Terrorism Archives

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Seattle ferry "unusual behavior" persons: where are they from?

I don't want to get into the issue of the two persons who supposedly have been exhibiting "unusual behavior" on a ferry in the Seattle area except to point out that the photos (seattle.fbi.gov/pressrel/2007/public082007.htm) to me seem to say "We are from a land or neighboring lands formerly associated with the Soviet Union." I have a few leading possibilities, but what say you, bearing in mind that almost all people from whatever countries named are not terrorists or sympathizers thereto and that the people in the photo may be completely innocent, etc., etc., etc., etc.?

Posted at 09:56 PM

"Osama bin Laden May Have Chartered Saudi Flight Out of U.S. after 9/11"

From this:

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released new documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") related to the "expeditious departure" of Saudi nationals, including members of the bin Laden family, from the United States following the 9/11 attacks. According to one of the formerly confidential documents, dated 9/21/2001, terrorist Osama bin Laden may have chartered one of the Saudi flights.

The document states: "ON 9/19/01, A 727 PLANE LEFT LAX, RYAN FLT #441 TO ORLANDO, FL W/ETA (estimated time of arrival) OF 4-5PM. THE PLANE WAS CHARTERED EITHER BY THE SAUDI ARABIAN ROYAL FAMILY OR OSAMA BIN LADEN…THE LA FBI SEARCHED THE PLANE [REDACTED] LUGGAGE, OF WHICH NOTHING UNUSUAL WAS FOUND."

...Moreover, the documents contain numerous errors and inconsistencies which call to question the thoroughness of the FBI's investigation of the Saudi flights. For example, on one document, the FBI claims to have interviewed 20 of 23 passengers on the Ryan International Airlines flight (commonly referred to as the "Bin Laden Family Flight"). On another document, the FBI claims to have interviewed 15 of 22 passengers on the same flight...

Posted at 04:09 PM

NYT: the ACLU vouches for CAIR

Neil MacFarquhar of the NYT offers a two-screener about unnamed sources running down CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations). That's the organization whose spokesman said in 1993 that he'd like to see the U.S. adopt sharia law; the NYT fails to include that quote, and they also fail to find any links between CAIR and terrorist organizations. I'll leave it to others to discuss the various shortcomings in the article, only pointing out this:

CAIR and its supporters say its accusers are a small band of people who hate Muslims and deal in half-truths. Ms. Boxer's decision to revoke the Sacramento commendation provoked an outcry from organizations that vouch for the group's advocacy, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the California Council of Churches.

"They have been a leading organization that has advocated for civil rights and civil liberties in the face of fear and intolerance, in the face of religious and ethnic profiling," said Maya Harris, the executive director of the A.C.L.U. of Northern California.

Well, if a far-left, frequently anti-American organization that opposes our immigration laws and has an indirect link to the Mexican government and that was founded by a Communist vouches for them, then they must be OK! But, who will vouch for the ACLU? Quick, get the SPLC on the line!

In another context, I might assume that promoting the ACLU as the bearer of truth was simply liberal propaganda. However, in this case I think it was unintentional: the NYT is so very steeped in "liberalism" that they think the ACLU is actually in a position to vouch for anyone.

Posted at 07:42 PM

"CAIR Welcomes TSA Hajj Sensitivity Training"

Via this long article we learn that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has issued a press release (shown above) with the wonderful news that the TSA has received "sensitivity training" from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in regards to travelers on the Hajj. The release at the TSA's site is basically the same as that from CAIR. That organization is so bad that even Salon has done an expose on them and even - gasp - Barbara Boxer has distanced herself from them.

The press release quotes Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR:

"We welcome the fact that airport security officers nationwide will now be better informed about Islamic traditions relating to Hajj... This proactive effort on the part of the Transportation Security Administration demonstrates that there is no contradiction between the need to maintain airline safety and security and the duty to protect the religious and civil rights of airline passengers."

Here's an earlier quote from Hooper:

"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future... But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."

Posted at 08:25 PM | Comments (1)

USA Today, Virgil Goode, and Muslim hearts and minds

The level of discourse swirling around Virgil Goode's comments regarding Muslim immigration is abysmally low. All of the sources that I've seen a) deliberatly misunderstand what Goode was saying by pointing out that Keith Ellison is not an immigrant, and b) deliberately avoid the main issue.

The main issue is immigration by Muslims, and what limits and requirements we should place on that. Should we allow unfettered immigration from Muslim countries? Would those who criticize Goode care to affirmatively argue for importing one million devout Muslims from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Pakistan? If they aren't willing to do that, then they're just doing a Politically Correct dance around the main issue.

A case in point is the USA Today editorial "Ugly voices tarnish debut of Congress' first Muslim: Swearing-in of Minnesota's Ellison is chance to win hearts and minds." Let's all join hands and sing it... together:

Keith Ellison's election to the House, as the chamber's first Muslim, provides the United States with a grand opportunity to showcase its credentials as a nation of opportunity, equality and diversity.

What a great story to tell the Muslim world...

Ellison upped the chance to polish America's image for religious tolerance, as well, when he said he'd use Islam's holy book, the Quran, at his ceremonial swearing-in this week.

...Tolerance and religious freedom are at America's heart. So is the nation's embrace of people from all countries and cultures.

Wonderful, wonderful words. Somewhat like a love sonnet I might write to a supermodel. She, unfortunately, might respond with a TRO.

In other words, if we import people who do not buy into said "tolerance and religious freedom", then we're negligently endangering said "tolerance and religious freedom". It's a two way street, but USAToday is only looking one way.

Posted at 12:36 PM | Comments (2)

"Keith Ellison for Dummies"

As many other sources have discussed, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) recently sent a letter with the following:

"...We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country... I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped..."

This site isn't ready to fully endorse his statements, but we take a more historical, non-PC view of the matter.

In any case, these statements were in relation to newly-elected Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim in Congress and a Democrat.

As might be expected, the completely non-liberal MSM has condemned Goode's comments and treated Ellison with kid gloves. Therefore, while I regret linking to Powerline, they've apparently been covering this matter from a more fact-based position, starting here. That has some puffball questions Wolf Blitzer asked him in a recent interview, as well as linking to their previous entries "Keith Ellison for Dummies" and "Louis Farrakhan's First Congressman."

Posted at 11:21 AM | Comments (1)

Silvestre Reyes knows less about terrorists than many bloggers

Is al Qaeda Sunni or Shia?

What about Hezbollah, are they Sunni or Shia?

Many bloggers could get those right (Sunni and Shia, respectively).

However, Democrat Silvestre Reyes - Nancy Pelosi's choice to be the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee - did not know the answer to either question.

Posted at 12:05 PM | Comments (6)

Large cell phone purchases in Huachuca City and Tucson AZ; Nashville

From this:

...Reports of large numbers of cell phones purchased have occurred this month in Caro, Mich.; and Midland, Texas. Suspicious parties in those instances were of Middle Eastern descent.

Another incident under suspicion occurred on April 21 in Huachuca City. At 3:30 p.m., town police responded to the Dollar General Store on Highway 90 to a report of suspicious activity regarding two men purchasing more than 300 Tracfone-brand cell phones.

According to the Huachuca City dispatch records, two California men were traveling in a black 2001 Ford Explorer.

The vehicle contained about another 700 such cell phones in addition to those that were purchased at the Huachuca City Dollar General Store, Police Chief Dennis Grey said.

They weren't arrested because, obviously, buying a lot of cellular telephones isn't a crime. The FBI did, however, retrieve some of the discarded packaging. And, we're informed that not only could the phones be used to detonate bombs, but the lithium in the batteries can be used to make meth.

And:

Last weekend, a suspicious cell phone shopping spree took place in Tucson.

A concerned caller told the Tucson police dispatch that two men apparently of Middle Eastern descent purchased an unusual amount of cell phones at the Sam's Club in the 4600 block of North Stone, said Tucson police Sgt. Decio Hopffer.

And, the - dare I say it - statists at GovExec reprint an email from a reader without comment. I'm going to assume they do so sarcastically, although one person owning 12 cellphones would seem to be a bit odd:

I live in Northern Georgia and required transportation to Nashville, The VA sent a cab service to pick me up just south of Chattanooga and for 3 hours I listened as my driver talked to many different people via his many cell phones, I also had to listen to him explain the Koran and his religious beliefs. This only raised my level of awareness of his and many others involved in his group. I reported this to the VA upon my arrival, nothing was done other than the transportation personal calling the dispatcher of the cab company and complain of the cab driver pushing his religion on me. When it was time to return home I recieved yet another arab speaking driver who like the first had many cell phones, and for 3 hours the driver spoke to 30 different people on 12 different phones. I really don't think these people are family and he's not calling to ask whats for dinner. You have too many people talking about it and doing little to improve our security. Start taking a look right under your noses and see whats going on.

Why do I get the same feeling from this whole thing that I got from the whole Israeli Art Students craze?

Previously:
Do hundreds of cellphones imply terrorism?
Georgian illegal alien with 15 pre-paid cell phones held in Pennsylvania

Posted at 06:08 AM | Comments (1)

Do hundreds of cellphones imply terrorism?

There have been a few recent cases of those generally of Middle Eastern descent being detained or arrested with large numbers of cell phones in their possession. The case of the Georgian illegal alien in Pennsylvania from a few days ago.

And, from Caro, Michigan: Three men - apparently naturalized citizens from Texas via Palestine - bought 80 cell phones from a WalMart. The cops found 1000 other phones in their van. They also had a laptop "with store addresses and store logos".

And, from Marietta, Ohio: Two men from Dearborn, Michigan were stopped with several prepaid phones and have been arrested on an unnamed charge. A week earlier, another Middle Easterner from Dearborn was stopped with a large number of phones. Debbie Schlussel has been covering this story, however from a comment on that thread we get a possible more innocent explanation (something I already figured as a possibility):

What is going on is tracfones are sold in the US at a substantial subsidy and low minute intial purchase phones are way cheaper than buying phones outright.

Tracfone works on GSM and it is easy to remove the chips, unlock the phones subisidy lock (not in itself illegal) and ship the phones for a good profit. Indeed a HUGE number of new unlocked tracphones are sold in the US on EBAY everyday for about $20 over retail. bulk buying in lots of 10 to 20k is at $25 a unit...

Looking at walmart this week they had a tracfone on sale for an unusually low $15wiht calling credits -- and this phone is currently on sale on ebay for $60 new unlocked...

While those in the last incident also had more suspicious items such as flight and passenger information, and there are links between them and an airline worker. So, the purchases might have been for detonators, or they might have been designed to test our defenses or make us worried, or their boss might have just trying to make some money on the gray market.

Posted at 03:29 AM | Comments (2)

Nets, jets, and reverse colonization

Try to ignore the editorializing from a typically idiotic Wired writer in the following:

During a recent briefing at the time-honored Royal United Service Institute – the oldest military think tank in the world, founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington – Parry imagined a future, circa 2030, in which the war on terror is still rolling along and the terrorists are winning. He describes a world so ripped up by nets and jets that sovereign nation-states like the UK are collapsing economically, politically, even physically. Then there are the people of that future, who hop from country to country and bear allegiance to none. "Globalization makes assimilation seem redundant and old-fashioned," he noted, pointing out that, rather than dissolving into the melting pot of their host nations, immigrants are increasingly maintaining their own cultural identity. Jets and nets make this possible. "Groups of people are self-contained, going back and forth between their countries, exploiting sophisticated networks and using instant communication on phones and the Internet." The result, Parry says, is "reverse colonization," in which the developing world's teeming masses conquer Western nations, as surely as the Goths sacked Rome.

It's easy to pigeonhole Parry as an isolationist – and, indeed, much of the public response to his speech came from anti-immigration wackos who said, "We knew it all along." But he has plenty of forward-thinking company in these ideas. According to a loose school of "fourth-generation warfare" theorists, connected, globe-trotting terrorists are a bigger threat to the world order than hostile nations are. The technological drivers of globalization have enabled stateless barbarians to seize the initiative. You can't keep them out by blocking the border, and the harder you smash the failed states that nurture them, the more they thrive. At the first sign of weakness, these new-wave Vandals will log on to urge their diasporic compatriots to attack you on your own soil. Failing that, they'll hop on the next flight, pick up their baggage, and sidle into Starbucks to download the latest instructions from Abu Ayyub al Masri...

Posted at 12:30 PM | Comments (2)

Dubai still running 22 U.S. port facilities

From this:

It's been more than three months since Dubai Ports World agreed to sell its port operations at 22 U.S. ports. But as of today, all 22 of these terminal facilities remained under the control of Dubai Ports and the government of Dubai. You thought we weren't watching, didn't you? Bill Tucker reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bottom line of the Dubai Ports World deal is pretty easy to understand.

JOE MULDOON, FULLER & COMPANY: Since March 6th, Dubai Ports World has owned and controlled operations in 22 U.S. ports and that Congress now has dropped the provision that would prohibit their approvals.

TUCKER: The reference to Congress has to do with the House and Senate stripping out language, put in by the House, that specifically forbid DP World from owning or controlling operations in our ports. With the removal of that language, it's not clear if DPW even legally is bound to sell the properties. The announced agreement by Dubai Ports World to sell was voluntary.

But the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States says "CFIUS does, in fact, retain the authority to bring the company back into the CFIUS process if it acts inconsistently with its announced plan to sell to a U.S. buyer." DP world, in a recent letter to congressional leaders, assured them that the sale is proceeding as planned, which seems to be reassuring Congress for now.

REP. PETE KING (R), NEW YORK: They are making the best faith effort to find an American buyer and that progress is being made.

TUCKER: But as of yet, there has been no formal offer to sell, which is known as a prospectus, from DPW.

Posted at 04:49 AM | Comments (3)

"US computer infrastructure compromised by terrorist-owned company"

From this:

While Congress and the media focus on the potential dangers of a UAE-owned company running American port operations, any possible threat is dwarfed by the current insecurity of the US government's computer infrastructure, which has been compromised by a company with multiple connections to terrorist financing.

The company, once known as Ptech (now GoAgile), has been contracted to provide sophisticated computer software to several government agencies, including the Army, the Air Force, Naval Air Command, Congress, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, Customs, the FAA, the IRS, NATO, the FBI, the Secret Service, and the White House.

Shortly after 9/11, the company's primary investor, Yassin al-Qadi (al-Kadi), was identified by the US government as a specially designated global terrorist. Officials describe al-Qadi as one of Osama bin Laden's "chief money launderers," and say he transferred as much as $3 billion to al-Qaeda during the 1990s.

Al-Qadi is a wealthy Saudi with connections to banking, diamonds, chemicals, construction, transportation, and real estate. He once headed Muwafaq, an Islamic charity the US Treasury Department described as an "al Qaeda front that receives funding from wealthy Saudi businessmen."

He claims to be friends or friendly with Dick Cheney, but the article doesn't present any evidence that Cheney thinks the same way.

Posted at 02:23 AM | Comments (0)

Indianapolis Airport is run by BAA, a British company

Unfortunately, Drudge is threatening to "break" the news that Indianapolis Airport is run by the British company BAA, which also runs Heathrow, Gatwick, and other airports:

Since October 1, 1995, BAA Indianapolis LLC has had full operating responsibility for the six airports owned by the Indianapolis Airport Authority under a unique, performance-based, management contract. Indianapolis International is now the largest privately managed airport in the United States.

The apparent implication is that that makes the Dubai ports deal A-OK. Obviously, that's wrong for two reasons. First, there's quite a difference between a British company and a company owned by an Arab state with some questionable ties. And, any foreign control of our critical infrastructure should be looked at quite closely and avoided if possible.

UPDATE: Here's Drudge's report.

Posted at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)

Dick Morris: "[Bill] Clinton is a paid agent of the crown prince of Dubai"

From this:

Former President Bill Clinton is up to his eyeballs in dealings with Dubai, his former top political adviser has revealed. According to Dick Morris, author of the best-selling book, "Condi vs, Hillary," Clinton is a paid agent of the crown prince of Dubai, now involved in a firestorm over its deal to take over some of the operations at six major U.S. ports. "Bill Clinton is a senior adviser - a paid adviser - to a company called Yucaipa which recently set up a relationship with a group called the Yucaipa Investment group to set up a new company called DIGL," Morris said on "The O'Reilly Factor." "DIGL Inc. is in charge of managing the investments of the crown prince of Dubai throughout the world. Bill Clinton is paid by Yucaipa a percentage of the profits it makes, and Yucaipa said its profits have exceeded 40 percent in recent years. "He is a paid agent of the crown prince of Dubai. That in addition to the roughly million dollars they gave his library, in addition to the probably $600,000 in speaking fees he got, and in addition to the scholarships for Dubai children they endowed through his library.

In other news, Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins have this to say (nofollowpolicy):

A careful review of the "assurances letter" [from DPW to the Coast Guard regarding the latter's concerns] reveals that DP World is not, in fact, bound to provide the U.S. government with the information it would need to close the intelligence gaps the Coast Guard identified. … The language is weak. … Indeed, the assurances appear to amount to little more than a restatement of what the FBI or other law enforcement agency could gather anyway in the course of an investigation.

Posted at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

Dubai: The man from Hope, UAE

At the same time as Hillary was complaining about the UAE ports deal, Bill "Bubba" Clinton was working behind the scenes to push it through and to get his friend and former press secretary, Joe Lockhart, to represent Dubai Ports World. link, link.

Anyone hear crickets?

Unlike others, this blog will continue to discuss this story, should it receive any more coverage in the press that is.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Bob and Elizabeth Dole are involved in a similar familial conflict of interest.

Posted at 09:10 AM | Comments (3)

Dubai: DHS, Treasury didn't check DPW's links to al Qaeda

From this:

A review of a United Arab Emirates-owned company's plan to take over a portion of operations at key U.S. ports never looked into whether the company had ties to al Qaeda or other terrorists, a key Republican lawmaker told CNN on Wednesday.

Rep. Peter King of New York, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said officials from the Homeland Security and Treasury departments told him weeks ago that their 30-day review of the deal did not look into the question of links between DP World and al Qaeda...

I'm sure Rush, Insty, and Kevin Drum will be along any moment now to explain how this doesn't matter.

Posted at 04:01 AM | Comments (0)

Dubai: DPW takes on Lou Dobbs; Coast Guard had objections

The Coast Guard - at least initially - had questions on the deal (nofollowpolicy). The USCG says that it had all its questions answered by various intelligence agencies.

That causes Bush cheerleader Insty to once again ask what the problem could be. As does co-idiot Kevin Drum.

And:

Lou Dobbs reported today that "Dubai Ports World" officials have tried to silence him and get CNN to suppress his reports... Mark Dennis, spokesman for Dubai Ports World: "CNN won't shut up Lou Dobbs." ...They are refusing to give any more interviews to CNN or allow them to video tape their operations overseas. To CNN's credit they have refused to comply with their demands.

Posted at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)

Dubai: More ports than thought; poll; Thomas Kean; trading arms for national security?

Our "American" president continues to sell out this country: "22 ports in Arab deal, not just 6 as reported":

According to the website of P&O Ports, the port-operations subsidiary of the London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P&O), DPW will pick up stevedore services at 12 East Coast ports including Portland, Maine; Boston; Davisville, R.I.; New York; Newark; Philadelphia; Camden, N.J.; Wilmington, Del.; Baltimore, Md.; and Virginia locations at Newport News, Norfolk, and Portsmouth.

Additionally, DPW will take over P&O stevedoring operations at nine ports along the Gulf of Mexico including the Texas ports of Beaumont, Port Arthur, Galveston, Houston, Freeport, and Corpus Christi, plus the Louisana ports of Lake Charles and New Orleans...

Also, only 17 percent of Americans are in favor of Bush's scheme.

And, Thomas Kean from the 9/11 commission says the deal never should have been considered:

"From our point of view, we don't want foreigners controlling our ports... From their point of view, this is a legitimate company that had a legitimate bid and won, and here are all these congressmen saying all these things about not wanting this company. It looks to them like it's anti-Arab... I think this deal is going to be killed," Kean said. "The question is how much damage is this going to do to us before it's killed."

Here's a fact sheet on the deal from an industry association.

And:

"The UAE [arms] market is definitely important to the US," said Tom Baranauskas, a senior Middle East analyst at the Connecticut-based Forecast International, a leading provider of defense market intelligence services. "Just the order for 80 of the newest-generation F-16E/Fs alone was a major buy from the US," he said.

Posted at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)

"Did UAE Save Bin Laden?"

Here's more on our new port partners:

Before President Bush gets anywhere near casting his first veto to ensure that the government of the United Arab Emirates can manage elements of six U.S. ports, someone ought to put before him pages 137-139 of "The 9/11 Commission Report...

The story the commission tells is that [Richard C. Clarke] made a call to a high-ranking UAE official that may have inadvertently saved bin Laden from a U.S. missile strike. The commission’s reporting strongly suggests someone in the UAE government tipped off someone in Afghanistan, protecting bin Laden.

In early 1999, the Clinton Administration wanted to fire missiles at bin Laden without risking civilian casualties. Bin Laden played into our hands. Intelligence reports from Afghan “tribals” indicated he was frequenting a small hunting camp adjacent to a larger camp outside Kandahar, Afghanistan. Here U.S. missiles could score a clean kill.

But then officials from the UAE got in the way. The commission said:

"On February 8, the military began to ready itself for a possible strike. The next day, national technical intelligence confirmed the location and description of the larger camp and showed the nearby presence of an official aircraft of the United Arab Emirates. But the location of Bin Laden's quarters could not be pinned down so precisely... According to reporting from the tribals, bin Laden regularly went from his adjacent camp to the larger camp where he visited the Emiratis. The tribals expected him to be at the hunting camp for such a visit at least until midmorning on February 11. Clarke wrote to Berger's deputy on February 10 that the military was then doing targeting work to hit the main camp with cruise missiles and should be in position to strike the following morning. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert appears to have been briefed on the situation.

"No strike was launched. By February 12 bin Laden had apparently moved on, and the immediate strike plans became moot. According to CIA and Defense officials, policymakers were concerned about the danger that a strike would kill an Emirati prince or other senior officials who might be with bin Laden or close by. Clarke told us the strike was called off after consultations with Director Tenet because the intelligence was dubious, and it seemed to Clarke as if the CIA was presenting an option to attack America's best counterterrorism ally in the Gulf. The lead CIA official in the field, Gary Schroen, felt that the intelligence reporting in this case was very reliable. The bin Laden unit chief, 'Mike,' agreed. Schroen believes today that this was a lost opportunity to kill bin Laden before 9/11...

Posted at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

Insty reports: port deal no problem!

Instapundit reports that the port deal was much ado about nothing. Whew! I'm relieved that we don't need to worry about yet more Bush administration corruption and attempts to sell this country out to the globalist agenda. Everyone: relax!

Extra-special bonus: co-idiot Kevin Drum weighs in.

Previously: "Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administration"

Posted at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

"Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administration"

I already reported this, but now that the MSM is covering it I guess it's official:

The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.

Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and who was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration...

And, of course: "Bush Says Dubai Port Deal Should Proceed, Threatens Veto"

Previously: "Dubai: Donald Rumsfeld not consulted despite being on CFIUS board"

Posted at 09:26 AM | Comments (2)

Dubai: Donald Rumsfeld not consulted despite being on CFIUS board

I think this tells you all you need to know (nofollowpolicy):

Donald Rumsfeld, as Secretary of Defense, is a member of Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. As such, he was one of the people who, according to the Treasury Department, unanimously approved the sale on February 13. How could do that when he didn't even find out about the sale until last weekend?

Previously: "I changed my mind! The Dubai deal must go through!" (/satire)
"Dubai would control part of U.S. military shipments under Bush scheme"
Chertoff assures: massively unsafe, dangerous Dubai ports deal is safe

UPDATE: Now, Bush claims that he also didn't know about the deal until recently. This could be an excuse, but it's also quite possible that other members of his crew didn't bother to tell him.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Wednesday the UAE company, Dubai Ports, "is a reputable firm that went through a congressionally approved vetting process." He said the U.S. has "the necessary safeguards to make sure that the security of our country is in place" and that rejecting the deal would send "a dangerous signal to people overseas that America plays favorites."... "The president wants this deal to go forward because it was followed by the book and he wants Congress to understand that," Bartlett said on CBS' "The Early Show." He told Fox News Channel that Bush felt strongly that "we need to be adding strategic partners" in the Mideast.

The last might make some sense, but not with something closely linked with our security. Perhaps we could get those "strategic partners" to supply non-essential products having no relation to security.

Posted at 04:26 AM | Comments (0)

I changed my mind! The Dubai deal must go through!

I've just done a complete 180 on this whole deal of the Bush administration turning control of key ports over to a company controlled by a questionable foreign country with links to terrorism.

I now fully support the deal.

What changed my mind was this post over at what I used to refer to as InstaIjit. As "Glenn" points out, giving a country with terrorist ties deep control of our ports and even military shipping is necessary in order to show the Arab world that we're nice people.

The last thing I'd want to do is offend our friends in the Arab world, so therefore I fully support turning over a vital part of our infrastructure to this questionable foreign country.

Tomorrow: revisiting my comments about George Bush's plan to outsource border protection to the "good-hearted" workers of Mexico. Hugh Hewitt changed my mind: it just might work as long as we believe!

UPDATE: Dick Meyer, Editorial Director of CBSNews.com, read my mind and offers the comforting "In Defense Of Dubai".

Posted at 08:59 PM | Comments (3)

Dubai would control part of U.S. military shipments under Bush scheme

As discussed here (nofollowpolicy), the Bush scheme to sell off port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia to a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates has even more downsides than originally thought:

A major part of the story, however, has been mostly overlooked. The company, Dubai Ports World, would also control the movement of military equipment on behalf of the U.S. Army through two other ports. From today's edition of the British paper Lloyd's List:

[P&O] has just renewed a contract with the United States Surface Deployment and Distribution Command to provide stevedoring [loading and unloading] of military equipment at the Texan ports of Beaumont and Corpus Christi through 2010.

According to the journal Army Logistician "Almost 40 percent of the Army cargo deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom flows through these two ports."

Now, let's take a look at this:

In mid-January, President Bush nominated a senior executive of Dubai Ports World, David Sanborn, to run the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration. Mr. Sanborn had been running the company's operations in Europe and Latin America...

The Dubai purchase was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, of which [Treasury Secretary John Snow] is chairman and which does not usually disclose information about its deliberations, said Brookly McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department. Ms. McLaughlin declined to say when the committee began or ended its review of the deal or what national-security implications it considered...

Both Sanborn and Snow were previously with CSX. Snow was their CEO, and Sanborn was an executive with the CSX/Sea-Land division.

Obviously, the Bush administration is completely, absolutely corrupt.

Posted at 09:44 PM | Comments (5)

Chertoff assures: massively unsafe, dangerous Dubai ports deal is safe

Yes, I know it's Reuters, but broken clocks and all they seem to have gotten this right:

The Bush administration has failed to put adequate security conditions on a deal for a state-owned Dubai company to manage major U.S. ports, and it should not go forward pending a full investigation, a key Republican congressman said yesterday.

Lawmakers from both parties joined in criticizing the deal, and one called the administration "tone deaf" for approving it.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that before the administration approved the sale of British firm P&O, which manages six U.S. ports, to Dubai Ports World of the United Arab Emirates, it failed to determine whether the company could be trusted...

As you might expect, an administration representative stepped forward to assure the Americans that the deal was A-OK:

"You can be assured that before a deal is approved we put safeguards in place, assurances in place, that make everybody comfortable that we are where we need to be from a national security viewpoint," [Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff] said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Time and time again, the Bush administration has demonstrated that they're completely corrupt, incompetent, untrustworthy, and do not have America's best interests at heart. Hopefully hearings are held and this can be blocked before it becomes yet another legacy of their administration.

Posted at 07:17 AM | Comments (1)

Media Matters for America defending al Jazeera

Believe it or don't! MMFA is taking issue with a Fox graphic. In case it disappears, here's the full post:

Only on Fox: USMC captain in Control Room film labeled "TRAITOR?" for taking job at Aljazeera

During the October 11 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, the network suggested that former Marine Corps captain Josh Rushing may be a "traitor" for taking a job with Qatar-based news network Aljazeera. While co-host Alan Colmes was promoting Rushing's upcoming appearance on the show, saying that "a former U.S. Marine captain will be here to defend his decision to take a job at a television network that is frequently criticized for its anti-American coverage," a picture of Rushing appeared on the screen, with text below it asking, "TRAITOR?"

Rushing gained national attention after his appearance in Control Room, a 2004 documentary about Aljazeera filmed over a six-week period around the time of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. When Control Room was filmed, Rushing was a military spokesperson stationed at United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Forward Headquarters in Qatar; his increasing unease with the military's representations of the war was featured prominently in the documentary. Rushing, who resigned from the military after the Pentagon ordered him to cease granting interviews about the documentary, will appear on Aljazeera International, the forthcoming English-language news channel.

This was posted by "A.D.", who appears to be:

Anna Dimond has worked in research and production for a variety of media outlets and think tanks, including the Norman Lear Center, ABC News, and Air America Radio. Most recently, she worked as a documentary story producer for LMNO Productions in Los Angeles. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Barnard College and master's degrees in global media from the London School of Economics and the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication. Dimond is a member of the Research Department at Media Matters for America.

Coming soon from MMFA: "Tokyo Rose was just misunderstood".

Posted at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

"Terrorism's New Operating System"

Monsoor Ijaz:

What if terrorism's global operating system has evolved into a much more sophisticated nexus — untraceable state sponsorship acting in concert with highly intelligent, well-trained, and carefully chosen foot soldiers who Western analysts would never conceive as partners? What if its new operating software is like the AIDS virus, constantly mutating from one nameless, faceless protocol address to another, transmitting its deadly code without need for regeneration or further direction, and with the necessary but well-camouflaged logistical and planning support states can offer?

Imagine that a state seeking to redress strategic imbalances in the quantifiable military threats it faces from larger powers trains a new, heretofore completely unknown battery of terror masters. They move as businessmen and women, as mothers with families, as low-level functionaries in embassies — in short, as people not worthy of intelligence monitoring by the West's traditional antiterror infrastructure...

...Once willing local proxies are identified, they are injected with a viral code of highly specific intelligence data about potential targets, methods of attack, how to assemble and deploy locally the weapons required to carry out their deadly missions and a philosophically sustaining message from the messianic figures who inspire them from afar.

The foreign agent then disappears, untraceable and unlikely to ever be seen again in the infected environment, or to even be used by the state sponsor for future missions...

Posted at 03:58 AM | Comments (1)

No Sharia law in Canada

The Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, has decided to abolish religious tribunals completely. Thus, there will be no Sharia law tribunals:

"I've come to the conclusion that the debate has gone on long enough," he said.

"There will be no Shariah law in Ontario. There will be no religious arbitration in Ontario. There will be one law for all Ontarians."

McGuinty said religious arbitrations "threaten our common ground," and promised his Liberal government would introduce legislation "as soon as possible" to outlaw them in Ontario.

"Ontarians will always have the right to seek advice from anyone in matters of family law, including religious advice," he said. "But no longer will religious arbitration be deciding matters of family law."

I'm oddly impressed; I was expecting them to declare themselves part of Saudi Arabia or something (in order to avoid appearing mean-spirited, eh). Did someone spike his Molson or something?

Previously: Women marching against Sharia law in Canada.

Posted at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

Women marching against Sharia law in Canada

Canadian and European women are going to march against the use of Sharia law tribunals in Canada on Thursday, the BBC reports:

Islamic law could be used to settle civil and marital disputes under a proposal made by former Ontario Attorney General Marion Boyd.

Roman Catholic and Jewish arbitration tribunals already operate Ontario.

Opponents of Sharia law say allowing Islamic tribunals could lead to discrimination against women.

A protest march is scheduled for Thursday in Toronto, which is the capital of Canada's most populous and multi-cultural province...

The DUmmies confront Gramscism, aka multiculturalism, in this response.

Previously: "Stoned in Canada", which also has surprisingly common sense British response to a similar proposal there.

Posted at 03:23 AM | Comments (0)

Indicted U.S. terrorist wanted to bring Al Qaeda over Mexican border

WaPo:

An American student was charged yesterday in an al Qaeda plot to kill President Bush, with prosecutors alleging that Ahmed Omar Abu Ali and his confederates planned to use multiple snipers to shoot Bush or to blow him up in a suicide bombing.

The expanded indictment of Abu Ali, returned by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, also claimed for the first time that he proposed a plan to bring members of an al Qaeda cell into the United States through Mexico. They would then link up with Abu Ali to conduct terrorist operations in this country, the indictment said...

Abu Ali was arrested by security officials in June 2003 while studying at a university in Saudi Arabia. His family mounted a highly public campaign in the United States for his release. He was held until he was flown back to the United States in February to face charges.

Defense attorneys and Abu Ali's family have contended that any statements he made in Saudi custody were obtained through torture. Two doctors who examined Abu Ali found evidence that he was tortured in Saudi Arabia, including scars on his back consistent with having been whipped, defense lawyers have said in court papers.

Prosecutors have denied that Abu Ali was tortured. But if a federal judge concludes that he was, much of the evidence against him could be thrown out because it was obtained under duress. The torture allegations are expected to play a key role in a hearing scheduled to start Sept. 19...

Regarding the high-profile nature of this case, this page says:

CAIR director Omar Ahmad wrote a letter to then Secretary of State Powell demanding [Abu Ali's] "immediate release.

Also according to CAIR, Abu Ali's accomplice in this plot was killed in a 2003 shootout with Saudi police. His lawyer says that was the only witness to the plot. There's more on CAIR's support of Abu Ali in this search.

For more, see "The NY Times' Wahhabi Apologists" and "[The Abu Ali Case and] Balancing Liberties, Security".

Posted at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)

ABC/Disney bows to CAIR pressure, fires talker Michael Graham

ABC Radio has fired talk show host Michael Graham because of comments he made on his show about Islam. Graham worked at 630 WMAL in Washington D.C. From his site:

On July 25th, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded that I be "punished" for my on-air statements regarding Islam and its tragic connections to terrorism. Three days later, 630 WMAL and ABC Radio suspended me without pay for comments deemed "hate radio" by CAIR.

CAIR immediately announced that my punishment was insufficient and demanded I be fired. ABC Radio and 630 WMAL have now complied. I have been fired for making the specific comments CAIR deemed "offensive," and for refusing to retract those statements in a management-mandated, on-air apology. ABC Radio further demanded that I agree to perform what they described as "additional outreach efforts" to those people or groups who felt offended.

I refused. And for that refusal, I have been fired.

It appears that ABC Radio has caved to an organization that condemns talk radio hosts like me, but has never condemned Hamas, Hezbollah, and one that wouldn't specifically condemn Al Qaeda for three months after 9/11...

This had been supposedly over; in fact on August 2 Graham asked his listeners to stop complaining about the suspension. I don't know exactly what upset CAIR, but you can read more about his thoughts on Islam here.

You may remember Graham from when he attended an Open Borders rally and was allegedly jumped by not just peace-loving lefties but the cops as well.

Posted at 02:02 PM | Comments (2)

Is the Bush administration funding madrassas?

The DU (yes, I know) thread has some links and this official blurb:

"Accompanied by Zanzibar's First Lady, Shadya Karume, Mrs. Bush first visited the Al-Rahma Madrasa, where the two First Ladies met with school children and their teachers. The Madrasa is one of several pre-schools scattered around various villages in Zanzibar that have received over $200,000 this year through grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The funds are distributed through the Aga Khan Foundation to improve the quality of education by training teachers, especially in English, math and the sciences. The grants have also allowed more children to attend pre-school, who otherwise could not afford it. At the Al-Rahma Madrasa, the number of students this year increased from 55 to 67. The students greeted Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Karume with songs in English and Kiswahili."

Maybe they're the good kind of madrassas and not the, you know, foundries of terrorism kind of madrassas.

Posted at 07:28 AM | Comments (0)

Amateurish terrorist plot in Los Angeles?

Earlier this month Torrance police arrested two South L.A. residents for a series of armed robberies. However, after searching their apartment the cops found a list of possible terrorism targets, including three National Guard facilities.

Over to the NBC4 Investigative Unit and July 15th's "Possible Terror Evidence In Robbery Probe":

According to a senior official familiar with the case, when police searched Washington's apartment on West 27th Street, looking for evidence of the robberies, they instead found a list of targets and notes of an operation which detailed a need for cash, explosives, weapons, even remote control devices. Our informant tells us it was all part of a plot to blow up targets in the Los Angeles area... A local police source says Gregory Patterson may have worked at LAX; the airport was on the list of targets. LAX officials say they the FBI has asked them not to comment....

Both suspects are reportedly converts to Islam, and one is reportedly a current or former gang member:

A source close to the investigation says Washington and Patterson may be linked to a wider plot involving a prison-based gang called "Jimiyat Islam Sahid" or JIS. According to gang experts, JIS recruits former gang members such as the Crips in prisons such as Folsom, where Washington served time.

The L.A. Times offered the earlier "Suspect Possessed a Military Sites List", but, the NBC4 report covers more possibilities. NPR weighed in with yesterday's "FBI Investigates Suspected L.A. Homeland Threat".

Posted at 05:35 AM | Comments (0)

It's not called "al-Guardian" for nothing

An al-Guardian "trainee journalist", Dilpazier Aslam, appears to be involved or have been involved with the Islamist extremist group Hizb Ut Tahrir. Details here, via this.

Posted at 04:29 PM | Comments (1)

"Expert says London bombings well-planned"

Al Guardian via UPI:

A British defense expert says Thursday's bombings in London were executed by at least 24 people and designed to mirror bombings last year in Madrid...

Posted at 08:57 PM | Comments (2)

London subway and bus bombing open thread

Post news links and well-founded speculation regarding the bombs that appear to have been detonated on buses and in subway stations in London. Apparently there were six explosions in stations and three on buses.

At post time, the most detailed reports seem to be "'Multiple explosions' rock London", "London in chaos after blasts", and "Explosions cause chaos across London".

While there's no particular reason at this time to suspect Islamic terrorism, see "Terror on the dole" and "[Abu] Hamza seeks legal aid for citizenship fight". Attacks like this don't seem to fit the M.O. of, for instance, the IRA, window-smashing anarchists, or enviro-whackos.

UPDATE: It's now fairly clear that this is Islamic terrorism, although other possibilities can't be ruled out.

Note this from Tuesday: UK cleric Abu Hamza's trial opens. Over two years ago the British government started proceedings against him and closed his mosque. That was a few months after they raided his mosque. That link also describes how France sent many of their Algerians to the UK, and the latter country accepted them as legitimate asylum seekers.

Teenage asylum seekers are mentioned in 1/03's Ricin suspects were arrested in France then freed. And, from 5/03, see "Derision greets BBC plan to turn asylum into a game".

From 5/04: "Evidence, London link found in the Spanish bombings".

From earlier this year, see "'Rattled' Blair to set tough tests for migrants" and UK: "Few failed asylum seekers removed".

While those who planted the bombs or who blew themselves up might have come to London from another country specifically to commit this act, something like this cannot have been planned and executed without long-term, local assistance. Expect it to be found that at least those who assisted this act were there because of Britain's lax immigration and asylum policies.

UPDATE 2: Partial credit to CBS News for at least broaching this subject on their evening broadcast, even if their report occasionally ventured into CAIR territory.

Posted at 02:41 AM | Comments (2)

Our "homeland security president" strikes out again

From the NYT's "U.S. Borders Vulnerable, Witnesses Say":

The federal government's efforts to prevent terrorists from smuggling a nuclear weapon into the United States are so poorly managed and reliant on ineffective equipment that the nation remains extremely vulnerable to a catastrophic attack, scientists and a government auditor warned a House committee on Tuesday...

Dirty bombs, crude devices that widely spread low levels of radiation, are relatively easy to detect. But highly enriched uranium, a crucial ingredient in a nuclear bomb, could easily be shielded with less than a quarter-inch of lead, making it "very likely to escape detection by passive radiation monitors" now installed at ports and border stations, Benn Tannenbaum, a physicist and senior program associate at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, testified at Tuesday's hearing...

Nationally, less than a quarter of the radiation detection devices needed to check all goods crossing the borders have been installed, federal officials said. In New York, for example, none of the cargo that moves through the largest ship terminal or goods leaving the port by rail or barge are inspected for radiation, Bethann Rooney, manager of security for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, testified...

Members of Congress have also recently questioned a proposal by the Bush administration to spend $227 million in the coming year to create a Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, skeptical that it will do more than add a new layer of bureaucracy.

"I am not too hopeful about this situation," Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, said.

Just remember: only George W. Bush can keep America safe.

Posted at 06:43 AM | Comments (0)

Ecuador busts Hezbollah funder

From "Ecuador Police Bust Alleged Cocaine Ring Suspected of Financing Hezbollah":

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Police broke up an international cocaine ring led by a Lebanese restaurant owner suspected of raising money for the Islamic militant group Hezbollah, which the U.S. government classifies as a terrorist organization.

Ecuadorean authorities declined to elaborate Tuesday on the group's alleged links to terrorist activities "until further investigation."

But an internal police report obtained by The Associated Press said preliminary evidence "confirms the relationship between this organization and the terrorist movement Hezbollah." The document said the gang sent "up to 70 percent of its profits to the Islamic group..."

Posted at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)

"U.S. Campaign Produces Few Convictions on Terrorism Charges"

The WaPo analyzes this statement from Our Leader:

"federal terrorism investigations have resulted in charges against more than 400 suspects, and more than half of those charged have been convicted."

And finds:

Among all the people charged as a result of terrorism probes in the three years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The Post found no demonstrated connection to terrorism or terrorist groups for 180 of them.

Just one in nine individuals on the list had an alleged connection to the al Qaeda terrorist network and only 14 people convicted of terrorism-related crimes -- including Faris and convicted Sept. 11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui -- have clear links to the group. Many more cases involve Colombian drug cartels, supporters of the Palestinian cause, Rwandan war criminals or others with no apparent ties to al Qaeda or its leader, Osama bin Laden...

Posted at 07:45 AM | Comments (2)

Oriana Fallaci on trial; some "liberals" support her

From Reuters:

A judge has ordered best-selling writer and journalist Oriana Fallaci to stand trial in her native Italy on charges she defamed Islam in a recent book.

The decision angered Italy's justice minister but delighted Muslim activists, who accused Fallaci of inciting religious hatred in her 2004 work "La Forza della Ragione" (The Force of Reason)...

The "liberal" who posted this story at DU sounds a bit, well, "classical" in his liberalism:

I have to say that, independently of what Oriana Fallaci said, this is NOT a good development. This should not stand in a free society, and allowing a writer to stand trial because she "defamed" a religion is tantamount to censorship. By the way, Fallaci has not gone nearly as far criticising Islam as some of our domestic loudmouths like Coulter. To her credit, Fallaci was both a feminist activist and a war reporter (sort of an Italian Christianne Amampour) in the Middle East for a decade.

Furthermore, it's my humble opinion that charging this writer with "defamation of Islam" is tantamount of forcing Islamic laws into our societies. I may not fully agree with Oriana Fallaci, but she deserves full protection of the right to free speech that we defend in western civilization...

Surprisingly, some of the DUmmies agree.

Posted at 05:30 PM | Comments (2)

Venezuela got WMD from Spain

So far all that's been discovered is 30,000 Euros worth, but there might be more. The details are in Remember the Maine?

Spain's Europa Press news agency reports that Venezuela purchased "biological and nerve agents" as well as dual-use materials from Spain sometime during the first half of 2004. According to a report about defense expenditures obtained by Europa Press, Venezuela was the only country listed under the category of "states to which chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials were sold." An English translation appears here.

The accusation comes in the wake of Spain's announcement that it will sell conventional weaponry -- military transport planes and and patrol boats -- to Venezuela. I found the story through Iberian blogger Barcepundit...

UPDATE: From this: "Karl von Wogau, Chairman of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence, today urged the EU's plenary session gathered in Strasbourg to ascertain whether or not the sale of weapons by Spain to Venezuela violates the Code of Conduct on Arms Exports of the European Union..."

Posted at 12:55 PM | Comments (2)

"Ex-PM: Hezbollah rally numbers manipulated"

WND has a scoop:

The giant Hezbollah rally that drew nearly half a million purported supporters of Syria's occupation of Lebanon included non-Lebanese citizens, Syrian workers, students and municipal employees coerced into joining the protest, former Lebanese Prime Minister Michel Aoun told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview this morning...

[Aoun said] "This was not a Lebanese showing, and many of those who actually were Lebanese were not there because they support Syria. We know that at least three Palestinian camps were present. And there are 700,000 Syrian workers inside Lebanon, many of whom are not even supposed to be there. They were urged by Syria to attend so it looks like many Lebanese are protesting. Plus Syria bused in their own citizens from Syria through the border into Lebanon to join the rally."

The former prime minister also accused Hezbollah and pro-Syrian Lebanese intelligence forces of coercing students and municipal workers to attend.

"They shut down the schools and all the government and public buildings and pressured students and workers to get to the rally," he said...

See also "How many of the 500,000 pro-Syrian demonstrators are Syrian guest workers?"

Posted at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)

Terror in flippers

There was a recent ABCNBCCBS report (I forget which) on the DHS or a similar agency releasing their latest terrorist profiling information. The report said that for the first time the government had indicated that terrorists could use scuba diving to perpetrate attacks or that scuba lessons could be one profiling data point like flying lessons. I've searched for this but can't find it.

In any case, this is hardly the first time a possible connection between scuba diving and terrorism has been discussed or warned about.

See "Terror alerts on small planes, scuba divers", "Feds scour local scuba training files in terror alert", "War On Error: The Terror Alert They Won�t Issue", or "Alert for terror scuba divers as FBI orders inquiry into missed clues". Those are all from 2002. In March 2004 we waded in with "Diving for conspiracies".

Posted at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)

Bush Knew! (As did Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton)

AP:

Nearly three decades before the September 11 attacks, a high-level government panel developed plans to protect the nation against terrorist acts ranging from radiological "dirty bombs" to airline missile attacks, according to declassified documents.

"Unless governments take basic precautions, we will continue to stand at the edge of an awful abyss," Robert Kupperman, chief scientist for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, wrote in a 1977 report that summarized nearly five years of work by the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism...

Posted at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

TROP Alert #439434529431

January 16, 2005 -- The father of a murdered New Jersey family was threatened for making anti-Muslim remarks online � and the gruesome quadruple slaying may have been the hateful retaliation, sources told The Post yesterday.

Hossam Armanious, 47, who along with his wife and two daughters was found stabbed to death in his Jersey City home early Friday, would regularly debate religion in a Middle Eastern chat room, one source said...

The other details seem to suggest this is a result of his online activities.

Posted at 09:36 PM | Comments (1)

"Extremist Group Raises Fears in Indonesia"

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia � An extremist Islamic group with alleged Al Qaeda has set up a relief camp on Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Sumatra island, raising concerns it could stir up sentiment against U.S. and Australian troops helping distribute aid.

The Laskar Mujahidin group posted a sign at its camp that read � in English � "Islamic Law Enforcement." Its members said Thursday they have been collecting corpses, distributing food and providing Islamic teaching for refugees here in predominantly Muslim Aceh province.

The presence of the extremist group, known for killing Christians in a sectarian conflict elsewhere in Indonesia, has generated fears that U.S. military personnel and others doing relief work could become terror targets.

It also underscores the fine line that foreigners, especially the U.S. military, must tread between being welcomed as Samaritans or viewed as invaders in a country where suspicion of outsiders runs deep...

Posted at 12:11 AM | Comments (0)

Iceland, Norway, Sweden and North Korea now safe for Westerners

From The rise of terrorism leaves much of world off-limits to Westerners":

LARGE swaths of the globe have become too dangerous for Westerners to visit or do business in, according to a report by a group of security experts.

The Middle East, much of the Islamic world and large parts of Asia and Africa are no longer safe, and attacks by Islamic militants against Western targets may increase, the RiskMap for 2005, published today by the Control Risks Group, says...

...more popular destinations make the second �high risk� category, including parts of Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines. The only �high risk� area in mainland Europe is Kosovo...

...The only countries to have an "insignificant" security risk are Iceland, Norway, Sweden and North Korea...

Posted at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

Everything's going to be just fine, authorities say

From the 9/30 San Diego Union-Tribune story "No threat seen to district; children are safe, police say":

A man arrested by U.S. authorities in Iraq had a computer disk in his possession containing a public report downloaded from a U.S. Department of Education Web site on crisis planning in school districts, including San Diego Unified...

That report has a few quote from authorities saying there's no danger, San Diego wasn't specifically targeted, etc. etc.

Now, from ABC's 10/7 report "School Warning":

Schools in six states in particular are being watched closely based on information uncovered by the U.S. military in Baghdad this summer, law enforcement and education officials told ABC News.

A man described as an Iraqi insurgent involved in anti-coalition activities had downloaded school floor plans and safety and security information about elementary and high schools in the six states, according to officials...

There's nothing in that report where authorities downplay the risk as in the first report. The ABC report names six specific towns in FL, OR, GA, MI, and NJ, but they fail to name the two towns in California.

Nevertheless, if this really happened, they would seem to refer to the same computer disk. In the first report the disk just contains a generic report, in the second it contains floor plans for specific schools. The discrepancies between the two reports are certainly curious.

UPDATE: As pointed out here, today's CNN report ("Disks in Iraq hold details about U.S. schools") says this: "the material was associated with a person in Iraq, and it could not be established that this person had any ties to terrorism. He did have a connection to civic groups doing planning for schools in Iraq." Further, TPM says that the states involved are swing states, which isn't correct for all of them.

UPDATE 2: Here's a Boston Globe report with the school details of the ABC report and the assurances that nothing's wrong of the SDUT report.

Posted at 10:29 PM | Comments (1)

"Paraguay Tri-Border Area Is Terror Haven"

Here's an AP backgrounder on the tri-border area in South America:

...Such chaotic scenes give life to the city's reputation of lawlessness and U.S. officials' description of the tri-border area where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet as a key South American point for Islamic terrorist fund raising to the tune of $100 million a year. Yet few arrests have been made or assets frozen, and local officials told The Associated Press they are ill-prepared to fully track financial movements and they discount terror links...

The tri-border area - also known as the "Muslim Triangle" - was last mentioned in "Illegals from terrorist nations are crossing the border into Arizona."

Posted at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)

" Muslim freed by US issues terror threats"

OK, enough debate coverage.

From this:

Danish authorities said yesterday they might have to return a recently-released Guantanamo Bay prisoner to US custody after he said cabinet ministers were fair targets and vowed to travel to fight Russian forces in Chechnya...

Mr Abderahmane said the Danish prime minister and defence minister were targets...

"I urge the government to pack him off back to the Americans," said Pia Kjaersgaard, the leader of the Danish People's Party, the minority government's coalition partner.

Earlier she described Mr Abderahmane's statements as "high treason" and called for his imprisonment...

Posted at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

That's a bit odd

From this:

[Lt. Col. Asad Khan, 44, of Avon, Conn.,] who commanded 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit in Afghanistan was removed from command Friday, a military spokesman said... No other details were released. No specific reason for the action was given...

From just nine days ago:

While hunting insurgents in Afghanistan, members of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit benefited from someone with a personal understanding of the people and the land.

Lt. Col. Asad Khan, a Pakistani-born Marine officer, commands a reinforced version of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. Called a battalion landing team, it's the 22nd MEU's ground combat element.

In 1972, Khan's parents emigrated from Pakistan through Afghanistan, and he has since returned to the area as a Marine Corps foreign area officer...

(Despite the category in which this post has been placed, his removal might have nothing to do with terrorism or supporting jihad, etc. He might have gotten a bit too "close" to the natives. Or, it could be entirely innocent or entirely unrelated to what he did in Afghanistan.)

Posted at 03:12 PM | Comments (4)

"Just 30mm guns to protect 300lbs of weapons-grade plutonium on open seas"

This page has the details which are rather scary: [This ships that will transport the plutonium across the Atlantic] each boast three 30mm cannons capable of tackling attacking boats and aircraft. Armed officers from the UK Atomic Energy Constabulary are also on guard against boarders... Jane's Foreign Report concluded that even with their 30mm guns the freighters were "capable of repelling only a lightly armed attack".

30mm is just over an inch, and, while there might be other ships in the convoy, the Coast Guard will not be among them. Whether our Navy will be is not stated.

Posted at 12:52 AM | Comments (7)

"Basayev Says He Was Behind Beslan"

Bearing in mind this is the Moscow Times relying on a Chechen website:

Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for the Beslan hostage-taking and four other recent attacks and defiantly threatened to carry out more.

Basayev said in a statement posted on a rebel web site Friday that the attacks -- which include two plane bombings, a Moscow metro suicide blast and a Moscow bus stop explosion -- were part of a campaign to end the Chechen conflict, start the withdrawal of federal troops from Chechnya and force President Vladimir Putin to resign if he "doesn't want peace."

As previously posted, this page says:

"[The DHS has just granted asylum to someone who's] the foreign minister-in-exile of the secessionist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, and a former military adjutant to Chechnaya's generalissimo, Shamil Basayev."

Posted at 01:02 PM | Comments (1)

"Die Welt: Syria used chem weapons in Sudan"

Berlin, Germany, Sep. 15 (UPI) -- Syrian special forces used chemical weapons in June to kill dozens of people in Darfur, Sudan, the German newspaper Die Welt reported...

The Die Welt article is here (in German). It wasn't on their front page for some reason.

Posted at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

One less peak to climb

BBC: N Korea says it blew up mountain:

North Korea has given its first explanation for the huge blast last week which prompted speculation that it had carried out a nuclear test.

The country's foreign minister, Paek Nam-sun, said the blast was in fact the deliberate demolition of a mountain as part of a huge, hydro-electric project...

Posted at 10:02 PM | Comments (1)

"Head of Dolly clone lab is found hanged"

The head of the science lab which created Dolly the sheep has been found hanging in his holiday home.

Professor John Clark, who was believed to have been suffering from depression was found in his remote cottage in the village of Cove, north of Eyemouth, on the Berwickshire coast.

Prof Clark lead the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, one of the world�s leading animal biotechnology research centres.

[He was apparently suffering from depression, he had taken time off work, one of his spin-off businesses had failed, etc.]

This appears to be somewhat less suspicious than other recent suicides and accidental deaths of top scientists.

UPDATE: There are a lot of links about the dead scientists here. Just remember the Lonewacko Linking Policy: linking doesn't imply endorsement.

Posted at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)

Terror in the Skies: Part VXXXXIDCXXXVCDIII

Annie Jacobsen is back with "Another Passenger from Flight 327 Steps Forward With Disturbing New Details":

A few days ago, WomensWallStreet.com received an important email. It was from Billie Jo Rodriguez, another passenger who was on Northwest Airlines flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on June 29. Billie Jo is a Certified Public Accountant living in Oxnard, California. She had some additional, disturbing information about flight 327 that she felt someone needed to know. She had been so terrified by what happened on the flight that she sent two emails to the Department of Homeland Security telling them about the experience, but she hadn't heard back from them. Then, through a series of events, she heard about my article, "Terror in the Skies, Again?" She and I have had numerous conversations and she is willing to share her story on the record. The following interview is based on conversations Billie Jo and I have had, as well as a discussion she had with my editor...

She has an editor?

As is my usual practice, I only looked at the first page of this latest reincarnation of Flight 327. However, there might now be three other passengers - maybe two, maybe four - who noticed something strange.

Once again, these Syrians might have been terrorists, or they might have been playing a harmless prank, or their actions might have been completely innocent. Over and above that, the response of our government is quite interesting. Are they just playing dumb, or are they in fact dumb?

Check out the article if you want. I'm just fatigued by Flight 327. It's like the Kerry Cambodia thing. I just want to hear the bottom line, I don't care about the intervening bits.

Posted at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

"Democratic leader calls for ending racial profiling of US Muslims"

Guess who's back in the news:

US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, on Thursday called for an end to racial and religious profiling of American Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against the United States. [via various legislation including: the End Racial Profiling Act, the Security and Freedom Ensured Act, and the Safe, Orderly, and Legal Visas Enforcement Act].

At a meeting in Washington with American Muslim leaders, Ms. Pelosi voiced her concern over the problems being faced by Muslims in the country.

Democratic Congressmen John Dingell and John Conyers of Michigan as well as Charles Rangel of New York and other congressional Democrats took part in the discussion...

The Pakistan Daily Times titles their report "Civil liberties body comes to aid of harassed Muslims". Earlier, Chief Charles "white man in a white van" Moose came out in support of the bill: "Famed ex-cop fights racial profiling". WND has the scoop on meeting in "Pelosi meets with group tied to Hamas".

Posted at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

"if something doesn't go boom, nothing is going to be done"

From USA Today's "U.S. didn't warn Las Vegas of terror threats":

A year after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department obtained video surveillance tapes suggesting terrorists were targeting Las Vegas casinos but authorities never alerted the public as they discussed whether a warning might hurt tourism or increase the casinos' legal liability, internal memos show.

[Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman] said Monday he was never told about the tapes uncovered in Detroit and Spain in 2002, and had been assured by the FBI there were no credible threats against his city. "If I were told, I would certainly tell the public..."

But memos and e-mails between federal prosecutors, obtained by The Associated Press, say Las Vegas authorities were alerted to some of the footage by Aug. 30, 2002. Later, numerous local law enforcement officials were invited by a senior FBI agent to view the footage, but most spurned the invitation [out of a fear of incurring liability], the memos say...

The prosecutor said he later asked a Las Vegas police officer, who had seen the tape and flown to Detroit to help, why more wasn't done. "This officer told me that the amount of money that travels through Las Vegas on a daily, weekly and monthly basis � if something doesn't go boom, nothing is going to be done," he said.

Neither the mayor, the casinos, nor the local cops come off too good in the rest of the report.

Posted at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)

Terror in the Skies, Part 3.4035^100: My word processor doesn't have footnoting capability

Annie Jacobsen is back with a new roundup.

At the end of that article, she mentions Stuart Taylor's "Rashomon in the Skies: The Tangled Tale of Flight 327." I just scanned the first part of both, but I'd strongly suggest starting with Taylor's article before reading Jacobsen's. He provides a source who denies almost everything Jacobsen, her husband, and the two other passengers who've made statements have reported. I don't know who's telling the truth anymore, I just want out.

Frankly, it's not that I don't care, it's just the level of detail is a bit too much for someone who isn't personally invested in this matter.

Posted at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

"Second passenger saw suspicious behavior" ("Terror in the Skies" Part #382)

From the WashTimes:

The second passenger, a frequent business traveler who asked not to be identified, provided a copy of her itinerary confirming she was on the June 29 Northwest Airlines Detroit-to-Los Angeles Flight 327...

The passenger, who was riding in first class, said the constant foot traffic and strange behavior she witnessed in the front cabin frightened her as much as it did Annie Jacobsen...

"I thought I was going to die," the second passenger told The Washington Times...

...[She] said the men were "up and down the aisles of the plane the entire time," and that one of the men pushed other passengers as he rushed toward the front lavatory. She said the man did not appear to be ill, and remained in the lavatory during her entire meal...

"There was more activity up and down the aisle through first class than I have ever experienced on any flight, including international flights," the second passenger said. "The most unusual part was that the flight attendants seemed to ignore what was going on..."

Posted at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)

Fill in the PC blanks

Here's the blogosphere's latest craze. Can you fill in the blanks in the following quote from the COUNTERTERRORISM ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY section of the 9/11 Commission Report?

The [________] Extremist CT Operations Group, the CTC operational arm, tracks al-Qa�ida and other [________] radical groups. In 1996, the CTC created [the Bin Ladin Issue] Station to target Bin Ladin and his network, [________________________]. The CTC�s [________] Extremist Branch also follows a range of radical [________] groups...

Posted at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

Snopes on "Terror in the Skies"

From Snopes:

Claim: Reporter encounters terrorists on airline flight who are making a dry run at assembling a bomb on-board.

Status: False.

Really. As I wrote in a letter to Snopes, does that mean that the Snopes organization has done a thorough background check on the musicians and determined that they were in fact innocent musicians and had no relation to terrorism?

If not, there's no way Snopes can call this "false."

I suggested that they change the status to "undetermined," or at least provide a note saying that the cover story provided by the musicians checked out. Feel free to use their feedback form to suggest the same.

Posted at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)

"Al-Qaida May Have Had Network in California Long Before 9/11"

Or, they may not have. The L.A. Times spends an article offering speculation but no real scary bits.

The first visit to the U.S. by two of the 9/11 hijackers was to Los Angeles. Their first two weeks here are a mystery. However, they appear to have made acquaintances at the King Fahd mosque in Culver City. A former prayer leader at the mosque (and a Saudi consular official) was expelled last year because of links to terrorists. However, the article doesn't mention any direct connection between them and the prayer leader.

If you were from, say, Morrocco, and you went to the Morroccan district of a city, there's a good chance you could meet up with Morroccans who would take newcomers under their wing. Especially if they were from your part of Morrocco. As others in the article point out, that may have been all that was involved. Speculating...

Posted at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

" Bali bombers may be freed by ruling"

No kidding:

The convictions of dozens of Islamists involved in the Bali bombings two years ago could be overturned after Indonesia's highest court ruled that the laws under which they were tried were unconstitutional.

The constitutional court in Jakarta yesterday declared that the terrorism legislation was invalid as it had passed into law months after the bombings, in which 202 people died, including 28 Britons.

There is, of course, the possibility that covert state or private enforcement might occur if they are indeed released.

Posted at 08:36 PM | Comments (1)

"CAIR's Phony Petition"

Daniel Pipes discusses CAIR's "Not in the Name of Islam" petition, calling it "CAIR's Phony Petition":

The petition indeed won CAIR a fistful of kudos. Among others, the Associated Press, United Press International, Religion News Service, Washington Post , and Philadelphia Inquirer wrote admiringly of it. I found not a single skeptical word on the topic.

But a close look finds this petition lacking in several ways...

...In conclusion, "Not in the Name of Islam" seeks to clean up Islam's image without doing anything of substance. It manages to do two things at once: impress naive Westerners without upsetting anyone in Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Iraqi Islamist organizations, or other violent groups.

In this, the petition initiative fits CAIR's well-established pattern of obfuscation and insincerity.

I made similar points here.

Posted at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

"Alleged Terror Threat Operates in DC Suburb"

From CNSNews:

Fourteen miles from the U.S. Capitol, a basement-run organization with alleged ties to Hamas and al Qaeda is a crucial link in the planning of any future terrorist attacks against the United States, according to several terrorism experts who analyzed documents and other information obtained in a CNSNews.com investigation.

The United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), based in Springfield, Va., is publicly identified as a Muslim think tank but has multiple ties [warning: PDF file] to the terrorism underworld, according to the CNSNews.com sources, who are both inside and outside government...

I don't know if there's any relation with the recently-raided Islamic Center also in Virginia ("Feds Search Virginia Islamic Center", update here).

Posted at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

"U.S. Officials: Saddam's Hijack Drills Were Counterterror Ops"

From this:

State Department and CIA officials have quietly told reporters that they believe Saddam Hussein trained his elite troops in airline hijacking techniques before the 9/11 attacks � but they accept the Iraqi dictator's explanation that the drills were counterterrorism operations.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to the Knight Ridder news service, the officials challenged the credibility of two White House reports issued last year that had raised questions about whether activities at the notorious terrorist training camp Salman Pak were linked to the 9/11 attacks...

Posted at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

"Radical imams trouble Europe"

The Chicago Tribune has an overview of Abu Hamza, al-Muhajiroun, and the general problems Europe is having accepting its new role as the future Eurabia.

Posted at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

Stoned in Canada

From 'Protest rises over Islamic law in Ontario':

When Britain's Muslim community requested the right to use Islamic law to settle family disputes, the government's refusal was unequivocal.

No, the petitioners were told: This is one nation, with one justice system for all.

Until last fall, no Western jurisdiction allowed the 1,400-year-old body of religious law called sharia to take root inside its secular legal system.

Then the province of Ontario quietly approved its use. Under the 1991 Arbitration Act, sharia-based marriage, divorce and family tribunals run by the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice are expected to begin later this year. The move has so horrified many Muslim women that they're vowing to stop the tribunals before they start...

See also 'Life under sharia, in Canada?'

(Via this)

Posted at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

Wireless transmitter found hidden beside Philadelphia train tracks

From this:

Action News has learned that last week SEPTA police recovered an infrared sensor that was carefully concealed along SEPTA's track bed near 34th and Powelton. The device, a commercially available wireless infrared transmitter made for home security use was discovered spray-painted black and tucked neatly in the trackside ballast. Such devices transmit a signal when something cuts across their infrared beam. And while there is no indication of any specific threat, investigators are concerned because the sensor has the potential to be used as a triggering device...

Posted at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)

U.S. 3/11 suspect released

From this:

An American lawyer who was arrested two weeks ago in connection with the terror attacks in Spain was set free Thursday after evidence pointed to another suspect in the deadly train bombings.

Brandon Mayfield, 37, was released soon after Spanish officials said fingerprints found on a bag near the bombing site were that of an Algerian.

Posted at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)

A translation of the Berg video

WND has excerpts from the Berg video in 'Berg video called
how-to-kill demo: Translator-expert sees jihadist message to Muslims worldwide'. The translation was done by "Joel Cohen, with a master's degree in Semitic languages from Princeton University and a student of the Quran at the University of Chicago." I'm going to assume he's not a native speaker; it would be better if it had been discussed with a few native speakers who are familiar with the accents of the area. Cohen says the message was not intended for the West, but for Muslims:

"The author goes at great pains to convince the Ummah (the body of Muslim believers) that the time for negotiations with unbelievers is over," explains Cohen, who adds the address was carefully crafted rather than delivered impromptu.

Along the way, the speaker refers to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa, Bush, and Pakistani President Pervis Musharaf.

Conclusion:

"In the mind of the writer of this document, it's simply a call to kill all non-Muslims and those they perceive challenge Islam. By concluding with this ayat, he wants the Ummah to know that Nick Berg is not being killed simply because he is a prisoner. He is being killed because he is not a Muslim."

Meanwhile, Musharaf facing opposition to his attempts to liberalize Pakistan:

Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) Monday announced that it would strongly resist in case the government attempts to change blasphemy and Hadood laws, and alleged that US was behind the move to convert Pakistan into a secular state. �We will not allow to impose American agenda on 140 million people of Pakistan,� said the MMA Secretary General Maulana Fazlur Rehman here at a Press conference after the alliance�s Supreme Council meeting. The meeting, Fazl maintained, decided to call a national conference in June in order to invite all political forces to resist attempts that are meant to make the country as secular and liberal state. �We took a strong exception of General Pervez Musharraf�s recent statement on blasphemy and Hadood laws, and will not allow to change the existing Islamic provisions.�

Posted at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)

Thank gosh I'm just a blogger!

Top scientists have been having an awful lot of "accidents" these past few years. Not just Russians or Iraqis, but Americans and British as well.

The latest is Dr. Eugene Mallove, who received one or two doctorates from Harvard and "also taught science journalism at MIT and Boston University and previously was chief science writer at the MIT news office."

He was a cold fusion expert and published a magazine and ran a foundation dealing with that subject.

He had apparently suffered from cold fusion falling into disfavor for alledgedly political reasons. However, things seemed to be looking up, as this March 20, 2004 press release says:

Exciting news that has circulated for about a month in the low-energy nuclear reactions field (LENR, a.k.a. "cold fusion") has now been confirmed. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has agreed to perform a review of the entire "cold fusion" (LENR) question. The DOE has made a startling reversal of its past refusal to evaluate with a fresh look the large body of experimental evidence that now supports highly anomalous non-chemical magnitude excess heat phenomena in some hydrogen systems, plus associated nuclear anomalies. The details of how the review will be conducted and when it is to begin have not yet been released formally, but it is expected to be completed by the end of 2004...

He was a guest on Coast To Coast AM, and you can listen to an excerpt here (Window Media) or here (Real).

Unfortunately:

Mallove was discovered at the small 119 Salem Turnpike house at 10:55 p.m. Friday after police received a report of an injured person.

At the house, situated at the entrance to Interstate 395 in a primarily commercial area, police found Mallove unresponsive, the victim of an assault. He was later pronounced dead by medical personnel called to the scene.

Police said initial investigation indicated a robbery, during which a physical confrontation took place. Several unidentified items were taken from the scene and Mallove's vehicle was missing, according to a written statement released by Norwich police.

Several hours later, Mallove's 1993 green Dodge Caravan was found in the Foxwoods employee parking lot on Route 2 in Preston. The vehicle is easily identifiable by several large bumper stickers, including an American flag and his company Web site, www.infinite-energy.com, in the rear window. The New Hampshire license plate bears the registration INFNRG.

The "Foxwoods" mentioned above appears to be a casino, and the two locations appear to be about 5 miles apart.

Maybe it was just a random crime, or perhaps it's just the latest in a series.

There's more background in this article.

UPDATE: The Norwich Bulletin has an article entitled 'Killing sparks questions: Some colleagues wonder if scientist could have been slain over his research into cold fusion', although it just broaches the subject and doesn't go into specifics. A similar report in the Boston Globe doesn't cover the conspiracy angle: 'Police eye robbery in killing of scientist'.

Posted at 09:34 PM | Comments (2)

Ooooochen interessssno

I haven't seen the Nicholas Berg video, but I did scan through some of the many conspiracy theories. One of the more popular pages is this. That has aztlan.net as its source. While I usually completely trust aztlan.net as a news site, in this one case (and this one case only) I'm a bit skeptical.

However, consider the following (unverified) informatsia:

"...The terrorists in Berg's beheading video are communicating to each other