And they didn’t mean an interior spiritual struggle.
“Expert: Miami Group Ready for Holy War,” by Curt Anderson for Associated Press (thanks to Block Ness):
MIAMI (AP) — A group of men accused of plotting to destroy Chicago’s Sears Tower were in the final stages of forming a homegrown terrorist cell dedicated to waging an Islamic holy war before they were arrested, a prosecution terrorism expert testified Tuesday.
Raymond Tanter, a Georgetown University professor and terrorism scholar for 40 years, said suspected ringleader Narseal Batiste and the other six had nearly completed the “radicalization process” and moved toward acts of terrorism before their arrests in June 2006.
Hallmarks of this process include religious conversion, operation within a military-style hierarchy and adoption of goals shared by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups to destroy U.S. landmarks, Tanter said. The final stage – which he called “jihadization” – means the group is ready to plan, recruit and prepare for an attack.
“I believe that Mr. Batiste falls in the jihadization, or final stage of the radicalization process,” Tanter said, adding the other members of the “Liberty City Seven” also fall into that category.
Evidence introduced at trial shows that Batiste “was talking only about violent jihad” and not other meanings of the Arabic word, such as self-examination, Tanter said.
The oath of allegiance to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden taken by the seven men – captured on an FBI videotape – “is the manner in which al-Qaida binds individuals to the organization,” Tanter said.
The oath was administered by a man Batiste’s group knew as “Brother Mohammed” who claimed to be an emissary sent by al-Qaida to assist in the purported terror plot. In reality, “Mohammed” paid FBI informant Elie Assad, who testified earlier that he was playing a role under close watch of FBI agents.