FDD

Dispatches from the Danger Zone: The Grieving Widow

The US media made a whole lot out of Abu Musab Zarqawi's wife saying he was sold out by Al Qaeda.  Poor baby.  You'll recall he was killed in Iraq by Americans on June 7th. He was the Jordanian-born leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.  He was also a braggart, a former street thug and sex criminal - a rapist - and a vicious murderer.

His wife is called 'Um Mohammed' (meaning the mother of a son named Mohammed.  Fathers are commonly called 'Abu' as in 'Abu Mazen' meaning the father of Mazen).  So, Um Mohammed told an Italian newspaper reporter, in an interview in Geneva, Switzerland where she has been staying recently, that Al Qaeda "reached agreement with US Intelligence and betrayed her husband because he was becoming too powerful."

No explanation was offered as to who she specifically meant by 'Al Qaeda' but not likely it was Osama Bin Laden.  More likely it was one of Zarqawi's running dogs in Iraq who ratted him out for the huge reward offered - 25 million US dollars.

Danger Zone Available for Podcast

July 2nd's episode of the Danger Zone is available for download.

Danger Zone Available for Podcast

June 25th's episode is now available for download.

Dispatches from the Danger Zone: Too much Excitement in the Saudi Kingdom?

King Abdullah has told Saudi editors to cut back on publishing pictures of women… They could get men excited and lead them astray.

The king wasn’t talking about naked pictures, or half naked pictures or even bathing suit pictures –he was talking about any pictures of women doing anything, even digging ditches or scrubbing floors. 

Anyway, the king's order about photos of women went to newspaper editors at a meeting with them.   

Until now King Abdullah, who took over the throne in August, has been described as a “mild” reformer. Mild sounds right.

Recently Saudi newspapers have run a few pictures of women but only those wearing traditional Muslim headscarves, no bikinis, no naval rings.

The king told editors this week that publishing a woman's picture for the world to see was just wrong.

Dispatches from the Danger Zone: Where is "The Jackal"?

It has been about ten years since the terrorist named “Carlos the Jackal” was sentenced to life in prison in France for murder.  He was lucky to have missed the guillotine.  It was banned by France in 1981. 

“Carlos” is a Venezuelan Communist named Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. His father was a left-wing Venezuelan lawyer who named his three sons Vladimir, Ilich and Lenin all borrowed from his Russian hero.  He arranged for the boy to attend Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where Ilich made the KGO connections he would often use in his terrorist activities over the next twenty years.

Ilich, or Carlos as he likes to be called, is now pushing 60 years old.  He has a round flat face like a pizza pie and eyes like little olives pushed into the dough. 

So what’s happening to him these days?

Danger Zone is Available for Podcast

May 14th's episode is available for download.

Danger Zone Available for Podcast

May 7th's episode of Danger Zone is available for download.

This week's Danger Zone lineup is available here.

Dispatches from the Danger Zone: You Think Gas Prices are Bad Now? (RWC)

Then imagine another terrorist attack, especially one on Saudi oil refineries.

Our friend former CIA Director Jim Woolsey had some interesting things to say about that possibility this week, according to a front page story in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

If terrorists took out the sulfur-cleaning towers in northeastern Saudi Arabia, crude oil prices could easily top $150 a barrel and stay there for more than a year, Woolsey said. 

Just such a scenario was mentioned in a recent book by former CIA officer Bob Baer.

A barrel of oil is now selling for around $73 with gas prices in the United States hovering around $3 a gallon.

Consider that Americans could be paying twice that amount.

Woolsey also made the point that Americans don't want to think about where some of the money goes when they buy gasoline and other oil products: to groups that threaten the U.S. or are hostile to the West in other ways.

He didn’t mean just terrorists. 

Dispatches from the Danger Zone: UAE Fact Check (RWC)

Funny, all this talk lately about Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

I come down on the side of those who thought the issue was beclouded by political demagoguery and simple racism, while real issues about port security have been long ignored by members of congress.

But, something to consider about the UAE –aside from what company is going to run the US terminals -was laid out by Terry Jeffrey in Human Events.

Here is a quick précis of questions and answers worth remembering.

Danger Zone Available for Download

The April 2nd episode of Danger Zone radio is available for podcast.

This week's lineup is available here.