September 25, 2014 (Tony Cartlaucci - LD) - Terrorists aligned to Al Qaeda have allegedly beheaded a French tourist kidnapped in the North African nation of Algeria.
The BBC in their article, "French hostage Herve Gourdel beheaded in Algeria," would report that (emphasis added):
The beheading, the spokesman says, is to "avenge the victims in Algeria... and support the caliphate" proclaimed by IS in Iraq and Syria.
Jund al-Khilafa (Soldiers of the Caliphate) pledged allegiance to IS on 14 September.
Until then it had been known as part of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which grew out of an Algerian militant group and is now active across North and parts of West Africa.It was Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, that fought alongside terrorist groups armed and backed by NATO in the 2011 invasion and bombardment of Libya in efforts to overthrow the government of Muammar Qaddafi. That this previously NATO-backed terrorist organization has committed this atrocity, just in time to bolster Western rhetoric in support of the US assault on Syria is highly suspicious.
AQIM Fought Alongside NATO-Backed Terrorists in Libya
In a 2007 West Point Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) report and a 2011 CTC report, "Are Islamist Extremists Fighting Among Libya's Rebels?," AQIM is specifically mentioned as working closely with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in NATO-backed efforts to overthrow the Libyan government.
Both AQIM and LIFG are listed by the US State Department as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) but were in fact leading the fight against the Libyan government in 2011 with NATO weapons and air support. It would be France itself that would drop weapons into the country illegally to bolster their fighting capabilities during the conflict. In the aftermath of Libya's destruction these weapons would be used for extremist campaigns both inside Libya's borders and beyond them. Libya itself remains to this day ravaged by terrorist militants.
As with ISIS' previous murders, the timing and location of this most recent atrocity, as well as the nationality of ISIS' latest victim could not serve Western interests better even if the West itself carried out the execution. This leads many to suspect the West was either directly or indirectly responsible for the orchestrated atrocity carried out by militant groups it has directly armed and funded in the past.
More in-depth coverage will appear later on New Eastern Outlook Journal.
