Setting the Record Straight on ‘Islamist Terrorism’

Claude Salhani
31 October 2008

As the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the US Marines barracks in Beirut was remembered last week, two former senior US government officials tied that event to 9/11.

Addressing a commemorative dinner at Camp Lejeune, NC, Gen. Al Gray, a former commandant of the Marine Corps stated that the Beirut attack which killed 241 US servicemen, mostly Marines, and 58 French parachutists in a separate attack two minutes later, was the start of the “War on Terror.”

That view was shared by other former senior Marines during a panel discussion held at the National Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, VA., last week, as well as by Robert McFarlane, President Reagan’s national security advisor at the time of the attacks, who expressed his thoughts in an opinion piece published in the New York Times last week.

To set the record straight, there are major philosophical differences between the group who carried out the Beirut operation and those responsible for 9/11.

According to Western intelligence sources the Beirut bombing was believed to have been carried out by Hezbollah, a Lebanese paramilitary group acting on orders from Iran; whereas the 9/11 attacks and subsequent acts of terrorism by Al Qaeda, its affiliates, offshoots and supporters is the work of takfiri salafis. While in the eyes of the West it might be easy to confuse the two, there exists, nevertheless, fundamental differences between the two movements. It is important to understand those differences.

Click here for full story

Fighting terrorism necessitates a two-pronged approach – covert action by special forces and smart intelligence.

Claude Salhani, MIDDLE EAST TIMES

Fighting terrorism necessitates a two-pronged approach – covert action by special forces and smart intelligence.

Covert action is absolutely central to winning the war on terrorism, just as it was the decisive instrument of the Cold War, said a senior U.S. intelligence official.

Covert action remains a critical instrument in the war on terror. And it is thanks to a number of covert operations that the United States, according to a high-ranking Pentagon official, has made headway in the war on terrorism.

But there is still a long way to go and real threats to counter, particularly as the Afghan insurgency has gotten significantly more intense in the past two years. In Pakistan, the problem has gotten worse over the past decade, substantially worse.

Click here for full story

25th Anniversary of Marines Beirut Bombing – CSPAN

Click here for link