Recently in Jihad in the U.S. Category

Here's the latest in the Jihad Jane/Jihad Jamie case. "In Ireland, a Hearing on a Plot to Kill a Swedish Cartoonist," by Eamon Quinn and John F. Burns for the New York Times, March 15 (thanks to Bill):

WATERFORD, Ireland -- A late-night court hearing Monday in this quiet Irish town gave new glimpses into the case that American and Irish prosecutors are pursuing against a group of Muslims on both sides of the Atlantic suspected of plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad atop the body of a dog.

Five of the seven people arrested in Ireland a week ago have been released, the last of them shortly before Monday's hearing. But two others, an Algerian man and a Libyan man, were formally charged with relatively minor offenses that lawyers involved in the case said could keep them in custody while more serious charges, including conspiracy to murder, are weighed by Irish prosecutors. The lawyers said charges against the five others were also possible.

The Algerian who appeared in the Waterford court, named as Ali Charaf Damache, 45, was said by police officials to be suspected of being the group's leader. Mr. Damache, a 10-year resident of Ireland, was charged with sending a threatening computer message to another Muslim in Waterford. The Libyan, named as Abdul Salam al Jahani, 32, was charged with using a false name to obtain asylum status in Ireland in 2001. Both were ordered held without bail while an investigation continued.

No reference was made in the 15-minute hearing to the wider circumstances of the case, which has centered in the United States on a 46-year-old Pennsylvania woman, Colleen R. LaRose, a Muslim convert who adopted the pseudonym of JihadJane on the Internet, and has been in custody in Philadelphia since the fall on charges of linking up with militants overseas in a plot to carry out a murder, apparently that of the Swedish cartoonist, Lars Vilks.

The arrests in Ireland drew a second American woman into the case: Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, 31, from Leadville, Colo.. A Muslim convert like Ms. LaRose, Ms. Paulin-Ramirez is the wife of Mr. Damache, the Algerian charged in the Monday's hearing, according to a Waterford lawyer involved in the case, and is several months pregnant. She was one of the seven arrested last Tuesday, but was released on the weekend. [...]

Ms. Paulin-Ramirez's mother, Christine Mott, 59, said in an interview last week in Colorado that her daughter announced her conversion to Islam last Easter and became increasingly estranged from her family....

Hmmm. Now, why is that?

Of course it is. "The Jihadists Next Door," from Investors Business Daily, March 15:

Security: The arrests of three new homegrown terrorists, including two "Jihad Janes" and an al-Qaida suspect who infiltrated nuclear plants, confirm a rise in homegrown jihadist activity.

Sharif Mobley is one of the latest jihadists next door. Before he was rounded up in a sweep of suspected al-Qaida terrorists in Yemen, Mobley worked at five nuclear plants in New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania. He shot two guards, killing one, before his capture.

Mobley grew up in New Jersey before converting to Islam. His militancy shocked an old high school friend, who ran into him after returning from an Army tour in Iraq. Mobley told him: "Get the hell away from me, you Muslim killer!"

Then there's Colleen LaRose, aka Jihad Jane, who was arrested in Philadelphia for allegedly plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist who'd "offended" Muslims. Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Denver was also arrested in connection with the assassination plot.

All three suspects are U.S. citizens from different parts of the country. One is black, one white and one formerly married to a Hispanic immigrant. Two, shockingly, are women. While each suspect has a different background, all three are Muslim converts radicalized over the Internet -- a dangerous trend.

American converts are al-Qaida's prime recruits right now, because they have a better chance of slipping through security checkpoints. [...]

While the essential ingredient in these cases is militant Islam, we have to wonder if the left isn't making otherwise normal Americans vulnerable to such treasonous seductions. After all, the hate-America lobby -- led by the American Civil Liberties Union and often cheered by the media -- has comforted even the most guilty in the war on terror, including the 9/11 mastermind and other Gitmo detainees.

Take Omar Hammami. A smart American college kid who grew up Baptist in the Alabama suburbs, he's now an al-Qaida field commander in Somalia wanted by the FBI.

What happened? He became consumed with events in Iraq and Afghanistan and began subscribing to conspiracy theories about 9/11. He learned to hate his country, which he calls a legitimate "target" for attack....

Read it all.

"It's really shocking to us. Islam means peace. Can you make peace with terrorism?"

No, Islam means submission. Can you make peace with dissembling and half-truths? And are you trying to convince jihadists that their version of Islam is wrong, or is your ire reserved for non-Muslims who dare to notice that Muslims are plotting blood and death against the Infidels in the name of Islam?

"Rev. John B. Rochford, a Baptist minister and administrator of the South East Refugee Information Center, compared the situation to the plight of the Irish decades ago, when they were frequently suspected of terrorism."

Yes, and some Irishmen were terrorists. Thus non-terrorist Irish should have understood the suspicion and cooperated fully with law enforcement efforts -- particularly if they really opposed the terrorism, no?

"U.S. Woman Released in Terror Case," by Neil Shah, Vanessa O'Connell and Evan Perez in the Wall Street Journal, March 15:

Irish police released without charge an American woman who was among seven people arrested last week in Ireland in connection with an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, a 31-year-old Colorado mother and recent convert to Islam who was among those detained, is no longer in the custody of the Irish police, said a person familiar with the matter. Both Irish and U.S. authorities declined to provide further details. [...]

Others worry about the impact of the arrests. Rev. John B. Rochford, a Baptist minister and administrator of the South East Refugee Information Center, compared the situation to the plight of the Irish decades ago, when they were frequently suspected of terrorism.

Some residents also said they were upset about the media's portrayal of the Islamic religion in recent coverage of the terror-related arrests.

Sheikh Ahmed, 45, a law student at the Waterford Institute of Technology, said some coverage in the tabloids--including images of Osama bin Laden--hurts the Muslim community by stirring up tensions.

"It's really shocking to us," he said. "Islam means peace. Can you make peace with terrorism?"

War is Deceit, said Muhammad. "Al-Qaida suspect from US tricked his Yemeni guard," by Ahmed Al-Haj for AP, March 13 (thanks to all who sent this in):

SAN'A, Yemen -- The U.S. al-Qaida suspect detained in Yemen had persuaded his guard to unshackle him so the two could pray together and then snatched his unattended gun and killed him during the suspect's failed escape attempt, senior security officials said Saturday.

Sharif Mobley, a 26-year-old American of Somali descent, had traveled to Yemen two years ago, ostensibly to study Arabic, and was recently arrested there in a sweep against al-Qaida.

Mobley made his bold escape attempt March 7 after being transferred from prison to a hospital in the capital, San'a, for medical treatment. He tried to shoot his way out of the hospital, killing one guard and seriously injuring another before being recaptured.

New details about the episode obtained by The Associated Press indicate Mobley had a level of training and cunning characteristic of the al-Qaida terror network....

Mobley grew up in Buena, New Jersey. His parents said he is not a terrorist, though a former friend said Mobley was becoming increasingly radical in his Muslim beliefs before he moved to Yemen. His mother last spoke to him in January.

Worth committing murder for

More on the plot that has already resulted in the arrests of two female American converts to Islam. Indeed, as you read this report, you will see that there is a large number of converts to Islam involved with this plot. Why is it that they all so thoroughly misunderstood their new, peaceful religion? "Irish police hold four allegedly for links with Jihad Jane," by David Sapsted for The National, March 13:

LONDON // Four Irish residents, including a US woman, remained in custody last night as anti-terrorism police continued to probe the Irish connection in the "Jihad Jane" plot to murder Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist.

Three of the seven people taken into custody in raids on homes in the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday - a couple originally from Algeria and a Palestinian woman - were released without charge late on Friday night.

It was the arrest of the seven at addresses in Cork and Waterford that led to disclosure by the US justice department that Colleen LaRose, a 46-year-old US-born convert to Islam, had been held since October on charges of plotting to kill Mr Vilks, whose 2007 cartoon portraying the Prophet Mohammed had offended Muslims worldwide.

Ms LaRose is alleged to have used the names Jihad Jane and Fatima LaRose on websites as she attempted to recruit people in South Asia, Europe and the United States to wage a bloody jihad.

Last August, she flew to Europe, initially visiting the Netherlands and inquiring about residency in Sweden, before flying to Ireland for two weeks in September.

Amateur internet sleuths, who had been tracking Ms LaRose's internet activities for two years, had alerted the US authorities early last year after she made an alleged appeal for funds to sponsor terrorist activity.

The CIA alerted the Garda, the Irish police, who kept her under surveillance throughout her stay in Ireland. Her main point of contact, according to sources in Dublin yesterday, was 49-year-old Sharif Damache, an Algerian who settled in Ireland in 2000 and who became a naturalised Irish citizen two years ago.

Mr Damache, who was arrested at his home in Waterford, remained in custody last night along with his wife, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, a 31-year-old convert to Islam from Colorado.

Christine Mott, her mother, told the Associated Press that her daughter disappeared in September and later told her family she had gone to Ireland with her six-year-old son and married an Algerian whom she had met online.

Mrs Mott said her daughter had announced to her family a year ago that she was converting to Islam and began wearing headscarves.

"It came out of left field," Mrs Mott said. "I knew she was talking to these people online. What caused her to turn her back on her country, on her family and become this person? I don't know how or why.

"All I know is she was in contact with this Jihad Jane. The only thing I could think of is that they brainwashed her."

Sources within the Garda have indicated, however, that her husband remained of much greater interest to them than Ms Paulin-Ramirez.

"We are not linking those arrested to any al Qa'eda cell," one official said. "The central question is whether any of those in custody were directly involved in a plot to kill Mr Vilks."...

An Algerian couple who run a bakery in Ballincollig - Ghamrassan Moulay-Slimane and his wife, Iles - were released on Friday evening, along with Nadah Sameh, a Palestinian woman from Tramore.

Her husband, Abd al Salam Mansur al Jahani, a Libyan who has been living in Ireland for almost a decade, remained in custody along with Danijel Orsos, a 26-year-old Croatian convert, and Mr Damache and his American wife....

And they laughed as they fired the gun. Be sure to go over to AtlasShrugs, where Pamela has much more on the implications of this case for San Francisco authorities. "Video has more BB attacks, S.F. officials say," by Jaxon Van Derbeken for the San Francisco Chronicle, March 13 (thanks to Pamela):

A video made by three cousins from Hayward charged with an alleged anti-gay shooting with a BB rifle last month in San Francisco shows 11 other attacks in a single night, authorities said Friday.

The men have been charged in San Francisco with a hate crime and assault for allegedly firing a BB rifle Feb. 26 at the face of a man they believed was gay. The man, who was walking on 16th Street near Guerrero Street, was not badly hurt and later identified the three suspects.

The three were freed on $50,000 bail soon after their arrest. But on Friday, Mohammad Habibzada, Shafiq Hashemi and Sayed Bassam, all 24, appeared in court and were immediately rearrested. They were all being held late Friday on $450,000 bail.

They were returned to custody after prosecutors viewed a video that police found in the three men's car when they were arrested.

Brian Buckelew, spokesman for District Attorney Kamala Harris, said the video showed the 16th Street attack and BB rifle shootings aimed at 11 other men. Police say the video depicts the suspects laughing as they fire....

UPDATE: Freed without charge.

Yet another convert to Islam misunderstands the Religion of Peace and gets involved in this jihadist murder plot. "For the Love of Islam: A Second American Woman Is Arrested in Cartoonist Case," by Vanessa O'Connell, Stephanie Simon and Evan Perez in the Wall Street Journal, March 13 (thanks to Pat):

Last Easter, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, a 31-year-old mom with a $30,000-a-year job as a medical assistant, announced to her family that she had converted to Islam. A few months later, she began posting to Facebook forums whose headings included "STOP caLLing MUSLIMS TERRORISTS!"

On Sept. 11, she suddenly left Leadville, Colo., a small town in the Rocky Mountains, for Denver, then for New York, to meet and marry a Muslim man she connected with online, her family says. Ms. Paulin-Ramirez, who is 5-foot-11 and blonde, phoned her mother and stepfather in Leadville, providing them with an address in Waterford, Ireland, they say.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, a 31-year-old mom, is in the custody of the Irish police, along with six other individuals, arrested as part of an investigation into a conspiracy to commit murder.

Now, she is in the custody of the Irish police, along with six other individuals, arrested as part of an investigation into a conspiracy to commit murder, according to officials familiar with the case. The nature of the authorities' suspicions about Ms. Paulin-Ramirez couldn't be determined on Friday.

Ms. Paulin-Ramirez's interest in Islam "came out of left field," said her mother, Christine Holcomb, in an interview at her home Friday, wearing a blue sweatsuit with a silver cross around her neck. [...]

Ms. Paulin-Ramirez is the second American woman to be linked to an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who made fun of the Prophet Mohammed. An indictment was unsealed this week against Colleen R. LaRose, 46, a suburban Philadelphia woman who authorities said used the Web alias "JihadJane."

Ms. LaRose was accused of plotting to kill the cartoonist and attempting to recruit jihadis via the Internet. She was arrested in October and charged with providing material support to terrorists. The Justice Department kept its case under wraps until this week while investigators in the U.S. and Europe pursued their investigation against other potential suspects in the U.S. and abroad.

The main contact for Ms. LaRose is believed to be one of the men in Irish custody, an Algerian, who has a relationship with Ms. Paulin-Ramirez, according to a person close to matter. A person close to the Irish police couldn't confirm whether Ms. Paulin-Ramirez and the Algerian are married. Ms. LaRose spent roughly two weeks in Ireland last fall, a person familiar with the matter said.

The Irish police are holding four men and three women, including three Algerians, a Croatian, a Palestinian, a Libyan and a U.S. national, according to a person close to the police. They are being questioned and haven't been charged. A U.S. official familiar with the matter confirmed that Ms. Paulin-Ramirez is the U.S. national. The Justice Department declined to comment. [...]

In the months before Ms. Paulin-Ramirez left Leadville, taking her 6-year-old son but little clothing or other belongings, she began "wearing the black garb so you can only see her eyes," her aunt said. "We knew that she was dabbling in the Muslim religion. But for her to disappear like this was from left field--we weren't expecting it at all," said Ms. Jones, who until last fall would speak to her niece on the phone almost every day. Ms. Paulin-Ramirez had begun spending more time on the computer, her mother complained to the aunt. "All of a sudden, she stopped talking to me and she disappeared," Ms. Jones said. [...]

In 2008 or 2009, Mr. Mott said, Ms. Paulin-Ramirez enrolled in an online course about Islam.

By Easter 2009, she had informed her mother that she was a Muslim. At her father's May 2009 funeral in Kansas, her aunts had to plead with her not to cover her head and hair with a hijab. Over the summer, her family says, she was spending increasing time on the computer and had begun to dress in the traditional garb, covering not only her hair and face but also her hands. Her current Facebook page lists her as Jamie Paulin, with a photo in which all that is visible are her eyes peering from slits in her full-face veil. [...]

A few months before she disappeared, her stepfather says he confronted her: "What are you going to do, strap a bomb on and blow up something?" he asked her. He recalled that she responded: "If necessary, yes." [...]

If necessary.

His mother says he is a "good Muslim." She said it. "NJ Terror Suspect Worked at Nuclear Power Plants," by Vince Lattanzio for NBC Philadelphia, March 11 (thanks to Benedict):

The South Jersey man who Yemini officials are calling a terrorist with links to al-Qaeda previously worked at three local nuclear power plants.

Sharif Mobley, 26, is being held in a jail in Yemen after he allegedly killed a police guard and seriously injured another during a shootout at a hospital on Monday.

The Buena, N.J. native has also been accused of taking part in several acts of terrorism, Yemini officials say. He also purportedly has ties to the same branch of al-Qaeda who are suspected of attempting to blow up a U.S. airliner on its way to Detroit on Christmas.

As details of Mobley's arrest trickle back to the U.S., more people who knew him are coming forward.

Former high school classmate Roman Castro says Mobley was always fiercely religious and tried to convert high school friends to Islam.

Castro says he ran into Mobley during an Army tour in Iraq around four years ago. The two had a short exchange, with Mobley telling him to "Get the hell away from me, you Muslim killer," according to Castro.

A former neighbor said Mobley moved to Yemen two years ago to study Islam.

Mobley, who was born in the U.S., also worked as a laborer at three Salem County nuclear power plants, power company officials say.

Working for several contractors, Mobley carried supplies and did maintenance work at the plants on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek from 2002 to 2008, PSE&G spokesperson Joe Delmar said.

Mobley also worked at other plants in the area, Delmar said.

Speaking to NBC Philadelphia Wednesday, Mobley's mother denied claims her son was a terrorist. She called Sharif a "good Muslim" and said he's "absolutely not a terrorist."...

Yet another U.S.-born Muslim in Yemen fighting against his native country. Why is it that all those moderate and peaceful American mosques are doing such a miserable job teaching Islam to Muslim converts? "FBI Probes N.J. Man Linked to Al Qaeda, Hospital Attack in Yemen," from FoxNews, March 11:

A suspected Al Qaeda militant who was known as a "sweetheart" by classmates at his New Jersey high school is being investigated by the FBI after his arrest in the Middle East for allegedly trying to shoot his way out of a hospital in Yemen.

Federal sources confirmed that 26-year-old Sharif Mobley, of Buena, N.J., is in custody after a shooting rampage in a Yemeni hospital that killed one guard and injured another.

FBI spokesman Rich Wolf in Baltimore said the agency is looking into the case. Mobley was reportedly being held prisoner in the hospital and was caught after a chase following the shooting....

Dr. Rusty Shackleford over at the Jawa Report has interesting background on the Jihad Jane case: "I turned in Colleen 'Jihad Jane' LaRose to the FBI -- A Jawa Report Exclusive."

Be sure to take a look.

The one thing that can and should be done would be to call American Muslim groups to account, and demand that they institute in mosques and Islamic schools comprehensive, honest, inspectable programs teaching against the jihad doctrine and Islamic supremacism. But officials will never do this. They would prefer to pretend that the jihad doctrine and Islamic supremacism do not exist. And so we will see many more Jihad Janes.

"'Jihad Jane's' Arrest Raises Fears About Homegrown Terrorists," by Huma Khan, Emily Friedman, and Jason Ryan for ABC News, March 10 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

The arrest of a suburban Pennsylvania woman known by the alias Jihad Jane, who allegedly plotted with Islamic radicals abroad to kill a Swedish cartoonist, has raised fears about homegrown terrorists in the United States who may be difficult to spot. Suburban Pennsylvania woman is charged with recruiting extremists online.

"This woman might as well have advertised in the Washington Post," former White House counterterrorism official and ABC News consultant Richard Clarke said on "Good Morning America" today. "It was easy for the FBI to find her, but there are other people who are much more covert."

"There will likely be more attacks," Clarke said. "Hopefully, they will be small, and hopefully, we can catch them early."

Colleen R. LaRose, 46, of Montgomery, Pa., was arrested in October 2009 and charged with trying to recruit Islamic fighters and plotting to assassinate a Swedish cartoonist who made fun of prophet Mohammed, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The FBI had kept the case secret while it looked for more suspects in the United States and abroad. The case was made public after seven men were arrested in Ireland this week, suspected of plotting to kill the Swedish cartoonist.

LaRose's case is rare, Clark [sic] said, but it shows the capability of international dissident groups to reach out to Americans via the Internet.

"This is a very rare case of a disturbed woman," he said, but it signifies how "the Internet not only allows them to communicate, it allows them to recruit."

Their persuasive speeches and sermons, which have been effective in recruiting men and women in the Middle East, are "beginning to work for some misfits in the United States," he said....

But neither Clarke nor anyone else ever asks himself why these speeches and sermons are so persuasive.

Jihad Jane wanted to help the "suffering Muslim people," and apparently she thought the best way to do that was to murder a few Infidels, perhaps including Swedish Motoonist Lars Vilks. More on this story. "Muslim convert Colleen LaRose, aka Jihad Jane, faces terror charges," by Sam Jones for The Guardian, March 10 (thanks to all who sent this in):

An American woman who called herself Jihad Jane has been charged over an alleged plot to murder a Swedish man.

Colleen Renee LaRose, 46, from Phildadelphia, is also accused of conspiracy to provide support to terrorists, making false statements and attempted identity theft.

Irish police yesterday arrested seven people over an apparent plot to kill Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist who had a bounty put on his head after depicting the prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog - though Vilks has not been named as LaRose's alleged target.

Garda sources said the four men and three women were in their mid-20s to late-40s. Some of them arrested hold Irish citizenship and some are from the Middle East. Converts to Islam were among them, the Irish police said.

Vilks's cartoon, drawn in 2007, prompted al-Qaida to place a $100,000 (£67,000) bounty on his head and offer a 50% bonus to anyone who slit his throat to ensure he was "slaughtered like a lamb".

At least three Swedish newspapers - Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Sydsvenska Dagbladet - published the cartoon today.

The US justice department declined to comment on whether the two cases were connected.

David Kris, the head of the department's national security division, said: "The indictment, which alleges that a woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists, underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face."

LaRose, who also called herself Fatima LaRose online, allegedly posted a comment on YouTube in June 2008 saying she wanted to help "the suffering Muslim people"....

In Human Events this morning I discuss the latest hit video from the traitor Adam Gadahn:

Al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn in a new videotape released Sunday declared: "I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam." He called upon Muslims to be imaginative in their choice of jihad targets: "You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage."

Gadahn, who is known in jihadist circles as "Azzam the American," is the first U.S. citizen to be indicted for treason since World War II. His new video shows that the charge is entirely justified.

In it, he held up 9/11 as a model for jihad attacks: "As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon." He exhorted Muslims to sow mayhem in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West "by killing or capturing people in government, industry and the media."

As surprising as it may be to hear an American fantasizing about mass murders in his native land, it is no surprise coming from Gadahn, who in a September 11, 2006 message called America "enemy soil." And in his new communiqué, the pudgy Al-Qaeda operative even praised Nidal Hasan, the Islamic jihadist who murdered thirteen people at Fort Hood in November 2009, as "the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," and as a "pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers."

Earlier videotapes show that mass murders on American military bases, such as the one eventually committed by Hasan, were long the stuff of Gadahn's dreams. In July 2006, while engaging in an extended exercise in grievance theatre over alleged murders of children by American troops in Iraq, he said: "It's hard to imagine that any compassionate person could see pictures, just pictures, of what the Crusaders did to those children, and not want to go on a shooting spree at the Marines' housing facilities at Camp Pendleton." He was anxious to demonstrate his own bloodlust, declaring: "We love nothing better than the heat of battle, the echo of explosions, and slitting the throats of the infidels."

And therein lies the core of the problem. Gadahn has become a traitor who plots violence against Americans because of his allegiance to Islam, and his concomitant belief that he has a responsibility before the supreme deity to kill Infidels whom he believes to be at war with Islam. Yet aside from vague and loophole-laden condemnations of terrorism, Muslim groups in America have done nothing to counter the appeal of jihad recruiters to young men like Gadahn. We know from the recent flow of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis back to their homeland to wage jihad that jihad recruitment is continuing on American soil; and the people who converted Adam Gadahn to Islam and convinced him that God was pleased when he murdered people are still active, still spreading Islam among unsuspecting and alienated young Americans.

Reports Sunday that Gadahn had been captured just as his videotape was released turned out to be false. In fact, another American convert to Islam who is active in Al-Qaeda was the one who was captured - which shows anew that officials have ignored the conversion of rootless young Americans and their recruitment for the jihad to our great detriment. Gadahn himself, in any case, is still at large -- and while American forces should continue to hunt for him in Pakistan and Afghanistan, law enforcement officials stateside should be on the lookout for an even greater threat emanating from those Muslims in this country who have taken his words, and the words of those who inspired and influenced him, to heart.

Colleen LaRose, also known as Fatima LaRose -- one of those Christian extremists again, no doubt. (Actually, she's a Misunderstander of Islam.) "Jihad Jane Indicted in Pennsylvania for Murder Plot (Update1)," by Sophia Pearson for Bloomberg, March 9 (thanks to David):

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- A Pennsylvania woman who used the alias Jihad Jane plotted to recruit jihadist fighters and conspired to commit murders overseas, according to an indictment unsealed in Philadelphia.

Colleen LaRose, also known as Fatima LaRose, of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, was charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, one count of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, one count of making false statements and one count of attempted identity theft, U.S. Attorney Michael Levy in Philadelphia said today in an e-mailed statement.

The case "demonstrates that terrorists are looking for Americans to join them in their cause, and it shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance," Levy said.

LaRose and five unindicted co-conspirators located in South Asia, eastern and western Europe and the U.S. allegedly recruited men and women on the Internet who had the ability to travel to and around Europe. LaRose and the co-conspirators allegedly discussed plans including martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists and avoiding travel restrictions to wage a "violent Jihad," according to the statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office....

Story here (thanks to Joseph).

Surely by tomorrow morning Honest Ibe Hooper of CAIR will pulled himself away from his bees long enough to draft an unequivocal condemnation of Husam Zakharia of the Students for Justice in Palestine. Right? Right, Ibe?

In FrontPage today I write about a couple of things Adam taught us:

The first American to be charged with treason since World War II was back in the news Sunday, both for a new videotape he released and for reports of his capture that turned out to be false. In the videotape, al-Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn, an American convert to Islam, praised the Fort Hood jihad murderer and called upon Muslims to carry out jihad attacks in the United States. The reports that Gadahn had been captured caused widespread excitement until the arrestee turned out to be a different American convert to Islam, Abu Yahya Mujahdeen Al-Adam, who like Gadahn is an al-Qaeda leader. The videotape and the arrest of the other American-born Muslim demonstrate yet again the cognitive dissonance that prevails at the highest levels regarding the nature of the jihad threat.

In the videotape, Gadahn called Nidal Hasan, who murdered thirteen people in the name of jihad and Islam at Fort Hood in November 2009, "Brother Nidal" and held him up as "the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes." And not just military personnel: Gadahn added that "Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers."

Gadahn advised his fellow jihad warriors: "You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage." He implored jihadis to think out of the box: "As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon."...

Read it all.

Read the book, Adam

It looks as if the Revolting Geek is still on the path of jihad. Instead, the one arrested was another Revolting Geek, yet another American convert to and Misunderstander of Islam. "U.S.-Born al Qaeda Arrest News Incorrect," from CBSNews, March 7 (thanks to Pamela):

An "important Taliban militant" was arrested today in Pakistan. But that is where the confusion started.

Earlier it was reported by Pakistani media that intelligence agents had arrested Adam Gadahn, the American-born spokesman for al Qaeda, in an operation in the southern city of Karachi.

It was further reported by the Associated Press and Reuters that Gadahn had been arrested, sourcing security officials.

CBS News was told by sources in the Pakistan government that it was Gadahn, even after U.S. officials refused to confirm it was the California native for whom a $1 million reward has been posted.

Now, CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad writes that earlier reports the detained individual was Gadahn proved false. According to a Pakistan security official who spoke with CBS News on condition of anonymity, the arrested individual is in fact "a Taliban militant leader who is known as Abu Yahya."

The official said evidence compiled from an interrogation of the suspect and information exchanged with U.S. officials verified the man's identify.

The reassessment only added to the confusion surrounding the arrest of a man earlier described by other unnamed Pakistani security officials as Gadahn.

"In the light of our latest information, I can say, this is not looking like Gadahn. But it is still the arrest of an important Taliban militant," said the Pakistani security official who spoke to CBS News late Sunday.

The New York Times, sourcing American and Pakistani officials, reports that the man arrested was Abu Yahya Mujahdeen Al-Adam, and describes him as an al Qaeda commander who was born in Pennsylvania....

Revolting geek of mass proportions

Speak of the devil: just as he releases a new video calling on Muslims to wage jihad warfare against the U.S., the self-described "revolting geek of mass proportions" (no, not Allahpundit) appears to be caught. I look forward to his treason trial, and hope to get a chance to meet him face-to-face (especially since Adam is a faithful Jihad Watch reader who once described me in an Al-Qaeda videotape as a "Zionist Crusader, missionary of hate, counter-Islam consultant").

One must wonder if the arrest, if true, will shake this convert's faith. After all, in the Qur'an the schema is very simple: if you obey Allah, you will have earthly success. If you disobey Allah, you will not. So how could a pious mujahid like Adam suffer such a reversal?

"Sources: U.S.-born Al-Qaida spokesman caught," from MSNBC, March 7 (thanks to all who sent this in):

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Adam Yahiye Gadahn, a California-born spokesman for al-Qaida, has been captured in Pakistan, government sources said Sunday.

The word came from sources cited by The Associated Press and Pakistani news Web sites.

An intelligence source confirmed the reports to NBC News, and photographs supplied to NBC of the detained suspect corroborated the accounts.

Gadahn was detained in Sohrab Goth, a suburb of Karachi, and was later moved to the capital Islamabad, the source added.

Gadahn, 31, grew up on a goat farm in Riverside County, Calif., and converted to Islam at a mosque in nearby Orange County.

Gadahn has been wanted by the FBI since 2004 and two years later was charged with treason. There is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction....

Bravo and thanks to all involved in this arrest.

Adam Gadahn, the convert to and Misunderstander of Islam who has risen high in Al-Qaeda and is the first American to be charged with treason since World War II, and who called me in an earlier videotape a "Zionist Crusader, missionary of hate, counter-Islam consultant" (yes, I've got to get cards printed), now calls on Muslims to attack the U.S. and praises the Fort Hood jihadist.

Here again we have the same old cognitive dissonance. American Muslim and non-Muslim spokesmen insist that the jihadis have nothing to do with Islam and misuse it. The jihadis, on the other hand, constantly invoke Islam to explain and justify what they do, and claim the mantle of true and pure Islam. One of them is wrong, one of them is lying. One would think that the U.S. government would be interested in this question, since it has important policy implications. But it isn't. Official Washington has made a dogmatic decision, and clings to it with all the fervor that Gadahn himself brings to his commitment to Islam.

"Al-Qaida calls on US Muslims to attack America," by Patrick Quinn for Associated Press, March 7 (thanks to all who sent this in):

CAIRO - Al-Qaida's American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.

In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving Western militaries.

"Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," he said.

Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, was dressed in white robes and wearing a white turban as he called for attacks on what he described as "high-value targets."

"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage," he said, an assault rifle leaning up against a wall next to him.

Hasan has been charged in the Nov. 5 shooting that killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist remains paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by two civilian members of Fort Hood's police force.

"Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers," Gadahn said....

In the latest video, Gadahn said those planning attacks did not need to use only firearms like Hasan, but could use other weapons. "As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon."

Gadahn said fighters should target mass transportation systems in the West and also wreak havoc "by killing or capturing people in government, industry and the media."

He recommended finding ways to shake "consumer confidence and stifle spending" and noted that even unsuccessful attacks, such as the failed attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas day, can bring major cities to a halt.

"I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam," Gadahn said.

But it doesn't look as if it is going to fly. And note that they only started claiming to have been tortured after Pakistani authorities rejected their first strategem, which was to claim that they were simply waging jihad, and jihad was not illegal under Pakistani law.

"Arrested US jihad seekers file another petition for release," from Asian News International, March 7:

Islamabad, Mar.7 : The five US youth arrested in Pakistan on charges of having links with Al-Qaeda have filed another plea for their release.

The plea would be heard on March 8 (Monday) in the district sessions court Sargodha, The News reports.

The five American jihad seekers, who were arrested last year from Sargodha, had earlier moved a bail application which was rejected.

The five accused, who were arrested on charges of ties with terror groups linked with the Al-Qaeda, had pleaded innocence, and said that they were being set up and tortured by the FBI and the Pakistani police.

Waqar Hussain Khan (22), Virginia, Ahmed Abdullah Mani (20), Virginia, Ramay S Zamzam (22), Iman Hasan Yamar (17), California and Omar Farouk (24), Virginia, were arrested in Sargodha on December 9, for plotting terror attacks in Pakistan and Afghansitan, and are locked in a Pakistani jail without being charged.

Pakistan has made it clear that the men, all in their late 20s, would not be deported to the US and that they would be prosecuted in the country itself.

But remember: Pat Robertson is the one who really threatens gays. An update on this story. Sharia Alert from San Francisco: "Hayward Men Out On Bail After Admitting They Came To SF To Shoot Gay Folks," from SF Appeal, March 5 (thanks to David):

Three Hayward men are scheduled to be arraigned on assault and hate crime charges in San Francisco next week for allegedly shooting a man they thought was gay with a BB gun.

The Feb. 26 incident took place at about 10 p.m. outside a Mission District bar at 16th and Guerrero streets, according to police.

The 27-year-old San Francisco man had just come out of the bar when he was shot once in the cheek by suspects in a nearby car, which then drove off, police spokesman Officer Samson Chan said.

The man was not seriously injured and called police, and while officers were interviewing him outside the bar, he spotted the same vehicle again driving by, Chan said.

Police pulled the car over and found three men inside with a "rifle-style" BB gun and a video camera, which investigators later discovered had recorded the shooting, according to Chan.

The three men, Shafiq Hashemi, 21, Sayed Bassam, 21, and Mohammad Habibzada, 24, the driver, were arrested.

According to Chan, they allegedly admitted to the crime.

"The suspects did make a confession, basically stating that they came to San Francisco to target gay people," he said....

"In January 2007, Akram Musa Abdallah knowingly made material false statements when he was being interviewed by FBI agents in connection with the federal investigation and prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief & Development (HLF) and its officers. At the time of the interviews, Abdallah knew the HLF was a Specially Designated Terrorist organization." CAIR and ISNA and others are unindicted co-conspirators in the HLF case. "Mesa Man Sentenced to Prison for Lying to the FBI During a Terrorism Investigation," an FBI press release, March 4 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

PHOENIX--Today, Akram Musa Abdallah, a.k.a. Abu Saiaf, 55, of Mesa, Arizona, was sentenced to 18 months in prison as a result of his guilty plea to false statements to a government agency, in federal district court in Phoenix. In sentencing Abdallah, U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake applied an enhancement because the offense related to international terrorism. This is the first time in the District of Arizona that the terrorism enhancement has been applied for this offense.

Dennis K. Burke, United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, stated, "This sentence should serve as a strong warning to anyone who knowingly lies during a terrorism investigation. It is important that the public cooperate in investigations involving national security for the safety and security of all people in the United States, and that in those investigations members of the public are truthful and complete in their statements to law enforcement."

In January 2007, Akram Musa Abdallah knowingly made material false statements when he was being interviewed by FBI agents in connection with the federal investigation and prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief & Development (HLF) and its officers. At the time of the interviews, Abdallah knew the HLF was a Specially Designated Terrorist organization. Abdallah also knew that the HLF and its officers were pending trial in the Northern District of Texas for crimes which included providing material support to Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization.

During interviews with the FBI, Abdallah denied that he was involved in fund raising activities for the HLF. In fact, between approximately 1994 and 1997, Abdallah was involved in numerous fund raising activities, including collecting donations and organizing, facilitating and coordinating fund raising events on behalf of the HLF in the Phoenix metropolitan area....

Of course not. What are you, some kind of Islamophobe? Why, Christians behead their wives by the dozen every year! Why would the fact that the book Muzzammil Hassan regards as sacred mentions beheading twice (Qur'an 8:12; 47:4) have to do with this? Everybody knows that Islam is a Religion of Peace™!

"Religion not a factor in wife beheading, judge rules," from Associated Press, March 5:

[...] Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan is tentatively scheduled to stand trial later this month for the death of his wife, Aasiyah Hassan, last year....

Hassan's attorney plans a defense that includes claims that Hassan was abused by his wife and emotionally out of control. But prosecutors are fighting the use of a psychiatric defense.

The Pakistan-born Hassans started Bridges TV in 2004, in part to dispel negative Muslim stereotypes....

Whoops!

More or less on a regular basis I am sent purported refutations of what I say here and in my books -- essays that purport to show that Islam doesn't really teach warfare against unbelievers and their subjugation as inferiors under the rule of Islamic law, although these purported refutations usually content themselves with showing that Christians or someone else were doing something worse, or that some document or other to which I refer in my books is held in no esteem by Muslims, or virtually anything other than actually proving that there exists a sect or school of Islam that teaches that Muslims must live with non-Muslims as equals on an indefinite basis in secular societies, without trying to impose Sharia.

In any case, the fundamental problem with all these alleged refutations is that if I am misunderstanding Islam, an awful lot of Muslims, including Islamic clerics who have devoted their lives to studying the Qur'an and Sunnah, misunderstand it in the same way. And here we have another. Afzali says he betrayed his religion, but that is, I suspect, just in order to bamboozle the unbelievers yet again. I'd like to see him explain exactly how he has betrayed it. "Imam Pleads Guilty in New York Subway Bomb Plot," from Reuters, March 4 (thanks to Twostellas):

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An imam accused of tipping off al Qaeda-trained militant Najibullah Zazi as he plotted to set off bombs in New York's subway system pleaded guilty on Thursday to lying to the FBI about his contact with Zazi.

Ahmad Afzali, 38, an Afghan citizen, made the plea in Brooklyn federal court in a deal with prosecutors. The agreement saw him plead guilty to charges of lying and eliminated the more serious charge of obstructing a terrorism investigation.

"On September 11 (2009), I called Najibullah Zazi. ... During that conversation, I told Najibullah that law enforcement authorities had been to see me about him," Afzali, wearing a light gray suit, told the court in emotional remarks where he cried repeatedly....

Afzali said: "When I was asked (by the FBI) whether I had told Zazi about law enforcement being interested in him, I lied and said I did not. My intention was not to protect Zazi but to protect myself."

"In doing so, I failed to live up to my obligation to this country, my community, my family, and my religion. I am truly sorry," he said....

His religion. Ever with the sand in the eyes, eh, Afzali?

Afzali faces up to six months in prison when sentenced, set for April 8. Under the deal, he must leave the country within 90 days of finishing his sentence.

Afzali pleaded not guilty to the charges of obstructing a terrorism investigation in November....

Zazi moved to the New York City borough of Queens as a teenager and went to school there. He attended a mosque led by Afzali, a self-proclaimed pro-American imam who cooperated with police in previous investigations.

The making of another jihad recruitment video? Sharia Alert from...San Francisco: "3 held in alleged anti-gay BB shooting in S.F.," by Jaxon Van Derbeken for the San Francisco Chronicle, March 4 (thanks to Creeping Sharia):

(03-03) 17:42 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Three cousins from Hayward have been charged in San Francisco with a hate crime and assault for allegedly firing a BB rifle at the face of a man they believed was gay, an attack the men videotaped, authorities said Wednesday.

Mohammad Habibzada, Shafiq Hashemi and Sayed Bassam, all 24, are scheduled to be arraigned today in San Francisco Superior Court. They are free on $50,000 bond apiece.

The victim of Friday's attack was walking on the 3200 block of 16th Street near Guerrero Street about 10 p.m. when a car pulled up and someone inside opened fire with a BB rifle, police said.

The man was hit in the face but refused medical treatment, said Lt. Lyn Tomioka, spokeswoman for the Police Department. He reported the shooting to police, who pulled over a car that matched the assailants' vehicle a short distance away and arrested the three Hayward men.

Investigators believe the assailants chose the victim because he appeared to be gay. When the men were pulled over, police found a video camera that was used to film the shooting, investigators said....

Pamela Geller points out that this happened Friday, and was not reported until Wednesday. Why the delay? Can you imagine how fast the news would have hit the mainstream media if the attackers had been Christian?

It's all right that he defended a jihad terror leader and then tried to cover up that fact, because he wrote about how the Qur'an doesn't justify terrorism. Got that?

If anyone can direct me to Hussain's writings about the Qur'an, please write me at director [at] jihadwatch.org.

"W.H. affirms confidence in Islam envoy," by Josh Gerstein at Politico, February 22:

The White House is expressing its confidence in a White House counsel's office attorney President Barack Obama recently named as U.S. envoy to the Islamic Conference, Rashad Hussain, despite his concession last week that he made ill-considered statements in 2004 about Bush-era terrorism prosecutions.

"Were you misled? Do you maintain confidence in this man the president wants to be his delegate to the Islamic Conference?" Fox News's Wendell Goler asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at the daily briefing Monday afternoon.

"We continue to have confidence," Gibbs said. "This is an individual that has written extensively on why some have used religious devices like the Qur'an to justify this [terrorism] and why that is absolutely wrong. And has garnered support from both the left and the right so we obviously have confidence."

Hussain initially said he had no recollection of comments he was reported to have made in 2004 portraying the Bush Administration's treatment of alleged Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian and the handling other terrorism cases as "politically-motivated persecutions."

However, after POLITICO obtained an audio recording of the event, Hussain acknowledged that he made the comments and that he had earlier approached a magazine about removing them, which it did....

Islamophobia at its most intense: "He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to a terrorist organization."

More on this story. "Najibullah Zazi pleads guilty in New York terrorism plot," from CNN, February 22 (thanks to Mackie):

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States.

In an appearance before a federal judge, Zazi admitted his role in the conspiracy, saying, "In spring 2008, I conspired with others to join the Taliban, to fight along with the Taliban against the United States."

"We were recruited to al Qaeda instead," he said.

He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to a terrorist organization.

The terms of the plea deal were sealed. Sentencing is set for June 25.

Zazi was arrested in September in an alleged plot to build and detonate bombs in New York around the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

While at a terrorist training camp, he "had discussions with al Qaeda about targets including the New York City subway system," Zazi said in court Monday.

He said he learned how to make explosives at the camp and e-mailed himself bomb-making instructions to use once he returned to the United States.

"In early September 2009, I drove to New York with materials to build bombs," he said.

Federal officials have said the conspiracy involving Zazi represents the most serious terrorism plot since 9/11 and the investigation is intense and ongoing....

And all it cost was thirteen dead. Ain't multiculturalism grand? "Ft. Hood suspect was Army dilemma: His extreme views possibly overlooked in favor of diversity," by Bryan Bender for the Boston Globe, February 22 (thanks to Block Ness):

WASHINGTON - Army superiors were warned about the radicalization of Major Nidal Malik Hasan years before he allegedly massacred 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, but did not act in part because they valued the rare diversity of having a Muslim psychiatrist, military investigators wrote in previously undisclosed reports.

An obvious "problem child'' spouting extremist views, Hasan made numerous statements that were not protected by the First Amendment and were grounds for discharge by violating his military oath, investigators found.

Examples of Hasan's radical behavior have previously been disclosed in press accounts based on interviews with unnamed Army officials, including his defense of suicide bombings and assertions that Islamic law took priority over his allegiance to the United States.

But the Pentagon's careful documentation of individual episodes dating back to 2005 and the subsequent inaction of his superiors have not been made public before.

The Globe was permitted to review the Army's more complete findings on the condition that it not name supervisory officers who did not act, some of whom are facing possible disciplinary action.

In searching for explanations for why superiors did not move to revoke Hasan's security clearances or expel him from the Army, the report portrays colleagues and superiors as possibly reluctant to lose one of the Army's few Muslim mental health specialists.

The report concludes that because the Army had attracted only one Muslim psychiatrist in addition to Hasan since 2001, "it is possible some were afraid'' of losing such diversity "and thus were willing to overlook Hasan's deficiencies as an officer.''

"Several of his supervisors explicitly mentioned Hasan's potential to inform our understanding of Islamic culture and how it relates to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,'' the investigators found.

In one classroom incident not previously described by the Army - which parallels another episode around the same time that has received press attention - Hasan gave a presentation in August 2007 titled "Is the War on Terrorism a War on Islam: An Islamic Perspective.''

But the presentation was "shut down'' by the instructor because Hasan appeared to be defending terrorism. Witnesses told investigators that Hasan became visibly upset as a result.

"The students reported his statements to superior officers, who took no action on the basis that Major Hasan's statements were protected by the First Amendment,'' the investigation found. "They did not counsel Hasan and consider administrative action, even though not all protected speech is compatible with continued military service.''

It added: "Soldiers have rights under the First Amendment, but they are not the same rights as civilians. . . . [T]hese statements violated the Army . . . standard to hold a security clearance.''...

He is singing about jihad plots. "New York City Terrorism Suspect to Plead Guilty," from FoxNews, February 22 (thanks to all who sent this in):

The key suspect in an alleged plot to attack New York City with homemade bombs has begun cooperating with investigators and is preparing to enter a guilty plea, Fox News has confirmed.

Najibullah Zazi, 24, has begun talking to authorities and plans a guilty plea that could come as early as Monday, according to law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

As important as a plea would be, Zazi may be far more valuable to investigators as a source for information about co-conspirators in the United States and Pakistan.

Three people with inside knowledge of the investigation confirmed that the jailed Zazi recently volunteered information about the alleged bomb plot during a meeting with his attorney and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn. The sit-down, known as a proffer session, typically signals that a defendant has begun cooperating in a bid for a plea deal.

Zazi -- accused of receiving explosives training in an Al Qaeda terrorism camp in Pakistan -- told prosecutors that he was armed with bomb-making components while en route to New York City last year, but flushed them down the toilet in a New York City apartment after getting spooked by a traffic stop on the George Washington Bridge while entering the city, the people said....

Raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the jihad. "Feds Say Men Funded Terror With Playstations: Here's betting ICE agents said, 'Game over,'" by Janie Campbell for NBCMIami.com, February 20 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Cue the sad noise when Mario dies by mushroom: federal agents have charged three Miami businessmen with conspiring to smuggle videogame consoles to a shopping center in Paraguay that funds political terrorist group Hezbollah.

Khaled T. Safadi, Ulises Talavera, and Emilio Gonzalez-Neira were arrested Thursday following a nearly three-year investigation of their Miami-based export and freight-forwarding businesses. ICE agents working with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force say the three falsified invoices and export paperwork and used a network of fake addresses to mask the true destination of thousands of Sony cameras and Playstations: the Galeria Page Mall in Cuidad del Este.

The U.S. Treasury has identified Galeria Page as the headquarters for Lebanon-based Hezbollah in the tri-border region of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay; they say the manager pays a regular quota to Hezbollah based on the center's sales.

Federal prosecutors say wire transfer payments to the Miami shippers from their contact at Galeria Page, Paraguayan national Samer Mehdi, were routed through various other business to conceal their origin. Mehdi has also been charged but remains at large.

A source said the alleged smuggling ring made "hundreds of millions" of dollars for Hezbollah....

Yet another CAIR leader linked to jihad terror. Will Newsweek, and the mainstream media in general, revise its assessment of this band of thugs? Don't hold your breath. "Dallas Islamic Leader Deported: Government links him to terror groups," by Scott Gordon for NBCDFW.com, February 19 (thanks to all who sent this in):

An immigration judge in Dallas on Friday ordered an outspoken Islamic leader deported after the U.S. government alleged he had ties to terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Nabil Sadoun, a Dallas resident and former board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, was deported to his native Jordan after he failed to appear at his immigration hearing. He entered the U.S. in August 1993.

Sadoun's attorney, Kimberly Kinser, said he was already in Jordan and was unable to return to Texas because the government had taken his permanent resident card, or green card.

She denied he was tied to any terrorist groups....

In court, the judge made vague references to the government's voluminous motion to deport him, including alleged involvement with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The judge concluded Sadoun lied on government forms when he denied he was a member.

The judge also indicated there was evidence Sadoun contributed to the Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was the largest Islamic charity in the United States. Prosecutors convicted the group of funneling money to terrorist groups and several of its leaders were sent to prison. In the case, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator....

Ibrahim Hooper, a CAIR spokesman, said Sadoun left the organization several months ago.

Asked the reason for his departure, Hooper said, "Board members come on, (and) they leave."...

A non-answer from that skillful beekeeper of media bees, Honest Ibe Hooper.

They were arrested just before Christmas, but we are only learning about it now, almost two months later. Why the long delay? Was this yet another coverup? Who ordered it, and why?

"CBN Exclusive: Five Muslim Soldiers Arrested at Fort Jackson in South Carolina," from CBN News, February 18 (thanks to all who sent this in):

CBN News has learned exclusively that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested just before Christmas. It is unclear whether the men are still in custody. The five were part of the Arabic Translation program at the base.

The men are suspected of trying to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson.

A source with intimate knowledge of the investigation, which is ongoing, told CBN News investigators suspect the "Fort Jackson Five" may have been in contact with the group of five Washington, DC area Muslims that traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad against U.S. troops in December. That group was arrested by Pakistani authorities, also just before Christmas....

In Human Events this morning, the first of two articles I have up today on Samigate: "Washington Rashad Hussain Coverup?"

Who is covering for Rashad Hussain? Last Saturday, in a video message to the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Qatar, Barack Obama appointed Rashad Hussain to be his administration's special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Rashad Hussain several years ago defended a leader of a jihad terrorist group -- and now the record of his doing so has been deep-sixed.

Journalist Patrick Goodenough of CNS News has discovered that in 2004 Hussain denounced the prosecution of University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian as a "politically motivated persecution" designed "to squash dissent."

To be sure, this was a widespread view among liberals at the time. Al-Arian himself pushed all the right Leftist buttons: "I'm a minority. I'm an Arab, I'm Palestinian. I'm a Muslim. That's not a popular thing to be these days. Do I have rights, or don't I have rights?" The American Association of University Professors defended Al-Arian, as did The Chronicle of Higher Education, which published a cover story called "Blaming the Victim?" and featuring a photo of Al-Arian.

In March 2002 Nicholas Kristof went to bat for the professor in the New York Times: "The point is not whether one agrees with Professor Al-Arian, a rumpled academic with a salt-and-pepper beard who is harshly critical of Israel (and also of repressive Arab countries) -- but who also denounces terrorism, promotes inter-faith services with Jews and Christians, and led students at his Islamic school to a memorial service after 9/11 where they all sang 'God Bless America.' No, the larger point is that a university, even a country, becomes sterile when people are too intimidated to say things out of the mainstream."

Phil Donahue fawned over Al-Arian on his show. "So, one more time, sir," he said to the professor, "and I know that you're probably getting tired of these same questions --'death to Israel' did not mean you wanted to kill Jews, do I understand your position?" After Al-Arian assured him of his pacifistic intentions, Phil went on to allege that "the law of innocent until proven guilty doesn't seem to exist for Professor Sami Al-Arian."

All of Al-Arian's defenders had egg on their faces when Al-Arian pled guilty to charges involving his acting as a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a deadly terrorist group that has employed suicide bombings and other terror tactics to murder over one hundred Israelis.

And among the egged faces was Rashad Hussain, apparently. Goodenough reports that Hussain's remarks defending Al-Arian appeared in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in 2004. But now the Washington Report's website carries a version of this article from the passage referring to Rashad Hussain has been removed. Nothing else in the article has been changed.

Was this bowdlerization done by someone at the Washington Report acting on his own discretion, or is the Obama camp involved? Is someone in the Administration aware of the political fallout that could result from the news that Obama is sending a man who spoke up on behalf of a convicted jihad terrorist as his envoy to the leading Muslim organization in the world? Did they perform or ask to be performed a bit of Orwellian image enhancement on Rashad Hussain?

Even aside from this there was enough disquieting about the appointment. In a 2007 article Hussain criticized focusing on Muslims in anti-terror efforts: "Federal law should adopt a standard that protects national security while forbidding the targeting of non-citizens solely on the basis of their racial, religious, or ethnic backgrounds." When the overwhelming majority of terror attacks are committed by young Muslim males acting in the name of Islamic teachings, this is just a call for the waste of resources.

And then there is the idea of sending an envoy to the OIC in the first place. This 57-government Islamic bloc, the largest voting bloc in the UN today, is waging an international campaign against the freedom of speech, trying to pressure the West into passing laws criminalizing criticism of Islam - including counterterror investigations of the motives and goals of jihad terrorists. Is this really an organization to which Obama is well-advised to reach out?

CAUTION: This video contains an extremely grisly sequence. To see this video fullscreen, go here.

These six officers are being unjustly targeted. I am sure they did pass up opportunities to do something about Nidal Hasan before he became a jihad murderer, but they were acting in conformity with the prevailing culture of the U.S. Military at this time. In fact, if they had reported Hasan, they would have risked the wrath of their superiors and CAIR, and they probably knew it. These officers should not be disciplined absent a thorough reevaluation and rejection of the dhimmi multiculturalism that allows jihadis into the ranks in the first place.

"Six Faulted Over Fort Hood: Military to Discipline Officers for Failing to Report Views of Suspect in Texas Shootings," by Yochi J. Dreazen for the Wall Street Journal, February 9:

The military will formally discipline at least six officers, mostly from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, for failing to take action against the officer accused of carrying out last year's deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood, according to people familiar with the matter.

Senior Army officials said the decision to punish so many officers reflects the military's belief that the November assault, which killed 13 people at the Army base in central Texas, could have been prevented if Maj. Nidal Hasan's superiors had alerted authorities to his increasing Islamist radicalization....

What a surprise: "The ACLU argued that administrators at the Inver Grove Heights school have intimidated potential witnesses or tried to dissuade them from testifying about TiZA."

"Judge warns TiZA school, ACLU about witness harassment," by Sarah Lemagie for the Star Tribune, February 10 (thanks to Joseph):

A federal judge said this week that witness intimidation by any party will not be tolerated in a lawsuit involving a charter school accused of illegally promoting Islam.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota is suing Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA) for allegedly crossing the line between religion and public education, a claim school officials have denied.

The ACLU argued that administrators at the Inver Grove Heights school have intimidated potential witnesses or tried to dissuade them from testifying about TiZA, and asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham to issue an order protecting them.

In an order filed Wednesday, the judge stopped short of granting all of the ACLU's requests, but she said no one should harass or tamper with witnesses. In addition, two prospective witnesses, Khalid Elmasry and Janeha Edwards, may request that only attorneys attend their depositions.

Graham also ordered the ACLU to provide a list of witnesses to opposing counsel.

The school and its lawyers take the ACLU's allegations seriously but do not believe they have intimidated any witnesses, said Shamus O'Meara, lead defense counsel for TiZA.

In a written declaration, Elmasry said he was thinking twice about serving as a voluntary witness because of what he called attempts to discredit and intimidate him. The father of a former TiZA student, Elmasry said he also used to be a board member of Minnesota Education Trust, a group connected to the school....

Al-Homsi is on the left, sans hijab

We have heard from Kimberly Suzanne Al-Homsi, a.k.a. Asma Al-Homsi, before. She was apparently conducting surveillance at Love Field in 2007, wearing camouflage pants under her Muslim garb. She is a close friend of convicted jihad terrorist Wadih el Hage, Osama bin Laden's former personal secretary. In July 2007 she threatened to murder a police officer, and ammunition was found in her house.

And now this.

"Two in custody after Fort Worth bomb scare," by Monika Diaz and Rebecca Lopez for WFAA-TV, February 13 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

FORT WORTH -- Southeast Loop 820 and East Rosedale Street in Fort Worth were reopened early Sunday morning after being shut down for five hours overnight.

The Fort Worth bomb squad detonated four charges that were found in a pickup truck that spun out on a slick road during a police pursuit.

Two people are in custody, and one of them -- Kimberly Suzanne Al-Homsi -- is well-known to police and federal agents.

The Fort Worth bomb squad worked through the evening on the threat. They sent a robot to check a possible explosive device inside the truck....

It all started in Arlington as a road rage incident in the 1000 block of West Abrams Street, police said.

"Someone called to say that there was a person in another vehicle that pointed a weapon at them," said Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard. "Officers found that vehicle and tried to conduct a stop. That vehicle did not stop, and as a result, the officers conducted a pursuit."

The chase continued for 20 minutes. It came to an end when the truck spun out on Rosedale at around 5:30 p.m.

Officers took two people into custody: Kimberly Suzanne Al-Homsi, 45, -- who is also known as Asma Al-Homsi -- and Yasinul Alan Ansari, 18.

Al-Homsi was charged with evading arrest, two counts of terroristic threats, and also a prohibited weapons count. Both remained in custody Sunday without bond due to federal holds.

News 8 has learned that Al-Homsi has been under government surveillance and was on the federal "no-fly" list after being involved in a road rage incident in December, 2005.

At that time, she held up an inert grenade and threatened another motorist. The Garland bomb squad found ammunition in her car.

In 2007, the FBI and the Dallas Police Department called Al-Homsi a possible danger. Police say she has explosives and sniper training.

In an exclusive interview with News 8 in 2007, Al-Homsi said she disagreed with U.S. policy in the Middle East....

The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) is affiliated with ISNA, which is a Muslim Brotherhood group. The Brotherhood is dedicated in its own words to "eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within." The FCNA issued a flimsy, loophole-ridden condemnation of terrorism several years ago. And CAIR, of course, is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case -- so named by the Justice Department. CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. CAIR's cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Honest Ibe Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements.

And so now these groups say that body scanners are un-Islamic. Very well. There may be plenty of reasons to oppose body scanners, but when they put it this way, they suggest they'd be just fine with some sort of exemption from such scanning for Muslims. That would mean that the one group that would be subjected to lighter airport security checks than any other group would be...Muslims. And that would in turn make things easier than ever for jihad terrorists. Surely that can't be the objective of the FCNA and CAIR, now, can it?

"Airport Body Scanners Violate the Teachings of Islam, Says Muslim Group," by Susan Jones for CNSNews.com, February 11 (thanks to all who sent this in):

(CNSNews.com) - A group of Muslim scholars says it supports airline safety, but it is "deeply concerned" about the use of airport scanners that show nude images of the human body.

"The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) emphasizes that a general and public use of such scanners is against the teachings of Islam, natural law and all religions and cultures that stand for decency and modesty," the group said in a Feb. 10 statement posted at Islam Online.

"It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women," FCNA explained. The group noted that Islam emphasizes modesty, considering it part of the faith. "The Qur'an has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts" and to be modest in their dress.

While exceptions can be made in cases of "extreme necessity," FCNA indicated that passenger body scans do not rise to that level.

FCNA is asking for changes in scanner software so the machines will produce only body outlines. In the meantime, the group says Muslim travelers should choose pat-down searches over scanner images - in cases where searches are necessary.

The Fiqh Council of North America is an affiliate of the Islamic Society of North America, which advises and educates its members and officials "on matters related to the application of Shari'ah (Islamic law) in their individual and collective lives in the North American environment."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations also issued a news release on Wednesday, endorsing FCNA's statement on the use of body scanners.

DHS has only so much in the way of resources. The same thing goes for the whole military and intelligence establishment. And while authorities couldn't be bothered doing anything about Nidal Hasan, the mass-murdering Fort Hood jihadist, or other jihadis in the ranks, for two years after being apprised of their presence, they had time to develop a "threat assessment" on people who constituted no terror threat at all. (And before you start flooding the comments field and my email box with messages about the murders of abortion doctors, note that eight people have been killed in such violence since 1993, while there have been nearly 15,000 Islamic jihad attacks since 9/11.)

"Obama Administration Admits It Wrongly Tracked Abortion Groups in Wisconsin," by Steven Ertelt for LifeNews.com, February 8 (thanks to Pamela):

Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) -- The Department of Homeland Security admitted today that it improperly conducted a threat assessment on pro-life and pro-abortion groups in Wisconsin. The assessment came before an expected rally last year in response to the University of Wisconsin Hospital board decided to allow abortions. [...]

"This move by DHS illustrates the Obama administration's goal of silencing pro-lifers. It is disturbing that a local police department has apparently tapped into the security apparatus of the federal government to potentially obstruct free speech," Hamill concluded.

"Last year, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano unjustly included pro-lifers in a report on domestic terrorism, and here we see her words in action," she said.

For more on the Obama Administration's entirely wrongheaded approach to jihad terror and much more, watch for my forthcoming book with Pamela Geller, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War On America. Coming this July from Threshold Editions/Simon & Schuster.

Excuses, excuses. "'Access to Guns,' Not Jihad, to Blame for Ft. Hood, Says Noted Islamic Scholar," by Charles C. Johnson (no, not the libelblogger) at Big Government, February 8:

Imam Zaid Shakir came to speak at my school, Claremont McKenna, on December 9th to respond to the "tragedy of Ft. Hood." Rather than respond to the massacre of American servicemen, Shakir spent the evening indicting the United States - saying "we were born in genocide." The reason for the Ft. Hood Massacre, according to Shakir? Not jihad or Islamic fundamentalism, but the "pervasiveness of violence in our society" and because of Americans' "easy access to guns."

For those wondering who Mr. Shakir is, he's the go-to expert on Islamic issues for the mainstream media. The New York Times describes him as a "leading intellectual light," while rap scholar, Cornel West says "he is one of the towering principle [sic] voices not only in contemporary Islam, but in American society," according to this biography. Most recently, he was described by John Esposito as one of the "500 Most Influential Muslims."

After comparing the massacres at Ft. Hood by Major Nidal Hassan to the Columbine killers and Maurice Clemmons, of Mike Huckabee pardon fame, Shakir said that the violence we have seen was not a "Muslim problem," but a problem for everyone. You never quite know when someone will "snap." [The following is extracted from a transcript from audio I took of the public lecture at my college.]

There is not a Muslim problem. Especially based on the number of Muslims who have done this particular act. It's not a Korean problem because the kid in Virginia tech was a Korean American. It's not a white American problem because the kids in Columbine or several other places were white Americans. That's not the common denominator, race is not the common denominator, religion is not the common denominator, gender-maybe, I would say they should just chill out. What is the common denominator. The common denominator is easy access to guns. The common denominator is that there are more guns in America than there are human beings. There are more guns in America than human beings, and they are easily had. And if someone tries to limit their accessibility, they're going to be challenged by the NRA, the National Rifle Association-one of the most powerful lobbies in this country. That's the common denominator. So if we are serious as a society about stopping this violence, it doesn't behoove us to demonize Muslims. We're here to talk about Muslims, I'm not trying to dodge that, but if behooves us to make it far, far, far more difficult for people to get their hands on a gun. And if we're not willing to do that, it's easy to go blame the Muslims. That's easy and that's why so many people do-it's a national sport. Vilify the Muslims, they're weak, they can't fight back.

Of course left unsaid is why we should ban guns on a military base. Shouldn't Major Hassan, a U.S. Army officer, be carrying a gun on such a military base? And what of the quick thinking of the law enforcement personnel on the scene who were well armed?

But "the violence that permeates our society spills over to other shores," Zaid said. To prove his point, Shakir totally misrepresented history, claiming for instance that "the last time any Muslim country encroached upon a Christian country" was "300 years ago, the second Ottoman siege of Vienna," and utterly ignoring the Armenian genocide or the civil war in Lebanon, to name just two quick examples....

There is much more. Read it all.