UPDATE: For the first half-hour of its existence, the headline of the article was the same as above, which was copied and pasted from the original. Clicking on the link now shows the headline has been changed to "FBI says suspects sought to form own army." Interesting.
Miami/Chicago Jihad Update, from AP:
MIAMI - Seven men accused of trying to blow up the Sears Tower with help from al-Qaida never actually made contact with the terrorist network and were instead caught in an FBI sting involving an informant who posed as an al-Qaida operative, authorities said Friday.
Federal prosecutors said the men -- who operated out of a warehouse in Miami's blighted Liberty City section -- took an oath to al-Qaida and plotted to create an "Islamic Army" bent on violence against the United States. Five of those arrested are U.S. citizens.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales stressed that there was no immediate threat in either Chicago or Miami because the group did not have explosives or other materials it was seeking.
"This group was more aspirational than operational," FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said.
But they all necessarily start as "aspirational."
Nevertheless, Gonzalez said Thursday's arrests underscored the danger of "homegrown terrorists" who "view their home country as the enemy."
Those arrested ranged in age from 22 to 32 and included a legal immigrant from Haiti and a Haitian who was in this country illegally. Investigators said all members of the alleged plot were in custody.
"We are confident that we have identified every individual who had the intent of posing a threat to the United States," said R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. attorney in Miami.
Five of the defendants, including alleged ringleader Narseal Batiste, appeared in federal court in Miami on Friday under heavy security. They were brought in and out in single file, chained together at the wrists and wearing ankle chains.
"It's an example of the philosophy of prevention. These arrests were made during the talking stage, long before any bombmaking stage," said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney in Florida. "While they may be seen as bungling wannabes, they are potentially dangerous wannabes who, based on the allegations, were pursuing extremely dangerous plans."
And now the standard "but he's a nice boy" denial about one of the perpetrators:
Joseph Phanor, the father of defendant Stanley Grant Phanor, said he did not believe "anything they say about" his son.
"This boy, he's not a violent boy. He never got into trouble. He didn't want to kill people," the elder Phanor said. Court records show that his son was convicted of carrying a concealed firearm in 2002 and sentenced to two years' probation.
Prosecutors said Batiste began recruiting and training the others in November. The FBI learned of the plot from someone the defendants tried to recruit, authorities said. The FBI then arranged for an informant of Arabic descent to pass himself off as an al-Qaida operative.
Batiste met several times in December with the informant and asked for boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000 to help him build an "Islamic Army," the indictment said.
In February, Batiste told the informant that he and his five soldiers wanted to attend al-Qaida training and planned a "full ground war" against the United States in order to "kill all the devils we can," according to the indictment. His mission would "be just as good or greater than 9/11," it said.
Prosecutors said the men plotted to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower, the tallest building in America, and other buildings.
Batiste and a co-defendant provided the informant with photographs of the FBI building in North Miami Beach, as well as video footage of other Miami government buildings, and discussed a plot to bomb the FBI building, the indictment said.
Richard Shultz, professor of International Security at Tuft's University in Massachusetts, said that groups such as the one in Miami could pose a threat even if they do not make contact with al-Qaida.
Indeed.
I know people in both Canada and Florida,
They have been in total denial of terrorism until now. I cant help mbut say HA!
Finally even here in wonderful Britain home of the dhimmi government the media now cannot but state the case for jihad finally being real
just what that means here in relation to the ever engauging and pampering leadership i cant guess
but i'm also not holding my breath for any action to be taken to hold islam to account any time soon
fight the good fight
I have a message for Joseph Phanor: I don't believe anything HE says about his son either. And, well, of course he wasn't a violent boy--because he never got the chance to kill anyone! (but, of course, the boy WOULD HAVE killed if he COULD HAVE...wink, wink!).
Didn't want to kill anyone but yet, carrying a concealed weapon. Hanging with men who wanted to take down Sears tower...wonder if they were going to advise beforehand and get everyone out. Becoming a savage and reading the koran.
Papa Joe forgets we don't always know what our grown children are doing.
Looks like "AP" stands for "Arab Press"-
FBI says suspects plotted 'Islamic Army'
UPDATE: For the first half-hour of its existence, the headline of the article was the same as above, copied and pasted from the original. Clicking on the link now shows the headline has been changed to "FBI says suspects sought to form own army." Interesting.
Must be the Arabic i.e. Jihadist translators that the FBI has. Note that the FBI doesn't hire its translators from Arabic speaking Jews, Copts, Maronites, Assyrians, et al. Given that, be surprised that they busted this ring in the first place.
If you "google" the original title, you can still find a couple of hits. Enjoy it while it lasts...
tgusa - You are right (at least on the canadian front). The apathy towards to the problem is compounded by the media, which (as in the example of this AP release), warps reality to unrecognizable forms. It is rare to find somewhat reasonable commentary on the issues; for example, some time after the 7/7 London bombings, Reid Morden, former CSIS boss, wrote a column for the Globe and Mail (print edition 30/07/05, page A13 ); some excerpts:
"In case no one noticed, it's a dangerous world out there. This month alone, there have been deadly bombings in London, others in Egypt, and kidnappings and killings continue in Iraq. An apparently innocent man was shot dead by police in the London subway.
The Canadian reaction? Media comment has generally trivialized the threat to our own country. There has been criticism of Anne McLellan, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, who has finally conceded in public that Canadians should at least be psychologically prepared for an attack, and the government is reaching out to affected communities to address it. There also has been a belated condemnation of violence against innocents by Canadian Islamic clerics, even as one prominent Muslim cleric told his congregation not to co-operate with Canada's security services.
(...)What we do need, however, is for the Canadian public to accept the fact that there is a threat and that it is every citizen's responsibility to help minimize that danger. We also need sustained leadership that levels with Canadians about the dangers and deals firmly with elements of any community supporting or advocating violent acts, no matter the cause. Why? Because, for the foreseeable future, the world of random terrorist violence is the norm and we in Canada are not immune.
(...)While the Canadian government must make it clear that its war is against terrorism, not against Muslims, for example, we must remember that for al-Qaeda, and those for whom it is a role model, this is a religious war, a war based on their interpretation of Islam and waged against their concept of who the infidels are, a category that includes Canada and our neighbour and ally, the United States.
Having accepted that there is a threat, the next move is to assess its imminence and seriousness.
(...)How does that relate to us in Canada? Anecdotal evidence concerning the attitudes within the more than 50 mosques in Toronto strongly suggests that, while the majority promote a moderate and inclusive message, there is a substantial minority of mosques that are much more radical. In short, there are substantial numbers here in Canada who are sympathetic to the radical message. That message can lead to many forms of expression, including the planning and perpetration of an attack on Canadian soil."
Indeed, I recall Mr Morden bringing the "religious war" theme after the Toronto arrests on TV, but these records are nowhere to be found (at least as searchable freebie on the CTV site). In any case, these are foretelling words, which seem to support the "the worst blind is the one who doesn't want to see" cliche. At least, it looks like the intelligence agencies and some in the inteligence community are on top of things. I hope it is really so.
van der Ley
Because I think of you as my brother I pray for you and yours everyday. There is no doubt that the gov up there has put us all in serious trouble. How long have Canadians and Americans lived in peace?
Search results Google News, 2 results for FBI says suspects plotted Islamic Army but not AP although the google results sourced AP.
This is just more proof that CAIR and Walid bin Talal (Murdoch and Disneys business partner) are ultra busy monitoring the internet and airways.
DTIMES channel was featuring the Ottoman Empire, but without notice changed the subject to the Seven Wonders of the World without changing the Title.
I also caught CAIR monitoring Deutsche Welle TV, especially European Journal, and to hear it the "poor muslims" are powerless and picked on by the all powerful Joos.
tgusa - if you're still reading this thread... thanks for the thought. The peaceful relation between Canada and US is something to cherish... and which has been taken for granted. I think that more and more Canadians are starting to grasp the profound implications of having a reputation of "laxed". I believe that the current governemnt is doing a good job in changing that image; I can only hope it will stay the course.
Does anyone know if any of these muslim wannabe mutant terrorists were in prison? And if so, were they recruited and brainwashed there? Interesting to know if this is the fruit of our penal system.
"caught in an FBI sting involving an informant who posed as an al-Qaida operative...
Fury at CAIR. Fury in the mosques. All this "entrapment" stuff. Very worrying. What's a poor Muslim to do, if the FBI insists on having paid informants? Why this climate of suspicion? Doesn't a climate of suspicion merely breed something to be suspicious about? Stop it all right now. Also sprach, at least to themselves for now, any number of Muslim spokesmen, who will feel emboldened any day now to come out against these "dirty tricks" from the FBI.
Not fair. Cuts down on freedom of speech, in the mosque, in the halal market, at home. Isn't America supposed to guarantee free speech?
Those informants -- that's a cruel trick. So is the tapping of phones, or tracking of calls. That's just not playing fair.
Make the FBI and all these Homeland Security people play fair. No tapping of phones. No tracking of phone calls. No tracking of money transfers. No use of informants and entrapment. No nothing before the fact. But after the fact, after some bomb has gone off, then and only then, FBI and Homeland Security, you are free to find and investigate and bring to justice, with its something-something that grinds exceeding slow, of course keeping in mind all the rights to which American citizens and anyone else who happens to be living in the United States are apparently entitled, and that court-appointed series of lawyers, or perhaps Saudi-funded series of lawyers, and then there is the amassing of the evidence, and then after months and months the assembling of potential members of a jury, and then the ineffective voir dire (that one holdout with Moussaoui), and then the endless trial, and the verdict, and the appeals, appeals, appeals.
That's the only way to do it. None of this trickery. Infidels not supposed to act that way.
Unfair.
Hugh-
Can Howard Dean and Dick Durban borrow that speech about infidel trickery and entrapment of our allegedly harmless Muslim brothers?
It'll save their speechwriters a lot of time and effort and research.
(They promise not to notice the location of your tongue in relation to your cheek.)
Now I know some don't like conspiracy "theory", but isn't this item solid proof that the media Establishment is pro-Islamic? And every day this site gives another example of our leaders (or media) selling us out to the Muslims.
Look at some of the comments to this item:
)the media ... warps reality to unrecognizable forms
)The Canadian Media has generally trivialized the threat to [Canada]
)the FBI doesn't hire its translators from Arabic speaking Jews, Copts, etc.
How can anyone attribute this to ignorance? The FBI agent reported what he knew:suspects plotted 'Islamic Army'. Then the AP editor decided to totally change that to "suspects sought to form own army". Here is a conscious decision to tell a lie for the benefit of the Muslim community.
If I am wrong tell me.