Author: William Grim
Publication: TheJewishPress.com
Date: March 4, 2004
URL: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=12436
On the surface there would seem
to be little to unite the Aryan racialists of the neo-Nazi movement with
the terrorists of radical Islam. To the neo-Nazis, Muslims are almost all
members of "inferior" races; and to the Islamic terrorists, the neo-Nazis
are almost without exception either atheists or members of fringe quasi-Christian
sects.
But the reality is that there has
been close cooperation between Muslim extremists and Fascists ever since
the founding of the Nazi movement in the 1920`s. For all of their differences,
Muslim extremists and Nazis have always been united by a common group of
beliefs and goals: hatred of Judaism (and conventional Christianity), hatred
of democracy, and a desire for the destruction of Israel and the United
States.
A little background is in order.
During World War II the rabidly anti-Semitic Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,
Haj Amin Al-Husseini, pledged his unequivocal support to Adolf Hitler and
the National Socialist movement. The Grand Mufti was put on the Nazi payroll
in 1937 after he met with Adolf Eichmann in Palestine. In fact, when the
Grand Mufti had to flee the Middle East in 1941 after the failure of the
pro-Nazi coup in Iraq, he was welcomed to Berlin by Hitler and provided
with high-power transmitters in order to broadcast pro-Nazi propaganda
to the Middle East.
The Grand Mufti also organized an
all-Muslim unit of the SS for Hitler and was instrumental in forming the
pro-Nazi Muslim Hanschar brigades in Yugoslavia. After the war and his
conviction for war crimes by the Nuremberg Tribunal, the Grand Mufti fled
to Egypt where, as part of the ODESSA network of former SS operatives,
he maintained close ties to former high-ranking Nazis who were now engaged
in gun-running operations to Arab countries fighting the fledgling State
of Israel.
One such ex-Nazi gunrunner was Major
General Otto Ernst Remer (1912- 1997), known as the ``Godfather of the
neo-Nazi movement.`` Remer had a major part in thwarting the Generals`
Plot against Hitler in July 1944. Hitler rewarded Remer by putting him
in charge of his protection detail. In the chaos of the immediate post-war
period, Remer escaped de-Nazification and returned to Germany.
In 1949 Remer and his associates
founded the Sozialistische Reichspartei in Lower Saxony, but the party
was banned in 1952 as a neo-Nazi political organization. Remer then settled
in Egypt where he began his close friendship with the Grand Mufti and also
became security adviser to Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Remer, along with his associate
Alois Bunning (who was Eichmann`s assistant in the SS), operated his gunrunning
company, the Orient Trading Company, out of Damascus for many years. In
the 1980`s, when the statute of limitations expired for the crimes he was
alleged to have committed, Remer retired and returned to Germany where
he became a close adviser to Michael Kuehnen, the most important neo-Nazi
leader of the postwar period in Germany.
It should be pointed out that National
Socialism had a profound impact on the political philosophies of many radical
Islamic political organization, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood (founded
in Egypt in 1928), Nasser`s Young Egypt movement, the Social Nationalist
Party of Syria founded by Anton Sa`ada, and the Ba`ath Party of Iraq. One
of the main leaders of the 1941 pro-Nazi coup in Iraq was Khairallah Tulfah,
the uncle and guardian of Saddam Hussein. When Saddam failed in his attempt
to assassinate the Iraqi leader Abdel Karim Qassim in 1959, he fled to
Egypt where he was given protection by Grand Mufti-protégé
Nasser and ODESSA-connected former Nazis. The rest, as they say, is history.
The Third Position
The rise of Al Qaeda and the explosion
of neo-Nazi activity in Germany and elsewhere coincided with the breakup
of the USSR in the early 1990`s and the political vacuum created by the
absence of the former Soviet behemoth. Neo- Nazis in both Europe and the
United States began making overtures to Islamic terrorists and even to
Louis Farrakhan`s Nation of Islam movement. The resulting admixture of
Nazi and Islamicist ideologies is something that is termed the ``Third
Position.``
Simply put, adherents of the ``Third
Position`` oppose both communism and capitalism, the latter category subsuming
Israel, the United States and all other democratic countries which are
believed to be under the control of ``International Jewry.`` To this end,
the socialist portion of Nazi beliefs is emphasized (as opposed to Hitler`s
reliance on corporatism), but the core belief in anti-Semitism is left
unaltered. Like the original Nazis, the Third Positioners are eager to
form alliances with Muslim (and black) extremists who share their anti-Semitic
beliefs.
In Germany, the neo-Nazi leader
Gottfried Kuessel has maintained close ties to Farrakhan`s Black Muslims,
and Karl-Heinz Hoffmann, thought to have been involved in the murder of
Jewish publisher Shlomo Levin as well as the Oktoberfest bombing of September
26, 1980, in which 13 persons were killed and over 200 injured, has long
maintained ties with Arafat`s PLO and even moved his paramilitary training
camp to Lebanon in 1980 with PLO assistance.
In France, the neo-Nazi leader Robert
Faurisson maintains close ties with Ahmed Rami, the former broadcaster
of the now-defunct Radio Islam, a viciously anti-Semitic station that operated
out of Stockholm for a number of years. And for some time, Sweden`s neo-Nazis
have provided skinheads for use as Rami`s bodyguards.
Much of the coordination of neo-Nazi/Muslim
terrorist activities is done in the United States. Since overt Nazi activity
is outlawed in Germany and many other European countries, neo-Nazis and
Islamic extremists have taken advantage of America`s First Amendment protection
of almost all political activity. In fact, the headquarters today of the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterrpartei is in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Internet and electronic banking make communication and the transfer
of funds instantaneous. Even when the transfer of funds needs to be done
in person, American law permits every individual to enter or leave the
country with $10,000 in cash or negotiable securities without reporting
it.
The First Gulf War in 1991 was a
catalyzing event in the development of neo- Nazi and Islamic terrorist
relations. Early in 1991, the German neo-Nazi leader Michael Kuehnen contacted
the Iraqi Embassy in Bonn and offered to train and equip a squadron of
neo-Nazi mercenaries to assist Saddam in the coming war against the alliance
led by the United States. Indeed, when Kuehnen was arrested for the last
time by German police in April of 1991 (Kuehnen died shortly afterwards
of AIDS), included among the documents found in his apartment was a copy
of a draft treaty between the ``Anti-Zionist League`` and the ``Government
of Iraq.``
Another German neo-Nazi leader,
Heinz Reisz, appearing live on Hessian state television on January 25,
1991, gained a great deal of notoriety by proclaiming, ``Long live the
fight for Saddam Hussein, long live his people, long live their leader,
God save the Arab people.``
Although upwards of as many as 500
neo-Nazi mercenaries, formed into a so- called Freedom Corps, were sent
to Iraq in 1991, their military effect was negligible at best. Eyewitness
accounts say that most of the mercenaries did little other than parade
around Baghdad in SS uniforms. The members of the ``Freedom Corps`` fled
Iraq after the first night of Alliance bombing. Regardless of the ignominious
military performance of the neo-Nazis in Iraq in 1991, this was an important
event because it led to greater ties and cooperation among American right-wing
extremists, European neo-Nazis and Islamic terrorists.
Oklahoma City
Domestic terrorism in the United
States also rose greatly in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. Timothy
McVeigh, himself a veteran of that conflict, stunned the world by his bombing
of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995 in Oklahoma City. But the evidence
suggests that the neo-Nazi/Islamic terrorist network played a significant
role in this act of terrorism.
First, the choice of a terrorist
target in Oklahoma is very telling. Although Oklahoma is a conservative
southern state that has a reputation for patriotism and sends an unusually
high percentage of its young people into the military, it is also one of
the bastions of the neo-Nazi movement in the United States. In 1991, the
Oklahoma Klan leader Dennis Mahon led a rally in support of Saddam Hussein
in Tulsa. And Oklahoma is also home to Elohim City, a neo-Nazi paramilitary
compound that has served as a training ground for right-wing extremists
for the past thirty years. Groups associated with Elohim City have included
The Order, Covenant Sword and Arm, White Aryan Resistance and the Aryan
Republican Army. The latter group included Timothy McVeigh among its members.
Extremists residing at Elohim City
received military-style training from a number of sources. One of the trainers
there was Andreas Carl Strassmeir of Germany, a neo-Nazi and the son of
Guenter Strassmeir, a chief aide of disgraced former German chancellor
Helmut Kohl. The elder Strassmeir is widely regarded as the architect of
Kohl`s reunification plan that merged the former East Germany with the
Federal Republic in 1991.And Guenter`s father was one of the original members
of the Nazi Party in the early 1920`s.
Andreas Strassmeir is important
to this story because he not only became a close friend and confidant of
Timothy McVeigh, but also because he is regarded by many investigators
as John Doe #2, the unknown person assisting McVeigh and Terry Nichols
at the scene of the Oklahoma City bombing who was seen by a number of eyewitnesses.
In addition to training various
neo-Nazi and militia groups, Strassmeir was involved in a number of very
curious activities. According to an FBI report dated May 10, 1995, ``Additional
documents reveal that at one time Strassmeir was attempting to purchase
a 747 aircraft from Lufthansa; however, the reason for the purchase is
not reflected in the documents.``
In 1995 it would not have been unreasonable
for an FBI investigator to give Strassmeir`s attempted purchase of a Boeing
747 mere passing notice. In light of 9/11, however, Strassmeir`s aborted
airliner purchase gives one pause and raises the real possibility that
9/11 type attacks were being planned as far back as 1995 by insiders in
the neo-Nazi/Islamic terrorist network. (And flying a privately owned jet
or one operated by remote control would save the problem of hijacking airliners
en route.) Strassmeir left the United States shortly after the bombing
and currently resides in Berlin.
Mutual Enemies, Mutual Interests
The many points of contact between
the neo-Nazis and the Islamic terrorists and their mutual targets of large
public buildings demonstrate what I would like to term the ``Strangers
on a Train`` scenario of current terrorist activity. In the Alfred Hitchcock
movie of that name, two men unknown to each other meet on a train and start
talking. Each needs to dispose of a person. They agree to kill each other`s
intended victim, thereby eliminating the element of motive from the ensuing
police investigations. In a similar manner, evidence of late tends to support
the idea that Al Qaeda is farming out terrorist work -- which is why American
investigators have been so interested in the remote area of South America
where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay border each other.
It is there that wealthy German
ex-Nazis, Islamic terrorists, Basque and IRA terrorists on the lam as well
as narco-terrorists are known to be in steady contact. The possibilities
for Mafia-style terrorist ``contracts`` are virtually unlimited.
It may come as something of a surprise
to some when they realize just how well funded the various neo-Nazi organizations
are. Authorities have known for years that a Swiss banker by the name of
Francois Genoud has been funding neo-Nazi activities throughout the world.
Genoud first gained prominence as the financial adviser to the Grand Mufti
of Jerusalem. He is alleged to have funded neo-Nazi activities through
the use of confiscated Jewish funds that were deposited in Swiss banks
by the Nazis. Genoud funded the legal defense of Eichmann during his trial
in 1961. And most chilling of all, Genoud was closely associated with the
Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics
in 1972.
Another Swiss financier of neo-Nazi
and Islamic terror is Ahmed Huber, (nee Albert Huber), a former journalist
who converted to Islam. Swiss authorities raided Huber`s suburban home
outside of Berne on November 8, 2001, when U.S. officials identified him
as one of the chief financial operators for Al Qaeda. Huber had been very
active with the Al Taqwa (literally ``Fear of God``) international banking
group, an Islamic terrorist front organization that had been funding the
activities of Hamas and other Muslim extremists. According to a report
released by Germany`s Bundesamt fuer Verfassungsschutz (``Office for the
Protection of the Constitution``), Huber ``sees himself as a mediator between
Islam and right-wing groups.``
Huber and others of his ilk have
found that Holocaust denial organizations provide the ideal venues for
coordinating the efforts of the neo-Nazis and the Islamic terrorists. Indeed,
Holocaust denial is the one area in which the beliefs of the neo-Nazis
and Islamic terrorists coincide completely. And given the levels of post-9/11
security, international Holocaust denial conferences now have greater importance
for planning and coordination among the neo-Nazi/Islamic terrorist networks.
This is due to the unfortunate fact
that Holocaust denial organizations have the patina of scholarly respectability.
Groups such as the Santa Barbara, California- based Institute for Historical
Review produce glossy quasi-academic-style journals complete with footnotes
and bibliography and well-designed and user- friendly websites. Holocaust
denial groups sponsor international meetings that allow representatives
of neo-Nazi and Islamic terrorist groups to meet because they narrowly
fall within guidelines in most Western countries allowing for the free
exchange of ``ideas.`` And with the current embrace of anti-Semitism by
most leftist academics (in addition to their traditional anti-Americanism),
there is now often very little difference between the symposia sponsored
by officially recognized Middle Eastern Studies organizations in America
and Europe and those organized by Holocaust denial groups.
While American forces continue to
identify and destroy Al Qaeda`s ability to conduct terrorist activities
on its own, we must become more vigilant to the increasing possibility
of ``terror by hire`` as neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremists step
up to fill the void.
The next 9/11-style terrorist attack
may not be attempted by a keffiya-wearing Arab terrorist spouting quotations
from the Koran, but by an IRA terrorist whose services were purchased by
a left-wing European intellectual attending a Middle Eastern Studies caucus
of some leftist academic group during an annual conference in Omaha or
Chicago or San Francisco.
William Grim is an American writer
living in Germany. He can be contacted at wgrim@myrealbox.com. Read more
by and about him at williamegrim.tripod.com.
