Re: THE GLOVES MUST COME OFF

Smite the jihadists wherever you might find them..


"TonyaK911" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> AL QAEDA'S MISTAKE
> By Claude Salhani
> The Washington Times
>
>     Istanbul, Turkey's major city on the Bosphorous, was struck for the
> second time in less than a week by a devastating twin car bomb attack that
> killed at least 27 people and wounded nearly 450 others. Moments later, an
> unidentified caller to the Anatolian News Agency claimed responsibility on
> behalf of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.
>
>     Indeed, two groups - al Qaeda and the Islamic Brotherhood - claimed
> responsibility for Thursday's devastating attacks.
>
>     There is little doubt the second Istanbul bombings that targeted the
> British Consulate and a British bank in the city's commercial center,
> carried the hallmark of al Qaeda: simultaneous bombings, carefully planned
> to detonate just moments apart and planned to cause the greatest
casualties
> possible. The group's deadly modus operandi is already all-too familiar.
>
>     A warning from the perpetrators of the previous attacks on the two
> synagogues a week ago yesterday had warned of further terror action.
> Thursday's horrific bombings demonstrates the terrorists were not
bluffing.
>
>     "We will continue to attack Masonic targets. ... The Muslims are not
> alone," warned a Turkish-speaking man to a domestic news agency. And on
> Thursday, they struck again.
>
>     However, in selecting Turkey as their new battleground, al Qaeda, or
> their Turkish affiliates, may have committed a monumental tactical mistake
> by picking a fight they may well regret. Unlike most Western European
> countries and the United States, Turkey has a long history of dealing with
> homegrown terrorism and has always gone about it with a successful, though
> somewhat, heavy hand. And those tactics have yielded positive results.
>
>     Turkey has had to deal with terrorist activity emanating from its
> Marxist-Leninist extreme left, Kurdish separatists and Armenian
> nationalists. And in all instances they have managed to ferret out and
cause
> severe harm to those who have tried to undermine the Turkish state.
>
>     "We will not bow to terrorism," Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime
> Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters shortly after the double explosions.
> Similarly, Mr. Gul's warning should not be brushed off as empty words,
> either. Turkey will now embark on an unrelenting hunt to track down those
> involved in this latest wave of terrorism and bring them and those behind
it
> to justice - one way or another.
>
>     While mainly an overwhelming Muslim country - 99.8 percent - Turkey
has
> a secular constitution, which even the current Islam-rooted government of
> Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is keen on maintaining.
>
>     The country's powerful military has often clashed with the religious
and
> political establishments since the modern state was created from the
> remnants of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 in efforts to avoid letting the
> country slip too far to the left or to the religious right. Twice in the
> country's relatively recent history, the military - which regards itself
as
> the guardian of Mustafa Kemal's, or Ataturk's, modern Turkey - have staged
> coups when terrorism or politicians allowed the situation to get out of
> hand.
>
>     Today, Turkey's politicians realize only too well the short leash
their
> military allows them when it comes to dealing with extremism, and without
a
> doubt, Mr. Erdogan will aggressively address this new threat that has
> manifested itself. Turkish authorities have already identified the
> perpetrators of the first pair of attacks that killed 23 and wounded 302
as
> originating from the eastern province of Bingol, where, according to some
> reports, the Turkish Hezbollah group has been active.
>
>     The terrorist war declared by the Islamic fundamentalists on secular
> Turkey, much as those waged by other extremists groups before it, will
> motivate the Turks all the more to eradicate this new threat. Mr. Erdogan,
> speaking only hours after Thursday's attacks vowed the culprits would be
> found soon: "Just like we have done in the synagogue incidents."
>
>     One thing now certain is the gloves will come off.
> ________________________________________________
> Claude Salhani is a senior editor with United Press International.
>
>