Chapter Eight: The Umbrella Effect

1. Chapter Eight:The Umbrella Effect

2. Jihad Moves to Central and Southeast Asia

3. Jihad Moves to Central and Southeast Asia • The impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union on Central Asia • The Stans (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan) moved into self-government • The new Russian Federation wanted nothing to do with their old possession in Central Asia • The new governments ended up with authoritarian regimes far removed from the common people, which led to unrest across the region, and the climate became ripe for religious radicals to gain influence

4. Jihad Moves to Central and Southeast Asia • Three groups that grew in Central Asia after 1991 • The Hezb-ul-Tahir • A Palestinian organization that moved to Central Asia to preach conversion to Islam • The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) • Proposed a violent jihad against Islam Karimov, the dictator of Uzbekistan • Ethnic Uighars from western China • Organized to revive an eighteenth-century state in China’s Xing Xian (New Frontier) province

5. Jihad Moves to Central and Southeast Asia • The Jihadists move to India • Much of India’s terrorist problem centered on Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory along the Indian and Pakistani border • India’s and Pakistan’s internal problems • India was concerned with growing terrorism fostered by Pakistani groups, its own internal Jihadists, and Sikh terrorists (the Sikhs are a religious group combining monotheism with precepts of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism)

6. Jihad Moves to Central and Southeast Asia • The Jihadist movement in Southeast Asia • Jihadist groups began forming in Indonesia in the early 1990s • Lashkar Jihad • Formed to fight Christians in the East • Jamaat Islamiyya • Formed with the purpose of placing Indonesia under strict Islamic law

7. Jihad Moves to Central and Southeast Asia • The Philippines • Religious and ideological rebellions were repeated themes • The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) • Seeks an independent Islamic state • Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) • Seeks to create an Islamic state under strict interpretations of Islamic law • Abu Sayyuf • Claims to be part of the Jihadist movement, but is most closely associated with criminal activity, and seems more interest in money than religion • The New Peoples Army • Hopes to turn the Philippines into a communist state

8. Jihad Moves to Central and Southeast Asia • Ethnic Chechnyans and Russians • Chechnyan rebels should not be lumped with other Jihadist movements • Chechnyans are engaged in a legitimate war of independence and are not like other Jihadist terrorists

9. Sunni Jihad from Africa to the West

10. Sunni Jihad from Africa to the West • The Algerian Civil War • In 1992, an Islamic party won the national election in Algeria • The Algerian military took control of the government and voided the elections • The military coup ended in the Civil War, during which more than one hundred thousand people died between 1992 and 2002

11. Sunni Jihad from Africa to the West • The path of the Jihadist groups • The Muslim Brotherhood • Started in Cairo in 1928 under the leadership of Hassan al Banna • By 1951, after al Banna’s assassination, the movement grew violent, partly because of the influence of Sayyid Qutb • Qutb was executed in 1966, and the Brotherhood returned to its original mission of peace • Al Qaeda • Moved to Sudan in 1992, and found willing partners in the north • In some cases, Jihadist groups shared training and members with al Qaeda

12. Sunni Jihad from Africa to the West • Jihad in the international arena • Qutb advocated of revolutionary reform inside government, but he argued it was necessary to confront and defeat infidel government not under the rule of Islamic law • Jihadists sought to impose Islamic law on the world • As a result, Jihadists used Africa as a springboard to the West • Hezbollah (Party of God) • Spawned in Lebanon after the Iranian Revolution, which culminated in the overthrow of the secular shah of Iran • Hezbollah’s purpose is to spread the Islamic law of Shi’ite Islam

13. The Metamorphosis of Hezbollah

14. The Metamorphosis of Hezbollah • Shi’ite beliefs • One of Mohammed’s decedents must return before God judges humanity • Mohammed’s power flowed through his heirs • Mohammed had twelve direct heirs, or imams, and that the last imam was taken directly to heaven

15. The Metamorphosis of Hezbollah • The birth of Hezbollah • Secular Syrian Ba’athists wanted to establish control in Lebanon • Lebanon was locked in a multifaceted civil war • Secular Palestinians in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) moved into the Shi’ite areas of southern Lebanon • The Syrians backed the southern Shi’ites in the civil war, pitting the Shi’ites and the Syrians against the PLO • The Israelis invaded Lebanon in 1982 to drive the PLO from the south. This led to an alliance among Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, secular Syrian Ba’athists, and southern Lebanese Shi’ites • As Shi’ite militias resisted the Israeli invasion, one group began to form in the shadows of the civil war. It centered around a “nonorganization”- a governing council to share ideas, plans, and money, but designed to disappear and leave autonomous groups to carry out attacks under a variety of names. They called themselves Hezbollah, or the Party of God

16. The Metamorphosis of Hezbollah • The Umbrella organization of Hezbollah • Overhead, Syrian and Iranian money and supplies poured into the movement • Below the umbrella, several Shi’ite cells operated autonomously and received money, weapons, and ideas through hidden channels linked with the spiritual leaders • The leadership formed alliances with two Lebanese Shi’ite groups, Al Dawa and Islamic Amal

17. The Metamorphosis of Hezbollah • Leadership of Hezbollah • Sheik Mohammed Hassan Fadallah • Charismatic spiritual leader • Abus Musawi • Provided loose connections to Iran • Hassan Nasrallah • Practical miltarist

18. The Metamorphosis of Hezbollah • The developmental phases of Hezbollah • Phase one (1982-1985), the umbrella covered many terrorist groups • After 1985, Hezbollah’s leaders wanted to develop a revolutionary movement similar to that which gripped Iran in 1978 and 1979 • Narsrallah began changing the structure of Hezbollah in 1985 • He established regional centers, transforming them to operational bases between 1987 and 1989 • Hezbollah on the warpath • The marine barracks bombing • Kidnapping campaign in Beirut

19. The Metamorphosis of Hezbollah • The third phase came in 1990 • Nasrallah created a regional militia by 1990 • Hezbollah’s militia soon found itself in trouble; Squabbling broke out among various groups, and Hezbollah was forced to fight Syria and Islamic Amal • The fourth phase brought the organizations from the shadows • By 1995, Hezbollah developed strong political bases of support in parts of Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and its stronghold in southern Lebanon • When Palestinians rose against the Israelis in 2000, Hezbollah embraced their cause, and its transformation was complete. It was a nationalistic group with a military wing, and its stated goals were to eliminate Israel and to establish an Islamic government in Lebanon

20. The Current State of Hezbollah

21. The Current State of Hezbollah • Hezbollah’s three directorates • The political wing, the social services wing, the security wing • Each directorate is subservient to a Supreme Council, currently headed by Hassan Nasrallah • Hezbollah receives funding from Iran

22. The Current State of Hezbollah • Hezbollah’s tactics • The primary tactic is bombing • Suicide bombing • Radio-controlled bombs • Hezbollah international • The Supreme Council denies its existence • The international section has cells in several different countries, including the United States, and maintains an extensive international finance ring partially based on smuggling, drugs, and other crimes

23. A Sympathetic View of Hezbollah

24. A Sympathetic View of Hezbollah • Hezbollah had no intention of spreading the Iranian Revolution; they merely wanted to defend their community • They are a religious and political organization supporting a guerrilla army, and the purpose of the army is to defeat Israel • The main focus of Hezbollah is social service in the form of education, health services, and social security

25. A Sympathetic View of Hezbollah • Hezbollah guerrillas believe that fighting the Israelis is not an act of terrorism • Most Arabs find Hezbollah to be a source of inspiration • Hassan Fadlallah condemned the September 11 attacks as un-Islamic, refusing to call the hijackers “martyrs” and maintaining they committed suicide while murdering innocent people

26. A Critical View of Hezbollah

27. A Critical View of Hezbollah • Hezbollah is a terrorist organization because: • The suicide attacks it carried out against civilians and peacekeeping forces • Its kidnapping rampage from 1983 to 1990 • 1985 hijacking of a TWA flight • Two bombings in Argentina in 1992 and 1994 • Hezbollah has been responsible for a campaign of suicide bombings, the murders of Lebanese Christians, international arms smuggling, and a host of international criminal activity

28. A Critical View of Hezbollah • Hezbollah’s uncompromising political stand, and critics contend that it exists for only two reasons: to impose a Shi’ite government on Lebanon and to destroy the state of Israel • Alasdair Soussi says Hezbollah exports its revolutionary ideals , claiming that contacts exist between Hezbollah and the Iraqi resistance movement • Jessica Stern points out that Hezbollah interacts with other terrorist groups around the world

29. A Critical View of Hezbollah • Hezbollah is part of the Jihadist network, but its origins and reasons for existing are found in the struggle over Palestine • Hezbollah provided a model for the formation of an international umbrella of terrorist organizations. The international section remains a conglomeration of like-minded semiautonomous groups