Dreams Into Lightning

Poland Misses an Opportunity to Keep Quiet, Calls Hezbollah Terrorist Organization

Via Gateway Pundit:

Polish MEPs demand from EU to regard Hezbollah as terrorist organization. "It will be easier to investigate them and monitor their financial transfers in the EU" says Konrad Szymañski, on campaign initiators.

Hezbollach is listed as a terrorist organization in the US, UK and Israel. Brussels objected to such a decision so far. Some other organizations, as the Council of Europe is against any terrorist lists at all, because people being charged for relations with terrorism do not have the possibility to defend themselves. On the other hand experts say that Hezbollah gathers money in EU member states. In the last few days, a Bulgarian parliamentary committee revealed that Bulgarian mafia bosses have financed Hezbollah. ...

Go to the link for the rest.

Yeshiva Shooting Roundup

Arutz Sheva, Thursday, March 6, 2008.

An Arab terrorist infiltrated Jerusalem's Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva at around 8:30 Thursday night and murdered eight Jews. At least 10 students were wounded, including five in serious to critical condition.

Five of the dead were high school students in Merkaz Harav's Yeshiva LeTze'irim [youth seminary - aa], and three studied in the upper-school Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva.

The attacker entered the yeshiva and opened fire on students before he was gunned down himself by a part-time yeshiva student, aided by an off-duty army officer from the neighborhood. The attack began in the seminary's library with the terrorist spraying bullets in every direction before anyone could react.

The part-time yeshiva student who first shot the terrorist, 40-year-old Yitzchak Dadon, said he was in the Yeshiva's study hall when he heard the shots. "Everyone left through a side door," he said, "and I left through a window, and lied down on a roof overlooking the library... When he came out, I shot him in the head twice. I saw him start to stagger, and then David Shapira [a yeshiva graduate and paratroopers officer] arrived on the scene, shot him with his M-16 rifle, and then we emptied our magazines into him."

Dadon later told Arutz-7, "It was terribly frustrating feeling, knowing he was in there shooting, but I could do nothing but wait for him to come out so that I could shoot him... While waiting, I could see some boys in a side room in the library turn off the lights and barricade their door - and though he tried, he was unable to come into the room and gun them all down."

Full story at the link. WARNING: Graphic photos.

Debka: Terrorists defeated Shin Bet defenses.

DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that for almost two years the Shin Bet’s uniquely effective defense system succeeded in thwarting almost every Palestinian terrorist attacks inside Israel. But with the deadly shooting rampage at Jerusalem’s Yeshivat Harav which claimed eight lives Thursday night, March. 5. Israel’s eight-year terror ordeal at Palestinian hands has now taken a new direction. Under the guidance of Iran, Syria and Hizballah, terror planners have learned how to bypass the universally-acclaimed Shin Bet counter-terror system by dispensing with large operational teams which include accomplices who drive the suicide killer to target. The Israeli security service found this set-up highly susceptible to penetration for advance tip-offs of attacks in store.

Thursday’s attack was carried out single-handed by a lone gunman, a local man and Israeli citizen who could move around Jerusalem unnoticed. As a delivery-man, he could conduct his own surveillance and choose his method of attack and its timing. The Kalashnikov assault rifle he used is available for cash in most Israeli towns.

The yeshiva attack revealed that senior terror planners have found they can leave operational details to a lone suicide killer after selecting him, identifying his target and setting the date. In this way, they reduce the chances of leaks to almost zero.

Telegraph: Hamas plotted bloodbath.

There is now a growing prospect of a major military retaliation against Gaza, which is controlled by the militant Palestinian group.

Sources in Gaza said that the Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades instigated the attack by Alaa Abu Idheim, the 26-year-old gunman who stormed the Jewish religious college on Thursday. ...

IMRA: Yitzhak Dadon recalls attack.

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: For some reason, Israel Radio is frequently not mentioning the role of Dadon in killing the terrorist and only mentions the IDF officer who lives near the yeshiva and joined Dadon.]

Yeshiva student who shot attacker recounts moments of horror; 'I was studying when shots rang out'
Aviram Zino YNET Published: 03.06.08, 22:42 / Israel News
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3516039,00.html

A yeshiva student who shot the Jerusalem terrorist says he was busy studying when suddenly shots rang out, prompting him to grab his gun and eventually kill the Palestinian attacker.

"We realized something happened so I cocked my handgun," Yitzhak Dadon told Ynet Thursday evening.

"I went up on the roof and waited for the terrorist. Meanwhile, I saw blood and shattered glass," Dadon said. "The terrorist continue firing in the air, so I waited to see him again, and then I shot him twice in the head."

The Contentious Centrist looks at media bias.

Meryl Yourish has a comprehensive roundup.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the yeshiva; Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wasn't invited.

English-language site by Friends of Mercaz haRav.

Arutz Sheva provides some background on Mercaz haRav.

Merkaz HaRav was founded as the Central Universal Yeshiva by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak [Abraham Isaac] HaCohen Kook in 1924. He saw it as the ultimate Torah center in which to raise Torah scholars and leaders who would help build a modern Torah society in the Land of Israel that would lead to universal and religious redemption.

When Rabbi Kook, who also served as the Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land, passed away in 1935, he was succeeded by his colleague/student, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlop. Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, son of the original founder, took over in 1952, and served until his death in 1982. He was then succeeded by Rabbi Sha'ul Yisraeli and Rabbi Avraham Shapira; the latter took over as sole Rosh Yeshiva when Rabbi Yisraeli died, and Rabbi Yaakov Shapira took over from his father, who died just five months ago.

Merkaz, as it is known, is famous for its very spiritual, Torah-centered, love-of-Israel atmosphere. The vast study hall is packed with books, benches, book-stands (shtenders), and, almost throughout the day and night, students. Many of the students have completed their army service and some are IDF officers.

Thousands of Merkaz graduates saturate Israeli public life as rabbis, rabbinical court judges, army officers, professors, teachers and educators in many dozens of schools and yeshivot around the country. Rabbi Avraham Kook is considered the father of the entire movement of re-awakened religious nationalism.

More about Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. [See update, below.]

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) – first Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael – was a mystic and a philosopher, a preeminent Talmudic scholar and a Lurian Cabbalist, a profound and original thinker, and a saintly tzaddik.

Due to his poetic style and abstract thought, his writings are often difficult to understand, even for those fluent in Hebrew and well-versed in traditional Jewish sources. For the English-speaking audience in particular, his books are hidden treasures whose light has not been fully revealed. ...

Go to the link for English translations, by Rabbi Chanan Morrison, of selected works by Rav Kook. UPDATE: It appears the link to Rabbi Morrison's site is no longer working. For a comprehensive selection of Rav Kook's writings translated into English, please read Gold from the Land of Israel by Chanan Morrison (editor). More here.

At the Rav Kook list, Rabbi Morrison has some thoughts.

The Mercaz haRav Kook homepage (Hebrew) lists the names of the dead. In Roman spelling, from Debka:

Yohai Livshitz, 18, and Neria Cohen, 15 from Jerusalem

Yonatan Yitzhak Eldar, 16, from Shilo

Yonadav Haim Hirschfeld, 19, from Kohav Hashahar

Segev Peniel Avihail, 15, from Neve Daniel

Avraham David Moses, 16, from Efrat

Ro’i Roth, 18, from Elkana

Maharta Taruno, 26, from Ashdod

Zikhronam li'vrachah. Yakar b'einei haShem mavtah lachasidav. May they rest in peace and may their families be comforted among the mourners of Zion.

Imad Mughniyeh

Imad Mughniyeh, the top Hezbollah man in Syria, was sent to meet his virgins by a car bomb in Damascus on February 12, 2008. Dreams Into Lightning is pleased to welcome Mughniyeh to the growing (but with plenty of room for more) list of dead terrorists.

Wikipedia: Imad Mughniyeh.

Imad Fayez Mughniyah (December 7, 1962 - February 12, 2008), also transcribed Mughniyya, Mogniyah, Moughnie, (Arabic: عماد فايز مغنية‎), alias Hajj Radwan, was a senior member of the Hezbollah organization, a militant Shia Islamist group in Lebanon. He was alternatively described as the head of its security section, a senior intelligence official and as a founder of the organization. Sometimes described as a "master terrorist", Mugniyah had been implicated in the 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy, and U.S. Marine and French peacekeeping barracks, which killed over 350, as well as the 1992 bombings of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the kidnapping of dozens of foreigners in Lebanon in the 1980s.

Limited information is known about him. He used the alias of Hajj. Mughniyah is included in the European Union's list of wanted terrorists. and had a US$5 million bounty on the U.S. Most Wanted Terrorist list.

According to his Lebanese passport application, Mughniyah was born in Tayr Dibba, a poor village in southern Lebanon. CIA South Group records state that he lived in Ayn Al-Dilbah; a ghetto in South Beirut. His father was a vegetable seller and during the civil war, his house was on the Green Line.

Little is known about his adolescence, but he is thought to have joined Yasser Arafat's Force 17 in 1976. His role at that time was as a sniper, targeting Christians across the Green Line.[8] At some point, he studied engineering at the American University of Beirut.

Mughniyah has been implicated in many of terrorist attacks in the 1980s and 1990s, primarily American and Israeli targets. These include the April 18, 1983 bombing of the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 63 people including 17 Americans. He was later blamed for the October 23, 1983 simultaneous truck bombings against French paratroopers and the U.S. Marine barracks. The attacks killed 58 French soldiers and 241 Marines. On September 20, 1984, he attacked the US embassy annex building. The United States indicted him (and his collaborator, Hassan Izz al-Din) for the June 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, which resulted in the death of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem. He was also linked to numerous kidnappings of Westerners in Beirut through the 1980s, most notably that of Terry Anderson. Some of these individuals were later killed, such as U.S. Army Colonel William Francis Buckley. The remainder were released at various times until the last one, Terry Anderson was released in 1991.

He had been described as "tall, slender, well-dressed and handsome ... penetrating eyes," speaking some English but better French.

Meir Javendafar at Pajamas Media: Another setback for Iranian intelligence.

The assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Iran’s top man in Syria and Lebanon, should set off alarm bells in Tehran. His assassination, according to Iranian media sources, took place in the Kafarsoose neighborhood of Damascus, close to an Iranian school and the headquarters of the Syrian Mukhabarat (intelligence agency). At first glance, the elimination of such a highly valuable Iranian asset, under the very noses of the Syrians, could be taken as a sign that Western intelligence agencies have managed to infiltrate the once seemingly impenetrable walls of Iran’s intelligence operations abroad. ...

The assassination of Mughniyeh is likely to lead to a major restructuring of Iran’s intelligence operations abroad, and even at home. Mughniyeh was a man who traveled frequently between Tehran and Damascus. Therefore it is very possible that his assassins were tracking his movements inside Iran as well. The worst case scenario for Tehran would be if he was compromised by someone inside Iran, a scenario which Iran’s intelligence agency, known by its Farsi acronym as VAVAK, would quite likely be looking into.

Andrew Cochran at Counterterrorism Blog: Mughniyeh, as remembered by CTB.

It was a fitting end for someone who planned and executed numerous deadly terrorist attacks, including the 1983 bombings of the U.S Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires, Argentina Jewish center. Mugniyah was indicted in the U.S. for his role in planning and executing the 1985, hijacking of TWA Flight 847, which resulted in the murder of one U.S. citizen.

Mughniyeh was also implicated in Hezbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in 2006, which led to Israel's incursion into Lebanon. Contributing Experts posted several analyses at that time about his role in that conflict, including:

"Imad Mugniyah likely behind the capture of Israeli soldiers," by Bill Roggio, July 12: "The sophistication of this attack indicates Imad Fayez Mugniyah, Hezbollah's chief of military operations was directly involved. Mugniyah has a long history of successful military and terrorist operations across the globe. Mugniyah has a history of conducting similar snatch and grab operations against the Israelis."

"Inside Hizballah’s decision-making," by Magnus Ranstorp, July 14: "The file for handling special operations of this kind is usually left to Imad Mughniyeh, the elusive terrorist mastermind for Hizballah, who stands with one foot within Hizballah (reporting to Naserallah directly) and with one foot in Iran inside the architectures of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the al-Qods unit within the Iranian Pasdaran.

See original for links.

The Belmont Club: Mughniyeh killed in Damascus.

[Hezbollah] had recently been resupplied with rockets, shipped under the label of civilian supplies, past the UN Peacekeeping force. Hezbollah was also supposed to have sent reconnaissance teams disguised as journalist to the Lebanese/Israeli border to obtain video footage of certain areas. The strike on Mughniyeh suggests that parallel counterpreparations mirroring those of Hezbollah were simultaneously in progress. Mughaniyeh was regarded as a particularly difficult target. Wikipedia quotes Robert Baer, a former CIA officer as saying, "Mugniyah is probably the most intelligent, most capable operative we’ve ever run across, including the KGB or anybody else. He enters by one door, exits by another, changes his cars daily, never makes appointments on a telephone, never is predictable. He only uses people that are related to him that he can trust. He doesn’t just recruit people."

Across the Bay: Mughniyeh assassinated in Damascus.

To say that Mughniyeh was an Iranian asset is to understate his relationship with the Iranians. He was much more than an asset. He was an organic part of the Iranian regime, answering directly to Khamenei. Just like Hezbollah is itself an organic extension of the Islamic Revolution -- an Iranian ministry as one Iranian analyst told me -- Mughniyeh is like one step above that, answering directly to Khamenei according to some analysts.

As such, this is a big loss for the Iranians. It was perhaps best encapsulated in the statement by Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, who declared that "the march of Jihad against the enemy has lost an essential pillar." Operationally, this adds to the losses suffered by Hezbollah in 2006, which, unlike stockpiles of Katyushas, is much more difficult to replace.

But it's also a huge embarrassment for Syria. As Michael Rubin noted at NRO's Corner, "as important as who was killed is where." Not that we needed this, or Mughniyeh's aunt Fayza for that matter, to know that Damascus is terror central.

Coming a few months after the Sept. 6 hit on their nuclear facility in Deir el-Zor, this hit on a most-wanted terrorist, harbored in a joint Iranian-Syrian location in the heart of Damascus is a major embarrassment for Assad. Regardless who did it, it reflects quite badly on Assad, not long after his secret nuke facility was pulverized. Speculation over who did it only adds to the embarrassment no matter how you cut it, and whether Israel did it or not, the suspicion that it did would once again make a mockery of Assad's and Hezbollah's proclamations regarding the "loss of deterrence" after the 2006 war.

Thomas Joscelyn at The Weekly Standard: A master terrorist is killed.

But here is something that none of the press accounts I’ve read today have reported: Imad Mugniyah played an instrumental role in al Qaeda’s rise. I detailed Mugniyah’s role in al Qaeda’s terror in Iran’s Proxy War Against America, a short book published by the Claremont Institute last year. I won’t go into all of the details again in this post, but here is a quick summary of the relationship:

• Mugniyah met with Osama bin Laden in Sudan in the early 1990’s. The two agreed to work together against their common enemies, including America. Al Qaeda operatives were then trained by Mugniyah and other Hezbollah trainers, as well as Iranian personnel, in Sudan, Lebanon, and Iran. Both the Clinton administration, in its first two indictments of al Qaeda and bin Laden, and the 9/11 Commission found significant evidence of this early collaboration.

• According to Bob Baer, a long-time CIA operative who tracked Mugniyah for years, one of Mugniyah’s goons facilitated the travel of an al Qaeda operative en route to the November 19, 1995, bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. The bombing was among al Qaeda’s earliest operations.

• There is no real doubt that Iran and Mugniyah’s Hezbollah were primarily responsible for the June 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. But the 9/11 Commission also found evidence that al Qaeda may have played some role. Intelligence indicates that al Qaeda was planning a similar operation in the months prior. And afterwards, in telephone conversations that were evidently intercepted, Osama bin Laden received congratulations from his fellow terrorists, including Ayman al Zawahiri.

• Al Qaeda’s August 7, 1998, embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania were modeled after Mugniyah’s bombings in Lebanon in 1983. According to the 9/11 Commission, bin Laden asked Mugniyah for help in executing such attacks and Mugniyah agreed to provide his assistance. Thereafter, al Qaeda adopted Hezbollah’s modus operandi: simultaneous attacks by suicide bombers. Al Qaeda’s August 7, 1998, bombings directly mirrored Hezbollah’s simultaneous strike against the U.S. Marine barracks and a headquarters for French paratroopers on October 23, 1983. In fact, the 9/11 Commission found that some of the terrorists responsible for the embassy bombings were trained by Hezbollah. This is a crucial point: al Qaeda’s most successful attack prior to 9/11--the August 7, 1998, embassy bombings--was modeled after Hezbollah’s operations.

• After the 9/11 attacks, Bob Baer immediately suspected that Mugniyah and his masters had played some role. (I also discussed this in a previous article, "Sy Hersh’s Overactive Imagination".) Amazingly, the 9/11 Commission found that senior Hezbollah operatives were aware of and facilitated the travel of many of the 9/11 hijackers. This evidence was so “disturbing” that the Commission called for a further investigation into the matter. Although he was not named by the Commission directly, Mugniyah was reportedly one of the senior Hezbollah terrorists involved.

Douglas Farah at Counterterrorism Blog: The importance of Imad Mughniyeh.

The assassination of top Shite militant Imad Mughniyeh is important for many reasons, not the least of which was his long-standing ties to Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network and his crucial role as a link between the Iranian special forces and Hezbollah.

It is also interesting to note that Hezbollah, where Mughniyeh was a top strategist for many years, claimed him as their own immediately upon his death, despite denying responsibility in several of the actions for which he is most famous.

Michael Ledeen: Mughniyah.

Hezbollah was a joint Iranian-Syrian operation in which the Iranians ran the organization and Syria provided the base, and logistical support. As I was the first to report, he flew with Iranian President Ahmadi-Nezhad to Damascus for high-level meetings with Bashar Assad and key Syrian military and intelligence officers a while back. So he had very high standing among the terror masters.

Neocon Express: Imad Mughniyeh, the man behind the Beirut Marine barracks bombing killed.

What truly amazes me is that US media are far more fixated today on whether Roger Clemens was injected with steroids years ago, then they seem to be in this huge story involving the mysterious targeted assassination of a man responsible for hundreds of American lives.

Debka: Tehran, Damascus, Hizballah leadership believed coordinating retaliation for Mughniyeh’s death.

Iran, Syria and Hizballah are certain that the bomb planted in the master terrorist’s Mitsubishi Pajero in the heart of the Syrian capital was rigged by the Israeli Mossad. They are therefore most certainly setting up a major reprisal in the form of a terrorist hit or a military assault.

Wednesday night, all Hizballah’s top leaders went to ground. They even gave the mourning tent set up in the Shiite district of Beirut for their dead leader a wide berth.

Our sources report that the long-sought terrorist was finally despatched by a small explosive inserted between the driver’s seat and the back seats, which destroyed only one part of the vehicle. The front and rear remained intact. Mughniyeh was driving alone to a reception marking Islamic Revolution Day at the Iranian embassy in the Romana district.

DEBKAfile’s counter-terror experts note that the way the explosion was set up recalled the method used by the hit team which killed the Jihad Islami senior operative Ghaleb Ghali in Damascus in October 2004. Then, too, Syria held Israel responsible.

In from the Cold: Justice served.

Mughniyeh’s death represents a major blow for Hizballah. Along with his skills in organizing terrorist operations, Mughniyeh was credited with organizing the group’s defenses during the 2006 war with Israel. He also served as a primary liaison between the group and its patrons in Iran. In fact, Mughniyeh also held a position in the Iranian Quods Force, which provides extensive training and support for Hizballah.

Tuesday’s car bombing is also an embarrassment for Damascus, at least officially. A number of terror groups maintain offices in the Syrian capital, and operate there with relative impunity. As the Washington Post observed, the successful effort to eliminate Mughniyeh represents a “major breach” in Syria’s police-state security apparatus.

Remarks. The embarassment to the Syrian regime can hardly be overstated. As I commented on the recent Israeli airstrike on Syria, the message here seems to be "Syria, you are our bitches."

If sources like Stratfor are to be believed, back-channel negotiations between the US and Iran, centering on Iraq, may now be thrown into chaos or scrapped. This doesn't strike me as altogether a bad thing.

The Distribution of Niceness

The Belmont Club:

As I've written elsewhere the process of "reconciliation" doesn't mean mindlessly making nice to everybody -- as some well-meaning persons seem to think -- it means making nice "on average". But the process is also accompanied by an increase in the contrast in treatment between two populations; being a lot nicer to the cooperative and the innocent but also being a lot tougher on the bad guys. While the average "niceness" improves greatly, the distribution of niceness is altered drastically as well.

AP's Bilal Hussein will face charges.

AP:

NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. military plans to seek a criminal case in an Iraqi court against an award-winning Associated Press photographer but is refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented.
An AP attorney on Monday strongly protested the decision, calling the U.S. military plans a "sham of due process." The journalist, Bilal Hussein, has already been imprisoned without charges for more than 19 months.

A public affairs officer notified the AP on Sunday that the military intends to submit a written complaint against Hussein that would bring the case into the Iraqi justice system as early as Nov. 29. Under Iraqi codes, an investigative magistrate will decide whether there are grounds to try Hussein, 36, who was seized in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on April 12, 2006.

Hot Air:

Bilal Hussein is the AP stringer photographer who was arrested in Iraq by US forces in April 2006 and held on suspicion that he had serious connections to terrorists. Trying him in the Iraqi justice system does make sense. Whether he’s guilty or not (and the evidence suggests that he’s as guilty as a Kennedy in a sorority house), his alleged crimes were against the Iraqi people and committed inside Iraq. But the Associated (with terrorists) Press isn’t happy.

Michelle Malkin has a refresher course in Bilal Hussein's career. Please take a moment to go check out those photos, and the accompanying text.

Sweetness and Light recaps Bilal Hussein's oeuvre, and reminds us that "The last two photos are of the heroic “insurgents” who kidnapped and then murdered the Italian national, Salvatore Santoro."

The Belmont Club comments:

The poor performance of government lawyers so far probably means that Bilal Hussein will have better defense lawyers than the prosecution. On the other hand, the plethora of captured insurgent documents and the number of former insurgents who have switched to the coalition side may mean that the government case, if Hussein is guilty, may be unstoppable.

The expression "to the victors go the spoils" is true in more than the military sense. The winners get to write history because theirs by definition is the winning narrative. Bilal Hussein will get his day in court, but the defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq -- which the press is only now and very reluctantly beginning to admit -- means that many of the "freedom fighters" and "Minutemen" they devoted such space to have gone from Hero to Zero in the land between the rivers. This should be interesting to watch.

And I'll be watching it here. Stay tuned.

Cutler on Prouty

Michael Cutler at FSM:

There is cause for great concern about the case of Nada Nadim Prouty, a Lebanese citizen who managed to game the immigration bureaucracy to acquire United States citizenship. By marrying fraudulently, she was able to achieve her goal of becoming a resident alien after she had gained lawful entry into the United States as a student. She eventually became a trusted employee of the FBI and the CIA.

I have a fairly extensive background in this sort of arrangement. When I was with the former INS, I was detailed for about a year as an adjudicator to the unit charged with determining if couples who claimed to be married (in order to enable aliens to become resident aliens) were truly living together or had engaged in a fraud or "sham" marriage to circumvent the immigration laws of the United States. Additionally, when I became a criminal investigator, or special agent as that job is now known, I spent several years assigned to the Frauds Unit of the Investigations Branch of the New York Office of the INS conducting field investigations into suspected fraud marriages.

Recently the Washington Times reported on this case, but their article was disturbing and infuriating in that the news report stated:

"Investigators said Prouty managed to get past three security firewalls.

First, she obtained security clearance and a job as an FBI special agent. Then, she got clearance and a job at the CIA. ABC News said she worked at the agency's National Clandestine Service, which runs covert operations.

And finally, Prouty penetrated the FBI's classified database to obtain information about the federal probe of Hezbollah and of her sister and brother-in-law, who allegedly had ties to senior members of the terrorist group.

The FBI said Prouty passed a polygraph test during her background check but was not subjected to the high level of screening that was adopted after FBI agent Robert Hanssen was exposed as a Soviet and Russian spy in 2001."

This report is not entirely accurate. Ms. Prouty’s odyssey began when she gamed the immigration system to gain lawful immigrant status in the United States; the investigators charged with figuring out how she managed to deceive our government in an almost unimaginable manner are apparently ignoring the fact that the first step she took along the way – ultimately to gain access to the FBI and CIA - was to commit an immigration felony and engage in a marriage fraud. The first firewall was not, as the quote above indicates, obtaining a security clearance at the FBI; it was gaining a green card by committing a felony and entering into a sham marriage.

Read the rest here.

Iran Sanctions: "Master Strategic Strike" at IRI's Financial Machine

Walid Phares at Counterterrorism Blog:

After Andy Cochran's posting, here is a quick comment on the Designation of Iranian Entities and Individuals for Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism Today's documents revealing the US financial measures taken against Iran's military power hits the heart of the regime. The US official document can only be described as a master strategic strike into the financial web of the major power centers of the Iranian regime. See the full document. Following are three points:

The first organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to the document is "considered the military vanguard of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is composed of five branches (Ground Forces, Air Force, Navy, Basij militia, and Qods Force special operations) in addition to a counterintelligence directorate and representatives of the Supreme Leader. It runs prisons, and has numerous economic interests involving defense production, construction, and the oil industry. Several of the IRGC's leaders have been sanctioned under UN Security Council Resolution 1747."

Point One: The Pasdaran is indeed the backbone of the regime. Compare it to a combined Communist Party, Militia and KGB during the peak of the Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union.

The second organization, the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL): According to the report, "the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) controls the Defense Industries Organization, an Iranian entity identified in the Annex to UN Security Council Resolution 1737 and designated by the United States under E.O. 13382 on March 30, 2007. MODAFL also was sanctioned, pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act and the Export Administration Act, in November 2000 for its involvement in missile technology proliferation activities."

Point Two: This is Iran's Defense apparatus. ...

HP-644 - October 25, 2007:

October 25, 2007
HP-644

Fact Sheet: Designation of Iranian Entities and Individuals for Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism

The U.S. Government is taking several major actions today to counter Iran's bid for nuclear capabilities and support for terrorism by exposing Iranian banks, companies and individuals that have been involved in these dangerous activities and by cutting them off from the U.S. financial system.

Today, the Department of State designated under Executive Order 13382 two key Iranian entities of proliferation concern: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). Additionally, the Department of the Treasury designated for proliferation activities under E.O. 13382 nine IRGC-affiliated entities and five IRGC-affiliated individuals as derivatives of the IRGC, Iran's state-owned Banks Melli and Mellat, and three individuals affiliated with Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO).

The Treasury Department also designated the IRGC-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) under E.O. 13224 for providing material support to the Taliban and other terrorist organizations, and Iran's state-owned Bank Saderat as a terrorist financier.

Elements of the IRGC and MODAFL were listed in the Annexes to UN Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747. All UN Member States are required to freeze the assets of entities and individuals listed in the Annexes of those resolutions, as well as assets of entities owned or controlled by them, and to prevent funds or economic resources from being made available to them.

...

Effect of Today's Actions

As a result of our actions today, all transactions involving any of the designees and any U.S. person will be prohibited and any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen. Noting the UN Security Council's grave concern over Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program activities, the United States also encourages all jurisdictions to take similar actions to ensure full and effective implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747.

Today's designations also notify the international private sector of the dangers of doing business with three of Iran's largest banks, as well as the many IRGC- affiliated companies that pervade several basic Iranian industries.

Proliferation Finance – Executive Order 13382 Designations

E.O. 13382, signed by the President on June 29, 2005, is an authority aimed at freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, and at isolating them from the U.S. financial and commercial systems. Designations under the Order prohibit all transactions between the designees and any U.S. person, and freeze any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC): Considered the military vanguard of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is composed of five branches (Ground Forces, Air Force, Navy, Basij militia, and Qods Force special operations) in addition to a counterintelligence directorate and representatives of the Supreme Leader. It runs prisons, and has numerous economic interests involving defense production, construction, and the oil industry. Several of the IRGC's leaders have been sanctioned under UN Security Council Resolution 1747.

The IRGC has been outspoken about its willingness to proliferate ballistic missiles ...

MSNBC Analysis: Osama Reinvigorated on Video Tape

MSNBC:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - When Osama bin Laden resurfaced Friday in a 26-minute videotaped speech, his most important message was one left unsaid: We have survived.

The last time bin Laden showed his face to the world was three years ago, in October 2004. Since then, al-Qaeda 's core leadership -- dubbed al-Qaeda Central by intelligence analysts -- has grown stronger, rebuilding the organizational framework that was badly damaged after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan , according to counterterrorism officials in Pakistan , the United States and Europe . ...

Watch the complete Osama bin Laden videotape at this link.

How tough is John Smeaton?

How tough is John Smeaton?

Who is John Smeaton?

He is BAA's answer to Jack Bauer!

Here's to John Smeaton!

Terrorists: Stupid or desperate?

The latest round of arrests of terrorist wannabes has turned up several well-educated doctors among the suspects; Michelle Malkin is among many offering comments. As a number of folks on the anti-jihad side have said, this should, once and for all, put to rest the leftist claim that terrorists are underprivileged victims who act out of economic desperation.

But intellectual honesty demands that we also re-examine the claim, made by Michael Ledeen and many others, that

the British terrorists don't seem very smart. Or technologically ept. They failed to blow themselves up in London, despite having lots of martyrdom gear. They failed to crash through barricades at Glasgow Airport, and you'd think they might have noticed the obstacles. Beloved Allahpundit remarks, in response to stories suggesting that the failed terrorists came from al Qaeda and received guidance from Iran, that "a joint AQ-Iran operation would have run a lot more smoothly and packed a considerably bigger wallop that these attacks did."

Did you really expect high-I.Q. martyrs? Maybe clever killers, but somebody should have pointed out--long since--that it isn't very smart to blow yourself up. And for the most part, the martyrs haven't come from the best-educated sectors of the population.

Ledeen's statement may be right "for the most part", but clearly the latest batch of martyrs did come from "the best-educated sectors of the population".

So let me point out a couple of obvious facts from daily life: (1) There are different kinds of smart. (2) Smart people can do stupid things. Now, armed with this pair of truisms, I'm going to offer a couple of comments on the recent UK bomb attacks.

First, the general IQ and education level of a terrorist is immaterial. What matters from an operational standpoint is his effectiveness as a terrorist. And by all accounts, the latest British terror plot was hopelessly inept. A couple of recent articles at Stratfor (subscription) give an idea of just how many things these folks did wrong:

Because propane tanks were also used in these attempts, some media sources have suggested the devices were similar to those employed by Iraqi insurgents. While propane is sometimes used in IEDs in Iraq, the devices deployed in the United Kingdom have little in common with Iraq's powerful car bombs, which always involve the use of high explosives. The use of gasoline rather than high explosives to ignite the propane also suggests that the plotters had little experience in designing effective IEDs. [A commenter on a Strategy Page forum notes that propane tanks are equipped with a safety valve to prevent them from exploding.] ...

The bombers likely had no access to explosives or the precursors needed to make improvised explosives such as TATP, which suicide bombers used against London's transportation system July 7, 2005. As a result of the long struggle with Irish Republican Army bombers and the 2005 London bombings, British authorities tightly control the sale of precursor chemicals that can be used to manufacture improvised explosives, and require that nitrogen in fertilizers be diluted. These measures, combined with stepped-up vigilance and public consciousness regarding bulk sales of acetone and peroxide -- two ingredients in TATP -- might have frustrated the latest attackers' efforts to acquire such materials.

Plus, it's hard to blow up your intended target with a car bomb when the car gets towed. But that's another story.

What I am getting from these reports is that the bombers may or may not have been the sharpest tacks in the drawer, but they didn't know jack diddly about making bombs. That's the part that counts. And they were inept because the talent pool of the jihadis has been seriously depleted.

That's the good news; the bad news, of course, is that we can't rest on our laurels. Michael at ThreatsWatch ties it all together:

-The aspiration for large attacks continues unabated. This is knowledge that is readily shared and easily available, and while desire still appears to exceed expertise, the learning curve is flattening and recall that blind squirrels still find nuts.
-Again: Their words resonate. The latest reports indicate that at least in Glasgow the perpetrators are not downtrodden who are acting out in response to real or perceived oppression. If the professional-class is beginning to join in the fight, the learning curve for truly deadly action flattens even more.
-Surveillance is not a failsafe. Domestic intelligence and security in the UK can be tough; tougher in some ways than we can implement here. Yet indications are that the perpetrators were already under scrutiny and were able to move freely even after the first attack. Restricting the liberty of the malicious is a much lesser evil than relieving life from the innocent.
-Their motives are clear. The second bomb in London was reportedly placed to target first responders; a tactic employed by those we are fighting “over there” is moving steadily westward. Now would be a good time to start sharing battlefield lessons-learned with the defenders of our respective homelands.

I've been talking here about the jihadist enemy and about the nuts-and-bolts business of bombmaking. On another front, The Belmont Club has some wisdom on the danger of underestimating the enemy:

The political elite of the West, like the last Manchus, may be have become so blinkered by the long assumption of guaranteed superiority that they have become slower than their supposed inferiors at grasping the possibilities of the 21st century warfare. Methods like cyberattacks and a networked insurgency are pitted against limited pacifist and diplomatic responses often with great effectiveness. Putin's audacity may be vile, but it displays an imagination and a willingness to step outside the beaten track so rare among Western leaders. Just as courtiers in Beijing once thought the Chinese emperor had the right to rule 'all under heaven', today the Eurocrats may believe "International Law" composed in Brussels actually governs the fate of nations and trumps all national political decisions. They forgot what the authority to rule 'all under heaven' was actually based upon though Putin has not.

What does this mean for the future? In From the Cold weighs in on coming attractions.

The idea that Al Qaida wants to stage another 9-11-style "spectacular" is hardly new. A number of analysts who focus on the terrorist organization have long held that Al Qaida needs another, large-scale success, for a variety of reasons. As Strategy Page recently observed, the organization is hardly on a roll; the number of operations tied to the group has declined, and the U.S. troop surge in Iraq is forcing Al Qaida to devote even more resources to that battle--resources that might otherwise be allocated to attacks in western Europe and the United States.

But the bad news doesn't end there. The loss of Al-Anbar Province as a logistical and operations base was a devastating set-back for Al Qaida. Recent clearing operations in Dialya are having a similar effect, and American troops are now moving into terrorist safe-havens in the Baghdad security belts. While the battle for Iraq is far from won, Al Qaida finds itself increasingly on the defensive, in areas that were once terrorist sanctuaries. ...

Collectively, these defeats suggest a terrorist network that has--at best--achieved a bloody stalemate with the U.S. and its allies. And, that lack of progress affects other, critical aspects of terrorism, most notably fund-raising. Successful tracking and prosecution of Al Qaida's financial networks has made it more difficult for sympathizers to give money to the cause, and with the lack of apparent progress in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and elsewhere, some donors may be re-thinking their contributions.

In short, Al Qaida is in something of a squeeze, and needs to prove that it's still capable of large-scale, "spectacular" attacks on the enemy's home soil.

Wretchard points out that 'By bringing to the forces of radical Islam to battle, the US has achieved two things. First, as American critics have pointed out, it has allowed al-Qaeda to generate recruits to fight America. But secondly -- and this is the neglected half of the equation -- al-Qaeda's operations have allowed America to get recruits to fight them. The Anbar tribes are a good example. But from the Horn of Africa to France -- Sarkozy's election being another example -- al-Qaeda's activities have generated a backlash of their own.' In other words, the West may be learning the lessons of the Manchus after all - at least on some fronts. But let's get back to the business of our suicide doctors:

Al-Qaeda's attack cell in Britain consists of 3 or more medical doctors. Using doctors as suicide bombers, as one of the Glasgow attackers appeared to be, especially when they are "cleanskins" is an incredibly wasteful given their potential as sleeper agents or leaders. There cannot be so many al-Qaeda agents that they can afford to use neurologists as hit men. This suggests a certain level of eagerness to make a big publicity splash that is inconsistent with confident strength.

What emerges from all this is that it is not the terrorist pawns who are "driven by desperation", but their masters. They may have started out rich, but they're ending up poor. They may dream of domination, but they are awakening to a fight for survival. They may wish to be "top dog", but ... well, I'll let Strategy Page tell it:

Al Qaeda is having some success in the Western media, and among Moslems living in Europe. But those expatriate Moslems are handicapped by many of their brethren who are not enthusiastic about Islamic terrorism. The police get tips, make arrests, and al Qaeda losses a few more true believers. Al Qaeda is desperate for another highly visible attack in the West. Many such operations are apparently being planned, but by amateurs who can get no help from al Qaeda experts. Most of al Qaedas traveling experts are dead or in prison. Inspiring amateurs to attempt poorly planned attacks, like the recent ones in Britain, only discourage recruits. That's because another bunch of wannabes get sent away for long prison terms. This is a fate worse than death for Islamic terrorists. There are no 72 virgins in Western prisons, unless you consider the fact that you may be turned into one.

JFK Terror Plot Update

Fourth suspect armed, dangerous, and at large.

A fourth suspect in the alleged plot to attack New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, who is still at large, is considered "armed and dangerous," the police commissioner in Port of Spain, Trinidad, said Monday.

   

A photograph of Abdel Nur — a Guyanese man described as 176 centimeters tall with black and gray hair and brown eyes — was distributed after the news conference, held by Police Commissioner Trevor Paul. ...

JFK Terror Plot Update

James S. Robbins at NRO:

Reading the indictment against the four would-be JFK airport bombers, Russell Defreitas, Abdul Nur, Kareem Ibrihim and Abdul Kadir, I was struck by the phrase “together with others” which frequently followed their names. It is on page 1, page 2, page 3, twice on page 4. In the course of the document we are introduced to these others, known only as Individuals A-G. There must be some legal rationale why we can’t know their identities. It surely can’t be to conceal from the Individuals that we know what they were up to; they must have figured out who is which letter by now. But until we know who Messrs. A-G are, we can’t know the extent of the network, or the magnitude of the threat.

Of the six, the most interesting are A and E. “A” is one of the ringleaders of the plan, playing a key role in conceptualizing and promoting it. Yet for some reason, he was not indicted. “E” is even more important — a businessman in Georgetown Guyana, who funds jihadists on their missions and comes across in the indictment as extremely knowledgeable in matters of terrorism. It seems as though he has done this many times before. He served as a mentor for the prospective attackers, but eventually pulled out of the plan when he thought it might be compromised. Good instincts.

“E” is also a friend and associate of Yasin Abu Bakr, leader of the Trinidad and Tobago extremist group Jamaat al-Muslimeen (JAM). ...

Once the case goes to trial one name that may pop up is Adnan Gulshair Muhammad El Shukrijumah — alias Abu Arif, or Jafar Al-Tayar. He is a computer engineer, born in Saudi Arabia, son of a Wahabbist missionary who moved to Guyana when Adnan was three. He later spent many years in Trinidad where he was associated with the Darul-Uloom Insitute, another of the ubiquitous Islamic study centers. He also stayed for a time in south Florida. He has been closely involved with al Qaeda, and it is said he was hand picked by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to maintain the terror network in the Americas. In 2002 he was in Canada looking for “dirty bomb” components, and in 2003 a warrant was issued for his arrest. In 2004 he was named as a prime suspect in a planned attack on the United States, and Attorney General John Ashcroft described Shukrijumah "as the most dangerous of seven Al-Qa'ida operatives suspected of planning strikes in the US." There is a $5 million reward for information leading to is arrest. If word was out in that community about a planned attack on the U.S., Shukrijuma would be someone the plotters would have liked to have met, and vice versa.

Shukrijumah has not been spotted recently, though there was a report that he had holed up with wealthy Guyanese businessman Farouk Razac. Razac had been in and out of trouble with the law for years, on weapons and drug charges mostly. It would be interesting if Razac turned out to be individual E, especially since he was murdered in his home on May 8. His wife, Carolan Lynch, has been charged with the crime, and is also the reigning Mrs. South America. Imagine putting all that together with the JFK plot. If nothing else it’s a great screenplay. ...

Go to the link for the rest.  Robbins echoes Michael Cutler's skepticism at the "homegrown terrorism" label for this operation, and notes a "certain amateurishness" about the plot, as well as a fascination with Abu Bakr's "star power".

JFK Terror Plot Update

Related:  JFK terror plot.  Adnan Shukrijumah, nuclear terrorist.

New items:

CTB:  More like Russell Defreitas? 

Russell Defreitas, the ringleader of the terror group is also identified in the indictment, by an alias "Mohammed." He has been identified as being a naturalized United States citizen. Another of the defendants, Kareem Ibrahim has an alias of "Amir Kareem." These alternate identities are noted in that indictment. Two of the suspects were arrested in Trinidad and Tobago while the fourth is being sought. The fact that these terror suspects were apparently able to move across our borders raises the question as to how they were able to gain access to the United States, presuming that they had been, at some point in time, in the United States.

Additionally, it would appear that our authorities who did a great job in putting the investigation together but that some good luck played a part. The news reports I have heard stated that the terrorists sought the assistance of an FBI informant who immediately contacted his handlers at the FBI and alerted them as to the plot. If indeed this is the way that the plot came to light, then we are fortunate, indeed, that the terrorists reached out to an informant and not someone who was truly sympathetic to their cause. The survival of our nation and our citizens needs to depend on more than luck! Additionally, this case makes it clear that informants are essential to the security to our nation. The cultivation of informants who have access to foreign nationals or who can operate in an undercover capacity to infiltrate a terror cell would be greatly enhanced by having many more special agents at ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Finally, I think that it is important that we also consider how thoroughly employees at airports are screened. ...

Michael Cutler stresses the immigration component of this plot, and questions the label of "homegrown terrorism" as it is applied here.  Full post at the link.

New York Post:  Feds targeted Shukrijumah.

Al Qaeda's so-called nuclear whiz kid - a "tantalizing terror figure" with a $5 million bounty on his head - was the radical big shot investigators had hoped to snag in their 18-month JFK-plot probe, The Post has learned.

The name of "invisible hand" Adnan Gulshair el-Shukrijumah, reportedly the man Osama bin Laden tapped to lead a previous scheme to detonate nuclear bombs simultaneously in several U.S. cities, came up at several points in taped conversations during the probe, according to law-enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.

Three Muslim men were nabbed Friday in the alleged plan to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport - the "chicken farm," as they dubbed it - which involved exploding a jet-fuel pipeline. A fourth suspect is at large.

Given Shukrijumah's notoriety in the terror world and the fact that he grew up in Guyana, as did three of the suspects, probers immediately homed in on him.

"Eyebrows went up," said one law-enforcement source.

"We thought he could be the invisible hand. He's always in the shadows, particularly in [the Caribbean]. He's passed through it, he's known, his name came up in the conversations. ...

US Attack Kills Eight Terrorists in Somalia

Fox News: 'At least eight foreign and an unspecified number of Somali Islamic militants — including at least one American — were killed in fighting with Somali government forces and during bombardment from a U.S. warship on a remote, mountainous northeastern area, officials said Sunday. The fight against Islamic militants in Somalia has moved to the relatively peaceful northeast of the country. Somali government forces and their allies have previously fought the militants only in the country's south. "Foreign fighters, Somali militants and members of the international terrorists including British nationals, Americans, Swedish, Pakistanis and Yemenis were killed in separate operations carried out by Puntland troops and U.S. navy forces," said a Sunday statement by the government of the semiautonomous northeastern region of Puntland.' Full story at the link.

Somali PM Ali Mohamed Gedi Survives Bomb Attack

CNN :  'MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Somalian Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi survived a suicide vehicle bomb blast that heavily damaged his home Sunday, his spokesman said.  A Toyota Land Cruiser loaded with explosives crashed through the security gate of the prime minister's Mogadishu home and exploded, killing six guards and damaging the house that also serves as the prime minister's office, spokesman Abdullahi Odka said.  He said the prime minister was at home at the time, but he was unhurt.'

AP via MSNBC:  'A suicide car bomber drove through a roadblock guarding the home of the Somali prime minister on Sunday and rammed the vehicle into a wall. Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was whisked to safety, officials said, but at least five people were killed in the explosion.  A top government official blamed the assassination attempt — the third against Gedi since he returned to Somalia in May 2005 — on “terrorists linked to al-Qaida.” ... The suicide bombing took place two days after Somali forces and shelling from a U.S. warship reportedly killed eight foreign Islamic militants in a remote, mountainous northeastern area of the country.'

Informant Played Key Role in JFK Terror Bust

Russell Defreitas and his accomplices were foiled with some help from a convicted drug dealer turned informant, according to this article at the Post Star (Glens Falls, NY): 

According to court papers and investigators, the informant began working for the government in 2004, after his second drug-trafficking conviction in New York, and he quickly proved to be a credible source.

He was sent to meet with the JFK plot's alleged mastermind Russell Defreitas in 2006 and was introduced by an unidentified third party. Defreitas quickly accepted the informant as legitimate, saying he was sure they knew each other through a Brooklyn mosque.

The informant was convincing. Defreitas, according to a federal complaint, believed the informant "had been sent by Allah to be the one" to pull off the bombing.

Allah works in strange and wondrous ways.

Russel Defreitas and Homegrown Terrorism

Previous post:  JFK terror plot.

CTB:  'While another plot has been averted, we need to continue to work to combat the radicalization process itself. In many other countries, we may not be the persons best situated to do that. But at home, there means ongoing engagement in Muslim communities locally, to deter extremism, just as such engagement was necessary a decade ago with the domestic militias. We have seen other domestic extremist theats -- from the anarchists to the black militants and Weather Underground of the 1960's to the militias of the early 1990's, quieted after absorbing the horror of one or another civic outrage against the innocent. What we have seen in common with each of these dangerous movements fizzling out is the lost of belief in the underlying ideology that sustained the terrorist fervor, and the integration of persons who once could have been subjects from recruitment into the opportunities of mainstream society.'  Read the whole thing here.

JFK Terror Plot

June 3 - Via IRIS, here's a portrait of this lovely Russell Defreitas fellow from WCBS-TV:  'As a cargo handler at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Russell Defreitas watched military parts be shipped to Israel and believed they would be used to kill Muslims. He seethed with rage against the U.S. and Israel for more than a decade after retirement before finally deciding, authorities said, that he wanted to “get those bastards.” Drawing on his inside knowledge of the massive airport, Defreitas conspired with three men to blow up the airport’s underground jet fuel tanks and its pipeline in a spectacular attack designed to kill thousands in the populous neighborhood, authorities said. ...'  More details at the link.

ThreatsWatch (update - June 3):  'While we investigate, research and analyze developments and background regarding the terrorist plot to bomb fuel storage tanks at JFK Airport, ThreatsWatch will publish interesting details via RapidRecon.  Earlier, Kyle Dabruzzi noted the more troubling stated operation of “to smuggle individuals, including mujahideen, from Asia into Guyana and then into the United States.”

One other interesting and noteworthy item is that the development of the JFK plot included interconnection and cooperation between Shi’a and Sunni terrorist groups. Abdul Kadir, the former Minister of Parliament (2001-2006) in Guyana, is Shi’a Imam in Guyana. The named among his network (see the formal complaint) included Abdel Nur, a Shi’a also from Guyana, and Kareem Ibrahim, a Shi’a imam of “one of the two leading Shia mosques in Trinidad,” according to a report in the Trinidad and Tobago Express. Interestingly, Kadir was arrested trying to make his way to Venezuela, presumably enroute to Iran.'

Full details at the link.

ThreatsWactch (update):

The complaint that was filed against the JFK plotters, Russell Defreitas, Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Kadir, and Abdul Nur, provides some interesting insight into the operational planning of the operation and reveals what might have been a much larger, more dangerous, operation. On page 12 of the complaint, a conspirator referred to as “Individual A” told another conspirator, “Individual E,” that he, Defreitas and an undercover agent, referred to as “the Source” were working on two plans: “one to smuggle individuals, including mujahideen, from Asia into Guyana and then into the United States; and a second to attack the United States where it would inflict the most harm.” As it appears, Individual A’s first priority was to smuggle foreigners into the United States via Guyana, and not to perpetrate the JFK attacks. With the focus of our border protection agencies being fixed on the Mexican border, our homeland’s borders, notably the Florida keys, are significantly more pourous. Additionally, “Amir” Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad, became involved with the JFK plot when Defreitas and the Source traveled to Trinidad to seek assistance. Kareem insisted that he present the plans to his “contacts overseas who may be interested in purchasing or funding it.”

Tammy Bruce:  'One of the more fascinating aspects of this plot is the fact that one of the terrorists was nabbed in Trinidad as he was hopping a plan to Venezuela for a visa to go to Iran. This information from his own wife.'

Debka : 

FBI charges four suspects in Caribbean-tied Muslim terrorist plot to blow up New York’s JFK’s fuel terminal. 

One, a Guyana-born Muslim airport worker, Russell Defreitas, a US citizen, was detained in New York, two in Trinidad to be extradited to the US Wednesday, and one is at large in Guyana. The target covered 40 miles of underground fuel lines running through several residential districts of New York. US district attorney Rosslynn Mauskopf said the devastation would have been unthinkable. The plot was aborted by US and foreign law enforcement authorities at its early stages. The plotters had not acquired the equipment to carry it out. She said US law enforcement agencies proved they were capable of penetrating a secret group. No mention was made of al Qaeda only “radicalized Muslims.” Indictments were filed Saturday.

Defreitas told the FBI the attack would have destroyed the whole of Kennedy international airport and part of Queens and gained the blessing of the whole Muslim world. “Even the Twin Towers can’t touch it,” he said.

The two men arrested in Trinidad, Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, are both Muslims. Defreitas was arrested after unknowingly recruiting an FBI informant. Kadir, a former Guyanan member of parliament, was picked up trying to obtain funds for terrorist operations.

Fox News:

Three men were arrested and one was being sought in Trinidad on Saturday. In an indictment charging the four men, one of them is quoted as saying the foiled plot would "cause greater destruction than in the Sept. 11 attacks," destroying the airport, killing several thousand people and destroying parts of Queens, where the line runs underground.

 

One of the suspects, Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen native to Guyana and former JFK employee, said the airport was a symbol that would put "the whole country in mourning."

The Corner links to the complaint.  The names of the suspects in the John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport terrorist plot are:  Russell Defreitas (aka Mohammed), Kareem Ibrahim (aka Amir Kareem), Abdul Kadir, and Abdel Nur.  Persons who had bets on the theory that at least one of the alleged plotters is named Mohammed will be grateful to Mr. Defreitas.

Arutz Sheva:

The FBI has arrested three Muslims, and a fourth was being sought, for planning a major terrorist attack at JFK International Airport in New York. The terrorists were planning to sabotage a gas line that runs from a plant in Linden, New Jersey, directly to the airport, either blowing it up or otherwise using the gas to explode buildings in the airport. The line is the main jet fuel supply feeding the airport. “The damage that would have been caused would have been unthinkable,” a Justice Department official said.

The suspects were Muslim immigrants to Guyana and the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

Update from In From the Cold:

Press conference in New York is finally underway; video available on tape delay, due to technical issues at the site. Amid the congratulations from law enforcement and prosecutors, we're learning more about the plot. Indications that Defreitas may have been planning to leave the country, prompting the FBI to arrest him, and spring the trap on other suspects in Trinidad. Additionally, "reading between the lines" of various comments, it sounds like Defreitas and the former Guyanan official may have been facilitators. U.S. attorney talked about the "support" the former official could provide. That suggests that this cell may have been paving the way for the attack, perhaps by operatives from the Middle East. They would enter the U.S. with phony papers from Guyana (procured by that former official), while Defreitas provided the intelligence and surveillance required for the plot.

CTB:

Jamaat-al-Muslimeen (JAM) is a Trinidad & Tobago homegrown political/Muslim organization that was involved in a bloody (by Caribbean standards) coup attempt in 1990 that resulted in the death of 19 people. The leader, Abu Bakr, is still in T&T and is somewhat of a hot potato politically. He is known to spew some wild allegations and poses more of a threat to T&T via kidnappings and robberies than terrorist acts. He once claimed to have a nuclear device on the north end of T&T. Bakr (whose real name escapes me now) still appears in T&T news trying to enter the political arena. He has been linked to several deaths and kidnappings of former JAM members, some of whom have split from JAM and formed a spin off movement against Abu Bakr.

Many JAM members fled to Brooklyn in 1990 and started their own narcotics organizations when the coup failed. Obviously their adherence to Islam did not outweigh their greed. I always thought they were more of a gang then a dedicated extremist organization. Despite what maybe stated in today's news, they do not have obvious direct links to al-Qeada. The only link maybe Adnan El-Shukri-Jumah, al-Qaeda's operative who had distinct links to T&T and Guyana and may have been assisted by JAM members.

Guyana and Haiti have a significant extremist element with a particular Haitian Muslim having links to an Iranian backed cleric linked to the Tri-border area in South America.

JAM is not al-Qaeda, but should be watched closely, which the NY-JTTF does.

Black TV ...

... and no, we don't mean BET.

The Belmont Club:

The Small Wars Council has an interesting set of comments on the counterinsurgency campaign in Anbar. It raises several questions without quite answering them, but the questions themselves are valuable to consider, whether or not we know the answers. First: apparently the Anbar tribes have quit "playing both sides" and come down on the side of the US. What does that suggest about who tribes think is going to win?

Paging the Department of Strong Horses ...

Wretchard goes on to cite this post at Talisman Gate:

I was wondering how the current spate of jihadist-on-jihadist strife is going to be revealed to the public at large, but I never contemplated that it will be done on a jihadist satellite station, Al-Zawra, and through the person of the slimy nutcase who owns it, Mishaan al-Jebouri.

Al-Zawra TV had become the premier jihadist propaganda tool; it was mostly focused on entertainment programming but began to air pro-insurgency rhetoric after Jebouri was stripped of his parliamentary immunity on charges of corruption and aiding the insurgency. What Al-Zawra basically did was to retransmit the jihadist videos that are being posted on the internet—mostly scenes of attacks on U.S. soldiers and Iraqi troops—to a much larger pan-Middle Eastern audience through the use of satellite technology; an audience that for the most part is not connected to the web. This made Al-Zawra immediately popular across the region, and it was being lauded by jihadists everywhere, even though some had expressed doubts over its ‘opportunistic’ management.

But a few days ago, Al-Zawra began running some anti-Al-Qaeda messages in its news ticker, and the jihadists began to mumble and some even penned invectives against al-Jebouri.

Yesterday, however, Al-Jebouri gave a whole anti-Al-Qaeda speech and this drove the jihadists berserk: the premier jihadist organ had begun to badmouth the jihad!

Read the rest at the link. Wretchard comments:

Apart from the fact that al-Jebouri's rant sheds light onto why the Anbar tribes may have decided to throw in with the US; and why al-Qaeda's doctrinal fixity may have cost them in "degrees of freedom"' and why the US counterinsurgency in Anbar may be outhinking, as opposed to outgunning the enemy -- it also raises the question of whether al-Zawra is a Black TV station. For those who recall the history of the Second World War, Black Stations were Allied radio station which impersonated enemy radio by initially broadcasting enemy propaganda and later subtly shifting the message to Allied ground. In this case, al-Zawra might have broadcast Jihadi video to win an audience and then used it as a forum to broadcast grievances against the brutal al-Qaeda. Classic bait and switch and pretty damned brilliant -- if it's a Black Station.

Are we really that subtle, conniving, and sinister? I sure hope so. You be the judge. Read the rest here.

California Muslim School Was Terrorist Front

Jeremayakovka reports:

Gates of Vienna reports and comments on the San Jose Mercury News 's in-depth coverage of Khadijah Ghafur's peculiar pecuniary sleights of hand -- which as of last year landed her in prison for supporting jihad in central Asia.

Curious to note is that Ms. Ghafur -- f/k/a Deanna Moton -- had founded an Islamic enclave in rural California, "Baladullah" ("City of God") which, Although the nearest neighbor was miles away, the SJMN reports, the property was surrounded by a fence and occasionally guarded by young men with guns. ...

Read the rest, including JMK's reflections on the Civil Rights era, at the link. And don't forget to bookmark Jeremayakovka.

Means Versus Ends

Syrian heretic Amarji nails it:

“We do not hesitate to sacrifice our children in the name of our righteous struggle." The Illustrious Mullah said.

Methinks this has always been the problem with our national and religious heroes – they tend to sacrifice their children rather than themselves for the sake of the cause. I, on the other hand, tend to think that the well-being of my children and their generation is the cause.

Yes, I know, the insistence on fighting on against invaders and oppressors and all sort of injustice does carry an element of real risk for the lives of those who believe in the cause, as well as their family members, their friends, and often even, innocent bystanders who just don’t want to be involved (regardless of whether this attitude is right or wrong moral or immoral), but for ideologues like Nasrallah the risk involved needs often to be made a reality, a reality which they can wield to increase their power. Hence the way his statement was phrased: “We do not hesitate to sacrifice our children in the name of our righteous struggle," instead of saying something like: “We will fight on against injustice and occupation even if there is a risk for ourselves and our families.”

Read the whole thing at the link, and don't forget to bookmark Amarji.

Eilat Terror Attack - January 29, 2006

The following post on the Eilat, Israel attack will be updated as new information becomes available.

Debka:

'Israeli military and security chiefs fear first Palestinian suicide bombing in Eilat, which killed 3 Israelis Monday, signals deadly new wave funded from Tehran and Damascus. The bomber, Mohamed Faisal al-Siksik, 21, from Gaza, blew himself up in a bakery in the Red Sea resort of Eilat Monday, Jan. 29, killing the two proprietors and a third Israeli. This was the first such attack the holiday paradise has ever experienced. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that the next wave of suicide attacks is expected to be mounted from Gaza and Sinai by the Palestinian Jihad Islami in conjunction with local al Qaeda cells with funding from Tehran and Damascus. Although two Palestinian groups – Jihad Islami and Fatah-al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed the attack, DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources disclosed it was in fact the first joint operation of the third group, the Army of Believers – an al Qaeda cover name – and Jihad Islami of the new anti-Israel terror offensive. A senior Israeli officer familiar with the Israeli-Egyptian Sinai border region told DEBKAfile after the Eilat attack: “Olmert and Peretz have missed the train. Their policy of military restraint in the face of Qassam missile attacks and a terrorist build-up has given the most violent elements free rein to get set for a fresh, well-organized assault.” Some attacks may also come from the sea. He stressed: “It’s no use expecting the Egyptians to secure the Sinai border. Since Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip 15 months ago, the Egyptian-Gazan-Israeli borders are a highway for smugglers of terrorists, missiles, explosives and traffickers of every kind. The IDF is the only force capable of putting a stop to this traffic and suppressing the collaboration between Hamas, Jihad Islami, Fatah-al Aqsa Brigades and al Qaeda. Unfortunately, its hands are tied by the government.”'

Arutz Sheva:

For the first time, a suicide terrorist detonated himself in the southern port city of Eilat. After he hitchhiked to the city, the man who innocently drove him called the police - but too late.

Three Jews were murdered, and five people were treated for shock.

Initial reports implied that the explosion inside a small bakery in Eilat around 9:45 AM was caused by a gas canister explosion. However, shortly after 10:30, the police abruptly issued an announcement saying that it was the work of an Arab suicide terrorist. The police announced that the murderer had entered the bakery carrying a large bag and detonated himself. Three dead were reported, in addition to the terrorist himself.

The Al Aksa Brigades of Fatah - an arm of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization - and Islamic Jihad have claimed joint responsibility for the murderous attack. In general, Fatah's Al Aksa Brigades has shared responsibility with Islamic Jihad for the terror attacks against Israel over the past two years.

MK Levy urges response: 'National Union-NRP MK Yitzhak Levy urged Israel to react to the suicide bombing attack in Eilat, saying the government policy of restraint is a failure. "I believe that the government is erring by acting with restraint. We need to set a price tag for attacks like this," he said.' Eilat's mayor responds: 'Meir Yitzhak Halevi, mayor of Eilat, called the fact that suicide bombers had managed to infiltrate the city "very disturbing," and said that he hoped that city officials would soon have all the information necessary to address the threat.' Internal security minister cites infiltration: 'Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter said Monday afternoon that the bomber who killed three Eilat residents in a suicide attack on Monday morning had infiltrated Israel from Egypt, echoing the conclusion of all of the Israeli intelligence agencies.' A reservist who gave the terrorist a ride became suspicious: 'An Israeli reservist who gave a ride to Muhammed Faisal al-Saksak, the suicide bomber who killed three people in Eilat on Monday morning, said Monday evening that he had suspected al-Saksak was up to something, but that he could do nothing until the terrorist got out of the car. Lt.-Col. (res.) Yossi Voltinski said in an interview with Channel 10 that he had told the man to get out before reaching his destination. "Still, unfortunately, he succeeded in his plot," Voltinski lamented. "He succeeded in killing innocent people, and I don't feel good about that."' IRIS: 'The southern resort city of Eilat has had its first suicide bombing, thanks to the decision of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert to turn over Gaza to Islamists. Precisely as I predicted the terrorist strategy was two-pronged: arm Gaza and then use that base to move terror into Israel. In this case, the suicide bomber apparently travelled from Gaza across the now open border to Egypt, and then through the desert border into Israel.'

Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post:

Immediately following the disengagement from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, security officials began warning of the creation of a "terror triangle" connecting the Gaza Strip, Egypt and Israel.

With Israel out of Gaza and deployed tightly along the security fence, terror groups found it impossible to infiltrate into Israel in the traditional way - infiltrating settlements or IDF outposts inside and just outside the Strip. Now, their only way to launch attacks against Israel was with Kassam rockets - launched periodically at the Western Negev - and by sending terrorists to the Sinai and then across the border and into Israel.

With the attack scenario in hand, the IDF drew up a plan called "Hourglass" which called for the erection of an electronic fence along the 220 kilometer border with Egypt from Rafah until Eilat. In 2005, then-prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the border together with Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and called for the establishment of a barrier at least in the 50 kilometer area near Eilat. In the end however, only NIS 100 million - out of the NIS 1.5 billion needed - was transferred by the government for the entire project.

On Monday, Israel's hourglass ran out, although senior officers predicted that the lone suicide attack would not be enough to prompt the government to begin dealing with the strategic threat knocking on Eilat's front door. ...

Debka: 'DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose that the Jihad Islami leader returned to the Gaza Strip on Jan 19 after a six-month absence in Damascus, Beirut and Tehran, during which his Syrian and Iranian masters appointed him chief of the organization in place of Abdallah Ramadan Shelah.

He arrived in Gaza carrying a large sum of cash allocated by the two governments for building a new terrorist militia in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Sinai in conjunction with al Qaeda. The Islami Jihad plans to reinvent itself from an underground terrorist group to a military militia, like the Hamas special force. None of the authorities controlling the border terminal to the Gaza Strip, Israeli, Egyptian or European, interfered with al Hindi’s entry.

In Damascus and Beirut, the Jihad leader consulted with Qaeda elements operating in the Palestinian camps of Lebanon, under the title Fatah-Brigades of the Islamic Sword, the coming terror campaign against Israel. The Lebanon-based al Qaeda network maintains close operational ties with al Qaeda’s Gaza cell, which calls itself the Islamic Army and which participated in the kidnap of the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit last June. The Islamic Army holds joint custody over the Israeli captive with Hamas. In his exchanges, al Hindi most likely worked on the details of the Eilat suicide bombing.'

UPDATE: 2200Z.

A7: IDF preparing response to bombing. "\'Defense Minister Amir Peretz has ordered the IDF to prepare for a counter-terrorist operation in the aftermath of Monday’s suicide bombing in Eilat. Peretz declared that no ceasefire will keep Israel from responding to terrorist attacks. Peretz met in Jerusalem with senior officers from the IDF and the General Security Services after the attack, which left three civilians dead and five in shock after a 21-year-old unemployed construction worker from Gaza blew himself up in the popular resort city. It is believed that the IDF will focus on destroying tunnels which lead from Gaza to Egypt and which are used by terrorists to smuggle weapons and infiltrate Israel. However, Peretz said he has no intention of giving details at this time, and will state only that the operation will be “against those who carry out terrorist activities.” ...'

YNet: Bombing victim Israel Samoliya identified. 'The name of one of the casualties in Monday's terror attack in Eilat was cleared for publication. The man, Israel Samoliya, an Eilat resident, was working at the bakery were the explosion took place. Samoliya's family, who lives in Miami, Florida, were notified of his death. Two other people were killed in the attack, their names have not yet been cleared for publication.'

UPDATE: 2300Z.

The Belmont Club: Actually aimed at other Palestinian factions." 'The interesting thing about the recent suicide bombing in Eilat, Israel -- which killed three persons at a bakery -- was that it wasn't aimed at Israel at all, except incidentally. The bombing was actually aimed at other Palestinian factions. The attack on Israel was an attempt to redirect days of continuous internal fighting to where it properly belonged. If properly is the word. Back to killing Jews. ... But Palestinian Jihad raised a valid point when it declared that the real problem was to "point the guns toward the occupation". The only part it has gotten wrong is in the identity of the occupiers. It is the army of thugs who have been coddled, funded and appeased by a timid and politically correct West who are the real occupiers of Muslim lands today.'

UPDATE: January 30, 0200Z.

CTB: First suicide attack in Eilat. 'The implications of today's suicide attack are multiple: first the Israeli government will be under pressure to act because it cannot allow one of its largest revenue source to be tarnished, i.e. tourism, second it seems almost sure now that the bomber did not come from Jordan as initially reported but rather from Egypt. Indeed Jordanian and Egyptian sources have confirmed this. According to TV station Al Arabyia, Egyptian authorities have recently arrested two members of that three men commando which was to strike in Eilat. ...'

JPost: Names of all three victims released. 'The names of all three victims of Monday's suicide bombing in an Eilat bakery were released for publication on Monday night. The two owners of the bakery, Amil Elimelech, 32, and Michael Ben Sa'adon, 27 were killed in the attack as well as one of their employees, Israel Samolia, 26. Elimelech was married with two children while Ben Sa'adon was married with one child. Samolia was an immigrant from Peru. His family, currently residing in Miami, was notified of his death by the Israeli consul.'

RELATED: Morning Report, January 29, 2007.

US, Iraqi forces kill terrorists in Najaf.

Reuters: 'U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 250 gunmen in a fierce battle involving U.S. tanks and helicopters on the outskirts of the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf on Sunday, a senior Iraqi police officer said. The day-long battle was continuing after nightfall, Colonel Ali Nomas told Reuters, as tens of thousands of pilgrims converged on the nearby city of Kerbala for the climax of the Ashura commemorations. A U.S. helicopter was shot down in the fighting, Iraq security sources said. The U.S. military declined comment. A Reuters reporter saw a helicopter come down trailing smoke.'

Wizbang: 'The US military isn't commenting on the helicopter that crashed because the mission is still ongoing, but I expect we'll have more successful missions where we send terrorists to their waiting virgins. The question is will the media actually report on our and the Iraqi troops' successes or will they completely ignore them?'

Debka: 'The US military confirmed the downing of the helicopter and the death of the two-man crew in fighting near Najef as hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims converged on the Shiite shrine city of Karbala for the Ashura festival marking the 7th-century Battle of Karbala. The governor of Najef said Iraqi troops fought all day with hundreds of Sunni gunmen, including foreign fighters, who had plotted to murder Shiite clergy on the 10th day of the festival which falls on Monday. About twenty were captured, including a Sudanese national. They said they belonged to the Army of Imam Ahmed al-Yemeni.'

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