February 22, 2006
Declassified Al-Qaida Documents: Jihad, With Medical Benefits
By
Austin
Bay
Yes, al-Qaida offers
medical benefits and paid vacations.
That's a fact, not
a satire -- an ironic fact indicative of al-Qaida's detailed plans
for waging a long and vicious war against "the West,"
Muslim opponents, Buddhists, Hindus and all other enemies of its
heretical version of Islam.
Al-Qaida's
"bylaws" -- describing the medical and holiday benefits
package -- is one of two-dozen recently declassified documents
available at West Point's "Combating Terrorism Center"
(www.ctc.usma.edu/aq.asp).
Most of the documents
were translated during 2002, which suggests coalition forces acquired
them in Afghanistan. I'm certain the Department of Defense would
not have released the documents if they had any remaining operational
utility. Their instructive value, however, is extraordinary. The
documents provide detailed -- if at times jarring -- insight into
al-Qaida's goals, its penchant for meticulous planning, its use
of propaganda and its intent to use weapons of mass destruction.
Still, DOD needs
to declassify more documents like these. If Secretary of Defense
Rumsfeld thinks al-Qaida has an "information warfare"
advantage -- and he made that statement last week -- one way to
erode that advantage is exposing al-Qaida's vicious ambitions,
calculated plans and manipulative intents. These documents do
that.
As for the vacation
policy, the bylaws specify: "For those who work in Peshawar,
they are entitled for Fridays, the two holy feasts and a one month
annual leave to be enjoyed at the end of the 11th month of work,
as well sick leave not to exceed 15 days annually."
Terrorists "in
the frontlines" earn additional leave.
If al-Qaida's mimicry
of a multinational corporation draws a deserved snicker, the snicker
ends when the bylaws describe the Decision Execution Branch. Its
duties include "imprisonment and torture."
Another document,
titled "A Short Report on the Trip from Nairobi ... ,"
indicates al-Qaida employs talented, perceptive spies. The report,
penned by an al-Qaida operative named Omar al-Sumali, examines
Kenya and its border with Somalia. With a diplomat's finesse,
Omar sizes up border tribes for potential recruits. He also spots
potential targets, including an Italian communications site in
the city of Ngomeni "near the pier, where our boat is ...
meters away." Omar scouts the Kenyan vacation island of Lamu
and urges his superiors to buy a boat. Kenya is an al-Qaida war
zone. Recall that al-Qaida bombed the U.S. embassy in Nairobi
in 1998.
Omar also analyzes
al-Qaida-led attacks on Belgian and Indian peacekeepers in Somalia.
An excerpt: "On the way to our camp, our brothers heard the
engine noise of a Belgium patrol car, stopped the car and shot
one of them in the head. The car was surrounded, another was shot
in the leg and a third was also shot."
Omar refers to the
Indians as "cow worshipers" -- a slur directed at Hindus.
Another document,
titled "Third Letter to the Africa Corps," discusses
al-Qaida's interpretation of America's withdrawal from Somalia.
"Africa Corps" refers to al-Qaida cells in Africa.
Translated in June
2002, the letter is actually a collection of letters. One asks
the question, "So how were our amazing Corps and its starving
African Muslim allies able to be victorious over the greatest
power in the world today?" The answer lies in the power of
God, because, "When we are truly fighting in the name and
on behalf of God, we have nothing to fear ..."
Somalia is judged
a "splendid victory" with "profound implications
ideologically, politically and psychologically." Al-Qaida's
writer adds: "The Somali experience confirmed the spurious
nature of American power and that it has not recovered from the
Vietnam complex. It fears getting bogged down in a real war that
would reveal its psychological collapse at the level of personnel
and leader."
His conclusion: "When
the enemy abandons the battleground, he must not be allowed to
flee. He must be pursued from one position to the next, until
rooted out."
In al-Qaida's context,
9-11 was "pursuit" of its American enemy -- the enemy
that fled Somalia.
Copyright
2006 Creators Syndicate
