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Siljander's chummy relationship with suspect terrorist-funding charity troubles watchdog

Judicial Watch is troubled that a former congressman has been indicted for his alleged participation in a terrorist fundraising ring.

Mark Deli Siljander, a Republican from Michigan when he was in the House, is under investigation for his alleged involvement with the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), a Muslim charity that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to a supporter of al Qaida and the Taliban. The indictment says Siljander lied about his lobbying of senators on behalf the charity that was secretly sending money to terrorists. The indictment also accuses the IARA of paying Siljander $50,000 for his lobbying efforts.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, calls the situation troubling. "What's also troubling is that the Bush administration continues to have contact with these terrorist front organizations," fears Fitton.

According to the government watchdog, these "terrorist front organizations" receive government contracts for Transportation Safety Administration sensitivity training, and they "are regular participants in meetings with the FBI at the highest levels."

Fitton is calling for closer scrutiny of the supposed "Islamic charities."

This is just one that has been caught. The question is will he be prosecuted and how many others are there that will never be revealed?

I realize that I'm far too shy on this issue, but I think they should erect several gallows in Washington, D.C. and start having regular public hangings. They would first obviously get a trial for treason, and that would be public also. I'll work on a firmer stance for this.

I nominate Ted Kennedy, for trial first!!

 ;D   Do you think that the gallows might be too quick?

Never said they would sharpen the blade :)

Imam offers prayer at Iowa Statehouse asking Allah for "victory over those who disbelieve"

Muslim opening prayer at Iowa Statehouse raises concerns
    
The Iowa Legislature started just over a week ago and some people were upset before the first issue was every addressed.

When the session began, a Muslim Imam began the prayer in the Iowa Legislature. This is where the controversy begins.

The prayer asked of "Victory over those who disbelieve," and "Protection from the great Satan" among other things.

Pastor Steve Smith of the Evangelical Free Church in Albert City is among those concerned about the Muslim prayer. Rev. Smith admits that he doesn't know about all the levels of Muslim but knows that the Jihadists believe those in the U.S. are the great Satan.

Rev. Smith also wants to point out the mention of "victory over those who disbelieve." He feels "this is a request in the Iowa Legislature for God to grant the Muslims victory over every non-muslim. Not a request for salvation." Smith takes it as a gesture not of prayer but more as a political statement, especially with the wars that have been going on in the Middle East.

"I'm not concerned about a Muslim Imam opening the Legislature in prayer but it concerns me with the statements that were made. He interpreted this prayer from his understanding of Islam." (Which is 100% correct.)
Here is the text of the opening prayer, as transcribed by Radio Iowa:

Imam Muhammad Khan of the Islamic Center of Des Moines spoke first in Arabic.

"I seek refuge in God against the accursed Satan in the name of God, most gracious, most merciful," Khan said in English. Khan made no specific mention of the war in Iraq or foreign affairs, but he called God the "master of the day of judgment" and asked for "victory over those who disbelieve."

"As we begin this new year...in a world with trials and tribulations, we ask you to open the hearts of our legislators and policy makers to make the right decisions for the people of Iowa," Khan said. "...We ask that you guide our legislators and give them the wisdom and knowledge to tackle the difficult problems that face us today in order to eliminate the senseless crimes on humanity. Help them, Lord, to solve the complicated problems in the State of Iowa so that we can be a model to the world."

Khan's prayer lasted about four minutes and he closed with a few words for legislators.

"On behalf of the Muslim community of Des Moines and Iowa, I wish you all the success in this year for making the right decisions for us," Khan said. Khan was the guest of State Representative Ako Abdul Samad of Des Moines, who is also a local Muslim leader.

Rev. Smith has urged others who may be concerned to contact their representative.

When asked about the prayer, Senator Steve Kettering replied in an e-mail that he had not heard the prayer, which did not take place in the Senate chambers.

"I cannot tell you what was said. I have received e-mail regarding this, but since it did not occur on the Senate side I do not have much information," Kettering said. " I should point out that the senate had a Catholic priest for their opening."

Representative Gary Worthan of Storm Lake said that he agrees with the concern being shown over the Muslim prayer.

He said that he has registered his concerns with the proper authorities.

As the father of two sons who have fought terrorism in the military, Worthan said the phrases mentioned earlier also jumped out at him and he said he shares concern for the same reasons as the constituents he is hearing from.

That IS the question and I, for one, won't be holding my breath!

I haven't been here in about three days so forgive me if this has already been posted or information about it.  This was in an email I got.

Please help do this... Refuse to accept these when they are handed back to you.   I received one from the Post Office as change and I asked for a dollar bill instead.  The lady just smiled and said, 'Way to go,' so she had read this e-mail.  Please help out. Our world is in enough trouble without this too!!!!!


U.S. Government to Release New Dollar Coins


(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x125/luvmarley_bucket/newdollor.jpg)

You guessed it - 'IN GOD WE TRUST' IS GONE!!!


If ever there was a reason to boycott something, THIS IS IT!!!!

DO NOT ACCEPT THE NEW DOLLAR COINS AS CHANGE

Together we can force them out of circulation.

Hi sister,

This email is not completely honest. "In God We Trust" is in fact on those coins. They are on the edge of the coin instead of being on the face of them. If you received one that didn't have it there then it is because someone filed it off after it was circulated. There is an atheist group that made threats to do just that and encouraged others to do so also.

 I posted an article in another thread that also tells us that they are going to be putting "In God We Trust" back on the front of the coins.

http://forums.christiansunite.com/index.php?topic=20875.msg234447#msg234447

I haven't heard anything about these new coins or seen one yet. I do want to say that those atheists will be humbled before GOD one day waiting to hear their punishment announced. THEY WILL BOW BEFORE GOD - LIKE IT OR NOT! I will BOW BEFORE GOD NOW AND LIKE IT!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Oh!  Thanks guys.

I had someone make a very nice picture for me.  ;D
(http://www.creatureworld.net/~David_James/everyknee2.gif)

Hello Brother David,

That's very nice, and I love the subject matter. You just reminded me to practice some more with some new graphics programs I have. I used to make graphics all the time, but I used the same programs for many years. I have new programs to learn since I canned Windows. I have made a few new graphics, but I'm not very comfortable or fast with the new program yet. My OS is Linux, and an outstanding graphics program for it is Gimp. Unfortunately, it's a large, feature-rich, and pretty complicated program that does much more than I really need. One of my favorite graphic programs in the past was a small program mainly used to make buttons called Deknop.

Brother, I'll try again one day soon when I get things caught up some.

Love In Christ,
Tm

   

Department of the Defenseless

There used to be a time when the greatest threat within the United States government emanated from Arabists in the State Department, Arabists meaning those persons who favor Arab interests and positions in international affairs. Today, a new threat has emerged and from the most unlikely of places, the Department of Defense (DOD), and this time it’s not from Arabists but from Islamists, coming from outside the department, looking to infiltrate the most sensitive of areas in our nation.

On September 1, 2006, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England was featured as a speaker at the 43rd annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America or ISNA. He began his speech by stating the following:

Friends, fellow Americans, people of faith - Good afternoon! Thank you to Dr. Louay Safi for the kind introduction, and a special thank you to Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdulla, and Dr. Ingrid Mattson, for your leadership and for the invitation to join you at this Islamic Society of North America conference.

Thank you also for the pleasant lunch, and the opportunity to dialog with the Society’s leadership. It was most beneficial to share ideas and values.

It is a profound honor for me to be here with you today, representing all the men and women in the United States military, and all the civilians who serve America in the Department of Defense and throughout the US Government.

ISNA was established by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB)-associated Muslim Students Association (MSA) in 1981, helped into existence by a group of MSA alumni and a teaching assistant at North Carolina State University (NCSU) named Sami Al-Arian, who only two years prior co-founded Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Egypt. ISNA was incorporated using the same physical address as the MSA, which was also the address used to incorporate the American Hamas financing wing, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF).

In December of 2003, ISNA was the subject of a terrorism investigation launched by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee “into possible links between nongovernmental organizations and terrorist financing networks.”

In June of 2007, ISNA was named an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a legal case brought by the Justice Department against HLF officials that dealt with the funding of millions of dollars to Hamas. During the trial, a May 1991 MB document bearing ISNA’s name was presented as evidence, stating: “The Ikhwan [Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and G-d’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

Even today, right on ISNA’s official website, one can read the following quotes: “May Allah fight the jews and the christians. They took the graves of their Prophets as places of prostration . Two deens [religions] shall not co-exist in the land of the Arabs.” And “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’” The statements have been on ISNA’s site since March of 2006, months before England gave his speech.

Furthermore, ISNA Executive Council member Muhammad Nur Abdullah (see above) and board members Jamal Badawi, Yusuf Ziya Kavakci, and Muzammil Siddiqi all currently serve as Sharia Scholars for the ‘Fatwa Bank’ on Islam Online. Contained in it is a fatwa (religious ruling) mandating violence against American troops, entitled ‘Seeking Martyrdom by Attacking US Military Bases in the Gulf.’ It states, “[A]ttacking American soldiers who came to launch war against Muslims is an obligation and Jihad, as they are true invaders. Hence, killing any transgressing American soldier is an obligation and a kind of Jihad since those occupying troops came to invade Muslim lands.”

For such a high-ranking government official, as Deputy Secretary England is, to participate in an event sponsored by ISNA is alarming to say the least, but the series of events that followed the speech were far worse and will have much greater implications for the future.

England was named Deputy Secretary in May of 2005. Prior to that, he had held two terms as Secretary of the Navy. Serving on England’s staff, while he was with the Navy, was an individual by the name of Hesham Islam. Islam, an Egyptian-born former Naval officer (Retired Commander) and former Merchant Marine for Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, while at Naval Postgraduate School, wrote a thesis exhibiting what has been described as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic viewpoints. Islam has since moved on to join Deputy Secretary England’s DOD staff as his Special Assistant for International Affairs.

It has been reported that it was Commander Islam that suggested England address ISNA’s annual conference. And of course, England going to ISNA was an open invitation for ISNA to return the favor by coming to DOD, which the group took advantage of.

On April 26, 2007, DOD issued a “News Article” about ISNA’s visit with the agency the day before. A photo in the release depicts Deputy Secretary England with the President of ISNA Ingrid Mattson and the U.S. Vice President of ISNA Mohamed Hagmagid Ali. It was taken at England’s office in the Pentagon.

Also attending the event was the President of the Muslim American Society (MAS) Esam Omeish, who, last September, resigned his government appointed position to the Virginia Commission of Immigration, after a video surfaced showing him advocating violent jihad. Information regarding Omeish’s attendance is found on the website of American Muslims for Constructive Engagement (AMCE), an organization created by the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT) to bring radical Muslims closer to the U.S. government. In March of 2002, IIIT’s Virginia offices were raided by the FBI in a terror financing probe. In March of 2006, DOD helped pay for an IIIT conference.

Now, it needs to be said that the April photo op and the England speech were not the first times DOD had had dealings with ISNA. In truth, ISNA has been a part of DOD’s Muslim chaplaincy program since July of 2002, when it was named as an “endorser of Chaplains.” However, not everyone was happy about ISNA’s involvement in this program.

In a meeting of the terrorism subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee held in October of 2003, Senators Charles Schumer, Jon Kyl and Dianne Feinstein voiced concern over ISNA’s role at DOD. Senator Schumer cited the fact that Siraj Wahhaj, an individual named by the U.S. government as a possible co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was at the time a board member of ISNA. Nonetheless, little was done; ISNA kept its position.

Today, thanks to its chief advocate in the government, Hesham Islam, ISNA’s role within the Department of Defense is stronger than ever. As has been discussed in depth by such journalists as Bill Gertz, Frank Gaffney and Kenneth Timmerman, this relationship has forced the Islamic law expert for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Stephen Coughlin, out of his job.

Coughlin, a major in the Army Reserves working as a civilian contractor for the Joint Staff, had recently put together a 333-page document exposing radical Islam’s threat to the West, entitled “TO OUR GREAT DETRIMENT”: IGNORING WHAT EXTREMISTS SAY ABOUT JIHAD [PDF]. As well, he had raised concerns about the dangerous ties of ISNA and other groups that have been courted by Commander Islam. Coughlin understood what many inside the government do not, that there are mainstream American Muslim organizations that threaten our country from within.

While groups like ISNA and MAS work hard to create a false aura of moderation and modernity, and while they cunningly strive to make inroads in the most sensitive of U.S. government sectors, these same groups hide within their websites declarations of violence aimed at non-Muslims. In reality, they hide their true self. And when individuals, such as Stephen Coughlin, come along, they try to discredit them and remove them from the process. This time, they were successful.

Earlier this month, DOD’s Central Command (CENTCOM) canceled a speech that was to be given in front of its personnel by Ahmed Bedier, a leader of the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In doing as such, CENTCOM, the arm of the government responsible for combat operations abroad, exhibited integrity.

It is time for the Defense Department to follow its military offspring and match that integrity by removing ISNA and its friends from its offices. These organizations are threats to our security and have no business taking part in our government, let alone being in our country.

DOD does a great job protecting us, by fighting our enemies abroad. It mustn’t forget that those same enemies have counterparts stationed here, as well.

“Ultimately we can never be full citizens of this country… because there is no way we can be fully committed to the institutions and ideologies of this country.”

- ISNA board member, Ihsan Bagby, ‘Political Activities of Muslims in America,’ 1991

“We are those who have given a pledge of allegiance to Muhammad that we will carry on Jihad as long as we live.”

Pentagon official, others face spy charges
Military sales, space shuttle secrets were allegedly sought by China

A Defense Department analyst and a former engineer for Boeing Co. were charged Monday in separate spy cases for allegedly handing over military secrets to the Chinese government, the Justice Department said.

Additionally, two immigrants from China and Taiwan accused of working with the defense analyst were arrested after an FBI raid Monday morning on a New Orleans home where one of them lived.

The two cases — based in Alexandria, Va., and Los Angeles — have no connection, and investigators said it was merely a coincidence that charges would be brought against both on the same day.
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The arrests mark China’s latest attempts to gain top secret information about U.S. military systems and sales, said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein. He described China as “particularly adept, and particularly determined and methodical in their espionage efforts.”

“The threat is very simple,” Wainstein said at a Justice Department news conference in Washington. “It’s a threat to our national security and to our economic position in the world, a threat that is posed by the relentless efforts of foreign intelligence services to penetrate our security systems and steal our most sensitive military technology and information.”

An official at the Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Military sales to Taiwan cited
In the first case, prosecutors said weapons systems policy analyst Gregg W. Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Va., sold classified defense information to a New Orleans furniture salesman. In return, the salesman, a Taiwan native identified as Tai Kuo, a 58-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, forwarded the information to the Chinese government.

The data outlined every planned U.S. sale of weapons or other military technology to Taiwan for the next five years, prosecutors said.

It’s not clear how much money Bergersen received for the classified information, or if he was even aware it was intended for the Chinese government. Court documents portray him as nervous during at least one meeting when he handed over a diskette of documents to be recorded, asking Kuo to keep their deal a secret.

“I’d go to jail, I don’t wanna go to jail,” Bergersen said in a conversation taped by the FBI.

“I’d probably go to jail too,” Kuo responded. Prosecutors described him as chuckling.

A third alleged conspirator in the case, Chinese national Yu Xin Kang, 33, served as the go-between for Kuo and the People’s Republic of China, prosecutors say.

Kuo and Bergersen, who worked at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in Arlington, Va., were arraigned before Magistrate Judge John Anderson at the federal courthouse in Alexandria. Bergersen was charged with conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Bergersen, who was arrested at his home early Monday, wore a long black T-shirt and blue shorts. His wife, who identified herself only as Ofelia, told reporters Bergersen was innocent and the charges “came out of the blue.”

Tai Kuo was charged with conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government. He faces life in prison if convicted. Kang, 33, who faces the same charges as Kuo, appeared briefly in federal court in New Orleans. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Louis Moore Jr. postponed the hearing until an interpreter could be brought in when it appeared Kang, who cried throughout, did not understand the charges being read.

Case of ex-Boeing engineer
In the second, unrelated case, former Boeing engineer Dongfan “Greg” Chung, 72, was arrested on charges of working as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government who stole trade secrets from the defense contractor. The stolen data largely focused on aerospace programs, including the space shuttle, prosecutors said.

Chung, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was indicted last week on espionage, conspiracy and obstructing justices charges that were unsealed Monday. He has been the subject of an FBI investigation for nearly a year as part of an inquiry into another Chinese-born engineer who was convicted in 2007 of stealing military data for the Chinese government.

As early as 1979, prosecutors said, Chinese officials were tasking Chung to collect data on U.S. aviation, including the space shuttle and various military and civilian aircraft. At one point, Chung responded in a letter that he wanted to “contribute to the motherland,” according to the Justice Department.

Over an 18-year span, Chung traveled to China many times to deliver lectures on the Space Shuttle and other programs, and he allegedly met with Chinese government officials there to discuss how to transfer U.S. data.

Chung, who has a security clearance, worked for contractor Rockwell International from 1973 until 1996, when Boeing acquired Rockwell’s defense and space firm. He retired from Boeing in 2002 but returned the next year as a contractor. He ultimately left Boeing in 2006.

Ex-Sailor's Leak Case Goes to Jury

Months after the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors docked in Yemen, a battle group led by the USS Constellation prepared to sail for the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. was saber rattling. Retaliation against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda for the Cole attack was anticipated. Unbeknownst to Navy leadership, a signalman on the destroyer Benfold was in direct communication at the time with a British-based publishing house openly supporting the Taliban and jihadi movements. He ordered graphic videos of Chechen rebels attacking and killing Russian soldiers.

Jurors are deliberating the fate of that sailor, Hassan Abu-Jihaad, who stands accused of providing material support to terrorists and of leaking information about the Constellation battle group's deployment to people devoted to killing Americans. British authorities found the plans on a floppy disk in a bedroom drawer of an Azzam Publications official in 2003. Babar Ahmad directed Azzam Publications, which marketed the videos purchased by Abu-Jihaad, along with a series of related websites.

The plans included a tentative date when the battle group would pass through the narrow Straits of Hormuz and the claim that "They have nothing to stop a small craft with RPG etc. except their Seals' stinger missiles." Finally, it said, "Please destroy message."

Prosecutors didn't say the Abu-Jihaad authored the document, but say its contents had to come from an insider. Defense attorneys counter that it could have come from a determined, but savvy search of the Internet.

Abu-Jihaad, who was born Paul Hill and changed his name when he converted to Islam, was the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces communicating with Azzam Publications, prosecutor Stephen Reynolds said in closing arguments Monday. Azzam Publications recruited people to become mujahideen and raised money to support the Taliban in Afghanistan and Chechen rebels.

However, prosecutors do not have any direct evidence showing Abu-Jihaad communicated the ships' transit plans. That, defense attorney Dan LaBelle argued Monday, is among the case's "fundamental flaws." He dismissed Abu-Jihaad's emails with Azzam Publications as a distraction and said the plan found in England contained too many errors to have come from his client.

LaBelle hired a reporter to search the Internet for public source information about the battle group's movements, finding everything from newspaper stories about its planned departure to an MIT alumni bulletin board in which someone had posted the date the group shipped out as part of a family update.

Prosecutors counter that the information in the battle group document closely follows information that only someone in a position like Abu-Jihaad would know. For example, it referenced a stop in Hawaii to pick up Tomahawk cruise missiles that was a late change in the itinerary.

"The BG [Battle Group] mission is to hold up the sanctions against Iraq, e.g. patrolling the No-Fly Zone, carry out Maritime Interception Operations (MIO) or launch strikes," the file said. "There is a possibility that the ships and submarines that are capable will carry out a strike against Afghanistan. Main targets Usama and the Mujahideen, Taliban, etc," the document said.

Prosecutors contend Abu-Jihaad admitted his crimes in a wiretapped telephone call with a federal informant in 2006. In the call, Abu-Jihaad spoke in code about "hot meals" and "cold meals." Prosecutors say the meals refer to intelligence and Abu-Jihaad could only offer cold meals because by 2006 he had been out of the Navy too long. He was honorably discharged in 2002.

"I ain't been working in the field of making meals in a long time," Abu-Jihaad said in the call. "I've been out of that quatro years."

While deployed in the Persian Gulf in July 2001, Abu-Jihaad sent another email to Azzam Publications, praising the Cole attack as a "martyrdom operation." That attack prompted new security briefings, Abu-Jihaad wrote, and increased anxiety among U.S. sailors. The email was not punctuated and contained spelling and grammatical errors:

        during the brief I attended there was one thing that stuck out like thorns on a rose bush I do not know who was the originator of this either the top brass or an american politician well here is his statement "america has Never faced an enemy with no borders no government no diplomats not a standing army that pledges allegiance to no state." Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! i give takbirs because I know deep down in my heart that the American enemies that this person describe is the Mujahideen Feesabilillah. These brave men are the true champions and soldiers of Allah in this dunya …With their only mission in life to make Allah's name and laws supreme all over this world.

A response came from "just another slave of Allah at Azzam Publications." It complimented Abu-Jihaad for his email, adding "the Kufar know that they cannot defeat the Mujahideen (the warriors of Allah). I trust you are doing your best to make sure that the other brothers & sisters in uniform are reminded that their sole purpose of existence in this duniya is purely to worship our Lord and Master, Allah (SWT)….Keep up with the Dawah and the psychological (sic) warefare (sic)"

LaBelle said it wasn't reasonable for someone who had leaked such sensitive information about his own ship to send such a note to the very people he to the people he allegedly provided the secrets . And he argued that a most, if not all, of the material his client is accused of leaking was generally available to the public.

Abu-Jihaad faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. U.S. authorities are attempting to extradite Babar Ahmad from England to try him for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

I would hope that we learn from things like this and take the appropriate common sense measures. However, I really don't think that we will.

We are in a war, and there are many stupid things being done on many levels. There are too many examples to even mention, and they defy common sense.

Ex-Sailor Found Guilty of Leaking Ship Movements

On Wednesday, jurors convicted that sailor, Hassan Abu-Jihaad, of providing material support to terrorists and of leaking information about the Constellation battle group's deployment to people devoted to killing Americans. He faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced May 23.

Abu-Jihaad came under scrutiny after British authorities found the plans on a floppy disk in a bedroom drawer of an Azzam Publications official in 2003. Babar Ahmad directed Azzam Publications, which marketed the videos purchased by Abu-Jihaad, along with a series of related websites. The battle group plans included a tentative date when the ships would pass through the narrow Straits of Hormuz and the claim that "They have nothing to stop a small craft with RPG etc. except their Seals' stinger missiles." Finally, it said, "Please destroy message."

Prosecutors didn't say the Abu-Jihaad authored the document, but insisted its contents had to come from an insider. Defense attorneys countered that it could have come from a determined, but savvy search of the Internet.

In a statement, the Justice Department hailed the verdict as a victory against "those who would compromise our national security in the name of violent jihadism."

"Mr. Abu-Jihaad jeopardized the lives of countless American servicemen and women and, as a member of the U.S. Navy, his conduct was shameful and deceitful," stated Kathryn A. Feeney, Resident Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service. "However, due to the efforts of a talented team of investigators and prosecutors, Mr. Abu-Jihaad has been held accountable for his aid to the enemy. For the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, no calling is higher than the protection of our American Warfighters."

Abu-Jihaad, who was born Paul Hall and changed his name when he converted to Islam, was the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces communicating with Azzam Publications, prosecutor Stephen Reynolds said in closing arguments Monday. Azzam Publications recruited people to become mujahideen and raised money to support the Taliban in Afghanistan and Chechen rebels.

However, prosecutors do not have any direct evidence showing Abu-Jihaad communicated the ships' transit plans. That, defense attorney Dan LaBelle argued Monday, is among the case's "fundamental flaws." He dismissed Abu-Jihaad's emails with Azzam Publications as a distraction and said the plan found in England contained too many errors to have come from his client.

LaBelle hired a reporter to search the Internet for public source information about the battle group's movements, finding everything from newspaper stories about its planned departure to an MIT alumni bulletin board in which someone had posted the date the group shipped out as part of a family update.

Prosecutors counter that the information in the battle group document closely follows information that only someone in a position like Abu-Jihaad would know. For example, it referenced a stop in Hawaii to pick up Tomahawk cruise missiles that was a late change in the itinerary.

"The BG [Battle Group] mission is to hold up the sanctions against Iraq, e.g. patrolling the No-Fly Zone, carry out Maritime Interception Operations (MIO) or launch strikes," the file said. "There is a possibility that the ships and submarines that are capable will carry out a strike against Afghanistan. Main targets Usama and the Mujahideen, Taliban, etc," the document said.

Prosecutors contend Abu-Jihaad admitted his crimes in a wiretapped telephone call with a federal informant in 2006. In the call, Abu-Jihaad spoke in code about "hot meals" and "cold meals." Prosecutors say the meals refer to intelligence and Abu-Jihaad could only offer cold meals because by 2006 he had been out of the Navy too long. He was honorably discharged in 2002.

U.S. authorities are attempting to extradite Babar Ahmad from England to try him for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

Is Pelosi siding with terrorism?

A conservative media watchdog says it's shameful that the mainstream media has completely ignored some outrageous remarks that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made in a recent interview discussing Iraq.

The Media Research Center (MRC) says Speaker Pelosi was recently interviewed by a collection of reporters and members of the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle. The MRC notes that the paper posted the entire 80-minute interview on its website.
 
In her interview, Pelosi attributes any success in Iraq to the kindness of the Iranians. "Whatever the military success, any progress that may have been made of the surge didn't accomplish its goal. And some of the success of the surge is at the goodwill of the Iranians – they decided in Basra when the fighting would end; they negotiated that cessation of hostilities – the Iranians," Pelosi says.
 
Seton Motley, director of communications at the MRC, says Pelosi's speech was anti-American and naïve. "Not only is she saying the American troops have fallen down on the job, she's saying it is only the goodwill of the Iranians that has created the situation that exists in Iraq," Motley remarks. "Not only do you get caught up in how heinous and how anti-American troop it is, you almost miss how incredibly naïve it is about world policy and what's going on in Iraq and in the region."
 
And Motley says he is amazed that no one at the Chronicle itself, the New York Times, or any of the mainstream television networks thought these atrocious remarks by the Speaker of the House were newsworthy.

She-Devil.