Monday, September 20, 2004

State Dept. Web Site Still Out of the Loop

washingtonpost.com
State Dept. Web Site Still Out of the Loop

By Al Kamen

Monday, September 20, 2004; Page A19

It's always important to keep your Web site up to date. Take, for example, a site the State Department put up, apparently a month or so after 9/11, with information about Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorist network.

There are quotes from bin Laden praising the hijackers and quotes from President Bush and other administration officials outlining efforts to defeat terrorism. To be helpful, State put up a map showing in red where al Qaeda had been operating around the world.

Those places include this country, Europe and Russia, North Africa and most of the Middle East. But wait! There are a couple of countries in the Middle East where al Qaeda had not been operating as of the fall of 2001: Syria and Iraq.

But we now are told al Qaeda had been all over Iraq then, right next to the WMD. In any event, it's operating there now, so best to update soon. The site is usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/terrornet/12.htm.

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NOTE: The home page of the State Department's series of pages called "Network of Terrorism" now states: "This publication is under review," so the page indicated above may disappear soon. Therefore, here is the data that appears there:

Condemned in His Own Words

"God has blessed a group of vanguard Muslims, the forefront of Islam, to destroy America."
From videotaped statement broadcast by Al Jazeera, October 7, 2001

"We issue the following fatwa to all Muslims: The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it....We -- with God's help -- call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it."
From World Islamic Front Statement, February 23, 1998

Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda

"Before These Remarks, Bin Laden Was Innocent. However, Now He Is Condemned"
Faisal Salman, As-Safir, Lebanon, October 9, 2001

"Misuse of the Palestinian Issue"
Al-Ayyam, West Bank, October 9, 2001

"Bin Laden Disturbs Us; However, He Doesn't Convince Us"
La Vie Economique, Morocco,
October 12, 2001

"Al Qaeda Is Not Authorized to Speak on Behalf of Muslims" Akhbar Al-Arab, United Arab Emirates, October 15, 2001

"A Confession Is the Most Conclusive Piece of Evidence"
Al-Ra'i, Jordan, October 9, 2001

Countries Where al Qaeda Has Operated

Albania
Algeria
Afghanistan
Azerbaijan
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belgium
Bosnia
Egypt
Eritrea
France
Germany
India
Iran
Ireland
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kosovo
Lebanon
Libya
Malaysia
Mauritania
Netherlands
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
South Africa
Sudan
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uzbekistan
Yemen