Homeland Security

[Soldier4Christ]

Hamas-sympathizing juror behind terror mistrial
May have misled prosecutors during jury selection

A Hamas-sympathizing juror may have misled U.S. prosecutors about his neutrality during jury selection in the nation's largest terror-financing trial, investigators familiar with the case say.

The juror's "browbeating" of fellow jurors during deliberations in the Holy Land Foundation trial led to a mistrial, they say. The Dallas-based charity and its leaders are accused of funneling more than $12 million to Hamas suicide bombers and their families.

WND has learned that prosecutors, who are preparing to retry the case next year, considered investigating the juror for perjury after hearing complaints from other jurors about his pro-Hamas, anti-Israeli bias and obscenity-laced bullying in the jury room.

"One guy caused all the trouble," said an investigator involved in the case, which charged several U.S. Muslims with conspiracy to support terrorism. "He browbeat other jurors favoring convictions."

He said the bearded 33-year-old juror – who voted not guilty across-the-board – made statements in the past that are at variance with his answers to prosecutors' questions about his bias during the jury selection.

"He clearly wasn't honest on his voir dire examination," the source said.

Voir dire is a pretrial process lawyers use to object to prospective jurors with strong opinions – in this case, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – which might preclude them from weighing the evidence objectively.

Juror William Neal, a Dallas graphic artist, has not tried to hide his opinions on the subject since a mistrial was declared Oct. 22.

His ideological remarks in the media – including suggestions Israeli intelligence officers can't be trusted and their government is guilty of occupying Palestinian lands and oppressing the Palestinian people – have raised alarms at the Justice Department.

Neal also has a hard time calling Hamas a terrorist group, even though the U.S. government has listed it as a terrorist organization for the past dozen years.

He told the Dallas Morning News "it's a political movement. It's an uprising."

Asked by the Investigative Project on Terrorism to clarify his statement about Hamas, Neal said: "It is marked as a terrorist organization. My personal viewpoint, I see it as a political struggle."

"Our country was founded on a terrorist act," he added. "The Boston Tea Party wasn't a tea party, dude. It was a rebellion against the king's wrath. They fought back against an oppressive government."

Terror expert Steven Emerson of the IPT features a video clip of one juror who said, "I was pressured into voting the way they wanted me to vote."

In a recent Dallas radio interview, Neal revealed he actively sought a seat on the jury to sway the verdict against the government. He boasted that he fooled federal prosecutors into believing he would be sympathetic to their case.

Neal explained that he noted on his pretrial questionnaire that his father works in the military.

"My answers looked like I was a pro-American, you know, flag-waving American," he said on the Ernie and Jay show. "They thought I was not going to be able to think for myself and just go on the facts that these were Muslims."

IPT reported that Neal refused to view key surveillance videotapes of defendants that the government introduced into evidence, arguing it was a waste of time. He talked the group of jurors out of watching them.

When jurors like Kristina Williams challenged Neal and argued for convictions, Neal yelled obscenities at them. "F--- your opinion," Williams said he told her. She said he had his mind made up to acquit the defendants before the trial even began.

Two other jurors – Sylvester Holmes and a juror who spoke to IPT only on condition of anonymity – also have come forward to complain their arguments for conviction were shot down by Neal.

In the radio interview, Neal said his fellow jurors were ignorant.

"A lot of these people are blue collar, you know, working UPS, working food, cafeteria cashier," he said. "They had no idea of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

Neal took credit for steering many jurors away from convictions, which led to a hung jury.

"Honestly," he said, "if I hadn't been on that jury this would have been a different case."

[Soldier4Christ]

Another terrorist trial gets a mistrial.

Mistrial in Sears Tower bomb plot trial 
Jurors deadlock in 6 of 7 defendants, prosecutor plans to retry case

One of seven Miami men accused of plotting to join forces with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower was acquitted Thursday, and a mistrial was declared for the six others after the federal jury deadlocked.

Federal prosecutor Richard Gregorie said the government plans to retry the six next year. The Bush administration had seized on the case to illustrate the dangers of homegrown terrorism and trumpet the government's post-Sept. 11 success in infiltrating and smashing terrorism plots in their earliest stages.

Lyglenson Lemorin was acquitted and buried his face in his hands when the verdict was read.

The jury gave up on the other defendants after nine days of deliberations on four terrorism-related conspiracy charges that carry a combined maximum of 70 years in prison. The jury twice sent notes to the judge indicating they could not reach verdicts but were told to keep trying. The mistrial came after their third note.

"We believe no further progress can be made," it said. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard read the note in court.

Prosecutors said the "Liberty City Seven" so-named because they operated out of a warehouse in Miami's blighted Liberty City section swore allegiance to al-Qaida and hoped to forge an alliance to carry out bombings against America's tallest skyscraper, the FBI's Miami office and other federal buildings.

The group never actually made contact with al-Qaida. Instead, a paid FBI informant known as Brother Mohammed posed as an al-Qaida emissary.

The defense portrayed the seven men as hapless figures who were either manipulated and entrapped by the FBI or went along with the plot to con "Mohammed" out of $50,000.

The group never actually made contact with al-Qaida and never acquired any weapons or explosives. Prosecutors said no attack was imminent, acknowledging that the alleged terror cell was "more aspirational than operational."

But then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said after the arrests in mid-2006 that the group was emblematic of the "smaller, more loosely defined cells who are not affiliated with al-Qaida, but who are inspired by a violent jihadist message."

And U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of Miami said: "Our mission is to disrupt these cells if possible before they acquire the capability to implement their plans."

The Liberty City Seven, who included immigrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, adhered to a sect called the Moorish Science Temple that blends elements of Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

The government case was built largely on FBI surveillance video and some 12,000 telephone intercepts.

One key piece of evidence was a video of the seven men taking an oath of loyalty to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden in a March 2006 ceremony.

Also, the group's leader, 33-year-old Narseal Batiste was overheard talking about starting a "full ground war" against the U.S. government by bringing down the 110-story Sears Tower an attack he said would be "as good or greater than 9/11."

Batiste also supplied the informant with detailed wish lists that included assault rifles, bulletproof vests, uniforms, motorcycles and $50,000 in cash, prosecutors said.

However, Batiste testified he faked interest in the plot and really only wanted the money.

Members of the group also took reconnaissance photos of the FBI office and downtown federal buildings at the informant's request.

Defense lawyers contended that the informant and an overzealous FBI were responsible for pushing the alleged conspiracy along.

"This was all written, directed and produced by the FBI," said defense attorney Albert Levin.

[Soldier4Christ]

Terrorist Fundraising in the Heartland

Are America’s enemies operating freely from inside the country?

Nearly 15 years after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and 6 years after 9/11, the federal agencies responsible for our domestic security against terrorism appear to be entirely unaware, unequipped and unconcerned about the continued operations of Islamic terrorists inside the US.

Exhibit A in support of this thesis is the recent fundraising visit to the US by major Somali terrorist leader Zakaria Mahmoud Haji-Abdi. Abdi is deputy chairman of the Eritrean-based Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS). The ARS is organizationally integrated with the al-Qaeda-backed Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which is waging the deadly terrorist insurgency in Somalia against the UN and US recognized Transnational Federal Government (TFG). The insurgency is responsible for the violence that has caused the deaths of nearly 6,000 Somalis this year in Mogadishu alone and forced at least another half million refugees to flee from there.

Abdi was the keynote speaker at a fundraising event and conference hosted by the United Somali Diaspora and held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Minneapolis on November 24. An article published the following day by SomaliTalk (in Somali) features numerous pictures of the event, documenting Abdi’s attendance. (Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali population in the country.) A follow-up conference was held the following weekend at the Days Inn in Falls Church, VA, (right outside Washington, D.C.) by United Somali Diaspora and several other US-based Somali groups.

Some in the US Somali community, however, are actively speaking out against the ARS terror campaign and their fundraising efforts in the West.

Abdirahman Warsame, Executive Director of the Terror Free Somalia Foundation, expressed his opposition to the conference agenda and Abdi’s terrorist fundraising mission. “This event was definitely intended to organize and mobilize the extreme elements of the Somali community here to support the armed struggle against the internationally recognized Somali government and oppose US foreign policy,” Warsame said. “Abdi was openly calling for jihad and directing supporters to use the underground hawala networks to circumvent US controls to prevent terrorism financing overseas. These funds will be used to support the insurgency that is killing civilians, civil servants and anyone who works for or with the government, in order to further weaken the country and open the doors for foreign terrorists to take control of the country. Why would this man be allowed in the US?”

According to one law enforcement source familiar with Abdi’s recent visit, the Department of Homeland Security was contacted more than a week before the Minneapolis conference. The agency determined that, since Abdi did not have a Social Security Number (he is neither a US citizen or resident) and it was not known where he would enter the US from, nothing could or would be done to stop his visit. Repeated phone calls and emails from this reporter to the DHS public affairs office asking for explanation on why Abdi was allowed in the country did not receive a reply.

The failure of Homeland Security to act in any way to keep Abdi out of the country prompted heated criticism of the agency by Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. “It is absolutely scandalous that federal authorities cannot or will not stop jihadists from entering the US. Homeland Security should be called Homeland Insecurity,” Emerson said.

He also noted that fundraising for terror is directly related to acts of terror:

    To paraphrase the president, there is no difference between those that carry out acts of terrorism and those that protect them or enable them. Jihadist financiers are just as culpable for blowing up buses of children as those that strap bombs upon themselves. A jihadist is a jihadhist, and they are killers who have no place being allowed to operate in the US.

Equally as troubling is the fact that Abdi and the other guests at the conference were warmly greeted by a member of US Senator Norm Coleman’s (R-MN) staff, Constituent Policy Liaison Mahmud Nuur Wadheere. Wadheere’s welcome was noted in the SomaliTalk conference recap article.

Another ARS official, Abdirahman Haji Aden Ibbi, also joined Abdi as a speaker at the Minneapolis conference. The ARS was formed back in September during a conference held in Asmara, Eritrea to create an international coalition between the ICU, which was forced out of power in Somalia late last year by Ethiopian troops supporting the TFG, the Eritrean government, Islamist leaders from around the Middle East and the Somali diaspora community in the West. The US is currently considering listing Eritrea as a state sponsor of terrorism for its continued support of the insurgency in Somalia and for providing a haven for the ARS leadership.

Abdi was selected as the deputy chairman and official spokesman of the ARS, and the ICU’s no. 2, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, was appointed chairman. Last year, when the ICU took control of the country and imposed its Taliban-style of shari’a law, Abdi openly applauded their arrival. “Yesterday the West was talking about lawlessness in Somalia. Today everything is better because the Islamic courts have taken over,” Abdi said. “Let us give these people a chance.”

The leader of the ICU, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, also appeared at the Asmara conference, emerging from hiding following the ICU’s flight from Ethiopian forces. Aweys is wanted by the US and has been listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) on Meet the Press last year described Aweys as “an al-Qaeda operative or somebody that is connected to al-Qaeda.”

During the Asmara conference, Abdi was quoted as saying that the Ethiopian troops supporting the UN-backed TFG should “surrender now” or face “extinction.” He told the Associated Press : “We have enough and well-armed forces in every village of Somalia and they are ready to restore their sovereignty. We are in Eritrea to establish a control and command system so as we avoid confusion after the liberation.”

Abdi did not explain, however, the contradiction of “liberating” Somalia from foreign domination while receiving Eritrean military assistance and welcoming foreign Arab fighters (including known al-Qaeda operatives) as part of the Somali insurgency.

This episode demonstrates that our national security in some areas is no better than what it was prior to 9/11. If Homeland Security can’t or won’t act to prevent terrorist leaders like Zakaria Mahmoud Haji-Abdi from entering the US, especially when informed by other law enforcement agencies beforehand, there may be very little standing between us and the next 9/11.

[Soldier4Christ]

 California men plead guilty to domestic terror plot

Two California men pleaded guilty on Friday to domestic terrorism charges stemming from a prison-based plot to rob gas stations to finance attacks on U.S. military operations, "infidels," synagogues and other Jewish facilities in Los Angeles.

The men were not accused of conspiring with foreign extremist organizations.

Kevin James and Levar Washington admitted in a Santa Ana, California federal court that they conspired "to levy war against (the U.S. government) through terrorism."

James faces up to 20 years in federal prison and Patterson could be sentenced to up to 25 years behind bars.

Prosecutors said Gregory Patterson, a third member of the radical Islamic group founded by James and dubbed Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, is expected to plead guilty to terrorism charges on Monday.

A fourth man, Hammad Samana, was found unfit to stand trial and is receiving psychiatric care at a federal prison.

James recruited Washington to the group in 2004 when both were in a California prison.

After being paroled about a month later, Washington recruited Patterson and Samana and the three carried out a string of a dozen gas station robberies in early 2005, prosecutors said.

The men were arrested in August of 2005. In a search of an apartment shared by Patterson and Washington, police discovered documents listing potential attack targets, as well as a statement from James to be given to the media after an attack.

Targets included the Los Angeles International Airport, the Israeli consulate and synagogues.

The three had outlined a plan to attack synagogues in Los Angeles during the Jewish holidays in an attempt to "kill as many people as possible," the indictment said.

[Soldier4Christ]

 US men charged with plotting attacks

Two Chicago men accused of planning "violent jihad" attacks overseas were indicted on terrorism charges in an ongoing conspiracy investigation, the US Justice Department said Friday.

A federal jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned the latest indictment in an ongoing terrorism case, against Zubair Ahmed, 28, and his 27-year-old cousin, Khaleel Ahmed, according to documents released by the department.

It indicted them on charges of "conspiring to commit terrorist acts against Americans overseas," and of planning "kill, kidnap or maim persons outside of the United States," including US military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The two are US citizens from Chicago. They are already defendants in another pending terrorism case, the department said in a statement -- against Mohammad Zaki Amawi, who is due to go on trial in March 2008.

The indictment details evidence against the two from an FBI investigation, stating that between 2004 and 2007 they took weapons training, did bodybuilding exercises and took steroids, allegedly to prepare for attacks.

They face up to life in jail and a 250,000-dollar fine if convicted, but will likely receive smaller sentences, it said.

In the separate pending case, Amawi, a joint US-Jordanian citizen, was charged in February, along with Zubair, Khaleel and others, with trying to enter Iraq to attack US troops, according to court documents from the Justice Department.

The latest indictment adds extra charges against Khaleel and Zubair, who is accused of planning to set up a company along with Amawi to fund their plots.

[Soldier4Christ]

Islamic Extremist Convention 2007

Unindicted terror co-conspirators, terror supporters, apologists for wife-beaters, anti-Semites, and a former aide to Cynthia McKinney are coming to the Windy Cindy this Christmas.

Starting December 21st, Rosemont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, will play host to two organizations tied to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), the inspiration for so many of the world’s worst terror groups. The organizations, the Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), have an extremist history of their own. Soon Chicago, December 2007, will become a part of that history, as the Hyatt Regency O’Hare packs in thousands of Muslims that refuse to speak out against those that use their religion as a means to commit violence.

Most people in America are unaware of the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is not just an overseas group – that it’s here in America, as well. Indeed the group has had a presence in the United States starting in the 1950s. MAS was established in 1992, because MB leaders thought that previously created American MB groups were becoming too assimilated into Western society. ICNA was founded in 1971 as an embodiment of MB Pakistan or Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

Both MAS and ICNA use the internet to spread violent forms of bigotry. MAS is currently propagating material via the internet calling for the murder of Jews and the waging of war against non-Muslims, while ICNA runs a website, Why Islam (WI), where WI leaders and members target Jews and discuss the merits of Hamas and Hezbollah.

Also, both MAS and ICNA have had individuals involved in their organizations that are serving prison sentences after having been charged with terrorist activity. Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer, the former Communications Director for MAS, was convicted of conspiring with Laskar-e-Taiba (LeT), an Al-Qaeda related group, to attack Americans and Indians overseas. And four members of the ICNA-related ‘Houston Taliban’ were charged with jihad training with firearms for the purpose of joining the Taliban to, as well, attack Americans overseas; so far, three of the four have been found guilty.

Furthermore, ICNA has been involved in terror financing. When the Al-Khidmat Foundation (AKF), a Pakistani “charity” run by JI, gave $99 thousand to the head of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, in August of 2006, ICNA was the group’s top donor. As well, shortly before and shortly after the attacks of 9/11, the Southeast division of ICNA (ICNA-SE) was soliciting funds for Al-Qaeda related groups via the web.

None of the above has raised any eyebrows in Chicago, as the city will be opening its arms to MAS and ICNA for their 6th Annual Convention, commencing on December 21st and ending December 25th. Included in the gathering, much like all of the groups’ past conventions, will be a large list of the country’s most outspoken Islamic radicals. This year’s event features:

    * Jamal Badawi. Badawi was named by the U.S. government as an “Unindicted Co-conspirator” for the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial that began in July, which dealt with millions of dollars in fundraising for Hamas. Badawi has authored a book entitled Gender Equity in Islam, in which he justifies the beating of women by their husbands.
    * Jamal Said. Said is the imam of the Mosque Foundation, located in Bridgeview, Illinois, an Islamic center with ties to Hamas. Said served as the Treasurer of the Al Aqsa Educational Fund, an entity identified by the FBI as a Hamas “charitable” front. Said, like Badawi, was also named as an “Unindicted Co-conspirator” for the HLF trial.
    * Raed Tayeh. Tayeh is a former Executive Board Member of the Chicago chapter of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), the now defunct American propaganda wing of Hamas. In November 2001, Tayeh was fired from his job as a Congressional aide to then-U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, when a letter of his was published by a newspaper accusing Jewish lawmakers of exhibiting inappropriate loyalty to the State of Israel.
    * Zulfiqar Ali Shah. Shah is the former South Asia Director of KindHearts, an Islamic “charity” that was shut down by the U.S. government in February 2006 for raising millions of dollars for Hamas. In a June 2001 article in Islam Online, Shah is quoted as saying, “If we are unable to stop the Jews now, their next stop is Yathrib (The Prophet's city of Medina), where the Jews used to live until their expulsion by Prophet Muhammad (SAW). That’s the pinnacle of their motives.”

While MAS and ICNA are portrayed in the media as “mainstream” and “moderate,” their involvement in extremist activity makes them anything but. They are groups that openly promote violent organizations and propagate hate towards non-Muslims. This is evidenced in the type of speakers they invite to their events; in the way they use the internet to spread radical Islam; and in their members’ direct involvement with terrorist groups. Yet, regardless of this, MAS and ICNA have built up a tremendous following.

When the American public asks why Muslims haven't mobilized against the radicals in their community, one only has to look upon the MAS ICNA convention, where thousands of Muslims in attendance will be turning a blind eye to violence in the name of their religion. The theme they are using for this year's event is “Islam Universal Message & Universal Values.” If the Islam that is portrayed by MAS and ICNA - one that is violent and intolerant of others - truly is the religion's universal message and values, then there can be no place for it in our society or anywhere else.

However, if the religion of MAS, ICNA and the Muslim Brotherhood is a false expression of Islam, then Muslims of good conscious need to come out from hiding, stand up and say so - loud and clear - so that all in their community, radical and otherwise, hear their voices. “Chicago beware!”

[Soldier4Christ]

Omnibus bill includes amendment gutting 'border fence' measure

Grassfire.org, a grassroots border security organization, says Congress is expected to vote on an amendment very soon that will effectively gut the provision that called for an 854-mile, double-layered fence to be built along sections of the U.S.-Mexico border.



This past summer Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) quietly introduced the amendment -- known as Senate Amendment 2466 -- to H.R. 2368, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill. According to Steve Elliott, president of Grassfire.org, the bill would effectively kill the legislation passed in the last Congress which mandates the fence.

"What's disappointing is that the American people have a reasonable expectation that a double-layer fence will be built based on the Secure Fence Act passage [last year]," Elliott laments. "But this amendment will, in essence, gut that requirement, will give DHS the option as to whether or not to build the fence in any particular location, and [will] remove the double-layer fence mandate altogether."

Elliott says it will take a similar effort of grassroots America to head this amendment off as it did to stop the comprehensive immigration plan from passing. A vote on the amendment could come as early as today, according to the Grassfire.org president.

[HisDaughter]

They are a century too late in dealing with this problem.  A fence will never be built and even if it was they would still be lax on who they let in here.  The bad guys are already here.  The problem and issue is getting them OUT.

[Soldier4Christ]

Terrorism and the Times: What's Not Fit To Print


On Friday, two Islamic converts, radicalized while in prison, pled guilty to terrorism charges, after admitting plots to attack "United States military operations, "infidels," and Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area."

The cell leader, Kevin James, founded Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS) while incarcerated in Folsom prison, and began recruiting other converts. Levar Washington pled guilty, along with James last week, and a third cell member, Gregory Patterson, pled guilty on Monday.

A fourth JIS member, Hammad Samana, has been found unfit to stand trial, but is accused of having researched "targets and prepared a document called ‘Modes of Attack.' The document listed ‘LAX and Consulate of Zion,' ‘Military Targets,' ‘Army Recruiting centers throughout the county,' ‘Military base in Manhattan Beach' and ‘Campsite of Zion,'" on behalf of the cell.

The JIS plotters face 20 to 25 years in prison. The plots and guilty pleas come as no surprise to those who have closely followed prison chaplaincy programs, as all too often, those in charge of selecting imams have Wahhabist and radical links. Former NYC prison chaplain Warith Dean Umar has stated that the 9/11 hijackers should be remembered as martyrs, and Umar Abdul-Jalil, top Imam of the New York City Department of Corrections, has his own radical views. As reported by the NY Post, citing tapes provided by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), Abdul-Jalil spread his radical views at a Muslim Students Association conference in Arizona:

        At one conference session, Abdul-Jalil charged that Muslims jailed after the 9/11 attacks were being tortured in Manhattan, according to the tape. "They [some Muslim inmates] are not charged with anything, they are not entitled to any rights, they are interrogated. Some of them are literally tortured and we found this in the Metropolitan Correctional Facility in Manhattan. But they literally are torturing people," Abdul-Jalil said.

        Abdul-Jalil also accused the Bush administration of being terrorists, according to the tape. "We have terrorists defining who a terrorist is, but because they have the weight of legitimacy, they get away with it . . . We know that the greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House, without a doubt," he said.

        At another session, Abdul-Jalil urged American Muslims to stop allowing "the Zionists of the media to dictate what Islam is to us" and said Muslims must be "compassionate with each other" and "hard against the kufr [unbeliever]."

And still, despite deadly terrorist attacks perpetrated on U.S. soil, and the all too frequent instances of anti-American sentiment voiced by jihadists, the various usual suspects are intent on either underplaying the threat or pretending that none exists.

In a front page story in October 2006, titled, "F.B.I. Struggling to Reinvent Itself to Fight Terror," the New York Times dismissed out of hand the dangerous nature of the JIS cell in California (and called into question the validity behind other instances of U.S. based-terrorism cells), writing:

        In that case, three men are charged with committing robberies to raise money for jihadist attacks on synagogues and military recruiting stations, in what Director Mueller has described as a bid to create "Al Qaeda in California." Their actions are said to have been directed by Kevin James, who headed a Muslim group behind bars.

        But agents checked on more than 100 prisoners with links to Mr. James and charged none. And though Mr. James has been portrayed as the mastermind, reporters for The New York Times and "Frontline" were repeatedly able to visit him in jail in Santa Ana, Calif. Such access is almost never granted to people accused of terrorism because the authorities fear that they could direct a plot from prison.

In an effort to downplay the threat, the Times concludes that there must be some kind of conspiracy, when a more plausible explanation – mere incompetence – exists.

A month before, the Times was already on record downplaying the nature of the JIS threat, selectively seeking out experts to belittle the dangerous character of the plot. And the Times, found Thomas Kean, former Chairman of the 9/11 commission, who "said the (JIS) case threatened small-scale violence and should have been a routine police concern."

Yet what should concern everyone is not just the Times record of downplaying actual terrorist threats, even as yet again the Times editors find themselves with egg on their faces as the JIS plotters plead guilty, but that the Times consistently apologizes for radical Islam by flacking for domestic Muslim Brotherhood groups with a history of extremism. As I have documented in the past, the New York Times is a serial offender when it comes to giving an uncritical voice to the nation's most virulent Islamist fronts.

Monday's edition, unsurprisingly, has yet another glaring example, titled, "Boycotted Radio Host Remains Unbowed." The article quotes Ahmed Rehab and his organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), on radio host Michael Savage's lawsuit against CAIR. While the Times informs its readers that CAIR's "stated mission includes correcting mischaracterizations of Islam," it, of course, fails to tell its readers of CAIR's long history of extremism, support for terrorism and anti-Semitism, let alone CAIR's documented history as part of the Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood infrastructure in the United States.

Rehab himself is on the record refusing to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups and supporting Hamas-linked defendants. CAIR-Chicago, Rehab's home branch, referred to the cases against Hamas operative Mohammed Salah as a "political persecution" and stated that Salah, and his codefendant and another Hamas operative, Abedelhaleem Ashqar, were "targeted" by "the Bush administration has attempted to criminalize charitable aid to Palestinians." Salah is serving nearly 2 years in prison for obstruction of justice for lying under oath about his Hamas connections in a civil trial, and Ashqar is serving 11 years in prison, for obstruction of justice and criminal contempt, for his refusal to testify in front of a grand jury investigating Hamas front groups in the U.S.

But when the Times reports on CAIR, you won't read about such instances. Nor does the Times, in this specific article and almost all others which mention the group, inform its audience that CAIR has been named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing case in U.S. history, named as a member of the Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood, and that the same prosecutors have officially stated that CAIR is "affiliated" with the terrorist group Hamas.

And on Saturday, after Kevin James and Levar Washington pled guilty, the Times, after twice downplaying the JIS cell as not dangerous and nothing more than a criminal endeavor more than a year earlier, printed a very short, 100 word account lifted from the Associated Press:

        Two men accused of plotting in prison to attack military sites, synagogues and other targets pleaded guilty to conspiring to wage war against the United States. The men, Kevin James, 31, and Levar H. Washington, 28, pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy charges. Mr. Washington also pleaded guilty to using a firearm to further that conspiracy. The authorities say Mr. James, Mr. Washington and two others were part of a California prison gang cell of radical Muslims. The police said they uncovered the plot in July 2005 while investigating gas station robberies that they say were committed to finance the attacks.

Even though James and Washington pled guilty, and copious information about the JIS plots have emerged, the Times still uses the phrases "authorities say" and "police said" to describe their actions. In reporting on Gregory Patterson's guilty plea, the Times yet again just picked up the AP story, also using the language "prosecutors said" and "officials said," rather than straight reporting on what the men have confessed to plotting. Despite the Times' motto, some news is apparently not fit to print, and sadly that includes not just information about the inner workings of a home grown terrorist cell, radicalized in prison, but any information that tarnishes America's "most prominent" Muslim Brotherhood front group.

[Soldier4Christ]

Suspicious Suitcase Detonated In Chicago Shopping District

Chicago police Wednesday afternoon blew up a suspicious briefcase near Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River, near the heart of the downtown shopping district.  One person is in custody.

Police were called to 401 N. Michigan Ave. at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. A man had gone to the Italian Trade Commission on the building’s 30th floor, saying that he had a meeting there. Sources say he got angry, then claimed to have a bomb in his briefcase.

Security guards brought the briefcase to the Riverwalk where bomb and arson experts x-rayed it. Some papers were recovered, and then the briefcase was blown up. The explosion was so powerful, a window on the south side of Fidelity Investments was blown out.

Sources say there was possibly a computer or computer parts inside that briefcase.

Police say they have one man in custody and the investigation is ongoing.

The building had been on lockdown, but has since reopened.

[Soldier4Christ]

Four Charged In Houston School Bus Thefts

The arrest of four men in connection with the case of several missing Houston school buses will calm the fears of many. There was growing concern that the stolen buses may have be part of a build-up to a potential terror attack.

While this part of the mystery has been solved, the threat of terrorists striking our nations schools remains. We caution you to remain vigilant and immediately report any suspicious activity in and around the schools in your community.

The principal of a local charter school said she wasn’t alarmed in late August after noticing that two school buses weren’t waiting in the usual parking spots.

“I just assumed that maybe somebody took the keys and parked them somewhere else,” said Avernia Waddle, with the North Houston Multi-Language Academy, 1126 W. Tidwell.

Then she learned the buses were not in the shop for maintenance work.

“We had to face reality,” she said. “Somebody had taken the buses.”

Houston police said the school was hit by a band of thieves that specialized in stealing school buses and selling them for scrap. Detectives said the group has been linked to at least eight bus thefts.

An anonymous tip led detectives on Dec. 15 to two members of the alleged group suspected ringleader Mauro Yanez, 36, and Bernabe Moreno, 40.

A third suspect, Samuel Morales, 20, was arrested earlier in the investigation, and a fourth man, James Leon Jackson, 23, remains at large, police said.

Yanez, Moreno and Jackson were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, and Morales is accused of auto theft, police said.

Yanez, Moreno and Morales were being held Wednesday at the Harris County Jail without bail.

Police said thieves took the buses from churches and private schools and delivered them to a northeast Houston scrap metal dealer. The suspects received about $1,000 to $1,200 per bus, police said.

“They get paid by the weight of the vehicle. So the bigger, the better,” said HPD Capt. Don McKinney. “Buses were obviously substantially larger than any other vehicle.”

Detectives declined to identify the scrap metal dealer who paid for the stolen buses, citing their investigation.

Waddle said the school has replaced one of the buses for elementary students. However, many teenage students are forced to ride Metro buses.

“Some of the kids have to take two buses just to get to school,” Waddle said.

[Soldier4Christ]

14 Muslims arrested in U.S. related terrorist probe

Fourteen Muslim extremists were detained Friday on allegations they sought to free an al-Qaida sympathizer imprisoned for planning a terrorist attack on U.S. air base personnel, Belgian authorities said.

Security was heightened across the capital, at airports and subway stations out of precaution, officials said.

"Other acts of violence are not to be excluded," Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said. He said authorities had "elements of information which point to the preparation of an attack."

Lieve Pellens, spokeswoman of the federal prosecutor's office, said security also was being stepped up at Christmas markets.

"Since it could not be excluded that the group had other plans and because of the heightened terror threat this time of year, it was decided no risk should be taken," Pellens said.

The suspects sought to free Nizar Trabelsi, a 37-year-old Tunisian who played soccer for several German teams and who was sentenced to the maximum 10 years in prison four years ago, authorities said.

He had admitted planning to drive a car bomb into the canteen at Kleine Brogel, a Belgian air base where about 100 American military personnel are stationed and where U.S. nuclear weapons are believed to be stored.

Trabelsi testified that he intended kill American soldiers.

The federal prosecutor's office said the 14 were planning to free the Trabelsi with force.

"Trabelsi would be helped by a group of people, driven by an extremist vision of Islam," said a statement from the prosecutor's office.

[Soldier4Christ]

Fort Dix Terror Suspects Get Bail Hearing

The federal jail holding five men accused of plotting an attack on Fort Dix has promised the men will get better access to evidence in their case as a judge considers letting them out on bail.

A bail hearing is scheduled Dec. 20 for the men, charged with preparing to sneak onto the military base and shoot soldiers.

Attorneys for the five say officers at the jail are not giving them time to listen to recordings and view videos containing evidence for the trial. There are 200 hours of audio recordings, and this week, the federal government also provided some 500 hours of surveillance video.

Last month, a frustrated U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler agreed to have a bail hearing to consider releasing the suspects. That way, they would have unfettered access to the computers so they could review the materials.

The move may have been mostly a way to pressure prison officials into letting the men review the recordings more often in detention. But Michael Riley, a defense lawyer for suspect Shain Duka, said it caused new problems.

“When these guys heard bail, now that expectation is they’ll get out,” Riley said. And dealing with that has made trial preparations more difficult too, he said.

The federal Bureau of Prisons sent Kugler a letter earlier this month, but first made public this week, in which it pledges to allow the men access the material each weekday between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. The men would be given lunch and bathroom breaks and they would be able to use the detention center’s law library.

Prosecutors also have filed papers claiming that the suspects - all foreign-born Muslim men in their 20s - have not requested to see the evidence as often as they claim. The government said that some of the men have promoted terrorism to other inmates at the detention center - an allegation defense lawyers say is untrue.

This week, defense lawyers have asked Kugler to put on hold the bail motion while they wait for yet another video they hope will help their case.

The lawyers have asked for video that would show whether the inmates are putting out slips to request they be allowed to review the recordings. But the Bureau of Prisons says it could take about four weeks to compile that video.

The suspects - Serdar Tatar, Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, and the brothers Dritan, Shain and Eljvir Duka - face life in prison if they’ve convicted of conspiring to kill military personnel.

A trial is scheduled to begin March 24, though the lasting conflict over jailhouse issues makes that seem increasingly unlikely.

A sixth man charged in the case, Agron Abdullahu, has pleaded guilty to providing weapons to some of the others.

[Soldier4Christ]

Actress Vanessa Redgrave Assists Two al Qaeda Suspects With Bail

This is beyond words…

Redgrave stated, “It is a profound honor and I am glad to be alive to be able to do this.”

Glad to be alive to do this…? At the cost of how many other lives? When these two are actually successful in some future terror attack, I hope Miss Redgrave remembers these words. The families of their innocent victims will have her to thank.

    Two suspected al-Qa’eda operatives released from Guantanamo Bay have walked free from court although they are still wanted in Spain on terrorism-related offenses.

    One of the men, who is accused of distributing extremist propaganda produced by Osama bin Laden, had half of his £50,000 bail surety met by the actress Vanessa Redgrave.

    Jamil el-Banna, 45, who was said during a brief court hearing to have helped run a cell called the Islamic Alliance, recruiting people to fight jihad in Afghanistan and Indonesia, returned to his London home tonight.

    The other man, Omar Deghayes, 38, a Libyan national freed from Guantanamo and allowed into the UK because he once lived here, is said to have had links to the same al-Qa’eda cell. He was also released on bail.

    Spain issued European arrest warrants for both men within hours of their arrival in Britain last night from the Cuban detention centre. Miss Redgrave said: “It is a profound honor and I am glad to be alive to be able to do this.”

    She added: “Guantanamo Bay is a concentration camp. It is a disgrace that these men have been kept there all these years.”

    But the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard of their alleged links to al-Qa’eda, which raised fresh questions over why the British government interceded on their behalf to allow their return here from Guantanamo.

    Although the men have been resident in the UK and have family here, they are not British citizens.

    Previously, the Government has said it owed them no legal obligations.

    Melanie Cumberland, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Mr el Banna was a Pakistani who had first come to Britain in 1994 on a false Kuwaiti passport.

[Soldier4Christ]

Suspect is kin to 9/11 hijacker

A Saudi terrorism suspect facing possible charges before a military tribunal at Guantanamo has been identified as a brother-in-law of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi, who is accused of helping to organize an al-Qaida plot to attack a ship, is a brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, a Saudi who was one of the hijackers who crashed a plane into the Pentagon, the military said in a statement late Friday.

Al-Darbi, 32, faces possible charges that include conspiracy and providing support to terrorism and could be sentenced to up to life in prison if convicted by the military court at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba.

Prosecutors have drawn up the charges and informed the detainee of the accusations against him, but military legal authorities are still reviewing the case and he has not yet been formally charged.

The military says al-Darbi was a trained al-Qaida operative who met with Osama bin Laden and helped organize a plot to attack a ship off Yemen or in the Strait of Hormuz. The military did not say whether his relationship with al-Mihdhar is connected to the accusations against him.

Al-Mihdhar and another hijacker lived in San Diego, before they boarded American Airlines Flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001, as part of a team that crashed it into the Pentagon, killing 190 people on the ground and on the plane.

The U.S. holds about 290 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or the Taliban at Guantanamo and authorities say they plan to charge between 80 and 90 before military tribunals, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the admitted architect of the Sept. 11 attacks.

So far, the U.S. has filed charges against three detainees and has charges pending against al-Darbi and one other detainee.