Terrorists turn against Islamic states
A pattern of attacks has begun against Islamic countries friendly to US interests.
- Today a bomb blast in a Shiite mosque in Karachi, Pakistan took the lives of at least 16 worshippers and sparked rioting in Pakistan's largest city. President Musharraf has been a supporter of US policy in the War Against Terror.
- 22 people died in the hostage situation in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. While Osama bin Laden' s family has close ties to the royal family of Saudi Arabia, bin Laden has advocated the overthrow of what he considers to be a corrupt government that has permitted US troops and bases on it's land.
- On April 18th, Jordanian authorities announced that they had foiled a terror plot that would have toppled the royal family and resulted in thousands of deaths. See http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/28C121A2-3CCE-4F69-98D9-E54160215AC5.htm
That attack involved 5 trucks packed with over 17 tons of high explosives. Another attack, involving the detonation of a chemica bomb was also foiled. At least the second attack is thought to have been masterminded by Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, a close associate of bin Laden's and the man thought ot have beheaded Nicholas Berg.
It should be noted that Al Queda's avowed mission to to replace secular governments with theocracies, religious governments guided by Fatwa. That holds for all governments, in the Middle East or in the West, for that matter.
With small arms and conventional explosives, sometimes directed at chemical sites, Al Queda has managed to exert considerable influence over powerful governments and the world economy. For those history buffs out there, I suggest that you look up the story of Hasan bin Sabah, The Old Man of the Mountain, who sent young warriors after his enemies dosed on hashish and visions of Paradise. It was because of the hashish that they imbibed that his young fanatics became known as the Hashish-an, which survives today in our word "Assassin." They too were a fanatical Muslim sect that ruled through fear. I am certain bin Laden has not forgotten.
If you want to learn about the Old Man of the Mountain, please see http://www.iol.ie/~afifi/BICNews/Afaiz/afaiz7.htm