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After much delay and controversy. By Jay Weaver for the McClatchy Newspapers, with thanks to all who sent this in:
Miami | To the Bush administration, Jose Padilla's path to terrorism was clear-cut: He was a convicted gang member in Chicago who later found Islam in South Florida before sojourning to the Middle East to become a soldier in "violent jihad."Padilla's defense team paints a far different portrait: He was a troubled youth who straightened out his life after becoming a Muslim, then headed to the Middle East to immerse himself in Islamic culture.
Now, nearly five years after FBI agents arrested Padilla at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after he returned from Pakistan, America's most notorious terror defendant - also dubbed the "dirty bomber" - will stand trial on Monday in a Miami federal courtroom.
Widespread publicity
Two other Muslim men - Sunrise computer programmer Adham Amin Hassoun and Detroit school administrator Kifah Wael Jayyousi - will stand alongside the 36-year-old Padilla. Each is accused of conspiring to assist Islamic extremists overseas. If convicted, the threesome face life in prison....
The jury questionnaire has nearly 100 questions - including one about the ability to keep an "open mind" about Arabs or Muslims charged with acts of violence.
"My biggest concern is publicity and the effect of that publicity," said one of Padilla's lawyers, Anthony Natale, last week. "If you say 'dirty bomber,' it rings the bong."
Padilla was first accused in 2002 of plotting with al-Qaida to carry out a radiological "dirty bomb" attack on U.S. soil and to blow up apartment buildings in major U.S. cities.
'Dirty bomb' charges dropped
But Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was never charged with those crimes as a designated "enemy combatant" from 2002 to 2005. That designation was dropped in November 2005, when he was charged in a broadly framed terror indictment in Miami. Missing from the charges: the dirty bomb allegations. He and the other defendants are instead charged with conspiring to "murder, kidnap and maim" people overseas and to provide "material support" for terrorist activity.
The case, described as "Padilla lite" because it lacks the dirty-bomb allegation, has not been as sensational as first envisioned by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Even U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who will preside over the trial, has been less than impressed. Last summer, she dismissed one charge, citing a violation of Padilla's constitutional rights. Cooke even went so far as to say the prosecution's case was "light on facts."...
Much of the government's case is built upon thousands of classified wiretaps of phone conversations among members of the alleged North American terror cell with links to the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area. The time frame: October 1993 to November 2001.
In the indictment, Hassoun, the suspected ringleader, and Jayyousi are accused of recruiting Mujahadeen fighters such as Padilla and raising funds for radical Islamic causes in Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, Somalia, Afghanistan and Egypt.
But the charges make no mention of any specific attacks, suggesting that the government's case might come down to one of guilt by association.
Hassoun befriended Padilla when they attended the Masjid Al-Imam mosque in Fort Lauderdale during the 1990s. In 1998, Padilla left South Florida to Egypt, where he got married and had two children but remained in contact with Hassoun.
According to the indictment, Padilla traveled overseas to receive training for "violent jihad." On July 24, 2000, Padilla is alleged to have filled out a "Mujahadeen Data Form" in preparation for training with al-Qaida in Afghanistan.
Posted by Robert at April 15, 2007 6:02 PM
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Mujahadeen Data Form????
What does one put on a terrorist form?
In case of death, contact Sima bin Hussan aka Ahab Bartilla aka Hussein Obama aka .......
I am allergic to Jewish people so do not allow blood transfusions.
My background check is I am wanted by the FBI, Interpol, MI 5, but I am a member in good standing of the Democratic Party.
Is hillarious al Qaeda had forms to fill out to apply to be a terrorist.
Posted by: Lame Cherry![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 15, 2007 6:12 PM
If anyone of you ever got called up for jury duty and the case turned out to be a terrorism related case, would you lie on a questionnaire designed by the defense team to screen out anyone deemed too "biased"? That's a good ethical debate. Would you follow the Kantian route and do the morally correct thing no matter what, even at the risk of having apathetic or scheming jurors take your place? Or would you do something immoral for the greater good of your society, especially since the indicted person may be guilty of said crime and the defense team will exploit the indifference of the other jurors? Something to ponder.
Posted by: wrathofasma at April 15, 2007 6:21 PM
Could be worse...
"are you now, or have you ever been, a kaffir or infidel?"
After all...can never be too cautious, eh.
lol
(also, watch for the same screeding poster kids & political pahblum pimps peddle their vitriol during this trial, hoping to gain diversion...another attempt at a "hitler putsch trial".)
Too bad they're deadly serious...this insanity would otherwise make for great syndicated comedy.
Posted by: jcom972 at April 15, 2007 6:22 PM
From foxnews.com:
The Iranian Supreme Court has vacated the murder convictions of a group of serial killers because their victims were engaging in un-Islamic activities, the British Broadcasting Corp. reports.
The men were convicted for a series of grisly killings in the southeastern city of Kerman in 2002. The vigilantes were said to believe that Islam condoned the killing of anyone engaged in illicit activities if they issued two warnings to the victims, the BBC reports.
At least 18 people were killed on the murder spree, but the men were only tried for five of the deaths. Some of the victims were stoned, others were suffocated and at least one man was buried alive, according to the vigilantes' confessions.
These men told the court that their understanding of the teachings of one Islamic cleric allowed them to kill immoral people if they had ignored two warnings to stop their bad behavior, according to the BBC.
The Supreme Court has overturned the verdict of a lower court that found all the men guilty of murder five times, according to lawyers for the victims' families. The vigilantes may still be liable for monetary damages.
at April 15, 2007 6:26 PM
Classic Taqqiyah...absolutely classic.
Anything is legal...as long as you invoke islam.
Best part is, they keep proving our point(s) for us without realizing it. Astonishing.
at April 15, 2007 6:34 PM
If l were asked to go as a juror on that trail, l would lie like a rug to get in. l would use their own "Classic Taqqiyah" right back at them!
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess at April 15, 2007 6:40 PM
MI5 adopts paedophile-tracking tactics for Muslim extremists
MI5 is adopting tactics used by the police to keep tabs on paedophiles and other sex offenders to monitor the activities of known or suspected Islamic extremists, The Times has learnt.The threat from radicalised young Muslims is growing at such a rate that MI5 has realised that it needs the help of police officers on the streets to help it keep a check on extremists in their areas.
The police keep track of known paedophiles by collating sightings of them and noting whom they meet and which areas they frequent — a tactic that MI5 sees as ideal for keeping track of the movements of Islamic extremists.
Thousands of police officers on the beat in areas with large Pakistani communities — such as Birmingham, Leeds and London — will be expected to keep a lookout for young Muslims known to have become radicals.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1658085.ece
------------------------------
Two points to make
1. The number of Muslims born and brought up in Britain who are now "radicals" is so large, that there is no way the security services can keep an eye on all of them. This is admiited as such in the report.
2. Funny that paedophile-tracking tactics are to be employed against the followers of a paedophile.
at April 15, 2007 6:44 PM
Violent jihad?
I am dumbfounded.
I thought Islam is a religon of peace...
-William
Posted by: ThinkForYourself at April 15, 2007 6:54 PM
I hear Scotland Yard calls them the "Aisha patrol".
Posted by: jewdog at April 15, 2007 6:55 PM
(he) "then headed to the Middle East to immerse himself in Islamic culture."
So, the defense admits that he was immersed in jihad, taqiyya, killing apostates, and forcing people into Islam. A winning defense if I ever heard one.
at April 15, 2007 6:56 PM
Zena, lying on a jury questionaire in this case will get you thrown under the jail if you are found out. It might also result in a mistrial and grounds for an appeal. Don't think that way.
Posted by: Pelayo at April 15, 2007 7:00 PM
jewdog posted: I hear Scotland Yard calls them the "Aisha patrol".
Really? Where did you hear this? Links please so I can link them elsewhere.
at April 15, 2007 7:16 PM
Hey DP111, Here's the link re Scotland Yard and The Aisha Patrol :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Kops
at April 15, 2007 7:26 PM
Zena,
That is what I would do too. Of course, I would be fair and look at the evidence to make sure any SOB indicted on terrorism charges really is guilty. But the defense team really wants a jury full of dumbasses so I have no choice but to bend the rules a little bit just to get in. I just have to make sure I won't get charged with perjury. Even so, I look forward to the day any such opportunity comes up. Runaway Jury!
Posted by: wrathofasma at April 15, 2007 8:05 PM
Tell them you hate Bush & the death penalty, and 9/11 was an inside job and you'll get right in.
lol
Posted by: jcom972 at April 15, 2007 8:57 PM
Free padilla, stop this witch hunt NOW!!! Imagine the Mujahedeen the world over started to put innocent Americans on kangaroo courts and sentenced them to horrible beheadings ???
Posted by: Abdullah at April 15, 2007 10:45 PM
Abdullah--Muslims have already beheaded innocent Americans, without anything resembling a court (kangaroo or otherwise) beforehand. See Daniel Pearl and Nick Berg as examples. You can rest assured that Padilla at least won't meet their grisly, barbaric end.
Posted by: staff_of_magius at April 15, 2007 11:11 PM
Is he just trying to be a stupid ass? What kind of nonsense this dullard spews.
nabi ZK
Posted by: zonie kafir at April 16, 2007 12:17 AM
Oh yeah, 'justice' department movements in half-decade and decade-and-a-half increments.
That should do the trick.
I'm sure jihadists are just scared sh*tless.
They'll probably give up jihad knowing the fbi might come after them 5, 10, or 15 years later - all the while guaranteeing full Constitutional rights to an enemy who has no rules.
Durka, durka, durka. Durka allah, mohammad jihad!
Posted by: Arm A. Geddon at April 16, 2007 1:40 AM
Abdullah
Your brothers of your wretched 'deen' don't even give their non-Muslim captives a trial before they behead them. They did no such thing with Daniel Pearl and Nick Berg.
Posted by: wrathofasma at April 16, 2007 1:49 AM
"Imagine the Mujahedeen the world over started to put innocent Americans on kangaroo courts and sentenced them to horrible beheadings ???"
.....The Mujhadeen has already held many horrible beheading without a trial, including journalists, teachers, nuns, priests, and many civilians.....many of them were Muslims...I suppose they were not Muslim enough...
at April 16, 2007 9:04 AM
At the very least abdullah, if he's found guilty and sentenced to death, it won't be from the quick and humane beheading practiced by islam. Or the compassionate hanging from a crane, as was used in Iran to execute a 17 yeard old rape victim last fall. It will be something as terrifying and painful as leathal injection after being rendered unconcious (after an agonizing 15 - 20 years of appeals).
And it won't be posted on youtube.
Posted by: walterc at April 16, 2007 1:12 PM
Arm A Geddon:
Good point...it took Christiandom 300 years after the first REAL "crusade" (originated by mOslems themselves in the 600s AD) to wake up before deciding to fight back with a Crusade of our own.
Thankfully, enough are pulling their heads out of the sand and realizing we don't HAVE 300 years leeway this time...or 3 years for that matter.
Things have reached the breaking point, and once unleashed, even our own authorities won't be able to restrain us from getting real on this PC insanity.
Posted by: jcom972 at April 16, 2007 4:24 PM
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