They lack formal ties to Al-Qaeda! Stop the presses! This article doesn't even mention Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, who came by his "radicalism" simply by reading the Qur'an, that book of peace, on his own. U.S. counterterrorism officials have not even come close to coming to grips with that. "Agencies: Homegrown Radicals Inside U.S.," from AP, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:
U.S. counterterrorism officials say they are uncovering homegrown Islamic radicals inside the United States who lack formal ties to al-Qaida and operate independently.Those independent qualities - combined with the radicals' ability to organize and plot on the Internet - make them particularly difficult to disrupt, retired Vice Adm. John Scott Redd, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday.
In a hearing on the changing face of terror, Redd said the threat from homegrown extremism is a recent trend that was seen in successful transit attacks in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005.
One alleged homegrown North American plot has been disrupted: This month, Canadian authorities arrested 17 men and juveniles who are accused of planning attacks in southern Ontario. They are said to have obtained three times the amount of explosives used in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Redd pointed to what he said were three potential homegrown organizations that have been disrupted in the U.S. in just over a year:
_ Two Atlanta-area men, charged earlier this year in a terrorism case, have been publicly linked to some of the Canadian suspects. Prosecutors have said the two traveled to Washington to shoot "casing videos" of the Capitol and other potential targets. The lawyer for one suspect has insisted it wasn't part of any terrorism plot.
_ In Torrance, Calif., the head of a radical Islamic prison gang and three others were indicted last year on federal charges of planning terrorist attacks against U.S. military facilities, the Israeli Consulate and other Los Angeles-area targets.
_ In the farming town of Lodi, Calif., a young Pakistani man faces at least 30 years in prison for supporting terrorism by attending an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan in 2003 and lying to the FBI. His father pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle $28,000 in cash to Pakistan.
Showing how the government's mission has changed, Redd said that before 9/11 the FBI wrote 25 intelligence-information reports a year, but now the bureau produces more than 1,000 annually....
Annan calls ISRAEL liar.....but as always does it between the lines.............UN Secretary General Kofi Annan doubts the findings of an IDF inquiry into the Gaza beach shelling.
"The Israeli claim that the beach blast was caused by an explosive charge at the site sounds strange to me. I don't believe it is plausible that the Palestinians planted charges in a place where civilians often spend their time," Annan told the London-based Al-Hayat daily.
Annan said he would send a representative on his behalf to the region to investigate the Palestinian claims that an IDF shell killed the Ghalia family on the Gaza beach.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150191576640&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Don't you wish that on the day after the Twin Towers went down, Bush met with scholars and asked a zillion questions, then spoke to the nation on the implications of Islam worldwide, and the implications of the growing Muslim population in the West?
It seems too much to ask that a president would go on TV and speak of the belief system and the history. ("This might turn out to be the third jihad. We need to respond with skill and for a long, long time.")
Instead, we had the ceremony at the National Cathedral, where the Muslim cleric was presented as the equal of the rest.
Maybe it had to be that way, as we try to keep tens of millions from being awakened to our own awakening. We are in a conundrum, but one fears that our leaders still do not know the score.
Kofi is so funny. Anyone who would name their son Kojo (or is it Koko or is it Bozo) has to be a joker. Right?
RE: Homegrown - the silver lining here is that the more terrorists they round up that are not connected to al queda, the harder it becomes to pass this off to the voting public as coming from a "small, radical segment."
Annan? No surprises here. He is from Ghana. The CIA Worldbook gives the population of Ghana as 63% Christian and 16% moslem. The bios I looked through did not give Annan's religion, but the African countries in general have been anti-Isreal. Oil for Food has pretty well proven that Annan is in the pocket of whomever is currently paying the most. The good news is that is term is up shortly.
Palestinian foreign minister returns to Gaza with suitcase full of cash
Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, who has been seeking to raise money for the financially strapped government, returned to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday with a suitcase full of cash, officials said.
Officials said Zahar was believed to be carrying up to $20 million. The officials spoke on condition
of anonymity because Zahar was talking to border guards to document the money. (AP)
(Gun fire was heard has Zahars plane took off...Tony Soprano was angry he missed the flight...and shot the Boarding clerk....He was heard yelling at the plane....thats my money ya jerk!) .
http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3083,00.html
That Annan and other influential children of Africa a la Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, et al. should go out of their way to castigate and lie about Israel is bad enough... but the fact that doing so also serves to distract from REAL, ongoing human rights tragedies (Sudan, Zaire, Uganda, Western Sahara, and Somalia to name but a few) reeks of payoff and Anti-Semitism for hire.
Of COURSE Annan says "I don't believe it is plausible that the Palestinians planted charges in a place where civilians often spend their time"... he doesn't believe it is plausible, despite no reason not too, because he CAN'T believe that it's possible.
Kofi, I "don't believe it is plausible" that human beings can send their children out to confront soldiers. I don't believe that it is plausible that a human being can murder his own daughter if she has a late period. I don't believe that it is plausible that a human being could willful become a suicide bomber and murder dozens of innocent people.... and you know what? I'm wrong, just like you.
Does Annan believe it is plausible that militant terrorists would willfully hide themselves and their bomb factories in densely populated civilian areas? Does Annan believe it is plausible that terrorist artillerymen would indiscriminately fire rockets into Israel FROM densely populated civilian areas?
I think that Secretary Annan, like President Bush, is TOLD what is plausible and what isn't. And then just repeats the stock-in-trade sound bites.
In case it isn't obvious,
fire rockets into Israel FROM densely populated civilian areas?
...knowing full-well that the inevitable response from Israel will be a return of rocket fire to their positions?
What happened to treason and sedition charges, with the death penalty for treason convictions?
Those who attend training camps are plotting to overthrow the duly elected government of the US.
I think it's time a statement was made about how seriously this threat is taken. Anyone who aids or engages in the global jihad in the US needs to face the death penalty.
U.S. counterterrorism officials say they are uncovering homegrown Islamic radicals inside the United States who lack formal ties to al-Qaida and operate independently.
++++++++++++++
no kidding...............
it may just be the cult of islam that is the problem
is it legal for a non-muslim to buy a copy of the koran and deposit it into the garbage can closest to a mosque? leaving it elsewhere would be littering the neighborhood with hate. perhaps a street demo by non-muslim women in burqas protesting the pages of hate competing to see which of two teams can pile the most korans before they topple over and crash to the sidewalk. perhaps the collapse of the korans will trigger memories of the twin towers collapse. maybe some pigs' blood can be swathed on the covers to hammer home that the messages within are without humanity. help me refine this vision and make this happen with police protection.