But they have learned. They have innovated. And they have put to use new technologies. They know how to disguised their explosive ordnance now. They know how to attack in formations. They are now very deadly.

So maybe, for now, we have Keystone Cops on American soil. But, unfortunately, it won't last. The worst thing we could do is say that because the Fort Dix Six and the JKF Four are Keystone Cops that we have nothing to worry about.

Of course we do. We must be vigilant.

How Many Muslims are there in the US?

For a while now, we've been under the impression that there were 6 or 7 million Muslims in the United States. A scientific survey can only identify 2.35 million. What implications does this have?

I recent study by the Pew Research Center found out that there are far fewer Muslims in America than the Council on American Islamic Relations has alleged. Does this mean less threat of terrorism? Why would CAIR inflate the numbers? Investor's Business Daily has an opinion:

But it's a wildly inflated guess manufactured by CAIR, something the media could have easily refuted all these years if they dared — simply by deconstructing CAIR's unscientific methodology.

Until now, finding reliable data for Muslims in America has been hard because the Census Bureau does not survey creed. So CAIR's fuzzy math went unchallenged, even though the "respected scholar" it hired to lead its "study" wasn't a trained demographer. In fact, as a CAIR board member, he wasn't even independent.

Worse, the Muslim professor admitted the number he arrived at for CAIR was a "guesstimation" that magically and conveniently matched the size — and potential political clout — of the Jewish population in the country, also estimated at 6 million.

Until now, the perception was that CAIR spoke for several million Muslims and could rally them to boycott a company or to vote as a bloc to swing an election if it didn't get its way. Officials feared the group because they thought it could marshal an Islamic juggernaut. The threat alone has caused many to back down from criticism or policies CAIR didn't like.

I don't understand CAIR's motives well enough. Looks like I have found a new focus of study. Their web site seems pretty friendly, but I guess we'll see.

Jihad Among Us: How Many Other Plots Are There?

It's a good thing a New Jersey store clerk was suspicious. The FBI caught six Muslim men before they could do any damage, which it's clear they were capable of committing. It's clear that they were planning on it. How many more are there that we don't know about--plots that is?

There have been jihadists in our midst for years. They've infiltrated university Middle Eastern Studies departments, governments, and Islamist front organizatons, such as CAIR. It was only a matter of time before another murder plot erupted. It did last night when six Muslim men tried to purchase a plethora weapons from an FBI undercover agent.

A video store clerk, who was asked to duplicate a video that contained bragging about their intent to kill, notified authorities.

Apparently the video was rather explicit about what they intended to do.

"It doesn't matter to me whether I get locked up, arrested or get taken away," another defendant, Serdar Tatar, was alleged to have said. "Or I die, it doesn't matter. I'm doing it in the name of Allah."

Hopefully the reality is hitting both PBS, who refuses to air a documentary that distinguishes the majority of peaceable Muslims from the bloodthirsty ones such as the New Jersey 6, and liberals and others who think that it can't happen here.

Interestingly, no ties have been found between the 6 men and al Qaeda. In an era of internet technology, says Michael Scheuer, author of Imperial Hubris, this is exactly as al Qaeda would have it. Fomenting of rage among Muslim men everywhere, who then easily find their ideas and instructions on various web sites and then attempt to unilaterally commit mayhem in the name of Allah.

We need to be vigilant. We should also let and encourage the majority of Muslims, who abhor jihad, to be vigilant as well.

Observations About "The Wall" in "Sadr City"

Recently construction on a wall was begun and then quickly halted in the Adhamiyah section of Baghdad. Why? You might be interested to find out.

My first reaction to the cessation of the most recent wall being built in Baghdad was that if President al Maliki asks the Iraqi and US militaries to stop building the wall, then we should stop building it.

But then I found out that other walls have been built in other sections of Baghdad with no similar outcry. In fact, they have been welcomed. These walls are not just solid slabs of concrete, but rather have at regular intervals gates through which access can be granted in a more controlled way. Terrorist acts can thus be severely diminished. The citizens of Amiriyah and Ghazaliyah had no problem with greater safety.

So why did the citizens of Adhamiyah? Well, it's not actually clear that they did. Leaflets passed around the area in the days leading up to the wall construction begin date threatened death to those who cooperate with Americans.

Iraq the Model sheds some interesting light on the issue of "The Wall":

Yesterday leaflets were distributed in the streets of Adhamiya (or Azamiya, English doesn’t have the exact sound anyway). The leaflets — printed and distributed by persons unknown — called on residents to protest the building of the wall. Knowing that the only organized entity capable of such quick response to events in Adhamiya are either the insurgents or al-Qaeda strongly indicates that they were behind the planned protest. More important still is that it indicates they see the wall as a threat to their movement and ability to carry out their actions.

Interestingly as well: Iraq the Model points out that Adhamiyah is not Sadr City, as the media reported...

Who in the World is Abdullah al-Muhajir?

I have heard a lot about Jose Padilla in the last few months, including that he was mercilessly tortured, that he is an American citizen being held without being charged, that George W. Bush has been instrumental in his capture and torture, and that he has done nothing wrong. So I decided to do a little research.

Jose Padilla's real name, after he became a convert to Islam following one of his many stays in prison, is now Abdullah al-Muhajir. Since taking a a vow of non-violence in prison, Padilla/al-Muhajir has committed or been trained to commit several acts of violence. He also left his American wife and children to become more engaged in radical Islam in Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

On one of his visits to Afghanistan, he became a member of the al Farouq terrorist training camp, which is affiliated with al Qaeda. When he returned to the US in 2002, the FBI was waiting for him. Following an interview, he was arrested and held as an enemy combatant due to his having worked with al Qaeda.

One of the plots that he had not yet been able to carry out before being arrested was to acquire apartments on lower floors of high-rise apartment buildings--apartments serviced by highly explosive natural gas. The intent was to leave a flame source inside the apartment, sealing it off substantially, and allow the gas to build up. Eventually the gas would explode, possibly killing hundreds of high-rise tenants. The intent was to acquire apartments in as many as 20 buildings.

As a young Puerto Rican thug in Chicago, Padilla had a rap sheet a mile long. After changing his name to a more peaceful one, his encounters with law enforcement officials continued unabated.

He was long involved with the Masjid al Imam mosque in Florida, which has been a front for the Benevolence International Foundation, a terrorist fund-raising instrument whose aims have been less that benevolent. Evidence was discovered in Bosnia that BIF was funneling money to al Qaeda.

Secretary of State Pelosi Solves Iranian Hostage Crisis

The Associated Press implied in a story today that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was instrumental in getting the 15 British hostages released from Iran. That actually may be the case, but pay no attention to the 'man behind the curtain' which is that Speaker Pelosi's actions are bordering on treasonous.

Imagine if, during the civil war, Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax would have visited the south and negotiated behind Abraham Lincoln's back. Such chicanery as Mrs. Pelosi's has never before been attempted, and there are many who think that it can somehow have a healthy result.

It is the Constitutional responsibility of the Executive department to be the Commander in Chief during wartime. It is the Constitutional responsibility of the Executive department to deal in affairs of state. By implication, even though she is only two heartbeats away from the presidency, it is the Constitutional responsibility of the Speaker of the House to keep their nose out of such business, especially when it comes to cavorting with a declared terrorist state.

These sentiments have nothing to do with whether the current Executive, George W. Bush is doing a good job. In fact, in most instances, I think he and his administration are doing a poor job.

But he is the president. If someone (several people) don't want him to be the President, because he lied or tortures people or says "nukyaler" or whatever, then they need to draw up impeachment proceedings. Far worse than the supposed problems being caused by the Bush Administration currently (one opinion I recently heard is that Americans have now killed 650,000 Iraqis, and that is a conservative estimate) is the absolute chaos that is brewing in America due to the thoughts of enough Bush haters who think Bush should either be thrown out of office or ignored, the Constitution apparently be damned.

Stop for a moment to think how vulnerable the United States becomes when, in effect, two diametrically opposed foreign policies are being promulgated in the most volatile region of the planet.

Terrorist groups have spoken, and they love what they are seeing.

It's working. Pandora is stirring. Pelosi, Syria's Bashar Assad, Iran's Ahmadinejad, and the terrorists they support are getting the last laugh. Yes they place blame for the capture and ill-treatment of the British sailors--on President George W. Bush.

When Britain and the European Union, who influence 40% of Iran's trade, had a chance to make a difference, they flinched.

A travesty.

9/11: An Islamic Counter Attack

Following the attacks on America on September 11, 2001, many Americans divided themselves neatly into two camps. Camp 1 said, 'We deserved to be attacked because American government meddles in the affairs of too many other nations.' Camp 2 countered with 'We deserved to be attacked because God is punishing us for our sins.' The reality is somewhere in the middle, but interestingly there are hints of truth in the statements of both Camp 1 and Camp 2 .

Over the past several years I have worked with a few computer programmers who are from foreign countries. I've asked some of them what is their impression of America. What strikes me is their explanation of what their impression was of America before the came here, and how it has changed since they got here. Prior to coming to America their only perspective was what they saw at the movies and on television, which was (and still is) predominantly immoral. But when they came to America, they realized that our entertainment media reflected the reality for only a tiny sliver of our society, and that most Americans are basically good, honest, respectful, respectable people.

While I was in Iraq, one of my fellow soldiers told me of the experience of having been asked by an American reporter visiting Iraq if he had ever thought what it must be like to be an insurgent. I told my buddy at the time that my opinion would have been that I didn't give a [crap] what an insurgent felt like, because he has no business being an insurgent. Although I still think there is no excuse for killing innocent people, as insurgents often do, I now think it is interesting to delve into the thoughts of members of the insurgency. I find their thoughts are very rational. There are things that Americans and other westerners who have no ties whatsoever to the military have done to incite the Islamic insurgency.

Could 9/11 have been prevented? By many means. But there is one clear way that America could have avoided even the contemplation of being attacked. This way is presented clearly in the writings and sayings of every well-known representative of radical Islam. It is the reason why so many Muslims rejoiced on that poignant September day nearly 6 years ago.

The opinion of "Camp 1" is correct insofar that we were attacked because we have too much influence on other nations. Ironically, the influence that encouraged the 9/11 attackers was not that of American foreign policy as so many in Camp 1 believe. Rather it is the influence that many in Camp 1 themselves exert.

The perspective of "Camp 2" is correct insofar that we were attacked because of our sins. God was not our punisher, however. Radical Muslims anointed themselves to be.

Whether right or wrong, the reason that America was attacked on 9/11 is that the Islamic world feels like it was attacked first. They attacked us with airplanes because we first attacked them with debauchery.

To be continued...

The Accomplishments of the Iraq Study Group

The vaunted Iraq Study Group's main accomplishments to date have been to issue a series of empty platitudes, to embolden terrorists who think America is now beatable even on our own soil, and to cause to plummet the desire of the American populace to endure until a peaceful solution in Iraq is achieved.

Part two of the one-two punch has just been delivered. First, the Democrats took power in both houses of Congress, a defeat which the Republicans richly deserved. Now, just as the Republicans are staggering back up off the canvas, the Iraq Study Group weighs in.

The Iraqis didn't think much of it, nor did the Israelis or the US military. For that matter, neither did the mullahs.

"Abandon ship! Abandon ship! But not for a few more months!"

Perhaps this was not the intent of the ISG report, but liberals, both of the political and the media persuasion are latching onto the report to further their Bush hatred. The claim is essentially that Bush's policies have been all wrong and that he is at fault for the mayhem occurring in Iraq. A favorite verb in the past few days is "repudiate".

The report isn't all fodder for Bush haters. Some good has come of it, such as the mention that Saudi Arabians are deep into funding the Sunni side of the killing in Iraq.

But William Bennett had this to say about it:

Perhaps the most systemic problem with the report is it didn’t tell us how to win; it answered how to get out. The commissioners answered the wrong question, but it was the only one they wanted to answer. In all my time in Washington, I’ve never seen such smugness, arrogance or such insufferable moral superiority. Self-congratulatory. Full of itself. Horrible.

Terror leaders are jubilant in that, because of the tenor of the ISG report, they feel they have and will continue to prevail over America.

Abu Abdullah said following a withdrawal from Iraq, the U.S. will be defeated on its own soil.

"America must understand that with anti-American governments in Latin America and with Islam growing and reinforcing, including in the U.S. itself, the next step would be a total defeat on their (American) land, not a relative one like they are facing in Iraq," he said.

About the time the ISG report was prematurely made available to the American media, the war's popularity rating was at only 36%, and it's going down.

All the News That's Fit to Ignore

In the midst of all the negative talk about President Bush and how things are going in Iraq, a huge story was missed. Or was it just not reported?

Everything bad. All the time. President Bush lied, soldiers died. Body count way, way, way up and climbing.

The new motto of America haters is:

Hear no good, see no good, speak no good.

It's interesting how difficult it is to find good news about what's happening in Iraq. It's not because there isn't good news. This has always been the case. It's because 'if we think something is bad, we must only show those issues that support our side of the story, rather than be fair in our debate.'

The bad news should not be minimized. But neither should the good.

A recently very good development was spiked by the media. NewsBusters recently reported the following:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – In one week's time, Coalition Forces captured 11 suspected senior-level terrorists of Ansar al Sunna during a series of raids in north-central Iraq during mid-November.

During the raids, Coalition Forces captured the terrorist emirs of Iraq, Ramadi, Baqubah, Tikrit, al Qa’im, Bayji and Baghdad. They also captured two terrorist facilitators, a courier, an explosives expert and a financier.

The detention of these terrorists delivers a serious blow to the AAS network that is responsible for improvised explosive device attacks and suicide attacks and on Iraqi government, Coalition Forces and Iraqi civilians. The AAS network is also responsible for multiple kidnappings, small arms attacks and other crimes in the central and northern part of Iraq.

AAS is considered by some to be a leading terror organization in Iraq as al-Qaida’s leadership continues to crumble and it loses its ability to function due to Iraqi and Coalition Forces systematic dismantling efforts.

NewsBusters also noted that it had a hard time finding very many news sites at all that reported on the story.

Is it an important story? Or do you care?

655,000--Why Didn't I Think of That?

The journal Lancet, that paragon of truthfulness and impartiality, recently 'reported' that at least 655,000 Iraqis have been killed since the American invasion in 2003. I never put a pencil to the numbers, but Common Sense Political Thought has.

October has been considered by America's enemies to be the worst month for killing in Iraq since--well, ever. That in and of itself is hard to believe after the uncovering of just one of Saddam's mass graves, by the way.

Even if you take the number of deaths at face value given by the United Nations for the month of October 2006, and multiply it by the number of months that Coalition Forces have been in Iraq, it doesn't even come close to 655,000.

The Iraqi government is vehemently disputing the death figure trotted out by the United Nations. Even one death is too many, but what point could there be for the Oil-for-Food Alumni club to exaggerate the terrorist bloodbath in Iraq?

Oh, I can think of a few... ;-)

Iran and "The Bomb"

Many soft voices are encouraging diplomacy with Iran. If we only knew how much Iran has been behind the terrorism that has affected the United States, and how long they have been working on "the bomb", we would think otherwise. Diplomacy with liars only gives them more time to develop their schemes of destruction.

Following the 1981 bombings of the US and French military barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, where 241 American and nearly 100 French lives were lost, investigation determined that Iran had commissioned and paid for the bombings. They were so concerned that the job be done correctly, that they even assigned Iranian drivers for the explosives-laden trucks that committed the mayhem. This is the first in a series of eye-opening anecdotal revelations in the recent book Countdown to Crisis by Kenneth Timmerman.

Fifteen years later a very similar attack occurred at the United States Air Force barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Nearly 30 people were killed, this time including innocent wives and children of the airmen. The ultimate order for this bombing, as well, came from Tehran.

In 1992, the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires was flattened by a bomb. Twenty-nine people were killed and 242 were wounded. None of the casualties were Iranian--they having been apprised of the attack well in advance by the puppet masters in Tehran.

The notorious National Organization for Intelligence and Security (Farsi acronym SAVAK) was hardly disbanded before the Ayatollahn revolutionaries took over nearly the entire SAVAK network, using torture with far more effect and frequency than the Shah ever had. Inside the massive terror headquarters in Sultanatabad stood a notorious wall--the Target Wall. Names and locations of Iranian dissidents filled the wall, to be taken down when merciless Iranian Revolutionary Guards had taken the dissidents out in various places in Europe. In early 2001, a new target went up on the target wall:

a 5-foot tall poster of the World Trade Center. Next to that were similar photographs of CIA headquarters and the Pentagon.

German intelligence investigators learned that prior to the attacks on 9/11, the hijackers and higher ups from al Qaeda had steady visits to and other contacts with the Iranian mullahcracy. Many of the meetings were held in a posh suburb of Tehran. A frequent attendee was Ayman al Zawahiri. The second most important al Qaeda attendee was Imad Mugniyeh. They came to a quick agreement that they shared a common enemy. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a Top Secret official Iranian document, stated that it was important to "strike at [America's] economic structure, their reputation...and their internal peace and security."

Saddam Hussein was worried enough about Iran's nuclear progress that on March 24, 1984, the Iraqi Air Force destroyed the Busheir nuclear plant in southern Iran.

On March 14, 1986 began a 6-day conference about the regeneration of Iran's nuclear program. Of 4,500 scientists prior to the 1979 revolution, only about 800 remained. A plea went out for the expatriates to return home, and not only would all be forgiven, but the scientists would receive special treatment.

Pakistani nuclear expert A. Q. Khan has been a frequent consultant for the Iranian dictators. He once spoke

"...there is only a weak, transparent screen between the two. Once you know how to make reactors, how to produce plutonium and reprocess it, it becomes a rather easy task to produce nuclear weapons."

To be continued...