-AP has published more on the Indonesia Hotel Bombing suspect, Malaysian born, Noordin Mohammad Top. The U.S. State Department believes he aided in financing the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings. After becoming radicalized in an Islamic boarding school ran by the Indonesian Muslim cleric, Abdullah Sungkar, he underwent training in the Southern Philippines and joined Jemaah Islamiyah in 1998. Due to a crack down on Muslim radicals in Malaysia after 9-11, Noordin fled to Indonesia. After splitting with Jemaah Islamiyah over the targeting of civilians, something the senior leadership no longer wanted to do, Noordin formed a more radical offshoot called Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad (a.k.a. – “al-Qaida for the Malay archipelago”). He has avoided arrest in Indonesia at least six times, but was believed to have been effectively neutralized by a crippling attack by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Noordin’s support network – Obviously not.
Uncharacteristic of Jemaah Islamiyah, Noordin also threatened the West, which is likely reflective of his links to Al Qaeda:
“As long as you keep your troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and intimidate Muslim people, you will feel our intimidation and our terror,” a masked man believed to be Noordin said in the message aired on Indonesian television at the time. “You will be the target of our next attack.”
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
