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Still playing with fire: Evidence points to US complicity in terror plot Devlin Buckley During the 1980s, the U.S. supported Osama bin Laden and the Afghan rebels in their jihad against the Soviet-backed government in Afghanistan. During the early and mid-1990s, the U.S. supported the al-Qaeda-linked Bosnian militants in their jihad against the Serbs. In the late 1990s, the U.S. supported the al-Qaeda-linked Kosovo Liberation Army in their jihad in Kosovo. The enemy of my enemy is my friend . . . or so the saying goes.
Again and again, the U.S. has used Islamic groups and militants to advance their strategic interests around the globe, and on several occasions these same individuals have attacked and killed innocent civilians in America and across the world. Nonetheless, covert support for religious extremists continues today, raising numerous questions regarding the methods, motives, and effectiveness of the U.S.-led ‘war on terror.’ According to a recent ABC
report by Brian Ross and Christopher Isham, for instance, the Bush
administration is secretly supporting a Pakistani-based terrorist group,
known as the Jundullah (Army of Allah), in their covert campaign to undermine
the Iranian regime. The Jundullah, which has
claimed responsibility for several recent guerrilla raids and bombings
inside Iran, is led by Abd el Malik Regi, whom counterterrorism expert
and ABC News consultant Alexis Debat describes as “part drug smuggler,
part Taliban, and part Sunni activist." “Regi is essentially commanding
a force of several hundred guerrilla fighters that stage attacks across
the border into Iran on Iranian military officers [and] Iranian intelligence
officers, kidnapping them, executing them on camera,” Debat said. The Jundullah claimed responsibly
for a bombing this February in Iran’s southeastern city of Zahedan, which
killed 11 Revolutionary Guard units and injured 31 others. One of those
arrested in connection with the bombing reportedly confessed
that the attack was part of a plot by the U.S. to destabilize the country,
which, in the wake of recent reports, appears to have been the absolute
truth. The Bush administration
is supporting terrorist attacks inside Iran while accusing the Iranians
of doing the very same thing in Iraq, but if you think their hypocrisy
can’t get any worse, think again. The Jundullah, in addition
to its role as a proxy force for the United States, has been implicated
in what officials described as the deadliest plan since 9/11: the alleged
plot to bomb multiple trans-Atlantic flights last summer. Keep in mind that according
to recent reports, the Jundullah has been receiving U.S. support since
2005, meaning the militant group was receiving support as they purportedly
planned to blow up multiple commercial airliners bound for the United
States. The reported emir of the
Pakistani-based Jundullah is none other than Matiur
Rahman, the alleged mastermind
behind the “liquid explosive” plot. Moreover, in late 2005, several of
the suspects arrested in connection to the plot traveled
to Jundullah camps in Pakistan, where they were reportedly trained
in the fabrication and use of explosives before returning to London. So just to be clear, if
these reports are true, the U.S. is secretly supporting the same group
that helped facilitate a plan to blow up multiple airliners and murder
hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians. “If these terrorists had
succeeded, they could have caused death on a massive scale,” President
Bush declared
following last summer’s arrests. “This plot is further evidence that the
terrorists we face are sophisticated, and constantly changing their tactics,”
he said, adding that the “terrorists” are “seeking to take over countries
like Afghanistan and Iraq so they can establish safe havens from which
to attack free nations.” Of course, Bush failed to
mention that a U.S.-sponsored group trained the “terrorists” he was referring
to. Such a revelation, besides
exposing the Bush administration’s lack of credibility, raises several
difficult questions. For instance, should the U.S. government be considered
complicit in the alleged trans-Atlantic terror plot? Did the U.S. sanction training
the actual alleged plotters? If members of the Jundullah
are considered assets of the U.S., are they provided any type of protection
or diplomatic immunity when implicated in major crimes? If the answer to any of
these questions is ‘yes,’ would members of the U.S. government have reason
to prevent a full examination of the facts surrounding the alleged terror
plot or possibly even protect key suspects? Exacerbating such concerns,
the U.S. took actions last August that directly obstructed Britain’s investigation
of the terror suspects. The group arrested had been under heavy British
surveillance, but due to U.S. interference, several suspects were allowed
to slip away and details of the plot were left clouded in mystery. The British government may
have been getting just a little too close to the U.S.-Jundullah ‘unholy’
alliance. As The
New York Times reported, British authorities were running “an
around-the-clock surveillance operation” of the suspects, “bugging their
apartments, tapping their phones, monitoring their bank transactions,
eavesdropping on their Internet traffic and e-mail messages, even watching
where they traveled, shopped and took their laundry, according to senior
British officials.” The extent of this surveillance
suggests British authorities had the capability to identify the suspects’
links to the Jundullah, and, in turn, possibly uncover the covert U.S.
relationship with the militant group as well. But coincidently, the surveillance
operation collapsed when the U.S. intervened, leaving their British counterparts
in complete disarray. Against the wishes of British
authorities, the U.S. pressured Pakistan to abruptly arrest one of the
group’s alleged leaders, compromising Britain’s long-term surveillance
operation. As a senior British official
explained to NBC,
the U.S. warned that if Rashid Rauf, a suspect with duel Pakistani and
British citizenship, “was not taken into custody immediately, the United
States would ‘render’ him or pressure the Pakistani government to arrest
him.” Ultimately, Pakistani authorities agreed to arrest Rauf over Britain’s
objections. “Fearful that the arrest
might tip off the alleged plotters, Scotland Yard, in consultation with
MI5, decided to act and sanctioned a series of raids in the early hours
of Thursday,” Britain’s The
Independent reported. “The arrest surprised and
frustrated investigators here [in Britain] who had wanted to monitor the
suspects longer, primarily to gather more evidence and to determine whether
they had identified all the people involved in the suspected plot,” The
New York Times added. British officials told The
Independent that a team of suspected terrorists involved in the
alleged plot “escaped capture because of interference by the United States.” As a “direct result of the
surprise detention” of Rashid Rauf, The
Independent elaborated, “British police and MI5 were forced to
rush forward plans to arrest an alleged UK gang accused of plotting to
destroy the airliners. But a second group of suspected terrorists allegedly
linked to the first evaded capture and is still at large, according to
security sources.” The mere fact that the U.S.
interfered, either directly or indirectly, with a major terrorism investigation,
allowing a group of suspected terrorists to escape, is enough to raise
eyebrows. But considering the British investigation had the potential
to expose embarrassing, if not criminal activities of the U.S. government,
an explanation from our nation’s leaders is not only warranted, it should
be demanded. Why did the U.S. hastily
pressure Pakistan to arrest Rashid Rauf? Why was the public lied to about
an imminent threat from “liquid explosives” when no such threat existed?
Why is the U.S. government continuing to support terrorists in the so-called
war against terrorism? How can the government possibly
justify propagating threats, demonizing suspects, and restricting civil
liberties when they themselves are engaged in terrorist activities? Don’t hold your breath waiting
for answers to any of these questions. The nation’s leaders and federal
law enforcement agencies are remaining silent, which only fans the flames
of suspicion. Our government is collaborating
with the very same terrorists it claims to be fighting, and by doing so,
it is placing its own citizens in danger, stripping itself of virtually
all credibility, and undermining international efforts to prevent future
attacks. We must put an end to such
corrupt and destructive covert relationships, which violate the law and
contradict the principles upon which this country was founded. Until then, whenever a terrorist plot is foiled or an attack occurs, whether it be here in the United States, in Great Britain, in Iran, or anywhere else, we will sadly and regrettably have to ask ourselves: Is our own government in any way responsible?
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