New al-Qaida training tape shows another side of terror

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An al-Qaida training videotape, captured in Afghanistan, shows Osama bin Laden's terrorists are not only planning attacks with weapons of mass destruction but are preparing to kill Americans with drive-by shootings and home break-ins, through ambushes of law-enforcement officers and targeted assassinations on golf courses, WorldNetDaily has learned.

The videotape was produced, U.S. analysts believe, for al-Qaida's internal use and did not appear to be an external propaganda device. U.S. military intelligence considers the tape much more significant in what it reveals about al-Qaida's modus operandi than the highly publicized video purchased and broadcast last month by CNN. U.S. forces found a cache of 64 al-Qaida tapes while combing caves and hideouts in Afghanistan. Analysts were surprised by some of what they saw in the latest video and believe they employ terrorist tactics and techniques meant for export to America and other nations.

"None of these training scenarios depicts the type of fighting that al-Qaida engages in within Afghanistan," noted one intelligence expert who saw the tape.

The training video shows al-Qaida operatives practicing the following kinds of assaults:

 using pickup trucks with shooters concealed in the bed of the trucks;  using motorcycles as a shooting platform for drive-bys and assassinations;  execution of prisoners;  ambushes of law-enforcement officers;  residential assassinations;  assassination on a golf course using a rocket-propelled grenade and rifle fire;  drive-up kidnapping of target walking on a street;  use of tunnels, storm drains and sewers for infiltration during urban raids;  rappelling from rooftops of buildings to make entry on upper floors;  use of motorcycles for grenade attacks; and  raids on buildings with large numbers of occupants – perhaps schools or office buildings.

Analysts point out that all scenarios involving prisoners and hostages ended in execution. None included plans for negotiated settlements for escape by terrorists.

"They plan to kill the prisoners and die in place," explained one analyst. The "perfect day" as seen by al-Qaida would combine attacks designed to produce a maximum number of casualties with attacks that would give them the opportunity to get "face time" on the news channels to deliver their rhetoric, explained one expert who viewed the video.

"The major take-home lesson here is that although the enemy is known to be seeking the ability and opportunity to use weapons of mass destruction and of an unconventional nature, such as hijacked airliners, they are also spending a lot of time training to carry out attacks the old-fashioned way – attacks executed by small groups of dedicated personnel equipped with little more than small arms," explained one analyst.

Hostages, prisoners and anyone else identified as a target or problem by al-Qaida terrorist operatives will be killed, say those who viewed the tape. There is no point in complying with orders, they say. Those who do not resist ultimately will be rewarded with ritual execution in front of television cameras, according to the tactics and techniques captured on this video.

In one scenario on the video, terrorists pretend to be stranded on a six-lane highway, their vehicle disabled. When a police officer stops to assist, the driver blows his horn. Another occupant of the vehicle opens fire on the police officer with a rifle. In other scenarios, shooters were concealed in the trunk of the car. When the terrorists were picked up by accomplices in a getaway car, the original vehicle was blown up, apparently to destroy evidence.

In another scenario, an innocuous-looking terrorist knocks on the door of a residence, standing in view of the resident and answering questions through a closed door. When the resident opens the door, the terrorist immediately draws his weapon and fires, emptying his weapon into the victim.

In the golf course assassination, the target was on the green, near the hole. A rocket-propelled grenade is fired at a vehicle adjacent to the green, perhaps a security detail. Then the target of the assassination is killed with rifle fire.

When asked if these techniques are intended for use in the U.S., one military intelligence operative said without hesitation, "Yes."

Joseph Farah WorldNetDaily