A Safer America: An 18-year-old and a bomb

There have been a number of these cases over the last few years.  Cases where the FBI foils a terror attack and saves America.  But a lot of these cases also seem a bit odd.  In this one, an 18-year-old kid tried to set off a car bomb in Chicago.  But he got the fake bomb FROM the FBI.  AFTER the FBI contacted him and helped stir him up.  Which begs the question: Would this kid have ever actually done anything WITHOUT FBI help?  Or would he be just another impotent wacko spouting off on the Internet?  Is the FBI actually helping stop terror attacks, or is it creating stoppable terror attacks to prove its worth?

Terrorism Paranoia

Let the paranoia begin!  Two different planes had to be escorted to their cities by military jets.  Apparently there were suspicious people in the bathrooms.  It turns out, some people have stomach problems.  So far, no terrorism.

Edit: More information about the plane escorted to Detroit.  One of the "suspicious" people was a woman with Muslim-colored skin.

Edit2: And even more info about the incident, and a little about the other planes with problems.

9-11-2011

Great article from Wired:  How to Beat Terrorism: Refuse to Be Terrorized.

Looks like I'm not the only one saying it.  Now if the American people would just realize what's happening.

So, tomorrow is September 11th . . .

The American media seems to have decided to make this a 9-11 Weekend.  It's a little disturbing.  There are 9-11 programs on television and even a website where you can write down what you will be doing to commemorate the event.  I have to say, I find it a bit bizarre. 

Do you want to know what I will be doing to "commemorate" 9-11?  Absolutely nothing.  While I am sad for the people who died, I refuse to commemorate a terrorist attack.  I will go about my business, as usual, because otherwise, the terrorists have won.  America has gone from an open and free country to a country that fears Muslims and takes away civil liberties with the Patriot Act.  We've gone from a country with admittedly lax air security to a country that makes you take off your shoes and practically get molested to board an airplane.

Maybe I'm different from most Americans because I grew up in the Middle East.  I remember flying during the heyday of plane bombings and hijackings in Europe.  I even remember dates other than 9-11 such as February 26, 1993.  That's the date the World Trade Center was bombed, by foreign terrorists, with backing from Khaled Sheikh Mohammed.  But very few people died, so we don't remember that day.  I remember.  I remember because after that, I kept expecting another foreign terrorist attack.  I was surprised it didn't happen until 2001.
 
I have a few more dates I'd like to throw out here.  Let's start with the big one, which most Americans under the age of 50 don't remember anymore. "A day that will live in infamy," December 7, 1941.  That's when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the US entered World War II.

Or, how about April 19, 1995.  That was domestic terrorism - the Oklahoma City bombing.  But less than 200 people died and the terrorist was quickly tried and executed, so I guess we can forget about that.

How about something more recent?  August 23, 2005.  That's Hurricane Katrina.  Almost 2,000 people died.  But that was just a natural disaster, not a planned terror attack.

The Middle East Institute blog has a good post that explains some of the reasons behind the 9-11 commemorations.  I guess the major point is that America has seen terrorism as something that happens "over there."  It certainly doesn't happen on our shores.  And if it does, it's one of us who did it.  Not those foreigners.  So 9-11 was a major shock to most Americans.

Anyway, I hope this post doesn't come across as bashing the 9-11 commemorations.  I may disagree with them, but I do agree that the attacks were horrible and I feel sad for those who lost family and friends in them.  But this huge commemorative weekend just strikes me as wrong.  You can go online to see the 9/11 Memorial.

America Hates Islam

What the hell is going on with the USA these days?

1)  There are legislators in Tennessee who want to ban parts of the Sharia; following it would be a felony.  But the bill is worded so weirdly.  Sharia is referred to as (quoted directly from the House and Senate bills):

the set of rules, precepts, instructions, or edicts which are said to emanate directly or indirectly from the god of Allah or the prophet Mohammed and which include directly or indirectly the encouragement of any person to support the abrogation, destruction, or violation of the United States or Tennessee Constitutions, or the destruction of the national existence of the United States or the sovereignty of this state, and which includes among other methods to achieve these ends, the likely use of imminent violence.

So if this bill passes, Sharia would officially become terrorism in Tennessee.  In fact:

“Sharia organization” means any two (2) or more persons conspiring to support, or acting in concert in support of, sharia or in furtherance of the imposition of sharia within any state or territory of the United States

and

The attorney general and reporter is authorized to designate an organization as a sharia organization in accordance with this subsection (a) if the attorney general and reporter finds that:
 (A)  The organization knowingly adheres to sharia;
 (B)  The organization engages in, or retains the capability and intent to engage in, an act of terrorism as defined in § 39-13-803; and
 (C)  The act of terrorism of the organization threatens the security or public safety of this state's residents.

Apparently Muslims follow this Sharia thing, which wants to destroy America, and all people who follow Sharia are terrorists.  Of course, they already think all Muslims are terrorists.

2)  Representative Peter King of New York is holding hearings on Islam.  The White House has already given their statement out, about how Muslims are NOT the problem.  So has the attorney general.

3)  Only "one member of local law enforcement" will be at the meeting, and he has some interesting information.  As quoted in the article:

Since 9/11, 77 extremist efforts or attacks have been carried out by non-Muslim extremists in the United States,” said Baca. In addition, of the last 10 terror plots attempted by Muslims, seven of them have been thwarted by Muslims coming forward. (emphasis mine)

4)  In keeping with the non-Muslim extremist attacks:  A white man tried to put a bomb along the parade route for a Martin Luther King, Jr. parade in Spokane, Washington.  That was almost 2 months ago, and yet this is the first I've heard of it.  I guess since this seemed an obvious case of white supremacy, it just wasn't newsworthy.  But you can bet that if there was any indication at all that a Muslim was involved, it would have been on the news as soon as the bomb was discovered.

UK-Yemen Plot

A man who worked for British Airways was arrested last year for terrorism and recently convicted.  The government just finished decrypting his e-mails, which contained correspondence with Anwar Al-Awlaki.  Apparently Al-Awlaki wanted to get a person or package on board a plane heading for the United States.  This is from e-mails in February of 2010, months before the AQAP bombs found in late October of 2010.  Unfortunately, it took nine months to decrypt all of these e-mails. 

Gitmo Book Banned?

An Australian man who was kept at Guantanamo Bay for years has written a book about his experiences.  But don't plan on reading it if you live in America.  Truthout has an interview with the author, and FireDogLake has some commentary about it.  I'll admit to not keeping on top of the Gitmo events here at The Ali Gator blog, so I don't remember much about the situation with this prisoner.  But, whether you believe him or not, I find it disturbing that his freaking book is NOT sold in America.  If you search on Amazon.com there is a Kindle edition, which is not available for download if you live in the United States.  I can't even get the book to pop up on my little Amazon widget that lets me add books to my blog posts.  So much for Free Speech in the United States. 

The book is called Guantanamo: My Journey by David Hicks.  It is available from Random House Australia.

YemenWatch: Friday October 29, 2010: Part 3

According to ABC News, there may be 15 packages containing explosives, and the US government is looking for them.  The terrorism expert for ABC keeps talking about how Yemen has more al-Qa'eda members than Afghanistan, but there are no American troops in Yemen.  I seriously hope that no one is thinking of invading liberating Yemen from AQAP.

As a point of context for these bombs:  Chicago is considered to be President Obama's hometown.  And the US elections are next week on Tuesday.

Great Britain is going to be checking Yemeni freight more now.  And the US is still looking to see if there is more to the plot.

Kudos to Obama for not changing his plans, which include heading to Chicago soon.  That is the biggest point I would like to make.  Since 9-11, Americans have lost a number of civil liberties, all in the name of security.  And many people are scared.  If you are scared, if you stop going on vacation, then the terrorists win.  If you are so paranoid, that everyone must be strip-searched before getting on an airplane, then the terrorists win.  If you think that Ground Zero should be some kind of shrine and no buildings should ever be built there, then the terrorists win.  The point of terror is to make people afraid and to make them change their way of life.  Well, guess what.  It looks like they're succeeding.

AQAP Bomb Found in Dubai

A cargo shipment from Yemen, headed to the US was discovered to contain explosives.  The warehouse for that agency also had explosives.  Another package was discovered in England. 

Both were sent from the same address in Yemen to Jewish organizations in Chicago, U.S. officials said.

The Yemen branch known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has since become a leading source of terrorist propaganda and recruiting. Authorities believe about 300 al-Qaida members or cells operate in Yemen.

9/11 and Islam

There's a great post by Juan Cole about how the terrorist attacks on 9/11 are actually against Islamic law. Here are a few of his remarks:

1. It is forbidden to attempt to impose Islam on other people. The Qur’an says, “There is no compulsion in religion. The right way has become distinct from error.” (-The Cow, 2:256). Note that this verse was revealed in Medina and was never abrogated by any other verse of the Quran. Islam’s holy book forbids coercing people into adopting any religion. They have to willingly choose it.

2. Islamic law forbids aggressive warfare. The Quran says, “But if the enemies incline towards peace, do you also incline towards peace. And trust in God! For He is the one who hears and knows all things.” (8:61) The Quran chapter “The Cow,” 2:190, says, “Fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! God loveth not aggressors.”

3. In Islamic war, not just any civil engineer can declare or launch a war. It is the prerogative of the duly constituted leader of the Muslim community that engages in the war. Nowadays that would be the president or prime minister of the state.

4. The killing of innocent non-combatants is forbidden. According to Sunni tradition, ‘Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, the first Caliph, gave these instructions to his armies: “I instruct you in ten matters: Do not kill women, children, the old, or the infirm; do not cut down fruit-bearing trees; do not destroy any town . . . ” (Malik’s Muwatta’, “Kitab al-Jihad.”)

5. Muslim commanders must give the enemy fair warning that war is imminent. The Prophet Muhammad at one point gave 4 months notice. Sneak attacks are forbidden.

The World Trade Center had a mosque in it, which Bin Laden destroyed, and he killed dozens of innocent Muslims in the attack along with thousands of others. All of this is an abomination in Islamic law

What Exactly is Terrorism?

Juan Cole has a good quiz on his website: Rudolph: Can You Pass the Terrorism Quiz? It's a good test for people to take. The answers are given, along with commentary. And many of the answers may surprise people. Here's an excerpt.

11. True or False: Over 20% of the respondents of a 2005 Gallup poll of ten predominantly Muslim countries felt the 9/11 attacks were fully justified.

-False. Only 7% felt the 9/11 attacks were fully justified; moreover this 7% was no more or less religious than the other 93%. (Kenneth M. Pollack; A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East; Random House; New York: 2008; p. 209)

-Even “The Hizbollah leadership distanced itself from September 11 and went public in its criticism of Al Qaeda.” (Fawaz A. Gerges; Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy; Harcourt; New York: 2006; p. 189)

Torture is Torture

A right-wing Israeli was arrested for attacking Palestinians. And he is considered a terrorist. Kudos to the Israelis for putting this man in prison. Unfortunately, he appears to have been tortured while in custody.

I firmly believe in the rule of law, as well as civil disobedience against bad laws. But the law applies to everyone, whether they are rich or poor, and even if they are a terrorist. Once exceptions are made, it becomes easier and easier to make more exceptions. If becomes okay to torture a terrorist, who decides who is a terrorist? And who is next?

Anti-Muslim Sentiment in America

This really ticks me off. According to Think Progress, there have been several anti-Muslims acts in Jacksonville, Florida recently. Including a phony anthrax mailing. Let me get this straight. You think that all Muslims are scary terrorists. So you respond by using terrorism? Because that makes everything better?

The FBI Get It Right

If you read the online news, you've read about a number of FBI busts for terrorism that wouldn't have even been feasible without the FBI informant pushing the event forward. Well, this time they got it right. A man was arrested when he tried to buy grenades to set off by a shopping mall. The FBI had him under surveillance, and the guy he tried to buy the grenades from was also FBI. Kudos.

Yemen Attacks

You've probably already heard that the US Embassy in Sana'a was attacked. Here's a lot of different articles about that: BBC, Yahoo!, Gulf News. I couldn't find any mention of the attack in the Tehran Times or the official Iranian news agency.

The Yemen Times updates every few days, so there should be information available there tomorrow.

Pay No Attention to the Terrorist Behind the Curtain

Condi Rice is initiating a new phase in US-Libya relations. No, really. I remember a time when the US didn't deal with terrorists or people of their ilk. Unless they worked for us (Bin Laden) or they were a brutal dictator (Saddam Hussein) or they were in charge of an area we needed to deal with (Yasser Arafat) or they were in charge of a country and we didn't feel like ousting them at that time (Milesovic). But the US still likes to declare that terrorists are bad and we won't deal with them. Especially if they are democratically elected (Hamas). Yes, the Gator is a bit snarky today.

Terrorist Killed

I'm sure you've all seen this by now: Mughniyeh was killed/assassinated in Syria. This guy was a well-known terrorist, and no great loss to the world. The only question is: Who did it? So far suspicion is on the US and Israel. Personally, I'd bet on Israel. This wouldn't be the first terrorist they've killed, and they have a lot more incentive than the US.

Let's All Blame the Terrorists

A friend pointed this out to me: Did terrorists cause the housing mess? At first I thought it would be on Fox Faux News, but it's actually on MSN. It's not a completely crazy propaganda article, it's actually serious and thought out. That doesn't mean I agree with it. I doubt that al-Qaeda timed the attack for economic reasons. The actual economic mess probably isn't even icing on the cake for them, more like sprinkles on the icing. Economics isn't my strong suit so I'll let you judge for yourself.

Al-Qa'ida Speaks

The BBC has an article about the latest statement from Zawahiri, on the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks in the US. I found this section interesting:

Previous messages attributed to Zawahiri have urged Muslims to unite in global jihad - holy struggle - and for the governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to be overthrown.

Hmmmmm. Overthrowing: a country where the president is basically a dictator because the press is censored and there are no truly free elections; a country with an old-fashioned monarchy that denies basic rights to many of its citizens and is a hotbed of religious fomentation; a country run by a military dictator that contains some of the heartland of al-Qa'ida. That almost makes sense. Wait, I didn't say that. They might put me in Gitmo for agreeing with a terrorist! I guess I'll have to wait until Bush comes to the same conclusion. Except that he won't because those are our buddies. We don't care if you're a democracy or a brutal dictator, as long as you're our buddy. But if you're not our buddy, we'll invade your ass and install democracy (even if you already have it)!

(Yes, the Gator is feeling a might testy today.)

Color Me Cynical: KSM

Alright, I'm sure by now everyone has seen the news about Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (KSM) confessing to something like 31 attempted terrorist attacks. Now, since I am cynical I can't help but wonder a few things:

1) Did the torture he underwent help in his confession? And yes, I count waterboarding as torture.

2) Do all 31 of those terrorism attempts actually exist? Or did KSM make them up because he was tortured?

3) If they do exist, was he involved and the mastermind behind them as he is now claiming?

I just find it convenient that there are a number of Republican and White House scandals in the news over the last few weeks, and hey presto, here comes KSM saying that Bush was right and al-Qaeda was going to kick our ass if not for Bush. I have no problem believing that terrorist are out there and some are targeting us. But the scope of this seems a little high and the timing highly suspicious.