Growing up Bin LadenOsama Bin Laden’s wife and son (well, in both cases, one of many) are set to reveal all about what life was like in the household of the world’s most wanted terrorist. The New York Post has some choice insights from the pair.
Terrorism
Al Qaeda goes broke
Does crime pay? Not for Al Qaeda, which is skint and appealing to supporters to help out with some cash. But the Taliban, which has diversified its interests into drugs as well as violence, is rolling in cash.
Why Islamic extremists hate India
India doesn’t have a single soldier fighting in Afghanistan — so why are suicide bombers targetting the Indian Embassy in Kabul? Salil Tripathi explains the long and complex relationship between India and the Islamic world.
Renowned nuclear physicist was an Al Qaeda mole
Adlène Hicheur, a French physicist working on the Hadron Collider, has been arrested on terrorism charges after admitting to working as a “mole” for Al Qaeda. Cue calls of “He seemed like such a nice boy…”
Airport security madness could get a whole lot crazier
So you think airport security screening is bad now? asks Ben Sandilands: a new report about terrorists smuggling bombs in their anal cavities (no, really) could see cabin-security fever reach new levels.
Al-Qaida’s recruitment crisis
Militant Islam just isn’t pulling in the punters like it used to. Eight years since 9/11, the group’s failed to have any big “hits” in the West since the 2005 London bombings, despite expanding its operations. Has it jumped the shark?
Photos emerge from Gitmo of 9/11 ringleader
New photos have been released of Guantánamo Bay inmate Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, regarded as the mastermind of 9/11, looking far different to his famous dishevelled capture photos. Will they inspire further terrorist attacks?
Was Mohammed Atta simply a crazed heritage lister?
Guy Rundle ponders whether Mohammed Atta, the enigmatic figure behind the 911 attacks, was simply the armed wing of the Arab National Trust.
Terrorism is about occupation, not religion
Why did these young Muslim men decide to kill thousands of people? Excerpts from their “martyrdom mission” video recordings all point to one simple theme: “Get out of our lands”.
Is the US growing another Timothy McVeigh?
Right wing militia groups, like those responsible for Waco and the Oklahoma bombings, are growing in the US. With increasing public discontent at the government, the rise is even more alarming.
The man who freed the Lockerbie bomber
Meet Saif al Islam al Gaddafi, the millionaire playboy son of Libyan dictator Col. Muammar Gaddafi, whose social circle includes models, actresses, investment bankers… and Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi — the Lockerbie bomber.
US court for terror suspects: Gitmo 2.0?
Barack Obama may have promised to close Gitmo, but there are ‘a thousand little Gitmos’ across the US, where terror suspects are being given unfair trials, writes Petra Bartosiewicz.
Govt cultivates home-grown terrorists?
Token and superficial community engagement of Muslim and Arab communities by the government is simply encouraging home-grown terrorism in Australia, writes Taimor Hazou.
Saving Somalia from itself
Somalia could become Obama’s new Afghanistan, says the Christian Science Monitor: if he doesn’t flex some muscle there now, it could easily become the next terrorist nesting ground.
RATED RUDE Join Captain Jasper aboard the Saucy Swan!
And have your poopdeck swabbed for marsupial chlamydia
Paper’s terror edition on streets before raids
Copies of The Australian were readily available in Melbourne hours before the terror raids yesterday.
Somali politics is just as much about clan as it is religion
Some reporting and analysis of today’s raids in The Oz of an alleged terrorist group showed a laughable ignorance of Somali and/or Muslim cultures.
What does a terrorist look like?
Today’s foiling of a terror plot in Melbourne demonstrates that racial profiling is now a fairly useless tool for finding potential terrorists, writes Paul Colgan
Australian terror plot foiled
A group of Islamic extremists in Melbourne have been arrested over plans for a suicide attack on an Australian Army base, according to The Australian.
Spain’s ‘war on terror’ a different ball game
Basque terrorist group ETA has stubbornly survived for 50 years. Spain’s government must remain calm, even with recent deadly attacks, writes Peter Preston.
Terrified of terrorism?
Does the threat of terrorist attacks in Australia actually merit further changes to our anti-terror laws? We need to be careful not to overact, writes Robert Merkel.
Terrorism in Indonesia has nothing to do with Afghanistan
Imagine a politician claiming that the best response to a bombing in Indonesia was to invade Afghanistan. We’d think they were perfectly mad.
How the Jakarta bombers did it
Jakarta’s Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels are reputed to have tight security since the bombings there six years ago. Not tight enough, it turns out. Time looks at how the latest gang of bombers slipped in.
Bombings reboot Indonesia’s vicious political circle
Just two weeks ago, observers were congratulating Indonesia for a presidential election that was seen to consolidate that country’s process of democratisation. Now the country again appears to be on the edge of political turmoil.
