Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Taliban Attack on Washington, D.C.: 'Soon'

Short version: A Taliban commander, in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, says that the Taliban will attack Washington, D.C.. He didn't say when, but that it would be soon. Also, that the attack would be spectacular. " 'will amaze everyone in the world.' " is how Mehsud's remark got quoted.

It looks like Mehsud may not be bluffing: that the Taliban could attack Washington. Successfully. (FOXNews) Of course, that's from an article in FOXNews.

If you're in the circle that assumes that FOXNews is part of the vast right-wing conspiracy, and that people who watch or read FOXNews are extreme right-wing, zenophobic, gun-toting, domestic terrorists - potential or actual: Pay no attention.

For the rest of us, who recognize that the poster's caption is distinctly post-WWII,1 this could be serious. The White House is one of the specific targets that Baitullah Mehsud mentioned.

Someone from the Middle Eastern Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, James Phillips, said: " 'It's not too much of a stretch to think he might be involved in an attack on the U.S. if he's able to get his followers inside the United States. He's a militant extremist whose threats cannot be ignored.' " (FOXNews)

There's another reason for ignoring this whole "threat" thing. Phillips is with the Heritage Foundation. They even admit that they're conservative: so, in some circles, anything and everything that comes out of there is gravely suspect.

Again, for the rest of us, a threatened attack on Washington, by a leader in a group that controlled an entire country not too many years back, is a serious matter.

Personally, I'd Like to Feel Phillips is Wrong

In a way, I would like to feel, deep in my heart, that Phillips is wrong: That the Taliban are made up of nice-but-misunderstood people, that they couldn't possibly attack Washington even if they wanted to, and that everything will be fine: as long as America doesn't keep on causing all the trouble in the world.

But, I live in the real world. And that's not the way it is.

Baitullah Mehsud and Benzair Bhutto

If you've been paying attention to Pakistan and the 'Stans in general, Baitullah Mehsud should sound familiar. He's the fellow who said that he'd meet Benzair Bhutto with suicide bombers. Then, when she died in an attack that involved a suicide bomber, he said he didn't do it. And, as of today, it looks like he's sticking with that story.

Related posts: News and views:
1 The poster is from "Vintage War Propaganda Posters," a page on Magazine 13. The post appeared on March 23, 2009: and starts with these words: "Sometimes memorabilia can transport you to the times even though you have not lived through them and that was the feeling I had when I was researching these posters. I can now appreciate why certain people like to collect the posters...."

The image in question is gone, with a no-link warning in its place. I have no idea whether or not the "HELP ME FIND AND KILL TERRORIST AGITATORS" poster is the author's notion of a joke: or whether that person really didn't know that FOX News did not exist in the 1940s - or any period when that style of poster was used.

The ersatz poster does, I think, serve - either way - as an example of how beliefs may be maintained by stoutly refusing to see or hear anything that deviates from the party line.

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.