"U.S. intelligence officials have been following the case out of concern that the Somalis leaving Minneapolis are being funneled to al-Shabab through what might be America's first jihadi pipeline."
More on this story. Of additional concern is what these jihadists may do if they make it back from Somalia. "FBI Makes Another Arrest In Missing Somalis Case," by Dina Temple-Raston for NPR, October 10:
The FBI has made another arrest in its yearlong investigation into a rash of disappearances from the Somali community in Minnesota.
A 26-year-old medical technician from St. Paul was arrested on Friday and charged with making false statements to FBI officials. His arrest had been under seal until Tuesday, when he appeared in a St. Paul federal court.
An FBI spokesman said that Abdow Abdow's arrest was related to the ongoing investigation into the two dozen Somali youths who have left the United States and traveled to Somalia to join a militia there called al-Shabab.
The criminal complaint against Abdow says he lied about driving a handful of Somali-Americans from Minneapolis across the country on Oct. 6. One of the young men in the car had his passport and $4,000 in cash. Two other young men who were passengers in Abdow's car tried to leave the United States through Mexico two days later.
When Abdow was asked about his fellow travelers, he denied they were in the car, the FBI says. When interviewed at work, Abdow allegedly told the FBI, "I'm talking too much." Then, when he finally admitted having a handful of passengers in his car, he added, "Whatever those guys are into, I'm not."
The FBI would not say whether the men in the car were among those under investigation or whether they intended to travel to Somalia.
U.S. intelligence officials have been following the case out of concern that the Somalis leaving Minneapolis are being funneled to al-Shabab through what might be America's first jihadi pipeline. Think of the potential pipeline as an underground railroad for jihadists -- an intricate but informal network of militants who help their brothers in arms not only travel to terrorist training camps but also return home. The return trip to America is what worries U.S. intelligence. They envision a raft of young men training for jihad and slipping back into the U.S. to launch an attack.
Al-Shabab, a militia group with links to al-Qaida, is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. For almost two years, it has been recruiting young Somali men from cities such as Minneapolis, Cleveland, Boston and San Diego, putting them on the front lines of Somalia's civil war. One of those recruits, a young Minneapolis man named Shirwa Ahmed, blew himself up in a suicide bombing last October. Two of the men who were traveling with Abdow earlier this month stopped at the U.S. border not far from San Diego.
One agent says this has been one of the biggest domestic terrorism investigations in this country since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. So far, five of the young Minnesotans who have traveled to Somalia and joined al-Shabab have been killed in the fighting there.
If one were to view the result from a slightly different angle, one might conclude that Abdow Abdow unwittingly performed a service for Americans.
In a sane world, we would pass legislation automatically revoking citizenship for anyone found to have joined a Jihadist organization anywhere in the world.
Of course, we don't live in a sane world.
"Al-Shabab, a militia group with links to al-Qaida, is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations..."
"One agent says this has been one of the biggest domestic terrorism investigations in this country since the [Islamic] attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. So far, five of the young Minnesotans who have traveled to Somalia and joined al-Shabab have been killed in the fighting there."
No Comment.
"So far, five of the young Minnesotans who have traveled to Somalia and joined al-Shabab have been killed in the fighting there."
By their actions, they have demonstrated that they are not "Minnesotans." They are not, in their minds, citizens of the USA at all, but rather citizens of another nation called The Ummah, which has its own draconian laws that completely abrogate the American Constitution.
Cornelius is right--they should instantly lose their citizenship upon joining any jihad organization. Alternatively, if they really must keep their citizenship by some legal straightjacket, then we have every right and duty to hunt them down and execute them as the genuine traitors that they are.
I'm with Hugh.
I say, let the buggers go.
Just don't ever let them get out of Somalia ever again.
...out of concern that the Somalis leaving Minneapolis are being funneled to al-Shabab through what might be America's first jihadi pipeline.
It won't be America's last jihadi pipeline, either, unless the BHO administration grows a couple in regard to immigration from islamic countries. And we're all waiting with baited breath for that to happen, right?
*crickets*
One cannot be moslem AND a loyal member of any Western country.
Choose one or the other.
Stendec, I'm with you. I will allow the Law Enforcement of the land to take appropriate steps. Once they show me they are unwilling or unable to do so then we, the people, will have to do whatever is necessary to safeguard our country.
Yet again we have demonstrated for us that Islam is the world's biggest pain in the ass (anyone know of a bigger one?). Minnesota is the result of what mankind at its best can produce------a democratic, affluent polity that insures tolerance for a wide diversity of views, including religious perspectives. Somalia, by contrast, is the result of what mankind at its worst will construct------a repressive, stupid, horrible-all-around polity that insures little tolerance for any view except the one that those in power have at the moment. The Judeo-Christian ethical system is integral in producing a Minnesota. The Islamic ethical system is integral in producing a Somalia. Enough said except that Cornelius is correct in arguing for the revocation of American citizenship for anyone who joins a jihadist organization. He's equally correct in averring that this would only be done were we living in a sane world.
US intelligence is "worried." US authorities need the power to do more than just "worry." OF COURSE these men's citizenship should be revoked...but quietly; we don't want to warn any other young men who want to die for Allah. Just let them go.
One possible solution is to never allow Muslims into your country to begin with. For those who are already in who decide to leave, they can never come back...Islam travels with heavy baggage...
Aren't these people in the U.S.A. as refugees from the violence in Somalia?
Doesn't traveling back there forfeit their refugee status, especially if one considers the fact that they are willingly taking part in hostilities?