IJ@
International Journal of Anarchism
ifa-Solidaritet - folkebladet - © ISSN 0800-0220 no 4 (31) editor H. Fagerhus - Contact IJA
Bulletin of the Anarchist International
THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TERRORISM
2001 AND LATER
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I. Introduction
II. The al-Qaeda polyarchical terrorist
network
III. Authoritarian errors of USA
criticized proportional to realities
IV. The al-Qaeda terrorist attacks
V.
Anarchists vs ochlarchy against muslims, Jews, pacifists, free speech etc.
VI. The anti-terrorist coalition and the
counterforces
VII. Armed struggle against Taleban/al-Qaeda
and aid to the people
VIII. Allies launch attack, bioterror,
updated news and comments etc.
A. News updates
B.
An overview - NB! Latest news above this anchor
IX. The roots of terrorism
X. Condolences
XI. Terrorism defined
XII. Resolutions from the International
Anarchist Tribunal IAT
A. Resolutions from APT International Branch
B. Resolutions
from APT Northern Branch
C. The Oslo Convention and the media
The global fight against jihad-terrorism, terrorism at large and ochlarchy (mob rule broadly defined) in general is central to anarchism, anarchy, i.e. Libertarian Human Rights and Real Democracy, and anarchists. Anarchists, the real ones, have always been opposed to ochlarchy, including all forms of terrorism, as well as other x-archy, where x can be anything but not 'an'. To get rid of ochlarchy including terrorism, via direct actions and other actions within the framework of and/or compatible with real democracy including green and libertarian human rights, is central to the fight for anarchy and more of it; the main aim, strategy and tactics of anarchists. The International Anarchist Tribunal, IAT-APT, also has important reports about anarchy and anarchism vs terrorism and ochlarchy in general.
02.08.2022. US kills al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in drone strike in Afghanistan, see: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/01/politics/joe-biden-counter-terrorism/index.html. Source: CNN.
How Joe Biden and his team decided to kill the world's most wanted terrorist, see: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/01/politics/ayman-al-zawahiri-death-white-house-joe-biden/index.html. Source: CNN.
22.07.2011. Ad terrorist attack in Oslo, the capital of the Anarchy of Norway. "Probably done by international terrorists, Al-Qaeda, Gaddafi or similar. Not anarchists behind," the Anarchist International Security Council, AISC, and the International Anarchist Tribunal, IAT-APT, say to AIIS in a preliminary report. In the evening at least seven people were reported dead, there may be more. The Anarchist Federation of Norway, AFIN, and the Anarchist International, AI/IFA, condemned this violent, ultra-authoritarian and extremist attack on a peaceful anarchy and anarchism. In connection to the bomb attack in Oslo a man dressed as a police officer gunned down youths at a summer camp at Utøya, killing at least 10. The man who opened fire at the youth camp was Norwegian and later arrested by the police.
23.07.2011. Early Saturday the Norwegian police report that at least 80 were killed at Utøya. Suspect in Oslo and Utøya [øya means island] terrorist attacks is Anders Behring Breivik, 32-year-old, about 6ft tall and blond. He has tweeted: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests," quoting the liberalist John Stuart Mill. He promotes christian and arch-conservative opinions, which he also called nationalist. He expresses himself strongly opposed to multiculturalism - that cultural differences can live together in a community. In one of the posts he states that politics today no longer revolves around socialism against capitalism, but that the fight is between nationalism and internationalism, a basic anarchist principle. Anders Behring Breivik is most likely a brown & blue conservative and christian fundamentalist and rightwing extremist, i.e. an ultra-authoritarian liberalist (totalitarian, not liberal liberalism), and not a nazi, see the economic-political map. This is an international political current that also includes terrorists, say, in Sweden the "olympian bomber", and in USA the "Oklahoma bomber", but the Norwegian police suggest Anders Behring Breivik was alone in the attacks. [Later, in 2013, Breivik turned to fascism, probably right fascism, trying to start a Norwegian fascist party. In 2015 Breivik became even more authoritarian, a nazi (ultra-fascist on the economic-political map).]
Anders Behring Breivik has earlier been a member of the populist Fremskrittspartiet, Frp, and its youth organization. Although the main tendency of Frp is right-populism, small fractions of extreme liberalists and even nazis are connected to the party. Media reports in Norway paint a portrait of Breivik as a "loner", who lived with his mother in a wealthy suburb of west Oslo, was well educated and enjoyed hunting. An Oslo police spokeswoman said Breivik has been charged with two counts of terrorism. She said he would have to appear in court within three days. Breivik may be sentenced to the Norwegian maximum time in prison, 21 years. The Norwegian Anarchist Council, NACO, declares to the Norwegian people: "Stay calm and continue with the Anarchy!"
Oddny Estenstad, a spokeswoman for a Norwegian farm co-operative, said the suspect had been a customer. She told the AFP news agency: "We sold him six tonnes of fertilizer, which is a relatively standard order." The police later confirmed that fertilizer was used to make a bomb at Breivik's farm. Jane Owen, the British ambassador to Norway, tells the BBC there is a sense of shock and devastation in Oslo, where quite a large a proportion of the country live. She says it brings home the threat of terrorism, from whatever quarter. She is also mentioning the "libertarian tradition" in Norway on BBC TV. She says she has been struck by the fortitude and solidarity of the Norwegian people which will help them get through the coming days.
In the afternoon the Norwegian police confirmed a carbomb was used in the blast in Oslo. The police said: "It was a very powerful bomb, and it was in a car. The car didn't stand there for very long. We have taken possession of the car that he used from Oslo to Utøya." In a 1,500-page manifesto, posted on the Web hours before the attacks, Mr. Breivik recorded a day-by-day diary of long time of planning for the attacks, and claimed to be part of a small group that intended to "seize political and military control of Western European countries and implement a cultural conservative political agenda." He predicted a conflagration that would kill or injure more than a million people, adding, "The time for dialogue is over. We gave peace a chance. The time for armed resistance has come." The manifesto was signed Andrew Berwick, an Anglicized version of his name.
The document also describes a secret meeting in London in April 2002 to reconstitute the Knights Templar, a Crusader military order. It says the meeting was attended by nine representatives of eight European countries, evidently including Mr. Breivik, with an additional three members unable to attend, including a "European-American." Mr. Breivik was also believed to have posted a video on Friday summarizing his arguments. In its closing moments, the video depicts Mr. Breivik in military uniform, holding assault weapons. Rarely has a mass murder suspect left so detailed an account of his activities.
24.07.2011. Norway, included the anarchists, mourned on Sunday close to 100 people killed in a shooting spree and car bombing by a Norwegian who saw his attacks as "atrocious, but necessary". In his first comment via a lawyer since his arrest, Anders Behring Breivik, said he wanted to explain himself at a court hearing Monday about extending his custody. "He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary," his lawyer Geir Lippestad said. Oslo's acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim confirmed to reporters that Breivik would be able to speak to the court. It was not clear whether the hearing would be closed or in public. "He has admitted to the facts of both the bombing and the shooting, although he's not admitting criminal guilt," Sponheim said, adding that Breivik had said he acted alone. Police were checking this because some witness statements from the island spoke of more than one gunman, Sponheim said.
25.07.2011. A judge denied Anders Behring Breivik the public stage he wanted to air his arch-conservative rants and call for revolution on Monday, ruling that the first hearing for the man who has confessed to Norway's twin terror attacks be held behind closed doors. "Based on information in the case the court finds that today's detention hearing should be held behind closed doors," Judge Kim Heger said in a statement. "It is clear that there is concrete information that a public hearing with the suspect present could quickly lead to an extraordinary and very difficult situation in terms of the investigation and security." Police have said a trial could be a year away. The maximum jail term in Norway is as mentioned 21 years, although that can be extended if there is a risk of repeat offences. "In theory he can be in jail for the rest of his life," said Ståle Eskeland, professor of criminal law at the University of Oslo. Breivik will be held for at least eight weeks, half of that in complete isolation, after a closed hearing in which he said his terror network had two other cells.
Signs of normality began to return to Oslo on Monday. A wide police cordon around the bomb site was lifted on the first workday since the attacks, leaving just a narrower zone closed off. Most shops were open and trams were rumbling through the city's streets. The total death toll in Friday's bomb blast and shootings has been revised downward to 76, police say. Police now say eight people died in the bombing in Oslo, up one from the earlier death toll. Authorities revised downward the number of dead in the shooting on Utøya from 86 to 68. Police say they are still searching the island for possible victims. There have been direct mass actions in Oslo and all over the country in respect of the victims and for the values of real democracy. More than 100,000 Norwegians rallied in Oslo on Monday night, many carrying white and red roses, a.o.t. to mourn the dead and to show unity after July 22. Tens of thousands of others rallied in other cities from Tromsø to Bergen. [Later the number of killed was revised to 77.]
26.07.2011. Norway's justice minister on Tuesday hailed "fantastic" police work after Anders Behring Breivik killed at least 76 people, trying to set aside anarchist and other criticisms that police had reacted too slowly to a shooting massacre. An armed SWAT team took more than an hour to reach Utøya, where Breivik was coolly shooting terrified youngsters at a Labor Party youth camp. Though it is just 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Oslo, it took police about 90 minutes to get there. Breivik as mentioned told a judge at his custody hearing on Monday that two other cells in his "organization" existed. However, a source close to the investigation said: "We feel that the accused has fairly low credibility when it comes to this claim but none of us dare to be completely dismissive about it either." Researchers at IIFOR doubt Breivik's claim that he is part of a wider [rightwing extremist & arch-] conservative network of christian "crusaders", against a.o.t. "cultural marxism" and a "muslim invasion", seeing it as bragging by a psychopathic fantasist who has written that exaggeration is a way to sow confusion among investigators. The Aftenposten daily said Breivik's interrogation was moving slowly, with the confessed killer silent on his claims about sleeper cells or other potential collaborators.
In signs that police are skeptical that Breivik was part of a wider network, border controls imposed on July 22 were lifted late on Monday. Also Norway has not raised the threat level for terrorism. Prosecutors will consider whether Breivik's acts fall under a 2008 law on crimes against humanity, said Ståle Eskeland, professor of criminal law at Oslo University. "To kill a group of civilians systematically is the basic criteria" for charges of crimes against humanity, Eskeland said, adding that the maximum penalty for this offence was 30 years in jail, rather than 21 years under the anti-terrorism law. In both cases the sentence can be extended for up to five years at a time if there is risk of repeat offences. So far Breivik has been charged with "destabilizing or destroying basic functions of society" and "creating serious fear in the population." Police attorney Christian Hatlo has said Breivik expects to spend the rest of his life in jail.
27.07.2011. Norwegian PM promises "more democray", indicating higher degree of real democracy, i.e. anarchy. Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg has announced the creation of a "22 July Commission" to investigate Friday's bomb and gun attacks. He said the commission, agreed to by all political parties, would analyze everything that happened. Speaking at a news conference at his residence, Mr Stoltenberg said the commission would be independent and would enable lessons to be learned. The prime minister also announced a national memorial, and promised that the central administration would contribute to the cost of funerals of the victims. Relatives and victims would also be entitled to payments from the central administration under a new law on compensation for victims of crime. In a statement earlier, Mr Stoltenberg said Norway would not be intimidated or threatened by the attacks and that Norwegians would stand firm in defending their values. He said that the violence would be met by more openess and more democracy. "The Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness and greater political participation," Stoltenberg insisted at a news conference, according to Associated Press.
28.07.2011. Investigators will interview Anders Behring Breivik again on Friday 29.07.2011, and will focus on whether there is "any more danger," police attorney Pål-Fredrik Hjort Kraby told reporters. Breivik has claimed wide contact with individuals and groups he says support his views. But experts, included anarchists, have cast doubt on his claims and questions persist about whether there was a genuine network or if Breivik's statements were exaggerations. Police have not turned up any signs that copycat attacks might be committed, Kraby said. But they are clearly concerned that Breivik could inspire others. Kraby said Brevik's next hearing will be closed "just in case he's able to send messages by code" to associates. Police have so far only interviewed the suspect once, in a seven-hour session the day after the attack. Kraby said Breivik is in contact only with his lawyer and investigators. He also said the Norwegian police have been in touch with the FBI. The Norwegian police are cooperating with the police in several other countries regarding the attacks. Breivik's attorney has said his client considers himself a "savior" and that he is likely insane. Breivik has as mentioned pleaded not guilty to the terrorism charges he faces.
29.07.2011. Police attorney Pål-Fredrik Hjort Kraby said the 32-year-old Norwegian remained calm and cooperative during the questioning session Friday, in which investigators reviewed with him his statements from an earlier session on Saturday. Investigators believe Breivik acted alone, after years of meticulous planning, and haven't found anything to support his claims that he's part of an anti-muslim etc. militant network plotting a series of coups d'etat across Europe. A person who was wounded in last week's terrorist attacks in Norway has died, raising the death toll from the massacre to 77. Henning Holtås, a police attorney, said Friday the unidentified victim died at a hospital of wounds he suffered during the shooting rampage on Utøya. Norwegian extremist Anders Behring Breivik has as mentioned admitted conducting the shooting rampage on Utøya that has killed 69 people and setting off a bomb in central Oslo that killed eight.
30.07.2011. Norway suspect was considering other targets. Police say the man who confessed to a bombing and youth camp massacre that killed 77 people in Norway has told them he also considered other possible locations to attack. Police attorney Pål-Fredrik Hjort Kraby says Anders Behring Breivik was questioned for 10 hours on Friday and "said he was interested in other targets." Norwegian tabloid VG said Breivik had described the Royal Palace [of the symbolic, powerless king] and the head office of the prime minister's Labor Party in Oslo as potential targets. The paper did not cite its sources. Kraby wouldn't comment on the report but said that, "They were targets that one would say are natural for terror attacks." Except for funerals of victims and mourning in this connection, the Anarchy of Norway is returning more and more to normality.
24.08.2012. Breivik ruled sane and sent to jail. Norway's home-grown confessed terrorist Anders Behring Breivik knew what he was doing when he killed 77 persons in and around Oslo on July 22 last year, the city court in Oslo ruled on Friday 24.08.2012. The court, finding Breivik sane at the time of his murderous rampage, sentenced him to Norway's longest prison term of 21 years, with a provision that can allow him to be held in custody for the rest of his life. Behring Breivik will be held in preventive detention for a maximum of 21 years, minimum 10 years. (With new updates). The maximum sentence of 21 years may be prolonged at a later date, five years at a time, if he is deemed to remain a danger to society. Sources: newsinenglish.no and norwaypost.no. More information below on news updates.
02.05.2011. Osama bin Laden is killed - Anarchist comment. President Obama declares that Osama bin-Laden, the emir (i.e. plutarchist and hierarchist overlord) of al-Qaeda (and also an ochlarch) is dead, taken out by US counterterrorism forces in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad i.e. in Abbottabad, along with other family members. He was shot in the head during a US raid and the US Navy Seals were involved in the mission that killed him. Al-Qaeda will of course call Osama bin-Laden a holy martyr and make the most of it, but he was certainly more useful for this criminal terrorist organization alive than dead. This is a significant victory in the fight against jihad-terrorism, but the global struggle against terrorism and ochlarchy in general is of course far from over, and continues with full strength... And most likely the rest of the the al-Qaeda polyarchical terrorist network will try a revenge soon! Thus it is time for alert.
And principally it would have been more right to take Osama bin Laden alive and give him a life sentence in jail. Anarchists are in general against capital punishment, see libertarian human rights, but not against killing in pure self defense, alone or with allies, if there is no other option. Was the killing the only option? And was it necessary to kill other family members? This could be discussed more! Probably an arrest and life sentence would mean less of terrorism in revenge than this killing. Cowboy 'justice' is somewhat outdated and primitive - or not?
Later US State Department warns of "enhanced potential for anti-American violence" following bin Laden's death. Osama bin Laden has been buried at sea, a US official said. A DNA match confirms Osama bin Laden was killed, according to a senior US administration official.
03.05.2011. Former US president Bush's cowboy & wild west 'wanted dead or alive' and CIA's code-name 'Geronimo' about Osama bin Laden, plus the fact that he was unarmed when killed, may perhaps go well among the more primitive part of the US public. However libertarians in general and most of the rest of the world will probably mean this weakens the US position in this matter. 04.05.2011 the Associated Press published a report called 'After the raid: debating photos, foreign aid, more' with interesting information clearifying and correcting conflicting reports from the US-officials in the case, quoted below. A spokesperson for The Anarchist International Security Council (AISC) says to AIIS that "Osama bin Laden caught alive could probably have given interesting information about al-Qaeda and connections to Taleban and more," and added: "but 'done is done and eaten is eaten', now we must look forward in the struggle against terrorism and ochlarchy in general!"
06.05.2011. Pro al-Qaeda groups demonstrate world wide, protesting the killing of Osama bin Laden, and some are sailing under false anarchist black flags and red & black logos. This is a serious break of the Oslo Convention and thus they all get Brown Cards from the International Anarchist Tribunal - The Anarchist Press Tribunal, see IAT-APT - International Branch. BBC has published a report about al-Qaeda around the world.
11.09.2001 The IAT wrote to the international newsmedia and anarchists: The International Anarchist Tribunal (IAT) has investigated the terrorism in New York and Washington 11.09.2001. If anybody in the media think this is done by anarchists, IAT can confirm that this is not true. We denounce these authoritarian doings, but we have no ideas of what kind of group is behind (i.e. the IAT had a superficial suspicion, but no proof). If anyone would like to discuss this matter with the international anarchist movement, please write an e-mail to ifa@anarchy.no. Then it was a conference and discussion internationally among anarchists and others about terrorism in this case, and generally. (The IFA-secretariate in Oslo has since 15-17 October 1982 been officially mandated to ... "organizar actividades comunes, entre otras, congresos, conferencias, tribunas anarquistas, simposios, seminarios, encuentros estivales y actividades culturales". See Bulletin C.R.I.F.A. no 42 novembre-février 1982, p. 4 and decisions of later congresses, see The History of the Anarchist International - AI/IFA/IAF. The Bulletin C.R.I.F.A. was the official organ of IFA-IAF at that time.) This Conference on Terrorism is still going on. The conclusions so far, among other things, i.e. a summary, is the following:
II. The al-Qaeda polyarchical terrorist network
The network of Osama bin-Laden, al-Qaeda (a.k.a. al-Qaida, al-Qa'ida, meaning the base, chief command), a suspicious group, is using black flags similar to anarchists, but they have nothing to do with anarchism, anarchist(s), or anarchy. They are muslim hierarchists and ochlarchs. Al-Qaeda is located to the muslim hierarchical patriarchal state of Taleban (a.k.a. Taliban) and the Mujahedin guerilla, in Afghanistan (2001). This network also includes the Haakat ul-Mujahedin, with the guerilla al-Faran, who in 1995 killed, say, the Norwegian Hans Christian Ostrø, and all organizations doing jihad, islamist "holy" war, in several countries all over the world. Osama bin-Laden is called emir (i.e. plutarchist and hierarchist overlord) of al-Qaeda (and also an ochlarch). The muslim terrorist network is however not a highly centralized organization. It is a decentralized oligarchical network. Thus, it is a polyarchical organization, based on local, secret, cells. Such polyarchical organizations are not easy to pull down and crush. It is however necessary not to go soft on these terrorists, but to fight them down, to liberate the Arabian and muslim people from fundamentalism, capitalism and statism including lack of birth-control, to get a peaceful, say, Palestinian country, and less authoritarian Arabian and muslim countries broadly defined. The muslim hierarchists are convinced that USA is the Great Satan, and Israel the Small Satan.
Israel must of course give up the occupations on Palestinian land. However, it must be possible for some Jews to live in the Palestinian areas, as well as Palestinian Arabs today live rather well in Israel. The present PLO-state, based on statism, corruption, militarism and muslim hierarchy, is a plague to the Palestinian people. A few anarchists, say, as Noam Chomsky, i.e. mainly left wing anarchist collectivists - close to marxism, seem to have gone soft on muslim hierarchist terrorists, talking of "understanding". This is quite similar to the hesitating position of the Norwegian marxist left party, SV. The anarchist criticism of USA, EU, NATO and UN should always be proportional to reality, and not more or less be an echo of marxist propaganda and statist ideology; i.e. Leninist, Trotskyite, Maoist, "anti-imperialist", "leftist" or other.
III. Authoritarian errors of USA criticized proportional to realities
Say, USA and to a lesser extent NATO, have done several authoritarian errors, as pointed out by, among others, Noam Chomsky, but sometimes exaggerated and seen out of context. It must not be forgotten that the nazis still probably would have ruled Europe if USA had not joined the Allies to fight fascism in second world war. When Truman decided to use nuclear bombs, USA had lost 30 000 men in the struggle about Okinawa, and the Japanese lost 230 000 men. This is about twice as much as the loss by the nuclear bombs, and the Japanese were prepared for a long fight with probably much larger sacrifices. The Japanese got more and more fanatic, introducing, say, Kamikaze suicide attacks, and would probably struggle for a long time in a prolonged war with both large civilian and non-civilian losses. Marxists, say, Johan Galtung, are spreading the myth that Japan was close to capitulation. This is far from the truth. A usual estimate on net saved lives because of the use of the nuclear bombs In Japan, because it stoppet a long hard prolonged war against fanatical Kamikaze etc. fighters, is ca 1 000 000 people all in all. This figure of course may be discussed, but it is perhaps not so far from the truth.
And the marxist-leninist Serbian militarists and the others, would probably still have continued with ethnic cleansing on Balkan, if NATO and USA had not put up their antimilitarist forces in the area. Say, Slobodan Milosevic was responsible for the killing of about 200.000 muslims. The bombing against the Serbian forces also resulted in the fall of the marxist-leninist dictatorship, and establishment of a probably less authoritarian system, with hope for democracy and human rights, perhaps later also an anarchist movement. Although the use of nuclear bombs in 1945 and the - probably not deliberate - bombing of some non-military targets in Serbia, may perhaps be questioned from anarchist human rights perspective: These errors must be seen in the context of ending the militarist dictatorships, to get a proportional realistic judgement. It saved probably a lot more lives than were lost.
IV. The al-Qaeda terrorist attacks
The acts of terrorism in New York and Washington 11.09.2001 are deliberately directed against a lot of civilians, in peace times, and thus are quite something else. The terrorist acts against the World Trade Center (WTC) and Pentagon demonstrate beyond all doubt that violent symbolic actions against "capitalism" and "state", are authoritarian, basically marxist, and not anarchist. Osama bin-Laden's and "Doctor Dead" Ayman al-Zawahiri's aims in ideological manifestos may be "anti-capitalist", "anti-government" and "anti-imperialist" with good intentions, but this is not relevant. The real aim is generally the consequences of the means that are used, and nothing else. That a unit not always can be put highly responsible because the consequences under the given circumstances seen all in all were not very reasonable to understand is something to take into account, but this is still a basic principle of anarchism. The real aim in this case is thus primarily deliberate killing of a lot of ordinary workingclass people doing their job, striking people with horror, muslim fundamentalist militarism and rule by terror, etc. That these terrorist acts also are supported by national socialists (neonazis/nazis) and a former RAF-member in Germany, as well as the "anti imperialist" and archterrorist "Carlos" the "Jackal", Illich Ramirez Sánches, should be of little surprise. "Tell me what your friends are, and I will tell you what you are!" - is a good old anarchist word of wisdom. These statements also apply to the Gothenburg and Genoa events and similar, where authoritarian and semilibertarian marxists and neonazis did violent symbolic "anti-capitalist" acts, although these events were just chaotic and ochlarchical, and not really terrorist. The lessons of the Genoa and Gothenburg events, are discussed by the IAT at http://www.anarchy.no/anarchy/apt.html .
On the economic-political map al-Qaeda, Taleban and associates are ultra-authoritarian, totalitarian and extremists, with a diffuse marxistoid/fascistoid policy, mainly located within a circle to the right in the stat-communist sector and in the left-fascist sector, thus a form of leftwing extremism. In practice an al-Qaeda/Taleban state/califate, or superstate, will probably be, or end up in, a form of left-fascism close to ultra-fascism on the economic-political map, see http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html. ISIL, a.k.a. Islamic State, IS, and Daesh, is even more authoritarian, and located in the ultra-fascist sector of the economic-political map.
We, mainly the international anarchists that joined this conference and discussion on terrorism, understand the muslim hierarchist terrorism - and their statist and/or fascist ideology, very well. The analysis of IAT is also important in this connection. To defend the people of the world, also including muslim people broadly defined (and not their authorities), it is necessary to fight this authoritarian evil down, however not violating anarchist human rights. Thus, we are only supporting the US, EU, NATO and UN actions against the muslim terrorists as far as that. The USA got backing from the UN Security Council of taking necessary actions of self defense related to international law, and also from the NATO pact §5 of solidarity "one for all, and all for one", if this considerable militarist terrorist attack was conducted from outside USA. And before any actions are taken, there must be proof of guilt, beyond reasonable doubt. But also earlier acts of terrorism, say as the Ostrø-case, and the series of attempts and terrorist acts on USA from 1992 and later, should be considered in this connection. These terrorist attacks have been escalating during these years, and thus must also be seen in dynamic perspective. All forms of terrorism, i.e. red/brown, green/brown, dark brown and blue/brown, should be considered in a general fight against terrorism.
V. Anarchists vs ochlarchy against muslims, Jews, pacifists, free speech etc.
By the way, the present ochlarchy against innocent muslims - i.e. non muslim state hierarchists doing jihad - and look alikes, in the USA and other places, it is denounced by the anarchists, and must be stopped immediately. The same is valid vis-a-vis innocent Jews later on world wide, especially in Europe. Even in the Anarchy of Norway ochlarchy against innocent Jews have become a slight tendency. Horrible - and must be stopped at once. However - all main religions today - and especially the fundamentalist versions- are evil alienations used in the service of capitalism and statism, militarism and patriarchism included - and should be denounced, and gotten rid of in the long run. Anarchism is an atheist, i .e. secular political project. Anarchists should also unite in the fight against more authoritarian laws and more of an Orwellian "1984" police state, introduced as means against terrorism.
Terrorism is terrorism is terrorism, and it is authoritarian, as pointed out in the Oslo-Convention of 1990 as well as, say, by anarchist classics as Kropotkin and Malatesta. Anarchism, anarchist, and anarchy are principally neither pacifism, nor terrorism, i.e. rule by terror. Although there have always been a few pacifists in the anarchist movement, say, as Augustin Souchy, the followers of Tolstoy and some others, this is not the anarchist ideal, but they represent more or less an authoritarian tendency. Pacifism represents one of a series of "free rider" problems that the anarchist movement must deal with. Thus, a few pacifists may well be tolerated, but if this tendency becomes significant, the movement will cease to be anarchist. The international newsmedia with CNN and BBC in the front, reported about a few anarchists participating in a pacifist demonstration with ca 2000 taking part in the US, against armed struggle vis-à-vis terrorism (Saturday 29.09.2001). A few pacifists must be tolerated, without calling for expulsion from the anarchist movement.
However the pacifists are neither representative for the anarchist movement, nor the people, but an authoritarian tendency. They can't be taken seriously. The newsmedia should report about the main tendency in the anarchist movement to give a fair and realistic picture, as well as among the people (i.e. not the authorities). A vast majority among anarchists and the people, support a limited armed struggle against the terrorists, however not violating anarchist human rights and ethics. However a general "crusade", i.e. war, against muslims is not supported. And not a war between the countries US & Co and Afghanistan, i.e. the civilian population. This is a struggle against the ultra-authoritarian Taleban & al-Qaeda, jihad terrorism broadly defined. Mr Bush should be very cautious with "cowboy" talk, and "wild west" actions, because these will only harm the general fight against terrorism. Terrorism cannot be fought by state-terrorism, i.e. against the civilian population. Furthermore bin-Laden must not be a martyr. That's just what he wants. This will only enforce the support for the al-Qaeda network of terrorist polyarchy and ochlarchy. It is important to explain the fact that bin-Laden is no hero, but an ideological fascistoid/marxistoid Führer, as proven beyond reasonable doubt later in this report from the Conference on Terrorism. The al-Qaeda/Taleban network is far from a vanguard of socialism and freedom, as, say, the ultra-authoritarian marxist Johan Galtung indicates.
The Conference denounces the "Susan Sontag certificate" given to Noam Chomsky and others by the conservative Weekly Standard. Susan Sontag stood up against mr Bush and said the terrorist suicide bombers were not cowards. Had they been cowards, the problem would have been less. One of the problems with the al-Qaeda terrorists is that they are arch-brave and totally ruthless with their own and others life. This is mainly because they are totally brainwashed at ultra-authoritarian muslim schools and terrorist training camps. Taleban means "student(s)". This "certificate" is not free criticism but ochlarchy! Generally speaking, the tendencies towards press censorship introducd as means in the fight against terrorism must be rejected. This is a struggle that may continue for several years. If press censorship is introduced, bin Laden has won an important victory against the open society. The American newsmedia with CNN in the forefront, have already done a moderate censorship. Dan Rader the news "anchor" at CBS says publicly something that means "When my President says hop, I'll hop". What kind of man is Dan, if he is a man? Is he really representative for the so called free press of America? We must remind the American press about the NAC resolution "Free Press vs 4th Power of the State". The BBC had a meeting with the government, but rejected censorship. The IJA and the Conference on Terrorism present a summary of the whole picture proportional to realities, as far as they have have sources. Rocco Galati's discussion on Canada's "Police State Agenda" in antiterrorism laws is available at http://www.anarchy.no/anarchy/galati.html . This indicates that anarchists should join forces with other civil liberties and human rights organizations, to stop a development towards an Orwellian "1984" police state connected to some of the new "antiterrorism" laws world wide.
VI. The anti-terrorist coalition and the counterforces
Tuesday 02.11.2001 USA presented proof that the al-Qaeda network organized the terrorist acts against the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Thus the NATO, Norway included, was introduced in the fight against terrorists, and the British PM Tony Blair declared a limited armed struggle against al-Qaeda and Taleban, but not against the civilian population of Afghanistan. Economical and political/administrative struggle in general, and broadly defined, were introduced. Blair said the Taleban had the choice, but choosed the terrorists. See also the news 07.10.2001 below about responsibility for the terrorism.
Thus, there is a broad coalition front, ideologically based on the moderate left, via the anarchist progressive middle, to the moderate right, above the 67% authoritarian degree on the economical-political map, for a limited armed (and other) struggle against terrorism, however not attacking innocent civilian population, and with a UN-aid program for refugees. And even some muslim hierarchist states, and military dictatorships or totalitarian states, as say Pakistan, are not clearly against this anti-terrorist coalition, although not always really actively supporting it. Later the anti-terrorist front also got support a.o.t. from the organization of muslim countries, several totalitarian states. The anarchists declare that the fight against terrorism must not overshadow the fight against totalitarianism and for human rights interpreted in a libertarian way.
Only some highly authoritarian red&brown left, dark brown and blue&brown right tendencies are supporting the al-Qaeda network and Taleban. The authoritarian marxists, Leninist, Trotskyite, Maoist, "anti-imperialist", "leftist" and other, among them the former DDR communists at PDS and the paper "Neues Deutschland" with the ultra-authoritarian exile-Norwegian "peace-professor" Johan Galtung in front, are trying to build a "peace movement" against the anti-terrorist coalition. This is as usual contra-revolutionary politics from the marxists, and people with any touch of libertarian ideas should not be among the "useful" idiots of Lenin and join this movement. A "peace movement" with the followers of Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and similar wholesale murderes, and their "useful" idiots, are of course nothing to take seriously. Also Leon Trotsky's treason and attack against Kronstadt, must be remembered in this connection. These marxists have never put up a finger in protest against their massmurderers doings, but always defend the horror. As usual the marxists will try to put liberal and other pacifist groups in front to get an alibi of "liberty", while spreading their authoritarian propaganda and trying to build up their hierarchical organizations behind the cover of "peace". Furthermore, the Conference denounces the ultra-authoritarian muslim hierarchist terrorist students and others' riots and ochlarchy in Palestine, Pakistan and other places, only authoritarian marxists and similar support them. Even Arafat understands this is reactionary, and the Palestinian police has arrested some of the ochlarchists.
VII. Armed struggle against Taleban/al-Qaeda and aid to the people
04.10.2001 President George W. Bush has announced that the United States is to provide an extra $320m in aid to help Afghanistan's impoverished people during the coming winter. The money will be spent on food and medicines to assist Afghans who have remained in the drought-stricken country, as well as those who have fled to neighboring countries and are living in refugee camps.The number of refugees leaving Afghanistan has grown as the US prepares to strike against Saudi militant Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization, who are being sheltered by the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.
In a speech to US State Department workers in Washington, Mr Bush said the people of America had no compassion for terrorists, nor for any state that sponsored them. But he added: We have great compassion, however, for the millions around the world who are victims of repressive governments. The US would work with the United Nations and other organizations to ensure the aid got through to the people of Afghanistan, Mr Bush said: In our anger, we must never forget that we are a compassionate people. While we firmly and strongly oppose the Taleban regime, we are friends with the Afghan people. The anarchists as always support the people, seen as a class, in contrast to the superiors in rank and/or income, in Afghanistan, USA, Palestine, Israel and all other countries world wide, against terrorism and other authoritarian evils. At the International Conference of Terrorism, ICOT, first and foremost the voices of the people are presented. Taleban, al-Qaeda and similar groups are clearly at odds with the people.
VIII. Allies launch attack, bioterror, updated news and comments etc.
07.10.2001 an US led coalition of allies launch attacks on strategic Taleban targets in several Afghan cities and al-Qaeda terrorist training camps etc. Osama bin-Laden gave in a speach to the international newsmedia a so strong moral support for the terrorist acts of 11.09.2001, that it was equal to take the responsibility for it, and he called all muslims to join in the terrorist fight against USA and Israel. Also the Northern Alliance of Afghanistan continued attacks on Taleban forces. These actions will go on for a while, at least several weeks (perhaps months and years).
09.10.2001 there were reports about a few civilian casualties in Afghanistan. The Conference impressed the US led coalition to avoid killing among the civilian population. The al-Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith told the newsmedia via the TV-station Al Jazeera in Qatar, they should do more terrorist acts, i.e. aeroplane crash and jihad. A few hours later two Taleban spokesmen gave full support to al-Qaeda, and free hands for bin Laden. Arafat denounces al-Qaeda, and bin Laden's point of view, that the terrorist attacks are connected to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
13.10.2001 an US bomb has missed the target and reached a few civilians. This is regretted by the US, explaining it was not deliberately, and that they will continue to aim at military targets. A few attacks of anthrax in US are perhaps connected to the bin-Laden network. Bush had once more asked Taleban to hand over bin-Laden, but the Taleban rejected. UN and US are discussing the forming of a broad based political system in Afghanistan post Taleban, perhaps also a confederalist solution similar to the system in Bosnia, as suggested by the IAT.
14.10.2001 the Taleban told they would hand over bin-Laden to a third country if USA could deliver solid evidence about guilt. Mr. Bush rejected the idea soon after. Anyway, the al-Qaeda has given so much support for the terrorist acts and even more terrorist attacks, so this question cannot seriously be debated anymore. Furthermore al-Qaeda has been a major sponsor for the autocratic illegal Taleban government, and bin Laden and the Taleban leader are relatives. The Conference called for negotiations between the UN etc., Israel and the Palestinians to create a fully independent Palestinian country as soon as possible.15.10.2001 another anthrax attack, in a letter, is discovered. This is probably a terrorist attack. Perhaps Saddam Hussein is also involved. He has biological weapon factories and has also used virulent gas against "his own" people. But it exists no proof about who did it so far.
On the day before Berlusconi meets Bush to promise Italian support for the so called "war" in Afghanistan the Italian people show how they feel by marching 24 kilometres from the city of Perugia to Assissi, ca 300.000 strong, in the name of peace and against the terrorist attacks. It was also a microscopic participation of pacifist anarchists, among them an Irish group, reporting to IJA. There have also been other protests, but far less than expected.
15.10.2001 a few more anthrax attacks are discovered in the US. The NATO country Turkey, with the second largest army after USA, is hesitating in joining the anti-terrorist forces. Economical anti-terrorist "war" is enforced in Europe. 17.10.2001 the negotiation climate in the Middle East is getting worse, because Palestinian terrorists killed Israels' Minister of Tourism Reha'am Ze'evi. Arafat denounces the terrorist attack, and says he will arrest the criminals, but the terrorist groups are so integrated in the present PLO state that the Conference doubt this will happen. Later Arafat's police has arrested some of the "Popular Front" which is responsible for the terrorist killing, but mainly not the suspected guilty. Time will show. 19.10.2001 there are press reports about ground troops special forces of the anti-terrorist coalition are introduced in Afghanistan. This is later confirmed by spokesmen from the anti-terrorist coalition. The use of bioterrorism against USA is increasing
24.10.2001: The Conference denounces Talebans' use of civilians as shield; and the use of anthrax, the bioterrorism against USA; Israel's reoccupation of Palestinian land; and the US reintroduction of license to kill, a la James Bond, to CIA, and similar changes of law. Everybody should try to keep the head a bit cool in this difficult situation, to avoid unnecessary violence. 28.10.2001 The grim news of civilian losses in Afghanistan are happening almost every day. The Taleban indicates about more than 1000 civilian losses, the US have admitted at least 4. A very uncertain estimate from IIFOR is between ca 180-320 from 09-28.10.2001, based on figures from families, UN and newsmedia. Of several thousand bomb attacks on Taleban/al-Qaeda installations and forces, only ca 10 has gone wrong, hitting non-military targets, so far. Thus, this is clearly mainly not a war against the civilian population. A US national socialist group is suspected to stay behind the anthrax bioterrorism. 16 christians are killed by muslim Taleban supporters at a church in Behawalpur, Pakistan. The christians fear more attacks.
1. November and December 2001
01.11.2001 Turkey joined the anti-terrorist forces, and decided to participate with special forces, ca 90 soldiers strong. The bomb attacks from the anti-terrorist forces are now directed more against the Taleban frontlines. Thus, there will be less losses among the civilian population.03.11.2001 Australia will join the anti-terrorist forces with a lot of troops. Some anthrax attacks in Europe are discovered, and a new one in US, (skin-anthrax). The bombings against the Taleban frontline have been heavy the last days. 09.11.2001: "A general stop in the bombings will make Taleban crawl out of their wholes and fasten their grip on the civilan population", says G. Valle in Peshawar, Pakistan. "At the same time bomb attacks that reach civilians will be a main problem". He means this reflects the Aghan peoples' opinion. Thus, the Afghan people support the bombings as far as there are minimal civilan losses. They want to get rid of the Taleban very authoritarian and chaotic rule.
10.11.2001 The Northern alliance has counqered a strategical important city in North Afghanistan. Last time the warlords hold the city, they introduced a terror rule. The Conference demands that it shall not happen this time.13.11.2001: The Northern alliance has taken about 50% of the country, including Kabul. Some ochlarchy is introduced, but not much. 15.11.2001: Tony Blair reports to the British parliament about even more evidence that bin Laden and al-Qaeda stay behind the 11.09.2001 events, in an internal al-Qaeda video were bin Laden speaks about "we" in connection to these terrorist acts. Bin Laden says "he will rather die than give in to the USA" to an Arabian news agency. The Pakistanian authorities say they fear "anarchy", in the wrong meaning of chaos, related to the Northern Alliance's rule in Kabul, to the Norwegian State councillor of the Aid Department. 22.11.2001: The Northern Alliance has taken about 2/3 of the country. Cinemas, TV, radio and audiorecorders that were forbidden to use by the Taleban, are once more in use in the liberated areas, and music is heard.
27.11.2001: The Northern alliance has taken about 3/4 of the country. 8 journalists have been killed so far, due to ochlarchy. Delegates from rival Afghan factions attending landmark talks in Germany have agreed on the principle of forming a broad-based transitional government. The delegates at the United Nations-sponsored conference have set themselves a deadline of three to five days to agree on the shape of an interim administration and possibly a multinational force for Afghanistan, according to UN spokesman Ahmed Fawzi. 29.11.2001: The Northern Alliance has taken most of the country. Afghan talks 'close to deal': Two key parties at UN-sponsored talks on Afghanistan's future are close to agreeing a power-sharing mechanism. The Northern Alliance was reported to have agreed with Afghan monarchists to set up an interim council, which would be charged with naming a provisional government for the country. An aide to Younis Qanooni, head of the alliance delegation, told hat the two sides had agreed to set up the council and that its size and membership would be discussed on Thursday. Diplomats hope the council will be the first step towards setting up a broad based government for Afghanistan. They could also pave the way for elections in about two years time. Women and girls that were not allowed to go to school under the Taleban rule, could once more join in the classes. 01.12.2001 A proposal for a new government, is expected ready on Monday 03.12.2001. Sunday 02.12.2001: Three suicide attacks in Israel on Saturday and Sunday have left at least 25 victims dead and over 200 injured. The bombers also died. The Conference demands that Arafat must arrest the responsible terrorist leaders. However the Conference is not forgetting the the death of five innocent Palestinian children who walked into a boobytrap placed by the army on their way to school at the Khan Yunes Refugee Camp. The responsible for this should also be arrested.
04.12.2001: Israel targets Arafat headquarters. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat escapes unhurt from an attack on his headquarters in Ramallah, as Israeli launches a new wave of strikes. Two Palestinians are killed and a lot wounded. The four Afghan factions holding talks in Bonn have reached agreement on a United Nations blueprint for rebuilding the country's political system. 1. Interim administration to govern for six months. 2. A supreme court to be set up and a 21-member special independent commission to call a Loya Jirga (traditional grand assembly). 3. Loya Jirga to elect transitional state council for two years, until a constitution is drawn up and elections held. 4. A multinational force to secure Kabul. The four factions have now put forward many more names than there are jobs available on the interim administration.The next step, expected to begin immediately, will be to choose which factions get which jobs - a delicate balancing act given Afghanistan's complicated ethnic and tribal mix.
The Pentagon denies reports that US bombs killed about 20 civilians in eastern Afghanistan, close to suspected Taleban and al-Qaeda hideouts. Tribal forces in southern Afghanistan, backed by American air strikes, say they are closing in on the last remaining Taleban stronghold of Kandahar from different directions. A few of these warlords are very ochlarchical, say, Gul Agha, the former mujahideen governor of Kandahar, and his tribal militia. The Conference demands that this violent ochlarchy should be stopped. US military forces take custody of a young American from Washington DC, captured fighting for the Taleban. The body of CIA officer Johnny Spann, the first known US combat death in Afghanistan, returns to the United States. Afghan women's delegates are meeting in the Belgian capital Brussels for a two-day summit on the future of Afghanistan. Anti-Taleban fighters in Afghanistan say they have clashed with members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network near their cave hideout south of Jalalabad. 05.12.2001. Three more American soldiers, and five anti-Taleban fighters, have been killed and several wounded, bombed by US airforce. The talks in Bonn, Germany, have resulted in an agreement. The delegates have selected anti-Taleban commander Hamid Karzai to head an interim state council in Afghanistan.
06-8.12.2001: Taleban leader Mullah Omar will begin surrendering Kandahar on Friday, a Taleban official tells. The Taleban forces have had big losses the last days, and a lot had to give in. However Omar himself and some of the Taleban soldiers do not quite agree, yet. Israeli warplanes strike Palestinian police headquarters in Gaza City. Batch of mail coming through US Federal Reserve outside mail facility tests positive for anthrax. Afghans celebrated in Kandahar after the Taleban lost the last major city under their control Friday, while fighters looking for Osama bin Laden encountered stiff resistance near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. Karzai has promised "common Taleban" fighters amnesty, but said about 650 non-Afghan fighters in the Kandahar area are criminals who must be brought to justice internationally. Explosions and weapons fire echoed overnight as US and "Eastern" Alliance forces continued their assault on Taleban and al-Qaeda positions in the mountainous eastern Afghan region of Tora Bora. BREAKING THE NEWS: SHIMON PERES IS PUT ON TRIAL AT THE INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST TRIBUNAL FOR PUTTING THE BLAME OF THE TERRORISM ON ANARCHISTS. (THE VERDICT IS PRESENTED IN CHAPTER XII A, BELOW)
09.12.2001: Breakthrough in Afghan aid effort. Fears of a major humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan recede as a vital aid route is restored with the reopening of a bridge on the Uzbek border. Hamas and islamic jihad have carried out five suicide bombings in the past 10 days, killing 29 Israelis. Arafats says he has arrested several of the jihad terrorists, but is it enough? 10.12.2001: NRK reports the Taleban has surrendered in the last region they controlled in Eastern part of the country. Still bin Laden and about thousand Arabian soldiers of al-Qaeda are fighting. CNN reports the "Eastern" Alliance forces made key gains against al-Qaeda fighters positioned high in Afghanistan's rugged White Mountains near the border with Pakistan. The commander said alliance troops had taken two al-Qaeda command centers and four tunnel complexes. 11.12.2001: NRK reports most of the al-Qaeda troops have surrendered, only a small group and bin-Laden refuse to give in. 12.12.2001: Bin Laden and al-Qaeda have still not given in. 10 Jews have been killed by Palestinians. Arafat says they will close all offices and institutions of Hamas and islamic jihad.
13.12.2001: A spokesman for al-Qaeda says bin Laden has escaped to Pakistan. The Conference doesn't know if this is the truth. Israeli Cabinet cuts off contact with Arafat; to deploy military to arrest jihad terrorists. President Bush announces US withdrawing from Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. On a tape released by Pentagon, Osama bin Laden says hijackers "were trained" and says plans were not revealed to them until "just before they boarded the planes." 12 are killed and several wounded by terrorists at the Parliament in India. The marxist Terje Rød-Larsen from UN in Palestine, a comrade of Arafat, says the Oslo agreement of 1993 is finished if Arafat is crushed. The Conference does not quite agree. There must be other alternatives than the extreme PLO-marxists, as Arafat, and jihad terrorists, among the Palestinian people. These must however be real delegates of the Palestinian people, not a Quisling puppet regime, introduced by Israel.14.12.2001: Osama bin-Laden is believed to be surrounded by opposition and US forces in a cave complex at Tora Bora, a senior military official tells CNN. Shimon Peres, the authoritarian socialdemocrat marxist, supports his comrade in politics, Arafat, and has called the terrorists "anarchists". This is quite similar to the authoritarian marxist Willy Brandt, who called the marxist-leninist (maoist) RAF (Baader-Meinhof) "anarchists", and thus supported his comrades the marxist-leninist (stalinist) ruling party in DDR, now PDS, that trained and supported RAF, together with PLO/Arafat. They both got the Brown Card from IAT. Marxist politics stinks!!!!
12 Palestinians are killed by Israeli troops. Some marxist "autonomous" groups have misused the black flag, traditionally used by some anarchists, in ochlarchical "anti-capitalist" and "anti-globalization" demonstrations, the first violent protests in EU since 11 September 2001. These fake "anarchist" groups and the newsmedia calling them "anarchists" have got a Brown Card from the IAT. Ochlarchy is not anarchy and ochlarchists are not anarchists. 15.12.2001: The former KBG leader, Putin, now president of Russia, sends his support to his old comrade Arafat, and is warning the Jews. Unless the Israelis cast off their arrogant mode of thinking, and the position as an occupying power, the present cycle of bloodshed will probably only intensify. Europe that has witnessed the arrogance of colonialism as a dominant power, should not return now to adopt similar attitudes even when their source is the Jewish State. International intervention to stop both Arafat, the jihad terrorists and Sharon is urgently needed for the sake of the Palestinians and the Israelis as well. Six Palestinian policemen were killed by Israeli troops, yesterday in Salfeet on the Northern part of the West Bank. Four Palestinians were killed today at Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip. It seems that three of them were boys, resisting with nothing but stones the massive Israeli forces which invaded their town, infantry and tanks and armored personnel carriers. The Anarchist International Embassy sends a note about "the situation in the Middel East and Europe", based on the resolutions from the Conference, to other embassies etc..
16.12.2001: Unknown number of US marine casualties after explosion at Kandahar airport in Afghanistan, CNN reports. The al-Qaeda bases close to Tora Bora are crushed, and at least 500 terrorists are on the run. Arafat try to play his usual marxist game, saying he will arrest the jihad terrorists (and will perhaps arrest a few, but mainly not the guilty, and release them in a couple of days.) The Conference as usual doesn't believe too much in his marxist games, and has not forgotten that he supported Saddam Hussein in his sudden militarist attack on the independent country al-Kuwait. By the way, the Palestinians in refugee camps must not be forgotten in the Middle East discussion, and Arafat is elected by the Palestinian people, although the freedom of this election may be questioned. Arafat has closed down a lot of offices of the jihad terrorists, but this is more cosmetical than real antiterrorist policy, as far as the Conference may understand. 3 American soldiers were wounded in clean up operations in Afghanistan.
17.12.2001: US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that as many as 2 000 al-Qaeda fighters, many of whom come from outside Afghanistan, are still on the run. Hazrat Ali, who is leading the anti-Taleban Afghan forces in the area, said 200 al-Qaeda fighters had been killed and 35 captured. Anti-Taleban fighters have publicly paraded captured members of the al-Qaeda terror network, as they continue to meet resistance from others forced out of their bases in mountains in eastern Afghanistan. The anti-Taleban Afghan forces, backed by US and British troops, have taken dozens of prisoners since Sunday as they have cleared areas in Tora Bora. Hamas has buried one of their terrorist leaders, killed by Israeli troops, and swear revenge. More jihad terrorism is waiting ahead, dispite Arafats talks of peace and negotiation, if not something drastic is done. 18.12.2001: The Anarchy of Norway has discussed and offered to send some volunteers,.among them experts of "direct action and sabotage" to peace-keeping in Afghanistan, but Tony Blair doesn't want to use forces from small countries, toghether with 1000-1500 British soldiers and other units from other big countries, all in all about 4000-5000 strong. Thus, these Norwegian soldiers may probably stay home at Christmas. However Bush wants some "mine-destroyers", another branch where Norwegians have competence, so perhaps some soldiers will go to Afghanistan anyway. Time will show. Of course the Anarchy of Norway will do a fair share in the fight against terrorism, in relevant branches, armed service and/or not. However Norwegian soldiers will decide autonomously what to do, what Bush or Blair say or not, it is not so important!
19.12.2001. Bush says the US forces in Afghanistan will leave as soon as al-Qaeda and Taleban are finished. The British will lead a multinational peace keeping force in Afghanistan ca 3 months, i.e. without US participation. Hamas says they will halt attacks on Israelis. The anthrax used in the US bioterrorism is made in USA, reports the ABC-news. 20.12.2001: The German Socialdemocrats, the followers of Willy Brandt, and their old comrades, the stalinist ruling party of DDR, now PDS, have joined forces and have introduced a majority rule together in Berlin. One Palestinian is killed by other Palestinians. Some Norwegian officers have already travelled to Afghanistan, and a force about 100 soldiers strong will probably follow soon after Christmas. Ca 65 Afghans have been killed by the US, and nobody really knows if the killed are Taleban/al-Qaeda or delegates to the new interim council. More bloodshed in the PLO-state of Arafat. 22.12.2001: Hamid Karzai is sworn in as leader of the new interim government to replace Afghanistan's defeated Taleban regime.
The foreign minister of the state council says Norway will contribute with money to support the new system in Afghanistan. He also says Afghanistan must not be forgotten even if the newsmedia become less interested in the country. The Norwegian anarchist council agrees, not only for humanitarian reasons. A chaoitic Afghanistan may easily be a nest of international terrorism once more. Furthermore the Anarchist council thinks the brainwashing jihad schools should be closed down all over the muslim world. 24.12.2001. The last days some attempts to do terrorism are discovered and avoided, and terrorists have been arrested in USA and Europe. 25.12.2001: The Palestinians have killed 1 Jew and wounded three others. The Israelis have arrested 3 members of the Palestinian jihad terrorist organization. Also the PLO-state of Arafat has arrested some Palestinian terrorists the latest days. But is it enough? ... the Conference repeats. 26-28.2001: Osama bin-Laden has demonstrated he is still the emir of al-Qaeda on a video, and also reminded us that the polyarchical terrorist network is relatively independent of his commands. Arafat has not done enough to arrest the jihad terrorists, and the problems in the Middle East continues. BBC reports that the Norwegians once more are engaged in the peacework at Sri Lanka, but so far with limited success. The Conference denounces the new tension between India and Pakistan. Pakistan must arrest their terroristic so called "freedomfighters".
The Conference also again impresses that USA must stop missing on military targets, i.e. Taleban and al-Qaeda forces. The ca 40 possible civilian people killed on Thursday was a bad mistake. 31.12.2001-01.01.2002: Star TV reports about one armed terrorist arrested in India. Pakistan has arrested about ca 100 terrorists, and the tension between India and Pakistan is reduced a bit, but is still dangerously high. The Conference decides to continue in 2002.
Antiterrorism 2002-2005
About the anarchists' and others' fight against terrorism 01.01.2002 - 11.09.2005 - click on http://www.anarchy.no/antiterrorism1.html .
The situation in Sri Lanka, click on http://www.anarchy.no/srilanka.html .
11.09.2005: Four years have gone since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and The International Conference on Terrorism takes a break from the daily updates. The International Conference on Terrorism and the Anarchist International denounce all kinds of terrorists and terrorism world wide. We will be back with more news, comments, resolutions and other direct actions, when something especially important happens.
2006 and beyond...
Stop the war between Hezbollah and Israel. Develop the camp of the workers
In the war between Israel and on the other side the reactionary, fascist, militias of political islam, the workers, and more generally the people of the area, have nothing to gain. The pressures of different political islamist gangs, whether to impose the veil on women, or to install a veritable sexist apartheid and deny fundamental human rights to the populations under their yoke, remind us that these are not any kind of liberation forces, but just armed gangs seeking to replace one oppression by another.
This military escalation in the Middle East only serves the ruling classes and the leaders of the fascist armed gangs. In Israel, touched by a social crisis (20% of the population live below the poverty line), the ruling class seeks by the military escalation in Lebanon and Palestine, among other things, to avoid an explosion of workers' struggles. In the same way, for the reactionary gangs of Hamas and Hezbollah, this war is a blessing, justifying the existence of their militias and increasing their grip on the population. As for Iran, the conflict with the USA and EU is a gift fallen from heaven to defuse the recent rise of workers' and feminist struggles.
Just as we firmly denounce this military escalation, calling for an immediate ceasefire, and an end to the bombings, and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, we believe, as internationalist workers, that one of our urgent tasks is to support the development of a third camp - the camp of the workers and the people in general - in the Middle East, at one and the same time against statist and capitalist domination in general, and especially against the islamist oppression. We reaffirm our total solidarity with the organizations that fight, in the Middle East, like us in Europe and elsewhere in the world, for workers' interests, for equality between all the peoples of the region, for women's emancipation against reactionary traditions and religious currents, for secularism and, beyond that, for the creation of another future free from wars, atrocities, racism, sexism, statist and capitalist exploitation in general. (Press release from the Anarchist International 13.08.2006)
End in sight for the international armed struggle against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan
06.12.2008: End in sight for war in Iraq, Bush says: The war in Iraq isn't over, but a successful end is in sight, thanks to hard work between the United States and Iraq, President George W. Bush said in his weekly radio address today."Earlier this week, Iraq's Presidency Council approved two landmark agreements that will solidify Iraq's democratic gains, affirm its sovereignty, and put its relations with the United States on a strong and steady footing," he said. "The first agreement that America and Iraq have signed is called a strategic framework agreement."
This pact sets out a common vision for US-Iraqi relations in the years ahead, he said. Under this agreement, the two nations will work together to bring greater stability to Iraq and the region. That will include working to promote stability in the region through trade and investment as well as supporting Iraq's leaders and citizens."Only a few years ago, such an agreement was unimaginable," Bush said. "Terrorists were seizing new ground and using violence to divide the Iraqi people along sectarian lines and the nation was nearing the point of political collapse and civil war. Today, violence is down dramatically. The Iraqi military is growing in capability, taking the lead in the fight against the extremists, and working across sectarian lines."There is hope in the eyes of young Iraqis for the first time in many years," he added.
The second agreement, a status of forces agreement, has the primary purpose of ensuring the protection of US troops and Defense Department civilians as Iraq begins to exercise greater sovereignty. "It [also] lays out a framework for the withdrawal of American forces in Iraq," Bush said. "This withdrawal will take place in two stages."
"The first stage will occur next year, when Iraqi forces assume the lead for security operations in all major population centers, while US combat forces move out of Iraqi cities and into an overwatch role", Bush said. After this transition has occurred, the drawdown of American forces will continue to the second stage, with all US forces returning home from Iraq by the end of 2011. The International Conference on Terrorism and the Anarchist International are pleased with the plan for withdrawel. The anarchists, the ICOT, AI and AIE have been against this war all of the time, from the start.
27.02.2009: President Barack Obama has announced the withdrawal of most US troops in Iraq by the end of August 2010. In a speech at a Marine Corps base, he said the US "combat mission" in Iraq would officially end by that time. But up to 50,000 of 142,000 troops now there will stay into 2011 to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests, leaving by the end of 2011, he said. Mr Obama praised the progress made but warned: "Iraq is not yet secure, and there will be difficult days ahead." Some Democrats are concerned that the timetable falls short of his election pledges on troop withdrawal. Mr Obama had said previously that he would completely pull out troops within 16 months of taking the top job. Earlier this month, he ordered the deployment of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan, saying they had been due to go to Iraq but were being redirected to "meet urgent security needs".
07.03.2009: Obama Ponders outreach to elements of the Taleban. President Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the armed struggle in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taleban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq. Mr. Obama pointed to the success in peeling Iraqi insurgents away from more hard-core elements of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a strategy that many credit as much as the increase of American forces with turning the armed struggle around in the last two years. "There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region," he said, while cautioning that solutions in Afghanistan will be complicated.
08.03.2009: Karzai welcomes Obama call to reach out to Taleban. President Hamid Karzai on Sunday welcomed President Barack Obama's call to identify moderate elements of the Taleban and encourage them to reconcile with the Afghan government. Obama's call "was good news because this has been the stand of the Afghan government," Karzai told a gymnasium full of Afghan women during a speech to commemorate International Women's Day. "There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region," Obama said, while cautioning that solutions in Afghanistan will be complicated. Karzai warned that there are Taleban fighters who are beyond reconciliation - those who have joined with al-Qaeda, for instance. But he said talks should go forward "with those who are afraid to come back to their country, or who feel they have no choice but to stay with the Taleban for various reasons. They are welcome." Obama cautioned that Afghanistan is a less-governed region than Iraq with a history of fierce independence among tribes, creating a tough set of circumstances for the United States to deal with.
Obama as mentioned last month ordered 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan to bolster the record 38,000 American forces already in the country. Obama has promised to increase the US focus on Afghanistan and away from Iraq, as the US begins to draw down its forces there. In the latest violence, a roadside blast killed a NATO service member and wounded two US coalition members in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, the NATO-led force said. Another roadside blast in central Ghazni province hit a police vehicle, killing three officers and wounding another three, said Ismail Jahangir, the spokesman for the provincial governor. A joint Afghan-coalition patrol, meanwhile, killed two Afghan police officers late Friday who opened fire on their team in northeastern Kapisa province, the coalition said in a statement Sunday. The joint patrol, which was on foot, attempted to identify themselves as friendly forces to the police without success, the statement said. "In selfdefense, the patrol returned fire killing two individuals," it said. The string of deaths continues an upward spike in violence that has spread throughout Afghanistan the last three years even as Obama's administration is trying to come up with a new approach to dealing with the Afghan armed struggle against the terrorists.
14.10.2009: Anarchists against Afghanistan = Chaosistan. A Black Star to Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Gen. Stanley McChrystal has warned us about Afghanistan = Chaosistan, a failed state similar to Somalia, if he don't get sufficient troops to counter the Taleban/Al-Qaeda insurgency. The IAT-APT issues a Black Star to Gen. Stanley McChrystal for calling this danger Chaosistan, and not falsely anarchy. The anarchists urge NATO to send sufficient troops to counter the Taleban/Al-Qaeda insurgency in a most libertarian way, i.e. at least 3 to 1. PS. 23.06.2010. McChrystal was sacked by Obama after criticism of some of the touchy US-president's administration.
19.11.2009: Karzai sets Afghan forces target. Hamid Karzai has been sworn in as Afghan president for a second elected term, saying he wants Afghan forces in charge of the nation within five years. In his inauguration speech, Mr Karzai announced a conference to tackle corruption and a national gathering to help bring peace to Afghanistan. He also invited his defeated rivals to join him in working for peace.
01.12.2009: Obama announced he was sending an additional 30,000 American troops to armed fight against al-Qaeda/Taleban in Afghanistand and would commence troop withdrawals by the summer [July] of 2011.
04.12.2009: NATO allies will bolster the US troop surge in Afghanistan by sending at least 7,000 soldiers of their own, officials said Friday in pledges that US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described as crucial to turning the tide in the stalemated armed struggle. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark told reporters at the organization's headquarters that still further NATO forces might be in the offing, suggesting there would be "more to come." According to a copy of Clinton's prepared remarks to the closed-door NATO meeting, she told the ministers that "the pace, size and scope of the drawdown will be predicated on the situation on the ground." "If things are going well, a larger number of forces could be removed from more areas," she said. "If not, the size and speed of the drawdown will be adjusted accordingly." No one was saying a quick pullout. Said Fogh Rasmussen: "Transition (to Afghan control) does not mean exit." Afghanistan's security forces have been hobbled by a lack of training and resources, but US officials hope to bolster their ability by sending them out with American and allied troops into battle zones.
28.12.2009. A wing of al-Qaeda claimed responsibility on Monday for a failed Christmas Day attack on a US-bound passenger plane and President Barack Obama vowed to bring "every element" of US power against those who threaten Americans' safety. The anarchists condemn the attack. 29.12.2009. President Obama: "Mix of human and systemic failures" allowed terror suspect to board airliner in failed bombing.
22.01.2010. Peace scheme mooted for Taleban. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told the BBC he plans to introduce a scheme to attract Taleban fighters back to normal life by offering money and jobs. He would offer to pay and resettle Taleban fighters to come over to his side, with the scheme funded by the international community. He said the UK and US would show at a conference next week in London that they had decided to back his new plan. Japan is one of the countries which, he said, is prepared to put up the money. The Taleban currently pay their volunteers, who are often just farmers, significantly more than the Afghan government can afford to give its forces. President Karzai said the Afghan people had to have peace at any price. War was not the only way forward and there had to be proper peace activity and reconciliation. Previously, he said, Britain, the US and other Western countries had not been happy about the idea. Now they had changed their minds. He stressed that Taleban supporters who were members of al-Qaeda or other terrorist networks would not be accepted. But anyone who accepted the Afghan constitution and did not have an ideological opposition to it could return.
Lame duck perception. Doing deals with his enemies is a bold approach, but as President Karzai enters his second term of office he knows he must get an agreement. Many of his own people, as well as the Western powers, regard him as a lame-duck president. In the past, his ability to run Afghanistan has been limited by the powers of the warlords, and by the high level of corruption. With considerable frankness, he accepted that there was some truth in this. "Yes," he said, "my presidency is weak in regard to the means of power, which means money, which means equipment, which means manpower, which means capacity." The clear implication was that if he got these things, he could start to run the country as he wanted. If there was agreement at next week's conference in London, Afghanistan would be in a position to run its own affairs. In five years, he said, Afghanistan could be controlling its own security and leading the fight in the country against corruption and the drugs industry.
But he is still smarting from the heavy criticism he got from the Americans and British about the way last August's presidential election was run. He insists it was a concerted effort by the West to undermine him. "Unfortunately our election was very seriously mistreated by our Western allies," he said. Now, though, he had to depend on them to help him. Could he trust them? "We trust them because we are in a relationship together," he replied. President Karzai angrily rejected a suggestion earlier this week by a UN agency that nearly a quarter of Afghanistan's GDP was swallowed up by corruption. Nevertheless, he said, "if you expect us to be a First World country, you are making a mistake".
22.01.2010. Police in Turkey have arrested 120 suspected members of al-Qaeda after carrying out a series of dawn raids across the country. Reports say a senior Turkish member of the islamist network, accused of recruiting students to fight in Afghanistan, is among those to have been rounded up. Turkey has been carying out similar such raids on over the past year. These new arrests follow the detention of 25 suspected al-Qaeda members on Wednesday in the capital Ankara and the southern city of Adana. One is believed to be the leader of Al-Qaeda in Turkey, Serdar Elbasa, who is also known as Abu Zer. In those earlier raids, police seized weapons, fake identity papers and explosives. The radical islamist group has previously carried out attacks on Turkish soil - most notably in a 2003 bombing in Istanbul which killed 60 people.
24.01.2010. New bin Laden tape emerges. A new audio tape allegedly from the al-Qaeda ruler, i.e. emir, Osama bin Laden claims responsibility for an attempt to blow up a plane en route to Michigan on Christmas Day and warns the United States of more attacks. The tape, which aired on the Arabic-language news Web site Al-Jazeera on Sunday, says "the United States will not dream of enjoying safety until we live it in reality in Palestine." The tape continues: "It is not fair to enjoy that kind of life while our brothers in Gaza live in the worst of miseries." AIIS could not independently confirm the authenticity of the message, but it is probably not false, and it contains the same hollow justification for murder of innocent people as earlier messages.
In another section of the audio tape that Al-Jazeera broadcast, the voice says: "God willing our attacks will continue as long as you support the Israelis and may peace be on those who follow guidance." Bin Laden also claims responsibility for the foiled attack on Delta flight 253 in December. "The message intended to be sent to you was through the hero fighter Omar Farouq, may God release him, confirming an earlier message that the [September] 11th heroes delivered to you and it was repeated before and after [that event]," he says. A Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been charged with attempting to blow up the Delta Airlines plane as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, i.e. Yemen, was behind the failed attack on Christmas Day. So a message like this -- no matter whose voice it may be -- should come as no surprise. Al-Qaeda has, from time to time, tried to build support for its program of murder by talking about the Palestinian issue. That line's never gotten them much in the past, and it's unlikely to now, either.
Bin Laden had six messages in 2009. The last was on September 25 and was "to the European people." In that message, he urged the countries to reconsider their involvement in the Afghanistan so called "war". "Today Europe is suffering an economic crisis, and its export reputation doesn't hold true anymore, while America is bleeding economically because of all the wars it is involved in," his last message said. "Think about how Europe will fare when America pulls out of Afghanistan. You will be left to suffer alone the rage of the people you oppressed." It should be clear to all that this is a lie. The polyarchical and ochlarchical network of al-Qaeda, murderers, has clearly a top - down approach, not the other way around.
There is a possibility bin Laden did not know about the attempted attack in December and al-Qaeda branches may be using it to prove themselves to the group's leadership. They were able to get their man on an American plane on American soil so it is partly successful. The strategy is there, outlined by the mother leadership and now we will probably see the branches doing their best to please their leadership and implement the al-Qaeda vision in their own ways. Bin Laden is thought to be hiding in the Pakistan-Afghanistan mountain region, according to intelligence experts.
As mentioned the polyarchical and ochlarchical network of al-Qaeda, murderers, has clearly a top - down approach. Anarchists are against capital punishment, and the only violence anarchists accept is defensive violence, proportionate, in self defense. As other murderers al-Qaeda should preferably be arrested, and face trial and get life in prison. However as for other murderers who try to avoid arrest by shooting at, or bombing, the ones that legitimately will arrest them, it may be no other option than to kill them in self defense - or be killed by al-Qaeda. Such killing by law and order forces is within the framework of proportionate violence in self defense, and direct action from the bottom - upwards, significantly. However the US cowboy wild west "wanted dead or alive" is not necessarily compatible with this approach, and should be avoided. And the fight against the terrorists is not a "war on terror", but a law and order case. The law and order forces consist of NATO including US defense and stabilization forces, plus Afghan forces, police and defense. They not only face al-Qaeda but also their ally the Taleban.
28.01.2010. Sixty nations have promised 100 million euros for a fund to help disaffected Afghans - including Taleban fighters - to lay down their arms and rejoin mainstream society in Afghanistan. An international conference on Afghanistan held in London has been hailed as the first time reintegration plans have won such international support. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "The intention is for some provinces to transition by late 2010/early 2011, on the road to meet President Karzai's commitment that half of Afghanistan provinces would have an Afghan security leadership within three years and the whole of Afghanistan would be under Afghan security leadership within five years." Miliband launched a strong attack on Iran, which was invited but didn't go to the conference. The Afghan government on the other hand have invited the Taleban to a council of elders meeting. It is the strongest signal yet that the administration and its Western allies want a way out of the so called "war".
Can the peace scheme advocated by Afghan president Hamid Karzai to attract Taleban fighters back to normal life be taken seriously? The ICOT, AI and the Anarchist International Embassy have some doubts. Now everybody will be Taleban....Up until now the extremists in Afghanistan have refused to negotiate. Karzai remains confident the lure of money and jobs financed through the international trust fund can work. Earlier this week in Istanbul, Karzai outlined his bold approach. "Those Taleban who are not part of al-Qaeda or other terrorist networks are welcome to come back to their country, lay down arms and resume life under the constitution of Afghanistan," President Karzai said. The idea to persuade Taleban fighters to come back into the fold is not a novel one. Last March, during a conference on Afghanistan in the Hague, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about peace through reintergration.
"We must also support the efforts by the government of Afghanistan to separate the extremists of al-Qaeda and the Taleban from those who joined their ranks not out of conviction but out of desperation," Clinton said. Any talking to the Taleban would go hand in hand with the military strategy. NATO 's top commander, US General Stanley McChrystal, will soon have an extra 37,000 troops to count on to secure the highly unstable South of the country. The allies hope the surge will bear fruit, forcing the extremists to the negotiating table. Many ordinary Afghans, however, are tired of waiting for security to come. "We all live under the tent in this freezing weather. People have died here. Our demand from this conference is to build us houses and bring security in our country," one displaced man said. In a temporary camp near to the capital Kabul, like so many others dotted around Afghanistan, the occupants simply want peace. The Anarchafeminist International is worried about womens' rights in connection with integration of earlier Taleban fighters into Karzai's regime.
21.02.2010. Outgunned Taleban mounting tough fight in Marjah. Outnumbered and outgunned, Taleban fighters are mounting a tougher fight than expected in Marjah, Afghan officials said Sunday, as US-led forces converged on a pocket of militants in a western section of the town. Despite ongoing fighting, the newly appointed civilian chief for Marjah said he plans to fly into the town Monday for the first time since the attack to begin restoring Afghan government control and winning over the population after years of Taleban rule. With fighter jets, drones and attack helicopters roaring overhead, Marine and Afghan companies advanced Sunday on a 2-square-mile (5.2-sq. kilometer) area where more than 40 insurgents were believed holed up. "They are squeezed," said Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. "It looks like they want to stay and fight but they can always drop their weapons and slip away."
US officials signaled their intention to attack Marjah, a major Taleban supply and opium-smuggling center, months ago, apparently in hopes the insurgents would flee and allow the US-led force to take over quickly and restore an Afghan government presence. Instead, the insurgents rigged Marjah with bombs and booby traps to slow the allied attack, which began Feb. 13. Teams of Taleban gunmen stayed in the town, delivering sometimes intense volleys of gunfire on Marine and Afghan units slogging through the rutted streets and poppy fields. Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the US and its allies had expected the Taleban to leave behind thousands of hidden explosives, which they did. But they were surprised to find that so many militants stayed to fight. "We predicted it would take many days. But our prediction was that the insurgency would not resist that way," Azimi said in Kabul.
In a statement Sunday, NATO acknowledged that insurgents were putting up a "determined resistance" in various parts of Marjah, although the overall offensive is "on track." Marine spokesman Lt. Josh Diddams said Sunday that Marines and Afghan troops were continuing to run into "pockets of stiff resistance" though they were making progress. Diddams said no area is completely calm yet although three markets in town - which covers about 80 square miles - are at least partially open. "Everywhere we've got Marines, we're running into insurgents," Diddams said. In many cases, the militants are fighting out of bunkers fortified with sandbags and other materials. Before the assault, US officers said they believed 400 to 1,000 insurgents were in Marjah, 360 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul. About 7,500 US and Afghan troops attacked the town, while thousands more NATO soldiers moved into other Taleban strongholds in surrounding Helmand province. It was the largest joint NATO-Afghan operation since the Taleban regime was ousted from power in 2001.
NATO's civilian chief in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, said the military operation was moving slowly "because of essentially the ruthlessness of the opponent we face and the rules that we've set for ourselves" to protect civilians. "We could have swept through this place in a couple of days but there would have been a lot of casualties." he said. NATO said one service member died in a roadside bombing Sunday, bringing the number of international troops killed in the operation to 13. At least one Afghan soldier has been confirmed dead. Senior Marine officers say intelligence reports suggest more than 120 insurgents have died. The Marjah operation is a major test of a new NATO strategy that stresses protecting civilians over routing insurgents quickly. It's also the first major ground operation since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan. Gen. David Petraeus, who oversees the armed struggles in Afghanistan and Iraq, said on NBC's "Meet The Press" that Marjah was the opening salvo in a campaign to turn back the Taleban that could last 12 to 18 months.
In a setback to that strategy, the Dutch prime minister said Sunday that his country's 1,600 troops would probably leave Afghanistan this year. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende spoke a day after his government collapsed when a coalition partner insisted the Dutch troops leave in August as planned. Most Dutch troops are stationed in Uruzgan province, which borders Helmand to the north. Afghan officials expressed concern that Taleban fighters driven out of Helmand could regroup in Uruzgan without a robust NATO presence. During Sunday's fighting, Marines found several abandoned Kalashnikov rifles along with ammunition hidden in homes, suggesting that insurgents intended to blend into the local population and fight back later. Sporadic volleys of insurgent machine-gun fire rang out through the day.
The Taleban shoots in front of houses, they don't care that there are children around. Abdul Rahman Saber, chief of the local council for Marjah, said the situation in much of the town was improving - that some residents had been able to return to their homes. Anxious to begin the task of restoring government authority, Zahir, the new district leader, said he plans to meet Monday with community leaders and townspeople about security, health care and reconstruction. "The Marines have told us that the situation is better. It's OK. It's good," said Zahir, who like many Afghans goes by one name. "I'm not scared because it is my home. I have come to serve the people." Life in Marjah, however, remains far from normal. The price of food had soared, with the price of sugar and other staples doubling as the fighting continues. "The Taleban are fleeing the area, but there is sporadic shooting," Saber said. "Two or three days ago, 12 civilians were wounded by bullets when they were escaping."
On Saturday, President Hamid Karzai urged NATO to do more to protect civilians during combat operations to secure Marjah, although he noted the military alliance had made progress in doing that - mainly by reducing airstrikes and adopting more restrictive combat rules. NATO forces have repeatedly said they want to prevent civilian casualties, but acknowledged that it is not always possible. On Saturday, the alliance said its troops killed another civilian in the Marjah area, bringing the civilian death toll from the operation to at least 16. Karzai also reached out to Taleban fighters, urging them to renounce al-Qaeda and join with the government.
But the process of reconciliation and reintegration is likely to prove difficult. On Sunday, Mohammad Jan Rasool Yar, spokesman for Zabul province, said authorities arrested 14 police in the Shar-e-Safa district on Saturday who had defected to the Taleban's side last week. They were found on a bus heading to Pakistan. NATO said two insurgents, including a suspected Taleban commander, were captured Friday in northern Helmand province. The men are believed to be involved in making roadside bombs. They, along with three others earlier in the week, had been caught as part of an operation to break up the Taleban's weapons supply line.
The Taleban has so far rejected Hamid Karzai's latest call for peace, branding the Afghan President a "puppet" who is "bogged down in corruption." Reports that secret talks on national reconciliation had already been held, sparked hopes that Karzai's new appeal in parliament might lead to a breakthrough. But his chief political rival says even a change in the military balance of power won't soften the resolve of the most hardened militants. "The Taleban are not ready to enter talks," said opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah. "They think that they have the upper hand militarily. And also, it is against their ideology, against their core existence to enter talks or to envisage to be part of a democratic system." NATO has hit pockets of stiff resistance in its current attacks on Taleban strongholds. But the insurgents remain so far defiant, perhaps digging in for a fight to the death.
22.02.1010. NATO mistake condemned by the anarchists. NATO jets mistakenly killed at least 21 people in central Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Monday, the deadliest attack on civilians in six months. The strike prompted a sharp rebuke from the Afghan government as it struggles to win public backing for a major military offensive against the Taleban in south. Also Monday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a community meeting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 15 civilians including a prominent tribal leader widely criticized for failing to prevent Osama bin Laden's escape at Tora Bora after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The civilian deaths occurred as 15,000 NATO, US and Afghan soldiers were in their 10th day of fighting insurgents in the southern town of Marjah in Helmand province. The mission is to rout the Taleban, set up a local government and rush in aid to win public support.
The alliance said its planes fired on what was thought to be a group of insurgents in Uruzgan province on their way to attack NATO and Afghan forces. Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said the airstrike hit three minibuses, which were traveling on a major road near Uruzgan's border with Day Kundi province. Although the airstrike was not related to the Marjah offensive, civilian casualties undermine NATO's goal of turning back the Taleban and winning the confidence of the Afghan people - one of the main objectives of the southern operation. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly called on NATO to do more to protect civilians during stepped-up military operations, and the Afghan Cabinet strongly condemned the airstrike. The anarchists, ICOT, AI and the AIE, also condemn the mistake, and repeat that civilian losses must be put at a minimum.
In recent months, NATO has limited airstrikes and tightened rules of engagement on the battlefield to try to protect the Afghan people and win their loyalty from the Taleban. "I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission," top NATO commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal said in a written apology after Sunday's strike. "We will redouble our effort to regain that trust." It was the second time in nine days that NATO has apologized for killing civilians. On Feb. 14, two US rockets slammed into a home outside Marjah, killing 12 people, including six children. According to NATO, at least 16 civilians have been killed so far during the offensive; human rights groups say the figure is at least 19. Bashary said investigators had recovered 21 bodies from the Uruzgan airstrike and that two other people were missing.
The Afghan Cabinet reported a higher death toll, saying 27 civilians were killed, including four women and a child, and 12 other people were injured. The ministers urged NATO to "closely coordinate and exercise maximum care before conducting any military operation" to avoid further civilian casualties. The toll was the highest involving civilians since last September, when US pilots bombed two hijacked fuel tankers in a German-ordered airstrike near the northern town of Kunduz. German officials, citing a classified NATO report, say up to 142 people are believed to have died or been injured. Afghan leaders estimated that 30 to 40 civilians were killed.
Monday's suicide bombing occurred outside Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Police Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi said a militant attacked tribal elders and government workers who were meeting with a few hundred Afghan refugees to discuss the distribution of land. Among those killed was Mohammad Zaman Ghamsharik, better known as Haji Zaman, one of the two principal Afghan warlords who went after bin Laden after the Taleban fled Kabul in 2001. "When we came to the site, 14 bodies were lying on the spot and I learned that tribal elder Mohammad Zaman was also among the dead," said eyewitness Malik Ahmad. "Twenty people were wounded including the head of the Nangarhar refugees department." On Dec. 11, 2001, Zaman told the senior US military officer at Tora Bora that al-Qaeda fighters wanted to surrender, but needed a cease-fire to allow them to get down from the mountains, the report said. That turned out to be a ruse, and bin Laden and hundreds of his followers escaped.
In the southern offensive in Marjah, fighting was less intense on Monday than in previous days. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the number of displaced residents has more than doubled during the past four days. More than 3,700 families, or an estimated 22,000 people, from Marjah and surrounding areas have registered in Helmand's capital of Lashkar Gah 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Marjah, the UN said. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had evacuated 28 sick and injured civilians to treatment facilities outside the area since the offensive began on Feb. 13. Ajmal Samadi, a spokesman for the Afghan Rights Monitor in Kabul, said food prices had soared. "The situation is grim," Samadi said. "People are very concerned. Markets are closed. Shops are closed. Pharmacies are closed. No health facilities are functioning properly."
A deputy district chief, appointed to shepherd new governance into the town after years of Taleban control. made his first trip to Marjah on Monday. He handed out turbans to elders in a sign of respect. Abdul Zahir Aryan toured the main market, then sat down at a gas station with 40 to 50 elders, who told him they wanted to see the main market reopened and that they remained concerned about security because of ongoing fighting in many neighborhoods, said Rory Donohoe, the head of the US development agency for Helmand province.
14.03.2010. A series of bombings has rocked Kandahar, leaving at least 30 people dead. Four separate suicide attacks in the southern Afghan city struck different targets, including a prison and the police headquarters. The Taleban have claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying they are meant to send a 'message' to NATO. Insurgents are the main target of a joint operation between NATO and Afghan security in Helmand province.
31.05.2010. Al-Qaeda # 3 top killed. Al-Qaeda's number three — a co-founder of the terror network — has been killed in Pakistan's border area with Afghanistan, according to a statement attributed to the group that was posted on Islamist websites Monday. The statement did not say how Egyptian-born Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, who was also known as Sheik Sa'id al-Masri, was killed nor did it identify a successor. Al-Yazid was al-Qaeda's financial director and ran its operations in Afghanistan. It was al-Yazid who shortly before the September 11 attacks transferred several thousand dollars to Mohammed Atta, the leader of the 9/11 hijackers.
23.06.2010. Gen. David Petraeus replaces Gen. Stanley McChrystal as commander of forces in Afghanistan.
01.09.2010. Obama: US combat in Iraq over, 'time to turn page'. Claiming no victory, President Barack Obama formally ended the US combat role in Iraq after seven long years of bloodshed, declaring firmly Tuesday night: "It's time to turn the page." Now, he said, the nation's most urgent priority is fixing its own sickly economy. From the Oval Office, where George W. Bush first announced the invasion that would come to define his presidency, Obama addressed millions who were divided over the so called "war" in his country and around the world.
As the anarchists, the Anarchist International, AI/IFA, the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, and ICOT, Obama fiercely opposed to the war from the start. Obama said the United States "has paid a huge price" to give Iraqis the chance to shape their future - a cost that now includes more than 4,400 troops dead, tens of thousands more wounded and hundreds of billions of dollars spent. In a telling sign of the domestic troubles weighing on the United States and his own presidency, Obama turned much of the emphasi