FTR#414—Islam Under the Swastika and Its Implications for Today—(Two
30-minute segments) (Sources are noted in parentheses.)
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Summary of FTR#414—(Note: The massive volume of “For The Record”
programs about 9/11 and related topics is summarized and analyzed in the
periodically-updated description for FTR#391. It
is recommended that listeners use this description and e-mail it to others.
Also: The “meat” of the book “Martin Bormann: Nazi in Exile” has been digested
into an extended description for FTR#305.
Listeners can now e-mail this quintessentially important book to people around
the world. In addition, the professional history of the late Paul Manning, the
book’s author, is presented in the description “About
Paul Manning.” This enables listeners to acquaint others with Mr.
Manning’s journalistic credentials. Understanding the Bormann organization is
essential to comprehending the concept of “the Underground Reich.”) Providing historical background to the operations of Islamofascism in
contemporary times, this broadcast fleshes out some of the history of the
collaboration between Nazi Germany (and—to a lesser extent—Fascist Italy) and
key elements of the Islamic world. (One should note in this context that the
term Islamofascism applies to a considerable portion of the Islamist milieu,
but that many Islamists are not fascists but religious extremists. The focal
point of the program is Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and
the first leader of the Palestinian national movement. The subject of much
discussion in past programs (see references in the text below), “Der
Grossmufti” was a pivotal Axis operative. In addition to mentoring Yasser
Arafat, the Grand Mufti worked for the SS and collaborated closely with members
of the Muslim Brotherhood. Much of this program focuses on his formation of
Muslim fighting formations for the Waffen SS and Wehrmacht and the legacy that
those units have perpetuated into contemporary times. After detailed,
substantive discussion of the units and the ethnic and religious history that
contributed to (and resulted from) their formation, the broadcast highlights
contemporary manifestations of those conflicts. In particular, the program
highlights the legacy of the Third Reich as it manifests itself in
Islamofascist and Wahhabi activism in the Balkans and regions of the former
Soviet Union such as Chechnya. A major element of the program concerns the
pivotal role of Bush aide Karl Rove in forming the Al Taqwa/Muslim Brotherhood
links with the Republican Party. In addition to Rove’s collaboration with
Grover Norquist in bringing the Islamists into the GOP, the broadcast
underscores the significant efforts of Bush associate Talat Othman in realizing
the Islamist connection to the GOP. A director of Harken Energy (one of George
W.’s failed oil companies) and an intimate of the BCCI milieu, Othman
intereceded with former Treasury secretary Paul O’Neill on behalf of the
targets of the 3/20/2002 Operation Green Quest raids. (See FTR#356.)
Program Highlights Include: the formation
of the Bosnian Muslim 23rd Waffen SS (“Kama”) Division; review of
the facts concerning the formation of the Bosnian Muslim 13th Waffen
SS (“Handjar”) Division; review of the formation of the Albanian 21st
Waffen SS (“Skanderbeg”) Division; comparison of the formation of the
Skanderbeg Division to the contemporary creation of related elements of the
Kosovo Liberation Army; review of the “New” “Handjar” Division in contemporary
Bosnia-Herzogovina; discussion of the collaboration of Balkan Muslims with the
Croatian Ustachi; the composition and combat operations of joint
Croatian/Muslim Wehrmacht units; an overview of the many Muslim units that
fought with the Axis powers; discussion the Waffengruppe-Der SS “Krim”
(composed of Chechen Muslims and the forebearers of the Chechen rebels
currently active in Russia); the combat role of the German Al Qaeda operative
Christian Ganczarski in Bosnia-Herzegovina; the Muslim Brotherhood’s parental
relationship with Hamas; Chechen fighters seeking refuge in Georgia.
1.
The broadcast begins with a thumbnail synopsis of the career of the
Grand Mufti. (For more about the Grand Mufti, see—among other programs—FTR#’s 293, 329, 330, 332, 340, 354, 371.)
“Haj Amin el
Husseini arrived in Europe in 1941 following the unsuccessful pro-Nazi coup
which he organized in Iraq. He met German foreign minister Joachcim von
Ribbentrop and was officially received by Adolf Hitler on November 28, 1941 in
Berlin. Nazi Germany established for der Grossmufti von Jerusalem a Bureau from
which he organized the following: 1) radio propaganda on behalf of Nazi
Germany; 2) espionage and fifth column activities in Muslim regions of Europe
and the Middle East; 3) the formation of Muslim Waffen SS and Wehrmacht units
in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo-Metohija, Western Macedonia, North Africa, and
Nazi-occupied areas of the Soviet Union; and, 4) the formation of schools and
training centers for Muslim imams and mullahs who would accompany the Muslim SS
and Wehrmacht units. As soon as he arrived in Europe, the Mufti established
close contacts with Bosnian Muslim and Albanian Muslim leaders. He would spend
the remainder of the war organizing and rallying Muslims in support of Nazi
Germany . . .” (“Islam Under the Swastika: The Grand Mufti and the
Nazi Protectorate of Bosnia-Hercegovina, 1941-1945”; by Carl K. Savich;
available at www.rastko.org.yu/rastko-bl/istorija/ksavich-islam_e.html
.)
2.
Next, the broadcast gives a brief summary of the Muslim Brotherhood.
(For more about the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, see—among other
programs—FTR#’s 343, 416. The
Brotherhood is also discussed in FTR#’s
350, 351, 377, 381, 382.) In addition, this part of the program reviews the
Islamic Decclaration of Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic. (For more about
his Islamic Declataration, see—among other programs FTR#s 154, 339.) “ . . . Hassan el Banna formed the Muslim Brotherhood in
Egypt in 1928. The Muslim Brotherhood had links to the Grand Mufti and worked
with him in Palestine, sending volunteers in support of the Palestinian
uprisings in 1936, 1939, and during the 1948 war. The Muslim Brotherhood sought
to establish Muslim states based on the Sharia, Islamic law, and the Caliphate
system of political rule, wherein each Islamic state would be ruled by a
Caliph. Islam is ‘creed and state, book and sword, and a way of life.’ In
Pakistan, Syed Abdul ala Maududi founded the Jamaat Islami movement with the
goal of establishing Muslim theocratic states based on Koranic law. Egyptian
Sayed Qutb of the Muslim Brotherhood continued the movement after World War II.
The Muslim Brotherhood had offshoots: the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Haj
Amin el Husseini, the Muslim Brotherhood, Jamat Islami, Islamic Jihad, all form
the roots and historical background for the emergence of the Al Qaeda network,
the mujahedeen of Afghanistan, and Osama bin Laden. Ayatollah Khomeini and
Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic would be influenced by the
anti-secular, anti-Western, radical Muslim nationalist movements. In his book The Islamic Declaration, (Islamska Deklaracija, 1970; republished,
1990), Izetbegovic rejected the secular conception of an Islamic state espoused
by Kemal Ataturk. Izetbegovic sought to create an Islamic state based in the
Sharia, a state where religion would not be separate from the state, i.e., an
Islamic theocratic state. Izetbegovic established close links to Osama bin
Laden and al-Qaeda and invited mujahedeen forces to join the Bosnian Muslim
Army. Izetbegovic later would give Osama Bin Laden a special Bosnian passport
and the mujahedeen ‘freedom fighters’ would receive Bosnian citizenship and
passports. One of the hijackers of the second attack on the World Trade Center
on Septermber 11, 2001, possessed a Bosnian passport.” (Ibid.; pp.
3-4.)
3.
Detailing Nasser’s connections to the Grand mufti and the Muslim
Brotherhood, the following passage reviews Yasser Arafat’s connections to the
Mufti, as well. (For more about the Arafat/Grand Mufti connection, see—among
other programs—FTR#340.) “Yasser Arafat
was introduced to the Mufti and the Mufti would subsequently become the role
model and mentor for Arafat. In biographies of Arafat, whose real name is
Mohammed el Husseini, the Mufti is stated to be a ‘distant relative’ of Arafat,
although this claim has been denied as well. For two years, beginning at the
age of 16, Arafat worked for the Mufti and his covert terrorist network and
organization, helping to smuggle and buy weapons in the war against Jewish
settlers of Palestine. Sheik Hassan Abu Saud, the mufti al-Shafaria, worked
with the Mufti. The Grand Mufti was a precursor of both the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) and of the Palestinian national struggle and
movement to maintain a Palestinian state. The terrorism, fanaticism, and
ruthlessness of that movement reflect the enduring legacy and influence of the
Grand Mufti . . .” (Ibid.; p. 4.)
4.
The Grand Mufti and the Brotherhood pursued a central agenda, while
working with the Third Reich. The broadcast reviews the Grand Mufti’s role in
helping to instigate a pro-Axis coup in Iraq. (For more about this coup,
see—among other programs—FTR#369.
Note that Saddam’s maternal uncle and political mentor was a participant in
this coup. For more about Saddam’s uncle, see—among other programs—FTR#287.) “ . . . In 1939, the Mufti established his
headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, where he set up a ‘political department’ that
maintained ties to Germany and Italy. Germany sought to create a Berlin-Baghdad
Axis and instigated a pro-Nazi coup. Iraqi General Rashid Ali el Gailani, a
militant Muslim nationalist, and the Golden Square, a group of pro-Nazi Iraqi
officers, took over the Iraqi government. The Mufti sent representatives to
Berlin and a letter to Adolf Hitler. In a reply by German State Secretary
Freiherr von Weiszacker, the Mufti was told that ‘the Fuehrer received your
letter dated January 20th . . . He took great interest in what you
wrote him about the national struggle of the Arabs . . . Germany . . . is ready to cooperate with you and to
give you all possible military and financial help . . . Germany is prepared to
deliver to you immediately military material.’ Abwehr, German intelligence,
established contacts with the Mufti at this time.” (Ibid.; pp. 4-5.)
5.
“Nazi Germany
sent arms and aircraft to the Mufti’s forces in Iraq but the British were able
to reoccupy Iraq, forcing the Mufti and el Gailani to flee to Tehran. The Mufti
then flew to either Afghanistan or Turkey ‘where he is known to have many
friends’. From there he arrived in Albania and on October 24 he reached
southern Italy. On October 27, 1941, the Mufti arrived in Rome. The Mufti would
subsequently play a major role in organizing Muslim support for Nazism in
Europe.” (Ibid.;
p. 5.)
6.
Exemplifying the manner in which the anti-colonial sentiment of
indigenous peoples was utilized by the Third Reich for its own geopolitical
agenda, the Grand Mufti issued a fatwa against the British. “On May 9, 1941,
the Mufti broadcast a fatwa announcing a jihad, an Islamic holy war, against
Britain and he urged every Muslim to join in the struggle against the ‘greatest
foe of Islam’: ‘I invite all my Muslim brothers throughout the whole world to
join in the holy war for Allah . . . to preserve Islam, your independence and
your lands from English aggression.’ The Mufti envisioned a vast Arab-Muslim
union which would unite Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Palestine, Trans-Jordan, and
Egypt with Germany and Italy creating a Pan-Muslim/Arab Bloc of countries . .
.” (Idem.)
7.
Eventually, the Grand Mufti was incorporated into the SS. It is important to note that many of the
areas that the Grand Mufti was able to exploit in recruiting Muslim fighting
formations on behalf of the Third Reich were areas in which Islamist activism
is a major factor to this day. Note that Chechen Muslims were recruited
into the Waffengruppe der SS Krim. “. . . After meeting Hitler and Ribbentrop in Berlin in 1941,
the Mufti was approached by Gottlob Berger, head of the SS main Office in
control of recruiting, and by Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, who made him a
part of the SS apparatus. In May, 1943, the Mufti was moved to the SS main
office where he participated in the recruiting of Muslims in the Balkans, the
USSR, the Middle East, and North Africa. The Grand Mufti was instrumental in
the organization and formation of many Muslim units and formations in the
Waffen SS and Wehrmacht. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims fought for Nazi
Germany in the following formations and units: Two Bosnian Muslim Waffen SS
Divisions, an Albanian Waffen SS Division in Kosovo-Metohija and Western
Macedonia, the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS ‘Skanderbeg’, a Muslim
SS self-defense regiment in the Rashka (Sandzak) region of Serbia, the Arab
Legion (Arabisches Freiheitskorps),
the Arab Brigade, the Ostmusselmanische SS-Regiment, the Ostturkischen Waffen
Verband der SS made up of Turkistanis, the Waffengruppe der-SS Krim, formations
consisting of consisting of Chechen Muslims from Chechnya, and a Tatar Regiment
der-SS made up of Crimean Tatars, and other Muslim formations in the Waffen SS
and Wehrmacht, in Bosnia-Hercegovina, the Balkans, North Africa, Nazi-occupied
areas of the Soviet Union, and the Middle East . . .” (Ibid.; p. 6.)
8.
For his tactical inspiration for the Muslim Waffen SS divisions
recruited from the Balkans, Himmler relied on the successful recruitment of
Muslims by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I. (In this context, one
should note that the former Yugoslavia had been part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire and, before that, the Ottoman Empire. The smoldering ethnic resentments
stemming from that period contributed to the conflagration that exploded in
that region in the 1990’s.) “ . . . Unlike most SS officials, Himmler was convinced of
the fighting ability of the Bosnian Muslims, partly from his understanding of
the role of the Bosnian Muslims as soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian Imperial
Army before and during World War I and his belief that Islam was an ideal
religion for a soldier. Himmler stated to Joseph Goebbels that he had ‘nothing
against Islam because it educates the men in this Division for me and promises
them heaven if they fight and are killed in action; a very practical and
attractive religion for soldiers!’” (Ibid.; p. 20.)
9.
Before the synthesis of the Muslim SS formations, Muslim recruits
fought with the Ustachi formations in Croatia. (For more about the Croatian
Ustache, see—among other programs—FTR#48.)
“In 1941, over
100,000 Bosnian Muslim conscripts were available to fight in the military
formations of the Third Reich. Roman Catholic Croatian and Bosnian Muslim
soldiers were in the Ustasha death squads, the Domobranci (Home Guards), and
the Croatian Army. Bosnian Muslim soldiers were in the Nazi-Ustasha German
Croatian ‘Legion’ units, the 369th, 373rd, and 392nd
Infantry Divisions. The 369th German-Croatian Infantry Division,
formed in 1942, was known as the Vrazja Divizija or Devil Division commanded by
Generalleutenant Fritz Neidholt. The 373rd German-Croatian Infantry
Division was known as the Tigar Divizija or Tiger Division. The 392nd
German-Croatian Infantry Division was known as the Plava Divizija, or Blue
Division. The 369th Reinforced Croat Infantry Regiment, made up of
Croats and Bosnian Muslims, fought at Stalingrad where it was destroyed. The
NDH also sent the Italian-Croat Legion, attached to the Italian 3rd
Mobile Division, to the Russian front where it was destroyed during the Don
retreat. The 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment, formed at Varazdin,
consisted of three battalions, two from Croatia, one from Sarajevo. The
Regiment left Zagreb on July 15, 1941 for the Doellersheim Training Camp near
Vienna, Austria. From here, the troops were transferred by railroad to the
USSR. The Regiment was deployed on various points on the Russian Front:
Krementchug, Jasy, Kirovograd, Permomaysk, Poltava, the Dnieper River, Kharkov,
Stalino. On May 15, 1942, the Regiment was deployed on the Voronezh Front. On
September 27, the Bosnian Muslim/Croat troops deployed to Stalingrad where they
fought to take the city. By February, 1943, the Regiment was totally
annihilated and obliterated by the Russian Red Army. The German/Axis forces were
encircled and surrendered en masse in Stalingrad.” (Ibid.; p. 8.)
10.
Note that Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic was a member of the Young
Muslims, one of the pro-Axis formations in the Balkans. As discussed in FTR#’s 293, 330, 400 he helped to
recruit for the 13th Waffen SS (Hanjar) Division. “The Bosnian
Muslims formed purely Muslim formations as well, the most important of which
was the Muslim Volunteer Legion, led by Mohammed Hadzieffendic. Other Muslim
formations were the Zeleni Kadar/Kader (Green Cadres), Nazi formations created
by deserters from the Home Guards (Domobranci), led by Neshad Topcic, the
Muslim nationalist group, the Young Muslims (Mladl Muslimani), Huska
Miljkovic’s Muslim Army, and the Gorazde-Foca Milicijas (policing units). Alija
Izetbegovic was a key member of the Young Muslims (Mladi Muslimani) group.” (Idem.)
11.
“Himmler wanted
to re-establish the continuity with the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire, which
had formed Bosnian Muslim military formations. Himmler sent the Mufti to Zagreb
and to Sarajevo to prepare for the formation of the Bosnian Muslim units.
Himmler’s SS representative in the NDH, Konstantin Kammerhofer, was told to
begin recruiting a Bosnian Muslim Waffen SS Division of 26,000 men, which if
realized, would make it the largest of all the SS Divisions . . .” (Ibid.; pp. 9-10.)
12.
Recapitulating the history of the genesis of the 13th and 23rd
Waffen SS Divisions, it is important to note the historical influence of the
Ottoman occupation of the Balkans in the selection of the names of the
Divisions. “
. . . In April, 1943, the Grand Mufti came to Sarajevo, where he was greeted by
cheering crowds and where he was photographed on the balcony of the presidency
building with Bosnian Muslim leaders, to organize the formation of the Muslim
SS Division . . . The Bosnian Muslims formed two Nazi SS Divisions during World
War II, the 13th Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS ‘Handzar’ (or
Handschar’ in German) from the Turkish hancher,
‘dagger’, from the Arabic khangar, ‘dagger’, and 23rd Waffen
Gebirgs Division der SS ‘Kama’, from Turkish kama, ‘dagger, dirk’. During the war, Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich
Himmler, the ‘architect of the Holocaust’, reviewed the Handzar Division in a
German newsreel in 1943 while the division was being formed and trained in
Silesia, at the Neuhammer Waffen SS Training camp in Germany. The Bosnian
Muslims had approximately 20,000-25,000 men in the Waffen SS and police,
roughly 4% of their total population, one of the highest ratios of membership
in the Nazi ranks as a percentage of total population during the war . . .” (Ibid.;
pp. 12-13.)
13.
In addition to the 13th Waffen SS Division, the 23rd
(Kama) Division was recruited from Bosnia as well. “ . . . The Muslim Handzar and Kama Divisions
were organized on the model of the Bosnian Muslim regiments of the
Austro-Hungarian Army. The divisional names are derived from the Turkish words
‘hancher’ and ‘kama’, which in Turkish mean ‘dagger’, were symbolic of Islam
and Islamic military/political power and the Islamic state. The Turkish word
‘hancher’ is derived from the Arabic word ‘khangar’, ‘dagger’. The handzar and
kama were usually curved Turkish daggers which the Muslim Ottoman Turkish
Zaptiehs or police customarily carried as weapons when Bosnia was under Turkish
Ottoman rule. Thus, the names of the divisions were meant to revive the Islamic
historical traditions of the Bosnia Muslims as the rulers and masters (begs or
aghas) of Bosnia-Hercegovina over the non-Muslim rayah or untermenschen or mistmenschen,
the subhumans, Orthodox Serb Christians, Jews, and Roma. This was the
meaning and symbolic significance of the names ‘handzar’ and ‘kama’. Usually,
the Waffen SS Divisions were named after heroic local political or military
leaders. The Bosnian Muslims lacked any historical figures in their history.” (Ibid.;
p. 14.)
14.
As discussed in FTR#’s 168, 293,
400 the 21st Waffen SS Division (“Skanderbeg”) was something of
a forerunner of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Many of the members of the latter
were veterans of various Axis fighting formations, including the Skanderbeg
division. Noting that the recreated Hanjar Division (see the programs noted
above) was engaged in force projection in to the Kosovo/Macedonia area in the
early 1990’s, Mr. Emory observed that the KLA might be viewed as “Skanderbeg
II” or “Hanjar III.” The projection of elements of the original Hanjar Division
into what became the Skanderbeg Division was evident during the Second World
War, as well. (Recall, also, that the recreated Hanjar Division was led by Arab
and Pakistani veterans of the Afghan war. “The Division had at least nine Bosnian Muslim officers, the
highest ranking of whom was SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Hussein Biscevic-Beg, who
had been a Muslim officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army when Bosnia was under
occupation. Initially, the Handzar Division was formed around the core of the
Muslim Volunteer Legion, led by Mohammed Hadzieffendic, which was close to
divisional strength itself. There were approximately 300 Albanian Muslim troops
in the Handzar division primarily from Kosovo-Metohija in Regiment 28, I/28.
These Albanian Muslims would in 1944 be transferred to the 21st
Waffen Gebirgs Division ‘Skanderbeg’ to occupy Kosovo and Western Macedonia.
Albanian Muslim squad leader Nazir Hodic was a prominent member of Handzar.
Albanian Muslim Ajdin Mahmutovic was seventeen when he joined the Handzar SS
Division: ‘I was only seventeen years old when I joined the SS. I found the
physical training to be quite easy.’” (Ibid.; pp. 14-15.)
15.
“In January, 1944,
the Mufti made a second visit to and spent three days with the Handzar
Division, which was departing from Germany for Bosnia by rail. In a speech to
the Division, he made the following declaration of principles which was to
guide not only Bosnian Muslims, but all Muslims throughout the world: ‘This
division of Bosnian Muslims, established with the help of Greater Germany, is
an example to Muslims in all countries. There is no other deliverance for them
from imperialistic oppression than hard fighting to preserve their homes and
faith. Many common interests exist between the Islamic world and Greater
Germany, and those make cooperation a matter of course. The Reich is fighting
against the same enemies who robbed the Muslims of their countries and suppressed
their faith in Asia, Africa, and Europe.’” (Ibid.; p. 16.)
16.
“ ‘Germany is
the only Great Power which has never attacked any Islamic country. Further,
National-Socialist Germany is fighting against world Jewry. The Koran says:
‘You will find that the Jews are the worst enemies of the Muslims.’” There are
also considerable similarities between Islamic principles and those of
National-Socialism, namely in the affirmation of struggle and fellowship, in
stressing leadership, in the idea of order, in the high valuation of work. All
this brings our ideologies close together and facilitates cooperation. I am
happy to see in this division a visible and practical expression of both
ideologies.’” (Idem.)
17.
“Husseini
referred to the Bosnian Muslims as the ‘cream of Islam’ and in a speech to the
imams in the Handzar Division, explained why the Muslim/Arab world should
support the Axis/Nazi Germany: ‘Friendship and collaboration between peoples
must be built on a firm foundation. The necessary ingredients here are common spiritual
and material interests as well as the same ideals. The relationship between the
Muslims and the Germans is built on this foundation. Never in its history has
Germany attacked a Muslim nation. Germany battles world Jewry, Islam’s
principal enemy. Germany also battles England and its allies, who have
persecuted millions of Muslims, as well as Bolshevism, which subjugates forty
million Muslims and threatens the Islamic faith in other lands. Any one of
these arguments would be enough of a foundation for a friendly relationship
between two peoples . . . My enemy’s enemy is my friend.’” (Ibid.; pp. 16-17.)
18.
In addition to anti-British and anti-Semitic ideology, the Grand Mufti
articulated (and anticipated) the anti-American rhetoric of today’s Islamists
and Islamofascists. “On March 1, 1944, the Mufti attacked American policy in the
Middle East in a radio broadcast from Berlin: ‘No one ever that that 140,000
Americans would become tools in Jewish hands . . . How would the Americans dare
to Judaize Palestine? . . . The wicked American intentions towards the Arabs
are now clear, and there remain no doubts that they are endeavoring to
establish a Jewish empire in the Arab world.’” (Ibid.; p. 19.)
19.
A major source of funding for Al Qaeda has been Islamic charities.
Interestingly (and perhaps significantly), Islamic charities were also utilized
by the SS to shore up the Muslim divisions. “The Donauzeitung
(The Danube Times) newspaper of
December 31, 1942 reported that the Mufti had donated over 240,000 Kuna, the
currency of the NDH regime, to the Muslim charity organization in Sarajevo from
German government sources. Himmler donated 100,000 Reichsmarks. The SS bought
clothing which was donated to the Merhamed Welfage organization, a Muslim
charity.’” (Idem.)
20.
The concluding part of the broadcast examines some of the present
manifestations of Islamism and Islamofascism. In many cases (such as the
recreated Handjar Division of 1990’s in Bosnia-Herzegovina) the Islamist and
Islamofascist activists are the ontogenetic successors of many of the
formations that fought for the Axis. “ . . .These are the men of the Handzar division. ‘We do
everything with the knife, and we always fight on the frontline.’ A Handzar
told one U.N. officer. Up to 6,000 strong, the Handzar division glories in a
fascist culture. They see themselves as their heirs of the SS Handzar division,
formed by Bosnian Muslims in 1943 to fight for the Nazis. Their spiritual model
was Mohammed Amin al-Husein, the grand Mufti of Jerusalem who sided with
Hitler. According to U.N. officers, surprisingly few of those in charge of the
Handzars in Fojnica seem to speak good Serbo Croation ‘Many of them are
Albanian, whether from Kosovo (the Serb province where Albanians are the
majority) or from Albania itself.’ (“Albanians and Afghans fight for
the heirs to Bosnia’s SS Past” by Robert Fox; Daily Telegraph; 12/29/1993.)
21.
As we reflect on the Balkans war and the events of 9/11, one of the
scenarios to be seriously considered is the possibility that elements of US
intelligence utilized the “Arab Afghans” (including Al Qaeda) in the Balkans,
as they had against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Indeed the geopolitics first
practiced by the Third Reich in the “Earth Island” appears to have served as
something of a model for what took place in the latter part of the Cold War.
America’s erstwhile Islamist and Islamofascist allies later turned against the
United States with a vengeance. “They are trained and led by veterans from Afghanistan and
Pakistan, say U.N. sources strong presence of native Albanians is an ominous
sign. It could mean the seeds of war are spreading south via Kosovo and into
Albania. Thence to the Albanians of Macedonia. Pakistani fundamentalists are
known to have had a strong hand in providing arms and a small weapons industry
for the Bosnian Muslims.” (Idem.)
22.
Christian Ganczarski (suspected by the French of being a high-ranking
Al Qaeda operative and released from both Germany and Saudi Arabia) had a
combat background in Bosnia/Herzegovonia. (For more about Ganczarski, see FTR#’s 393, 410.) “The
two suspects knew each other from Duisburg, Germany where both lived until
recently. A computer expert who grew up in Poland, Ganczarski is a veteran of
Al Qaeda’s Afghan training camps and saw combat Bosnia-Herzegovina, according
to [French Justice Minister] Sarkozy. Ganczarski’s alleged contact with Bin
Laden is not in itself extraordinary because European converts are prized by Al
Qaeda for their ability to carry out covert operations and as symbols of the
evangelical power of the so-called holy wars.” (“Terror Suspect
Called Key Al Qaeda Figure” by Sebastian Rotella; Los Angeles Times; 6/12/2003; p. A3.)
23.
The broadcast reviews the Thyssen-Bornemisza operation, which helped
spawn the Bush family’s economic largesse. (As discussed in FTR#370, the Thyssen-Bornemisza
business is based in Lugano, Switzerland, as is Al Taqwa and the
closely-related Banco del Gottardo.) “Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza runs his private Dutch-based
investment group from Lugano, Switzerland, and his cousin Count Federico
Zichy-Thyssen, grandson of old Fritz Thyssen, exercises control over Thyssen
A.G. from his base in Buenos Aires.” (Martin Bormann: Nazi in Exile; Paul Manning; Copyright 1981 [HC];
Lyle Stuart Inc.; ISBN 0-8184-0309-8;
P. 237.)
24.
Interestingly (and perhaps significantly), the
Hapsburg/Thyssen-Bornemisza wedding took place in Zagreb, the capitol of
Croatia. (Information available at www.mzt.hr/projekti9095/6/99/128/rad_e.htm.)
The significance of the Hapsburg/Thyssen union is not one to be underestimated,
given the significance of the Hapsburg interests and that of the
Thyssen-Bornemisza operation.
25.
The Wahhabi fighters currently engaged in Chechnya are reminiscent of
the Waffen Grupp-der Krim during World War II. “For months, local residents say, the group
of 15 Arab and Central Asian fighters lived quietly in a two-story house here,
among the hundreds of guerillas who had turned this wooded vale near the
Russian border into a burgeoning center of Islamic militancy. Like many of
those who gathered here, the fighters had come over the snowy passes from
Chechnya, where they had been helping their fellow Muslims in their struggle to
break with the Russian republic. They exercised to stay in shape and went into
the woods to practice shooting. Some of the militants departed, presumably for
Russia, while new ones came to prepare for the fight.” (“U.S.
Entangled in Mystery of Georgia’s Islamic Fighters” by Dexter Filkins; The New York Times; 6/15/2003; accessed
at www.nytimes.com/2003/06/15/international/15GEOr.html
.)
26.
Among the Islamist organizations active in Russia is the Hizb
ut-Tahrir. “Russian security forces have detained
at least 55 members of a banned Islamic group, a spokesman for the FSB security
service said. Security officers also seized 500 grams of plastic explosive,
several hand grenades and leaflets for the organization, Hizb-e Tahrir.” (“Russia
Arrests Islamist Suspects” [BBC]; BBC News; 6/9/2003.)
27.
Next, the broadcast reviews information from FTR#395. Among the
organizations “fellow travelling” with the Hizb ut-Tahrir is the NPD, the top
German “neo”-Nazi group. Al Taqwa director Ahmed Huber and Horst Mahler are
among the associates of the NPD. (For more about Mahler, see FTR#’s 331, 333, 354, 383. For more
about Huber, see—among other programs—FTR#’s
343, 352, 354, 359, 371, 377, 378.) “Hizb ut-Tahrir became well known in Germany after staging
a rally at Berlin’s Technical University in October at which the main speaker
made anti-American comments, Schily said. Members of Germany’s extreme
right-win NPD, a party the government is trying to ban, also attended the
rally, he said.” (“Germany Bans
Islamic Group it Says is Anti-Semitic” [Reuters]; South Florida Sun-Sentinel; 1/15/2003; accessed at www.sun-sentinel.com/n…/sfl-115germanban,0,2720601.story?coll=sfla-newsnation-fron
.)
28.
A major player in the Israeli Palestinian struggles of recent years is
Hamas—the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. “ . . . Hamas, an acronym for Harakat Muqawama
Islamiya, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, was born in 1987 as an outgrowth
of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Since then, the group has
grown in stature to become one of the leading militant groups in the region and
a key player that now jeopardizes the success of the U.S.-backed road map for
Mideast peace.” (“Hamas committed to Armed Struggle Against Israel”
by Danielle Haas; San Francisco Chronicle;
6/14/2003; p. A14.)
29.
It should be noted that the Islamist, Al Qaeda and Al Taqwa elements
that were raided on 3/20/2002 were linked directly to the Republican party’s
ethnic outreach organization. “ . . . That brief conversation [between Norquist and Karl
Rove] in Austin, Texas, helped start a new chapter in Mr. Norquist’s career—and
in the political lives of Muslims in this country. The following year, Mr.
Norquist started the nonprofit Islamic Free Market Institute. In collaboration
with Mr. Rove, now Mr. Bush’s chief political adviser, he and other institute
leaders courted Muslim voters for the Bush 2000 presidential campaign. Mr. Norquist
even credits gains among Muslims with putting Mr. Bush in a position to win the
critical Florida contest . . . To run the nonprofit’s day-to-day operations,
Mr. Norquist turned to Khalid Saffuri, a Palestinian-American raised in Kuwait
who had been an official of the American Muslim Council, a political group in
Washington. The institute’s founding chairman was a Palestinian American, Talat
Othman, who had served with Mr. Bush on the board of Harken Energy Corp. and
later visited the president in the White House, according to records obtained
by the National Security News Service.” (“In Difficult Times,
Muslims Count On Unlikely Advocate” by Tom Hamburger and Glenn R. Simpson; The Wall Street Journal; pp. A1-A8.)