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"I learned that in extreme situations when human lives and dignity are at state, neutrality is a sin. It helps the killers, not the victims." Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor who lost his family in the Holocaust - Nobel Prize Author
Socialism - Liberalism Quotation
"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened." – Norman Thomas
American socialist, 1948
Showing posts with label Terrorism/Terrorists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terrorism/Terrorists. Show all posts
Congressman Peter King (R-NY) said Wednesday former President George W. Bush "should get a medal" for waterboarding Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM). Comforting words for conservatives coming from the man who may be the next Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee. Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) is calling for further investigations into treatment of terrorists during the GWB administration. Consider this: if we did not have KSM in custody, and did not know what we know today about his part in the September 11, 2001 attacks, where would we be today? What would Americans feel about knowing practically nothing about the day that changed this country forever? I can't imagine being completely in the dark about our attackers. Bring out the medal for George W. Bush.
Peter King
Bush said in his new book, Decision Points, that he ordered the waterboarding of terrorists, including that of KSM. While the news is old now, remember this:
KSM, as intelligence agencies call him, directed the September 11 attacks, which killed 2,978 people and injured at least 7,356. “I am the head of the al-Qaeda military committee,” he told Al Jazeera in April 2002. “And yes, we did it.” KSM wired money to his nephew, Ramzi Yousef, who masterminded the February 1993 World Trade Center blast that killed six and wounded 1,040. KSM and Yousef planned Operation Bojinka, a foiled 1995 scheme to explode 12 American jetliners above the Pacific. While some doubt his claim, KSM reportedly said, “I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl in the City of Karachi, Pakistan.”
U.S. and Pakistani authorities captured KSM on March 1, 2003 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. KSM stayed mum for months, often answering questions with Koranic chants. Interrogators eventually waterboarded him — for just 90 seconds.
KSM “didn’t resist,” one CIA veteran said in the August 13 issue of The New Yorker. “He sang right away. He cracked real quick.” Another CIA official told ABC News: “KSM lasted the longest under water-boarding, about a minute and a half, but once he broke, it never had to be used again.”
KSM’s revelations helped authorities identify and incarcerate at least six major terrorists: Read more.
A total of 90 seconds of terror for KSM. Years and years of grief that never goes away for the families and loved ones of those who died when the Towers fell. The site of the World Trade Towers 9/11 attack is in Congressman Nadler's congressional district, but he is not appreciative of the methods used to bring the attackers to justice. King, however, said Bush's actions "saved many, many lives," and he should receive "a medal," for doing what was necessary. If Nadler's loved ones had been in the Towers, would he still be pushing for an investigation of George Bush? There is one thing here that is true: waterboarding is scary - no doubt terrible for the one being waterboarded, but...let's face it, no one dies from waterboarding. Thanks to Weazel Zippers.
Hillary Clinton announced another $150 million to Palestine, bringing our total aid to $600 million this year. The story is that the $150 million will be used by the Palestine Authority to pay-down debt. Wonderful news, huh? The U.S. builds debt by helping others diminish theirs. Will any of this $150 million be diverted to purchase weapons? How naive are we, and speaking of the naivete of Americans, when will we demand that taxpayer funds stay in the U.S., at least until our fiscal disaster is corrected. Now is the time to shut down redistributing our wealth to the world. Source: Voice of America
Our Lady of Deliverance church in Baghdad, Iraq was the seen of many deaths yesterdays. Estimates are that 120 Christians were inside the church when gunmen stormed into the "prayer hall." The priest was shot dead immediately.
Our Lady of Deliverance, Baghdad, Iraq
The militants then detonated their suicide vests and threw grenades when security forces stormed the building.
The Daily Mail says at least 52 people were killed (MSNBC reports 58 deaths), including the priest, nine Iraqi security forces and five of the attackers - "some wearing suicide explosive vests and armed with grenades." A car bomb explosion happened just previous to the bombers entering the church, and it is expected that the car bomb was a diversion.
That leaves the assumption that at least 37 of the dead were parishioners. It takes a lot of courage and faith to attend a Christian church in Islamic countries, and Iraq is no exception. This is the deadliest attack on Christians in Iraq ever recorded.
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Jabr Jabran al-Faifi is a former detainee of Guantanamo Bay and an al-Qaeda member. It is believed Jabran provided the tip to the Saudi's of last weeks attempted postal parcel bombings.
The DailyMailUK reports that Saudi-born Jabr Jabran is providing "a wealth of intelligence," after "turning his back" on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
In an extraordinary move, 35-year-old al-Faifi secretly contacted the Saudi authorities from Yemen and a handover was arranged through officials in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
US Defence Department documents say one of his aliases was on a captured computer and that in November-December 2001 he was in the Tora Bora area of Afghanistan where Osama Bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda and Taliban figures were at one stage trapped.
Jabran was released from Gitmo and sent to Saudi Arabia for "rehabilitation" in December 2006. Later he escaped and fled to Yemen. The "rehabilitation" obviously did not work. The Saudi's say only 11 out of 117 Guantanamo returnees rejoined al-Qaeda.
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In Athens, a "postal bomb" exploded inside a "private courier company." A woman was injured when the device detonated in her hands. A second letter bomb was detonated by police. The woman suffered minor burns to her hands. Two suspects carrying weapons and wearing bullet-proof vests were arrested. It is believed one man is a member of a "far-left militant group" known as Fire Conspiracy Cells. Source
Two F-15 military jets are escorting a commercial passenger jet to New York's JFK airport. Fox's Trace Gallagher is reporting that a passenger plane from the United Arab Emirates IS scheduled into JFK from Yemen - ALTHOUGH, he has no confirmation that the flight escorted is a UAE flight from Yemen. Update: Shep Smith at Fox has just confirmed that the escorted flight is the UAE flight from Yemen. Some rumors that a package from Yemen may be on the flight.
Fox News has just reported an "ink toner cartridge" converted to a bomb, was found on a UPS flight from Yemen to Chicago, via London and on the ground there. Fox's Rick Levanthall says "investigators are seeking to stop a planned terror plot. Early reports said two UPS cargo flights are on the ground and being checked in New York and Newark, New Jersey. A "suspicious package" was removed from a UPS flight on the ground at Philadelphia's International Airport - the flight number is believed to be 218. A crew member of the Philadelphia flight reported a possible "radiological" package. A UPS truck has been quarantined in Queens, New York. On one of the flights, a pilot reported a package that was possibly "radiological." All the info is fast and incomplete. Continuing updates as they break.
Update: Fox 10:35 AM CDT:
AP report: A package removed from a flight in Birmingham England is now said to be no threat.
Portland, Main - suspicious package (backpack) found outside federal court house. Court house was evacuated. Bomb squad on seen investigating a hazardous device.
SkyNews Heathrow and UK offices of UPS deny reports that any kind of bomb or any suspicious packages found today.
Newark, New Jersey flight has been released and is on its way to Kentucky.
Update Fox: Greg Palcot 10:45am:
UK East Midlands Airport: Police at 3:28 a.m. found a suspicious package in the distribution area of the airport. This is a small airport, and is one of two distribution centers for UPS.
Several suspicious packages removed from Philadelphia and and Newark.
Several suspicious packages originating in Yemen in Philadelphia and Newark. The "ink toner cartridge" converted to a bomb - maybe several.
Update 10:50 a.m.
Chicago's O'Hare Airport is also reported of concern now.
Flights on ground in Philly originated from Paris and Cologne.
Update 11:07 a.m. CDT:
Investigation now in Paris.
Toner cartridges were of clear casing, with white powder inside, in a UPS box.
Fox's John Scott: Off-record report: there was some kink of radiological component aboard a flight in Philadelphia. This report is now believed to be false.
One flight originated in Cologne, Germany.
Suspicious package in Brooklyn.
Update 11:11 a.m. CDT:
John Scott says the off-record report of a radiological component found is false.
UPS has no flight "originating" in Yemen.
Update 11:16 a.m. CDT:
Harris Faulkner is confirming that Portland, Maine officials say a suspicious package was found outside the Federal Courthouse at the corner of Market and Federal street. The Portland airport says have no UPS flights landing there today.
Update 11:50 a.m. CDT:
Trucks in Brooklyn and Queens have both been cleared.
In England the situation has been elevated
AP: Suspicious packages are a "dry run mail bomb plot."
Update 12:02 p.m. CDT:
Fox's Katherine Herridge reports, there is a possible link to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Christmas Day bomber.
Update 12:07 p.m. CDT:
Synagogues under high alert after warning.
Suspicious packages in or from Dubai at a FedEx facility - the first time FedEx has been mentioned. 2:20 p.m. AP reports explosives WERE in a package destined for the U.S., and confiscated in Dubai today (Shep Smith - Fox News)
Update 12:18 p.m. CDT:
UPS with Fox would not confirm that the flights in Philadelphia have been cleared.
All flights from Yemen into U.S. have been stopped.
Update 12:28 p.m. CDT:
Baltimore: a "situation" with a bomb squad in Ann Arundel County - not at the airport.
The Baltimore story is that a woman came into a facility to "return" a package. She was told the facility could not accept a package for "return." The woman became frustrated, left the package on the counter and walked out. Authorities believe this incident will be nothing to do with terrorism, but out of an abundance of caution, it is under investigation.
All shipments from London to U.S. have been "embargoed."
Update 1:00 p.m. CDT:
Homeland Security has just increased security on passenger planes, as well as cargo planes.
Chicago found two 2 suspicious packages addressed to "religious" destinations.
A suspicious package is being investigated in San Francisco.
Update 1:11 p.m. CDT:
San Francisco: A passerby noticed a suitcase at the corner of Battery and Market. Police identified it as a suspicious package. The area has been closed to traffic. A bomb robot is on the seen. 1:40 p.m. The San Francisco situation has been cleared.
Chicago's Jewish community was warned of incoming packages. To be aware that harmful packages may be in-coming.
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The Department of Justice has announced the arrest of Farooque Ahmed for planning to assist in multiple bombings at Metrorail stations in the Washington, D.C. area. He is believed to have ties to al-Qaeda. Another naturalized Muslim plans targets his country. Watch for updates and photos when available.
Ahmed, 34, is from Ashburn, Virginia. He said he planned to kill as many people as he could, and on the list of places to bomb is the metro station close to Arlington Cemetery.
"It’s chilling that a man from Ashburn is accused of casing rail stations with the goal of killing as many Metro riders as possible through simultaneous bomb attacks," said U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride. "Today’s arrest highlights the terrorism threat that exists in Northern Virginia and our ability to find those seeking to harm U.S. citizens and neutralize them before they can act. We are grateful for the outstanding work of the FBI in detecting and disrupting this plot."
Yesterday, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., returned a three-count indictment against Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, charging him with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to help carry out multiple bombings to cause mass casualties at D.C.-area Metrorail stations. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.
Ahmed will make his first appearance before a judge at 2 pm EDT today.
According to the indictment, from April 2010 through Oct. 25, 2010, Ahmed attempted to assist others whom he believed to be members of al-Qaeda in planning multiple bombings to cause mass casualties at Metrorail stations. On April 18, 2010, Ahmed allegedly drove to a hotel in Dulles, Va., and met with a courier he believed to be affiliated with a terrorist organization who provided Ahmed with a document that provided potential locations at which future meetings could be arranged. On or about May 15, 2010, at a hotel in Herndon, Va., Ahmed allegedly agreed to watch and photograph another hotel in Washington, D.C., and a Metrorail station in Arlington, Va., to obtain information about their security and busiest periods.
According to the indictment, Ahmed allegedly participated in surveillance and recorded video images of Metrorail stations in Arlington, Va., on four occasions. On or about July 19, 2010, in a hotel room in Sterling, Va., Ahmed allegedly handed a memory stick containing video images of a Metrorail station in Arlington to an individual whom Ahmed believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda. On that same day, Ahmed allegedly agreed to assess the security of two other Metrorail stations in Arlington as locations of terrorist attacks.
The indictment further alleges that, on or about Sept. 28, 2010, in a hotel room in Herndon, Ahmed handed a USB drive containing images of two Metrorail stations in Arlington to an individual whom Ahmed believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda.
According to the indictment, on or about Sept. 28, 2010, Ahmed provided to an individual whom he believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda diagrams that Ahmed drew of three Metrorail stations in Arlington and provided suggestions as to where explosives should be placed on trains in Metrorail stations in Arlington to kill the most people in simultaneous attacks planned for 2011.
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Umm Talha, the wife of Zachary Chesser, the Virginia man who threatened the creators of the TV show, "South Park" has been arrested. Also known as Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita, Umm Talha now has federal charges filed against her. Zach A. Chesser was charged yesterday with "one count of communicating threats and another count of soliciting crimes of violence. These new charges against Chesser join previous charges of adding material support to terrorists, and carry an additional penalty of 15 years in prison. See a video below.
Umm Talha (Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita)
Zach Chesser
This charming pair have an infant son who has been used as a pawn in this case. The mother, Nzabanita (Umm Talha) is from Uganda. From Rusty at The JawaReport's comprehensive coverage of this couple:
As a matter of fact, Umm Talhah always seemed even more radical to me than Zach. And smarter. The real brains of the outfit. So, her arrest is welcomed news.
The only sadness I feel is for her parents. When they found out their daughter wanted to go to Somalia with her husband, they hid her passport from her so she wouldn't go. Unfortunately the asshole husband, Zach, grabbed their grandchild and headed for Somalia anyway.
What kind of a monster intentionally takes a baby into a war zone?
Chesser, 20, reportedly tried to join the Somalian terrorist group Al Shabab, and made two attempts to flee to Somalia. He has an alias of course: Abu Talhan Al-Amrikee. According to this story, Chessler has communicated directly with Anwar Awlaki "several times."
Chesser's wife, Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita, was also charged Monday with one count of making a false statement, which carries a possible prison sentence of up to eight years. Her charge is related to her husband's case, but it was not clear how.
Rashid Khalidi is the co-director of the new Columbia University Palestine Studies Center where he is the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies. Columbia has had a Middle East Institute for over 50 years, but the new "center" for Palestine Studies is considered "the first of its kind."
Rashid Khalidi
You'll remember Khalidi:
1) recently raising funds for a Free Palestine/Support Hamas terror flotilla, named The Audacity of Hope, (named after Obama's book) in waters where Israel has the right to blockade any movement of weapons into Gaza,
3) celebrated Palestine and the audacity of Israel at a farewell party with Barack Obama and Bill Ayers for Khalidi. There were unconfirmed talks of a "toast" to something considered inappropriate regarding Israel with Obama present. Speculation was that the toast was perhaps to the "toasting"(as in "destruction") of Israel. The Los Angeles Times has the video, and refuses to release it.
Khalidi is a former advisor to, and spokesman for, Yassar Arafat and a former professor at the University of Chicago. Khalidi's wife Mona was the English language editor for the PLO press agency.
In 1985, Mr. Khalidi published an adulatory book on the PLO in which he personally thanked Yasser Arafat: "Permission to utilize the P.L.O. archives ... was generously given by the Chairman of the P.L.O. Executive Committee, Yasir Arafat. To him and to the dedicated individuals working in the office of the Chairman, the P.L.O. archive and the Palestine News Agency (WAFA), who extended every possible assistance to me on three trips to Tunis, I owe deep thanks."
Today, however, Mr. Khalidi distances himself from his past.
In truth, Mr. Khalidi is still spinning for the Palestinian leadership. For example, although the Palestinian Authority (PA) is ruled at the whim of a despotic Yasser Arafat, Mr. Khalidi argues the PA has an "elected leader." He asserts that Israel's government "refused to negotiate" with the PA when, in reality, Israel has formally negotiated with the PA since 1993.
Moreover, Mr. Khalidi would like us to believe that Israel has "violated every one of the seven agreements it signed with the PLO since that time." This is, of course, a transparent inversion of the truth. Source: Campus Watch
As Khalidi departed UC to takeover Columbia's Middle East studies, Obama's attendance at a 2003 farewell party, along with Bill Ayers and wife, Bernardine Dorn, and a crowd of mostly Palestinian-Americans is well-documented. According to Los Angeles Times writer Peter Wallsten claimed that the LA Times had a copy of the video. From the National Review:
At Khalidi’s 2003 farewell party, for example, a young Palestinian American recited a poem accusing the Israeli government of terrorism in its treatment of Palestinians and sharply criticizing U.S. support of Israel. If Palestinians cannot secure their own land, she said, “then you will never see a day of peace.”
One speaker likened “Zionist settlers on the West Bank” to Osama bin Laden, saying both had been “blinded by ideology.”
The same article says that state Senator Obama took a more measured response, suggesting that we just all get along.
As Columbia University begins the new study center, there is little said about the connection to Barack Obama or Bill Ayers or Obama's emotional commitment to the Islamic Palestine. Nevertheless, the L.A. Times article referenced above speaking of the farewell party for Khalidi, makes this argument:
But his presence at such events, as he worked to build a political base in Chicago, has led some Palestinian leaders to believe that he might deal differently with the Middle East than either of his opponents for the White House.
"I am confident that Barack Obama is more sympathetic to the position of ending the occupation than either of the other candidates," said Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow for the American Task Force on Palestine, referring to the Israeli presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that began after the 1967 war. More than his rivals for the White House, Ibish said, Obama sees a "moral imperative" in resolving the conflict and is most likely to apply pressure to both sides to make concessions.
Rashid Khalidi often speaks of the revisionist history that lends support to Israel. Speaking of revisionist history - we haven't seen anything yet, as our college students traverse through the one-way street of Khalidi's Palestinian studies.
Amen Ahmed Ali accepted a plea agreement in Bakersfield, California on charges that he was acting as an agent for the Islamic country of Yemen. He admitted "illegally exporting military equipment, possession of stolen U.S. property and conspiracy to act as an illegal agent for a foreign country between 1997 and 2006. Note that he was aiding terrorism before September 11, 2001. Thrown in the pot of indictments, Ali was initially charged with "acquiring and transmitting secret defense information obtained from a government undercover agent. For this, he is sentenced to a maximum of 5 years in prison.
Amen Ahmed Ali Arrest
Ali is a naturalized U.S. citizen according to this Bakersfield news site. He was born in Yemen and has been in California for more than 30 years. A Federal Judge ruled that he was not eligible for bail due to risk of flight, and has apparently been held in a Bakersfield jail since early 2007
Amen Ahmed Ali, who would be about 60 years old now, had two accomplices indicted by a federal grand jury in Fresno, California: Mohamed Al-Rahimi of Bakersfield, about 66 years old today, and California and Ibrahim A. Omer of Fort Worth, Texas, about 44. The arrests came after a two year investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force along with the Bakersfield Police Department and the Kern County Sheriff's office.
Prosecutors said Ali shipped night-vision goggles, laptop computers, and satellite phone sold to him by an FBI undercover-agent who posed as a soldier of the U.S. Army. He also admitted shipping bulletproof vests, and chemical protective suits. Source: Fox News
Ali reportedly had access to five bank accounts holding large amounts of money. Prosecutors had 115 taped phone calls authorized under FISA.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September 2006, the man had several aliases: Ali Amin Alrowhani, Amin Al Rohany and Ameen Alrohany.
The original counts charged:
COUNT ONE (Ali) - Conspiracy to Possess and Transmit Defense Information - 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine;
COUNT TWO (Ali and Omer) - Conspiracy to Unlawfully Export Defense Articles - 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine;
COUNT THREE (Ali and Omer) - Attempted Unlawful Export of Defense Articles - 10 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine;
COUNT FOUR (Ali and Al-Rahimi) - Conspiracy to Possess Stolen Government Property - 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
For this and his guilty plea, the man will spend only five years in prison, the maximum penalty. Sentencing is January 24th, 2011. That's like a slap on the wrist to a dedicated Muslim terrorist. If his previous jail time on the charges are considered (and I cannot confirm they will be counted) Ali will spend only 1 year in prison.
According to JihadWatch, when the arrests first occurred on September 8, 2006, accomplice Ibrahim A. Omer was taken into custody in Bossier City, Louisiana, and Al-Rahimi was being sought. I'm finding no arrest or conviction information about Mohamed Al-Rahimi.
After a warning from the U.S., Britain's MI5 counter-intelligence is going after Mohammed Ilyas Kashmiri's terror cells believed to have already been dispatched to the U.K. Kashmiri is reportedly acting under orders from Osama Bin Laden, and has sent terror cells to the West to make Mumbai-style attacks in Europe.
Ilyas Kashmiri (perhaps in disguise)
Kashmiri claims to be an accomplice, and involved in the the murderer of Daniel Pearl by Omar Saeed Sheikh.
Some senior Al Qaeda members who were associated with Kashmiri were killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan on September 8, including a Briton named as Adbul Jabbar, who had been tasked with leading an Al Qaeda group in the UK.
Kashmiri had more than a few contacts with American David Coleman Headley and Canadian Tahawwar Hussein Rana, both of Chicago. Headley was arrested in October 2009 and held on charges of conspirace to commit terrorist acts and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist groups. Testimony from Headley stated that he was planning to meet Kashiri in Pakistan in October 2009. He was arrested at O'Hare Airport preparing to board a flight.
Tahawwar Hussein Rana owns several businesses, including First World Immigration Services in Chicago, New York and Toronto, a halal meat plant and a grocery store. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorism groups. Both Headley and Rana were born in Pakistan.
In January 2010, the FBI said Headley also worked as an agent for First World Immigration Services. The U.S. Attorney General's office was "working to determine the immigration status of people who entered the U.S. with the agency's help, with false documents. In an Internet search, First World Immigration Services appears to still be operating.
The photo above of Headley and Rana comes courtesy of Cao's Blog who has the details on these two men and their operation, including the immigration scam wrought by First World Immigration Services.
France and Germany have also elevated their terror watch, with the U.K. set at 'severe.'
Mohammed Ilyas Kashiri was believed in a U.S. drone strike in 2009, but gave an interview to a Pakistani reporter in early to mid-2009. He was charged in abstentia in the U.S. in January 2010 and of plotting international attacks. Read an in-depth report about the Osama Bin Laden and Ilyas Kashmiri connection at Long War Journal.
Times Square bomber-wanna-be Faisal Shahzad has received a sentence of Life in Prison and has issued a statement making it clear why any Muslim-militant can NEVER be believed. Shazad is a naturalized American citizen. When asked about his pledge of allegiance to the U.S., Shahzad said "I did swear but I did not mean it." See a video below.
Faisal Shahzad
On May 1st Faisal Shahzad, 31, left a bomb in a 1993 Nissan Pathfiner and parked it in New York's busy Times Square. He walked away and waited for the explosion that never happened beyond a sputter.
He lit the fuse of his crude, homemade bomb, then fled on foot, pausing along the way to listen for the explosion that never came, court papers said.
A street vendor spotted smoke coming from the vehicle and alerted police, who quickly cleared the area. The bomb attempt set off an intense investigation that culminated two days later with investigators plucking Shahzad off a Dubai-bound plane at a New York airport.
Shazhad pleaded guilty, and said he hoped to kill at least forty people with the failed bomb which the FBI duplicated and said the explosion ripped a SUV in half, caused a huge fireball and "shredded" four other vehicles parked in the vicinity.
Unless the U.S. leaves Muslim lands alone, he warned, "we will be attacking U.S., and I plead guilty to that."
Faisal Shahzad and Huma Asif Mian Shahzad
It is believed Shahzad married Huma Asif Mian in an "arranged" marriage on December 24, 2004. Mian was born in Colorado and recently graduated the University of Colorado with a degree in Accounting. Her father, Mohammad Asif Mian is a petroleum engineer "expert," who "registered Democrat," in Connecticut, will be incarcerated. Shazhad told the court he believes only in Islamic Shariah law and Muslim "soldiers" will never accept democracy. There are reports that Huma Asif Mian fled to Pakistan.
Justice.gov has a detailed report on the failed bombing and the ten Federal charges. The second video below is believed to be Faisal Shahzad meeting with the nine-lived, celebrated terrorist, Hakimullah Mehsud.
Project 2996 is a tribute to the victims of September 11, 2001. Maggie's Notebook will honor the memories and the lives of some of those lost that terrible day.
2,996 stories...2,996 voices...2,996 remembered.
Laurie Ann Neira was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 departing from Boston to Los Angeles, after a visit with family. The photograph at the right is Laurie in 1997 with her daughter Francisca, known as Frannie, on Frannie's wedding day.
Laurie worked for Your Office Genie, and a look around the Internet finds many workers remembering her fondly. Some knew her personally, and others recognized her as a co-worker they had not yet met.
One of Laurie's best friends as a teenager in Rowley, Massachusetts, Debbie Madruga Richards, wrote fond memories of their earlier friendship, when they moved to 'The Big Apple' together at age 18.
Laurie was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts. She met her future husband, Gilberto (Gil) in New York City. In 1975 the family, now consisting of Mom, Dad and Francisca moved to Los Angeles. Later, Frannie's brother Christopher was born. Each year after the move, the family returned to their Massachusetts roots for a visit.
Frannie and Laurie were in Boston on their annual trip, but were flying back to L.A. separately.
From Frannie:
"We had the best time together. Then, on 9/11/01 we went to the airport together. The car rental shuttle dropped [Laurie] off at her terminal first, she going on American, and me going on Delta.
My last words to her were, see you back home."
American Airlines Flight 11 was taken over by hijackers after about 15 minutes after takeoff. Frannie's Delta flight made an emergency landing in Ohio. That is how she learned of her mother's fate. All flights were grounded, and she was left alone there for three days.
Frannie says her mother was the glue that held the family together.
"She was the most loving and caring person I have ever known. She was a loving and devoted Wife and Mother to me and my brother Christopher. She was also a doting Grandmother to my daughter Amanda - she couldn't wait to be a Grandma! She was taken from our family too soon and left a void that will never be filled again."
Note to family: If you find this tribute and would like to add any information about Laurie Ann Neira, please let me know. My email is about half-way down the page on the right side, or leave a comment.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, was asked three times in an interview if he will consider a run for the presidency. Three times Bolton did not say 'no,' but he also did not say 'yes.' The usually straight-talking Bolton alluded to not being electable, but said his candidacy would raise the profile of national security - and that would be a good thing.
John Bolton
In an interview with the Daily Caller's Jamie Weinstein, Bolton answered the first question of a possible presidential run by saying he was honored that anyone would even ask the question. Acknowledging that the economy is first on everyone's mind, he astutely reminds us that "our adversaries overseas are not going to wait for us to get our economic house in order."
Asked again, DC says Bolton "seemed to suggest" that his presence in the race would escalate the national security conversation.
Asked a third time, he said he would not do "anything foolish" because he understands how the media works and that understanding would be a part of any decision he makes.
Bolton is a constant critic of the Obama administration. Everything Obama has done in Afghanistan, Bolton believes he was forced to do, and he believes Obama will never strike Iran. He is equally as critical of Obama's domestic agenda.
Asked if he gives any credit at all to the president for increasing drone attacks against terrorists in Pakistan and elsewhere, and tripling troop levels in Afghanistan – both moves that have upset his left flank – Bolton said they were moves the president was forced to take.
“Well, certainly he has done things that have been unexpected in Afghanistan and certain aspects of the Terrorism. I think those are steps he has taken because it has been impossible – even for him – to avoid taking them,” Bolton proffered. “For example, much of what he has done in terms of interrogation or Guantanamo Bay or aspects of the War on Terrorism are things that are driven either by the imperative of defending executive branch prerogatives under the Constitution or because he has come to realize that the Bush administration looked at a lot of alternatives and couldn’t find any. So it is not that he has done these things happily or willingly.”
Bolton has been the lone voice crying-out in the wilderness, and echoing you and me, national security before all else - or else it will be too late, and that the United Nations is deceitful and wholly corrupt - and wholly against Israel. I would welcome John Bolton into the race for president. It is a sad commentary on our nation that a brilliant man who ultimately supports peace through strength would be lynched and worse by the media. Oh, Ran at Si Vis Pacem asks: ...but what if he ran as Sarah's Veep?
We hear today that President Obama has granted "Direct Access" of the White House to the Muslim Brotherhood, but refused even a quick meeting with Texas Governor Rick Perry while Obama was visiting in the State. A booby prize was offered to Perry, granting him a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Counterrorism Czar John Brennan. Perry declined the "opportunity," but no booby prize for the Muslim Brotherhood, who are meeting as we speak at the White House tonight. The White House declared there will be "no red tape" for the Islamic terror backers. Did I mention there is another Iftar dinner at the White House for the "brothers," after the meeting White House workshop?
Muslim Brotherhood
So what is the purpose of the workshop? From Big Peace taken from the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) newsletter, this is the purpose
…Leaders from Muslim organizations around the nation, particularly social service organizations, are invited to a workshop with representatives from the DOA, Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Health and Human Services, the White House, Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, and more. Twenty five to thirty Muslim leaders representing 20 Muslim organizations are expected to attend the workshop.
According to a representative of CCMO, this workshop is designed to clarify how Muslim nonprofits, mosques, Islamic centers, and social service organizations can strengthen their communities through more direct access to opportunities provided to social service agencies at the Federal level. “It will hopefully help cut through some of the red tape and shine light on the many opportunities for funding, government assistance, and resources that we just don’t know about at the local level,” said Elsanousi.
More from Christine Brim at Big Peace on the redistribution of your money:
This workshop constitutes an abdication of their professional responsibility by all government participants – and a taxpayer-funded government stimulus program for the attending Muslim Brotherhood-associated groups. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, is a global Islamist political movement dedicated to imposing Shariah law on all nations and institutions. Their credo is “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
Why do we think some of these groups attending, possibly all, may be associated with the Muslim Brotherhood?
Because the sponsoring organization – the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO), co-sponsoring with the Department of Agriculture – has a long history of associations with the Muslim Brotherhood. They also signed a 2009 American Muslim Task Force statement threatening to “suspend” relations with the FBI, because the FBI was investigating possible links to homegrown terrorism in mosques and other Muslim organizations.
The President welcomed his guests by noting that the many contributions made by American Muslims to US culture were too numerous to mention, and added that "Tonight's Iftar is a ritual that is also being carried out this Ramadan at kitchen tables and mosques in all fifty states. Islam, as we know, is part of America. And like the broader American citizenry, the American Muslim community is one of extraordinary dynamism and diversity -- with families that stretch back generations and more recent immigrants; with Muslims of countless races and ethnicities, and with roots in every corner of the world."
In recent years, the Brotherhood has attempted to forge a reputation as a moderate and reformist Islamic group that has renounced its violent past. Lending plausibility to this reputation has been criticism of the organization by radical Islamist groups, who have condemned the Brotherhood’s willingness to participate in the political process as heretical. These groups have also criticized the Brotherhood for supposedly abandoning violent struggle as a means of establishing an Islamic empire.
However, numerous statements by the Brotherhood’s leadership belie its moderate posture. Ali Sadreddine Bayanouni, the leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, has repeatedly disavowed violence while concurrently pledging his support for the terrorism of Hamas and Hezbollah. Muhammad Mahdi Othman Akef, a prominent leader of the Brotherhood, has expressed his support for suicide bombings in Israel and Iraq "in order to expel the Zionists and the Americans."
Two Yemen men living legally in the U.S. were removed from a United Flight today. Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi of Detroit, Michigan and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Hezam al Murisi were allowed to board the United flight at Chicago's O'Hare airport last night even though "security concerns surrounded" one of them. In the video below you can see the two men taken off the flight in Amsterdam in handcuffs.
It's a bizarre story that U.S. officials seems ready to tell us has no connection to terrorism. The story at this time is that the two men do not know each other and just happened to be on the same flight from Chicago to Amsterdam - both boarding in Birmingham, Alabama. Both men's luggage ended up on a flight different than the flight they were flying on. The luggage had watches, and an empty bottle with three cell phones taped to it, at least one box cutter and three large knives. According to ABC News, U.S. officials describe the odd items in the luggage as "mock bombs."
Airport security screeners in Birmingham, Alabama first stopped al Soofi and referred him to additional screening because of what officials said was his "bulky clothing.
In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare.
Despite the items found in the luggage, the Birmingham airport cleared them for the flight to O'Hare. When the flight arrived in Chicago, officials learned that al Soofi intentionally sent his luggage on a different flight to Washington's Dulles airport, connecting to Dubai and then Yemen. Al Soofi did not try to board the flight to D.C.
The U.S. does not expect to charge the men, a law enforcement official said. The two men arrested in Amsterdam - both traveling to Yemen - did not know each other and were not traveling together, a U.S. government official said...
Al Soofi was supposed to fly from Chicago to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and then on to Dubai, one of the officials said. But when he got to Chicago he changed his travel plans to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, while his luggage went on to Virginia.
Al Murisi also changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among U.S. officials.
Dutch officials say they detained the men at the request of the U.S., and are holding them on "suspicion of a conspiracy to a terrorist criminal act." If the men cannot be charged for perpetrating the equal of "fire" in a crowded theatre, then passengers have never have a chance of boarding a flight without drama.
In this video, Steven Crowder talks about the World Trade Towers site and what it is today - a pit - nine years after September 11, 2001 - only a pit. Crowder has impeccable timing and a finely-tuned sense of the heart of the news. Posted on February 25th, 2010, I doubt much progress has been made in these 6 months. This is one of those great videos we will not forget.
I do think it’s necessary however, to show the tragic imagery so that people don’t forget how fired up they were in the following months. It’s time to get fired up again. It’s time to honor the deceased by proactively fighting against government waste and forcing their hand into action. There’s no excuse for Ground Zero to look the way it does today
John Brennan, Obama's Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterrorism is caught once again shilling for the enemy and making al-Qaeda and jihad the victim. Not only is he caught and publicly exposed by the Washington Times, Brennan is furious about it - so furious that he challenges the Washington Times saying some terrorists have the opportunity to become "Westerners." Brennan talks about the arrogance of calling the West an "opportunity." Talk about arrogance, Brennan has sooommmme arrogance and sooommmme loathing of Western liberty in this contentious video below.
John Brennan
This story has a few layers. A June 11th editorial at the Washington Times said a Brennan speech in May 2010 made "Terrorists the real victim?". Brennan said
Mr. Brennan also asserted that "violent extremists" are victims of "political, economic and social forces." This dense statement implies that counterterrorism should focus not on terrorists themselves but the underlying causes that purportedly "victimized" them.... Making terrorists into victims also legitimates their grievances, which is a strange way to fight them....
Mr. Brennan also has been waging his own crusade on jihad. He claims "jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or one's community, and there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children....." But jihad also can mean the violent struggle against non-Muslims for the defense or extension of the Islamic faith, something known as the "lesser jihad," which to the United States is the greater threat...
Mr. Brennan's view of Islam as a universally benign force may lead him to dismiss some of al Qaeda's justifications for violence, which reveals willful ignorance. He may maintain that he knows more about Islam than our enemies, but they are dying to prove him wrong.
Days after the Underpants Bomber failed to scorch his scrotum, but failed to bring down the airliner, CNN's Gloria Borger interviewed Brennan. Brennan's scrotum was likely scorched a bit as well, as she claimed six government agencies had pertinent information about the almost-bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Brennan received a security briefing from Saudia Arabia specifically to warn him about bombers with bombs sewed into their underwear...and specifically from Yemen.
One more story about Brennan: In early January 2010, former head of the CIA, Michael Scheuer, accused Brennan of a career mainly consisting of "ass-kissing." I posted the videos here, but, no surprise...they've been removed from history of he Obama administration.
On August 20th, Washington Times writer Kerry Picket declares the White House wrong on terrorism...again. Speaking to reporters in Martha's Vineyard, Brennan talked about the release of Megrahi, the Lockerbie Bomber from a Scottish prison, and said that early release was "wrong." Nevermind that his boss, Barack Obama played an integral part in sending Megrahi home to Libya to live infinitum with his family after killing 190 Americans, many of whom were college students.
Unfortunately for Brennan, David Mastio, the Washington Times deputy editorial page editor was among those reporters. Here is an example of how the media might actually be a force for good in the U.S. Ed Driscoll at PajamasMedia also has the story. See the transcript below the video.
John Brennan Exposed by the Washington Times
Video Transcript:
TWT: The concern that I have is your comments that we misrepresented you in the editorial, and what I understand the concern is about whether you described terrorists as victims. Is that?
BRENNAN: Yes, it was the one reference you made.
TWT: We have a copy of your speech here from whitehouse.gov, which I assume is the correct speech and the way I read this, and I think the plain English reading is : ‘This includes addressing the political, economic and social forces that can make some people fall victim to the cancer of violent extremism.’
BRENNAN: Right...victim to the cancer of violent extremism. Victim to that cancer as opposed to...
TWT: But, you’re not talking about dead bodies here. You’re talking about the people who fall under the sway of the terrorist ideology and...
BRENNAN: Right.
TWT: ...and commit acts of terror.
BRENNAN: Absolutely...as you say fall under the sway of, and what you say in your editorial was that ‘the terrorists are victims of political, economic, and social forces.’ That is not what I said.
TWT: That’s exactly what you said.
BRENNAN:That is not exactly what I said.
TWT: Immediately afterwards, you start talking about how you’re going to address this, and you say that ‘we need to show that legitimate grievances can be resolved, that we need to have good governance, that we need to reduce corruption, we need to renew partnerships and improve education, health, and basic services.
BRENNAN: Right, but don’t you think those are worth while endeavors? And don’t you think that some factors do contribute to the spawning of terrorists and extremist forces?
TWT: You’re saying that the people who are terrorists are victims of these things.
BRENNAN: I didn’t say that. Read what I said literally
TWT: We did read what you said.
BRENNAN: And you still don’t get it...do you?
TWT: No. Particularly since, if my knowledge of history is anything, that the terrorists who strike us over and over again are not people who are victims of these things. They are people who have the opportunity to become westerners. They are people who have the opportunity to...
BRENNAN: Opportunity to become westerners?!?! Boy if that is not an arrogant attitude. Opportunities to become westerners...people who strike us wherever they’re from?
TWT: People who are so oppressed, that they have college educations at western schools. People who are so oppressed that people that they have middle class lifestyles even in that places that they come from that are poor.
BRENNAN: Right. They are ideologically driven by a perverse and distorted version of Islam. Absolutely.
TWT: That has nothing to do with their social situation. Their social situation is just fine.
BRENNAN: So you don’t think that people who become ideologically driven are influenced at all by the political, social, and economic forces of their environment? You’re saying that they do this irrespective of their environment...of those social, political, and economic forces that are out there?
TWT: You’re not accurately describing their environment.
American Airlines Flight 24 was ready for take-off at the San Francisco airport when someone called by phone in a threat against the flight. AA Flight 24 was moved to a remote area of the facility. Passengers will be interviewed and rescreened, as as the plane is swept by local security for suspicious devices. The flight's destination is New York's JFK Airport. The story is breaking. More as available. SourceNote that two passengers said the couple removed from the flight had Pakistani passports. See more below.
The flight was scheduled to depart San Francisco at 7:30 a.m. PST this morning, so this has been a very long day for passengers.
At 2:46 p.m. CDT - this minute - Fox is showing passengers just being removed from plane to busses.
The TSA says the threat was not of a hijacking (heard on Fox News)
Update: Two passengers, a man and a woman sitting on one of the back rows of the flight were taken into custody in handcuffed (from Neal Cavuto 3:50 CDT). The New York Post apparently had an article that has now been taken down. The promo on Google said "a young man and a young woman" were taken off the plane" "in cuffs."
From CNN's Just In: American Airlines security told CNN that the threat claimed the flight would be hijacked" but no proof of that yet.
According to ABC News San Francisco affiliate KGO, Alameda, Calif., police said they received a call at 9:09 a.m. from a hotel desk clerk saying he received an anonymous call from an individual with an accent threatening the flight.
"It was a verbal threat and that threat involved hijacking the plane," Sgt. Michael Rodriquez of the San Francisco Police Department Airport Division told .
Law enforcement agents surrounded the plane and soon boarded through the back door of the craft, passenger Matthew Hoffman told KGO.
He and other witnesses saw two people taken from the plane in handcuffs.
"They came in rather quickly and went straight to the individual sitting in the other side of the plane and spoke to him a little bit, asked him to stand up, asked him if he had any belongings with him," Hoffman said.
The couple told the Associated Press they believed they were picked at random and later were released without charges.
The San Francisco police statement confirmed that no arrests had been made in the incident.
Fellow passengers weren't so sure the removal of their two fellow passengers was random and reported seeing the pair carrying Pakistani passports, the AP reported.
"It definitely seems like it was racial profiling, based on what they look like physically and the fact they are Pakistani," Michael Anderson, 20, a Yale University sophomore who was heading back to school, told the AP. "It seems like this was a false accusation."
So passengers believe this was a case of racial profiling? Someone with a heavy accent calls a hotel desk and says a hijacking is imminent aboard American Airlines Flight 24. Get over it. When a threat comes in, law enforcement has to do the first reasonable thing. The young couple from Des Moines with two small children would likely not be the first focus.
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