- Mar 22, 2004
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Very interesting opinion piece.
Makes me think a little more about the Bush visit..
Hamas's next target: the US?
Apr. 19, 2004 21:58
Hamas's next target: the US?
By ERICK STAKELBECK
Saturday's assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi represented a victory not just for Israel but also for the US in its ongoing war against radical Islamic terrorism.
Like his predecessor Ahmed Yassin, who met his demise courtesy of an IDF missile last month, Rantisi spoke often of expanding Hamas's operations to include US targets.
One of Rantisi's last public appearances came on Easter weekend, as thousands of Palestinians took part in rallies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in support of the armed rebellion against US and coalition forces in Iraq.
Speaking at an event in Gaza, Rantisi called on Iraqis to "strike and burn" US and coalition forces, and "teach them the lessons of suicide actions."
Rantisi's comments ? which came amid chants of "Death to America" and the burning of American flags by onlookers ? were the latest in a long line of threats made by Hamas leaders toward the US. Yet, up until Israel's assassination of Yassin last month, the consensus among American media was that Hamas was concerned solely with the destruction of Israel, and had no intentions of targeting the US.
This state of blissful ignorance has been shattered, at least momentarily, in the month since Yassin's death, with media outlets nationwide expressing shock at Hamas's "unprecedented" threats against the US, including comments by Rantisi that the US had "declared war against God," and would be defeated "by the hand of Hamas."
Indeed, Hamas has been an avowed enemy of the US for years, as evidenced by its incendiary public statements and alliances with terror-sponsoring states like Syria, Iran, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. But if recent events are any indication, the group's animosity for the US may have reached a new level.
On April 3, Muqtada al-Sadr, the extremist cleric behind the ongoing Shi'ite uprisings in Iraq, vowed to serve as the "striking arm" in the region for Hamas and Lebanese Hizbullah.
Given that only US and coalition forces ? and not Israeli troops ? are presently stationed in Iraq, it's obvious whom al-Sadr intends to "strike" in Hamas's name.
BUT AL-SADR'S comments merely echoed those made by Yassin himself shortly before the US invasion of Iraq last March, when he issued a fatwa (religious decree) ordering all Muslims to kill Americans wherever they were found if US troops dared set foot on Iraqi soil.
As recently as November 2003, Yassin spoke of "striking the United States in the appropriate place," a statement hardly befitting a man eulogized by a large segment of American media as an "elderly quadriplegic" and "spiritual leader."
But for sheer anti-US vitriol, it is difficult to top Rantisi, who wrote an article published on a Hamas website in April 2003 titled, "Why shouldn't we attack the United States?" In the article, Rantisi argued that attacking the US was not only "a moral and national duty ? but, above all, a religious one."
In another piece published soon after, Rantisi openly called for "terror against the United States." Even before Rantisi's comments, however, Hamas had solidified its anti-American credentials by supporting the ousted Ba'athist regime in Iraq.
In September 2002, Israeli agents videotaped a ceremony in Gaza City in which Yassin and other Hamas officials presented certificates and checks from the Iraqi government to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
Yassin spoke at the rally, exhorting Palestinians to support Iraq in its confrontation with the United States. Tellingly, the participants stomped on American and Israeli flags upon entering the hall, and chanted pro-Saddam slogans.
Hamas has done much more than merely preach violence against the US, though; it has also targeted American citizens directly. In December 2003, Israeli authorities charged Jamal Akal, a Canadian citizen born in the Gaza Strip, with receiving weapons and explosives training from Hamas for use in terrorist attacks on Jewish targets in Canada and New York City.
And last April, two Hamas suicide bombers blew themselves up inside Mike's Place, a bar located next to the US embassy in Tel Aviv that is frequented by US government employees.
While previous Hamas attacks in Israel have claimed the lives of more than a dozen American citizens, these two incidents represent a troubling escalation in Hamas activity against the US.
High-ranking Hamas officials have already managed to infiltrate the US, the most notorious example being Musa Abu Marzuk, a senior Hamas leader now based in Syria. Marzuk, who had been living in northern Virginia, was detained by US authorities for 22 months and deported to Jordan in 1997.
Following Yassin's death, Marzuk warned his former host country that "currently the US is not a target (of Hamas), but in the future, only God knows." Despite the media's reluctance to catch on, Hamas's recent statements and actions regarding the US make clear that the future Marzuk spoke of is now.
Stakelbeck is senior writer for the Investigative Project, a Washington, DC-based counter-terrorism research institute.
Makes me think a little more about the Bush visit..
Hamas's next target: the US?
Apr. 19, 2004 21:58
Hamas's next target: the US?
By ERICK STAKELBECK
Saturday's assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi represented a victory not just for Israel but also for the US in its ongoing war against radical Islamic terrorism.
Like his predecessor Ahmed Yassin, who met his demise courtesy of an IDF missile last month, Rantisi spoke often of expanding Hamas's operations to include US targets.
One of Rantisi's last public appearances came on Easter weekend, as thousands of Palestinians took part in rallies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in support of the armed rebellion against US and coalition forces in Iraq.
Speaking at an event in Gaza, Rantisi called on Iraqis to "strike and burn" US and coalition forces, and "teach them the lessons of suicide actions."
Rantisi's comments ? which came amid chants of "Death to America" and the burning of American flags by onlookers ? were the latest in a long line of threats made by Hamas leaders toward the US. Yet, up until Israel's assassination of Yassin last month, the consensus among American media was that Hamas was concerned solely with the destruction of Israel, and had no intentions of targeting the US.
This state of blissful ignorance has been shattered, at least momentarily, in the month since Yassin's death, with media outlets nationwide expressing shock at Hamas's "unprecedented" threats against the US, including comments by Rantisi that the US had "declared war against God," and would be defeated "by the hand of Hamas."
Indeed, Hamas has been an avowed enemy of the US for years, as evidenced by its incendiary public statements and alliances with terror-sponsoring states like Syria, Iran, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. But if recent events are any indication, the group's animosity for the US may have reached a new level.
On April 3, Muqtada al-Sadr, the extremist cleric behind the ongoing Shi'ite uprisings in Iraq, vowed to serve as the "striking arm" in the region for Hamas and Lebanese Hizbullah.
Given that only US and coalition forces ? and not Israeli troops ? are presently stationed in Iraq, it's obvious whom al-Sadr intends to "strike" in Hamas's name.
BUT AL-SADR'S comments merely echoed those made by Yassin himself shortly before the US invasion of Iraq last March, when he issued a fatwa (religious decree) ordering all Muslims to kill Americans wherever they were found if US troops dared set foot on Iraqi soil.
As recently as November 2003, Yassin spoke of "striking the United States in the appropriate place," a statement hardly befitting a man eulogized by a large segment of American media as an "elderly quadriplegic" and "spiritual leader."
But for sheer anti-US vitriol, it is difficult to top Rantisi, who wrote an article published on a Hamas website in April 2003 titled, "Why shouldn't we attack the United States?" In the article, Rantisi argued that attacking the US was not only "a moral and national duty ? but, above all, a religious one."
In another piece published soon after, Rantisi openly called for "terror against the United States." Even before Rantisi's comments, however, Hamas had solidified its anti-American credentials by supporting the ousted Ba'athist regime in Iraq.
In September 2002, Israeli agents videotaped a ceremony in Gaza City in which Yassin and other Hamas officials presented certificates and checks from the Iraqi government to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
Yassin spoke at the rally, exhorting Palestinians to support Iraq in its confrontation with the United States. Tellingly, the participants stomped on American and Israeli flags upon entering the hall, and chanted pro-Saddam slogans.
Hamas has done much more than merely preach violence against the US, though; it has also targeted American citizens directly. In December 2003, Israeli authorities charged Jamal Akal, a Canadian citizen born in the Gaza Strip, with receiving weapons and explosives training from Hamas for use in terrorist attacks on Jewish targets in Canada and New York City.
And last April, two Hamas suicide bombers blew themselves up inside Mike's Place, a bar located next to the US embassy in Tel Aviv that is frequented by US government employees.
While previous Hamas attacks in Israel have claimed the lives of more than a dozen American citizens, these two incidents represent a troubling escalation in Hamas activity against the US.
High-ranking Hamas officials have already managed to infiltrate the US, the most notorious example being Musa Abu Marzuk, a senior Hamas leader now based in Syria. Marzuk, who had been living in northern Virginia, was detained by US authorities for 22 months and deported to Jordan in 1997.
Following Yassin's death, Marzuk warned his former host country that "currently the US is not a target (of Hamas), but in the future, only God knows." Despite the media's reluctance to catch on, Hamas's recent statements and actions regarding the US make clear that the future Marzuk spoke of is now.
Stakelbeck is senior writer for the Investigative Project, a Washington, DC-based counter-terrorism research institute.
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