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Monday, October 27, 2003
FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2
BULLETIN
Al-Qaida planned
U.S. forest fires
FBI memo described plot
to set blazes in the
West
Posted: October 27, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Editor's note: Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is a weekly
online, subscription intelligence news service from the creator of
WorldNetDaily.com � a journalist who has been developing sources around
the world for the last 25 years.
� 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
As arson wildfires consumed nearly 200,000 acres in Southern
California, destroying 850 homes and killing at least 13, the inevitable
question arises: Who started the fires?
While firefighters focus on containing the blazes rather than the
detective work necessary to prosecute arsonists, many are wondering about
a possible connection with terrorism.
In August, Australian authorities launched an investigation into
reports al-Qaida planned to spark bushfires in a new wave of devastating
terror attacks.
A June 25 FBI memo to United States law enforcement agencies revealed a
senior al-Qaida detainee claimed to have developed a plan to start
midsummer forest fires in the U.S.
The terrorist hoped to mimic the destruction that devastated Canberra
last summer, killing four people and destroying more than 500 homes, as
well as in other parts of Australia.
The memo, obtained by the Arizona Republic newspaper, said an
unidentified detainee revealed he hoped to create several large,
catastrophic wildfires at once.
"The detainee believed that significant damage to the U.S. economy
would result and once it was realized that the fires were terrorist acts,
U.S. citizens would put pressure on the U.S. government to change its
policies," the memo said.
The detainee told investigators his plan called for three or four
operatives to travel to the U.S. and set timed explosive devices in
forests and grasslands.
"Australian security authorities are aware of reports that al-Qaida has
considered starting bushfires in the U.S. as a form of terrorist attack,"
said a spokeswoman Australian Attorney General Daryl Williams. "Arson
attacks are just one of a wide range of scenarios which have been
considered as part of our investigations into al-Qaida's ability to
conduct attacks in Australia."
In fact, Arab terrorists in Israel have started dozens of major forest
fires over the years. And al-Qaida has been known to learn from and take
inspiration from the activities of Palestinian Arab terrorists � who, for
instance, first pioneered airline hijackings.
As far back as 1988, Israeli police caught more than a dozen
Palestinian adults in the act of setting fires, while other Arabs
confessed to arson after arrest. Some fires followed specific calls by
underground Arab terrorists. A leaflet issued by the Palestinian
uprising's underground leadership called for ''the destruction and burning
of the enemy's properties, industry and agriculture.''
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said at the time: ''The need to set
fires, which also leads to murders, is in my eyes worse than
fundamentalism.''
Israeli nature reserve authorities said 408 fires in May and June of
1988 destroyed 400,000 acres of land, nearly seven times the acreage
burned from 1974 to 1986.
Last year, Gilad "Gidi" Mastai, chief ranger in the Galilee region of
Israel, told the Jerusalem Post: "It's extremely hard to find arsonists,
just like it's hard to close off the Green Line to terrorists. The forests
here are on the front line."
But, he said, the vast majority of deliberate fires are started by
Arabs with political motives.
Forest rangers often need the help of the Israel Defense Forces to
battle the terror blazes.
Arson cases account for one-third of Israeli forest fires. "Political"
arsonists cause the most with negligent hikers a close second.
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