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"M15 told US about Detroit bomber's terror links a year ago" BBC

The file was sent to the US authorities in 2008.

Britain told American intelligence agents more than a year ago that the Detroit bomber had links to extremists, Downing Street has announced.  By Robert Winnett and Duncan Gardham
Excerpted 
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6933707/MI5-told-US-about-Detroit-bombers-terror-links-a-year-ago.html

 
However, in an official briefing, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said that British intelligence was shared with the Americans.

He said: “Clearly there was security information about this individual’s activities and that was information that was shared with the US authorities. That is the key point.”

The spokesman added: “We are pretty certain that he was radicalised outside the UK. He [Abdulmutallab] left the UK in October 2008.

“But it is also clear that while he was here he was attempting to make contact with people and that is the intelligence we were able to secure from the intelligence services.”

Last night, a Downing Street spokesman added: "We do routinely share large quantites of intelligence with the US on a two-way basis so we can build up a picture of the potential threats we face.

In regard to the Detroit bomber, the UK and US had gathered partial information and this had been shared in the usual way. Since the incident, we have built up a fuller picture.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6933707/MI5-told-US-about-Detroit-bombers-terror-links-a-year-ago.html

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Extremists online "using aerosols filled with biological agents to attack planes" ABC NEWS

These are two very sophisticated participants who are experts in chemical and biological agents."

Extremists Online Discussed Blowing Up Planes Weeks Before Northwest Flight 253 Attempt

Online Extremists Recommended Methods Exactly Like Those Used by Abdulmutallab

At the same time he claims there have also been terrifying online exchanges about using aerosols filled with biological agents to attack planes.

Two individuals, both well-known members of extremist forums, according to Aviran, have been leading these discussions which include the use of Botulinum toxin. Botulinum is one of the deadliest substances known to mankind.

The two individuals have been participating in Islamic Internet forums for several years and are known to the intelligence gatherers at Terrogence.

"These are not kids talking about using biological agents to attack planes. These are two very sophisticated participants who are experts in chemical and biological agents."

According to Aviran, his company monitors 10 main extremist Web sites. The sites use sophisticated security and screening methods to prevent infiltration by Western spy agencies.

To gain access to restricted areas of online discussion takes time and patience. Passwords and user names have to be issued, and members are often barred when they are suspected of working for Western governments.

The sites allow Islamic extremists to share information about how to attack Western targets. Once an attack takes place there is often a surge of traffic about how to improve the method of attack.

Aviran claims extremists "are always looking for your Achilles heel. And when they find it, that's where you will be attacked. It's a very efficient and seasoned machine that works 24 hours a day, there's no union and no holiday."    Excerpted from: http://abcnews.go.com/International/northwest-flight-253-terrorist-attempt-online-extremists-discussed-blowing-planes/story?id=9471721
 
Related

The U.S. Government is offering the suspect charged with attempting to bomb an aircraft on Christmas Day, Omar Abdulmutallab, some kind of incentives to share what he knows about Al Qaeda, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said Sunday.

Asked why Abdulmutallab should cooperate given his right, as criminal defendant, to remain silent, Brennan replied: "He doesn't have to but he knows there are certain things that are on the table... if he wants to engage with us in a productive manner, there are ways he can do that."

Asked if Abdulmutallab's willingness to talk changed once he had an attorney, Brennan declined to answer. "I'm not going to address what he did before or after he talked with a lawyer," the adviser said.

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
 
view comments.
first 1-5051-100101-143 next last
 

Comment # 63 posted by STARWISE
 
 

'I boarded a plane with an aerosol can' 

 

Colette Hume on board her flight to the US  Video at:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8440067.stm

Security measures for flights inbound to America stepped up a gear following the attempted attack on a plane heading for the US on Christmas Day.

How then was I was able to unwittingly carry a 200ml hairspray can - twice the liquid limit - onto a Qantas flight to the US, after two separate supposedly rigorous security checks?

Let me make it clear, there was no intention to flout the rules. It wasn't an attempt to test the rigour of the new security. It was a mistake on my part to put the aerosol can in my hand luggage.

It wasn't until I boarded the flight and opened the bag to search for a book that I discovered the large aerosol tin at the bottom of my bag.

So why wasn't it spotted?

My cabin bag was first scanned after I checked in at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport for the QF107 flight to LA and New York on Monday morning.

Security searches

In common with every flight at every airport, as I walked to departures the hand luggage was X-rayed along with my coat and camera bag, while I walked through a scanner.

No one spotted the spray can at that point. Had I known it was there I would have handed it in.

Just over an hour after that first security check the departure gate opened. Passengers on my flight were asked to arrive at the gate early, to undergo that second tier of enhanced security now required by the US authorities.

A security officer removed my purse and make-up bag for inspection and he looked at my camera.

An airport security guard and passengers at Baltimore Washington International Airport
There is heightened security for those travelling to and around America

As he looked in my bag I was being "patted down" by a female officer - I was also asked to remove my shoes, which were examined, but the pair of boots I had put in the bag to wear in New York were not.

The whole search took around 90 seconds, yet once again the spray was missed.

Once on board there was another change - again the result of the new security brought in by the attempted attack.

The captain made an announcement informing us that the US regulations meant we wouldn't be allowed to congregate in groups during the flight and passengers were not to gather around the toilet area.

Staff tension

But the stricter rules forbidding passengers to go to the toilet or to have blankets or pillows on their laps during the final hour of the flight had been relaxed.

One flight attendant told me it was an almost impossible rule to police.

One thing that was notably different was the lack of easy familiarity with the cabin staff. They seemed more edgy and alert to noise or people moving around the cabin.

A group of young men sitting behind me had hoped to take advantage of the free alcohol served throughout the long flight, but they were told by staff that the authorities "wouldn't be happy if they continued".

Halfway into the flight to LA, a passenger took a photograph and the icy blue flash from the camera bounced momentarily across the dimly lit cabin.

The anxious stares of near neighbours and the swift arrival of a flight attendant illustrated all too clearly the concerns felt by those travelling to a nation targeted by terrorists - for whom the plane is the weapon of choice.

Most seemed resigned to the latest constraints. One middle-aged woman appeared confused by the long queue of people at the departure gate waiting for the second level search.

When I explained why we were waiting she threw her hands in a gesture of defeat. "Whatever it takes to keep us safe, honey."    More at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8440067.stm


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"OBAMA KNEW" He Got Pre-Xmas Intelligence Briefing About Terror Threats to "Homeland"

Newsweek  "... the holiday threat briefing, ...with top counter-terrorism officials was held in the White House Situation Room on December 22. Present were representatives of agencies involved in counter-terrorism policy and operations, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller. The CIA and National Intelligence Directors Office were represented by deputy agency heads: CIA deputy director Steven Kappes, and David Gompert, the principal deputy to National Intelligence Czar Dennis Blair. Also present was Michael Leiter, director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, a unit of the Intelligence Czar's office which was created after 9/11 to ensure that intelligence reporting about possible terrorist plots was shared quickly among all US agencies who might have some capability to do something about it.   Newsweek at: http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2010/01/01/exclusive-obama-got-pre-christmas-intelligence-briefing-about-terror-threats-to-homeland.aspx

 
Full Post
Posted Friday, January 01, 2010 6:55 PM

Exclusive: Obama Got Pre-Christmas Intelligence Briefing About Terror Threats to 'Homeland'

Mark Hosenball

 

President Barack Obama received a high-level briefing only three days before Christmas about possible holiday-period terrorist threats against the US, Newsweek has learned. The briefing was centered on a written report, produced by US intelligence agencies, entitled "Key Homeland Threats", a senior US official said.

The senior Administration official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said that nowhere in this document was there any mention of Yemen, whose Al-Qaeda affiliate is now believed to have been behind the unsuccessful Christmas Day attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to bring down a transatlantic airliner with a bomb hidden in his underpants. However, the official declined to disclose any other information about the substance of the briefing, including what kind of specific warnings, if any, the President was given about possibly holiday attacks and whether Yemen came up during oral discussions.

According to the senior official, the holiday threat briefing, one in a series of regularly-scheduled sessions with top counter-terrorism officials, was held in the White House Situation Room on December 22. Present were representatives of agencies involved in counter-terrorism policy and operations, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller. The CIA and National Intelligence Directors Office were represented by deputy agency heads: CIA deputy director Steven Kappes, and David Gompert, the principal deputy to National Intelligence Czar Dennis Blair. Also present was Michael Leiter, director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, a unit of the Intelligence Czar's office which was created after 9/11 to ensure that intelligence reporting about possible terrorist plots was shared quickly among all US agencies who might have some capability to do something about it.   More at Newsweek http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2010/01/01/exclusive-obama-got-pre-christmas-intelligence-briefing-about-terror-threats-to-homeland.aspx
 
 
Good Enough For Bush Is Good Enough For Obama
 
 
 

140 posted on Saturday,
 
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NW Flight 253:"When bomb sniffing dogs arrived, 1 dog found something in a bag of 30 ish Indian man."

"...(they) don't want to admit that they left flight 253 passengers on a flight with a live bomb on the runway for 20 minutes or Customs/FBI realized that they screwed up and don't want to admit that they left flight 253 passengers in customs for 1 hour with a live bomb in a carry on bag.
 
More of the story:
Haskell and his wife, Lori, were aboard Flight 253 when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to destroy the plane. They say another man tried to help Abdulmutallab board the plane in Amsterdam.

Haskell had two detailed posts in two different stories. Here is Part One, originally posted here:

"Today is the second worst day of my life after 12-25-09. Today is the day that I realized that my own country is lying to me and all of my fellow Americans. Let me explain.

Ever since I got off of Flight 253 I have been repeating what I saw in US Customs. Specifically, 1 hour after we left the plane, bomb sniffing dogs arrived. Up to this point, all of the passengers on Flight 253 stood in a small area in an evacuated luggage claim area of an airport terminal. During this time period, all of the passengers had their carry on bags with them. When the bomb sniffing dogs arrived, 1 dog found something in a carry on bag of a 30 ish Indian man. This is not the so called "Sharp Dressed" man. I will refer to this man as "The man in orange". The man in orange, who stood some 20ft away from me the entire time until he was taken away, was immediately taken away to be searched and interrogated in a nearby room. At this time he was not handcuffed. When he emerged from the room, he was then handcuffed and taken away.

At this time an FBI agent came up to the rest of the passengers and said the following (approximate quote) "You all are being moved to another area because this area is not safe. I am sure many of you saw what just happened (Referring to the man in orange) and are smart enough to read between the lines and figure it out." We were then marched out of the baggage claim area and into a long hallway. This entire time period and until we left customs, no person that wasn't a law enforcement personnel or a passenger on our flight was allowed anywhere on our floor of the terminal (or possibly the entire terminal) The FBI was so concerned during this time, that we were not allowed to use the bathroom unless we went alone with an FBI agent, we were not allowed to eat or drink, or text or call anyone. I have been repeating this same story over the last 5 days. The FBI has, since we landed, insisted that only one man was arrested for the airliner attack (contradicting my account). However, several of my fellow passengers have come over the past few days, backed up my claim, and put pressure on FBI/Customs to tell the truth. Early today, I heard from two different reporters that a federal agency (FBI or Customs) was now admitting that another man has been held (and will be held indefinitely) since our flight landed for "immigration reasons." Notice that this man was "being held" and not "arrested", which was a cute semantic ploy by the FBI to stretch the truth and not lie.

Just a question, could that mean that the man in orange had no passport?

However, a few hours later, Customs changed its story again. This time, Mr. Ron Smith of Customs, says the man that was detained "had been taken into custody, but today tells the news the person was a passenger on a different flight." Mr. Ron Smith, you are playing the American public for a fool. Lets take a look at how plausible this story is (After you've already changed it twice). For the story to be true, you have to believe, that:

1. FBI/Customs let passengers from another flight co-mingle with the passengers of flight 253 while the most important investigation in 8 years was pending. I have already stated that not one person who wasn't a passenger or law enforcement personnal was in our area the entire time we were detained by Customs.

2. FBI/Customs while detaining the flight 253 passengers in perhaps the most important investigation since the last terrorist attack, and despite not letting any flight 253 passenger drink, eat, make a call, or use the bathroom, let those of other flights trample through the area and possibly contaminate evidence.
3. You have to believe the above (1 and 2) despite the fact that no flights during this time allowed passengers to exit off of the planes at all and were detained on the runway during at least the first hour of our detention period.

4. You have to believe that the man that stood 20 feet from me since we entered customs came from a mysterious plane that never landed, let its passengers off the plane and let this man sneak into our passenger group despite having extremely tight security at this time (i.e. no drinking even).

5. FBI/Customs was hauling mysterious passengers from other flights through the area we were being held to possibly comtaminate evidence and allow discussions with suspects on Flight 253 or to possibly allow the exchange of bombs, weapons or other devices between the mysterious passengers from other flights and those on flight 253.

Seriously Mr. Ron Smith, how stupid do you think the American public is?

Mr. Ron Smith's third version of the story is an absolute inplausible joke. I encourage you, Mr. Ron Smith, to debate me anytime, anywhere, and anyplace in public to let the American people see who is credible and who is not.

I ask, isn't this the more plausible story:

1. Customs/FBI realized that they screwed up and don't want to admit that they left flight 253 passengers on a flight with a live bomb on the runway for 20 minutes.

2. Customs/FBI realized that they screwed up and don't want to admit that they left flight 253 passengers in customs for 1 hour with a live bomb in a carry on bag.

3. Customs/FBI realize that the man in orange points to a greater involvement then the lone wolf theory that they have been promoting.

Mr. Ron Smith I encourage you to come out of your cubicle and come up with a more plausible version number 4 of your story."

Haskell continued his comment in a different post on MLive.

"For the last five days I have been reporting my story of the so called "sharp dressed man." For those of you who haven't read my account, it involves a sharp dressed "Indian man" attempting to talk a ticket agent into letting a supposed "Sudanese refugee" (The terrorist) onto flight 253 without a passport. I have never had any idea how it played out except to note that the so called "Sudanese reefugee" later boarded my flight and attempted to blow it up and kill me. At no time did my story involve, or even find important whether the terrorist actually had a passport. The importance of my story was and always will be, the attempt with an accomplice (apparently successful) of a terrorist with all sorts of prior terrorist warning signs to skirt the normal passport boarding procedures in Amsterdam. By the way, Amsterdam security did come out the other day and admit that the terrorist did not have to "Go through normal passport checking procedures". Amsterdam security, please define to the American public "Normal passport boarding procedures".

You see the FBI would have the American public believe that what was important was whether the terrorist in fact had a passport.

Seriously think about this people. You have a suicide bomber who had recently been to Yemen to but a bomb, whose father had reported him as a terrorist, who supposedly was on some kind of U.S. terror watchlist, and most likely knew the U.S. was aware of these red flags. Yet, he didn't go through "Normal passport checking procedures."What does that mean? Maybe that he flashed a passport to some sort of sympathetic security manager in a backroom to avoid a closer look at the terrorist's "red flags"? What is important is that the terrorist avoided using normal passport checking procedures (apparently successfully) in order to avoid a closer look into his red flags. Who cares if he had a passport. The important thing is that he didn't want to show it and somehow avoided a closer inspection and "normal passport checking procedures." Each passport comes with a bar code on it that can be scanned to provide a wealth of information about the individual. I would bet that the passport checking procedures for the terrorist did not include a bar code scan of his passport (which could have revealed damning information about the terrorist).Please note that there is a very easy way to verify the veracity of my prior "sharp dressed man" account. Dutch police have admitted that they have reviewed the video of the "sharp dressed man" that I referenced. Note that it has not been released anywhere, You see, if my eye witness account is false, it could easily be proven by releasing the video. However, the proof of my eyewitness account would also be verified if I am telling the truth and I am. There is a reason we have only heard of the video and not seen it. dutch authorities, "RELEASE THE VIDEO!" This is the most important video in 8 years and may be all of two minutes long. Show the entire video and "DO NOT EDIT IT"! The American public deserves its own chance to attempt to identify the "sharp dressed man". I have no doubt that if the video indicated that my account was wrong, that the video would have already swept over the entire world wide web.
 
 
Instead of the video, we get a statment that the video has been viewed and that the terrorist had a passport. Each of these statements made by the FBI is a self serving play on semantics and each misses the importance of my prior "sharp dressed man" account. The importance being that the man "Tried to board the plane with an accomplice and without a passort". The other significance is that only the airport security video can verify my eyewitness account and that it is not being released.

Who has the agenda here and who doesn't? Think about that for a minute."http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/flight_253_passenger_kurt_hask.html

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"Witnesses Say Second Man Arrested in Flight 253 Incident " National Terror Alert

"... they left passengers on a flight with a live bomb on the runway for 20 minutes or  Customs/FBI realized that they screwed up and don't want to admit that they left flight 253 passengers in customs for 1 hour with a live bomb in a carry on bag." Kurt Haskell

Witnesses Say Second Man Arrested in Flight 253 Incident

Posted: 01 Jan 2010 12:29 AM PST

Conflicting stories are circulating in regards to flight 253 and the number of people taken into custody in the aftermath of the attempted terror attack on Christmas day. Kurt and Lori Haskell, two Taylor attorneys, say they saw a man get questioned by federal officials and later led away in handcuffs after a sniffer dog reacted [...]

This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Witnesses Say Second Man Arrested in Flight 253 Incident


Pakistan Seeks Terrorism Charges Against Americans

Posted: 01 Jan 2010 12:08 AM PST

Pakistani police will ask a court to charge five Americans detained in the country this month with planning terrorist attacks and jail them for life, a police official said on Thursday. The young Americans, from Virginia, are accused of contacting militants groups over the Internet in a bid to wage holy war. Pakistani officials have said [...]

This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Pakistan Seeks Terrorism Charges Against Americans


Rocket Launcher Found In Apartment – Houston

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 11:51 PM PST

Click2Houston reports a that a rocket launcher was discovered in a Houston apartment by police responding to a disturbance call. A woman called police on Monday and said a man was forcing his way into her apartment. When officers went inside, they found something that made them concerned enough to call the bomb squad. They found [...]

This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Rocket Launcher Found In Apartment – Houston


Molotov Cocktail, Anti-Israel Books Found In Parking Garage

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 11:37 PM PST

CBS 3 reports Philadelphia Police are investigating the discovery of a Molotov cocktail along with anti-Israeli books inside a Center City parking garage. The discovery was made at about 2:00 p.m. Wednesday inside a garage located at Callowhill and N. 16th Streets. The garage is in close proximity to the office of the Department of Homeland [...]

This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Molotov Cocktail, Anti-Israel Books Found In Parking Garage

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'Underwear Bomber's' Alarming Last Phone Call ABC News

"Abdulmutallab Called His Father to Say It Would Be Their Last Contact"   ABC News article (below)

 

Security Failure? U.S. Intel Agencies Aware a Nigerian was Being Prepared for Terror Plot

CIA, Intelligence Agencies Come Under Fire for Not Acting Urgently in the Case of Flight 253 Terror Suspect Abdumutallab


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
The accused "underwear bomber" made a dramatic final call to his father that he found so alarming, the father approached Nigerian officials who took him directly to the CIA's station chief in the Nigerian capital, sources told ABC News.    (Excerpt) Read more at http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bombers-phone-call-father/story?id=9457361...
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"Yemen: Visa of Nigerian would-be-bomber expired" AP

Yemen's airport authorities and passport control should have prevented Yemen's airport authorities and passport control should have prevented Abdulmutallab from departing.  from departing.
 
"Yemen: Visa of Nigerian would-be-bomber expired"AP 

SAN'A, Yemen – The Nigerian suspected in the attempted attack on a U.S. airliner had stayed on in Yemen illegally after his visa expired three months ago and should have been stopped by authorities from leaving the country, Yemeni security officials said Thursday.  More at:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091231/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen_us_airliner_attack

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Man Carrying Explosives Similar to Underwear Bomber Was Arrested in Somalia Last Month

On Nov. 11, a Somali man in his late 30s walked into Mogadishu International Airport with an explosive device remarkably similar to the one that failed to detonate on Detroit-bound Northwest flight 253 on Christmas Day, authorities said.

Man Carrying Explosives Similar to Underwear Bomber Was Arrested in Somalia Last Month

It too had powdered chemicals, liquids and a syringe -- just like the one Abdulmutallab, 23, allegedly carried in his underwear and tried to detonate.

The Somali suspect, Abdi Hassan Abdi, was arrested at the airport and remains in custody. The final destination of the Daallo Airlines flight he tried to board was Dubai.

"We don't know whether he's linked with al Qaeda or other foreign organizations, but his actions were the acts of a terrorist. We caught him red-handed," a Somali police spokesman, Abdulahi Hassan Barise, told The Associated Press.

U.S. intelligence agencies are scrambling to see if the arrest means there is a broader plot involving multiple operatives, ABC News has learned.

Today, there are more indicators that the United States' counterterrorism system may not be functioning properly. Sources told ABC News the intelligence community only informed the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration about the incident involving Abdi this morning.

Tom Kean, chairman of the commission that investigated the 9/11 terror attacks, said the recent lack of communication has a familiar ring.

"This feels like after 9/11," Kean told ABC News. "This is, as Yogi Berra would say, deja vu -- the same thing happening over and over again. We have got to find out why. We have got to fix this problem."

Slowly, a picture is emerging of the security lapses in the case involving Abdulmutallab, a failure that President Obama bluntly acknowledged Tuesday.   More from ABC News and a video report at: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Politics/us-intelligence-agencies-investigate-broader-terror-plot/story?id=9450057

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Man Videotaped Underwear Bomber On Flight 253. Who and Where Is He?

“He sat up and videotaped the entire thing, very calmly. We do know that the FBI is looking for him intensely. Since then, we’ve heard nothing about it.”
 

Man Videotaped Underwear Bomber On Flight 253

Excerpt: Meanwhile, more suspicious information about the underwear bombing has surfaced. An eye witness told the news talk radio station 620 WTMJ in Milwaukee that a man had videotaped the entire flight.

 

Patricia “Scotty” Keepman and her daughter witnessed the alleged botched bombing. Keepman’s “daughter said that ahead of them was a man who videotaped the entire flight, including the attempted detonation.”

“He sat up and videotaped the entire thing, very calmly,” said Patricia. “We do know that the FBI is looking for him intensely. Since then, we’ve heard nothing about it.”

On Saturday it was reported that a “sharp-dressed man” had escorted Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab when he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam. Mutallab was allowed on the plane without a passport. It was later reported that Mutallab seemed to be in a trance.

The alleged videotaping of the underwear bomber and his fudged attack is another oddity that the corporate media should zoom in on. Unfortunately, we no longer have a functioning investigative media in this country.   More at: Infop Wars at http://www.infowars.com/man-videotaped-underwear-bomber-on-flight-253/

Underwear Bomber Dazed, Stared “Into Nothing”

  • Tom Leonard
    The Daily Telegraph
    December 28, 2009  
 
Mr Schuringa said he said he frisked the suspect and discovered his trousers were open and that he had a flaming object resembling a small, white shampoo bottle strapped to his left leg near his crotch.

 

“I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away,” he told CNN.

Mr Schuringa said he patted out the fire with his hands and shouted for water.

As cabin crew arrived with fire extinguishers, the Dutchman hauled the suspect out of his seat and, restraining him in a choke lock, took him to the first class compartment.

All the while, Mr Abdulmatallab seemed dazed, he said. “He was staring into nothing.” When he got him into first class, Mr Schuringa pulled off his remaining clothes to check for further explosives and helped a crew member to handcuff him.

 

According to Kurt Haskell, an attorney with the Haskell Law Firm in Taylor, Michigan, “He and his wife were sitting on the ground near their boarding gate in Amsterdam, which is when they saw Mutallab approach the gate with an unidentified man.”

Were the feds retrieving their own agent, was a poorly dressed, young looking individual, but he was accompanied by a man in an expensive suit, Haskell told MLive.com.

“He says the suited man asked ticket agents whether Mutallab could board without a passport. “The guy said, ‘He’s from Sudan and we do this all the time.’”

Although Mutallab is Nigerian, Haskell said the well-dressed man portrayed him as a desperate Sudanese refugee in an attempt to elicit sympathy and as a way of bypassing his lack of documents.

“The ticket agent referred Mutallab and his companion to her manager down the hall, and Haskell didn’t see Mutallab again until after he allegedly tried to detonate an explosive on the plane,” states the report.

Crucially, Haskell said that after the plane landed he saw another man being taken into custody by the FBI along with Mutallab. However, the FBI later said that Mutallab was the only individual taken into custody.

Were the feds retrieving their own agent,agent, the sharp dressed man who ensured that Mutallab boarded the plane despite his overwhelmingly suspicious circumstances?  More at: http://www.infowars.com/government-allowed-plane-bomber-to-attempt-attack/
 
 

"And then there is the supposed tape released four days before the attempted underwear bombing. It shows what ABC describes as “the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen” who says he will kill Americans. “We are carrying a bomb to hit the enemies of God.”    from first article posted here

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"Barack Obama gets an 'F' for protecting Americans" Telegraph UK

"Yes, the buck stops in the Oval Office. Obama may have rather smugly given himself a “B+” for his 2009 performance but he gets an F for the events that led to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarding a Detroit-bound plane in Amsterdam with a PETN bomb sewn into his underpants.  He said today that a “systemic failure has occurred”. Well, he’s in charge of that system." by Tony Harnden http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100020934/barack-obama-gets-an-f-for-protecting-americans/

The picture we’re getting is more and more alarming by the hour. Here are some key elements to consider:

1. Abdulmutallab’s father spoke several times to the US Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria and visited a CIA officer there to tell him, apparently, that he feared his son was a jihadist being trained in Yemen. According to CNN, the CIA officer wrote up a report, which then sat in the CIA headquarters at Langley for several weeks without being disseminated to the rest of the intelligence community.  This was not just a casual encounter. Again according to CNN, there were at least two face-to-face meetings, telephone calls and written correspondence with the father. If it’s true that the CIA sat on this then it beggars belief.

2. After 9/11, the huge bureaucracies of the Homeland Security Department and the Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI) were created. Inside the DNI, the National Counter Terrorism Center was created. These organisations were created to “connect the dots”. It may well be that the fault lay with NCTC and not the CIA – CIA spokesman George Little says here that “key biographical information” and information about “possible extremist connections in Yemen” was passed to NCTC. If NCTC knew about it, then did someone at the National Security Council within the White House? There’s a huge blame game beginning so we’ll no doubt know soon enough.

3. It wasn’t just the meeting with the father. According to CBS, “as early as August of 2009 the Central Intelligence Agency was picking up information on a person of interest dubbed ‘The Nigerian’ suspected of meeting with ‘terrorist elements’ in Yemen”. So there were other parts of the jigsaw that were not put together.

4. In his studied desire to be the unBush by responding coolly to events like this, Obama is dangerously close to failing as a leader. Yes, it is good not to shoot from the hip and make broad assertions without the facts. But Obama took three days before speaking to the American people, emerging on Monday in between golf and tennis games in Hawaii to deliver a rather tepid address that significantly underplayed what happened. He described

Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC. More about Toby. Contact toby.harnden@telegraph-usa.com.

 as an “isolated extremist” who “allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device on his body” – phrases that indicate a legalistic, downplaying approach that alarms rather than reassures. Today’s words showed a lot more fire and desire to get on top of things – we’ll see whether Obama follows through with action. In the meantime, he went snorkelling.   More of this article  "Barack Obama gets an 'F' for protecting Americans"  by  Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC.  Contact toby.harnden@telegraph-usa.com.

Telegraph UK at: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100020934/barack-obama-gets-an-f-for-protecting-americans/

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Second person was detained by U.S. Customs after alleged attack on Flight 253

I had a visit from the FBI yesterday. They brought in several photos including one I casually identified to them as "The man they won't admit exists that they detained in customs." Amazingly, they changed their story and admitted that this 2nd Indian man was still being held in customs on "immigration issues." (i.e. no passport) last night. So, there first story that only one man had been detained was apparently untruthful.

To MplsMom- I got a several minute close up look of the terrorist in Amsterdam and he has quite a different look about him. Further, there were very few black persons on our flight or at the airport and he was rather easy for me to identify later. Hope this helps. Thanks Mlive and those that continue to be supportive. KH 

Posted by pug   Just to give everyone an update.
December 30, 2009, 9:58AM
 
 

By Sheena Harrison | MLive.com

December 29, 2009, 6:46PM
A person was detained by customs at Detroit Metro Airport on Friday following Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's alleged attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, according to a spokeman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Full story »
 
 
Update: In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, Smith said MLive.com's story was accurate. He clarified that the man taken into custody came to Detroit aboard a separate flight and was detained for issues unrelated to the attack on Flight 253. 

Bill Carter, a spokesman with the FBI in Washington, D.C., said in an interview Tuesday that Abdulmutallab was the only person arrested or charged in relation to Friday's foiled attack.

The news about a person being taken into custody comes after two passengers aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 said they saw a second man being taken away in handcuffs on Christmas Day while they and others were waiting to be interviewed by FBI agents at the airport. Smith was unable to say whether that man was the person detained by customs officials.

Update: Smith said Wednesday that the man taken into custody was the one seen by Flight 253 passengers while in customs. Passengers from various flights went through customs processing in one centralized location. 

Kurt Haskell, a Taylor, Mich., attorney who says he was seated a few rows behind suspected terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told MLive.com on Saturday that he saw a second man taken into custody after search dogs appeared to find something in his carry-on bag. 

Daniel Huisinga of Fairview, Tenn., who was returning from an internship in Kenya for the holidays, says he also saw a man being taken away in handcuffs at the airport after a dog search. A third person, Roey Rosenblith, told The Huffington Post on Sunday that he saw a man in a suit being placed into handcuffs and escorted out, as well.

Huisinga talked about seeing a man taken away at the airport during an interview Monday on MSNBC. He mentions it at about the 1:25 mark of the video below. The reporter appears to confuse Huisinga's account with a man who was ...
 
 
Posted by pug
December 29, 2009, 8:49PM

Kurt Haskell here. Glad to see that a prior statment of mine is proved correct once again. The FBI's statement, well.....................................
Thanks Mlive,

 
 
 
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The TSA is going after bloggers who wrote about a directive to increase security after the Northwest Flight 253 incident.

"Special Agent Robert Flaherty knocked on my front door with a subpoena. He was very polite, and used "sir" a lot, and he said he just wanted a name: Who sent me the security directive? "    http://www.elliott.org/blog/full-text-of-my-subpoena-from-the-department-of-homeland-security/
 
 

ON THE INTERNET:

The basic info regarding increasing security is right here in the PUBLIC FILES.

Quote:

 
 

TSA and DHS Statements on Northwest Airlines Flight 253
News & Happenings

DHS Secretary Napolitano Statement on Northwest Flight 253
December 26, 2009
1:00 p.m. EST

"I am grateful to the passengers and crew aboard Northwest Flight 253 who reacted quickly and heroically to an incident that could have had tragic results. The Department of Homeland Security immediately put additional screening measures into place- for all domestic and international flights- to ensure the continued safety of the traveling public. We are also working closely with federal, state and local law enforcement on additional security measures, as well as our international partners on enhanced security at airports and on flights.

The American people should continue their planned holiday travel and, as always, be observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior or activity to law enforcement officials.

Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere. Due to the busy holiday travel season, both domestic and international travelers should allot extra time for check-in."

Department of Homeland Security Statement on Northwest Incident
December 25, 2009
5:30 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON D.C. – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been briefed on the incident aboard Northwest Airlines flight #253 and is closely monitoring the situation.

Passengers may notice additional screening measures put into place to ensure the safety of the traveling public on domestic and international flights.

As always we encourage the traveling public to be observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior or activity to law enforcement officials.

We encourage those with future travel plans to stay in touch with their airline and to visit www.tsa.gov for updates.

Transportation Security Administration Statement on Northwest Airlines Flight 253
December 25, 2009
4:30 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON D.C. - Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is aware of an incident that occurred onboard Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. The flight landed safely in Detroit at approximately 11:53 a.m.

All passengers have deplaned and out of an abundance of caution, the plane was moved to a remote area where the plane and all baggage are currently being rescreened. A passenger is in custody and passengers are being interviewed.

TSA will continue to monitor the situation and update this information as necessary.

Text of my subpoena from the Department of Homeland Security

December 29, 2009    http://www.elliott.org/blog/full-text-of-my-subpoena-from-the-department-of-homeland-security/


We had just put the kids in the bathtub when Special Agent Robert FlahertyWe had just put the kids in the bathtub when Special Agent Robert Flaherty knocked on my front door with a subpoena. He was very polite, and used "sir" a lot, and he said he just wanted a name: Who sent me the security directive?

I invited Flaherty to sit down in the living room and introduced him to my cats, who seemed to take a liking to him. The kids came by to say hello, too.

"A subpoena?" I asked the special agent. "Is that really necessary?"

"Sir," he repeated. "You’ve been served."

Alright, then. I’ve been served. Here’s the full text of the subpoena:

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Department of Homeland Security
Transportation Security Administration

SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM

YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED BY THE ADMINISTRATOR, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, to produce and permit inspection and copying of the records described below to Special Agent Robert Flaherty, TSA Office of Inspection, Transportation Security Admininistration, 580 T G Lee Blvd, Suite 610, Orlando, Florida 32822 (Phone #: 407-563-4096), email: Robert.M.flaherty@dhs.gov, no later than COB December 31, 2009, in furtherance of an official investigation:All documents, emails, and/or faxsimile transmissions (sic) in your control possession or control concerning your receipt of TSA Security Directive 1544-09-06 dated December 25, 2009.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned, an officer designated by the Transportation Security Administration, has hereunto set his hand in the county of Arlington, Virginia, this 29th day of December, 2009.

Dan Kuntz
Senior Counsel – Civil Enforcement
Transportation Security Administration
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

AUTHORITY

This subpoena is issued under the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 46104; and 49 C.F.R § 1503.3.

Any person who neglects or refuses to produce records in obedience to this subpoena is subject to fines under Title 18, United States Code, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, 49 U.S.C § 46313.

(For those of you who didn’t go to law school or take Latin, a subpoena duces tecum — Latin for "bring with you under penalty of punishment" — is form of a subpoena issued by a court ordering the parties named to appear and produce tangible evidence for use at a hearing or trial.)

So if I’m reading this correctly, the TSA wants me to tell them who gave me the security directive.

I told Flaherty I’d call my attorney and get back to him.

What would you do?

(Incidentally, my kids liked Special Agent Flaherty. They’ve been calling him "our friend from the TSA" all evening. Probably because he had a cool badge and got along with the cats.)

 
TSA Special Agent John Enright, left, speaks to Steven http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/dhs-threatens-blogger/ outside the blogger's home in Niantic, Connecticut, after returning Frischling's laptop Wednesday.
 
Photo: Thomas Cain/Wired.com    http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/dhs-threatens-blogger/


 

Two bloggers received home visits from Transportation Security Administration agents Tuesday after they published a new TSA directive that revises screening procedures and puts new restrictions on passengers in the wake of a recent bombing attempt by the so-called underwear bomber.

Special agents from the TSA’s Office of Inspection interrogated two U.S. bloggers, one of them an established travel columnist, and served them each with a civil subpoena demanding information on the anonymous source that provided the TSA document.

The document, which the two bloggers published within minutes of each other Dec. 27, was sent by TSA to airlines and airports around the world and described temporary new requirements for screening passengers through Dec. 30, including conducting “pat-downs” of legs and torsos. The document, which was not classified, was posted by numerous bloggers. Information from it was also published on some airline websites.


“They’re saying it’s a security document but it was sent to every airport and airline,” says Steven Frischling, one of the bloggers. “It was sent to Islamabad, to Riyadh and to Nigeria. So they’re looking for information about a security document sent to 10,000-plus people internationally. You can’t have a right to expect privacy after that.”

Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said in a statement that security directives “are not for public disclosure.”

“TSA’s Office of Inspections is currently investigating how the recent Security Directives were acquired and published by parties who should not have been privy to this information,” the statement said.

Frischling, a freelance travel writer and photographer in Connecticut who writes a blog for the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, said the two agents who visited him arrived around 7 p.m. Tuesday, were armed and threatened him with a criminal search warrant if he didn’t provide the name of his source. They also threatened to get him fired from his KLM job and indicated they could get him designated a security risk, which would make it difficult for him to travel and do his job.

“They were indicating there would be significant ramifications if I didn’t cooperate,” said Frischling, who was home alone with his three children when the agents arrived. “It’s not hard to intimidate someone when they’re holding a 3-year-old [child] in their hands. My wife works at night. I go to jail, and my kids are here with nobody.”

 
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President Obama & Dems: Ex Convict Robert Creamer's Puppets

 It is curious that Creamer, sitting in prison, could have predicted the details and the timing of President Obama’s legislative agenda so precisely. Creamer wrote his plan in 2006, explicitly proposing that it be carried out in 2009, once a “progressive Democrat is elected President” and once Democrats could count on 60 votes in the Senate.
 
 
Portion from Robert Creamer's book on how to control healthcare and the world. (pinky and the brain moment):
* “We must create a national consensus that health care is a right, not a commodity; and that government must guarantee that right.”
* “We must create a national consensus that the health care system is in crisis.”
* “Our messaging program over the next two years should focus heavily on reducing the credibility of the health insurance industry and focusing on the failure of private health insurance.”
* “We need to systematically forge relationships with large sectors of the business/employer community.”
* “We need to convince political leaders that they owe their elections, at least in part, to the groundswell of support of [sic] universal health care, and that they face political peril if they fail to deliver on universal health care in 2009.”
* “We need not agree in advance on the components of a plan, but we must foster a process that can ultimately yield consensus.”
* “Over the next two years, we must design and organize a massive national field program.”
* “We must focus especially on the mobilization of the labor movement and the faith community.”
* “We must systematically leverage the connections and resources of a massive array of institutions and organizations of all types.”
* “To be successful, we must put in place commitments for hundreds of millions of dollars to be used to finance paid communications and mobilization once the battle is joined.”

Creamer adds: “To win we must not just generate understanding, but emotion—fear, revulsion, anger, disgust.”

Creamer wrote his plan in 2006, explicitly proposing that it be carried out in 2009, once a “progressive Democrat is elected President” and once Democrats could count on 60 votes in the Senate. It is curious that Creamer, sitting in prison, could have predicted the details and the timing of President Obama’s legislative agenda so precisely.

The likeliest explanation is that Creamer helped design the Democrats’ health care strategy. That would explain why President Obama made health care an obsession in 2009, when it was only one among many issues he raised on the campaign trail in 2008. It would explain the role of several overlapping left-wing groups, including Creamer’s own Citizen Action/Illinois.

It would explain why HCAN was particularly aggressive at Rep. Schakowsky’s own town hall meeting. And Creamer’s involvement would also explain his high profile after being released from prison. He worked for the Obama campaign, training volunteers at “Camp Obama.” He has continued his work at the Strategic Consulting Group, leading “many of the country’s most significant issue campaigns,” he claims. He was also at the White House state dinner last month—together with Stern, Axelrod, and other cronies—despite the fact that ex-convicts are usually barred from such events.
 
Creamer’s broader aim, as laid out in his book, is the “democratization of wealth” in America and “progressive control of governments around the world.” (emphasis added) 
Progressive Agenda for Structural Change: Stand Up Straight! 

From comment #101
 posted by swheats (America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!)


From posting of article that Jim DeMint and John Ensign are going to force a vote on the "constitutional issue". Democrats will be forced to take a position on whether or not the federal government can force individuals to buy products on pain of criminal penalty at: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413188/posts
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After Holiday Concert Ended, the "Audience" sang "Silent Night" On their Own

“There were 18 songs on the program, of which one has a sacred theme to it and 17 don’t. Really, the complaint should go the other way: The program was too darned secular,” said Martin, who was in the audience. “To change that program for one person is almost a violation of everyone else’s rights.”
 
 Audience Did Not Remain 'Silent'
 

By Jennifer Moody, Democrat Herald

 http://www.democratherald.com/news/local/article_bbc2dbe8-ec5e-11de-8346-001cc4c002e0.html

LEBANON — “Silent Night” was not on the program at Pioneer School’s concert Tuesday, but it was sung anyway — by the audience after the kids were done. Shortly after the children started rehearsals this fall, Principal Mark Finch had scratched the number after a parent complained that the carol’s emphasis was “too single-religion.” Superintendent Rob Hess, in attendance Tuesday, said he didn’t see who started the carol but thought approximately 100 of the more than 700 people in the audience joined in. Sam Long, a Pioneer volunteer and the grandmother of a Pioneer student, said the only reaction following...   more at: http://www.democratherald.com/news/local/article_bbc2dbe8-ec5e-11de-8346-001cc4c002e0.html
 

I served on the Lebanon School Board, and was disappointed when the principal removed Silent Night from the program. Even though I am not on the board anymore, I received a lot of calls on this incident. The end result was even better.


Comment # 4 posted by Tamatoa  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413161/posts
 
 

This is FRICKIN’ AMERICA!!! OUR culture celebrates CHRISTMAS at this time of year!


 

Here in Harding Township, NJ, the local school’s annual Christmas concert (now called the Winter Concert, even though it was held a few days before winter actually began!), included two Kwanzaa songs (one extolling “collective labor”), and three Hanukkah songs. Now Hanukkah is a very minor Jewish holiday. How many ways can you sing about a dreydel? I am told that in Israel, the people view Hanukkaha as a strange, American aberration, blown out of proportion here, merely as a counterpart to Christmas. At any rate, there then were a goodly number of the usual secular seasonal songs involving chestnuts by the fire (which no one really does, do they?), and a one-horse open sleigh (which wouldn’t work on the streets around here, and has never been seen locally). There was only one truly religious Christmas song in the whole affair: Ave Verum, which is great, but as it is Latin, the grade-schoolers probably didn’t know what they were singing, and the audience was insulated from the possibility that they might be driven wild with religious fervor, and run out from the gym intent to establish a national church.

Thanks a heap, ACLU!

Well, at least they did not sing or play the Little Drummer Boy. I thank God for that.


“There were 18 songs on the program, of which one has a sacred theme to it and 17 don’t. Really, the complaint should go the other way: The program was too darned secular,” said Martin, who was in the audience. “To change that program for one person is almost a violation of everyone else’s rights.”

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Homeland Security officials fear an onset of jihadist activity will take place on American soil in the near future.

The WSJ reports that U.S. investigators are discovering that more and more young Muslims are vanishing from mosques, madrassas, and Islamic centers.
 

Why Is Islamberg Now a Ghost Town?   Dr. Paul L. Williams, PhD
December 22, 2009    Excerpted from: http://www.newmediajournal.us/staff/p_williams/2009/12222009.htm

The Wall Street Journal reports this week that U.S. investigators are discovering that more and more young Muslims are vanishing from mosques, madrassas, and Islamic centers.

The disappearances, the Journal notes, are raising grave concerns among FBI and Homeland Security officials who fear that an onset of jihadist activity will take place on American soil in the near future.

Hundreds of Muslim men are also missing from Islamberg and this is not a propitious omen.

The sentry post is gone and no guards are in sight at the entrance to the 70 acre Islamic settlement located in the dense forest between Deposit and Hancock in upper New York State.

Young men in Islamic garb no longer congregate before the makeshift mosque, and no students are in attendance at the one room shack that serves as Sheikh Gilani's “International Quranic Open University.”

Gunfire no longer can be heard from the firing ranges along the eastern parameter of the property – and no grunts come from new recruits at the obstacle course.

A new sign at the entranceway reads, “Welcome to Holy Islamberg: The International Quranic Open University.” Next to this sign, which features the image of a mosque emerging from the mountains, is a pot of plastic carnations. Another sign proclaims that the community is home to the “United Muslim – Christian Forum.”

Such statements of welcome are offset by the “No Trespassing” signs that have been nailed to trees throughout the compound.

On the opposite side of the road leading into the community is a rack of metal mailboxes bearing such names as Abdul-Haqq, Abdul Jalil, Mumim Roberts, Abdullah Simonds, and Salam Insan.

What has happened to this once bustling complex of radical Islamists – a place where the cries of muezzins were accompanied by the incessant rat-tat-tat of machine gunfire? Where are the Arab dignitaries that used to visit this remote community in chauffeur-driven limousines? Where are the armed sentries who warded away all intruders?

A handful of children play in the mud and muck before rows of rusty old trailers, and a few women in full burkas walk along the rutty dirt road that leads to the heart of the squalid Muslim compound.

The few residents who remain in the settlement are not environmentalists. Sewage seeps from septic tanks and outhouses into the creek that flows at the base of the settlement. Bags of rotting garbage remain stacked between the trailers. And the once pristine countryside is now littered with junk cars, moldy mattresses, empty tanks of propane, and old appliances.

Where are the men?

What has happened to this bustling center of jihadi training?

Why has Islamberg become a ghost town?

The same phenomenon of vanishing Muslim men is taking place at mosques, madrassas, and other Islamic communities throughout the country and at other Jamaat ul-Fuqra paramilitary compounds, including one in Red House, Virginia.

U.S. investigators have now discovered that many of the missing Muslims are showing up in the killing fields of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

Five American Muslims recently were arrested in Pakistan following a raid at the home of a member of the Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Pakistani movement designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2001.

The five American Muslims – identified as Ahmed Abdullah, Waqar Hassan Khan, Eman Hassan, Yasir and Rami Zamzam – were planning to join forces with the Taliban to fight the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Zamzam is a graduate dental student at Howard University, where he served as president of the Muslim Student Association.

David Coleman Headley, another Muslim who disappeared, is a native of Chicago who attended Lashkar-e-Toiba-operated terrorism training camps in Pakistan and helped Lashker-e-Toiba members and others plan and execute the attacks in Denmark against the newspaper which published cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, which Muslims found offensive, as well as the violent attack in Mumbai, in about 170 people died.

At the same time Headley was taken into custody, U.S. investigators discovered that 20 Somali immigrants, who were reported missing from a mosque in Minnesota, had joined the Islamist insurgent group, al Shabaab, and were engaged in fighting...

More of lengthy article at:
http://www.newmediajournal.us/staff/p_williams/2009/12222009.htm
 
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