When did you first hear of Khorasan?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

Greenwald says the name just started popping this month, aside from a brief mention in 2011 that had nothing to do with Syria. There are those who claim to have heard of the group ("just search for my screen name and Khorasan&quot before September of 2014.

What does Google say? What old articles have you found on our lethal arch enemy Khorasan?

We've always been at war with Khorasan.

[Rex]

1. Heard about it first on DU! Wiki has some interesting information on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khorasan_(Islamist_group)

[TBF]

5. The wiki page says "This page was last modified on 25 September 2014 at 23:51"

I wonder if it existed on 24 September 2014.

[Rex]

6. None of the references go back that far, look at the bottom of the page.

Good question.

[JHB]

42. Yes it did exist on the 24th.

It was created on 21 September by one "Monart". From his or her contributions to Wikipedia, someone in Europe.

So, recent vintage, based on current reports rather than something longstanding.

[merrily]

52. LOL! Good question.

[brush]

59. Check out this post from DU

The leaders of the Khorasan group had a 7 million dollar bounty placed on their head in 2012 so it's no recent concoction by the administration that Greenwald claims.

This stuff is readily available on DU itself.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5605685

[TBF]

62. That's helpful -

I tended to support Greenwald/Snowden but that doesn't mean across the board everything he says is golden. I think we have to look at each assertion individually and see if it holds up.

(with the caveat that I'm really tired of war for oil - would love to see this country start focusing on renewable energy **dreaming**)

[Warren Stupidity]

2. I think it was when the Khorasans and the Jenners starting feuding.

But I don't really watch any reality tv.

[pinboy3niner]

4. I couldn't keep up with them

[customerserviceguy]

3. A few years ago

I think it was in a carpet store...

[leftstreet]

7. First time Obama said it in public: 23 Sept 2014 n/t

[femmocrat]

15. Same here. nt

[neverforget]

8. We've always been at war with "insert country/group"!

The MIC will be fed as it's huge and has an enormous appetite.

[scarletwoman]

9. On Saturday Night Live: "It's a floor wax AND a dessert topping!"

[CaptainTruth]

10. At first I thought it was the Corian group.

Airstrikes reportedly destroyed more than a dozen countertops.

[Octafish]

11. Aren't they a division of the Carlyle Group?

What comes before "plastics."

[Rex]

14. The Endless Funds division.

[TheCowsCameHome]

12. When she got her own TV show.

n/t

[FourScore]

51. Didn't she have a baby with Kanye West? n/t

[wandy]

13. In some form or another they may have been around for some time..........

That part of the world appears to have as many local terror groups as American towns have local garage bands. Like local garage bands they may not have a formal name until they do something important or someone (probably the U.S.) gives them one.
After all you can have a Mad Max movie staring the 'man with no name', but it is difficult to report on a terror grope 'with no name'.
A BBC article shows an interesting perspective on this.
What is the Khorasan Group?

The Khorasan Group - a name apparently coined by the US - is believed to be made up of about 50 veteran militants from Afghanistan and Pakistan, which jihadists refer to as Khorasan, as well as North Africa and Chechnya.
US officials said they had been sent to Syria by al-Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, not to fight the government of President Bashar al-Assad but to "develop external attacks, construct and test improvised explosive devices and recruit Westerners to conduct operations".
The militants are thought to have embedded themselves within al-Qaeda's local affiliate, the al-Nusra Front, and obtained land and buildings in its strongholds.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29350271

I would say this is as believable, or as unbelievable as anything else.

Doing some searching I find some mention of them involved in the USS Cole bombing and also Chicago Towner Cartridge bombs in 2010.
Nothing conclusive or even detailed to include a link here.

If I had to make a guess I would go with local terrorist garage band given a name by the U.S state department.

[Luminous Animal]

25. Funny (not haha funny) how you conveniently left out those historic mentions.

Kudos for catapulting the propaganda while pretending you are not.

[wandy]

32. Well I have to admit, you have me at a loss here.........

What the heck are you talking about? If you are referring to Chicago Towner Cartridge bombs, go the forth and google it yourself. It's nonsense. Not enough information to tell if it's the same Khorasan.

As to the BBC, well they took a stab at it, heck they just might as well have really called them Kardashians.

If anyone can get any closer they ought go ahead and post it.

[Luminous Animal]

34. You made the claim that there are Google links. Did they disappear from your history. Put up or...

[wandy]

38. OooTay, here ya go..................

http://www.counterpunch.org/2010/11/05/the-yemeni-toner-cartridge-bomb-story/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1325099/FedEx-UPS-plane-terror-Al-Qaeda-bomb-linked-mobile-phone-SIM-card.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8097333/Cargo-plane-bomb-alert-ink-cartridge-bomb-found-on-plane-in-London.html

Now if you pick around these and a few others you may find some names that may be the same as what may be the names of people who might have been part of what might be Khorasan.
Or as I point out for the third time nonsense.

Did this group really have to have a name before someone needed to give them one?
To put it another way what were the Bundy Cow-Pie Vigilantes called before I gave them that name.

[valerief]

16. Back in the 90s when he defended OJ. nt

[DisgustipatedinCA]

21. If the drone didn't hit, you must acquit. nt

[valerief]

60. Badda bing!

[merrily]

63. LOL!

[kentuck]

17. The day before they bombed them....

I assume they didn't want to do it without any background. So they said they were worse than ISIS, which was worse than al Qaeda which was worse than Hezbollah which was worse than the PLO which was worse than the IRA, and so forth....

[geek tragedy]

18. people who get hung up on the word "khorosan" are losing the plot.

the real question is: when did you learn about affiliates of al Qaeda operating in western Iraq.

The guy who got crossed off by the bombs dropped on Khorosan is a real flesh-and-blood terrorist. Or, was.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/10/199299.htm

he Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering rewards for information on two key Iran-based facilitators and financiers of the al-Qaida terrorist organization.

The U.S. Department of State has authorized a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to the location of Iran-based senior facilitator and financier Muhsin al-Fadhli and up to $5 million for information leading to the location of his deputy, Adel Radi Saqr al-Wahabi al-Harbi.

Al-Fadhli and al-Harbi facilitate the movement of funds and operatives through Iran on behalf of the al-Qaida terrorist network. Both men are wanted by Saudi authorities in connection with their terrorist activities, and al-Fadhli is wanted by authorities in Kuwait on terrorism-related charges.

Al-Fadhli reportedly has replaced Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil (better known as Yasin al-Suri) as al-Qaida’s senior facilitator and financier in Iran. Al-Fadhli was among the few trusted al-Qaida leaders who received advance notification that terrorists would strike the United States on September 11, 2001. He raised money to finance the October 6, 2002 attack on the French ship MV Limburg off the coast of Yemen, which killed one, injured four crew members, and released 50,000 barrels of crude oil along 45 miles of coastline.

But, the Infowars crowd will insist that because they never heard about these guys, this guy included, they must not be real.

Such is the vanity of internet conspiracy theorists such as Greenwald.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

20. No, I'm really not losing the plot.

I think it's a fairly important plot point when we're told we face an existential threat that nobody had heard of until this month. You must read books differently than I do.

[geek tragedy]

22. "existential threat"--no one is making that argument

nobody had heard of until this month

Again, this is untrue. The name 'Khorosan' is the only new thing. Al Qaeda alumni/associates setting up shop in Syria has been very, very well known.

Indeed, the fact that AQ was present in Syria fighting against Assad was cited by many right here at DU as a reason we shouldn't be seeking Assad's ouster.

The guy they bombed has been a wanted terrorist and high value target for years. Does it really matter whether they call him and his associates Khorosan or "some dudes in the desert?'

[DisgustipatedinCA]

23. Yes, it certainly does matter.

[geek tragedy]

24. Really, the name matters more than the fact that these guys are Al Qaeda?

That's some deep level thinking.

Then again, Greenwald thinks Obama must be lying because that's what is claimed by the guy who literally--literally--wrote the book on impeaching Obama.

Haters gonna hate.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

26. You really expect people to listen to you with a straight face?

weve got a brand freaking new super villain, the worst the world has yet seen. No one had heard the name until two weeks ago, but they pose a supermassive threat, so we must bomb them immediately. But as soon as the rollout of the goddamn idiotic name we concocted went sideways, the usual suspects start in on how the name isn't that important and we need to focus on the people--turns out they're al Qaeda, but we need to call them something different now (unless of course that name is questioned or poked fun at, in which case we still have alqaeda.com registered for the next 3 years).

Yeah. I'm all in.

[geek tragedy]

27. we bombed them because they're al qaeda. we never need 'an excuse' to blow up

members of AQ. It's open season on them, wherever they are.

Care to defend Greenwald pimping Andrew McCarthy as a credible critic of President Obama?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

28. Presto! They're al Qaeda again! (We've always been at war with al Qaeda)

thanks for the perfect demonstration of the fluidity you're able to exhibit when the ground shifts underfoot. Al Qaeda it is.

[geek tragedy]

31. did you know that the "National Security Agency" is also affiliated with a group called

"the United States Government?"

Seriously, not every Al Qaeda affiliate, ally, and offshoot retains the name "Al Qaeda"--this isn't Burger King.

[pkdu]

29. And........

...crickets...

Did you really expect an answer to that one?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

35. 27 < 28 < 29. Don't apply for any jobs detecting crickets. I'm not predicting success.

[AgingAmerican]

65. The Quaeda's are comin! Hide your kids!

Gotta fight them over thar so's we don't haves to fight them here!!

[muriel_volestrangler]

40. That's about that person in *Iran*, not Syria (or Iraq, which you bring up for some reason)

and is not about a plan to bomb them (and we've now learnt the concerns about collateral damage have been put aside for 'Khorasan' - http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-exempts-syria-airstrikes-from-tight-standards-on-civilian-deaths-183724795.html ).

There is a big difference between "reward for information about a financier in al Qaeda" and "we're going to bomb any building he might be in, and collateral damage is not a concern".

[geek tragedy]

41. presumably he did not relocate to Syria for a quiet retirement nt

[NightWatcher]

19. Wasn't he the guy from Fantasy Island that was in Star Trek 2?

Khorasaaaaaaan!

[Fawke Em]

30. I first heard of as a historical reference years ago.

But, then again, my ex husband is Muslim and I've actually read the Qur'an and some of its study guides.

In any case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Khorasan

[reorg]

33. I first heard it in episode 8 of Masters of Sex

which aired on 31 August. They have a big party with masks, and there is a mysteriously looking "veiled prophet of Khorasan" (Corazon?).

[DisgustipatedinCA]

37. I've downloaded those but haven't watched them yet.

The fact that you've gotten to episode 8 seems to say good things for the show (??).

[reorg]

39. Sure, I like it

I have no idea how close the main plot is to the real story of Masters and Johnson, but the whole thing is well made and has an authentic feel to it. Not to forget that Lizzy Kaplan is super pretty, of course. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the younger CIA guys had been watching the show and were, perhaps unconsciously, inspired when they had to come up with a new name.

[m-lekktor]

55. it's an excellent show.

Ironically the last episode i watched of season 2 is episode 8 as well!

[lpbk2713]

36. Didn't he direct The Seven Samurai?

Classic flick.

[MineralMan]

43. Why does that matter?

I'm sure there are countless organizations which have names I've never heard. The name of some group isn't really all that important. Whether or not I've heard of some terrorist organization is irrelevant. I had never heard of Al Qaeda until I heard of it the first time, either. We hear about things when they become relevant in some way. Until then, we don't know the names.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

45. If the name is unimportant to you, you may find greener pastures elsewhere.

but that's the topic of this thread, and that's what it will remain. The name wasn't known by anyone prior to September, 2014. That does have real significance.

[MineralMan]

46. Again, I'm not sure it does have much significance.

As for where I post, I post in threads that interest me right here on DU. Suggesting that I not post in your thread is inappropriate. I will reply to any thread I choose. My post was relevant to the topic of this thread. You simply disagree with my reply.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

47. I was using your own line, Einstein.

Keep on posting in this thread, by all means. Regale us all with tales of how we shouldn't listen to our own lying ears. But do answer the question: when did you first hear of the Khorasan Group?

[MineralMan]

48. I first heard of it at the same time we all did.

Khorasan is a very old place name. It's a natural name for a group operating in that place. That it's not a familiar place name to people in the US is irrelevant.

Again, you appear to be bringing up a right-wing argument that started appearing on Fox News and that was discussed by Glenn Greenwald recently. That Khorasan is a place name is beyond dispute. That an Al Qaeda subset may have referred to themselves as the Khorosan Group or that a subgroup of Al Qaeda was given that name by someone else remains irrelevant.

Even if the group received this name recently, it has little bearing on anything. The group exists, clearly.

It's no different really than beating the ISIS/ISIL difference to death as a means of debating what is currently going on. The names do not matter, really.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

50. You're under the impression that Afghanistan and Syria are the same place.

They are not. Thank you for answering my question.

[MineralMan]

53. No, I'm not under that impression at all.

You're incorrect. My knowledge of geography is something that you don't really know. You're presuming too much about me, I think.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

56. I'm going on the words you've given me to go on, MineralMan

so far, you've spent time telling me that the name isn't important, and that the name fits because it's been used in "the area", an area that, confusingly enough, isn't really nearby. If you'd care to disambiguate what you're talking about, that might be helpful.

[MineralMan]

57. We appear to have belabored this adequately.

You've managed to tell me I shouldn't have posted in your thread, questioned my intelligence and knowledge of ME geography, etc. I think this subthread has reached its limit of usefulness.

Your Einstein reference was especially nice as a personal insult. See you in some other thread.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

58. We agree in principle, if not on the details.

See you in another thread.

[whereisjustice]

44. When Kanye married Kim. nt

[whereisjustice]

49. The Khorasan group is based in Albania where they mine yellow cake and build aluminum tubes

for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The American way of life will perish unless we bomb someone now.

[jwirr]

54. This whole ISIS thing just started popping this month. Is the Khorasan thing any different. I think

there are probably many underground organizations at work in the world including here in the USA and I am speaking of rw organizations. If we have to have a long history of them we are not going to get it.

[Adsos Letter]

61. When Time magazine declared her "Woman of the Year" in 1986. n/t

[Capt. Obvious]

64. When her first sex tape was leaked

Prior to that never heard of her.