AL QAEDA’S 2008 ELECTION PLOT
DISCLOSED
Mumbai Revisited
By:
David Malone
Executive Summary:
The Mumbai-massacre plot was a 9/11 targeting Americans abroad.
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The Al Qaeda high command supervised the terrorist conspiracy.
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7:30 PM on September 30th, 2008 was the time original launch time for the 3-day attack.
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Al Qaeda is notorious for its tactic of rigging elections with “October Surprises”.
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THE MUMBAI MASSACRE PLOT WAS AN AL QAEDA SCHEME TO SABOTAGE PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ELECTION.
Summary: The Mumbai massacre was an Al Qaeda operation originally designed to target Americans with the largest terrorist attack in world history during the influential closing weeks of the 2008 presidential campaign. Threatening a 9/11 on Americans overseas that aimed to topple two towers inside India’s “New York City”, this plot represented the latest incarnation of Osama bin Laden’s ambition to rig U.S. national elections in favor of war hawks by manipulating the final deliberations of voters. A psychological-warfare tactic successfully employed by the 9/11 mastermind in 2000 and 2004, election-eve terrorism can hijack American democracy and redirect U.S. foreign policy to the nation’s detriment. Amidst the ideological and financial fallout from George Bush’s response to the 9/11 attack, the Mumbai plot serves as yet another exhibition of the most potentially devastating weapon in Al Qaeda’s arsenal.
The following essay is an independently authored
synthesis of recent publications by BRUCE RIEDEL, one of President
Obama’s
leading advisors on Al Qaeda, and RICHARD CLARKE, former U.S.
counterterrorism
czar. Hundreds of referenced mainstream
publications further corroborate this analysis of the Al Qaeda plot to
sabotage
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
David Malone is the author of “Bin Laden’s Plan: The Project for
the New
Al Qaeda Century” (Trafford Publishing, 2008).
___________________
As U.S. voters readied to finalize their historic
decision
in 2008, leading counterterrorism analysts added another dimension to
the
national debate with an urgent warning[i]
about an Al Qaeda plot to support the candidacy of John McCain. The presidential campaign concluded without
incident, perhaps because of the heightened alert[ii],
and only months later did these forecasts receive conclusive validation
through
public disclosure of the original blueprint for the Mumbai massacre.
Executed via Al Qaeda’s loyal affiliate[iii] Lashkar-e-Taiba[iv],
the act of mega-terrorism on American Thanksgiving congregations
typified the syndicate’s
attacks against U.S. civilian targets in the Muslim world by ironically
killing
mostly non-American bystanders. The
rampaging hunt for U.S. civilians and American allies[v] in Southeast Asia’s chief[vi]
financial hub was ostensibly framed in Day 1 when the high command
issued a
simultaneous claim of responsibility, a characteristically vague
anti-American
diatribe from Osama bin Laden’s top deputy[vii]. Additionally, the massacre targeted a Jewish
community center popular with Israelis, clearly framing the attack in
the
context of Al Qaeda’s seminal 1998 declaration of global war on both
Americans
and Jews. This Israeli dimension to the
targets also harkened to Al Qaeda’s 2004 terrorist surge against America
prior
to the U.S. presidential election, which had involved the only major
attacks
targeting both Israeli and U.S. citizens ever conducted (joint bombings
of the
Israeli and U.S. embassies in Uzbekistan during July, along with the
bombing of
an American hotel popular with Israeli tourists in Egypt during
October). After weeks of public speculation about
the
identity of the real mastermind and his primary objective, a grand
ulterior
motive was divulged by intelligence gleaned from the lone surviving
assailant. The captured gunman confirmed
suspicions
that, until a last-minute postponement, this trademark[viii] Al Qaeda operation targeting
America
abroad had been scheduled to occur five weeks before the U.S.
presidential
election[ix].
If the Mumbai massacre had proceeded unobstructed
and been
executed according to plan, the official investigation further revealed,
at
7:30PM on the slated September 30th D-Day Al Qaeda would have triggered
history’s largest terrorist attack.
While U.S. voters made their final deliberations, the 9/11
masterminds
endeavored to produce a multi-day, suicidal hostage drama featuring
Americans
overseas designed to kill five thousand people[x]. In a bid to nearly double
the unrivaled
death toll at the World Trade Center, these multiple simultaneous
massacres
would have coupled devastating attacks on India’s stock exchange and the
U.S.
consulate with demolitions of the two premier hotel towers within the
financial
district of the “New York City” of the world’s largest democracy[x]. By
perpetrating a 9/11-style assault on the Western economy that paralyzed
Southeast Asia’s leading commercial center for three days, Al Qaeda
hoped to
terrorize foreign investors in another key financial hub.
The plotted series of coordinated bomb and
gun assaults targeting Americans aspired not only to imitate but to
exceed the
9/11 attack, marking a new threshold for Al Qaeda terrorism. Even after the heavily armed commando raid
was detected, delayed until America’s Thanksgiving holiday and then
partially
thwarted[xi], the protracted
slaughter
of 166 civilians marked the biggest terrorist event aimed at U.S.
citizens
since 9/11[xii].
Most ominously, the three-day running battle across
India’s
“Wall Street” district portrayed a cataclysmic sequel to the commando
raid on
the country’s parliament that had killed twelve and nearly provoked a
nuclear
war between archrivals India and Pakistan three months after the
apocalyptic
attack of 9/11[xiii]. Apparently attempting to prompt a similar
outcome[xiv], Al Qaeda’s high
command
used the same paramilitary offshoot of Pakistan’s central intelligence
service
to launch another earthshaking attack on the Indian homeland. Killing over ten times as many civilians as
in 2001, this latest attack via the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba was
directly connected to the LET commanders in Pakistan by an obvious trail
of
evidence, which included cell phone records, GPS devices and a captured
Pakistani operative[xiv]. The fact that the massacre’s true directors,
Bin Laden’s inner circle, also operate from Pakistan served to stoke
further
Indian suspicions of some official state sponsorship. Perhaps
conspicuous to a fault, Al Qaeda’s false-flag operation
inside the financial capital of India aspired to rekindle the world’s
most[xv] precarious conflict
between the two most
crucial U.S. allies in Southeast Asia.
The terrorist syndicate’s first 9/11-scale attack on India
succeeded in
pitting America's most well funded Muslim ally against a Hindu ally that
had
recently acquired advanced nuclear technology from the United States
(the only
Southeast Asian nation to enjoy such a relationship with the
superpower). America’s close relationship with
the two
nations coupled with the superpower’s natural role as nuclear mediator
to
mandate U.S. involvement in managing the nuclear brinkmanship caused by
the
Mumbai massacre.
In addition to directly threatening America and
stoking
Indo-Pakistani tensions, the massacre attacked the United States on the
most
influential front of the 9/11 war. The
military fallout from Mumbai on the U.S.-led campaign against Al Qaeda
and the
Taliban jeopardized America’s entire war effort. Reminiscent
of another dimension of the aforementioned raid on
India’s capital in 2001, the Mumbai operation served its orchestrators
by sparking
a crisis along Pakistan’s eastern border with India that threatened[xvi] to siphon troops from the
Pakistani
military deployment against Al Qaeda and its Taliban hosts in
Northwestern
Pakistan. By prompting an
Indo-Pakistani conflict, the massacre also increased the Pakistani
government's
implicit support for the Taliban insurgency against the perceived
Indo-American
military occupation in neighboring Afghanistan, while decreasing
Pakistan's
motivation to confront this Taliban insurgency’s stronghold in Pakistan. Finally, by using Lashkar-e-Taiba as its
front group and obscuring its own supervision of the plot, Al Qaeda has
forced
Pakistan to retaliate on a group that the government created and still
covertly
supports, diminishing the possible Pakistani retaliation for the
massacre,
particularly on Al Qaeda. In turn, this
reluctance to pursue the perpetrators of India’s 9/11 has only
heightened the
rising animosity between India and Pakistan.
Ultimately, this multi-faceted attack threatened to destabilize
both
Afghanistan and the country that is the sole Muslim nuclear power and
the
sanctuary of Al Qaeda's high command, the epicenter of the 9/11 war. In this manner, the Mumbai massacre
manipulated U.S. preoccupation with the 9/11 War in Afghanistan and
Northwestern Pakistan in order to maximize the impact on the American
mindset.
Despite Al Qaeda’s success in:
the high command did not accomplish its ulterior
objective
for the Mumbai massacre. Framed in the
context of a new 9/11 attack, this multi-dimensional attack on the
United
States, Israel, India and Pakistan was calculated to inspire terror,
rage and a
typical display of American indomitability.
In particular, by threatening to spark the unprecedented[xvii] terrorist disaster envisioned by
the
masterminds, the original plot had posed the specter of U.S. involvement
in
nuclear brinkmanship during the final pivotal weeks of the national
debate over
the presidency. Ultimately, this
provocation sought and failed to goad American voters and a lame-duck
Bush
Administration into a belligerent retaliation against the Muslim
perpetrators
and the surrounding populace, which would have only heightened the
vilification
of the superpower that began in earnest with the globally decried Iraq
invasion.
The silent deferment of the Mumbai massacre from
its
election-eve launch date represented the operation’s greatest tactical
misstep. Instead of entering the
decisive month of October preoccupied by history’s largest terrorist
attack,
America’s undecided voters predominantly focused on other issues that
did not
favor the war hawk John McCain. Al
Qaeda’s inability to rig America’s 2008 election reverberates
today in the dovish beneficiary’s campaign for U.S.
rapproachment with the Muslim world. As
a pivotal missed opportunity for Al Qaeda, the Mumbai massacre harkens
to the
failure of the 9/11 cell to coincide their own four-pronged attack with
the
2000 election-eve period and, after postponement, a July 2001 visit to
the
White House by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon[xviii]. In another powerful
demonstration of the
importance of timing to Al Qaeda’s strategy, a fortuitous operational
delay in
the fall of 2008 hindered the syndicate’s most devastating attack on
America to
date.
CONTEXT: AL QAEDA’S LARGEST POST-9/11 SURGE
The election-eve catastrophe in Mumbai would have
occurred
within a blitz already distinguished as Al Qaeda’s greatest surge of
terrorism
against the United States since 9/11[xii]. This rogue campaign to bolster one candidate’s
bid for the American presidency actually began on July 9, 2008 in Turkey
with
the syndicate’s first major attack on a U.S. civilian target in nearly
three
years. Echoing the syndicate’s bombing
of the British consulate in the same city during 2003, the strike
against the
U.S. consulate in Istanbul marked only the third major terrorist attack
by Al
Qaeda on an official American target since 9/11. Executed
in the cultural center of moderate Islam, at the
crossroads between Western civilization and the Muslim world, Al Qaeda’s
attack
on the superpower’s premier symbol in the ancient capital of the Eastern
Roman
Empire signaled a new campaign to rattle America’s mindset with
terrorist
catastrophes along geopolitical faultlines.
Timed to maximize the death count by coinciding with the Istanbul
rush
hour, the deadly commando raid on the U.S. consulate was bravely
repelled by
local security forces[xix], who
suffered
the only casualties. The muffled
opening salvo of a new commando-style offensive set the defining tone
for its
overall success in fulfilling the 9/11 masterminds’ colossal ambition to
rig
the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
Typical of Al Qaeda’s modus operandi, the new
terrorist
campaign that had begun in Turkey with a smaller “warning” attack was
set to
escalate into multiple cataclysms.
During the deciding weeks before America’s momentous vote, the
2008
surge by Al Qaeda’s high command exploded on cue across the Muslim world
with
two more “hard-target” strikes against the United States.
A fortnight before the planned climax in the
financial capital of the Muslim world, Al Qaeda’s first large-scale
attack on a
U.S. embassy in ten years nearly killed dozens of Americans inside
Yemen’s
capital. Involving a commando raid
coupled with a car bomb, this assault employed tactics virtually
identical to
the preceding attack on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul. Had
the complex in Sanaa not been valiantly
defended by local security forces, the syndicate’s notorious branch “Al
Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula” (rechristened in early 2009) would have
live-broadcast to voters a particularly gruesome mass execution of U.S.
civilians at an American fortress in the heartland of Islam and Big Oil[xx].
Striking again days later with a truck bomb in
Pakistan’s
capital, Bin Laden’s inner circle threatened to revert the sole Islamic
nuclear
power to military rule. Only one week
before the anticipated incitement of Indo-Pakistani brinkmanship on
September
30th, the Mumbai massacre’s apocalyptic precursor in Islamabad
ostensibly aimed
to assassinate the government’s pro-American leadership while they were
attending a counterterrorism conference.
Based on the attack’s location and the extent of the destruction,
observers quickly designated the strike as “Pakistan’s 9/11”. This richly symbolic act of Al Qaeda
terrorism succeeded in gutting Pakistan’s premier American hotel but,
possibly
due to heightened security, failed to coincide with the presence of its
main
targets[xxi]. Undaunted,
Al Qaeda operatives prepared to culminate the 2008
campaign with the demolitions of India’s premier hotels in the backdrop
of the
syndicate’s largest commando raid. Only
after heightened security at the Mumbai targets precluded the likelihood
of operational
success was the massacre postponed and the U.S. election spared from the
high
command’s elaborate conspiracy.
Perhaps the most crucial element of this terrorist
campaign
to rig America’s 2008 presidential election involved the incitement of
brinkmanship
between Souteast Asia’s nuclear rivals.
Coupled with the Al Qaeda bid to destabilize and militarize
Pakistan, a
coordinated series of catastrophic bombings against India leading up to
the
Mumbai massacre constituted the basis for this perilous scheme. Aptly christened by the acronym “Operation B-A-D”,
this parallel plot to Al Qaeda’s surge against America included major
terrorist
strikes in the leading Indian cities of Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Dehli and
finally
Mumbai. An Al Qaeda front-group known
as the Indian Mujahedeen immediately claimed responsibility for each of
these
attacks in India. This group had
declared “open war” on India two months before the operation’s
inception,
ostensibly because of India’s alliance with America in the 9/11 War.
Like the 2008 campaign against U.S. targets, this
shadow operation
inside India began in the pivotal “preamble” month of July and
eventually
converged with its twin campaign in the nexus of Mumbai. At
the opening of July, the Al Qaeda-affiliated
Haqqani network set the foundation for Operation BAD with a major attack
on the
Indian embassy in Afghanistan, the long-established proxy battlefield
between
Indian and Pakistan. Marking Al Qaeda’s
most effective terrorist precursor to India’s 9/11, the embassy bombing
alone sparked
the worst violation of the five-year-old Indo-Pakistani cease fire in
Kashmir. Consistent with a long-established Al
Qaeda
trend[], the assault on the Hindu support for the U.S. occupation of
Afghanistan represented the “due warning” issued to India as a necessary
precursor for the planned 9/11-scale attack in Mumbai.
Following this inception in early July, the Indian
Mujahedeen began its largest surge of attacks since the group had first
started
its terrorist campaign in 2007. The
surge included major bombings in Bangalore and Ahmedabad only two days
apart at
the end of July. On the day the Mumbai
massacre was postponed, September 27th, Operation BAD continued with
major
bombings in India’s capital New Dehli. Typical
of Al Qaeda terrorism, this three-pronged operation was distinguished
from the
terrorist attacks that occur regularly within India because of the
shocking
death tolls produced by the bombings. Additionally,
this
2008 plot echoed Al Qaeda’s actions during the previous U.S. national
election. In the summer of 2006, the
syndicate employed the same tactic of coupling highly publicized threats
against American civilians (the aborted attempt to destroy ten inbound
U.S.
commerical airliners using liquid explosives) with a bid to spark
nuclear
brinkmanship via a successful catastrophic bombing in Mumbai that had
killed
209 civilians. Perhaps displeased with
the defeat of George Bush's party in 2006, Al Qaeda’s next attempt to
influence
the U.S. national election featured real strikes on American civilians
and an
even more concerted attempt at inciting Indo-Pakistani hostilities. Five large-scale terrorist attacks against
India, climaxing with the delayed Mumbai massacre, demonstrated Al
Qaeda’s
commitment to this multi-faceted ambition.
Despite numerous shortcomings, Al Qaeda’s
four-pronged
campaign against America in late 2008 marked a stunning offensive in the
seven-year-old 9/11 War that had previously involved only five major
terrorist
attacks on America overseas[xii]. Even though U.S. intelligence anticipated[i, ii] Al Qaeda’s 2008 plot and
security forces
deflected each of these strikes in Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan and India,
the pre-election
surge against the United States still managed to kill over sixty people. Had the entire Al Qaeda campaign proceeded
as planned, four assaults on the U.S. civilian presence in the Middle
East and
five major terrorist attacks on India would have:
Trying to echo 9/11 with another earthshaking
September,
America’s greatest nemesis aimed to revert the nation’s election-eve
mindset to
that terrifying millennial day.
MOTIVE: CRUSADER BAITING
During the final decisive weeks of the 2008 U.S.
presidential campaign, from September 17th (the Yemen attack) through
October
2nd (the scheduled conclusion of the Mumbai massacre), Al Qaeda tried to
influence the vote with a concerted psychological operation. This scheme constituted the syndicate’s
greatest post-9/11 terrorist surge against the United States, to be
climaxed
with an attempted 9/11 targeting Americans at the center of the world’s
most
volatile nuclear stand-off. Considering
the closely contested status of the presidential race prior to the
unforeseen
U.S. financial meltdown of September 2008[xxii],
Al Qaeda’s high command had reason to believe that its shocking
terrorist campaign
could swing the vote. If the “October
Surprise” plot had been properly executed and not eclipsed by economic
concerns[xxiii], America’s
foremost adversary would have
reframed the imminent election for the office of Commander-in-Chief as a
referendum on John McCain’s most popular issues, counterterrorism and
national
security. Newly preoccupied with the
war on Al Qaeda and the threat of a nuclear conflict, a critical
fraction of
U.S. voters may well have succumbed to psychological manipulation and
tilted
the presidential campaign in favor of the hawkish Republican candidate. Not for the first time, Bin Laden’s inner
circle hoped to goad the superpower into a typical display of American
indomitability.
This foreign intervention in the U.S. electoral
process
would have mirrored at least two successful plots by Bin Laden to
influence
America’s election-eve mindset with October Surprises. During
the weeks before George Bush’s
presidential elections, the terrorist chieftain unleashed two
particularly devastating
assaults on America. With his most
audacious terrorist attack to date in October 2000 and his most
influential
video broadcast ever in October 2004, Bin Laden swayed a decisive number
of
votes in each of the close presidential contests to change the course of
U.S.
history[xxiv]. By
reversing the inclination of some undecided voters to elect
Bush’s dovish opponents, the psychological operations had radically
redefined
U.S. foreign policy in favor of Al Qaeda.
Instead of embracing the prudent counterinsurgency tactics
promised by
candidates Al Gore and John Kerry, a hijacked American electorate had
flown
helplessly into Bin Laden’s “war-hawk” trap.
Continuing a biennial tradition of attempts to rig
the U.S.
national ballot, the Mumbai-massacre plot pursued Bin Laden’s
long-standing
ambition to prepare and provoke U.S. invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, and
beyond[xxv].
Reliving the Soviet fate in Afghanistan at the end of the Cold
War,
America would sink deeper into a debilitating military quagmire in the
Muslim
world that already threatens to bankrupt the superpower.
As a result of Bin Laden’s past October
Surprises, the United States has engaged recklessly in a war against an
Islamist insurgency that severely depleted the nation’s ideological and
financial capital, while enriching Al Qaeda’s support structure with
popular
anti-American sentiment and wealthier oil-rich patrons. Had
enough Barack Obama voters decided
differently, America would have facilitated this crusader-baiting
strategy by
electing George W. Bush’s Republican successor, the military hawk John
McCain. U.S. war policy would then have
been crippled by a perpetuation of the seemingly imperial Bush doctrine
that
made Bin Laden’s global insurgency as strong as ever by 2007[xxvi].
Representing a major setback for Al Qaeda’s efforts to foment
hatred of
America, the election of Barack Obama signaled[xxvi]
a momentous reversal on the central battlefield of the 9/11 War, the
ideological front.
In the public record of President
Obama’s ascendancy, the greatest missing link could be that Al Qaeda
failed for
the first time to support the Republican presidential candidate. Considering the likely continuation of this
election-eve trend in 2010 and 2012, the United States must publicly
acknowledge
the revolutionary terrorist tactic of October Surprises before the
increasingly
brazen high command triumphs again with such voter manipulation. Moreover, after eight years of the Bush
presidency, Americans face a moral obligation to understand that the
superpower’s response to an Al Qaeda attack ultimately determines the
success
of the terrorist scheme.
In reality, Bin Laden’s war has
not consisted of righteous military offensives, but of devious
psychological
operations to provoke militarism. As a
demonstration of this important lesson, the exposed Mumbai plot could
positively influence both U.S. voters and the leaders of the
Indo-Pakistani
nuclear stand-off, while simultaneously inflicting an ideological
calamity upon
the Al Qaeda syndicate.
___________________
NOTE: In some cases, references are prefaced with explanatory endnotes.
[i]
Analysts issued an urgent warning about election-eve attacks by Al
Qaeda;
U.S. intelligence anticipated Al Qaeda’s
election plot in
2008:
The author, David Malone, issued a national alert
about Al
Qaeda’s plot to rig the 2008 U.S. presidential election minutes before
the
terrorist campaign against U.S. targets began on July 9, 2008 in Turkey.
<http://www.sqlspace.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=60439>
“The Times helpfully provides a link to Malone's
website,
BinLaden's Plan.com, which claims, among other things, that Osama bin
Laden
wanted George W. Bush to win the 2000 and 2004 elections.” (Wall
Street
Journal)
”The site goes on to claim that Mr. Malone “has successfully predicted
some of
the major events of Bin Laden’s war” and is now trying to warn of
efforts by
the terrorist network to goad the United States to invade Pakistan and
Iran.” (New
York Times)
”Malone called The Daily News three times, speaking in a calm monotone
voice
about Al Qaeda, what he said was its attempt to influence the American
political process and get Republican John
McCain elected, and U.S. energy policy.” (New York Daily News)
”Malone says . . . he used the publicity to warn people about a real
al-Qaeda
plot.” (New York 1 News)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121562638725539779.html>
<http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/third-man-climbs-times-building>
<http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/07/08/2008-07-08_times_climb__again_man_scales_papers_hea.html>
<http://ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/95767/climber-pleads-guilty-to-skyscraper-stunt/>
After the syndicate’s attacks against American
civilians in
the Muslim world accelerated as anticipated during the weeks before the
election, leading counterterrorism experts echoed this warning.
___
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0810_al_qaeda_riedel.aspx
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2008/10/02/why-osama-bin-laden-and-al-qaeda-might-try-to-affect-the-election-between-barack-obama-and-john-mccain.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26kristof.html
http://www.newamerica.net/blog/american-strategy/2008/osama-bin-laden-planning-something-u-s-election-3129
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/10/21/2008-10-21_osama_bin_laden_wants_a_vote_so_beware_a-2.html
http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/the_steve_coll_interview_an_al.php
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/spies-warn-that-al-qaeda-aims-for-october-surprise/86326/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/3092548/US-steps-up-Pakistan-raids-to-thwart-al-Qaeda-October-surprise-plot.html
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/10/21/if_bin_laden_reemerges_mccain_stands_to_gain/
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/op-eds/beware-october-surprise
[ii]
This heightened alert may have thwarted Al Qaeda’s election plot;
U.S. intelligence anticipated Al Qaeda’s
election plot in
2008:
In response to this terrorism alert, the United
States
escalated its siege of Al Qaeda’s high command in Pakistan, pressured
the
Pakistani government to follow suit, and heightened the alert status for
the
American presence abroad. Of the four
attacks that constituted Al Qaeda’s pre-election campaign, the two most
significant (Islamabad and Mumbai) were largely thwarted due to
heightened
security at the target. In particular,
repeated warnings issued by the CIA prompted Mumbai officials to fortify
defenses around prominent targets, forcing the plotters to postpone the
massacre until after the election.
Authorities have not revealed to what extent this alert coupled
with
corroborating intelligence to trigger these fortuitous counterterrorism
measures. Additionally, it remains
unclear if the bolstered security precautions and the military siege
against Al
Qaeda’s high command deterred any additional terrorist attacks connected
to
this election plot.
___
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/3092548/US-steps-up-Pakistan-raids-to-thwart-al-Qaeda-October-surprise-plot.html
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/spies-warn-that-al-qaeda-aims-for-october-surprise/86326/
http://www.cfr.org/publication/11644/
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/category/paul-cruickshank/
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&issueid=71&task=view&id=15328§ionid=4&Itemid
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Lashkars_naval_wing_may_be_functional/articleshow/3788650.cms
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&issueid=71&task=view&id=15670§ionid=4&Itemid=1
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/September_27_was_original_date_to_hit_Mumbai/articleshow/3785979.cms
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/gunman-tells-of-mumbai-plan/2008/12/14/1229189443923.html
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C12%5C04%5Cstory_4-12-2008_pg1_4
http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1060
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=116949&d=3&m=12&y=2008
http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120561081200.htm
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/29/Executive-says-Taj-hotel-warned-of-attack/UPI-97361228007685/
[iii]
Lashkar-e-Taiba is a loyal affiliate of the Al
Qaeda
syndicate:
Founded by Osama bin
Laden’s mentor
Abdullah Azzam, Lashkar-e-Taiba has been an official member of the Al
Qaeda
syndicate since 1998, when one of its leaders signed Bin Laden’s formal
declaration
of war on America. Since 9/11, the
Pakistani paramilitary organization has increasingly intertwined
operations
with Al Qaeda and submitted to the strategic direction of its high
command, as
witnessed in numerous plots, including: the December 2001 raid on
India’s
parliament, the 2005 London commuter bombings, the failed scheme to
destroy ten
U.S.-bound commercial airliners in the weeks before the 2006 U.S.
national
elections, as well as numerous lesser terrorist schemes.
In addition, Lashkar-e-Taiba has sheltered
top Al Qaeda fugitives in Pakistan and coordinated attacks with Al Qaeda
against U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
“Lashkar-e-Taiba and Al Qaeda are allies in the global Islamic
jihad,”
said Bruce Riedel, who led President Obama’s review of Afghanistan and
Pakistan
policy this year. “They share the same target list, and their operatives
often
work and hide together.”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/world/asia/27pstan.html?em>
The numerous strong connections between Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba conclusively demonstrate their strategic partnership in Bin Laden’s war against America. Accordingly, it is virtually inconceivable that Lashkar-e-Taiba would launch a 9/11 on Americans abroad without the expressed command of the Al Qaeda leadership.
The emergence of the Al
Qaeda
command sub-unit called the “313 Brigade” as the operational director of
Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistani-based Al Qaeda affiliates has
solidified
the public association of Bin Laden’s syndicate with the foot soldiers
of the
Mumbai Massacre. In 2009, the 313
Brigade publicly claimed responsibility for this attack.
During this lone interview, the commander of
the 313 Brigade noted the strategic deference to Al Qaeda’s high command
observed by its Pakistani affiliates. “He
said he had realised that the ‘entire game was in the hands of the great
Satan,
the USA’, which has caused the failure to resolve the Palestinian issue,
the
Kashmir issue and the plight of Afghanistan. ‘So I and many people all
across
the world realised that analysing the situation in any narrow regional
political perspective was an incorrect approach. This is a different
ball game
altogether for which a unified strategy is compulsory. The defeat of
American
global hegemony is a must if I want the liberation of my homeland
Kashmir, and
therefore it provided the reasoning for my presence in this war
theatre,’ he
added. ‘When I came here I found my step justified; how the world
regional
powers operate under the umbrella of the great Satan and how they are
supportive
of its great plans. This can be seen here in Afghanistan,’ he said,
adding Al
Qaeda’s regional war strategy, in which they have hit Indian targets,
was
actually to chop off American strength.”
___
http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/1130_india_terrorism_riedel.aspx http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070501faessay86304-p10/bruce-riedel/al-qaeda-strikes-back.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120502606.html
http://www.cfr.org/publication/17882
http://www.cfr.org/publication/19321/pakistans_existential_threat_comes_from_within.html
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/105904.pdf
http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/2009/RAND_CT320.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11intel.html?_r=1&hpw
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122869042642886443.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/30/gohel.mumbai/index.html
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1134659,00.html
http://www.newsweek.com/id/174521
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5671896.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5388597.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5248563.ece
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/topstories/la-na-us-terrorism9-2009mar09,0,5705082.story
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=awu7hpT_qSVM&refer=canada
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/US-freeze-assets-of-4-Pak-terrorists-linked-to-LeT--al-Qaeda/484120
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1794170,prtpage-1.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/NSG_hints_at_Qaida_Taliban_link_to_2611/articleshow/4114448.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/NSG_chief_denies_saying_Qaeda_too_behind_2611/articleshow/4115237.cms
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JL02Df05.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KE08Df01.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KJ15Df04.html
http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/03/stories/2009080360121200.htm
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200908041511.htm
http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINLA56855320090311?pageNumber=4&virtualBrandChannel=0
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1204/p09s02-coop.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2376424/posts
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/02/al-qaeda%E2%80%99s-chicago-terror-plot-by-stephen-brown/
http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3758
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/04/al_qaedas_shadow_arm.php
http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1060
http://www.windsofchange.net/archives/005802.php
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mumbai-terror-attacks-follow-al-qaeda-blueprint/12/21/50286/on
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20081203_new_york_landmarks_plot_mumbai_attack
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\10\15\story_15-10-2009_pg1_11
http://www.dailypioneer.com/215941/Ignoring-smoke-signals.html
http://www.indiannotion.com/index.php/newslinks/24891
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/313-Brigade-may-hold-fresh-clues-say-investigators/428567/
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers11%5Cpaper1074.html
http://www.terrorismwatch.org/2009/10/fbi-foils-let-plan-to-carry-out-major.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2371448/posts
http://www.businessinsider.com/as-obama-weighs-afghanistan-surge-presumed-dead-al-qaeda-leader-warns-of-trap-2009-10
http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1120527
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=17164
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262881
Lashkar-e-Taiba executed the Mumbai massacre:
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf
http://www.cfr.org/publication/19321/pakistans_existential_threat_comes_from_within.html
http://www.cfr.org/publication/11644/
http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/2009/RAND_CT320.pdf
http://www.indianembassy.org.cn/press/20081218-4.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/world/asia/06mumbai.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/opinion/06sat1.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/13/world/main4939747.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/02/12/world/worldwatch/entry4795879.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7971328.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29834046/
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/14-Apr-2009/IndoPak-ties-vulnerable-to-Mumbai-type-attacks-US-analysts
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Lashkars_naval_wing_may_be_functional/articleshow/3788650.cms
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=116949&d=3&m=12&y=2008
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24730966-663,00.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/13/world/fg-pakistan-india13
[v]
The Mumbai massacre was principally a rampaging
hunt for
U.S. civilians:
Representing a conspicuous bid to influence U.S.
voters
during their final deliberations, the meticulously crafted design for a
cataclysmic early-autumn strike on America revolved around a heavily
armed
“search-and-destroy” mission against U.S. civilians inside India’s “New
York
City”. Even after the pre-election
attack was deterred by heightened security, the masterminds chose to
focus the
massacre on exclusively American targets, Thanksgiving congregations
located at
Mumbai’s most prestigious hotels. Framed
within a multi-day siege of Western capitalism’s greatest bastion in the
Muslim
world, the commando-style assaults simultaneously struck four
world-famous
sites in Mumbai frequented by Americans and citizens of top U.S. allies
Britain, Israel and India. Al Qaeda’s
high command even ordered the singling out of Westerners, particularly
Americans, from other civilians at these locations. This
particular criteria for visually identifying the victim’s
country of origin was poorly fulfilled when Lashkar-e-Taiba’s
methamphetamine-fed operatives,
<http://www.prisonplanet.com/mumbai-attacks-terrorists-took-cocaine-to-stay-awake-during-assault.html>
wielding bombs and machine guns, implemented the
postponed
plot. Thanksgiving fortune further
blessed the intended targets when daunting U.S. security precautions
discouraged Al Qaeda’s plan to include the premier symbol of America’s
presence
in the city, the U.S. consulate.
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/04/world/main4648650.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4648650>
___
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/3529123/Bombay-attacks-Britons-and-Americans-targeted.html
http://www.rand.org/commentary/2008/12/09/UPI.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/nov/28/world/fg-mumbai28
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/27/se.03.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JL02Df05.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/04/world/main4648650.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4648650
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97561182
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/11/27/ST2008112700008.html
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/nov/30/nation/chi-mumbai-impact_kingnov30
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=awu7hpT_qSVM&refer=canada
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/most-mumbai-targets-were-foreigners-favourite-hangouts_100123990.html
http://news.smh.com.au/world/mumbai-death-toll-totals-163-20081205-6sfk.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5248563.ece
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24730966-663,00.html
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081126/india_backgrounder_081126/20081126?hub=TopStories
http://www.globalinsight.com/SDA/SDADetail15136.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2431934.htm
http://www.washprofile.org/en/node/8229
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2141222/posts
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/30/mumbai-terror-attacks-india6
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mumbai-terror-attacks-follow-al-qaeda-blueprint/12/21/50286/on
[vi]
Mumbai is the leading financial hub of Southeast
Asia
(and the Muslim world):
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=88317
[vii]
Osama bin Laden’s top deputy simultaneously
issued an
implicit claim of responsibility:
Released during the Mumbai massacre, Ayman al-Zawahiri’s videotaped interview itself echoed the Al Qaeda modus operandi. Characteristically avoiding any explicit claim of responsibility, the syndicate’s operational chief verbally attacked Americans in concert with the commando hunt for U.S. citizens. Without ever directly referencing Mumbai or the ongoing slaughter, the diatribe implicitly identified the city of Mumbai as the terrorist network’s next target. Using Al Qaeda’s purposefully vague language, Zawahiri promised to continue besieging the leading financial bastions of the Western economy in order to bankrupt America. Released in the context of a punishing surge of U.S. predator drone attacks on Al Qaeda’s Pakistani-based high command,
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/world/asia/09pstan.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=pakistan%20predator&st=cse>
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/world/12terror.html>
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11intel.html>
the 9/11 mastermind’s message also vowed urgently
to
disprove the myth of U.S. military success in Southeast Asia
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,458566,00.html>
<http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6353907&page=1>
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/28/al-qaeda-to-us-overcome-e_n_146981.html>
<http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/12/01/monitor/entry4640665.shtml>
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/27/AR2008112702177.html>
Meanwhile, Al Qaeda’s leading affiliate executed the world’s most shocking terrorist attack since 9/11, targeting Americans in the foremost financial bastion of Southeast Asia. Of central importance, the Mumbai massacre prompted a renewal of hostilities between nuclear archrivals India and Pakistan, which in turn destabilized the two crucial U.S. allies, increased covert Pakistani support for the Taliban insurgency against the U.S.-Indian military alliance in Afghanistan, as well as shifted Pakistani troops to its eastern border with India and thereby diminished Pakistani military pressure on Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban located in Western Pakistan. In simultaneous fulfillment of Zawahiri’s Thanksgiving threat against American civilian targets, the Western economy and the U.S. military coalition in Afghanistan, for three days Al Qaeda held captive the “New York City” of the top U.S. ally in the region.
Perhaps most convincingly, Zawahiri’s personal claim of responsibility for the Mumbai operation was relayed in another video that he released in the week before the massacre.
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,454624,00.html>
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7737710.stm>
<http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/19/obama.alqaeda/index.html>
<http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/19/cnr.06.html>
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/19/alqaida-zawahiri-obama-white-house>
<http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2008/11/house_negro.cfm>
<http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD212108>
<http://www.juancole.com/2008/11/zawahiri-obama-is-anti-malcolm-x.html>
<http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSLK12985820080920>
<http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2431934.htm>
<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/19/2008-11-19_alqaida_no_2_ayman_alzawahri_calls_obama.html>
In this apparent forewarning, the Al Qaeda leader
promised
imminent 9/11-scale attacks in the Muslim world against Western targets,
particularly Americans. Criticizing the
ongoing U.S. military surge against Al Qaeda in Southeast Asia as a
doomed
endeavor, Zawahiri:
In addition to the presciently accurate language of
his
warning, the sudden escalation in the pace of video releases by Al
Qaeda’s top
operational commander at the time of the Mumbai massacre strongly
suggested
that he had ordered the operation.
Compounding the coincidence of the two Zawahiri threats, his
Thanksgiving video’s intended release date (marked by the observance of a
Muslim holiday) coincided with the massacre’s originally scheduled D-Day
[see
Endnote [ix]] of September 30, 2008.
Interestingly, had the pre-election video recording been released
at
this time it would have coincided with a major Zawahiri message
commemorating
the 9/11 attack in which he criticized the role of neighboring nations
(without
explicitly naming India) in the U.S. war inside Afghanistan.
<http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSLK12985820080920>
<http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/022607.php>
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/09/2359004.htm>
<http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080909.htm>
<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4300a1b4-7df0-11dd-bdbd-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videos_of_Ayman_al-Zawahiri>
Apparently, the release of nebulous warnings by Zawahiri in the weeks before and then during the Mumbai massacre represented a crucial element of the plot that was not discarded even after the operation was postponed.
Considering the well established affiliation of the Mumbai gunmen to Al Qaeda’s high command [see Endnote [iii]], the timing of these threats by the syndicate’s operational overlord appears to confirm that Zawahiri was the massacre’s leading mastermind. Most glaringly, he broadcast two messages demonstrating foreknowledge of the plot in order to justify the terrorist attack to the unsuspecting world. Implicitly framing the guerrilla assault within the context of Al Qaeda’s war on America, in the week before and in the hours during the commando raid Zawahiri’s background rhetoric provided crucial propaganda assistance for the Islamist operation. Assuming a most direct role in the plot, the Machiavellan Al Qaeda chief hosted a “fireside chat” with the global audience to guide us through the crisis he created by explaining Al Qaeda’s idealized motivation for the massacre. No major act of terrorism is complete without a resounding message, a maxim not overlooked by Al Qaeda’s bully pulpit during the Mumbai operation. In fact, Zawahiri’s deep personal commitment to this plot most powerfully demonstrated the centrality of the Mumbai massacre to Al Qaeda’s high command.
[viii]
The Mumbai massacre was a trademark Al Qaeda
attack:
The sophisticated Mumbai massacre clearly displayed the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda operation against America, both in its selection of targets and modus operandi.
<http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/1130_india_terrorism_riedel.aspx>
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,458566,00.html>
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/27/AR2008112702177.html>
<http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/30/gohel.mumbai/index.html>
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=awu7hpT_qSVM&refer=canada>
In a venue already stricken by this same Al Qaeda affiliate [see Endnote [iv]], the masterminds targeted American civilians with a spectacular volly of Al Qaeda-style attacks, simultaneously unleashed on multiple highly symbolic Western targets in the financial capital of the Muslim world. The sophistication of the coordinated strikes appeared throughout the operation, from the D-Day-style amphibious landing to the commando raid to the hostage crisis, to the catastrophic death toll and disruption to the mega-city. Launched in the context of Al Qaeda’s 9/11 War against the superpower, responsible for every major terrorist attack on Americans abroad since the millennium, the attempt to execute the largest terrorist attack in history by demolishing two hotel towers in Mumbai [see Endnote [x]] clearly bore the signature of the world’s most notorious terrorist network. Finally, the disclosure that the plotters successfully executed the most spectacular terrorist attack since 9/11 despite having divulged the plot to Indian security two months earlier [see Endnote [xi]] powerfully distinguishes the professionalism of the attack.
The Thanksgiving-Day slaughter marked the first major terrorist attack on Westerners in Indian history, but certainly not in Al Qaeda’s history. Mimicking the four-pronged 9/11 attack, as well as the syndicate’s four-pronged bombings of the capitals of Britain and Spain, the massacre targeted four landmarks within India’s “New York City”. The designated sites for the attack included the two hotels most frequented by Westerners, a Jewish community center popular with Israelis and a major train station. This meticulously designed strike conspicuously singled out Al Qaeda’s foremost enemies, members of “the Crusader-Zionist-Hindu Alliance”,
<http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf>
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/03/bin.laden.message/>
particularly Americans [see Endnote [v]]. This target set harkens to the conspicuous fact that Al Qaeda is the only known group actively conducting major terrorist attacks against America or Israel abroad.
In addition to the nationalities of the
civilians,
the types of landmarks selected matched targets of previous Al Qaeda
attacks. As an act of terrorism crafted
to oust foreigners from the home of India’s stock exchange, the massacre
represented a continuation of Al Qaeda’s inclination since 9/11 for
assaults on
high-profile symbols of the Western economy.
<http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mumbai-terror-attacks-follow-al-qaeda-blueprint/12/21/50286/on>
<http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20081203_new_york_landmarks_plot_mumbai_attack>
In particular, the Mumbai plotters echoed past Al
Qaeda
attacks in their focus on two towering buildings, premier hotels, the
city’s
central train station, the Jewish center, the Indian stock exchange and
the
U.S. consulate (two aborted targets [see Endnote [v]]). Since toppling the Twin Towers of the World
Trade Center, Al Qaeda has launched major terrorist attacks on:
The 2008 commando raid on India’s “New York City” most closely resembles an aborted 1993 plot against New York City by the Al Qaeda plotters behind the first World Trade Center bombing.
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=am9XGBHAQmCM&refer=home>
<http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20081203_new_york_landmarks_plot_mumbai_attack>
Involving a commando raid on premier hotels and commuter targets, the “New York Landmarks” plot even included the use of watercraft. Perhaps more than any attack since 9/11, the Mumbai massacre focused on a target set exclusive to Al Qaeda.
Against these distinctive targets of Bin Laden’s global insurgency, the Mumbai masterminds employed Al Qaeda-style tactics. Most conspicuously, the propaganda front of the attack consisted of messages from Al Qaeda’s operational chief that demonstrated foreknowledge of the plot [see Endnote [vii]]. The paramilitary front of the massacre also exhibited exclusively Al Qaeda hallmarks, including an act of mega-terrorism using small groups of well-trained
<http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf>
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFdClqltMQsM&refer=home>
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122869042642886443.html>
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/world/asia/06mumbai.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2>
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/world/asia/27iht-28group.18196129.html?_r=1>
<http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/2009/RAND_CT320.pdf>
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/27/AR2008112702177.html>
<http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/30/gohel.mumbai/index.html>
<http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3758>
<http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24730966-663,00.html>
suicidal killers based in the Pakistani city of Karachi, a longtime citadel of Al Qaeda’s global jihad.
<http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf>
Along with these unique characteristics of traditional Al Qaeda terrorism, the incursion prominently featured one of the group’s more recent innovations, the commando-style raid and hostage drama. Ever since the 9/11 attack, Al Qaeda’s modus operandi has gravitated from bombings to more audacious armed assaults with heavy machine guns, grenades and larger bombs. The syndicate repeatedly employed this tactic in major terrorist attacks targeting: Russia in October 2002 / September 2004, Saudi Arabia in May 2003 / May 2004 / December 2004, Turkey in July 2008, and Yemen in September 2008. The most relevant precedent for such a commando attack occurred on the same day in 2001 that Al Qaeda’s high command fled to Pakistan. Acting to redirect the Pakistani army away from Al Qaeda’s new western safe haven, the same affiliate that launched the Mumbai massacre, Lashkar-e-Taiba, launched one of these armed assaults against the Indian parliament.
Unlike any of the other numerous terrorist attacks that regularly occur in India, this colossal commando strike three months after 9/11 instigated a round of nuclear brinkmanship between Indian and Pakistan. More than the targets and modus operandi of the 2008 Mumbai massacre, the recurrence of this apocalyptic element displayed the fingerprints of Bin Laden’s millennialist cult.
[ix]
The Mumbai massacre was originally scheduled to
begin at
7:30PM on September 30, 2008:
After nearly a year of preparations, the plotters of the Mumbai massacre planned to leave their launchpad of Karachi by boat on September 27, 2008, and arrive in Mumbai to begin the multi-day hostage drama at 7:30PM on September 30th. The arrest of some plotters on September 24th and the heightening of security around the Mumbai targets at this time forced the terrorists to postpone the plot until America’s Thanksgiving holiday, when the terrorism alert in Mumbai had finally subsided and security was downgraded.
___
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/gunman-tells-of-mumbai-plan/2008/12/14/1229189443923.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai_attack_was_planned_for_Sep_27/articleshow/3785979.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Lashkars_naval_wing_may_be_functional/articleshow/3788650.cms
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/category/paul-cruickshank/
http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120561081200.htm
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C12%5C04%5Cstory_4-12-2008_pg1_4
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/INDIA-Mumbai-Gunmen-Intended-To-Take-Hostages-According-To-Attacker-Who-Was-Captured/Article/200812215179445?f=rss
http://independentindian.com/category/rand-study-of-mumbai-attacks/
http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1060
http://www.diplomaatia.ee/index.php?id=242&no_cache=1&L=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=946&tx_ttnews[backPid]=514&cHash=f1b98d274c
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/world/asia/30mumbai.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&ref=television
[x]
The Mumbai-massacre plot was designed to kill five thousand people:
Like the 9/11 attack, the Mumbai massacre plot aimed to kill thousands of civilians by demolishing two of a nation’s premier buildings. However, the Mumbai gunmen failed to detonate the explosives that they had begun to plant in the two targeted hotels, aborting this most catastrophic element of the plot. Instead of the planned five-thousand death toll, the terrorists only managed to kill a fraction of this number, 166 civilians. Nevertheless, the three-day siege of India’s “New York City” marked the most spectacular terrorist event since 9/11. Although Al Qaeda attacks in Indonesia (Bali, 2002), Spain (Madrid, 2004), Russia (Beslan, 2004) and India (Mumbai, 2006) each involved greater death tolls, these previous attacks all involved bombings contained to a few locations. With a murder count approaching its most deadly acts of mega-terrorism since 9/11, Al Qaeda achieved an even greater terror value through the brazen commando raid and hostage drama that lasted for three days across the heartland of India’s financial capital.
___
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFdClqltMQsM&refer=home
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india.attacks/index.html
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/29/cnr.06.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,459284,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/30/mumbai-terror-attacks-india6
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5256676.ece
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/we-wanted-to-kill-5000-terrorist-says/2008/11/30/1227979845539.html
http://news.smh.com.au/world/india-terrorists-planned-to-kill-5000-20081130-6nhl.html
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24730966-663,00.html
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=14963
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2141222/posts
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JL03Df01.html
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/internationalterrorism/Confession-Killers-planned-to-blow.4746291.jp
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081130/main1.htm
[x]
The Mumbai-massacre plot originally targeted the U.S.
consulate
and the Indian stock exchange. Although
these ambitious targets were eventually nixed because of their
apparently
insurmountable defenses, the perpetrators did attempt to demolish the
Taj and
Oberon hotels with planted explosives.
As the bombers were setting the charges in place inside the
hotels,
Indian security forces interceded them and prevented this element of the
plot
from succeeding:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/04/world/main4648650.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4648650
http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/27/stories/2009112761181000.htm
http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1060
[xi]
The Mumbai-massacre plot was detected and postponed:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/gunman-tells-of-mumbai-plan/2008/12/14/1229189443923.html
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C12%5C04%5Cstory_4-12-2008_pg1_4
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Lashkars_naval_wing_may_be_functional/articleshow/3788650.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/September_27_was_original_date_to_hit_Mumbai/articleshow/3785979.cms
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/category/paul-cruickshank/
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=116949&d=3&m=12&y=2008
http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120561081200.htm
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/29/Executive-says-Taj-hotel-warned-of-attack/UPI-97361228007685/
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/INDIA-Mumbai-Gunmen-Intended-To-Take-Hostages-According-To-Attacker-Who-Was-Captured/Article/200812215179445?f=rss
http://www.diplomaatia.ee/index.php?id=242&no_cache=1&L=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=946&tx_ttnews[backPid]=514&cHash=f1b98d274c
[xii]
The Mumbai massacre was the largest terrorist attack on U.S.
civilians since
9/11;
During the period of July 9-September 20, 2008,
Al Qaeda
launched its greatest surge of terrorism against the United States since
9/11;
Prior to Al Qaeda’s four-pronged terrorist
campaign in
late 2008, the high command had only launched five major terrorist
attacks on
America abroad since 9/11:
During the seven years before Al Qaeda’s 2008
campaign, the
high command had launched only five major post-9/11 terrorist attacks on
U.S.
targets (Saudi Arabia, May 2003; Uzbekistan, July 2004; Egypt, October
2004;
Saudi Arabia, December 2004; Jordan, November 2005). In
a dramatic surge during a five-month period in late 2008, the
Al Qaeda syndicate executed four such attacks (Turkey, July 2008; Yemen,
September 2008; Pakistan, September 2008; India, November 2008). This four-pronged plot climaxed with the
most catastrophic act of terrorism targeting Americans since 9/11,
<http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf>
a three-day siege of India’s “New York City”. Notably, the first three months of Al
Qaeda’s 2008 surge included two strikes against official U.S. targets (a
consulate in Turkey and the embassy in Yemen), whereas the syndicate’s
preceding
seven-year post-9/11 campaign consisted of two strikes (the July 2004
bombing
of the U.S. embassy in Uzbekistan and the December 2004 raid on the U.S.
consulate in Jeddah). The increase in
the frequency and magnitude of Al Qaeda’s attacks on U.S. civilians
inside the
Muslim world during 2008 represented the greatest offensive in the
syndicate’s
war against America since 9/11.
Note: This analysis solely examines large-scale
attacks,
meaning either successful assaults on “hard targets” or strikes that
produced
large death tolls. Only such
large-scale attacks specifically targeting U.S. civilians outside of war
zones
are classified here as major terrorist acts against America. This form of terrorism constitutes the most
politically significant weapon in Al Qaeda’s war against the United
States,
whereas all other terrorist or insurgent attacks wield far less
influence over
Americans. Al Qaeda strikes within U.S.
war theatres (including the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region) or
against
other groups are not considered in this analysis of terrorism against
America
because those incidents represent either insurgent warfare or terrorist
acts
aimed at non-American populations.
Note(2): The August 2003 bombing of the American-owned hotel Marriott in Indonesia’s capital is discluded from this analysis even though it was a major terrorist attack on a U.S. target executed by an Al Qaeda affiliate. Like the terrorist excesses against Muslims overtly committed by the Zarqawi network in Iraq over the next three years, this strike appears to have represented a rare instance when a member of the Al Qaeda syndicate disobeyed the high command’s standing order to refrain from launching unauthorized attacks on America.
<For
more on the August 2003 Indonesia bombing, see: “Osama's Revenge: THE
NEXT
9/11: What the Media and the Government Haven't Told You” by Paul L.
Williams,
2004, p.111-112>
<For more on Al Qaeda’s strategy to refrain from attacking the U.S. homeland during the two terms of the Bush Administration, see “Bin Laden’s Plan: The Project for the New Al Qaeda Century” by David Malone, Trafford Publishing, 2008, ch.8>
___
For a chronology of Al Qaeda attacks, see the article "The Size of Al Qaeda".
[xiii]
The December 2001 raid on the Indian parliament
nearly
provoked a nuclear war:
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0911_terrorism_riedel.aspx
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/30/AR2008113001904.html
http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/2009/RAND_CT320.pdf
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-02-10-pakistanmilitants_N.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/world/asia/29intel.html?hp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7771360.stm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/3661456/Pakistani-security-forces-take-over-Lashkar-e-Taiba-militant-camp.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/30/gohel.mumbai/index.html
[xiv]
The Mumbai masterminds aimed to incite nuclear brinkmanship:
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf
http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/1130_india_terrorism_riedel.aspx
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/opinion/06sat1.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/13/world/fg-pakistan-india13
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/29/cnr.06.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6097901.ece
[xiv]
The Mumbai massacre left an obvious trail of evidence back to Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan:
http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1060
[xv]
The Indo-Pakistani conflict is the world’s most
precarious nuclear stand-off:
In a conversation with colleague Bruce Riedel, Daniel Benjamin explains the widespread belief that the Indo-Pakistani conflict poses the most imminent danger of nuclear war. "Unlike I think just about every other attack since 9/11, it (the Mumbai massacre) has the potential for profound geopolitical consequences in a region of the world that is uniquely volatile, where there are nuclear weapons, where there are more terrorists than anywhere else, and where there are countries that have had a history of going to war with one another more frequently than perhaps anywhere else." Even prior to 9/11, during the “Kargil conflict” between these two nuclear archrivals of Southeast Asia, President Clinton echoed Benjamin’s observations.
___
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2008/1203_mumbai.aspx
[xvi]
The Mumbai massacre threatened to prompt the
diversion of
the Pakistani military away from Al Qaeda’s safe havens along the
Afghan-Pakistan border:
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf
http://www.rand.org/commentary/2008/12/09/UPI.html
[xvii]
The Mumbai massacre plot envisioned an
unprecedented
terrorist attack:
Among the many acts of terrorism that have occurred during the post-9/11 age, the prolonged massacre and hostage drama in the heartland of India’s “New York City” reverberates as the greatest act of mega-terrorism. The three-day paralysis
<http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2431934.htm>
of the nuclear power’s economic center risked geopolitical fallout that could have even rivaled 9/11. The Mumbai plot aimed to achieve such an unprecedented terrorist disaster by portraying a catastrophic sequel to the commando raid on the New Delhi parliament that nearly provoked a nuclear war between India and Pakistan in 2001-2002. Any major provocation, especially the most incindiary act of post-9/11 terrorism, conducted amidst the world’s most sensitive nuclear stand-off poses the realistic potential of developing into the defining event in human history. Only India’s remarkable restraint prevented this latest tragedy in Mumbai from evolving into an even greater success for the nihilistic plotters.
<http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf>
Although the U.S.-armed nuclear power has suffered thousands of terrorist incidents in recent years, including two with slightly higher death tolls (257 victims in 1993, 209 victims in 2006), the Mumbai massacre (166 victims) marked the nation’s most devastating act of mega-terrorism because of the plotters’ choice in targets and delivery method. Hypothetically, a terrorist attack against the poor masses of Mumbai could claim five thousand victims and have less political impact than the Mumbai massacre. Instead focusing on targets with maximum symbolic value, Al Qaeda’s guerrillas executed the first major terrorist attack against foreigners inside India. Most influentially, the rampage occurred at world-famous tourist destinations for Americans within the financial capital of a country driven by foreign investment.
As much as the Mumbai raid represented the most high-profile attack on both the U.S. presence in the Muslim world and the Indian economy, the massacre also targeted the Israeli presence in the city at the local Jewish community center. By including Israelis along with Americans and Indians as the intended victims, the militants directly targeted the three leading world powers popularly identified by Islamist propaganda as the “Great Satan” Western triuvirate responsible for oppressing Muslims.
<http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2008/1203_mumbai/1203_mumbai.pdf >
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/03/bin.laden.message/>
This symbolic success represented the most comprehensive targeting for a major attack perpetrated by the global Islamist insurgency currently led by Al Qaeda. Unlike any other incident in India’s history, these three days of meticulously focused terror inside Mumbai transformed the country from a nation simply locked in conflict with Pakistan over the Kashmir region into a frontline of Al Qaeda’s global conflict.
In addition to successful targeting, the attack in Mumbai achieved a maximum terror dividend by employing a cutting-edge tactic, the commando-hostage drama. Compared to suicide bombings, commando raids featuring hostage crises reap greater value for a terrorist by dragging out the horrific spectacle over a longer period of time. The brazen defiance of law and order itself amplifies terror by demonstrating the shocking inadequacy of security forces. As evinced in the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, along with other Al Qaeda-ordered strikes [see Endnote [viii]], even botched commando raids and hostage dramas have proven to be valuable means of inciting fear. The relatively small death toll for the 2001 assault, the most direct terrorist attack on the Indian government, indicates that this bold tactic can be as effective a provocation as record-breaking casualties.
The Mumbai plot successully utilized such a terrorist blitzkrieg, along with high-profile targets and nearly unprecedented casualties, to produce India’s most catastrophic act of terrorism. Inside the great bastion of the Western economy in the Muslim world, within the context of the Indo-Pakistani conflict, the masterminds struck earth-shaking fault lines in the global community and shocked spectators with a rare nuclear scare. Beyond the actual achievements of the Mumbai massacre plot, the masterminds aspired for unprecedented terrorism that would (1) kill five thousand civilians [see Endnote [x]] within the world’s most precipitous nuclear flashpoint (2) in an attack targeting Americans on the eve of the U.S. presidential election [see Endnote [ix]]. Has this plot fully succeeded, its value as a terrorist act would have been unmatched in world history.
___
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2008/1203_mumbai.aspx
[xviii]
Osama bin Laden ordered the 9/11 cell to coincide their four-pronged attack with the 2000 election-eve period and, after postponement, a July 2001 visit to the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:
“9/11 Commission Report”, p.250:
http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf
[xix]
Security forces at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, bravely
repelled
the July 2008 attack by Al Qaeda:
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37078920081217
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-07-09-2154058311_x.htm
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,378346,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7497049.stm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124033370335939671.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
[xx]
The Al Qaeda attack on the U.S. embassy in Yemen marked the first
major
attack on a U.S. embassy in ten years.
The strike nearly killed dozens of Americans. Had
the complex not been valiantly defended by local security
forces, the assailants would have used explosive vests to execute the
American
hostages one at a time:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2008/10/02/why-osama-bin-laden-and-al-qaeda-might-try-to-affect-the-election-between-barack-obama-and-john-mccain.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/12/01/monitor/entry4640665.shtml
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090128_al_qaeda_arabian_peninsula_desperation_or_new_life
[xxi]
Possibly due to heightened security, Al Qaeda’s catastrophic bombing
of the
Marriot in Islamabad failed to coincide with the presence of its main
targets,
the Pakistani government’s leadership:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2008/10/02/why-osama-bin-laden-and-al-qaeda-might-try-to-affect-the-election-between-barack-obama-and-john-mccain.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/world/asia/09pstan.html?fta=y
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11intel.html?_r=1&hpw
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/092fce4e-8906-11dd-a179-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJfUTFIhi1Rw&refer=home
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/3044594/Islamabad-hotel-blast-was-Pakistans-911.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26803768/
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/09/world/fg-terror9
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431181,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5388597.ece
http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=5192
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C03%5C03%5Cstory_3-3-2009_pg1_7
[xxii]
Candidates Barack Obama and John McCain were virtually tied in the U.S. presidential race before the late September onset of the U.S. economic meltdown:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012401703.html
[xxiii]
Al Qaeda was eclipsed as an issue during the 2008 American
presidential
campaign by the U.S. financial meltdown of late September.
In a political atmosphere where economic
concerns benefited the Democratic challenger, this crisis ironically
sabotaged
the terrorist syndicate’s designs by swaying undecided voters in favor
of
Barack Obama:
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/op-eds/beware-october-surprise
[xxiv]
The USS COLE bombing in October 2000 and Bin Laden’s most influential
video
broadcast in October 2004 each swayed a decisive number of undecided
voters in
the imminent presidential elections:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2008/10/02/why-osama-bin-laden-and-al-qaeda-might-try-to-affect-the-election-between-barack-obama-and-john-mccain.html
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0810/23/cnr.07.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1475515/Bush-takes-a-six-point-lead-after-new-bin-Laden-tape.html
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/op-eds/beware-october-surprise
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1808467,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7684782.stm
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/070306.html
[xxv]
Bin Laden’s long-standing ambition has been to prepare and provoke
U.S.
invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond:
“Bin Laden’s Plan: The
Project for the New Al Qaeda
Century”
by David Malone, Trafford Publishing, 2008, p.1-230:
A publication by Bruce Riedel,
President
Obama’s leading advisor on Al Qaeda:
A publication by Richard Clarke, former U.S. counterterrorism czar:
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml>
A publication by Michael Scheuer, former head of
the CIA's
Bin Laden Unit:
Through Our Enemies Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam and the Future of America
by Michael Scheuer (former head of the CIA's Bin Laden Unit), 2006, p. 230-231.
[xxvi]
Leading counterterrorism experts widely agreed in 2007 that the Al Qaeda syndicate was as strong as ever:
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070501faessay86304/bruce-riedel/al-qaeda-strikes-back.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/opinion/01clarke.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Blinded+by+Hindsight%2C+by+Richard+A.+Clarke.+&st=nyt
http://www.iiss.org/whats-new/iiss-in-the-press/press-coverage-2007/september-2007/al-qaeda-as-powerful-as-ever-agree-experts/
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0718/p99s01-duts.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sahil-kapur/why-al-qaeda-will-miss-bu_b_147624.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/11/rand.insurgencies/index.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aZTnaLxtVeY4&refer=africa
http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/618/1/197
[xxvi]
President Obama’s election greatly damaged Al Qaeda’s ideological campaign to villainize America.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/19/2008-11-19_alqaida_no_2_ayman_alzawahri_calls_obama.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012401703.html
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/19/cnr.06.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7737710.stm
http://www.juancole.com/2008/11/zawahiri-obama-is-anti-malcolm-x.html
___________________
On the 2008 election plot:
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0810_al_qaeda_riedel.aspx
On the Mumbai massacre:
http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/1130_india_terrorism_riedel.aspx
On Al Qaeda’s strategy of crusader-baiting:
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070501faessay86304-p0/bruce-riedel/al-qaeda-strikes-back.html
On the 2008 election plot:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2008/10/02/why-osama-bin-laden-and-al-qaeda-might-try-to-affect-the-election-between-barack-obama-and-john-mccain.html
On the Mumbai massacre:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120502606.html
On Al Qaeda’s strategy of crusader-baiting:
On the original Mumbai plot:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/gunman-tells-of-mumbai-plan/2008/12/14/1229189443923.html
Bin Laden’s Plan by David Malone (Trafford
Publishing,
2008)
On Al Qaeda’s previous election plots
On Al Qaeda’s strategy of crusader-baiting