HOT SPOTS

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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
HOT SPOTS Terrorism and Threat Background
Brief DATE SGT Carnes, Primary Instructor SPC
Newman, Secondary Instructor
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
TASK Familiarize soldiers who are assuming DRB
on the world threats and areas to which they can
deploy. CONDITIONS Given a Power Point
Presentation in a classroom environment. STANDARDS
Soldiers will be able to recognize the areas
that are a threat to American security and the
places to which they can deploy.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN

• OUTLINE
• Basic facts about Islam and Arabs
• Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Ladin
• Hot Spot Countries
• Summary

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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN

• BASIC FACTS ABOUT ISLAM AND ARABS
• Not all Arabs are terrorists or are Muslim
  extremists.
• Not all Arabs are Muslims.
• Most Muslims live outside the Middle East.
• Islam is a peaceful religion. It advocates war
  (what the west thinks of as jihad) only in
  cases of self-defense and against a country that
  does not allow Islam.
• Islam is a continuation of Christianity. It
  considers Jesus to be a prophet and Muhammad to
  be the messenger of al Quran.
• Islam is split into two major sects Shiite
  (Iran, south Iraq, Lebanon) and Sunni (the rest
  of Muslims). Their differences are relatively
  minor.
• Terrorist groups use Islam as an excuse to wage
  war. They are not true Muslims.

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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
WAR ON TERRORISM All current threats to the US
are linked to terrorism. The umbrella group for
terrorist groups against the United States is Al
Qaeda. Al Qaeda began in 1988 as a safe house in
Pakistan for Arabs mujahdin (holy) fighters, who
were also supported by the Americans, in the war
in the Soviet-Afgan War (1979-1988). After the
war, the safe house and training camps in
Afghanistan continued and expanded. During the
Gulf War Al Qaeda offered their service to Saudi
Arabia to protect it against an Iraqi attack.
The Saudi kingdom instead turned to the
Americans. It was this point that Al Qaeda and
its leader turned against the US.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
OSAMA BIN LADEN The head of Al Qaeda is Osama bin
Laden. He started Al Qaeda in 1988 only as
support to the Afghans. His primary role in the
war was financial and construction support.
After the US invaded Saudi Arabia during the
Gulf War did he organize Al Qaeda into a
terrorist organization against the
US. He was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in
1994 and expelled from the Sudan
in 1996. He now lives in
Afghanistan. In 1996 he declared war on the US
and in 1998 organized the World Islamic Front for
Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. He is the
spiritual leader and role model of Muslim
extremists.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
AL QAEDA Bin Ladens terrorist organization is Al
Qaeda. It is a group of terrorist organizations
around the world, including the Middle East,
Asia, and Europe. Its goal is a unified Muslim
state without the presence of Americans or
Westerners and instituting Islamic law. It
supports violent acts and terrorism. It
supports Muslims in Kosovo, Bosnia, Chechnya,
the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Al Qaeda
has cells around the world, including most of
Europe and the US.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN

• ACTS OF AL QAEDA
• Al Qaeda has committed or suspected of committing
  various acts against the US and West to include
• Arming and participating in the Somali
  operations against the US (1993)
• Bombing of the World Trade Center (1993)
• Assassination attempt of Egyptian President
  Mubarak in the Sudan (1995)
• Bombing of US personnel in Khobar Towers, Saudi
  Arabia (1996)
• Assassination attempt of the Pope and President
  Clinton, both in the Phillipines, and plotting to
  blow up US airliners in the Pacific
• Bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya,
  and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (1998)
• Bombing of the USS Cole at Aden, Yemen (2000)
• Bombing of the WTC and Pentagon (2001)

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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
COUNTRIES IN WHICH AL QAEDA OPERATE
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
AFGHANISTAN
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan is a country of resilient,
multi-ethnic
mountain people. They have stopped two British
and one Soviet invasions. They
have had a monarchy, republic,
and an Islamic government. These changes
in government have resulted from bloody
coups. Afghanistan has been suffering from 23
years of continuous war. In 1979 the
Soviet Union invad- ed in order to
save the Marxist government. The
US, though the CIA, supported the Muslim
mujahideen (many, including bin Laden,
were Arabs). The mujahideen
won, and the Soviets withdrew in February 1989.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
AFGHANISTAN The US after the war stopped
supporting the mujahideen, and civil war began in
1989. The mujahideen felt abandoned, and the
Arab Afghans began turning their efforts
against the US through terrorist groups. As a
result, al Qaeda was created. In the early
1990s an Islamic fundamentalist group
called the Taliban. This group was formed from
the Pashtuns around Kandahar. Their
goal was making an Islamic state
based around Shira. In 1996 the
Taliban gained control of Kabul and had, before
October 2001, control of 90 of
Afghanistan. Their leader is mullah
Muhammad Omar. The Northern Alliance, an
opposition group in the north, controlled 10.
They are an alliance of Uzbek and Tadjik
fighters. Their main goal is destroying the
Taliban.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
AFGHANISTAN The Taliban
allowed Afghanistan to be used as a base for al
Qaeda and invited bin Laden to stay as a guest
there. The US and the West has demanded the
Taliban to give him and his group up, but they
remained defiant. On 9 September the Taliban
assassinated the Northern Alliance leader Ahmad
Shah Massoud. Two days later, 9/11
occurred. Beginning in October 2001, the US
began air strikes against the Taliban and
destroyed the Taliban infrastructure.
Now an interim government, led by
Pashtun fighter Hamed Karzai, leads Afghanistan
until elections occur. There is still a
danger of civil war in Afghanistan.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
PAKISTAN Pakistan has been the gateway for
terrorists into Pakistan. While the US did not
officially recognize Pakistan as a
terrorist-sponsoring country, it did support the
mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan war and after
the war when the mujahideen turned their focus
toward terrorism. The ISI, Inter Service
Intelligence, is the agency that supports
terrorism. They give weapons to and train
the rebels in Kashmir, a disputed region
between northern Pakistan and India. The
group is called the Harakat
al-Mujahideen.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
PAKISTAN During the 1990s the Pakistani
government supported the Taliban and was only one
of three countries to recognize them. This is
partially due to the large Pashtun minority
there. Pakistan has allowed the Taliban to run
training camps in Pakistan and use them as an
ISB. After 9/11 the government has taken a new
stance against the Taliban. The
president General Pervez Musharraf
has been giving full support to the US
with use of its air bases and air space for the
war on Afghanistan. Musharraf also is
calling for a scaling back of the ISI,
though that may be difficult due to the fact that
even he may not know the extent of this agency.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
IRAN Iran is a primary supporter of terrorism.
It is a Shiite Muslim country and supports Shiite
groups, including in southern Iraq and Hizbollah
in Lebanon. It traditionally has been at war
with the Sunni Islamic majority, but since the
Gulf War Iran has been cooperating with Sunni
movements, including the Taliban before 1998 and
al Qaeda. The executive branch of the Iranian
government, led by President Mohammad
Khatami, is moder- ate and has
been trying to implement some re-
forms. The Islamic courts, however, are conser-
vative and block any reforms. Since
the Islamic Revolution of 1979, led by Khomeni,
Iran has been very anti-US and anti-Israel and
has been using terrorism to spread its views.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
IRAN The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is the
government agency that handles terrorist
activity. Its goal is to protect and spread the
Islamic Revolution to the rest of the world,
partially through terrorism. Iran has
been giving support of both weapons
and money to terrorist
organizations. Recently Israel intercepted
a boat with a shipment of weapons to the
Palestineans. Iran
is an active force behind al Qaeda.
While it states that it has nothing to do
with al Qaeda, Iran is supporting them with
money, weapons, and possibly as refugees.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
IRAQ
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
IRAQ Since Saddam Hussein came into power in
1979, Iraq has almost constantly at war.
The Iran-Iraq War (1980-8), which ended in a
draw, devastated its economy. The Gulf War
(1991) after Iraq invaded Kuwait in
August 1990, the UN-imposed sanctions have
destroyed the rest of the economy. The Iraqi
governmentwhich is a socialist Arab government,
not an Islamic onehas been persecuting both the
Kurds in the north and the Shiite Muslim minority
in the south.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
IRAQ The military, though severely weakened after
the Gulf War, is still one of the strongest in
the Middle East. The military is split into two
parts, the Republican Guard and the Regular Army.
Most of the Republican Guard remained intact
after the Gulf War. The government rules the
country through the military and the police. Iraq
has been producing weapons of mass destruction
(WMD). They have chemical and biological weapons
and have been trying to build nuclear. During
the Iran-Iraq War, WMD may have been used.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
IRAQ Iraq refuses the UN to send weapons
inspection teams into Iraq. On the occasions
when they did allow UN teams, the government
simply moved WMD around from site to site and did
not allow surprise inspections. Iraq supports
terrorists through training camps and
intelligence. While they do not support Irans
efforts or terrorist groups because they are
Muslims, the government uses terrorist groups to
destroy the US and the West. Unlike Afghanistan,
there is no large organized opposition. The
Iraqi National Congress, a coalition of Kurds and
Shiites, is extremely weak inside Iraq. The only
reason they still exist is the no-fly zones in
Iraq.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
GULF STATES Six countries in the Persian Gulf
areaSaudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE,
and Omanare oil-rich, conservative Arab Muslim
states. A seventh, Yemen, has little oil and
suffers from poverty. The governments of
these nations are very conservative
kingdoms or sheikdoms (nations
that are ruled by a sheik). While all of
these governments do not support
terrorism, two (Saudi Arabia and UAE),
recognized the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
GULF STATES Many of the Al Qaeda members come
from the Gulf States. Half of all the
prisoners in Camp X Ray, Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, are Saudi citizens. Many countries did
harbor terrorists, especially Yemen.
Since November 2001 Yemen started
cracking down Al Qaeda members. All of these
countries support the war on terrorism, but Saudi
Arabia and others have stated that they will not
allow US forces on their land for an attack on
another Arab country.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
PALESTINE and ISRAEL Palestinean extremist groups
fighting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip of
Israel are funded by either Iran directly or Al
Qaeda. These groups goal is the overthrow of
Israel and institution of a Palestinean state
consisting of all Isreali lands for 4.5 million
Palestineans living in Israel or a refugee
camp. HAMAS is a Palestinean group working mainly
in the West Bank and Gaza. It has a military
wing and a recruitment and charity wing. The
charity wing is funded by Al Qaeda. It is a
serious challenge to Yassir Arafat and the
PLO. Hezbollah is a Palestinean Shiite Muslim
group working out of Lebanon. It is funded by
Iran. It is a powerful cultural force in
Lebanon, and it commits terrorist acts against
Israel.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
EGYPT The government of Egypt has been very
anti-terrorist, but many terrorist groups against
the government groups work there, especially in
southern Egypt. Al-Gama al-Islamiyya is Egypts
largest militant organization. Its goal is
violent means of overthrowing the government and
instituting an Islamic government. They
massacred foreign tourists in Luxor in 1997.
There spiritual leader is Sheik Omar Adudal
Rahman, the head of the WTC bombings in 1993. Al
Jihad is another Muslim extremist group in Egypt.
The head is Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who
is now chief of operations for Al Qaeda.
Al Jihad now is a wing of Al Qaeda and
supports international terrorism.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
SUDAN The Sudan is a terrorist-supporting country
in Africa between Egypt and Somalia. There is a
civil war between the Muslim Arab north and the
black, pagan south. The Sudan is extremely poor,
and most of its economy is based on foreign and
private aid, especially from rich extremist
Arabs. Since the Soviet-Afghan war, the Sudan has
been harboring Arab mujahadeen and in the 1990s
al Qaeda. Sudan allowed bin Laden to live there
from 1994 to 1996, and bin Laden with his
familys construction company improved the
Sudans infrastructure. Most of this
construction was aimed at improving the
governments war fighting capabilities.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
SOMALIA Somalia is another haven for terrorists.
It, like the Sudan, is extremely poor, but it
also has no functioning government. It is ruled
by warlords, and they restrict humanitarian aid
to the seven million staving Somalis.
The warlords have been housing al Qaeda since
the early 1990s, and al Qaeda fighters
fought against the UN humanitarian
forces, including American Task Force
Ranger, in 1993. Al Qaeda has been using Somalia
as a staging base for wars in the Sudan and
Ethopia as well as terrorist acts such as the
embassy bombings in 1998. There are also
numerous terrorist training camps there.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
SOUTHEAST ASIA Many countries in southeast Asia,
including Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and the
Philippines, are Muslim countries. These
governments support a crackdown on Al
Qaeda-supported groups, which are working
in southeast Asia. In
Sri Lanka the Liberation Tigers of Tamale
Elam is an Al Qaeda guerilla group is
targeting the countrys infrastructure.
The group is causing severe poverty in Sri
Lanka. In the Philippines, Abu Sayyaf is a Al
Qaeda group in the southern Philippines. Their
goal is to set up a Muslim government. They are
very violent and have killed Western missionaries.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
OTHER AREAS Al Qaeda supported Muslims during the
wars in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Kosovo. Now many
former mujahideen are married to Bosnians or
Albanians and live in Europe. Some still may be
active members in Al Qaeda. All over the world
there are active and inactive cells of Al Qaeda,
including most of the major cities in Europe, the
United States, and Canada. Most of these cells
work in logistics and planning, conducting
reconnaissance missions of future targets.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
SUMMARY Any of these groups or governments that
support terrorism can attack the US or US
interests at any time. President Bush called for
an end to terrorism by destroying al Qaeda and
the groups it supports. This includes freezing
bank accounts in the West, using CIA and special
operations, and possibly the use of regular
military troops. Until al Qaeda is destroyed in
each of these countries, the US and the West is
not safe. Many countries are doing there
part. The governments that do continue to support
al Qaeda will be subject to US intervention in
their country.
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HUMAN INTELLIGENCE PLATOON, B COMPANY, 311TH MI BN
QUESTIONS?