Funny thing: last night I received a hate note that said: “I am appalled at the ignorance demonstrated by the intent and content of this site. Your definition of jihad is incorrect: it means ‘stuggle’ in arabic, not ‘Holy War’ (many will even say it is difficult to define).” Of course, I have never defined jihad flatly as “holy war”; at left I state that jihad means many things, and ironically, just the other day I mentioned in a post that jihad means “struggle.” But don’t give those who charge ignorance credit for any intelligence: the charge that non-Muslims are actually ignorant of Islam, and don’t know that jihad really means nothing violent, is common from jihadist Muslims and Islamic apologists, although it flies in the face of the reality of stories like these. In the mosques, radical Muslims are preaching jihad, and they don’t mean spiritual struggle — as this young convert discovered (as he evidently embraced wholeheartedly the idea of jihad as warfare against unbelievers). From the Casper Star Tribune, with thanks to Ali Dashti:
A Wyoming Technical Institute student charged with attempting to help terrorists in Somalia reportedly said he wished he had flown a hijacked plane during the Sept. 11 attacks, federal authorities said.
Mark Robert Walker, 19, of Rochester, N.Y., had become interested in Islam at a mosque in his hometown, said one official familiar with the case, according to the Washington Post.
“He seems like a lost guy who got obsessed with jihad,” the official told the newspaper.
Federal prosecutors accuse Walker of planning to supply Ittihad al Islamiya — which wants an Islamic government in Somalia — with night-vision goggles and bullet-proof vests. Charging documents say he used the computer of a roommate at the Laramie school, also known as WyoTech, to make the arrangements.
Walker was arrested Saturday while crossing into El Paso, Texas, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where prosecutors say he was using an Internet cafe to line up a meeting with someone known as “Khalid” at the El Paso airport Saturday afternoon, reported the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, N.Y.
That newspaper also quoted an FBI source as saying Walker was posting on an Internet forum under the names of “Abdullah” and “Abdullah313.” Among the comments he allegedly made: “I hate the U.S. gov’t; I wish I could have been flying one of the planes on Sept. 11.”
He also posted messages saying he planned to travel to Somalia and fight.
“He’s not a major terrorist or a threat to us,” FBI spokeswoman Andra Simmons said. “In the end, he’s probably better off in a U.S. prison than fighting jihad in a foreign country.”
Walker had reportedly been in Laramie since August. He had moved from the West Coast to New York state in June with his parents.
The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in El Paso said Walker fled Wyoming after his roommate told him that he had informed law enforcement officers about finding messages to terrorist groups on a computer that was shared by both roommates.