Pakistani Taliban Vow Series Of Attacks On US, UK, French Targets

US Soldiers From Viper Company (Bravo) 1-26 Infantry Head For A Foot Patrol At Combat Outpost (COP) Sabari In Khost Province, East Of Afghanistan

TTP To Avenge Death Of Osama Bin Laden

ISLAMABAD, June 27, (Agencies): Pakistan’s Taleban, a close ally of al Qaeda, has threatened to carry out a series of attacks against American, British and French targets to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden.
“Soon you will see attacks against America and Nato countries, and our first priorities in Europe will be France and Britain,” deputy Pakistani Taleban leader Wali-ur-Rehman said in a videotape aired on Al Arabiya over the weekend.
The Tehrik-e-Taleban (TTP), or Taleban Movement of Pakistan, is blamed for many of the suicide bombings across the country and remains highly dangerous despite a series of army offensives against its strongholds in the northwest on the Afghan border.
It has not demonstrated an ability to stage sophisticated attacks in the West, however.
The TTP’s one apparent bid to inflict carnage in the United States failed. The group claimed responsibility for the botched car bomb attack in New York’s Times Square last year.

But American intelligence agencies take it seriously. It was later added to the United States’ list of foreign terrorist organisations.
The video showed Rehman flanked by armed followers walking through rough mountain terrain. He sits on a blanket beside a sniper’s rifle on a hilltop and explains the TTP’s plans.
“We selected 10 targets to avenge the death of bin Laden,” said Rehman, a former teacher who the Pakistani media have described as more sober and experienced than other TTP leaders.
Rehman, also seen firing a machinegun into the distance in the video, did not elaborate.
But he said the first revenge operation was the Taleban siege of a Pakistani naval base in Karachi last month, one of several setbacks the military has suffered since US special forces killed bin Laden on Pakistani soil on May 2.
The TTP regards the Pakistan army as a US puppet.
It has kept the government on the defensive since bin Laden’s death, staging suicide bombings, large-scale attacks on security forces with large numbers of fighters, and employing new tactics.

A Taleban militant and his wife carried out a weekend shooting and suicide bombing on a police station that killed 12 policemen.
The United States has been leaning hard on Pakistan to crack down on militancy since it was discovered that bin Laden may have been living in the country for years. More Pakistani cooperation is needed as Washington seeks to wind down the US-led war in Afghanistan and defeat al-Qaeda and its allies.
But Pakistan’s generals are furious because the United States kept them in the dark over the bin Laden raid.
The Pakistani and Afghan Taleban move easily across the porous frontier and provide each other with shelter and intelligence, complicating efforts to root out militancy in the region US President Barack Obama has described as “the most dangerous place in the world”.

Rehman has pledged allegiance to Afghan Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, and repeated that pledge on the tape.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Monday said that five “major attacks” launched from Afghanistan had killed 55 security personnel in a month, stepping up a row with Kabul over cross-border attacks.

Afghanistan last week expressed serious concern about Pakistani artillery shelling, saying that four children were killed last Thursday and warning that attacks from Pakistan could harm “improving trust and cooperation”.
Pakistani army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said he could not rule out that a “few accidental rounds” could have been fired across the border by security forces targeting fleeing militants, but said Pakistan had also suffered.
“In the last month, there have been five major attacks from Afghan side of the border where 250-300 terrorists crossed over and assaulted our border posts in Dir, Mohmand and Bajaur,” he said.

The attacks resulted in the deaths of 55 paramilitary and pro-government tribal militiamen and wounded 80 others, Abbas said.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been strained over mutual accusations of responsibility over Islamist militants fighting against both governments, particularly in the porous border area.
Afghan and US officials say militants launching attacks on government and foreign targets in Afghanistan make use of rear bases in Pakistan. Pakistan says it has lost thousands of soldiers fighting militants.

Via Arab Times Online

Kuwait is on the Human Rights Watchlist

Via Human Rights Watch

Kuwait: Stateless ‘Bidun’ Denied Rights

Fifty Years of Waiting, but Government Offers Only Handouts

JUNE 13, 2011

During February and March 2011, hundreds of stateless Bidun took to the streets in Kuwait to demand government action on their claims for citizenship, as well as access to other rights.

© 2011 Getty Images

RELATED MATERIALS: 

Prisoners of the Past

MORE COVERAGE: 

More Human Rights Watch Reporting on Kuwait

For 50 years, Kuwait has dawdled in reviewing Bidun citizenship claims, while creating a straightjacket of regulations that leave them in poverty and extreme uncertainty. Kuwait has every resource it needs to solve this problem, but chooses to stall instead.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

(Kuwait City) - Kuwait has not made good on its decades of promises to address citizenship claims for more than 106,000 stateless Bidun residents, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 63-page report, "Prisoners of the Past: Kuwaiti Bidun and the Burden of Statelessness," describes how in Kuwait, one of the world's richest countries, the Bidun live under the radar of normal society, vulnerable and without protection. Many live in poverty. Kuwait considers the Bidun "illegal residents." The government has denied them essential documentation, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, as well as access to free government schools and legal employment opportunities.

"Like the rest of the Arab world, the Bidun have had enough and are demanding reforms the government should have made  years ago," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The government responded to peaceful demonstrators with promises of reform, but it needs to go further and tackle their citizenship claims."

In February and March 2011 hundreds of Bidun gathered to protest the government's failure to act on their citizenship applications. In response, the government has promised some new benefits, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, free health care, and improved access to jobs. If implemented, these would be positive steps, Human Rights Watch said. But it would leave the root cause of their condition - their citizenship claims - unchanged.

Umm Walid, a 43-year-old Bidun widow, said that she had no paperwork establishing her relationship to her deceased husband. "[When] a Bidun dies, there is no death certificate, [so] there is no proof that I even had a husband," she said. "We don't have [an] identity." Basim A. told Human Rights Watch, "[My son] was born without a birth certificate, [and died] without a death certificate."

Statelessness has existed in Kuwait since independence in 1961. After an initial registration period ended, authorities shifted Bidun citizenship applications to a series of committees that have avoided resolving the claims while maintaining sole authority to determine Bidun access to civil documentation and social services. Kuwaiti law bans the courts from ruling on citizenship claims.

Since the mid-1980s, the government has maintained that the vast majority of Bidun are "illegal residents" who have deliberately destroyed evidence of other nationality, while denying individualized reviews of their claims. Unregistered Bidun, whose citizenship applications the authorities have either closed or refused to register, are even more vulnerable than others, with restrictions on their freedom of movement and constant fear of deportation.

International law bans the arbitrary deprivation of nationality and requires countries to consider applicants' "genuine and effective links" with a country when evaluating nationality claims, including the social, cultural, and economic ties they have established over time. The Kuwaiti government should create a timely and transparent mechanism to review Bidun citizenship claims that incorporates international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said. The process should take into account the Bidun's longstanding, historic ties to Kuwait, and should include an opportunity for judicial review.

As "illegal residents," the Bidun face obstacles to obtaining civil documentation, leaving them unable to get consistent social services or function as normal members of society. The Central System for Resolving Illegal Residents' Status, the "Bidun Committee," the latest administrative body tasked with addressing Bidun claims, must approve all official matters involving this group.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 70 people for the report, including 18 who identify themselves as stateless Bidun, as well as local human rights and civil society advocates, lawyers, and academics. Human Rights Watch also met with officials from the Central System to Resolve Illegal Residents' Affairs.

Bidun interviewed said that the committee has denied their applications for government documents, claiming to have evidence that they had other "true nationalities" - evidence that they have not been allowed to see or contest. They said the body has rejected applications for birth, marriage, and death certificates, leaving them with no way to prove legal relationships to family members.

International human rights law requires governments to provide certain civil documentation for all residents, whether legal or illegal, including a child's right to registration upon birth, and the right to marry and found a family. The Kuwaiti government should ensure the Bidun's right to civil documentation, including birth certificates, marriage registration, death certificates, and travel documents.

"Denying Bidun basic identification documents on the basis of secret evidence that they have other nationality is as arbitrary as it is unfair," Whitson said. "The Kuwaiti government's policy to make Bidun invisible doesn't make the Bidun problem go away, but it does bring suffering and exclusion to vulnerable people."

Bidun also face violations of their social and economic rights, including their rights to education, health, and work, Human Rights Watch said. The Kuwaiti government provides certain handouts, and on May 26 agreed to provide ration cards for food allowances through government-run cooperatives. But the government has not recognized enforceable legal rights and benefits for the Bidun, and continues to enforce discriminatory policies against them.

While some Bidun carry security IDs to allow them to get services available to the Bidun, unregistered Bidun do not even have these documents and fear leaving their homes because they risk arrest and deportation. The government excludes unregistered Bidun from the handouts it provides, including some of the new reforms promised this spring. Unregistered Bidun face significantly greater obstacles to accessing education, health care, and work opportunities.

Though Kuwait has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires governments to provide free universal and free primary education, most Bidun children cannot attend the free government schools for Kuwaiti children. Instead, with some tuition assistance, they go to inferior private schools that serve Bidun almost exclusively. Kuwaiti children receive free education through the university level.

Umm Abdullah, a 58-year-old Bidun woman, told Human Rights Watch that of her four grandchildren, two granddaughters did not go to school, and that while one grandson received tuition assistance, the other did not. Bidun who did go to school lamented a lack of higher educational opportunities and jobs, even if they did well in school.

"Our school was very bad," said Fatima A., a 24-year-old Bidun woman. "And [though] I received a 96 percent, afterward, I couldn't do anything."

As "illegal residents," the Bidun cannot legally hold most jobs. The government has carved out a very narrow pool of positions for which they can apply. Some Bidun said they had resorted to informal and undependable work, such as selling vegetables on the street, car repair, or tailoring. Those who have opened their own businesses have had to rely on citizen friends or relatives to register licenses and property in their names, as Bidun cannot own property or obtain business licenses.

"My father served in the Kuwaiti army 27 years," said Zahir, a 50-year-old Bidun, "[But now,] nobody in my family works."

Bidun interviewed also lacked affordable or accessible health care. As indigent patients, some could not afford medical care prescribed for them, while others lacked documentation they said hospitals and clinics required to treat them. Kuwait's government recently promised free health care to the Bidun. All Kuwaiti citizens get free health care at government clinics and hospitals.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of non-citizens has stressed that "all persons should by virtue of their essential humanity enjoy all human rights," including rights to education and health care with only "exceptional distinctions," while the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which Kuwait is a party, prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin or statelessness.

"Given the vast amount of resources at its disposal, it's shameful that any child in Kuwait should go without schooling, or that families should live from hand-to-mouth," Whitson said. "By confining the Bidun to different schools, marginal or illegal jobs, and separate lives, the government is engaging in segregation, an egregious type of discrimination."

BackgroundDuring a citizenship drive leading up to Kuwait's independence, significant numbers of people living on the outskirts of Kuwait, particularly among nomadic Bedouin tribes, failed to complete application procedures. Some were illiterate and could not produce documents proving their claims under Kuwait's nationality law, while others simply did not understand the importance that citizenship would later acquire.

In the 1960s and 70s Kuwait gave Bidun the same access to social and public services as citizens, except for voting rights. But during the political instability of the 1980s, when the country experienced a series of terrorist attacks, policy towards the Bidun dramatically shifted, and the government removed their access to government schools, free health care, and certain government jobs. Government officials began asserting that the vast majority of the Bidun were nationals of neighboring countries who had destroyed their documents in hopes of claiming the benefits of Kuwaiti citizenship, and that they were "illegal residents."

Following the 1991 Iraqi invasion and the subsequent liberation, Bidun found themselves facing increasing hardship and suspicion. No longer considered part of Kuwaiti society during a time when suspicion of Iraqi infiltrators ran high, many lost their jobs in the country's army and police forces.

In November 2010 government officials promised a new initiative to resolve the situation within five years, and following Bidun protests in February and March they made further promises to grant all registered Bidun free health care, provide children with free schooling, and to increase their employment opportunities. However, none of these promises have yet become enforceable legal rights.

A Real Update on Me This Time

We are already towards the end of JUNE! I can't believe it! But I certainly CAN feel it! Temps have reached well over 120 degrees where I work in the desert (the highest so far has been 122.8F). I fear my skin color on my arms is 3 different shades :-/

The heat is not fun at all. Up north where I work, we've had days of sand storms- so not only was it hot, but windy so you're always chewing on sand or it gets in your eyes. Gross! I've had to cover up my face completely and I STILL got sand in my eyes!

Trying to Protect against heat & sand

Dust Storms

But so far this week the wind has calmed down. But the heat is going to get much worse AND will bring humidity....i'm definitely not looking forward to that. Even the DESERT gets humid! Look:

The Humidity Steamed up the Glass

That looks like fog but that's how thickly humid it was- in the middle of the desert! See how that chain is just dripping from the condensation?

Well I've been here for nearly 11 months now! So what do I do for fun? Well....I work 6 days a week so I only have 1 day off. The culture here is pretty segregated- Males have their own sports clubs & activities they do while Females have their gatherings of shopping at the mall & flirting with the boys. The Kuwaiti guys here have NO clue how to talk to a girl. They harass them, chase them when driving, some even go so far as to grope them or even rape a girl if the girl rejects his advances.  But back to what I do for fun- I go to the Mall. That's where everyone mostly congregates. I dress up to go to the mall too! Look, living here has made me a bit materialistic LOL. Every Arab woman (young & old) wears tons of makeup & expensive shoes, purses, & clothing- even in their Abayas!

Few Filipinas, even some Indian women, all dress up. Of course, the Indian women usually wear their long dresses with pants & their Saris which is their typical style and only a FEW Filipina's dress up meaning, wear heels, a stylish outfit,  & have their makeup done up. So even though I wear jeans & tees to work, I take the opp on my days off to get dolled up in heels & stylish outfits because I pass for being Kuwaiti LOL.

But USUALLY, the Flip chics wear jeans & a Tee b/c they do most of the work in Customer Service. They're behind the counters at fast food joints, they are your waitresses at restaurants, they are the retail workers- the Filipinos do the Customer Service work in Kuwait for the most part. The Indian women are usually maids...come to think of it, I have NEVER seen an Indian woman work the same position as a Filipina. The Indian & Bengali men do all the hard labor outdoors. They're repair men, construction workers, taxi drivers, poop truck drivers, street cleaners, painters, etc. They work SO VERY HARD & under EXTREME weather conditions, spending YEARS away from their family to provide for them, and get paid so very little....

But holy cow is this culture funny. Well, to us Westerners. You can read some of the crazy articles HERE. But let me show you a few first:

This culture- along with the Indian & more Eastern culture, reminds me of Junior High. Seriously. The men act like they're in Junior High School. It's taboo to kiss in public, to show affection. A girl is portrayed as a slut if she is around a bunch of men. It is very conservative yet EXTREMELY hypocritical. Do you know how many reports of rape you see in the local news on a daily basis? That's not even mentioning the actual police reports.

But anyway, I am enjoying my time over here. Although, drivers have no common sense & never check their rear view mirror.

The food is absolutely great! There are so many cuisine choices. Not only that, but there is SO MUCH FOOD DELIVERY! 2 websites I use frequently that I SO WISH we had in California is 6alabat & I Eat Online.

I will be taking my vacation soon & will be going home! I can't wait to eat some INNOUT & Weinerschnitzel and I especially can't wait to give away souvenirs!

Sharia Law = Beheading

In America we have the Bill of Rights. What is the Bill of Rights?

 it is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution which limit the power of the U.S. federal government. These limitations protect the natural rights of liberty and property including freedoms of religion, speech, a free press, free assembly, and free association, as well as the right to keep and bear arms.They were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress in 1789 as a series of legislative articles and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791, through the process of ratification by three-fourths of the States.
The Bill of Rights plays a key role in American law and government, and remains a vital symbol of the freedoms and culture of the nation. One of the first fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights is on public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C..

The Bill of Rights contains the 8th Amendment which states:

Now, even though executions still take place in America- beheading someone is not something we do because it is a form of cruel punishment. We also have legislators working to get rid of the death penalty altogether.

But in Saudi Arabia it's a different story. Saudia Arabia uses a strict interpretation of Sharia Law, religious laws & punishments for breaking those religious laws.

This short news snippet, again from The Arab Times, reports the beheading of a woman convicted of murder.

 By the way, many Muslims want the USA to enforce Sharia Law...

Saudi Beheads Indonesian Woman By SwordConvicted Of Murder

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, June 18, (AFP): An Indonesian woman was beheaded by the sword on Saturday after being convicted of murdering a Saudi woman, the interior ministry said.

The woman named Roiaiti Beth Sabotti Sarona, according to a transliteration from Arabic, was found guilty of killing Saudi Khairiya bint Hamid Mijlid by striking her repeatedly on the head with a meat chopper and stabbing her in the neck, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. The ministry did not elaborate on the motives of the crime, nor it did disclose the relation between the two women. But Indonesian officials say that around 70 percent of the 1.2 million Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia are domestic staff.

The beheading in the western province of Mecca brings the number of executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom this year to 28, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group reports.

London-based watchdog Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia last week to stop applying the death penalty, saying there had been a significant rise in the number of executions carried out over the past six weeks.

It said at least 27 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia in 2011, “the same as the total number of people executed in the whole of 2010.”

Fifteen people were executed in May alone.”

In 2009, the number of executions reached 67, compared to 102 in 2008.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

Terrorists Need to Kidnap for Funding

Just so everyone knows- if you kidnap ME- you won't get any money. My family isn't rich, I'm not important to the American government, & you'll just waste your time. If you kill me, you send me to my Jesus- my God & Creator who has saved me from my the wrath of God that YOU will face should you indeed kidnap & murder me. Plus, I carry a nice knife on me for protection.

Ok, now that I've made myself clear, let's move on to today's new "Terrorism" snippet.

Terrorists need money too. But I guess their sources are being depleted & blocked so they're turning (have done so for quite some time) to kidnapping & asking for a ransom.

Ransom. When I think of that word all I can think about is JESUS CHRIST being that ransom for us. What a GRACIOUS God I serve....If that just didn't make sense to you then:




But now on the article, once again, by The Arab Times

‘Al-Qaeda Turned To Kidnapping For Cash’Shows Laden’s Interest

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2011 (AP): Pressured by increased scrutiny of terrorist money sources and strikes aimed at its financiers, al-Qaeda’s core organization in Pakistan has turned to kidnapping for ransom to offset dwindling cash reserves, according to US officials and information in files retrieved from Osama bin Laden’s compound.

Bin Laden’s interest in kidnapping as a cash-raiser bolsters accounts that the financial squeeze has staggered al-Qaeda, forcing it to search for alternative funding sources. Officials would not detail al-Qaeda’s role in specific crimes, but the group’s affiliates have targeted diplomats, tourists and merchants.
His awareness of al-Qaeda’s growing use of kidnapping is evidence that even in isolation behind high walls in Abbottabad, Pakistan, bin Laden kept tabs on how his network moved its money. The al-Qaeda founder was killed last month by US Navy SEALs.

“There are clearly times for them when money is tight,” said Rep C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “We’ve seen that their donors have been less dependable and we’re seeing them turning more to kidnapping as a way of keeping the money coming in.”
Experts from the CIA’s National Counterterrorism Center, the Treasury Department and the FBI and military are trying to learn more from the recovered files about al-Qaeda’s money sources and the impact of bin Laden’s death on the group’s financial future. They hope to identify important al-Qaeda donors, especially wealthy Arabian Gulf figures who dealt with bin Laden dating to his work with Afghan fighters in the campaign against Soviet occupiers in the late 1980s.

Efforts
The Treasury Department’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, David Cohen, said US efforts are focused on disrupting al-Qaeda’s cash flow from donors, fundraisers and facilitators. “Al-Qaeda’s supporters ought to be wondering if their identities have been revealed,” Cohen said.
Analysts are examining lists of numbers found in bin Laden’s files, hoping to find bank accounts, credit cards or ledgers depicting the financial underpinnings of network known to demand strict accounting from its operatives.

Al-Qaeda’s leadership inside Pakistan rarely championed kidnappings publicly and was not known previously to widely support its use as a funding source. The group historically relied on donations through a pipeline of couriers and money-changing operations. At the time of the Sept 11 attacks, the network took in as much as $30 million annually, but that money flow has tightened, Ruppersberger said.
CIA drone attacks, combined with economic penalties by the US and its allies, have cut into that stream. At the same time, al-Qaeda affiliates have shown that abductions could rake in millions of dollars. As a result, attitudes about ransom operations inside the core group changed.

“That kind of money could go a long way to sustaining a terrorist organization,” said Scott Helfstein, director of research at the US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center.
A US official familiar with the review of bin Laden’s files cautioned that the kidnapping-for-ransom material found in the seized files was outweighed by bin Laden’s more copious notes on terrorist plots and long-range planning.

The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the continuing review of classified files, would not elaborate on bin Laden’s interest in kidnapping or the precise role al-Qaeda’s core played in any operations.
The official said the material is consistent with other evidence showing that al-Qaeda had turned to abductions within the past two years as money from sympathetic donors dried up and that the group resorted to “basic criminal tactics” to compensate. “People paid up, helping the terrorist group reline its coffers,” the official said.

Ransoms 
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the offshoot in North Africa, long has used kidnapping as a terrorist tool and a major funding source. Canadian diplomats, Italian tourists and Algerian merchants have been abducted; some ransoms have approached $2 million per hostage.
The ransoms have totaled more than $80 million for this branch since 2008, according to Matthieu Guidere, a former French military counterterrorism trainer. The terrorist group’s affiliate in Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, and its affiliates in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have used kidnapping for ransom, too.
Figures from the National Counterterrorism Center show that 1,264 hostages were taken in Pakistan in 2008, compared with 3,366 in 2009. Pakistanis were the usual victims. Foreign hostages included a Chinese engineer, a Polish oil worker and an American, John Solecki, who worked for the UN refugee agency and was released after two months in captivity.

A similar wave plagued Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009 as the number of hostages taken climbed from 584 to 2,088. Four Americans were targeted, including New York Times reporter David Rohde, later released by militant captors.
Officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan say criminal gangs account for many ransom plots, though they are known to work with militant nodes like the Pakistani Taleban.
Citing the recent kidnapping of a European journalist in Afghanistan, a security consultant in Kabul said hostages are sometimes sold or traded to militants. Insurgents also can levy “taxes” on groups transporting hostages through their turf, said the consultant, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the handling of sensitive abduction cases.
Bin Laden justified the use of kidnapping in an audio message sent last October, but solely as an instrument of vengeance. He said the abduction of five French nationals by the North African affiliate was a reaction to that country’s ban on Muslim veils and support for the war in Afghanistan. “It is a simple and clear equation,” bin Laden said. “As you kill, you will be killed. As you capture, you will be captured.”
Al-Qaeda for years relied primarily on donations as its main source of income, using its cash stream mostly for sustenance, including training, weapons, pay for operatives and their families and money for bribes and hideouts, officials said.
Terrorist plots rarely require large amounts of cash. The Sept 11 attacks cost an estimated $500,000, but tens of thousands of dollars in unspent funds were sent back by the hijackers to al-Qaeda accounts. Last year, Yemeni operatives bragged that their failed attempt to ship package bombs on two airlines cost a paltry $4,500.
Bin Laden styled al-Qaeda’s network’s financial operation similarly to an international corporation. A financial wing oversaw finances, headed by skilled money men who monitored the books and primed streams of donated cash. Donations were ferried from militant clerics, charities and social service organizations and money-changing hawalas in the Gulf and central Asia that made tracing the money pipelines almost impossible.
Much of the group’s heavy funding is believed to originate from wealthy Gulf donors who either knew bin Laden from past dealings or viewed him as an inspiration. Some dealt with him in his days as a logistics commander and fundraiser for the mujahedeen in Afghanistan. Others were royals and merchants who reportedly met him during on hunting expeditions in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, said Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA unit that tracked bin Laden.
Scheuer said bin Laden’s death probably would mean only a temporary setback to donors who reflexively give in support of al-Qaeda’s brand of jihad. But Cohen and others insist that bin Laden’s death will cause lasting damage. Ayman al-Zawahri, the al-Qaeda second-in-command who was elevated to bin Laden’s leadership post Thursday, according to a communique from the group, does not approach bin Laden either in donor contacts or quixotic sway, they said.

Symbolic
“Bin Laden was a symbolic and galvanizing figure for al-Qaeda’s fundraising efforts, and al-Qaeda’s donor base will likely be less willing to contribute to an al-Qaeda that has lost its founder, not knowing who is in charge or how their money might be used,” Cohen said.
The Treasury Department’s terrorist finance unit and allies in the UN and other nations have cut into al-Qaeda’s money pipeline by adding more than 500 individuals to a list whose assets should be frozen, Ruppersberger said. Last month, the US Office of Foreign Asset Controls reported it had frozen a total of $13.5 million in al-Qaeda funds since first targeting bin Laden in 1998.
Stuart Levey, the department’s former top official on terrorist finance, described that effort as a success. But he said freezing the assets of terrorists won’t work alone in the long term and needs to be augmented by criminal prosecutions and penalties aimed at their donors and supporters.
The CIA’s ramped-up program of pilotless drone aircraft over Pakistan also took a toll on the group’s internal financiers. A year ago, a drone missile attack killed Mustafa al-Yazid, al-Qaeda’s third in command and a critical overseer who managed the bank accounts used to launch the Sept 11 attacks. Other operatives with financial duties have also been targeted, officials said.
“Al-Qaeda became sensitive to the risks that their financial system posed to their security,” Levey said. “They were under real financial stress. We knew about that stress from their pleas for more money and from the fact that they passed up some (plot) opportunities.”
The situation grew so dire, Levey said, that some operatives had to pay their own room and board, training and weapons. In one instance in 2008, Saudi authorities seized memory cards from the cell phones of arrested militant suspects that contained an audio message from al-Zawahri.
The man who succeeded bin Laden was pleading for donations.

No Free Speech in Kuwait

The tweep above is a Kuwaiti. He got arrested for  criticizing the ruling families of Bahrain & Saudi Arabia on Twitter

via The Arab Times

Prosecution Orders ‘Tweep’ Held - ‘Four Bloggers Detained’

KUWAIT CITY, June 17: The Public Prosecution has ordered the detention of Kuwaiti ‘tweep’ Nasser Abul until next Sunday when a report from the Criminal Evidences Department will be issued about the contents of Abul’s personal computer which was taken from his home by the CID personnel, reports Al-Dar daily.

Abul, a Kuwaiti Shiite, was arrested on June 9th for criticizing the ruling families of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on social media site Twitter. Charges of damaging the country’s interests and its ties with brotherly countries were filed against him, and on June 13th, a member of the Bahraini ruling family Sheikh Abdullah Mohammad bin Ahmad Al-Fatih Al-Khalifa had announced that he will sue Abul for slandering and defaming his family. The same day, Abul appeared before the General Prosecution office and was reportedly interrogated for three hours. Abul had denied the charges and said someone hacked his account and had posted the comments.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has issued a statement calling Kuwaiti authorities to release Abul and not get his confession under duress or subject him to torture.

Amnesty International has also called upon the government to allow him to contact his family, hire a lawyer, give him proper medical care and drop the charges against him concerning his account on Twitter.
In a related development, a security source said four other bloggers have been detained for interrogation

Hezbollah in Kuwait, Experts in Expslosives

So I missed one news snippet regarding terrorism in Kuwait. Just saw the following today from The Arab Times.

When I went to Lebanon, vendors were trying to sell me Hezbollah t-shirts. I really wanted to get one as  an unbelievable souvenir, but my boyfriend said the money would most likely go to funding them. So I didn't buy it.

I'm telling you though, Kuwait is a sleeping giant.

‘4,500 Hezbollah Members In Gulf States’‘Agents Trained In Explosives’

KUWAIT CITY, June 18:  Around 4,500 Hezbollah members and agents have entered some Gulf nations to implement the destructive plans of the group and instigate chaos in the region, reports Al-Seyassah daily quoting researcher on issues concerning Iran, al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, Aisha Al-Rashed.
In a recent press statement, Al-Rashed alleged the Hezbollah members and agents in certain GCC nations have been trained on explosives, weapons and communication gadgets in Iran.  She said they have entered Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on forged Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian, Moroccan and Egyptian passports, while others used the Iraqi borders to infiltrate to Kuwait and western part of Saudi Arabia. 

She warned the most targeted GCC countries are Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, claiming most of the Hezbollah agents are currently operating in these nations.  She added there are 50 agents in Kuwait and 40 in the UAE stationed near the diplomatic and economic missions, as well as the vibrant sectors like the oil installations.

3 Kuwaitis Plot Attack on US Forces in Kuwait

Another report about terror attacks against US Forces in Kuwait has been released on The Arab Times yesterday. I have also written about past articles in related incidents. There are terrorists that have been targeting US Military Bases in Kuwait (and God knows who &what else), Camp Arifjan being one of the main targets.

Camp Arifjan is the largest US military installation in Kuwait. It is also the nicest, located in Southern Kuwait. I do not work on Camp Arifjan, I work on another installation. Nonetheless the threat of a terror attack against any US installation or person of interest is real.

If you want to read my previous posts about what has been happening in Kuwait, go Here and Here. Those are 2 different blog posts where I share about the threat of terrorism in Kuwait that are all related to what you will read below.

And now, onto presenting yet ANOTHER incident reported regarding terror plots.

From the Arab Times:

Three Kuwaitis Thought To Plot Attacks On US ForcesData Share To Crack Networks

KUWAIT CITY, June 19: "The security authorities recently summoned three Kuwaitis for interrogation after their names surfaced during interrogations by the Public Prosecution with some suspects in the State Security cases involving incidents in Failaka and Arifjan, reports Al-Rai daily quoting top-level security sources.
The same sources said the three citizens are believed to be involved in planning terrorist attacks against the US forces.

The sources added the three Kuwaitis not only provided shelter to the main accused in the aforementioned State Security cases but also vehicles and advanced wireless devices, in addition to helping them establish links with members of terrorist cells in other Arab and Gulf states.

The sources also said some of those involved in this terrorist network traveled to the Gulf and Arab states using forged passports and identification documents to hide their real identities.

The sources added the three Kuwaitis almost evaded arrest because they have obtained Smart Cards to travel between the Gulf states.

The sources confirmed the security authorities in Kuwait have sent confidential information about some suspects — GCC citizens and other Arabs — who travel frequently between the Arab states, including details of work they have carried out in the past, to their counterparts in other countries to help eliminate these networks."

Kuwaiti Youth Attack Our Cab

Post by Jessica Vasquez-Abaunza.

It was Tuesday night in Fahaheel, just got a cab from Al Kout Mall. Traffic galore & then a red light. Out the window to our right are these Kuwaiti kids who come up to our window. My boyfriend starts making faces at them & they pretend to be tough. He pretends like he's going to get out of the car & beat them up ahaha. The kids run but then come back. One kid pulls out a knife! Shows it off & puts it back in its sheath. Then I see another kid have a sandal in his hand ahahaha! Those kids were crazy! Funny too but definitely had no manners.

When I got out the camera to start filming they then became shy & tried to hide their faces. Then they start getting vulgar & start throwing out obscene hand gestures that can get you arrested in Kuwait. Some kid even grabs his junk like Michael Jackson (as you will see in the footage). THEN, as we start to take off, they bang on the car.

Kuwaiti kids.....learn some manners young men! But boys will be boys....ahahaa

Another Opportunity to Make a Difference for the Persecuted Church!

Remember those who are in prison as if you were in prison with them. Remember those who are suffering as if you were suffering with them.

With the technology we have today, the creative minds birthed, the determination of many, and the power of God we can move mountains. But for now, we can support the persecuted church with our finances and as such, smuggle Bibles into lands that are home to Christians who are not allowed access to Bibles.

Do I wish for Christians to be lawbreakers? Heavens NO! BUT...are we to obey man rather than God?! The freedom to have access to a Bible to ANYONE who wants to own one is a RIGHT that is taken away by oppressive governments who only want to feed their people their own dogmas. Gov't leaders want so much control, they even want to control the minds of their people. 

In addition to PRAYING for the persecuted Church, there IS stuff YOU can actually DO to support our injured brothers & sisters. 

In a previous post I helped point you in the direction of options to sponsor pastors, pastor's wives who are now widows, students of the word, & sponsor reconstruction of villages ruined due to persecution. Missed it? Click HERE

Then I presented a unique petition that you could sign that would be sent to the government of Egypt, to put pressure to protect the Christians- who have been experiencing increased persecution especially since the fall of Mubarak. Did you want to include your name in the petition? Go HERE

If you click on the first link you'll find that there's more you can do than what I just mentioned.

But today I present to you a whole NEW way to support the persecuted Church. THIS, I am excited about because it's pretty inexpensive.  I don't see how ANYONE would not want to do this. And what is 'this' I'm referring to?!?! SENDING A BIBLE! Not just ONE! A $30 sponsorship sends 5 Bibles!!! 5 Bibles to people who have sent letters REQUESTING a Bible! 

 The Voice of the Martyrs has a tax deductible program called Bibles Unbound:


"Through VOM's Bibles Unbound program, you can become directly involved in meeting this vital need. Even as you read this Web page, our field workers are collecting names of people who are waiting to receive a Bible or have requested a Bible to share with others. These believers live in very hostile areas and willingly take great risks for the sake of God's kingdom.

The names of people requesting Bibles are loaded into the Bibles Unbound system, and you are then able to provide five or more Bibles per month directly to your persecuted brothers and sisters. The names of those for whom you have sponsored Bibles will appear on your own personal mission page so your family can pray for them.

Bibles Unbound has also designed "Covert" Operations where you can directly support Bible couriers where it is too dangerous to collect names."

As of June 12, 2011 there are 69,315 people who have REQUESTED Bibles, have been put on the list, and are waiting for people to sponsor so that a Bible can be sent. It's crazy to think that I can walk into a bookstore & choose any translation of the Bible I want- even go so far as to be picky about the graphic design of the cover or pages, yet 1 Bible is sought where it cannot be found.

I have become a sponsor because I believe that God's word does not come back void. I believe it is our responsibility as Christians to makes disciples. That includes our brothers & sisters we never see or hear of who only WISH to have a treasured Bible. I want to make a difference for the kingdom of God. Now...I'd rather hand deliver those Bibles myself but...since I can't what I can do is determine HOW many Bibles ARE sent and WHERE. I thank God I have the job I do have because this allows me to give much more than what I was able to before.  You can even GIFT a sponsorship! 

So pray about it, think about it, & act on it. Here is another opportunity, another OPEN DOOR for you to make a difference for the Persecuted Church

I do not have time to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.³³ Through their faith they defeated kingdoms. They did what was right, received God's promises, and shut the mouths of lions.³⁴ They stopped great fires and were saved from being killed with swords. They were weak, and yet were made strong. They were powerful in battle and defeated other armies.³⁵ Women received their dead relatives raised back to life. Others were tortured and refused to accept their freedom so they could be raised from the dead to a better life.³⁶ Some were laughed at and beaten. Others were put in chains and thrown into prison. ³⁷ They were stoned to death, they were cut in half,^[d] and they were killed with swords. Some wore the skins of sheep and goats. They were poor, abused, and treated badly. ³⁸ The world was not good enough for them! They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the earth. Hebrews 11:32-38