More specifics about the jihad arrests in Florida -- a press release from the Department of Justice:
WASHINGTON – Seven Florida men have been arrested on charges that include conspiring to provide material support to the al Qaeda terrorist organization and conspiracy to levy war against the United States by discussing and planning attacks on targets in the United States, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and the FBI building and other federal buildings in Florida, the Department of Justice announced today.The seven men – Narseal Batiste, Patrick Abraham, Stanley Grant Phanor, Naudimar Herrera, Burson Augustin, Lyblenson Lemorin and Rothschild Augustine – were named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida (Miami). The indictment charges four counts: conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, namely al Qaeda; conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists; conspiracy to maliciously damage and destroy by means of an explosive; and conspiring to levy war against the government of the United States.
The defendants – five U.S. citizens, one legal permanent resident, and one Haitian national in the country illegally – have all been arrested and are expected to make appearances at U.S. District Court in Miami today.
The indictment alleges that, beginning in November 2005 and continuing to the present, Batiste recruited and supervised individuals to organize and train for a mission to wage war against the United States, including a plot to destroy the Sears Tower by explosives. Batiste and his co-conspirators allegedly attempted to obtain the support of al Qaeda to achieve their goals and discussed this desire with an individual cooperating with law enforcement who posed as a member of al Qaeda. Believing they were dealing with that terrorist group, in March 2006, Batiste and other defendants pledged an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda and allegedly supported a plan to destroy FBI buildings in the United States by taking photos of the FBI Building in North Miami Beach, Florida, and other federal buildings in Miami-Dade County.
Batiste then allegedly took reconnaissance photographs of the FBI Building in North Miami Beach, the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building, federal courthouse buildings, the Federal Detention Center and the Miami Police Department. In addition to conducting surveillance, the defendants allegedly provided the individual, whom they believed was an al Qaeda member, with a list of materials and equipment needed to wage jihad, including boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios and vehicles. In December 2005, at one of a number of meetings with this person, Batiste spoke of using an army of “soldiers” and explosives to destroy the Sears Tower. In a subsequent meeting, he provided the individual with a list of other materials needed in his plot to take down the Sears Tower, including radios, binoculars, bullet proof vests, firearms, vehicles and $50,000 cash.
According to the indictment, the plot advanced further through meetings with other co-defendants. In one of the meetings on Feb. 19, 2006, Batiste allegedly told the “al Qaeda representative” that he wanted to attend al Qaeda training with five of his soldiers, with a mission to wage a “full ground war” against the United States in order to “kill all the devils we can,” which “will be just as good or greater than 9/11.” Ultimately, all seven of the defendants allegedly swore bayat, or an oath of loyalty to al Qaeda.
“The convergence of globalization and technology has created a new brand of terrorism. Homegrown terrorists may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al Qaeda,” said Attorney General Gonzales. “I am pleased by the cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement in taking down this group of individuals who wished to harm our country and its citizens.”...
If convicted, the defendants in this case face a maximum penalty of 15 years each in prison on the charges of conspiracy to provide material support or resources, and a maximum of 20 years in prison each on the charges of conspiracy to destroy by use of explosives and conspiracy to levy war against the United States....
It sounds like these guys took their ideas straight out of Die Hard, but what if they'd been just a little more imaginative? Had they been only marginally successful the consequences would've been far reaching - they'd have become household names, and perhaps inspired more 'gangsta jihadis' throughout the Western world. At the very least, African American community relations would be set back decades.
Without making any assumptions about these guy's histories, if any of them have done time then the issue of allowing Moslem studies in prisons becomes all the more pertinent - if prisoners are supposed to be rehabilitated then the wisdom of allowing potentially jihadist ideology to be practised 'inside' will have to be questioned, and not just in the US.
Already members of their local community have defended these men as harmless. It will be increasingly difficult for Black advocacy and civil rights groups to do their vital work amid an atmosphere of escalating suspicions and questioned loyalties. But why should the onus be on already-disadvantaged minority groups to denounce this terrorist ideology? It is the responsibility of government to defend public security. Islam needs to be denounced for the enemy it is by our leaders, just as communism and Nazism were in the last century, and not left to fester amongst the poor and disillusioned as it inevitably will.
Last night I got a glimpse of CNN's "Countdown with Keith Oberman" on the TV in a lobby of my wife's college (For those of you who don't know, KO is a rabid Bush hating snob whose show is at the same time as Fox's "O'Reilly Factor." The fact that many more Americans watch Bill O'Reilly's show only feeds into KO's contempt of middle America.). KO tried to play down the gravity of the situation by noting that these guys were no were near realizing their plan (as if their intent had little significance!). Then he had the nerve to suggest that this report was timed to coincide with the the New York Times "revelation" about the Bush administration tracking banking transactions of Americans suspected of terrorist ties! My God, how much longer are people going to watch this conspiracy mongering stuffed shirt?
Pavlov's Dog:
Good for Bill O'Reilly!
I saw his take on this.
They seem like a bunch of losers, but they could be dangerous losers. We don't need this.
He was right about this also:
All I can say is that the mo form of thinking produces savages!
http://billoreilly.com/show;jsessionid=7D96143E533A8BE462B5A1768DA9FBEC?action=viewTVShow&showID=859#1
Talking Points Memo & Top Story
Soldiers tortured & killed in Iraq
Guests: Fox News military analysts Gen. Thomas McInerney & Col. David Hunt
"Private Kristian Menchaca and Private Thomas Tucker were captured by terrorists in Iraq, hacked to death, their eyes gouged, their bodies defiled. This is payback for the death of Zarqawi, and Americans must decide how to respond. I say Americans because you and I have a stake in this and must speak up so the murders of those soldiers will not be in vain. Talking Points believes the Bush administration has to stop being defensive about waging war. The administration also needs to begin challenging those who are helping the enemy. The ACLU, for example, opposes just about every anti-terror strategy and should be exposed. The BBC also helps the enemy by slanting the Iraq war coverage and portraying the coalition as villains. And the vile Air America radio network does the same thing. The New York Times allowed a suspected terrorist to write an op-ed piece saying he was tortured at Guantanamo Bay. However, the Times failed to tell its readers the man's entire family was convicted of terrorist activities. The USA needs Guantanamo Bay, it needs martial law in Iraq, it needs to fight the terrorists even harder. Anyone who says we're the bad guys, who claims America is the cause of terror, but fails to emphasize why we're fighting in the first place - all of those people must be challenged. No country can win a war against savages unless harsh measures are employed. Let's hope the brutal ordeal of Privates Menchaca and Tucker will wake all of us up."
Fox News video: FoxNews.com
Fox News military analysts Thomas McInerney and David Hunt responded to the two murders with anger and resolve. "We should take the gloves off," Col. Hunt pronounced. "It's time to stop the nonsense politically and militarily. We need to clean this place up and get the Iraqis to clean this place up. Find who did this and hang them." Gen. McInerney called this a tipping point. "There are people I call 'ACE Democrats' or 'ACE liberals' because they are 'aiding and comforting the enemy.' American people have to understand that if we don't do it there, they're coming here. We've put handcuffs on our military and we've got to take the handcuffs off." The Factor urged the Pentagon to fight an all-out war. "We're not doing everything we can do to win because we have the New York Times and all these other people making us out to be the bad guys whenever we make a mistake. The Times and the ACLU and the BBC are intimidating our government, and our government should step up now and say enough of this."
"Now, Keith is NBC's resident intellect"
Whoops! I stand corrected: I didn't see him on CNN, it was probably MSNBC (not that there is much difference between them).
Thanks for the hillarious Keith Oberman antecdotes!
Pavlov's dog asks: "Last night I got a glimpse of CNN's [sic] 'Countdown with Keith Oberman'...My God, how much longer are people going to watch this conspiracy mongering stuffed shirt?"
Olbermann's show is on MSNBC, not CNN. And judging by his low ratings, he's preaching to the loony left lunatic fringe choir and nobody else:
MSNBC's prime time news shows get only a quarter of a million viewers out of the entire nation. That's pretty pathetic.
I don't watch any of them. Even Chris Matthews has proven himself to be a closet-liberal. A good "middle-ground" masquerade for a few years he put on though...
Mainstream media is like brain-poison. Avoid it. I prefer talk radio -- where you can actually question the commentator and interject your own 2 cents. Forget all these arrogant information and editorial slingers on CNN and MSNBC and the like, that rarely get brought to the mat for any of the nonsense they say. If they even knew how to craft a unique idea in their heads, they would still risk getting fired for having the audacity to voice it.
If these "men" are found guilty, the sentences must be consecutive. Then they will have the rest of their lives to worship the Arab Rock God in seclusion.
Maybe we should build terrorist prisons like a Supermax. Individual cells, no korans, no mats, no halal food, and only the Christian channel piped in on tv.
And serve plenty of pork chops, ribs , bacon , sausage and pork roasts!
These followers of Islam and al Qaeda, should be under charges from the military. Why should this be in our court system, with endless issues, motions, etc? They pledged an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda, and this places them in with the enemy we are fighting through the military.
A thought which occurred to me is that perhaps these might be a bunch of goons looking to rip off whomever they could. It is known that Al Qaeda funded the 9/11 hijackers; the prospect of such funding might be attractive to people of ill will who are unable or unwilling to hold down normal jobs.
I would be interested to know more about precisely what were the motivations of these people.
There are some ferocious criminal gangs as work in the US, principally in the SouthWest, I think. It is a worrisome thought that these might become contract killers for well-funded Jihadists.
This is the long term fear of the jihad. This is what Bin Laden dreamed of when he launched his jihad against America. That being home grown muslims joining in on his jihad.
The Inept Seven here are a bunch of dunces but they may be the tip of an islamic iceberg so to speak of potential death and mayhem. That is the real hope of Osama Bin Laden and his mad schemes of hate.
It is like the Unibomber theory of " chaos " in which the radical actions of one person or cell is copied by other persons or cells. The longer that Osama Bin Laden and his cohort Dr. Z of Egypt not to mention Mulla Omar of Afganistan stay at large, they serve as a becon to be copied and for others to carry out similar mayhem.
In short , we have not only pussy footed around with Pakistan too much ( who are sheltering the jihad trio mentioned ) we are actuall providing material support for Pakistan. Thus inabling the chaos theory to take effect.
-------Nossy