Friday, February 20, 2009

Is China A Target of Global Sponsered Terrorism?

The recent news about what to do with the Uighurs held at Guantanamo for the past 7 years has been less than honest. The Uighurs are portrayed as not being "combatants" and not being terrorists. However, what is not said is that it has been determined that they did not target the US, but were training in camps near Tora Bora for the purpose of "fighting" China.



{{{But Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert in Singapore, believes that Uighur separatists pose more of a threat than U.S. authorities realize."It is true that they came to Afghanistan primarily to fight China, but they have been radicalized by their exposure to international terror groups," Gunaratna said. "The global jihadists very much have China in their sights."They feel that they've defeated the Soviet Union, they are defeating the United States, and next they will go after the dragon: China."}}}
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-uighurs-gitmo18-2009feb18,0,7460936.story

Another problem with the news about this issue is these 17 detainees are referred to as Uighurs and not as members of the ETIM. Since the attacks on the World Trade center on 9/11, both China and the US have listed ETIM as a terrorist organization. They have taken credit for violent acts in China, including the burning of the bus in Shanghai, as well as numerous bombings. The US put this group on the list because some of its "members" did target American interests in other countries in Central Asia.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/9179/

One wonders why anyone would claim that there are no Uighurs with Al Qeada.
{{{During the reign of the Taliban in Afghanistan prior to the US invasion in 2001, the 055 Brigade served as "the shock troops of the Taliban and functioned as an integral part of the latter's military apparatus," al Qaeda expert Rohan Gunaratna wrote in Inside al Qaeda. At its peak in 2001, the 055 Brigade had an estimated 2,000 soldiers and officers in the ranks. The brigade was comprised of Arabs, Central Asians, and South Asians, as well as Chechens, Bosnians, and Uighurs from Western China.

The 055 Brigade has "completely reformed and is surpassing pre-2001 standards," an official said. The other brigades are also considered well trained.}}}
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/02/al_qaedas_paramilita.php



Another question is why the US refuses to return these 17 to China.
Some advocates claim that China would torture them. Huh? Unlike the US? But, the fact is, China has developed a political solution to the Al qeada exported violence that poses a threat in China.

{{{After an initial period of repression, China has used political means to keep the insurgency in Xinjiang to a remarkably low level. Beyond simply killing or capturing suspected insurgents, China has created a path for young Uighurs - one achieved through participation in the system rather than fighting it. China's proactive approach, reshaping society from the bottom up, has been so successful that much of the current debate centers on whether China really confronts a serious threat of terrorism in Xinjiang. }}}
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IB27Ad01.html

Perhaps the US should take a lesson from China and apply it to their actiona in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

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