Obama nominee wants legitimacy for jihadists behind hostage crisis
Aaron Klein
WorldNetDaily
1/17/2013
TEL AVIV – Secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel sits on the small board of a peace fund that finances an international “crisis management” group that long has petitioned the Algerian government to cease “excessive” military activities against al-Qaida-linked jihadists, WND has learned.
The organization, the International Crisis Group, or ICG, called on Algeria to grant legitimacy to the very al-Qaida-linked group reportedly behind the kidnapping of about 40 foreign hostages, including several Americans, at a natural-gas field in Algeria.
Two Americans escaped today unharmed as Algerian special forces launched a rescue operation, according to the state news agency. At least six people were killed, the Associated Press reported. Dozens more remained unaccounted for, including Britons, French, Norwegians, Romanians, Malaysians, Japanese, Algerians, at least one American and the captors.
ICG petitioned for the Islamist group to participate in the Algerian government.
Hagel serves on the board of The Ploughshares Fund, a George Soros-financed fund that pushes for a nuclear-free world…
The Ploughshares Fund identifies itself as a “publicly supported foundation that funds, organizes and innovates projects to realize a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons.”
The fund calls itself “the largest grant-making foundation in the U.S. focusing exclusively on peace and security issues.”…
In a July 2004 ICG report obtained by WND, ICG calls on the Algerian government to curb military action against al-Qaida-affiliated organizations, particularly the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, currently known as Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
…Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is reportedly behind the hostage crisis currently under way in Algeria…
…U.S. ICG board members include Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security adviser to Jimmy Carter; Samuel Berger, who was Bill Clinton’s national security adviser; and retired U.S. ambassador Thomas Pickering, who made headlines in 2009 after meeting with Hamas leaders and calling for the U.S. to open ties to the Islamist group. Another ICG member is [Robert] Malley…
The complete article is at WorldNetDaily.
Related: Frederick Buttaccio: Texas American Dead in Algeria Hostage Crisis American Power Blog shows the confusion around who are the casualties or survivors.
