Fort Dix Jihad Update. "Jurors in Fort Dix terror trial view tape from seized computers," by John P. Martin for the Star-Ledger, October 23 (thanks to Jeffrey Imm):
Jurors at the Fort Dix terror trial today watched videos of beheadings and al Qaeda propaganda seized from one defendant's computer, footage investigators contend proves the young Muslim men were studying terror tactics and preparing to attack.Sounds like certain Koranic expressions found in a children's video-game that has infuriated Muslims.One video opened with background music and a man singing "Blood shall be spilled" in Arabic.
Then two Iraqi captives appeared in succession on camera, each sitting before a red tapestry and confessing they had been spies for America and Israel.An FBI language specialist, Gassan Hajjar, then described for jurors what happened next: Using a knife, the captors sliced off the hostages' heads, taking four to six minutes to complete the decapitations, he said. They held the severed heads aloft, placed them back on the bodies and celebrated.
Prosecutors aired the videos as the first week of testimony in the Camden courtroom came to an end, letting the images potentially linger in jurors' minds as a searing coda to the week.
Agents extracted the videos from a computer seized last year at the Cherry Hill home of Shain and Eljvir Duka, illegal Albanian immigrants who prosecutors say were radical Islamists plotting to attack Fort Dix or another area installation.
Being tried with them on charges of conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers are their brother, Dritan Duka, of Cherry Hill; Mohamad Shnewer, a native of Jordan and nationalized U.S. citizen from Cherry Hill, and Serdar Tatar, a legal permanent resident from Turkey who lived in Philadelphia.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Hammer and William Fitzpatrick have argued in court filings that the men watched al Qaeda videos of religious lectures, political propaganda and violent attacks to mentally and emotionally prepare themselves for a jihad, or holy war.
The clips jurors watched were among hundreds of jihadist photos, articles and Internet links agents found on the defendants' computers after the May 2007 arrests ended a 15-month FBI investigation.
Jurors were spared the actual scenes of beheadings after attorneys objected the explicit brutality wasn't proof of any conspiracy by their clients and would unfairly prejudice the jury against them. U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler refused to ban the videos altogether, but ordered that prosecutors show an "antiseptic" version that stopped the videos right before the decapitations.
[...]Defense attorneys have argued there was no terror plot. They claim the alleged conspiracy was created and encouraged by paid FBI informants hired to infiltrate the plot and agents eager to win a terrorism conviction.
William Fitzpatrick is a giant. Thank God there are still prosecuting attorneys like him, principled men who have resisted the monetary allure of becoming defense lawyers.
I hate to say it but the jurors should have been shown the complete beheadings, even if this induced PTSD. The full barbarity,horror and heart of darkness that these men represent must be seen. Sanitising this evil is a mistake. It is crucial to know one's enemy.
Shain and Eljvir Duka - two more outstanding candidates for President Bush's transition security team. (Doin' jobs Americans just won't do)
Shain and Eljvir Duka, illegal Albanian immigrants who prosecutors say were radical Islamists plotting to attack Fort Dix or another area installation.
Where is the difference between John McCain and Barack Obama on illegal immigration?
Darn those ethnic Albanians.
PMK: I fully concede that McCain falls way short on the illegal immigration issue (though over the past several months he has made tougher statements about it, such as building the wall across much of the border as priority one) but Obama, I am virtually certain, will open the floodgates. And just ask yourself who is more likely to do something really stupid such as providing illegal immigrants with driver licenses or full medical insurance? It's a choice between dumb and dumber on this one and I'm going with dumb. How can one not?
The jurors should have been ordered to watch the entire sickening, gut-wrenching reality of the beheadings, a foretaste of things to come if these jihadis and their ilk have their way.
defense attorneys objected the explicit brutality wasn't proof of any conspiracy by their clients and would unfairly prejudice the jury against them.
This is a PC tactic that has brought ruin to our judicial system. It is the job of both sides to prejudice the jury. I personally do not like this word because one, it cares a negative meaning and two, it obfuscates the truth.
Wellington,
Those men were already here. McCain will do nothing about those who are already here. He has said as much. Therefore, I consider McCain equally capable of providing drivers licenses and full medical insurance to anyone who is already here.
He can talk all he wants about building the fence on the border. Based on his record, I just don't believe him. But let's say he got drugged by Ted Kennedy and was an unwilling participant in Kennedy's amnesty venture. He can't escape his own rhetoric in the campaign for president. It's just too recent and it's all his.
"In case you hadn't noticed, the thousands of people who have been relegated to ghettos have risen up and burned cars in France," McCain said. "They've got huge problems in France. They have tremendous problems. The police can't even go into certain areas in the suburbs of Paris. I don't want that in the suburbs of America."
The above was McCain's answer to a citizen in Iowa who asked about the deportation of illegal aliens. He couldn't answer the man's question honestly because it might have cost him votes so instead he pointed to an area that was wholly unrelated to the man's question. What was going on in France had absolutely nothing to do with this. In any case, the implication was that if we enforce our laws, there will be mayhem in the streets. You really think McCain will enforce our laws? I DON'T.
John McCain and Barack Obama will happily engage on Iraq, taxes or health policy. The economy? Anytime, anywhere. But when it comes to immigration, neither is enthusiastic to talk, even though they largely agree on the solutions.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/070808dnpolimmig.33b40be2.html
Inching his way back to the center of the testy immigration issue, Sen. John McCain on Monday pledged to a national civil rights group that he remains “committed to fair, practical and comprehensive immigration reform.”
Comprehensive reform. That was what McCain sought in 2006.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/McCain_speaks_to_La_Raza.html
From article: Defense attorneys have argued there was no terror plot. They claim the alleged conspiracy was created and encouraged by paid FBI informants hired to infiltrate the plot and agents eager to win a terrorism conviction.
Uh huh...First it was 'I was only going to make fireworks', now it's paid FBI informants...
Wait a minute...
"They claim the alleged conspiracy was created and encouraged by paid FBI informants hired to infiltrate the plot..."
A conspiracy was created by FBI informants, who then infiltrated the plot they created...???
That's clear as mud. Would that be entrapment?
That would make the jihadists, victims...
Somehow I doubt the 'The FBI made me do it', defense is going to fly...
Somehow I doubt the 'The FBI made me do it', defense is going to fly...
duh_swami,
Depends on the makeup of the jury.
PMK: Do you really believe that McCain will do as much harm to this country as Obama? I don't. It's still the option I presented before between dumb and dumber. If you believe that it's really dumber and dumber, that's your right, but I don't share that conviction. And please remember the difference in the judges a President Obama or a President McCain will appoint. And if the objection be that a President McCain won't be able to get his judicial appointments through a Democratic Senate, then I will gladly take vacancies on the American bench over Far Left types sitting on them.
I am so glad to see how Muslims have become a very part of the "fabric of America"...Unfortunately neither McCain (an honorable man) nor Obama (a scum bag political opportunist) will do a damn thing about preventing further Muslim immigration to America nor anything to get rid of those who refuse to obey our laws or integrate into America's cultural mainstream. We see the same story played out day after day all over the world. Fueled by petrodollars this filth continues to pollute the West...What a pity. The outcome of this election may indeed signal the end of the American century. When that day comes we will be no more important than Rule Britannia in decline...It should make the idiots who see Obama as a messianic figure very happy. That is until they realize that a liberal, anti-American infidel is ultimately no better in Muslim eyes than a patriotic believer.
duh_swami,
Depends on the makeup of the jury.
Posted by: PMK
Most jurors are not irresponsible, but sometimes I wonder about competence...
Why would anyone have beheading video's in their possession to begin with?
The Islamic version of a snuff film, appeals to those with a bent toward sexual depravity, or just depravity in general.
Watching these video's, or better yet, living the fantasy, provides a sexual experience.
You notice a large number of sadistic sex murderer's tape their horrors for future viewing.
Jihadi's just buy or rent and experience the sexual effects second hand (that's until they get to do it first hand)...but if they concentrate just right, they can get into the plot...
Wellington,
We'll have to agree to disagree. I was out about an hour ago and heard how conservatives are blaming Sarah Palin, of all people, for McCain's woes. The GOP is coming apart. There are still ten days left. In 2000 the press waited until five days before the election to drop Bush's DWI on the nation. Anything can happen.
I don't support Obama. I'm reading another book about him and the man scares me. The problem is, so does McCain. All he has done in the last year is deepen my distrust. I can't vote for someone I can't trust.
"I'm reading another book about him and the man scares me. The problem is, so does McCain."
Posted by: PMK
PMK, I hear you! This is the reason that I'll be throwing my vote to an obscure minor party candidate, in '08. I can't vote for either McCain or Obama, and be able to sleep at night.
Of course, whichever one wins, I still won't be able to sleep at night, but at least I won't be responsible for enabling either one.
Abscedere,
You and me both!
If convicted, Obama will pardon them, so what's the point of having a trial?