| Mahmud Abouhalima | Mahmud Abouhalima | al-Qaeda | 20040226 |
| Home Front: Politix |
| President Obama And The Real Shame of Guantanamo |
| 2009-04-22 |
| President Barack Obama has in the last few days, accelerated a process of dismantling the American security apparatus designed to protect American citizens at home and abroad. The administrations disclosure of the techniques used to gather critical intelligence in order to stop terrorist attacks has been made to the world, our enemies and the terrorists. Dismantling of Guantanamo has begun. The president has condemned the entire security process that was put into place after 9/11 as being not in accord with the principles of our nation. Have we forgotten already? Has the President forgotten? What was the historical basis for Guantanamo and the interrogation techniques used there? On Aug. 6, 2008, a military jury in Guantanamo convicted Osama bin Ladens driver of supporting terrorism but acquitted him on charges of conspiring with al-Qaida to wage murderous attacks in the first U.S. war crimes trial since World War II. The American Civil Liberties Union called the tribunal at Guantanamo a betrayal of American values from start to finish and a monumental debacle of American justice. Human rights groups and civil liberties groups condemned the process. The New York Times condemned not only the process but the imprisonment of the terrorist suspects as enemy combatants. In his campaign, candidate Obama used similar language. In the face of an unbroken history of attacks on U.S. diplomatic, military and civilian personnel marking the years prior to 9/11, Guantanamo was established as an intelligence gathering detention facility. What triggered that decision? Seventeen American citizens were killed by a truck bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983. Individuals identified as members of Hezbollah al-Hejaz exploded a fuel truck adjacent to an eight story building (Khobar Towers) on June 25, 1996. The building housed United States Air Force personnel from the 440th Wing), a deployed rescue squadron. In all, 19 U.S. servicemen were killed and 372 were wounded in that attack. The first World Trade Center bombing occurred Feb. 26, 1993, when a car bomb was detonated below Tower One of the World Trade Center in New York City killing six people and injuring 1,042. The attack was planned by a group of conspirators including Ramzi Yousef, Mahmud Abouhalima, Mohammad Salameh, Nidal Ayyad, Abdul Rahman Yasin and Ahmad Ajaj. They received financing from Khaled Sheikh Mohammed of al-Qaida. Marine Corps Lt. Colonel William Huggins was kidnapped and murdered by Hezbollah while serving with a U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon in 1988. United States diplomats George Moore and Cleo Noel were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum on March 1, 1973. Richard Welch, CIA station chief in Athens, was assassinated by the November Group in 1975. Rodger Davies, U.S. ambassador to Cyprus, was assassinated in Nicosia in1974. Adolph Dubs, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan was kidnapped and killed by Islamic terrorists in 1979. Francis E. Meloy Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon was assassinated in 1978. William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon was kidnapped and murdered by the Islamic Jihad in 1984. Capt. William Nordeen, defense attaché in Athens, was gunned down in cold blood in1988. Navy Capt. George Santos was assassinated by the November terrorist group in Greece in 1983. American Consulate employees Gary Durell and Jacqueline Van Landingham were gunned down in Karachi, Pakistan in 1995. Twelve Americans were killed in the US embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya in 1988. The attack responsibility was claimed by al-Qaida. The USS Cole suffered a suicide bombing attack against it on Oct. 12, 2000 while it was harbored in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 others were injured in the blast. The attack was organized and directed by Osama bin Ladens al-Qaida terrorist organization and carried out by suicide bombers Ibrahim al-Thawr and Abdullah al-Misawa. On Sept. 11, 2001, a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaida hit the United States. Terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the building, causing both buildings to collapse within two hours, destroying at least two nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Somerset County, after passengers and members of the flight crew on the fourth aircraft attempted to retake control of their plane, which was said to have been heading for The White House. There were no known survivors from any of the flights. More than 2,900 people died in the attacks. Another 24 were missing and presumed dead. The U.S. government responded to these repeated acts of murder with a new vigor and determination. We declared a War on Terrorism and launched an invasion of Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harbored al-Qaida terrorists. Many other nations also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. The NATO council declared that the attacks on the United States were considered an attack on all NATO nations and, as such, satisfied Article 5 of the NATO charter. Within the United States, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, creating the Department of Homeland Security, representing the largest restructuring of the U.S. government in contemporary history. Congress also passed the Patriot Act, stating it would help detect and prosecute terrorism and other crimes. Numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, India, Australia, France, Germany, Indonesia, China, Canada, Russia, Pakistan, Jordan, Mauritius, Uganda and Zimbabwe introduced anti-terrorism legislation and froze the bank accounts of businesses and individuals they suspected of having al-Qaida ties. Thousand of Americans have been killed in this declared war against us. NATO declared it an attack on all nations. The President didnt act alone. Congress passed the Homeland Security Act and the Patriot Act. The United Kingdom, India, Australia, France, Germany, Indonesia, China, Canada, Russia, Pakistan, Jordan, Mauritius, Uganda and Zimbabwe introduced anti-terrorism legislation. The United States responded to the attacks by declaring a War on Terrorism. Guantanamo was set-up to detain, interrogate and process known terrorists and enemy combatants. The Department of Defense and the CIA, acting with presidential and congressional authority under the Homeland Security and Patriot Acts directed and authorized interrogation techniques which had a historical basis in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Since the passage of these laws and the implementation of authorized interrogation techniques, dozens of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, diplomats and civilians have been thwarted. There have been no successful attacks in the U.S. or on U.S. personnel serving overseas. President Obama is now dismantling this security system and in the process, apologizing to the world for the measures the U.S. implemented to protect itself. His characterization of the process sounds as if it was written by the terrorists themselves. Additionally, Congress continues to threaten criminal prosecution of Justice department lawyers and CIA personnel who participated in this successful program to protect the U.S. During the entire period of years that this dis-honor roll of murder and horror took place, during this entire chain of evil events, during all the funerals and grieving by Americans for Americans during this on-going declared war against America, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and The New York Times remained silent. There were no cries of shame directed at the terrorists for killing babies , women and children. There were no calls for justice against these murderers and assassins. There was no cry that these behaviors were a betrayal of human values. Nothing. A shameful silence enveloped this organization with the oxymoronic name, American Civil Liberties Union. But they did rush to the defense of Muslims in the U.S. being investigated by the FBI and they now scream of the inhumanity of waterboarding They have sued to disclose the internal policy memos of the U.S. intelligence efforts. The real shame of Guantanamo is that President Obama has taken a position condemning and apologizing to the world for our self-protective efforts. Will we now be safer? Will the terrorists be moved by the presidents mea culpas and cease all murderous operations against us? If that isnt the audacity of hope, what is? |
| Link |
| Home Front: WoT | ||||||||||
| Feds ask to halt inmate access at Supermax after letter leaks | ||||||||||
| 2008-02-03 | ||||||||||
A group of Denver law students fighting to overturn some regulations at the Supermax prison in Colorado has found that the very rules they are fighting might bar them from continuing to represent the convicted terrorists.
The government is now arguing that the rules, called special administrative measures, or SAMs, should also forbid prison visits by University of Denver law students who are representing two of the terrorists in a civil-rights lawsuit against the government. The suit, filed in Denver's U.S. District Court, alleges that the measures violate the inmates' civil rights. In January, Judge Wiley Y. Daniel granted the students access to Nidal Ayyad and Mahmud Abouhalima over the objection of the U.S. attorney's office. But on Wednesday, the government asked the judge to reconsider and filed a motion to put the students' access on hold while an appeal is pending. The government argues that, because the students aren't yet lawyers, they might be more willing to pass messages from the terrorists to outside contacts. Even if caught, the reasoning goes, they would not lose their licenses to practice.
Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales first imposed the special administrative measures in March 2005 after he learned letters sent from Supermax were being used to recruit suicide bombers in Spain.
One of Mohammad Salameh's letters was found in possession of Mohamed Achraf, the leader of a radical Muslim cell who is charged with plotting to blow up the National Court in downtown Madrid. Salameh is serving 116 years in Supermax for his role in the 1993 attempt to blow up the World Trade Center. Originally, the special administrative rules were to be in effect for just one year, but they have been extended annually since then. The inmates say that they now only receive certain newspapers, such as USA Today but the classified ads and editorial-page letters are cut out.
The prisoners, through their student legal representatives, have argued there was never a hearing to decide whether the letters they sent to Spain contained messages of violence.
After the special administrative measures were imposed in 2005, Salameh stopped eating for 89 days. When the rules were extended in 2006, he fasted for 72 days and again for 20 days, his lawsuit says. Salameh has retained his own private attorney in the suit against the rules. "Mr. Salameh was subjected to more than 100 force-feedings via naso-gastric tube," the suit says.
Ayyad, an American citizen serving 117 years in prison for procuring chemicals used in the World Trade Center bombing, said that he wrote to a prisoner in Spain for one year and that he gave his letters to prison staff for review before he sent them.
Eid says the government has a responsibility to make sure that inmates do not continue to commit crimes or influence terrorist attacks. "When we have a known threat, we have to be prudent," he said. "The public expects that of us. We are supposed to see justice through from the beginning until they leave the system." | ||||||||||
| Link |
| Terror Networks |
| The Beginning of Ali Mohamed's Network in the USA |
| 2006-10-06 |
| From IntelWire, an article by J. M. Berger Ali A. Mohamed, a shadowy Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) member who infiltrated the U.S. Army, ... was an irreplaceable link in the 1993 bombing plot [against the World Trade Center]. The evidence for Mohamed's role in the 1993 bombing is substantial and -- by the standards of most terrorism investigations -- extraordinarily concrete. Mohamed trained several members of the Brooklyn terror cell responsible for the bombing, including Mahmud Abouhalima, Mohamed Salameh, Clement Hampton-El and Siddig Siddig Ali, according to extensive court records, testimony and physical evidence. When Ramzi Yousef and an accomplice entered the U.S. in 1992 to begin work on the bombing, they were carrying terrorist training material directly linked to Mohamed, according to physical evidence presented in court. Yousef and his accomplice flew into the country after visting an al Qaeda encampment where -- according to multiple eyewitness accounts -- Mohamed was working as a trainer and assembling terrorist training manuals. On entering the country, Yousef immediately contacted two of Mohamed's trainees, both of whom were later indicted for the World Trade Center bombing, court records show. |
| Link |
| First Attack on WTC Today in 1993 |
| 2004-02-26 |
| Someone call the New York Times, tell them "Clinton Lied - People Died....." On 26th February 1993, at approximately 12.18 p.m., an improvised explosive device exploded on the second level of the World Trade Center parking basement. The resulting blast produced a crater, approximately 150 feet in diameter and five floors deep, in the parking basement. The structure consisted mainly of steel-reinforced concrete, twelve to fourteen inches thick. The epicenter of the blast was approximately eight feet from the south wall of Trade Tower Number One, near the support column K31/8. The device had been placed in the rear cargo portion of a one-ton Ford F350 Econoline van, owned by the Ryder Rental Agency, Jersey City, New Jersey. Approximately 6,800 tons of material were displaced by the blast. The main explosive charge consisted primarily of approximately 1,200 to 1,500 pounds of a home-made fertilizer-based explosive, urea nitrate. The fusing system consisted of two 20-minute lengths of a non-electric burning type fuse such as green hobby fuse. The hobby fuse terminated in the lead azide, as the initiator. Also incorporated in the device and placed under the main explosive charge were three large metal cylinders (tare weight 126 pounds) of compressed hydrogen gas. The crime scene and prosecution On 26th February 1993, at approximately 12.18 p.m., an explosion occurred under the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Early media reports and some telephone com-munications from law enforcement personnel in New York suggested that a generator had exploded. Bomb technician Special Agents from the New York FBI had responded as a first analysis team and their conclusion was that an improvised explosive device had exploded. Subsequent requests to the FBI Laboratory for field support were met with two Special Agent Examiners from the FBI Laboratory Explosives Unit who arrived in New York on 27th February. Initial analyses of the crime scene confirmed that the damage had been caused by an improvised explosive device. Within one week following the explosion, more than 300 law enforcement officers from around the country had sifted through more than 2,500 cubic yards of debris weighing in excess of 6,800 tons, and had pieced together evidence in the most significant international terrorist act ever committed on U.S. soil. The resulting explosion killed six people and injured more than a thousand. More than 50,000 people were evacuated from the Trade Center complex during the hours immediately following the blast. The initial inspection on 27th February was described as "a scene of massive devastation, almost surreal". It was like walking into a cave, with no lights other than flashlights flickering across the crater. There were small pockets of fire, electrical arcing from damaged wiring, and automobile alarms whistling, howling and honking. The explosion ruptured two of the main sewage lines from both Trade towers and the Vista Hotel and several water mains from the air conditioning system. In all, more than 2 million gallons of water and sewage were pumped out of the crime scene. After an initial inspection of the underground parking area, FBI explosive unit personnel were able to determine that a crater had been formed, measuring approximately 150 feet in diameter at its widest point and over five stories deep. The damage done to automobiles, concrete and structural steel, for example, suggested that the explosive had a velocity of detonation of around 14,000 to 15,500 feet per second. It is known that there are several commercial explosives that fall within that range of detonation, including some dynamites, water gels, slurries and fertilizer-based explosives. The explosive damage was more of a pushing and heaving type rather than the damage one would expect from a more brisant shattering and splitting explosive such as TNT or C-4. Also, by an initial assessment of the type of damage and the size of the crater, it was determined that the explosive main charge must have been between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds. When making this type of extrapolation, the explosive expert must consider external factors such as confinement by the target itself, witness materials and structural integrity of the building. Once the type and amount of explosive had been estimated, it was possible to surmise that the bomb had been too large to transport in a sedan-type automobile, while the ceiling clearance limited the height of the vehicle. By this method of reasonable deduction, the initial opinion was that the explosive device had to have been transported into the Trade Center parking area in either a pickup truck or a van. During the initial assessment of explosive damage to the complex, it became very clear that the structural integrity of Trade Tower Number One was at risk, and that the Vista Hotel would probably collapse within days if structural steel support was not in place as soon as possible. It was also apparent that structural problems were not the only safety hazard. The raw sewage present could present a biological hazard, as could the asbestos and mineral wool (a level 2 carcinogen), acid and fuel from the automobiles, and small fires caused by short circuits. Another concern was the possibility of pieces of concrete 14 inches thick and as large as a kitchen table falling from 70 feet above. And as one would expect at a bombing crime scene, there were a great many sharp metal fragments from both the building and the vehicles present during the blast. Before establishing a plan of attack to begin the collection of evidence, other concerns were important. The Port Authority Transportation system, PATH, which operates a train system from New Jersey into New York, a major commuter umbilicus, was damaged by the blast. If the system could not operate on the Monday morning, commuting would be a nightmare. Late on Saturday night, it was decided to evacuate the complex, place seismographic equipment around the damaged area and run a train through the system. Results of this test showed that with minimal structural support, the train could be allowed to run on Monday: one problem solved. Within hours of the blast, OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, advised that certain personal safety and breathing equipment must be used by crime scene personnel. OSHA personnel volunteered to conduct personal sessions with every individual and fit dust proof masks. They also provided numerous air quality monitors to determine if the crime scene effort disturbed any hazardous materials. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was concerned about the disposal of the unwanted debris from the crime scene. The co-operation provided by OSHA and the air analyses convinced EPA personnel that disposal would not be a problem. The vehicle frame fragment found on the site and the VIN which led to identification of the van used by the bombers. On 28th February, four FBI forensic chemists and four ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) chemists arrived to begin explosive residue collection. A transient chemistry explosive residue laboratory was put together in the already existing New York City Police Department Laboratory. Later that evening, six forensic chemists, two from each agency (FBI, ATF, NYPD) were dispatched to the crater area to collect explosive residues. A bomb technician from the NYPD and an ATF agent were also assigned to provide safety support for the chemists. During the early morning hours of this residue collection, the bomb technician discovered a fragment from a vehicle frame which displayed massive explosive damage. The ATF agent and bomb technician placed the 300 pound fragment on a litter and carried it to a police vehicle. The fragment was transported to the Laboratory for analysis. Due to sewage contamination, the piece was of no value for explosive residue analyses. A closer inspection of the fragment displayed a dot matrix number. The number was identified as the confidential vehicle identification number of a van reported stolen the day before the bombing. The vehicle was a 1990 Ford, F-350 Econoline van owned by the Ryder Rental Agency, rented in New Jersey and reported stolen in New Jersey. The frame fragment displayed explosive damage consistent with damage from a device exploding inside the vehicle. By Sunday morning a fully operational Evidence Control Center was established in the basement of the Merryl Lynch building across West Street. This evidence command post incorporated secure and non-secure telephones and facsimile, photocopiers, radio communication with the crime scene and FBI headquarters in New York, computers and data processors, phototelesis, and a scheduled meeting room. Merryl Lynch maintained security from the media until investigation of the crime scene was completed. On Monday morning three teams were assembled and the entrance and exit ramps to the parking basement were secured and cleaned while contract engineers were rapidly securing the structural support of the crime scene. By Tuesday morning approximately 200 law enforcement officers from at least eight different agencies were on hand to begin the monumental task of collecting evidence. Also by Tuesday, four Assistant United States Attorneys were assigned to the prosecution. It was fortunate that the attorneys were assigned at that time because late on Monday night the vehicle fragment was identified by the FBI Laboratory as having been a portion of the vehicle that contained the device and as having been reported stolen on 25th February 1993. FBI agents travelled to the Ryder Rental Agency in Jersey City, New Jersey, which had rented out the vehicle and began an interview of the station manager. While the interview was under way, an individual by the name of Mohammad Salameh telephoned Ryder and wanted his security deposit returned. A meeting was arranged so that Salameh would return to the Ryder Agency on 4th March. When he returned for the $400 deposit, FBI agents were on hand to place him under surveillance. As Salameh was leaving, numerous media personnel were observed outside, setting up their photography equipment. It was then decided that Salameh would be arrested on the spot. His arrest and the subsequent search of his personal property led to Nidel Ayyad, a chemist working for the Allied Signal Corporation in New Jersey. Ayyad was connected to Salameh through telephone toll records and joint bank accounts. At the time of Ayyadâs arrest his personal computer was seized from his office (more about that later). Also through toll records and receipts, a safe house or bomb factory was located on Pamrappo Avenue, in Jersey City. A search of this bomb factory revealed that acids and other chemicals had been used at that apartment to manufacture explosives. Traces of nitro-glycerine and urea nitrate were found on the carpet and embedded in the ceiling. It appeared that a chemical reaction involving acid had occurred in the apartment. At the same time, telephone toll records from Salameh and Ayyad showed that calls had been made to a self-storage center not too far from the bomb factory. An interview with the manager of the self-storage center indicated that Salameh had rented a space, and that four "Arab looking" individuals had been observed using a Ryder van several days before the bombing. The manager also said that the day before the bombing, AGL Welding Supply from Clifton, New Jersey, had delivered three large tanks of compressed hydrogen gas. The storage manager had told Salameh to remove them that day. During the search of the storage room rented by Salameh, many chemicals and items of laboratory equipment were located. Among the items seized was 300 pounds of urea, 250 pounds of sulfuric acid, numerous one-gallon containers, both empty and containing nitric acid and sodium cyanide, two 50-foot lengths of hobby fuse, a blue plastic trash can, and a bilge pump. While examining the trash can and bilge pump, a white crystalline substance was found. A chemical analysis identified urea nitrate. While inventorying the materials in the storage center, six 2-quart bottles of brown liquid were discovered. The liquid was identified as home-made nitro-glycerine, very unstable in the condition in which it was found. The nitro-glycerine was transported and destroyed by the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad. On 3rd March, a type-written communication was received at the New York Times. The communique claimed respon-sibility for the bombing of the World Trade Center in the name of Allah. The letter was composed on a personal computer and printed on a laser printer. Very little can be identified as to the origin of the printer, but a search of the hidden files in Ayyadâs computer revealed wording identical to that of the text of the communique. Saliva samples from Salameh, Ayyad and a third man, Mahmud Abouhalima, were obtained and compared with the saliva on the envelope flap. A DNA Q Alpha examination concluded that Ayyad had licked the envelope on the communique received by the Times. Abuhalima, who was an integral part of the conspiracy, had fled the United States the day after the bombing, and had later been arrested in Egypt and extradited back to the United States. Meanwhile investigations at the crime scene continued. All items of potential evidence were documented on the sites, preserving the chain of evidence and the chain of custody. In less than one month, the crime scene investigations were completed. In all, approximately 3,000 pounds of debris were removed from the crime scene and transported to the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C. In September 1992, a man named Ahmad M. Ajaj had entered the United States from Pakistan at New Yorkâs JFK airport. He was arrested on a passport violation. In his checked luggage, Ajaj had numerous manuals and video cassette tapes. These tapes and manuals described methods of manufacturing explosives, including urea nitrate, nitro-glycerine, lead azide, TNT and other high explosives. Interviews and latent fingerprint examinations identified two other individuals who were an integral part of the bombing conspiracy. The first, Ramzi Yousef, had entered the U.S. on the same flight as Ajaj, but had been deported immediately. Yousef was identified through fingerprints and photospreads as having been associating with Salameh immediately prior to the bombing. His fingerprints were also found in the explosive manuals located in Ajajâs checked luggage. The second individual, known only as "Yassin", was identified in much the same manner and was probably involved in the packaging and delivery of the bomb on the morning of 26th February. The FBI Laboratory was under the gun to complete all scientific examinations by 7th July 1993 in compliance with the Speedy Trial Act. A trial date was established for 6th September 1993. During the examination of evidence in the Laboratory, the remains of 3 high-pressure gas cylinders belonging to the AGL Welding Company were identified. A small fragment of red paint with a grey primer was located on one of the metal fragments of the gas cylinder. This paint fragment was compared with the red paint used by AGL on their hydrogen tanks and was found to be the same. On one portion of a fragment of the Ryder truck bed, several fragments of blue plastic, the size of a pin head, were located. These fragments were compared with the plastic from the trash container at the self-storage center premises Salameh had rented and were found to be alike. Fragments of all four tyres were found at the crime scene and compared with the data on the maintenance scheduled at Ryder. All four tyres were accounted for. Prior to the trial, the FBI Laboratoryâs Special Project Section constructed a scale model of the portion of the Trade Center that was damaged by the blast. The model incorporated push-button fiber optic lighting to depict the location at the crime scene where pertinent items of evidence were found. Once illuminated and described to the jury during the trial, the lights and the model told a very clear and precise story. During the six month trial, more than 200 witnesses introduced over 1000 exhibits. On 4th March 1994, exactly one year after Salamehâs arrest, the jury found Salameh, Ajaj, Abuhalima and Ayyad guilty on all thirty-eight counts. Abuhalima was identified during neighborhood investigations at the bomb factory and storage center through a photospread. It was later determined that he was an integral part of the conspiracy. He had fled the United States the day after the bombing and was arrested in Egypt. He was thereafter extradited to the United States. One can only speculate on how history would be different if Janet Reno and the rest of the Justice Department had taken this information to CIA and asked them to approach this information as a "threat to national security". which in restrospect, it clearly was. |
| Link |