Posted by JR on 11/10/2001, 6:06 pm

Posted by JR on 10/12/2001, 11:00 pm Dear Readers, I am sorry for posting so much here lately. I am really more interested in what some of you have to say than in "Prophesying". A fool is known by his many words, and I have made myself a fool on purpose. I'm not a prophet, but I am not exactly a chimp either. DZ says that the world is getting better, but today through our "knowledge", we have the capability to destroy every living thing on this planet. People don't spend milions of dollars to make tools unless they intend to use them. Right now, while I am typing, Russia is at war with Chechnya, the U.S.A. is at war with Afghanistan, and China is preparing to invade Taiwan. The U.S.A. has a treaty with Taiwan to defend them if China tries to invade them. Now, our military is spread too thin to defend them with conventional weapons, so there is two choices: One, use "unconventional" weapons, or two, break the treaty. Well, the U.S.A. has a history of breaking treaties, so that's probably what will happen, but I don't know for sure, because I am not a prophet, but a fool. ---------- Posted by Eric H on 10/13/2001, 7:28 pm , in reply to "My apologies to those who post here." JR, Dear brother, you've got nothing to apologize for, in my opinion. Sharing observations isn't prophecy like dz wants. He wants CONCRETE minutes, hours, days just to say ah-ha! I for one appreciated your recent dialogues of him, and his with you. In the words of Kansas, "If I claim to be a wise man, surely it means that I don't know." Love ya bro, Eric ---------- Posted by Keith on 10/14/2001, 11:16 am , in reply to "My apologies to those who post here." Keep it up and don't water down what you might want to bring. I like the varying opinions. Despite my seeming dogmatism sometimes, I do ponder what others say and adjust my views on occasion or at least gain an open mind to what someone has brought. God Bless. ---------- Terrorist Info-New Update! Posted by pat on 10/14/2001, 8:04 pm , in reply to "Mark 13:7 when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled," al-Qa'ida (The Base) Part 1 Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders Islamic Salvation Foundation Usama bin Laden Network Al-Qa'ida is multi-national, with members from numerous countries and with a worldwide presence. Senior leaders in the organization are also senior leaders in other terrorist organizations, including those designated by the Department of State as foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya and the Egyptian al-Jihad. Al-Qa'ida seeks a global radicalization of existing Islamic groups and the creation of radical Islamic groups where none exist. Al-Qa'ida supports Muslim fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Somalia, Yemen, and Kosovo. It also trains members of terrorist organizations from such diverse countries as the Philippines, Algeria, and Eritrea. Al-Qa'ida's goal is to "unite all Muslims and to establish a government which follows the rule of the Caliphs." Bin Laden has stated that the only way to establish the Caliphate is by force. Al- Qa'ida's goal, therefore, is to overthrow nearly all Muslim governments, which are viewed as corrupt, to drive Western influence from those countries, and eventually to abolish state boundaries. Usama bin Laden, a multi-millionaire ex-Saudi financier who is a principal source of funding and direction for Al-Qa'ida, has been described by the US Government as "one of the most significant financial sponsors of Islamic extremist activities in the world today." Usama Bin Laden was born around 1955 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He is the youngest son of Muhammad Bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi of Yemeni origin and founder of the Bin Laden Group, a construction firm heavily involved with Saudi Government contracts. Usama Bin Laden left Saudi Arabia to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan in 1979. He sponsored and led a number of Arabs fighting in Afghanistan against the Soviets in the 1980s. In the mid-1980s he co-founded the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) or Services Office, to help funnel fighters and money to the Afghan resistance in Peshawar with the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdallah Azzam. The MAK ultimately established recruitment centers around the world -- including in the U.S., Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan -- that enlisted, sheltered, and transported thousands of individuals from over 50 countries to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. It also organized and funded paramilitary training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Bin Laden imported heavy equipment to cut roads and tunnels and to build hospitals and storage depots in Afghanistan. As many as 10,000 Arabs received training and combat experience in Afghanistan. Of these, nearly half were Saudis, with others including more than 3000 Algerians, 2000 Egyptians, and hundreds of others from Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, Syria and other Muslim states. Bin Laden split from Azzam in the late 1980s to extend his campaign to all corners of the globe while Azzam remained focused only on support to Muslims waging military campaigns. Bin Laden formed a new organization in 1988 called al-Qa'ida -- the military "base." After Azzam was killed by a car bomb in late 1989, the MAK split, with the extremist faction joining Bin Laden's organization. Bin Laden returned to work in his family's Jeddah-based construction business after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, but he continued his organization to support opposition movements in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. After Afghanistan, Bin-Laden ran the Jihad Committee which includes the Egyptian Islamic Group and the Jihad Organization in Yemen, the Pakistani al-Hadith group, the Lebanese Partisans League, the Libyan Islamic Group, Bayt al-Imam Group in Jordan, and the Islamic Group in Algeria. This committee runs the Islamic Information Observatory center in London, which organizes media activity for these organizations, and the Advisory and Reformation Body which also has a bureau in London. In 1991 he relocated to the Sudan, and in 1994 he was stripped of his Saudi citizenship after Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen accused him of supporting subversive groups. Although the Afghan war had ended, al-Qa'ida has remained a formidable organization consisting of mujahedin of many nationalities who had previously fought with Bin Laden. Many of these have remained loyal to and continue working with him. Sudan harbors a number of terrorist groups, although in May 1996 it expelled Bin Laden and members of some terrorist groups under Saudi pressure, and in response to U.S. insistence and to the threat of UN sanctions following Sudan's alleged complicity in the attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia in 1995. Bin Laden quickly returned to Afghanistan after leaving Sudan, where his support for and participation in Islamic extremist activities continued. Since departing Sudan he is said to have changed considerably, suspecting that there are plots to murder him, so he reportedly now only trusts only a narrow circle of people. He is reported to act on the premise that attack is the best line of defense, rather than efforts to unify extremist groups.