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| Terror Networks |
| US needs to be wary of al-Qaeda attacks on oil installations |
| 2006-05-16 |
| The US and its Arab allies must expect an increase in attacks on their oil infrastructure in the next phase of the war by al-Qaeda targeting the US economy, the former Central Intelligence Agency official who was responsible for hunting down Osama bin Laden warns on Monday. Writing for the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington security think-tank, Michael Scheuer says Mr bin Laden's intention to bankrupt the US economy by driving up world oil prices is very likely to lead to attacks inside the US by al-Qaeda, its allies or unrelated groups. Houston's gas refineries, oil import facilities and ship canal and pipeline systems, and the trans-Alaska pipeline are potential targets. Al-Qaeda's failed attack on Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq facility on February 24, which led to a $2 a barrel jump in world oil prices, should also be seen as the beginning of a new and more systematic phase of targeting of the kingdom's oil infrastructure. Two days after the attack, an al-Qaeda-affiliated cleric issued a religious justification for attacking oil processing installations. The cleric, using the internet, also claimed that attacks on prominent Muslim oil officials were justified. The militant organisation's media apparatus is also being used "to stir the troubled pot of oil-related international worries", Mr Scheuer writes, noting encouragement for Nigerian insurgents in the Niger Delta and "mujahideen" in the Caspian Sea region. Tracing al-Qaeda's evolving strategy, Mr Scheuer, who left the CIA in 2004, notes that Mr bin Laden has never threatened to cut oil supplies to the US. Instead he is driven by the belief that Muslim oil is bought too cheaply. In December 2004, Mr bin Laden wrote that a minimum of $100 a barrel was a "fair price". In his September 1996 "Declaration of War against Americans", Mr bin Laden argues that oil in the Islamic world is a treasure to be preserved for future generations of Muslims and thus should not be wasted through attacks. As a result, Mr Scheuer says al-Qaeda's plans rule out attacks on oil wells but focus on the infrastructure needed for refining and transporting oil, as well as industry personnel. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Go ahead, make my day. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-05-16 08:37 |