Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Jose Padilla	Jose Padilla	al-Qaeda	Home Front	American	Arrested	Cannon Fodder	20031118
		Arrested in plot to set off a "dirty bomb"
	Jose Padilla	Islamic Center of South Florida	Home Front				20031219

Government Corruption

Eight Months After January 6, Prosecutors Make Aggressive Maneuvers As Defendant Attempts Suicide

2021-09-19

[DAILYWIRE] Some sixty people are still behind bars eight months after the January 6 disturbance at the U.S. Capitol. A Daily Wire review of court records shows unusually aggressive prosecutorial maneuvers, which sometimes brought rebukes by judges.For example, Jose Padilla has been detained since February. "Padilla is 40 years old and has lived in Tennessee for most of his life. He previously served in the U.S. Army during the Iraq War. After he returned home, he was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (’PTSD’) and began receiving disability benefits. Prior to his arrest, he was a stay-at-home dad who managed his family’s household affairs and cared for his three sons during the day while his wife worked as a librarian. He has no criminal history or history of substance abuse. He also has no known ties to holy warrior groups," Judge John D. Bates summarized.

Prosecutors argued that his being a stay-at-home dad and veteran were reasons to hold him in jail.

The judge wrote that "the government contended that two features of Padilla’s background favor pretrial detention: (1) his role as a stay-at-home dad, which, according to the government, gives him ’idle time to . . . engage in conspiracy theories’ and ’[run] down rabbit holes through social media.’ The Court cannot accept the proposition that stay-at-home parents pose a greater threat to public safety. And although the Court agrees with Judge Faruqui’s statement that, as a former service member, Padilla had every reason to know that ’what occurred on January 6th was totally unacceptable,’ the fact of military service is complicated and can cut both ways."

The government also argued that his military service-induced PTSD was a reason to hold him, an assertion that the judge sharply rebutted — pointing out that if the government believed he was a suicide risk, it had done little to ensure he got help in jail.

Link

Home Front: WoT

U.S. Deports Lebanon-Born Palestinian Man

2020-07-24

[AnNahar] A man convicted of terrorism-related crimes, who served his sentence and was then detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been deported after a legal battle to hold him indefinitely stalled.

Federal immigration authorities held Adham Amin Hassoun

... a computer programmer and recruiter/fund raiser for Al Qaeda, et al, who was originally arrested in 2002 for “immigration violations“ and at one point while imprisoned attempted to hang himself with a bedsheet. His wife and three kiddies fled back to Lebanon while he was in jail...

until Tuesday at a detention facility in Batavia, New York,

... a very pretty small town in Western New York state between Buffalo and Rochester...

since his release from prison in 2018. Previously, they had argued in court that they had the authority to detain him indefinitely under the Patriot Act until they could find a country willing to accept him.

Hassoun, 58, is a Paleostinian born in Leb
Leb

...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
. In 2007, he was convicted along with Jose Padilla, who is still imprisoned, of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people in a foreign country.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was initially detained as an enemy combatant in 2002 on suspicions he planned to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb," but those allegations were ultimately dropped in favor of charges that he, Hassoun and another conspirator

...that would be Mr. Hassoun’s school administrator friend Kifah Wael Jayyousi, a U.S. citizen of a similar age but Jordanian descent...

sent money, recruits and supplies to Islamic holy warrior groups.

Prosecutors said Hassoun recruited Padilla at a Florida mosque to attend a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Authorities did not disclose Hassoun's destination after he left the country on Tuesday, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.

Padilla's expected release date from prison is 2026.

Earlier this summer, federal prosecutors had argued at a hearing that Hassoun remained a threat to national security, but ultimately withdrew testimony from another detainee at the Batavia detention facility, who claimed Hassoun told him about plans to commit crimes upon his release. Hassoun's attorney said the claims were fabricated, the Observer Dispatch reported.

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford ruled against the government and ordered Hassoun's release.

Hassoun immigrated to Florida in 1989, married and had three children, all of whom are American citizens. His family moved to Lebanon after his arrest, the Buffalo News reported.

One of Hassoun's attorneys, Jonathan Manes, told the Democrat and Chronicle in an email: "After 18 years of imprisonment and nearly 1 1/2 years detained unlawfully under the Patriot Act, he is now a free man."

Link

Home Front: WoT

Election Supervisor Brenda Snipes may not be Florida's only problem

2018-11-12

A reminder from 2016.

[Tampa Bay Times] Prominent terror cases with ties to Florida

Sept. 11, 2001: A South Florida man known as Adnan El Shukrijumah

...known formally as Adnan Gulshair Muhammad El Shukrijumah alias Abu Arif, alias Jafar Al-Tayar, alias Javier Robles. He was a Saudi computer engineer whose Wahhabi missionary father moved the family to Guyana when he was very young. He was a very bad man indeed, until he was (or perhaps was not) killed in Pakistan in 2014...

was wanted by the FBI as a suspected al-Qaida combatant due to his possible connection with the Sept. 11 hijackers. He also was under indictment for planning a suicide bomb attack in 2009 in the New York City subway system. Family members said El Shukrijumah went to Trinidad in 2001, but formerly studied computer engineering at Broward Community College. He sometimes prayed at Al-Iman mosque in Fort Lauderdale and Darul Uloom in Pembroke Pines.

...the latter being a madrassah notorious for the number of jihadis connected to it including “Dirty Bomber” Jose Padilla. Head cleric Maulana Shafayat Mohamed nonetheless poses as moderate...

He was reported killed during a raid in northwest Pakistan on Dec. 6, 2014.

Sept. 11, 2001: Suicide hijackers Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi trained at a flight school in Venice, and their accomplice Ziad Jarrah took lessons a block away from the school. Atta and al-Shehhi were responsible for the jets that flew into the World Trade Center, and Jarrah controlled the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Reports say that at least 14 out of the 19 terrorists responsible for Sept. 11 spent time in South Florida, with at least 12 of them in Palm Beach County.

Sept. 11, 2001: A Saudi family that left their Sarasota home weeks before Sept. 11 had ties to those associated with the terrorist attacks, according to FBI reports. Three of the family members were tied to the Venice flight school where two suicide hijackers from Sept. 11 were trained. The names of the three individuals were blanked out from official documents, but the home in Sarasota was that of Abdulaziz al-Hijji.

Feb. 20, 2003: Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian was indicted, alleged to be a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and complicit in the murder of civilians. He was arrested in his Tampa home. Years later, Al-Arian ended up taking a plea deal on greatly reduced charges. He was deported to Turkey on Feb. 5, 2015.

Nov. 22, 2005: Former South Florida resident Jose Padilla was indicted on charges of conspiring to commit terrorist acts. He lived in Fort Lauderdale for an unspecified time where he prayed at Al-Iman mosque. He was transferred to Miami's federal detention facility after the indictment. Before the indictment, Padilla was held as an "enemy combatant" in U.S. Defense Department custody. He was previously arrested in 2002 for allegedly attempting to detonate a "dirty bomb" in the United States.
And on and on it goes.

Link

Olde Tyme Religion

Florida imam: Palestine must be liberated, even at cost of millions of martyrs

2018-11-04

MEMRI has a brief, subtitled video at the link.

[IsraelTimes] During a recent sermon at the Islamic Center of South Florida,

...once the religious home of former gang member and would-be Al Qaeda dirty bomber Jose Padilla (also known by his convert name of Abdullah al Muhajir), and no doubt of many others. Mr. Padilla is currently serving a 21-year sentence for being an awful human being with even worse friends...

a holy man called for the "liberation" of Paleostine, even at the cost of tens of millions of Moslem lives.

"If a land is occupied or plundered, it should be liberated from the occupiers and plunderers, even if this leads to the martyrdom of tens of millions of Moslems," said Hasan Sabri in a sermon last month translated Friday by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

"This is the ruling, and there is no room for discussion or concessions."

Sabri referred to "Paleostine in its entirety" as "Islamic land" and asserted that there is no difference between the land captured by Israel in the 1948 Independence War and the 1967 Six Day War. "All of it is Islamic waqf land that was occupied by force. The responsibility for it lies with the entire Islamic nation, and the [Paleostinians] should benefit from this land."

The Imam also criticized the yet-to-be-released peace plan of US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
. "They call it ’the Deal of the Century.’ Why do they call it a deal?’ Because whoever is involved in this treason is not a man of principles," Sabri said.

"These are peddlers, not men with a cause. All they want are positions and jobs. That is why for them, the cause is nothing but a deal, a matter of give and take. For them, it is nothing but a deal."

Link

Home Front: WoT

Terror plotter faces longer prison term

2014-09-10

[ARABNEWS] Convicted terrorism plotter Jose Padilla is going before a federal judge to face a longer prison term after a federal appeals court ruled his original sentence was too lenient.

US District Judge Marcia Cooke was to impose the new sentence at a hearing Tuesday. She originally gave Padilla more than 17 years behind bars for his 2007 convictions on charges of supporting Al-Qaeda and terrorism conspiracy.

Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence. Padilla's lawyer says he still deserves less.

Padilla was locked away
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
by the FBI in 2002 on what authorities said was an Al-Qaeda mission to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" inside the US Those accusations were later discarded. Before trial, Padilla was held without charge under harsh, isolated conditions as an enemy combatant for over three years.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Two men of Pakistani descent charged in US with terror support, conspiracy

2012-12-02

[Dawn] Two men of Pak descent have been charged with plotting to provide material support to forces of Evil and to use a weapon of mass destruction within the US, federal prosecutors said Friday.

The men were identified as brothers Sheheryar Alam Qazi, 30, and 20-year-old Raees Alam Qazi.

Both are naturalised US citizens originally from Pakistain and both were placed in durance vile
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
in the Fort Lauderdale area, prosecutors said.

Few details about the plot were provided by prosecutors or outlined in a brief, three-page grand jury indictment.

Authorities said the case was not an FBI sting operation but declined any additional comment.

"Any potential threat posed by these two individuals has been disrupted," said Miami US Attorney Wifredo Ferrer.

In Washington, Justice Department national security front man Dean Boyd called the case "an ongoing, very active investigation" but provided no specifics.

The indictment charges that the two provided money, property, lodging, communications equipment and other support for a conspiracy to obtain a weapon of mass destruction between July 2011 and this week.

The goal was to "use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against persons and property within the United States," prosecutors said in a news release.

It wasn't clear whether the conspirators actually did obtain explosives or what their potential targets might have been.

The Qazi brothers had initial court appearances Friday, but court-appointed attorneys for the two did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

An arraignment and bail hearing is scheduled for Dec 7.

They are both charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, which carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence, and with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. The maximum is life in prison for that charge.

South Florida has seen several high-profile terrorism cases, including the conviction of Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla and the convictions of five men accused of plotting to join forces with Al Qaeda to destroy a landmark Chicago skyscraper and bomb FBI offices in several cities.

More recently, a Miami Mohammedan holy man and one of his sons are facing trial on charges they provided thousands of dollars in financial support to the Pak Taliban.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Appeals court throws out Padilla terror sentence, rules 17 years is far too lenient

2011-09-19

The 17-year prison sentence imposed on convicted terrorism plotter Jose Padilla is far too lenient for someone who trained to kill at an al-Qaida camp and also has a long, violent criminal history, a federal appeals court ruled Monday as it threw out the sentence.

A divided three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new sentencing hearing for Padilla, a U.S. citizen and Muslim convert convicted in 2007 along with two co-conspirators of several terrorism-related charges. Padilla, 40, was held for more than three years without charge as an enemy combatant before he was added to the Miami terror support case.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Gene Healy: Clowns or killers in al Qaeda

2010-07-21

Last week, federal jurors in Brooklyn heard tapes from an undercover informant in what one prosecutor called one of "the most chilling plots imaginable," a 2007 Islamist plan to detonate underground fuel tanks at JFK International Airport.

On the tapes, defendant Russell Defreitas promised "high-tech," "ninja-style" tactics that included releasing rats in the main terminal to distract security. "We got to come up with supernatural things," he told the informant.

Despite his bluster, Defreitas seemed unaware of the technical difficulties involved in igniting hardened underground pipelines, and he never secured explosives.

The JFK plotters' trial follows May's attempted Times Square bombing, in which Faisal Shahzad -- trained in explosives at an al Qaeda camp in Pakistan -- failed to set off a bomb made of gas cans, propane tanks, fireworks and nonflammable fertilizer.

You ever get the feeling that some of these guys aren't the sharpest scimitars in the shed?

If so, you're not alone. The notion of "savvy and sophisticated" Islamist supervillains is "wildly off the mark," Brookings' Daniel Byman and Christine Fair write in Atlantic magazine.

Many Afghan suicide bombers "never even make it out of their training camp," thanks to the jihadi tradition of the pre-martyrdom "manly embrace": "the pressure from these group hugs triggers the explosives in suicide vests." (Theological question: Do you get fewer virgins for an own-goal?)

On the American home front, al Qaeda and its sympathizers often don't look much brighter:

" In 2006, an FBI sting rolled up the "Liberty City Seven," whose ringleader, the Washington Post reported, "wanted to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, which would then fall into a nearby prison, freeing Muslim prisoners who would become the core of his Moorish army. With them, he would establish his own country." Sounds like a plan!

" 2007 saw the arrest of six Islamists who planned to launch an armed attack on New Jersey's Fort Dix, but were rounded up after they "asked a store clerk to copy a video of them firing assault weapons and screaming about jihad."

" In 2003, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed associate Iyman Faris went to jail on charges involving a plan to topple the Brooklyn Bridge by severing its suspension cables with a blowtorch.

" The 2005 Jose Padilla indictment revealed that some Islamic terrorists haven't quite mastered speaking in code. One of Padilla's co-defendants insisted he was just talking about sporting goods on the surveillance tapes, but couldn't explain why he'd asked his co-conspirator if he had enough "soccer equipment" to "launch an attack on the enemy."

Lest you think I'm just cherry-picking particularly incompetent jihadis, recall that the Bush administration once considered Padilla, an American citizen, too dangerous for a civilian trial, and cited Faris' capture as the crown jewel of successes with its warrantless wiretapping program.

The fact that many terrorists are morons doesn't mean all are, and even morons get lucky sometimes, so vigilance remains essential.

But the myth that al Qaeda is 100 feet tall has fed dramatic government growth since 9/11. The Washington Post's new series on "Top Secret America" shows that D.C. has erected vast pyramids in the name of homeland security, with some 1,200 agencies and 850,000 people trolling through e-mail and clear-cutting forests to produce mounds of useless, redundant intelligence reports.

We've given al Qaeda power over us they don't deserve. When we recognize that they're often inept and clownish, we weaken their ability to sow terror. For the sake of our liberty and security, it's prudent and patriotic to allow an occasional smirk to cross your stiff upper lip.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Atty. Gen. Holder failed to disclose legal briefs to senators

2010-03-13

Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. gave more ammunition to his critics Friday, admitting he had failed to tell a Senate committee about half a dozen briefs to the Supreme Court that he had signed, including two involving a terrorism dispute.

Holder's aides said the failure to mention the briefs last year before his confirmation was an oversight and a mistake.
Just one of those things, I guess ...
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, called it an "extremely serious matter" that would trigger sharp criticism when Holder is due to be questioned March 23. "The attorney general, as with all nominees, has a duty of candor. . . . It is simply unacceptable that briefs in such significant cases were not provided to the committee so they could be discussed during his confirmation hearing," Sessions said.

Holder has run into a drumbeat of Republican criticism since he announced in November that he had decided to move the admitted Sept. 11 plotters, including self-proclaimed mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, from military custody at Guantanamo Bay to be tried in a federal civilian court in Manhattan. The attorney general said this trial would demonstrate the nation's commitment to the rule of law.

His Republican critics said these foreign terrorism suspects did not deserve to be tried in a civilian court with all the rights of Americans. More recently, the Obama administration has backed away from Holder's plan, but has not decided where the men will be tried.

The six briefs to the Supreme Court were not Holder's work alone. In every instance, he was one of a group of prominent lawyers or ex-judges who signed a friend-of-the-court brief.

Twice, Holder signed briefs along with former Atty. Gen. Janet Reno in the case of accused "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla. Though he was an American citizen who was arrested in Chicago, the Bush administration maintained it could hold him indefinitely in a military brig as an enemy combatant. Reno and Holder argued that an American citizen had a right to be charged with a crime and tried in federal court.

Two lower courts agreed with the Bush administration, but when Padilla lodged an appeal in the Supreme Court in 2006, the administration reversed course. Padilla was sent to trial in a federal court in Florida, where he was convicted for supporting terrorists and imprisoned.

Link

Home Front: WoT

White House: Some Critics 'Serving the Goals of al Qaeda'*

2010-02-09

In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responds to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda."

Quite right, too. But honest criticism and statements of well-founded concerns serve the goals of protecting the Republic. How, oh how, to differentiate between the two?

I recall a day, not so long ago, when dissent was the highest form of patriotism.

Brennan writes that, "Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill."

But if you're on the same airplane as one you should have a healthy respect for the fact that they really, really want you dead.

In the op-ed, titled "'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists' plots, takes fight to them abroad," Brennan writes that politics "should never get in the way of national security. But too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe."

As opposed to how we fought terrorists in 2003, 2005 and 2007 ...

The administration op-ed is in response to a USA Today editorial entitled "National security team fails to inspire confidence; Officials' handling of Christmas Day attack looks like amateur hour."

Brennan provides a detailed defense of the administration's handling of failed Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab whom, he says, was "thoroughly interrogated and provided important information."

For about an hour. Then he was read his rights and got a mouthpiece.

He suggests that many critics are hypocritical and clueless.

Those are the Dhimmicrats, pal. The very large majority of Republicans and Tea Party advocates have refrained from the tit-for-tat, back and forth nonsense. We didn't politicize anti-terrorist policies this last decade. You did.

The most important breakthrough in the interrogation occurred "after Abdulmutallab was read his rights, which the FBI made standard policy under Michael Mukasey, President Bush's attorney general," he writes, noting that failed shoe bomber Richard Reid "was read his Miranda rights five minutes after being taken off a plane he tried to blow up. The same people who criticize the president today were silent back then."

Back then we were still trying to figure out how to do this stuff. Bush figured it out, which is why Gitmo was full.

Brennan said anyone who wants to change the policy would be casting aside lessons learned "in waging this war" on extremists.

Who fought that war for seven plus years? Are you incorporating the lessons of the Bush administration into your effort? George that it was okay to listen to international telephone conversations to find out to whom terrorists were talking. George thought that it was okay to intercept the e-mail of terrorists. Are you doing that? Tell us what 'lessons' from the Bush administration you've kept in your playbook.

"Terrorists such as Jose Padilla and Saleh al-Mari did not cooperate when transferred to military custody, which can harden one's determination to resist cooperation," he writes.

While they might not have talked, they also weren't making fools of our justice system, and they weren't threatening anyone.

He calls it "naive to think that transferring Abdulmutallab to military custody would have caused an outpouring of information. There is little difference between military and civilian custody, other than an interrogator with a uniform. The suspect gets access to a lawyer, and interrogation rules are nearly identical."

Well not exactly, as even the Army Field Manual isn't quite like a civilian interrogation. But a CIA interrogator would have had even more leeway.

Moreover, Brennan says, hundreds of terrorists have been convicted in criminal courts while only three have been convicted in the military tribunal system.

So first the liberals do everything possible to gum up the military tribunal system with multiple, multiple delays and lawsuits, and then they point out that no one was convicted in them.

The former CIA official also asserts that the Obama administration is doing a better job than the Bush administration did in taking the fight to al Qaeda. "This administration's efforts have disrupted dozens of terrorist plots against the homeland and been responsible for killing and capturing hundreds of hard-core terrorists, including senior leaders in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond -- far more than in 2008."

Apparently all the al-Qaeda deaders in Iraq from 2004 to 2008 weren't counted ...

"We need no lectures about the fact that this nation is at war," he says.

Perhaps an application of the clue bat then ...

USA Today's editorial writers see it all a bit differently, of course, writing that though "the Obama administration's national security officials have struggled to assure the public that they know exactly what they're doing," they are so far "achieving the opposite, and they're needlessly adding some jitters in the process."

The editorial writers fault the Obama administration for announcing "last week that an attack by al-Qaeda is likely in the next three to six months. The warning is bound to frighten the public, with no obvious benefit beyond the ability to say 'I told you so.'"

There's a fine line to walk on keeping this news quiet versus warning the public. If we had more confidence in the administration we could perhaps trust their judgement. But we don't, so we can't ...

They also refer to National Intelligence Director Admiral Dennis Blair (ret.) as having "had a 'Duh!' moment" for acknowledging that "authorities fumbled the initial questioning of Abdulmutallab by failing to call in the high-value interrogation group, which was created to question terrorism suspects. Refreshingly candid, yes, but not a statement that inspires confidence. Especially when the same day, at another Senate hearing, FBI Director Robert Mueller testified that the high-value unit was still in its 'formation stages' and that 'there was no time' to get it to Detroit."

USA Today's editorial writers say that when senior administration officials revealed Abdulmutallab's cooperation with authorities, "the news pretty much negate(d) earlier claims that no intelligence was lost when Abdulmutallab was prematurely read his rights."

Link

Home Front: WoT

Opposing view: Or 'We don need no stinkinng lectures'

2010-02-09

Administration disrupts terrorists' plots, takes fight to them abroad.
Pretty good coming from the Administration that is let by the Lecturer/Scolder/Pedantic in Chief.
Politics should never get in the way of national security. But too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe.
But too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe. Yes they are!

Politics should never get in the way of national security. Agreed but then "You never let a serious crisis go to waste."
Immediately after the failed Christmas Day attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was thoroughly interrogated and provided important information. Senior counterterrorism officials from the White House, the intelligence community and the military were all actively discussing this case before he was Mirandized and supported the decision to charge him in criminal court.
Mirandized: Oh, The Catch and Release Program (CARP or is it CRAP)?
The most important breakthrough occurred after Abdulmutallab was read his rights, which the FBI made standard policy under Michael Mukasey, President Bush's attorney general. The critics who want the FBI to ignore this long-established practice also ignore the lessons we have learned in waging this war: Terrorists such as Jose Padilla and Saleh al-Mari did not cooperate when transferred to military custody, which can harden one's determination to resist cooperation.
It's naive to think that transferring Abdulmutallab to military custody would have caused an outpouring of information. There is little difference between military and civilian custody, other than an interrogator with a uniform. The suspect gets access to a lawyer, and interrogation rules are nearly identical.
No. First the CIA extracts information and then turns the terrorist over to the military. These terrorists are non-uniformed combatants without a country and not entitled to the Geneva Convention or our Constitution.
Would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid was read his Miranda rights five minutes after being taken off a plane he tried to blow up. The same people who criticize the president today were silent back then.
The same people who criticize the president today were silent back then. I don't think so--at least not at the Burg.
Cries to try terrorists only in military courts lack foundation. There have been three convictions of terrorists in the military tribunal system since 9/11, and hundreds in the criminal justice system -- including high-profile terrorists such as Reid and 9/11 plotter Zacarius Moussaoui.
Cries to try terrorists only in military courts lack foundation? When the United States entered World War II, Adolf Hitler ordered the remaining German saboteurs to wreak havoc on the country. The responsibility for carrying this out was given to German Intelligence (Abwehr). In June 1942, eight agents were recruited and divided into two teams: the first, commanded by George John Dasch, with Ernst Peter Burger, Heinrich Heinck and Richard Quirin; the second, under the command of Edward Kerling, with Hermann Neubauer, Werner Thiel and Herbert Haupt. All eight German agents were tried, convicted by the Military Commission, with six men sentenced to death. President Roosevelt approved the sentences. The constitutionality of the military commissions was upheld by the Supreme Court in Ex parte Quirin and the six men were executed by electrocution on August 8.
This administration's efforts have disrupted dozens of terrorist plots against the homeland and been responsible for killing and capturing hundreds of hard-core terrorists, including senior leaders in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond -- far more than in 2008. We need no lectures about the fact that this nation is at war.
Are you sure the Administration hasn't hired Baghdad Bob?
Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda. Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill. They will, however, be dismantled and destroyed, by our military, our intelligence services and our law enforcement community. And the notion that America's counterterrorism professionals and America's system of justice are unable to handle these murderous miscreants is absurd.
Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill. Does anyone really believe this statement? Why not experience a little (or a lot) fear? Maybe they should know some fear.
John Brennan is Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.

Link

Home Front: WoT

A source in the intel community explains it to Kristol

2009-12-31

Obama fundamentally altered the culture and risk-taking incentives of the intelligence community with policy and personnel changes. The sense of urgency is gone, and he's made it uncool to call the war on terror a war at all. If he wants to treat terrorism like a criminal act, rather than an act of war, we should not be surprised when the results look a lot like the bureaucratic foul-ups that happen all the time in law enforcement. He gutted the Homeland Security Council coordinating role, he diluted the focus of the daily intel brief, he made CIA officials worry more about being prosecuted for doing their jobs than capturing terrorists. He's so worried about the political consequences to his administration of a terrorist attack on our home soil that he denies the obvious -- that Major Hasan is a jihadist terrorist -- and he wants to shut down GITMO and bring terrorists here. He's made it his business to turn much of the national security apparatus set up by Bush and Cheney upside down and has succeeded....

On the comparisons to how the shoe bomber was treated, it's important to note that the shoe bomber was arrested in December 2001. President Bush's order authorizing detentions of enemy combatants was issued in mid-Nov 2001 and there was scant infrastructure in place or much precedent a month later to hold a terrorist in custody as an enemy combatant. Of course, by 2002 there was GTMO and the CIA program overseas, and President Bush started designating terrorists as enemy combatants, including Jose Padilla (a US citizen), al-Marri, and detainees at GTMO. Most important...I bet that if the administration had thought the shoe bomber had more information to provide under interrogation, President Bush would not have hesitated to order the Justice Dept to have the criminal charges dismissed and designate him as an enemy combatant. Will Obama take that step if his investigators tell him that's the only way to get more info from Abdulmutallab? The point is that we're eight years down the road from 9/11 and the shoe bomber, and Obama refuses to use the authority he has to get the intelligence we need.

Link

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