New tyrants in Syria add anti-Semitism and anti-Christian sentiment to educational curriculum

This is no shock at all when one considers what these "rebels" are really like:

Syria’s newly formed government is under fire following the announcement of proposed changes to the school curriculum. Critics have voiced concerns that the amendments, which some perceive as introducing an Islamist bias, could reshape the country’s educational framework, CNN reported Thursday.

Details of the changes were posted on the education ministry’s official Facebook page, according to the report.

Among the modifications are alterations to certain phrases: “path of goodness” has been replaced with “Islamic path,” and the phrase “those who are damned and have gone astray” now explicitly refers to “Jews and Christians,” reflecting a strict interpretation of a Quranic verse.

Additionally, the definition of “martyr” has shifted from someone who died for their homeland to someone who sacrificed their life “for the sake of God.” Entire chapters, such as one on “the origins and evolution of life,” have been removed altogether.

Although it is unclear whether these changes have been implemented, they are intended to affect students aged 6 to 18, according to CNN.

[...] HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, now Syria’s de facto leader. has recently emphasized efforts to dissociate the group from its Al-Qaeda roots, promoting a vision of a government centered on tolerance and inclusivity. At the same time, he also recently said that the new Syrian regime will operate according to Sharia law.

In that case, they haven't distanced themselves from al Qaeda so much as they have employed taqqiya. So it's clear this is no more than a sad case of one tyrant being replaced by another. Exactly why the regime as it stands now in Syria can't be recognized as valid.

Names Have Meaning: Sri Lanka Suicide Bomber Mohammed Azzam Mohammed

About the Easter Sunday jihadist who stood in line at the crowded breakfast buffet at one of those high-end hotels and detonated himself just as he was about to be served:

"Mohammed Azzam Mohammed is an interesting name. Everyone has heard of Mohammed, but most people are unaware of the meaning of 'Azzam'" — pennant8 https://t.co/iqu71XSUfO

— Always On Watch (@Always_On_Watch) April 22, 2019

From Wikipedia:

Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (Arabic: عبد الله يوسف عزام‎, ‘Abdu’llāh Yūsuf ‘Azzām; 1941 – 24 November 1989) also known as Father of Global Jihad[1][2] was a Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian and founding member of al-Qaeda.[3] Azzam preached both defensive and offensive jihad by Muslims to help the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet invaders.[3] He raised funds, recruited and organised the international Islamic volunteer effort of Afghan Arabs through the 1980s, and emphasised the political aspects of Islam.

Azzam was a teacher and mentor of Osama bin Laden and persuaded bin Laden to come to Afghanistan and help the jihad. As the war drew to an end, they both established al-Qaeda. He was also a co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Azzam was killed by a car bomb while within Peshawar, Pakistan in 1989.[10]

Philadelphia: Amtrak Train Entirely Derails, All Seven Cars, "Twisted and Torn Like Tinfoil", One Reporter Declares It A "Massive Crime Scene"

6 Dead, 146 Injured



From CNN:

"It is an absolute, disastrous mess," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said of the crash site. "I've never seen anything like this in my life." Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 was traveling from Washington to New York when it derailed in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. 

The impact tore cars apart, sending seven of them flying from the tracks, and left the engine a mangled mess. 

"We have confirmed an engine and all seven cars derailed," a U.S. Department of Transportation representative told CNN on Wednesday, adding that the engine and two cars were left standing upright, three cars were tipped on their sides, and one was nearly flipped over on its roof. 

The seventh one is "leaning hard," they said. The northeast corridor, which reaches from Washington to Boston, is the busiest passenger line in the country, and the train was carrying 238 passengers and five crew members. The cause wasn't immediately known. 

"We do not know what happened here. We do not know why it happened," Nutter said. There was no indication the derailment was a result of an impact with another train, he said. 

So far, there's nothing to indicate the incident was an act of terrorism.

This reporter spontaneously referred to the derailment as a "Massive Crime Scene".

FLASHBACK: FBI Warns of Train Derailment Threat

Ok, So That Idea Didn't Work Out So Well Either

Last week, Epaminondas posted,

US tells Iran,’YOU be Middle East COP, YOU can be nuke weapon breakout ready. We’re DONE. We give up.’

JERUSALEM — The United States has linked a nuclear agreement to Iran’s role in stabilizing the Middle East. Officials and diplomats said President Barack Obama has offered to approve a deal that would guarantee Iran’s nuclear weapons capability in exchange for promises by Teheran to maintain stability in the Middle East.

Well, how's that working out?

Uh, yeah, not so good:

Iran, Hezbollah Reportedly Backing Al-Qaeda Attacks Against US Interests in the Middle East

Iran and Hezbollah have been supervising and funding fighters linked to Al-Qaeda to target US interests in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, independent Lebanese online newspaper Naharnet reported on Sunday citing a breaking report from pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat. 

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iran is playing a central role in running the affairs of Al-Qaeda, and even, surprisingly, Jabhat al-Nusra, after it has taken in a number of leading fighters in order to plan terrorist attacks against these US interests. 

The sources confirmed that the fighters have been moving between Iranian cities, including Tehran, Meshad and Zahdan. Meanwhile, Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah has been taking care of planning and providing them with financing.

Maybe if we all pretend we're dead, the Muslims will leave us alone.

American and British Intelligence Officials Say Al Qaeda is About to Launch "Mass-Casualty Attacks"

Journalist Fouad Hussein Called It In 2005, His Prediction About the Course of Jihad Eerily Predict Today's Events

Fouad Hussein spent time in prison with al-Zarqawi. He seems to have understood the strategy of Al Qaeda and the Grand Jihad.

Events this weekend reminded me of this from 2005:

The First Phase Known as "the awakening" -- this has already been carried out and was supposed to have lasted from 2000 to 2003, or more precisely from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington to the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The aim of the attacks of 9/11 was to provoke the US into declaring war on the Islamic world and thereby "awakening" Muslims. "The first phase was judged by the strategists and masterminds behind al-Qaida as very successful," writes Hussein. "The battle field was opened up and the Americans and their allies became a closer and easier target." The terrorist network is also reported as being satisfied that its message can now be heard "everywhere."

The Second Phase "Opening Eyes" is, according to Hussein's definition, the period we are now in and should last until 2006. Hussein says the terrorists hope to make the western conspiracy aware of the "Islamic community." Hussein believes this is a phase in which al-Qaida wants an organization to develop into a movement. The network is banking on recruiting young men during this period. Iraq should become the center for all global operations, with an "army" set up there and bases established in other Arabic states.

The Third Phase This is described as "Arising and Standing Up" and should last from 2007 to 2010. "There will be a focus on Syria," prophesies Hussein, based on what his sources told him. The fighting cadres are supposedly already prepared and some are in Iraq. Attacks on Turkey and -- even more explosive -- in Israel are predicted. Al-Qaida's masterminds hope that attacks on Israel will help the terrorist group become a recognized organization. The author also believes that countries neighboring Iraq, such as Jordan, are also in danger.

The Fourth Phase Between 2010 and 2013, Hussein writes that al-Qaida will aim to bring about the collapse of the hated Arabic governments. The estimate is that "the creeping loss of the regimes' power will lead to a steady growth in strength within al-Qaida." At the same time attacks will be carried out against oil suppliers and the US economy will be targeted using cyber terrorism.

The Fifth Phase This will be the point at which an Islamic state, or caliphate, can be declared. The plan is that by this time, between 2013 and 2016, Western influence in the Islamic world will be so reduced and Israel weakened so much, that resistance will not be feared. Al-Qaida hopes that by then the Islamic state will be able to bring about a new world order.

The Sixth Phase Hussein believes that from 2016 onwards there will a period of "total confrontation." As soon as the caliphate has been declared the "Islamic army" it will instigate the "fight between the believers and the non-believers" which has so often been predicted by Osama bin Laden.

The Seventh Phase This final stage is described as "definitive victory." Hussein writes that in the terrorists' eyes, because the rest of the world will be so beaten down by the "one-and-a-half billion Muslims," the caliphate will undoubtedly succeed. This phase should be completed by 2020, although the war shouldn't last longer than two years.

(There was an awful lot of poopooing about this "plan" at the time. In the same article der Spiegel wrote "The supposed master plan for the years 2000 to 2020 reads in parts more like a group of ideas cobbled together in retrospect, than something planned and presented in advance. And not to mention the terrorist agenda is simply unworkable: the idea that al-Qaida could set up a caliphate in the entire Islamic world is absurd. The 20-year plan is based mainly on religious ideas. It hardly has anything to do with reality -- especially phases four to seven." Yeah. Ok.)

Bill Roggio wrote about it

As did others

Well done Uncle Barry and friends. Well done indeed.

THIS MAN WILL GET US ALL KILLED

The Caliphate Rising

Back in January 2006, I published this at my first blog site. Excerpt:

From "Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical: Restoration of Caliphate, Attacked by Bush, Resonates With Mainstream Muslims," front-page article in the January 14, 2006 edition of the Washington Post....

I concluded my blog post with this paragraph:

Are we standing before an abyss which we cannot comprehend and refuse to admit the very existence of?

Now, in 2014, Iraq seems to be falling to the jihadists.  $15 billion of our treasure, some 4000 dead American military personnel, and much blood spilled.  For what?

Syria aroil.

A dead U.S. ambassador in Libya.

Various jihad attacks are popping up all over the place.

Five Taliban commanders traded for one PFC.

"The Arab Spring," with whatever purpose it began, represents the push to establish a worldwide caliphate, something for which the majority of Muslims yearn.

And Obama has sent numerous signals that have served to embolden jihad.

Islam respects The Strong Man, and Obama has clearly indicated that he is not A Strong Man.

Clearly, the caliphate establishers are winning. 

How long before we face another 9/11 here on our soil?

Not to worry, though. Obama says (June 11, 2014), and his supporters nod their heads in agreement:

[T]he truth of the matter is that for all the challenges we face, all the problems that we have, if you had to be — if you had to choose any moment to be born in human history, not knowing what your position was going to be, who you were going to be, you’d choose this time. The world is less violent than it has ever been....

Talk about delusion! Or is it something else?

Intercepted Phone Call That The Administration Relied Upon To Claim A "Protest" At Benghazi ALSO CONTAINED ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM AL QAEDA THAT THEY WOULD PROCEED WITH THE PLANNED ATTACK

Sorry if that headline is confusing. Let me unpack it: 

The Administration claims it did have some basis for claiming this attack was somehow related to a "protest" about the YouTube video. 

There was no protest. But they claimed "intelligence" told them there might be some link to a protest. So they're claiming they might have been wrong, but they weren't deliberately wrong-- also known as lying. In error, but not in deceit, they claim. 

Well, we now know the contents of that single strand of intelligence suggesting there might be a protest (which was incorrect intelligence). 

That single strand of intelligence was a message from an Al Qaeda group saying they would go ahead with their planned attack, given there were protests erupting in other parts of the world.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

Al Qaeda Obtains Surface To Air Missiles In Libya

From this source:

AL-QAEDA'S offshoot in North Africa has snatched surface-to-air missiles from an arsenal in Libya during the civil strife there, Chad's President says.

Idriss Deby Itno did not say how many surface-to-air missiles were stolen, but told the African weekly Jeune Afrique that he was "100 per cent sure" of his assertion.

"The Islamists of al-Qaeda took advantage of the pillaging of arsenals in the rebel zone to acquire arms, including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries in Tenere," a desert region of the Sahara that stretches from northeast Niger to western Chad, Deby said in the interview.

"This is very serious. AQIM is becoming a genuine army, the best equipped in the region," he said.

His claim was echoed by officials in other countries in the region who said that they were worried that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) might have acquired "heavy weapons", thanks to the insurrection....

An insurrection that the Obama administration supports in the name of humanitarianism.

One more excerpt from the article cited above:

The Chadian leader described the international military intervention in Libya, launched a week ago by the United States, France and Britain, as a "hasty decision".

"It could have heavy consequences for the stability of the region and the spread of terrorism in Europe, the Mediterranean and the rest of Africa," he cautioned...

Obama: ‘We’re Succeeding in Our Mission

Obama: ‘We’re Succeeding in Our Mission’ … ALLIED WITH AL QAEDA

Posts for Nov 2nd: Drug trafficking, "Solidarity among Muslims", Christian burned for refusing to work as a slave, Karzai on drugs' raid, Greece's parcel bombs, Christian graves vandalised

1. Al-Qaeda, drug cartels and Chávez, united in drug trafficking: Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez differ in many ways, but they share a common enemy — the United States. And according to U.S. officials, drugs help connect and fund the dangerous networks.
2. Iran: "Solidarity among different Muslims' faiths". Of course, Khamenei's fatwa doesn't include non-Muslim faiths...
3. Pakistan: Muslim burns and humiliates Christian who didn't want to work for him as a slave: Yaqub Masih said the young man’s refusal to work in Ghuman’s fields infuriated the Muslim, who was accustomed to forcing Christians into slavery. He said Ghuman considered Masih’s refusal an act of disobedience by a “choohra,” the pejorative word for Christians in Pakistan.
4. Afghanistan: Karzai criticizes US-Russia drugs raid. He called it a violation of Afghan sovereignty and international law. Russia said more than a tonne of heroin and opium, with a street value of $250m (£157m), was destroyed in the raid.
5. Sarkozy among targets of Greece's parcel bombs. Related.
6. Turkey: Christian graves vandalised in the island of Imvros (below). On the night between 28 and 29 October the feast day of the Republic founded by Kemal Ataturk, unknown assailants entered, in the cemetery of the island of Panagia Imvros (Goikocea in Turkish) and seriously vandalised 78 graves. A similar act had been committed in these parts 20 years ago.

Yet Another Gormless Shahid Wannabe Arrested in Virginia

Breaking report on the latest al Qaeda groupie and shahid wannabe's ineptitude exposed by an FB of I sting.


VA. Man Arrested For Plotting DC Attacks
October 27, 2010 - 1:33 PM by: Mike Levine

A Virginia man has been arrested for allegedly trying to help Al Qaeda plan multiple bombings around the nation's capital, according to U.S. officials.

Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Va., was arrested today by the FBI and charged with providing material support to terrorists and collecting information for a terrorist attack.

“It’s chilling that a man from Ashburn is accused of casing rail stations with the goal of killing as many Metro riders as possible through simultaneous bomb attacks,” said Neil MacBride, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Today’s arrest highlights ... our ability to find those seeking to harm U.S. citizens and neutralize them before they can act."

According to an indictment filed in U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, between April 2010 and Oct. 25, Ahmed repeatedly met with individuals he thought were affiliated with Al Qaeda to discuss "jihad."

On May 15, in a hotel room in Sterling, Va., Ahmed told one individual that he might be ready to travel overseas to conduct jihad, but only after he completed the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in November, according to the indictment.

In addition, he agreed to watch and photograph Arlington Cemetery Metrorail station and a hotel in Washington, D.C., in order to obtain information about their security and busiest periods.
In fact, on July 7, he participated in surveillance and recording images of Arlington Cemetery Metrorail station. The next month, he allegedy participated in surveillance of the Courthouse, Pentagon City and Crystal City Metrorail stations outside Washington.

During a meeting at a hotel in Herndon, Va., on Sept. 28, he suggested that rolling suitcases be used instead of backpacks, and he said that he wanted to kill as many military personnel as possible, according to the indictment.

Officials say that at no time was the public in danger during this investigation. The FBI was aware of Ahmed’s activities from before the alleged attempt began and closely monitored his activities until his arrest, according to U.S. officials.

Ahmed is set to make his initial appearance Wednesday afternoon in Alexandria, Va.

Bin Laden: AQ leader calls for creation of new relief body to help... Muslims

My Way:

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden called for the creation of a new relief body to help Muslims in an audiotape released Friday, seeking to exploit discontent following this summer's devastating floods in Pakistan by depicting the region's governments as uncaring.
It was the third message in recent weeks from al-Qaida figures concerning the massive floods that affected around 20 million people in Pakistan, signaling a concentrated campaign by the terror group to tap into anger over the flooding to rally support.
But while the earlier messages by subordinates were angry, urging followers to rise up, bin Laden took a softer, even humanitarian tone - apparently trying to broaden al-Qaida's appeal by presenting his group as a problem-solving protector of the poor.
"What governments spend on relief work is secondary to what they spend on armies," bin Laden says on the 11-minute tape titled "Reflections on the Method of Relief Work."
"If governments spent (on relief) only one percent of what is spent on armies, they would change the face of the world for poor people," he said.

Interesting. Will AQ leader give the money he spents on terrorism to "the poor of the world"? I guess not. If he wouldn't have "listened to Allah's calling", he will be living amid luxury as all the others Saudi multi-millionaires. He's just exploiting (again) Western leaders' culpability complex.

Photo: 20minutes.fr.

Cross-posted from T&P.

Shukrijumah New Head of Al Qaeda Says FBI

"Jafar the Pilot" just got kicked upstairs. According to the FBI, Adnan Shukrijumah, 35, has taken over Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's old job as Al Qaeda chief of global operations, FOX News is reporting. Probably the best go-to for background on Shukrijumah is Dr. Paul Williams, who covered his previous jihadist globetrotting in his 2007 book "The Day of Islam". Adnan is one nasty, and dangerous, piece of work.

Report: New Al Qaeda Leader Knows U.S. Well
Published August 06, 2010
Associated Press

MIAMI -- A suspected Al Qaeda operative who lived for more than 15 years in the U.S. has become chief of the terror network's global operations, the FBI says, marking the first time a leader so intimately familiar with American society has been placed in charge of planning attacks.

Adnan Shukrijumah, 35, has taken over a position once held by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was captured in 2003, Miami-based FBI counterterrorism agent Brian LeBlanc told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. That puts him in regular contact with Al Qaeda's senior leadership, including Osama bin Laden, LeBlanc said.

Shukrijumah and two other leaders were part of an "external operations council" that designed and approved terrorism plots and recruits, but his two counterparts were killed in U.S. drone attacks, leaving Shukrijumah as the de facto chief and successor to Mohammed -- his former boss.

"He's making operational decisions is the best way to put it," said LeBlanc, the FBI's lead Shukrijumah investigator. "He's looking at attacking the U.S. and other Western countries. Basically through attrition, he has become his old boss."

The FBI has been searching for Shukrijumah since 2003. He is thought to be the only Al Qaeda leader to have once held permanent U.S. resident status, or a green card.

Shukrijumah was named earlier this year in a federal indictment as a conspirator in the case against three men accused of plotting suicide bomb attacks on New York's subway system in 2009. The indictment marked the first criminal charges against Shukrijumah, who previously had been sought only as a witness.

Shukrijumah is also suspected of playing a role in plotting of potential Al Qaeda bomb attacks in Norway and a never-executed attack on subways in the United Kingdom, but LeBlanc said no direct link has yet emerged. Travel records and other evidence also indicate Shukrijumah did research and surveillance in spring 2001 for a never-attempted plot to disrupt commerce in the Panama Canal by sinking a freighter there, LeBlanc said.

Shukrijumah, who trained at Al Qaeda's Afghanistan camps in the late 1990s, was labeled a "clear and present danger" to the U.S. in 2004 by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. The U.S. is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture and the FBI also is releasing an age-enhanced photo of what he may look like today.

It's natural he would focus on attacking on the U.S, LeBlanc said.

"He knows how the system works. He knows how to get a driver's license. He knows how to get a passport," LeBlanc said.

Shukrijumah's mother, Zurah Adbu Ahmed, said Thursday on the front stoop of her small home in suburban Miramar, Fla., that her son frequently talked about what he considered the excesses of American society -- such as alcohol and drug abuse and women wearing skimpy clothes -- but that he did not condone violence. She also said she has not had contact with her son for several years.

"This boy would never do evil stuff. He is not an evil person," she said. "He loved this country. He never had a problem with the United States."

LeBlanc said the new charges were brought after the New York subway bomb suspects identified him to investigators as their Al Qaeda superior. The New York suspects provided other key information about his Al Qaeda status.

"It was basically Adnan who convinced them to come back to the United States and do this attack," LeBlanc said. "His ability to manipulate someone like that and direct that, I think it speaks volumes."

Before turning to radical strains of Islam, Shukrijumah lived in Miramar with his mother and five siblings, excelling at computer science and chemistry courses while studying at community college. He had come to South Florida in 1995 when his father, a Muslim cleric and missionary trained in Saudi Arabia, decided to take a post at a Florida mosque after several years at a mosque in Brooklyn, N.Y.

At some point in the late 1990s, according to the FBI, Shukrijumah became convinced that he must participate in "jihad," or holy war, to fight perceived persecution against Muslims in places like Chechnya and Bosnia.

That led to training camps in Afghanistan, where he underwent basic and advanced training in the use of automatic weapons, explosives, battle tactics, surveillance and camouflage.

"What's dangerous about an individual that understands the U.S. is he may have a better sense of our security vulnerabilities and insights into how to terrify the American people using smaller attacks for large, political impact," said Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism research fellow at the New America Foundation. "This increases the risk of attacks outside traditional places we normally worry about like New York and Washington."

Shukrijumah was born in Saudi Arabia. He is a citizen of Guyana, a small South American country where his father was born. His father died in 2004.

While still in Afghanistan, he met another young recruit -- Jose Padilla, an American citizen once suspected of plotting to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb" and now imprisoned on a 2007 terrorism material support conviction in Miami. At one point, according to interrogations of Padilla and other Al Qaeda detainees, Shukrijumah and Padilla were paired in a plot to fill apartments in several high-rise apartment buildings with natural gas and blow them up, but they had a falling out.

"They just couldn't get along. It's like two guys that could not work together," LeBlanc said.

The FBI is still hoping to bring charges in South Florida against Shukrijumah, but key information about him was provided by Guantanamo Bay detainees such as Mohammed, whose use as a witness would be difficult.

"For us, it's never been a dry hole. It's always been an active investigation and it's global in nature," LeBlanc said. "We have never stopped working it."

Room for Rent -- Cheap. . .

Sky News:

Revealed: Iraq Terrorists' Deadly New Tactic
Adam Arnold, Sky News Online

Al Qaeda in Iraq is renting residential buildings and rigging them with explosives in a cunning new tactic which has killed dozens of civilians, officials say.

The ploy has defied thousands of security forces in Baghdad by getting around the mass of checkpoints used to deter car bombings.

The new tactic has forced the police and army to change their own operations to counter the terrorists.

America's military has even come up with a new term - HBIED (house-borne improvised explosive device) for the attacks.

The attacks have also left hundreds of people injured in the past month in the Iraqi capital.

The HBIED phrase follows the IED (improvised-explosive device - homemade bomb) and VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised-explosive device - car bomb) into a terrorism vocabulary started in Iraq and then taken to Afghanistan.

Some 25 people were killed on election day, March 7, when explosives destroyed two buildings in north-east Baghdad.

The US military, which pointed the finger at al Qaeda, said the properties had been rented and deliberately blown up.

Another 35 people died on April 6, when explosives were planted in houses and shops in mostly Shi'ite neighbourhoods.

A number of those properties had been rented days earlier, security officials said.

Major General Qassim Atta, a Baghdad security forces spokesman, said: "Our forces are focusing on the renting of apartments and buildings."

Insurgents were continually looking to exploit gaps in the city's defences, he said.

"They change their methods periodically because most of their plans and tactics have been discovered. I believe they are already searching for another method of attack, maybe churches or bridges."

Counter-terrorism expert Brian Fishman said of the HBIED operations: "The tactic is seen as very disreputable, even among active insurgents."

But he added it allows them "to get around a lot of the tactics developed to prevent car bombs," such as the mass of security checkpoints in Baghdad.

Mirandizing Mutallab "Deprived Our Intelligence Agencies of Valuable Information"

Abdulmutallab's lawyer may prove to be very expensive indeed as security agencies here and in Europe scramble to gather intelligence on probable pending attacks by al Qaeda. More background from the In From the Cold site via The Jawa Report. (Don't miss the inspirational comments from "Guest" on the Jawa site with regard to re-naming of changes in European security alert levels.)

Monday, January 25, 2010
Waiting for the Next Shoe to Drop

It doesn't take an intelligence analyst to understand that the terror threat to the U.S. (and its allies) has increased significantly over the past six weeks. True, there has been only a slight increase in the official "threat" levels in both the United States and the U.K. But a look at events since late December affirms that terrorists are launching new attacks against the west--and security officials are scrambling to defeat them.

The latest campaign began on Christmas Day, with the attempted bombing of that Northwest Airlines flight between Amsterdam and Detroit. During a brief interrogation, the Nigerian suspect, 23-year-old Farouk Abdulmutallab, freely admitted his terror connections and suggested that other operatives had trained with him in Yemen, in a camp run by the local Al Qaida affiliate.

U.S. officials (and their counterparts in the United Kingdom) claim there is no hard evidence of pending attacks. But their actions also suggest that neither government is willing to gamble on the absence of definitive information. Not long after Abdulmutallab's failed bombing, the U.S. reportedly shifted 3,000 air marshals from domestic service, to international flights bound for this country. The move has put such a strain on the air marshal service that personnel from other law enforcement agencies--including the Secret Service and the Border Patrol--are being used to provide security on domestic flights.

The Obama Administration is also trying to plug holes in our intel collection and analysis efforts--gaps that allowed Abdulmutallab to board that flight, despite warnings from his father; terrorist chatter about a Nigerian's involvement in a possible airliner plot, and the suspect's presence on a "no entry" list in Great Britian. There were also missed clues at the Amsterdam Airport, including Abdulmutallab's purchase of a one-way ticket--with cash--and his lack of luggage.

Since then, there have been other, disturbing indications of other attacks in the offing. Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (which sent the young Nigerian on his mission) has promised more strikes, in retaliation for U.S. drone attacks on terror leaders.

After the failed bombing attempt, FBI agents began tracing a Ghana-to-Yemen pipeline that took Abdulmutallab to the Al Qaida training camp. They also initiated efforts to find other terrorists who may have trained with the Nigerian. Earlier this month, British intelligence sources told CBS News that at least 20 other terror operatives might have finished their training at the same time, and departed for locations--and assignments--unknown. Other estimates put the number of terrorists trained with Abdulmutallab at more than two dozen.

Reacting to these events, the British government raised its terror threat to the second highest level (severe) last Friday, saying that an attack was "highly likely," despite the lack of firm evidence. But the threat picture became more clear over the weekend, with the U.K. Mirror reporting that an "unusually high" number of people on no-fly lists had tried to board U.S.-bound jets over the past week. Given that revelation, Britain's elevated security policy seemed entirely justified.

We should also note that the U.K.'s heightened posture was implemented after a conversation between President Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, suggesting that the increased security measures may have been influenced by U.S. concerns.

And, if that weren't enough, Osama bin Laden himself weighed in over the weekend, releasing an audio tape that praised for Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed attack, and promising that more will follow, as long as the U.S. continues to support Israel. While it's highly unlikely that the Al Qaida leader had advance knowledge of the bombing attempt, his message was considered noteworthy for an important reason. In the tape, bin Laden repeats some of the same language heard in tapes that preceded the 2005 terror attacks in Britain, and the 2008 strike on the Danish Embassy in Pakistan. Use of identical phrases in the latest tape suggests it could be a prelude to a new attack, although bin Laden's warnings are sometimes issued up to a year in advance.

Is the U.S. prepared for a new Al Qaida attack--or perhaps, a wave of terrorist strikes? The Obama Administration has issued the usual statements of reassurance, but recent events have exposed holes in our defenses. The decision to "Mirandize" Abdulmutallab after limited interrogation deprived our intelligence agencies of valuable information. Unless the suspect decides to resume his cooperation (don't hold your breath), our spooks and security personnel will be at a disadvantage in trying to determine the limits of Al Qaida's new campaign, and the status of specific attack plans within that framework.

The coming months are shaping up as some of the most decisive--and dangerous--since 9-11.

Ex-CIA Analyst Scheuer Exposes Obama Fallacies

UnderpantsGate Re-Affirms Obama's Feeble Nature

UK Telegraph:

In his weekly radio address yesterday, President Barack Obama patted himself on the back for having "refocused the fight - bringing to a responsible end the war in Iraq, which had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks".

He then told people to remember that "our adversaries are those who would attack our country, not our fellow Americans", before decrying "fear and cynicism" and "partisanship and division" - the code phrases for horrid Republicans used during his 2008 election campaign.

Complacency, faux moralising and partisan shots at Republicans. It was a neat summary of where Obama is going wrong after the Christmas Day debacle when the Nigerian knicker bomber managed to waltz onto a Detroit-bound flight.

For a man who campaigned denouncing the politicisation of national security under President George W Bush, it is worth noting how intensely political Obama's treatment of what might henceforth be known as Underpantsgate has been.

His White House recognised its political vulnerability more readily than it comprehended the level of danger faced by Americans.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father had courageously contacted the American Embassy in Abuja in November and met the CIA station chief to tell him that his son was involved with fundamentalist elements in Yemen. American intelligence had also intercepted discussions in Yemen about a possible attack by "the Nigerian".

The Obama administration knew most, if not all, of this by last Sunday, 48 hours after the attack was thwarted. But the priority in Obamaland was to play things down and take pot shots at the Bush administration. (emphasis added)

Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security chief – who prefers the term "man-caused disasters" to "terrorism" - blithely stated that there was "no indication that it is part of anything larger". She then insisted that the "system is working".

Although Napolitano has taken a lot of flak for these comic utterances, she was not "misspeaking" but trotting out the agreed talking points of the day.

Robert Gibbs, Obama's chief mouthpiece, also stated that "in many ways this system has worked" and would say nothing about a possible wider plot.

In Hawaii, where Obama was holidaying, Gibbs's deputy Bill Burton told the press that "we are winding down a war in Iraq that took our eye off of the terrorists that attacked us" and that Obama was reviewing "procedures that have been in place the last several years" (i.e. Bush instituted them). He added, without apparent irony, that "the President refuses to play politics with these issues".

Meanwhile, the White House was working overtime to build a case against Bush. A source in the White House counsel's office told The American Spectator of memos frantically seeking information that would "show that the Bush Administration had had far worse missteps than we ever could".

Republicans smell blood. There is a pattern in the Obama administration of dismissing Islamist terrorist attacks as regrettable random acts. In his radio address after Major Nidal Hassan's slaughtered 13 at Fort Hood, Texas, Obama made no mention of terrorism or militant Islam, instead blandly promising that the "ongoing investigation into this terrible tragedy" would "look at the motives of the alleged gunman".

Hassan was a committed Islamist who had corresponded with the fanatical Yemeni imam Anwar al-Awlaki. In June, Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, a Muslim convert being watched by the FBI and who had previously travelled to Yemen, murdered a US Army recruit in Arkansas. That rated only a tepid statement by Obama about a "senseless act of violence".

But the violence wasn't senseless, it had a calculated objective - just as Abdulmutallab was not, as Obama described him, an "isolated extremist". No wonder many Americans want to grab Obama by the lapels and scream: "It's the Jihad, stupid." Dick Cheney, the former vice-president, clearly struck a nerve when he charged last week that Obama was "trying to pretend we are not at war".

The White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer eagerly descended into the political fray, responding to Cheney with the obligatory jibe about Iraq and also a litany of examples of Obama's "public statements that explicitly state we are at war".

It's a sure sign that you're losing the argument when you have to research quotes from your boss's speeches to prove that he gets it that America is at war. The problem for Obama is that people are now judging him by his actions as well as his words.

The incompetence of the US intelligence bureaucracy is not the only thing that makes Underpantsgate so damaging for Obama. More serious is his failure to understand or acknowledge the nature of the enemy - and to view war as mere politics.

Yes, it's Bush fault rhetoric, persists into 2010! And of course instituting regulations that would basically counter act the brave actions of fellow travelers on the plane make all the sense in the world in the gum drop land of Comrade Zero, Goose Stepper Napolitano and Al Qaeda's In House Counsel, Eric Holder.

Krauthammer Excoriates Obama

CHRISTMAS DAY, 2009: AL QAEDA MEMBER TRIES TO BLOW UP DELTA FLIGHT ABOVE DETROIT

UPDATED AND BUMPED TO TOP FOR NOW

From Fox News:

U.S. officials say a Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria said he was acting on behalf of Al Qaeda when he tried to blow up a flight Friday as it landed in Detroit.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit.

One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.

The passenger was being questioned Friday evening.

Both of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

The motive of the Christmas Day attack was not immediately clear.

"He appears to have had some kind of incendiary device he tried to ignite," said one of the U.S. officials.

Authorities initially believed the passenger had set off firecrackers that caused some minor injuries.

Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Susan Elliott said the passenger was subdued immediately. She had no details on the injuries. Delta and Northwest have merged.

One passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. She didn't know the person's condition, or whether the person was a man or woman. She referred all inquiries to the FBI.

An FBI spokeswoman said the incident is being investigated. It came just as the flight, an Airbus 330 carrying 278 passengers, was arriving in Detroit from Amsterdam.

Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident happened during the plane's descent. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, "a young man behind me jumped on him."

"Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic," he said.

Rich Griffith, a passenger, said he was seated too far in the back to see what had happened. But he said he didn't mind being detained on the plane for several hours.

"It's frustrating if you don't want to keep your country safe," he said. "We can't have what's going on everywhere else happening here."

President Barack Obama was notified of the incident and discussed it with security officials, the White House said. It said he is monitoring the situation and receiving regular updates from his vacation spot in Hawaii.

J.P. Karas, 55, said he was driving down a road near the airport and saw a Delta jet at the end of the runway, surrounded by police cars, an ambulance, a bus and some TV trucks.

"I don't ever recall seeing a plane on that runway ever before and I pass by there frequently," he said.

Karas said it was difficult to tell what was going on, but it looked like the front wheel was off the runway.

The Homeland Security Department said passengers may see additional screening measures on domestic and international flights because of the incident.

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

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been briefed on the incident and is closely monitoring the situation.

The department encouraged travelers to be observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement officials.

UPDATE:

"The man was apparently already on the government’s no-fly list of suspected terrorists, according to a senior intelligence official."

The suspect told authorities that he had explosive powder taped to his leg and used a syringe of chemicals to mix with the powder that was to cause explosion. This is of concert because it is a method of mixing that is consistent with terror techniques."ABC

More:

"The 23-year-old suspect lighted a powdery substance as the aircraft was preparing for landing,around noon, a federal counterterrorism official said. Two other passengers on the flight noticed, and a third person jumped on the man, the official said."Niger1.com

More:

Delta releases official statement

"Upon approach to Detroit, a passenger caused a disturbance onboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253. The passenger was subdued immediately and the crew requested that law enforcement meet the flight upon arrival. The flight, operated by Northwest using an Airbus 330-300 aircraft with 278 passengers onboard, landed safely. The passenger was taken into custody and questioned by law enforcement authorities. Delta is cooperating fully with authorities and additional questions should be directed to law enforcement officials who are leading the investigation."

Delta Air Lines

CONTACT: Corporate Communications, Delta Air Lines, +1-404-715-2554

Web Site: http://www.delta.com/


MORE:

Rep. Peter King: Nigerian Man Who Tried to Bomb Plane Over Detroit Had "Significant Terrorist Connections"...

According to the AP, the overseas contingency operator's name is Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, thereby crushing the left's hopes that this guy wasn't a follower of the Religion of Peace...

(The Hill)- The suspect in an alleged attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas was on a list "indicating significant terrorist connections," Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said Friday.

King, the top Republican member of the House Homeland Security Committee, described the suspect in the attempted bombing of a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit as a 23-year-old Nigerian national with potential ties to al-Qaeda.

...“He is a 23 year old Nigerian who is also – it’s been confirmed to me – while he was not on a no fly list, his name was on a list for having terrorist connections,” King said during an interview Christmas evening on CNN.

“His name was in a database indicating significant terrorist connections,” King said.

"There's a real worry about terrorist activity in Nigeria, so much so that last year the American government gave body detection technology to Nigeria for their airports," King said. "Their level of security, we felt was not comprable to others."

From Reliapundit at the Astute Bloggers:

WAS INTELLIGENCE ABOUT TODAY'S ATTEMPTED AIRLINE-BOMBING WHAT REALLY CLOSED THE CHUNNEL AND NYC'S PENN STATION?

ON WEDNESDAY WE ASKED:

WEATHER? ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS? OR, TERROR THREATS?

FIRST THE CHUNNEL SHUT DOWN - DUE TO "WINTRY WEATHER".

NOW PENN STATION - DUE TO "ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS".

COINCIDENCE!? OR TERROR THREAT?

ARE WE BEING TOLD THE TRUTH!?

NOBODY ELSE ASKED THESE QUESTIONS.

AND TODAY, THERE WAS AN ATTEMPTED ATTACK ON A JETLINER, OUT OF EUROPE.

[MORE HERE.]

*******CONGRESSMAN KING:

. . . it was a fairly sophisticated device. I would say we dropped the ball on this one."

*******MORE FROM KING:

Of the device used on Friday, he said, “It appears to be different from explosive devices that have been used before. That is perhaps why it escaped detection. Maybe that is why it made it through.”

MIGHT IT BE CONNECTED TO THE CHUNNEL CLOSING OR TO THE CLOSING OF NYC'S PENN STATION?

WERE THESE CLOSING BECAUSE OF SOME SKETCHY INTELLIGENCE ABOUT AN IMPENDING ATTACK ON MASS TRANSIT? AND WAS TODAY'S EVENT THE ACTUAL ATTEMPTED ATTACK?

WE NEED THE MSM TO ASK THE QUESTIONS SO WE GET SOME ANSWERS...

ALSO: HOW WERE THESE CHEMICALS SMUGGLED ON-BOARD?

COULD THESE CHEMICALS HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CATASTROPHIC "CRAHSES" OF ADAM AIR FLIGHT KI 574 AND/OR AIR FRANCE 447?

I would also ask if this ATTACK ON AMERICA was related to the recent Jihadist Dry Runs:

Hmmm . . . Yet Another Dry Run?: United 227 Sounds Just Like AirTran 297

The curious case of Air Tran flight 297

MORE:

From jihadwatch.org The suspect travelled to the US on a suspiciously generous "2 year VISA for a "religious ceremony"".[Spencer adds that ABC amended their report to reflect it was for a seminar]

". . .The visa office should have asked just what "ceremony" that was. Even Lent is only 6 weeks, and Ramadan a month. "

“He didn’t say anything,” said Dennis, who lives in Europe and was connecting to a flight to Arizona. “He was burned very severely on his leg.… He was very calm

CNN's Ali Velshi stops Rep. King from naming Northwest Airlines terrorist

CNN has image/video report of Farouk wrapped in blanket being removed from plane

from pjmedia 100. Ellison:


The Nigerian Al-Qaeda operative, Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, is the 23-year-old son of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, former First Bank chairman and former minister.

Six months ago the prominent banker reported his son’s extremist views and activities to United States’ Embassy, Abuja and Nigerian security agencies.

Nevertheless, a source close to the father of the Muslim jihadist said the father was surprised that after his reports to the US authorities, the young man was allowed to travel to the United States.

A surprise to the father, perhaps, but no surprise at all to the wide-awake US citizens living under the highly aberrational and anti-American Obama regime.

Fascist governments work by design not incompetence.