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The U. S. government is sending up to 3,500 marines to distribute relief materials in the cyclone affected areas of Bangladesh.
More importantly the report says that the 'terrorist groups' like Hizbut Tahrir, Islami Oikya Andolon, Chhatra Mukti Andolon, Islami Shasantantra Andolon, and the deadly and dangerous Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islam of Bangladesh may take advantage of the disaster of Bangladesh.
Momen
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Islamists Will Quickly Aid Bangladesh Cyclone Victims (updated Nov. 18)
By Andrew Cochran
Bangladesh is the latest victim of a natural disaster in which Islamists, including groups designated by the U.S. as terrorists, already have a social assistance infrastructure. The death toll from the Bangladesh cyclone has topped 1,100 as of this post and will climb further (updated at 2:20 pm ET). Bangladesh Islamist groups such as Hizbut Tahrir, Islami Oikya Andolon, Chhatra Mukti Andolon, Islami Shasantantra Andolon, and the deadly and dangerous Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islam (which uses mobile phone technology for triggering IEDs) will no doubt provide considerable funds to assist the victims and enhance goodwill among the populace (my thanks to Animesh Roul for his posts on these groups, and see Olivier Guitta's October 1 post about Hizbut's recent growth). In May, the Saudi-based International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) announced that it would expand its activities to help orphans in Bangladesh, as reported here by Zachary Abuza, while the U.S. have designated the IIRO offices in the Philippines and Indonesia for terrorist financing (the U.N. later also designated those offices).
The U.N., U.S., European Commission, and other Western governments have announced aid packages. I assume we will deploy Defense Department delivery assets, as we did after the Indonesia tsunami and the Kashmir earthquake, where we were quite effective in projecting American humanitarian aid. The more we deploy those assets and the faster we deploy them, the better.
UPDATE, Midnight, November 18: CNN reported that Defense Secretary Gates is expected to send "three Navy amphibious warships, with up to 3,500 Marines, to locations off the coast of Bangladesh to assist in relief efforts." And the White House announced that "the U.S. will airlift 35 tons of non-food items such as plastic sheeting, jerricans, hygiene kits and other supplies." The death toll is now reported over 2,000. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh director of Save the Children specifically asked for the U.S. to do more. The Islamists will take advantage of the tragedy to funnel money from rich donors around the world into the area to expand their existing social services while attracting grateful recruits. The U.S. and other Western countries will need to continue to deploy more assets and aid to counter the Islamists.
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