Reply #29: OK, I'll use one post just to answer the first question....

[AntiFascist]

"There are dark, mafia-like forces spread across all 3 major religions."

My contention was that Al-Qaida may actually be a serious threat to the U.S. because it represents an important opponent for what Michael Ledeen might call a "universal fascist movement."

http://www.indymedia.ch/fr/2004/01/17406.shtml

Ledeen supports de Felice’s distinction between “fascism-movement” and “fascism-regime.” Mussolini’s regime, he says, was “authoritarian and reactionary”; by contrast, within “fascism-movement,” there were many who were animated by “a desire to renew.” These people wanted “something more revolutionary: the old ruling class had to be swept away so that newer, more dynamic elements-capable of effecting fundamental changes-could come to power.”

In this sense, al-Qaida is not necessarily something that needs to be defeated quickly. On the contrary, it may be necessary to try and foster a revolution in the Islamic world playing on radical jihadists' violent tendencies so that they will actually join the movement and create the appearance of a vast and powerful network that needs to crushed in the process of renewing the Middle East. If the enemy did not exist, the Middle East would not get renewed, if you follow Ledeen's philosophy. Reading between the lines, it may also be necessary to maintain a sense of fear within the American populace in order to keep the movement active, thus, the very real danger.

There is also reported to be evidence of a system of money laundering networks tied in to al-Qaida which also may tie in with networks from the Iran-Contra days, including BCCI. (From "Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the Failed Hunt for Bin Ladin").

I'm not saying the following individuals are necessarilly linked to al-Qaida, but names like Adnan Khashoggi (Islamic), Oliver North and Grover Norquist (Christian members of CNP) come to mind in Iran-Contra dealings, in addition to Israeli participation:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/Iran_Contra_Affair.html

The report shows that Israel's involvement was stimulated by separate overtures in 1985 from Iranian arms merchant Manucher Ghorbanifar and National Security Council (NSC) consultant Michael Ledeen, the latter working for National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane. When Ledeen asked Prime Minister Shimon Peres for assistance, the Israeli leader agreed to sell weapons to Iran at America's behest, providing the sale had high-level U.S. approval.

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Saudi billionaire oil and arms trader Adnan Khashoggi said in an interview on ABC­TV on December 11, 1986, that he advanced $1 million to help finance the first arms shipment in the Iran-Contra arms scandal and put up $4 million for the second shipment.

Jack Abramoff (an orthodox Jew) is also purportedly linked to Khashoggi:

http://www.madcowprod.com/10272005.html

Why might wealthy Saudis want to fund a movement opposing jihadists?

http://antifascist2005.dailykos.com/story/2005/11/6/61854/9150

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I can assure you that what the Bush administration did in the Wilson/Plame matter amounts to little more than "business as usual".
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I became a target of this methodology when I stumbled upon illegal dealings between the Bush family, the Saudis and the Israelis in the mid to late 1980's.

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/conspiracytheories/white.pdf

He had explained that the Saudis had basically entered into a quid pro quo relationship with Bush and that Bush when he was CIA director worked with the head of Saudi intelligence and the CIA trained the Palace Guard to protect the Saudi Royal Family who was concerned about a fundamentalist revolution.

Why might Saudis also be funding the jihadists themselves?

In "Forbidden Truth" it is mentioned how wealthy Saudis continued to make payments to Osama Bin Ladin as al-Qaida became active, so as not to become targeted themselves.

Why would Judeo-Christians be interested in the movement to transform the Middle East?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1234216/posts

Led by American evangelist Pat Robertson, thousands of Christian pilgrims gathered in the Holy Land on Sunday to express support for Israel, with hundreds joining a mass prayer session in a Jerusalem park.

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"The Bible says that the time to bless Zion has come, and I believe that we have come to bless Zion," Robertson, a prominent American religious broadcaster, told the crowd.