FTLComm - Tisdale - Friday, September 14, 2001
intent	"Make no mistake about it." this phrase uttered by United States President Bush only minutes after he heard of the attack on the World Trade Centre buildings in New York Tuesday morning is one of those phrases that a politician uses to say that what you hear next from me is a warning, a threat and a clear indication of intent.
Carthage	You are all aware that the suicide attacks using commercial passenger airliners as weapons and the destruction of the economic heart of the United States and the planning section of the military headquarters in Washington is a first. No incident in history has occurred on this scale or this these enormous consequences. It is therefore new territory, unprecedented and marking a new era in international conflict that the United States Government is faced with. It was necessary for them to get out into the news media a possible culprit and then work on establishing an iron clad case that will give the government and its allies the credibility to launch a campaign that only the Roman destruction of Carthage can be compared.
	On December 31 of 2000 Ensign published a considered look at the twenty-first century and it included the following paragraph.
crusades	During the twenty-first century there is going to be a miserable and protracted conflict between the civilised world (read - non-Islamic) and the world of the Moslem. This struggle is not avoidable. Just as the holy war that lead them to invade North Africa and head into Europe resulted in Pope Gregory calling upon the Knights and Princes of Europe to a crusade we will see this pattern repeated. Islam by its nature is destine to self propagate and do so with violence if necessary. It is as a religion, linked to the culture that supports it, and is not likely ever to be compatible with non-Islamic cultures. This was fine as long as it stayed in its part of the world and did not intrude and when it did, there was war, a series of wars. In the early part of the twenty-first century the global village is aware of the nature of this culture and at times deliberately emphasises the differences and the seeming conflict with appropriate civilised behaviour. The culture, more so than the religion, is hostile toward women, who are well toward being equal in every way in the rest of the non-moslem world and they will not tolerate the continued behaviour of this culture toward their gender. At the same time there are many economic and political reasons to fuel the hostility necessary to bring sensible world leaders to action. The Gulf War over Kuwait was the first of many conflicts that will see the non-Islamic world take up arms and launch crusades against some or all followers of Mohammed.
a fact of life	That observation was written eight months ago and explains the underlying issues. Osama bin Laden is like so many other leaders of other holy wars that crop up through history as they fanatically lead their followers to overwhelm the infidels (non-moslem). Standing trial in Afghanistan this week are eight Americans accused of the terrible capital crime of spreading the gospel, preaching Christianity. The cycle of the underlying mid-eastern culture that supports Islam, fostering hate and unlimited total violence, is a fact of life and this experience this week tells us they are determined until death and their cause will not go away.	Jerusalem is regarded as one of the "Holy Places" and it is the primary problem for settling the struggle between the Palestinians and the Israelis who also identify the city as a "Holy Place". It was the violation of Jerusalem that led to the crusades of the middle ages.
alarm flags	The leaders of the Western world have long realised that the festering conflict surrounding Jerusalem will also not go away and each generation produces yet more martyrs to continue the fighting, they have known for some time that ultimately Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan are all repeaters. Sooner or later this deep seated cultural conflict must be dealt with. Though a surprise at the time, few intelligence or military planners did not expect some major campaign from the middle East, the alarm flags were all up a month ago.
"War" footing	The American television networks are not controlled by the government of United States, but they are intensely patriotic and support their government and their people. As in conflicts in the past, modern and historic, the third estate of the United States has participated in getting the population ready and involved in the nation's interests. With all networks dropping commercials and dedicating themselves twenty-four hours a day to this crisis, we must assume that they have sensed the mood of the people and the government, and have moved to a "War" footing.
no more explanations	"Sabre Rattling" is the term used to describe the posturing and move from peace time to war, that has already occurred and watch for more serious signs. It is quite reasonable to see the US Secretary of State appearing in public in uniform. This will signal his, and the government's attitude of being military. The move by government officials into a change of clothing will indicate their solidarity with the soldiers, sailors and airman of the republic and a time for no more explanations.
Hamas	This morning the United States activated 35,000 reserve military personnel and that is only the very beginning. The president asked for $20 billion to get things sorted out and the Senate while discussing the request was evacuated for the second time in a week and then returned to work and voted double that. Commentators have called that a "down payment" on the conflict to come. When asked in a press conference if he meant that more than bin Laden's group would be targeted Colin Powell was very clear and indicated that Hamas, Enfada and other terrorist groups would be sanctioned. Realise that Hamas is situated in the Baka valley of Lebanon and related to Syria.
total war	The only means of rooting out a deep seated enemy is to invade and military planners will be considering overwhelming Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan The list could easily grow to include Yemen and even Saudi Arabia. We must realise this is almost too widespread to consider, but knocking down the World Trade Center and attacking the Pentagon was much more of a caper than a few Canadians and British who went down there in 1812 and burned the White House. This attack this week was total war and the American people will accept nothing less as a proper and just response.
	The FBI released this list of those involved in the high jackings Tuesday: September 14, 2001 Posted: 2:00 PM EDT (1800 GMT) The following information was taken from an FBI press office document listing 19 "individuals who have been identified as hijackers aboard the four airliners that crashed on September 11, 2001, into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania." American Airlines Flight 77 (which crashed into the Pentagon) Khalid Al-Midhar -- possible residences: Los Angeles, California, and New York, New York. Visa status: B-1 Visa, but B-2 Visa had expired. Majed Moqed -- no information available. Nawaq Alhamzi -- possible residences: Fort Lee and Wayne, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. Salem Alhamzi -- possible residences: Fort Lee and Wayne, New Jersey. Hani Hanjour -- possible residences: Phoenix, Arizona, and San Diego, California. Believed to be a pilot. American Airlines Flight 11 (which crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower) Satam Al Suqami -- Date of birth used: June 28, 1976; last known address: United Arab Emirates. Waleed M. Alshehri -- Dates of birth used: September 13, 1974; January 1, 1976; March 3, 1976; July 8, 1977; December 20, 1978; May 11, 1979; November 5, 1979; October 2, 1991. Possible residences: Hollywood, Orlando and Daytona Beach, Florida. Believed to be a pilot. Wail Alshehri -- Date of birth used: July 31, 1973. Possible residences: Hollywood, Florida, and Newton, Massachusetts. Believed to be a pilot. Mohamed Atta -- Date of birth used: September 1, 1968. Possible residences: Hollywood and Coral Springs, Florida, and Hamburg, Germany; Believed to be a pilot. Abdulaziz Alomari -- Dates of birth used: December 24, 1972, and May 28, 1979. Possible residence: Hollywood, Florida. Believed to be a pilot. United Airlines Flight 175 (which crashed into the World Trade Center's south tower) Marwan Al-Shehhi -- Date of birth used: May 9, 1978. Possible residence: Hollywood, Florida. Visa status: B-2 Visa. Believed to be a pilot. Fayez Ahmed -- Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. Ahmed Alghamdi -- Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. Hamza Alghamdi -- Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. Mohald Alshehri -- Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. United Airlines Flight 93 (which crashed in Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania) Saeed Alghamdi -- Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. Ahmed Alhaznawi -- Date of birth used: October 11, 1980. Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. Ahmed Alnami -- Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. Ziad Jarrahi -- Believed to be a pilot.
extreme action	These people are martyrs who willingly gave their lives for their cause, these are not cowards but dangerous people who hate their enemy, the Americans, so much they would kill themselves to make a point. With such an adversary the United States and the members of NATO may have no choice but take extreme action with prejudice.