Could This Happen Here?

From Daniel Pipes:

"As the full implications of the London terrorist attacks by domestic jihadis sink in, Westerners are speaking out about the problem of radical Islam with new clarity and boldness....

"Mr. Cameron [British shadow education secretary] spoke with a bluntness unique in four years of politicians' discourse since September 11, 2001: 'The driving force behind today's terrorist threat is Islamist fundamentalism. The struggle we are engaged in is, at root, ideological. During the last century a strain of Islamist thinking has developed which, like other totalitarianisms, such as Nazi-ism and Communism, offers its followers a form of redemption through violence.'

"Most striking are the growing calls to extrude Islamists....:

A call to expel Islamists has also come from Peter Costello, the treasurer of Australia and regarded as heir apparent to Prime Minister Howard.

Continuing now with the Pipes article:

"These statements, all dating from the past half year, prompt several observations. First, where are the Americans? No major U.S. politician has spoken of making American-based Islamists unwelcome. Who will be the first?

"Second, note the consistent focus on the law and legal issues. This correctly picks up on the fact that ultimately, the Islamist project concerns the application of Islamic law, the Sharia.

"And finally, these comments are likely to be leading indicators of a broader campaign to restrict and remove Islamists – a move that comes none too soon."

According To Michael Graham

Michael Graham now has a job. That didn't take long, did it?

Nevertheless, a few aspects of Graham's firing from WMAL still need exploring. A few days ago, Michael Graham wrote on the matter of his dismissal from WMAL in an article which I found buried in my inbox.

Some excerpts from "How To Get Fired" by Michael Graham:

"If I had called the Catholic Church a haven for pedophiles because I believed their doctrine of priestly celibacy caused pedophilia, I would still have my talk-radio job today.

"If I had called the Christian faith a terror-sponsoring organization because of abortion-clinic and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, I would still be an employee of the ABC Radio Company. I know, because I hear these arguments made in the media nearly every day....

"When I was suspended without pay a month ago, my smartest and closest friends told me, 'Graham, relax. This is all going to blow over. They are never going to fire you over this. C'mon-this is CAIR we're talking about!'

"And it's true that few public advocacy groups have as little legitimacy or credibility as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Some of their members have been jailed for terrorism. Others have been deported. They are still reluctant to criticize Hamas and Hezbollah, and it took them three weeks after 9/11 to condemn Al Qaeda!"

Graham is correct about CAIR's connections to Hamas . In the exact words from an article in WorldNetDaily,

"CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association For Palestine, identified as a 'front group' for Hamas by two ex-FBI counterterrorism chiefs."

For additional information as to why CAIR may be reluctant to condemn two organizations which have been designated as terrorist in orientation, see Matthew Epstein's testimony before the United States Senate Judiciary Committe Subcommitte, Saudi Support for Islamic Extremism in the United States.

Continuing now with Graham's commentary:

"Here's the bizarre part: I started my on-air conversation about the unique, tragic relationship between Islam and terrorism on the day of the second London subway bombing. No one at ABC Radio objected to my comments.

"I repeated the comments on Friday. Again, no problem. Same thing on Monday. Tuesday, I spent my entire three-hour show – at the request of ABC management – talking about modern Islam as a terrorist organization.

"And for that, I was suspended and fired. What happened? How did the words that were insignificant one Thursday suddenly become unforgivable the next?

"It was all about CAIR. Late that Monday they sent out press releases, called advertisers, complained of my 'hate radio' to ABC. By Thursday, ABC had capitulated and suspended me, and CAIR immediately sent out a press release insisting ABC hadn't gone far enough and I had to be fired. Eventually, I was.

"Meanwhile, more listeners stood by me, not a single advertiser pulled their ads..."

What's that? Not a single advertiser pulled ads? ABC must have had an attack of conscience, then. I thought that talk radio usually based their hire-and-fire decisions on the ratings factor and on the financial support of the sponsors. Wasn't Graham hired by WMAL in the first place because he already had a reputation for outspoken controversy? I believe that WMAL enjoyed the ratings which Graham delivered--until he "crossed a line," apparently. Who drew that line? CAIR?

Later in his article, Graham continues:

"Think about this: Dan Rather went on the air with a story based on a fake Air National Guard memo, lied about the steps taken at CBS to 'authenticate' it, and after he was caught dead in a lie, still maintained that the bogus story was true…and he kept his job!

"I gave an honest, reason-based opinion about the challenges facing Islam, quoted facts, polls and public comments accurately – and I was fired...."

Michael Graham is already employed elsewhere, and his dismissal from WMAL has received some attention from the mainstream media.

I'm guessing that the Michael Graham story will soon fade away. Americans' memories are notoriously short.

What has CAIR learned from the Michael Graham story?

Will the power of CAIR soon fade away? Not without a push.

Now, before you go thinking, "There goes AOW again! She a real Janie-One-Note. She's repeating herself and writing another blog article about Michael Graham," read the following August 24, 2005 information from Michael Graham's web site:

"I almost choked on my Irish Breakfast tea this morning while being interviewed by Jimmy Barrett at WRVA in Richmond, VA. He told me that CAIR is now saying they never demanded I be fired and that they had nothing to do with ABC's decision. Well, that's interesting. Let's rewind the tape to Friday, July 29th, the day after I was suspended:

"DC Radio Host Suspended Over Anti-Islam Remarks; CAIR Applauds WMAL's Move, Says Graham Should Be Fired

"7/29/2005 10:40:00 AM

"To: National Desk

"Contact: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726 or ihooper@cair-net.org, Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441 or rahmed@cair-net.org, both of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

"WASHINGTON, July 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today applauded a Washington, D.C., radio station's decision to suspend without pay a talk show host who stated repeatedly that 'Islam is a terrorist organization.'

"CAIR said WMAL-AM morning host Michael Graham should be fired for his Islamophobic remarks, for other statements made before and after the most recent controversy and for his refusal to apologize for those comments.

"OK.....what am I missing here?

"...Apparently CAIR believes that the mainstream media are so in the bag that CAIR can deny the existence of their own press releases and get away with it...."

Readers, you will have to chose whom to believe--Michael Graham or CAIR, an organization with ties to Hamas. Your call.

The [Muslim?] Origins Of Project Hope

Mukit Hossain, Muslim activist - See also Yahoo! Photos - northernvirginiastan's Photos - Rogues' Gallery

Project Hope and Harmony, not yet a nonprofit organization although filing papers for that status are said to be planned, is the organization which insisted that Herndon, Virginia build a center for day laborers. This center will operate at taxpayers' expense and will not check on the immigration status of day laborers who utilize the site.

From the August 20, 2005 edition of the Washington Post comes a bit of information about the origins of Project Hope:

"On a frigid winter day two years ago, Mukit Hossain drove past a 7-Eleven in Herndon and noticed a large group of men, some wearing only sweat shirts, shivering like leaves in the parking lot.

"Something made him stop and ask what they were doing. In broken English, one man explained that they were looking for work. With their chances as bleak as the weather at 3 in the afternoon, Hossain asked why they did not just give up and go home.

"'We don't have much of a home to go to,' Hossain recalls the man telling him.

"From that encounter, a charity was born that ultimately has led to a government-sanctioned day-laborer site that has generated national attention.

"Hossain called a meeting of civic and religious leaders, many of whom had worked quietly for years helping day laborers learn English, find housing and get medical care. He proposed that they join forces and collaborate under a name with a distinct mission: Project Hope and Harmony, whose sole goal would be to create and run an orderly site for itinerant laborers...."

Mukit Hossain, who immigrated to the United States from Bangaladesh some thirty years ago, is a successful businessman here in the United States. According to a PRWEB Press Release:

"Mukit will assume the position of Exe VP & COO on June 1, 2004. Most recently, he has served as the President of ContinewTechnology. Prior to ContinewTechnology, Mr. Hossain served at Teleglobe Communication Company as a senior executive in charge of ‘access’ development, and subsequently, for global buildout of web-hosting, collocation and POP facilities. Before that, he held several executive level positions in charge of Program Management, Marketing, Network Planning, Data Services and Partnership Management at WinStar Communications. He arrived in the DC area with an assignment to start the local telecom venture of LCI (now part of Qwest) – from business/product definition to implementation. Mr. Hossain entered the CLEC industry via his assignment to develop market strategy for Teleport Communication Group (TCG – now AT&T Local). Mr. Hossain also served in technical and marketing positions for Telecommunication and IT services at Ameritech and GTE. Mr. Hossain has Bachelors degrees in Economics, Mathematics and Philosophy from Duke University and a Masters degree in Economics with emphasis in Econometrics and Business Management from North Carolina State University."

He is, then, eminently qualified to have organized Project Hope.

Returning now to the above-cited article in the Washington Post:

"For Hossain, helping immigrants, most from Central and South America, is a Muslim issue. Charity is one of the five pillars of Islam. So he raised money from Muslim businessmen in Herndon to buy 400 winter coats for the laborers, brought them food through another charity he started, called Food Source, and even rounded up day laborers to attend a Thanksgiving dinner at an Iraqi restaurant where falafel, not turkey, was served.

"'I consider them my neighbors,' said Hossain, an immigrant from Bangladesh who came to the United States 30 years ago to attend Duke University....

"Hossain wants to buy bicycles for the day laborers so they can get to the site without taking shortcuts across private property. The All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center, a large mosque in Sterling, has offered to provide a van to transport workers to and from the site...."

A Google Search of Mukit Hossain pulled up lots of information about Mukit Hossain. One Google hit contained this blunt comment:

"Hossain and the other Muslims working with Project Hope and Harmony have been accused of trying to justify illegal immigration, but their commitment to the issue has remained strong."

Another hit stated this:

"The War on Terror suffered another setback when the 'Virginistan' Senate honored Mukrit Hossain, an Islamist who has used his 'charitable' work - for Da'wa and to undermine the interests of the United States. Hossain has not only parlayed giving food and coats to illegal migrants into a federally funded exercise in Da'wa (Islamic propagation), he has assisted those who broke the law with legal aid to help them fight to stay in the US . Hossain exploits his 'charitable' work for furthering his Islamist agenda,and openly proclaims this to be his political mission as well....Hossain is also active in MAS, the Muslim American Society, the group which is in the forefront of campaiging for the release of jailed presidental assassin wannabe Omar Abu Ali. MAS also lauded Hossain as a 'supporter' of their organisation which is directly linked to ICNA and by extension Al Qaeda. The trustee of MAS's Islamic American University is Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi who proclaimed that Muslim women have an Islamic duty to become suicide bombers."

A third Google hit produced this:

"Perhaps most outrageous of all is that the FAITH 'charity' -Foundation for Appropriate and Temporary Immediate Help- which Hossain is being lauded for which helps illegal migrants get around American law and enables him to expose them to Islam, is registered at 500 Grove Street an address which was raided by law enforcement because 'it housed more then 100 interlocking Muslim organisations... which gave material aid to terrorists.' Besides Hossain and FAITH's activities in recruiting illegal migrant converts to Islam, one must also conclude that the potential for these people to become terrorist operatives is just as likely."

Back in May 2005, Hugh Fitzgerald of Jihad Watch did a bit of analysis on MAS, the head of which is Mahdi Bray:

"A convert to Islam, Mahdi Bray is not one of those, like Ibrahim Hooper, who has attained national prominence. He is a tireless worker at the local level, however, and in his dual presentation of self, or presentation of dual selves, most instructive. Soft-spoken and smiling and all sweet reason, and with a comfortably American voice, when addressing Infidels, he becomes something quite different for Muslim audiences, where he has been known to chant-and-rant, as in his call of support for Hamas before a crowd in Washington, or whipping up a crowd to show up at a courtroom to mock the proceedings which involved charging a Muslim with plotting to kill the American President. He is also careful, at the local level, to carry out all those carefully-calibrated and well-publicized deeds of supposed charity – to earn Infidel goodwill – that are described as being so useful in the conduct of Da’wa at Muslim sites.

"In his last appearance in the Boston Globe, some months ago, he is seen in a photograph (he made sure there would be a Globe photographer handy) helping to lift a box of donated food for the poor, which we are naturally supposed to believe is disinterested Muslim charity, but zakat, of course, can only be given to Infidels for the sake of promoting Islam....

"The list of those he has chosen to vocally defend is instructive...

"In October 2000 he appeared at a demonstration called in support of Hamas and Hizbullah:

“In American Jihad, [Steve] Emerson notes that when Abdurrahman Alamoudi of the American Muslim Council, who is now serving a 23-year prison sentence for a terrorism financing conviction, encouraged the Muslim crowd at an October 2000 rally cosponsored by MPAC to declare their support of the jihad terror groups Hamas and Hizballah, 'MPAC’s Political Advisor, Mahdi Bray, stood directly behind Alamoudi and was seen jubilantly exclaiming his support for these two deadly terrorist organizations.' This was just three weeks after Bray 'coordinated and led a rally where approximately 2,000 people congregated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.' Emerson reports that 'at one point during the rally, Mahdi Bray played the tambourine as one of the speakers sang, while the crowd repeated: "Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is calling us, let’s all go into jihad, and throw stones at the face of the Jews [sic]."

"Mahdi Bray was at another demonstration in December of that same year:

"On December 22, 2000, MPAC's Mahdi Bray organized a rally in Lafayette Park outside the White House to celebrate a 'Worldwide Day for Jerusalem.' In Arabic, the crowd responsively chanted with the emcee, 'Khaybar, Khaybar oh Jews, the Army of Muhammad is coming for you!' Posters calling for 'Death to Israel' and equating the Star of David with the Nazi swastika were openly displayed and anti-Semitic literature calling for the destruction of the Jews and Israel was distributed. Members of the crowd burned the Israeli flag while marching from the White House to the State Department.

"And here is some testimony before Congress about Mahdi Bray:

"United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

"Terrorist Recruitment and Infiltration in the United States: Prisons and Military as an Operational Base.
"Statement of J. Michael Waller Annenberg Professor of International Communication Institute of World Politics

"Before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 14 October 2003

"Appendix 2: Key Organizations Involved in Muslim Prison Recruitment
"National Islamic Prison Foundation (NIPF) – Contact: Mahdi Bray; 1212 New York Ave. NW, Suite 525, Washington, DC 20005. This is the same address as the American Muslim Council (AMC).
"• Specifically organized to convert American inmates to Wahhabism.”

Is there a comprehensive list of groups which have funded, or are funding, Project Hope and Harmony, defined in the Washington Post as "an umbrella group, not a nonprofit organization." How closely tied is Project Hope to the Muslim American Society? And why should any group--of whatever civic or religious persuasion--be allowed to promote illegal immigration within the United States?

Gangs in the DC Metro area

Northern Virginiastan is about "Monitoring how Islam is subverting public institutions in Northern Virginia and the greater DC Metro Area." Consequently, we normally don't discuss other issues, but after reading blog member Always on Watch's post Immigration Advocates Need A Reality Check on his own blog, I felt the need to share some news items concerning Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, a Latino gang (more accurately called a transnational criminal enterprise) active in the DC Metro area. It's all the more relevant because of alleged meetings between Al-Qaeda and MS-13 operatives in Central America.

From WJLA ABC 7 comes this news item about Montgomery County (MD) Executive Doug Duncan's recent visit with the President of El Salvador seeking support in fighting gang violence. Of course, much of Duncan's visit was opportunistic, as he sought trade ties with El Salvador and this trip could bolster his standing when he runs for Governor. Coverage of his trip states that Salvadoreno residents in Maryland send back millions of dollars in remittances to El Salvador.

From the Washington Post via Yahoo! News comes this article on Anti-Gang Strategies Lack Unity, which quotes Montgomery County police chief J. Thomas Manger (formerly of Faifax): "In Fairfax, it was pockets: Baileys [Crossroads], Route 1, Falls Church. It's the same situation here. There's probably more neighborhood gangs here, and we have more African American gangs. But 90 percent of the problem over here in Montgomery County is Latino gangs. . . . It goes down the [Interstate] 270 corridor: Montgomery Village, Gaithersburg, Wheaton, Silver Spring to Takoma Park."

Is it more than a coincidence that there is also a high concentration of Muslims in Baileys and Fall Church? The same can be said for Herndon.

Lastly, from CNN.com, comes this article Guatemala prison riots kill dozens: At least 30 dead in gang clashes at four prisons between MS-13 members and members of rival gang MS-18.

Fear on the Metro

As noted on Yahoo! Groups : dc-terror, "A member of a password-protected al-Qaeda affiliated message board provided the map of the Washington Metro subway system today, August 11, 2005, in addition to advocating an attack with chemical weapons upon this system."

From Joe Grossberg's blog comes this item:

Brown, Eyed Guy

Is MWB (Metroing While Brown) the new DWB (Driving While Black)?, or im brown, on the metro and messin with your head.

The Origins of CAIR

Mr. Beamish and George Mason reminded me of the importance of exploring and revealing the origins of CAIR.

After some searching, I've obtained the information, somewhat buried in a 2003 article :

"...The Wahhabist Saudi government began its ongoing 'colonization' of the West in earnest after World War II, Palazzi [2003 secretary general of the Italian Muslim Association] said, sending students abroad to study.

"Their mission, he said, was to create what was initially called the Muslim Student Federation, then 'after it became rooted in the country, to start creating the local mosques, local organizations and groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations,' or CAIR.
"Though it claims to represent moderate Muslims, Palazzi calls the Washington, D.C.-based lobby group the 'U.S. section of Hamas.'

"... CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association of Palestine, a group identified by a U.S. intelligence official as a front for Hamas. Awad was the group's public-relations adviser, and CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper also was an employee. Awad praised Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini and at a university forum in 1994 declared, 'I am in support of the Hamas movement.'

"Hamas itself has its roots in the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which al-Qaida was born, noted Palazzi.

"The difference between al-Qaida and Hamas is not over belief in the legitimacy of terrorism, but whether terror is to be used as the primary strategic tool or as only one of the possible tools, he said.

"'The leaders of Hamas and Brotherhood accept and promote suicide bombing and terror, but they believe it is not going to work in every circumstance,' Palazzi explained. 'In some cases, it is useful to have a kind of political activity. In some cases it is useful to resort to diplomacy.'

"Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood support terror in Kashmir, Israel and Chechnya, for example, he pointed out, but say that in the West, terror is not the best strategy.

"They say, according to Palazzi, 'We would rather infiltrate the West by our network and take advantage of the role of religious freedom in democratic legal systems and create our legal basis in those countries.'

"The Wahhabi aim, he says, is nothing short of bringing the whole world under its domination."

How is it, then, that our government allows CAIR to operate here in the United States? Why is WMAL Radio allowing CAIR to exert pressure on the broadcasts of Michael Graham and Geoff Metcalf?

Please don't omit reading this by George Mason, who has written an excellent commentary about the efforts of CAIR to silence talk-show hosts on WMAL Radio. It's important!

Tariq Hamdi protected by diplomatic immunity?

With thanks to loyal friends from Springfield, a followup to our August 10 post Tariq Hamdi charged with immigration and mortgage-loan fraud, a story from Newsweek that Hamdi might be working in the Iraqi embassy in Turkey, which would grant him diplomatic immunity: American Contact?

Virginia Tech Plays The Dhimmi

The following item appeared in the August 6, 2005 edition of the Washington Post and is quoted below in its entirety:

Program Brings Saudis to Tech

"About 60 faculty members from a Saudi Arabian university are taking courses at Virginia Tech in classrooms separated by gender.

"Virginia Tech officials said administrators from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah asked for the separation to reflect practices at their home institution.

"'This is the way they teach their courses over there, and this is the way they wish their courses to be taught over here,' a Virginia Tech spokesman said.

"The courses are in English instruction, communications, distance learning and Web site development. The program is being offered through a contract between the schools that does not involve state money, the spokesman said."

Compare the above item with this excerpt from the August 7, 2005 edition of the Washington Post:

"...Al Qaeda has become the first guerrilla movement in history to migrate from physical space to cyberspace. With laptops and DVDs, in secret hideouts and at neighborhood Internet cafes, young code-writing jihadists have sought to replicate the training, communication, planning and preaching facilities they lost in Afghanistan with countless new locations on the Internet.

"Al Qaeda suicide bombers and ambush units in Iraq routinely depend on the Web for training and tactical support, relying on the Internet's anonymity and flexibility to operate with near impunity in cyberspace. In Qatar, Egypt and Europe, cells affiliated with al Qaeda that have recently carried out or seriously planned bombings have relied heavily on the Internet.

"Such cases have led Western intelligence agencies and outside terrorism specialists to conclude that the 'global jihad movement,' sometimes led by al Qaeda fugitives but increasingly made up of diverse 'groups and ad hoc cells,' has become a 'Web-directed' phenomenon...

"Among other things, al Qaeda and its offshoots are building a massive and dynamic online library of training materials -- some supported by experts who answer questions on message boards or in chat rooms -- covering such varied subjects as how to mix ricin poison, how to make a bomb from commercial chemicals, how to pose as a fisherman and sneak through Syria into Iraq, how to shoot at a U.S. soldier, and how to navigate by the stars while running through a night-shrouded desert. These materials are cascading across the Web in Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and other first languages of jihadist volunteers.

"The Saudi Arabian branch of al Qaeda launched an online magazine in 2004 that exhorted potential recruits to use the Internet...

"[According to Michael Scheuer, former chief of the CIA unit that tracked bin Laden,] 'It used to be they [jihadists] had to go to Sudan, they had to go to Yemen, they had to go to Afghanistan to train,...'"

Or jihadist computer geeks can go to Virginia Tech, now conducting classes in accordance with shari'a law.

Have at it, anti-dhimmitudinal commenters!

Note: Go here for more on Virginia Tech's dhimmitude.

U.S. spotted Qaeda cell before 9/11

The CIA identified 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mindhar as threats back in 2000.

The article U.S. spotted Qaeda cell before 9/11 from the International Herald Tribune quotes Rep. Curt Weldon (R-NY) that a military intelligence unit identified four future hijackers as likely members of a cell that Al Qaeda was operating in the United States a year prior to 9/11. The four hijackers included Mohammed Atta and Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. The article states that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi had been identified as potential threats by the CIA before the summer of 2000, but information about them was not provided to the FBI until the spring of 2001.

Al-Mihdhar and al-Hamzi were beneficiaries of the largesse of Princess Haifa, wife of outgoing Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Prince Bandar - refer to our March 2005 post on this topic.

Tariq Hamdi charged with immigration and mortgage-load fraud

Thanks to loyal friends from Springfield who forwarded this story with this message

"Stan: From Herndon (go figure) via the Post:"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/08/AR2005080801492.html

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 9, 2005; B01

A Northern Virginia man who allegedly delivered a satellite-phone battery to Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden's use in 1998 is now facing charges of immigration and mortgage-loan fraud, according to court documents unsealed in recent days.

Tarik Hamdi, 43, a naturalized U.S. citizen who had been living in Herndon, is believed to be out of the country and has not been arrested, said Dean Boyd, a spokesman with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security Department.

It was not clear whether Hamdi, an immigrant from Iraq, had hired a lawyer. The phone listed for his home in Herndon was disconnected.

Hamdi delivered a satellite phone battery to a Bin Laden aide while he was in Afghanistan in May 1998 helping to set up an interview for ABC News, according to an affidavit by David Kane, an agent with the immigration division. Bin Laden used that phone in connection with the deadly bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that year, according to the affidavit, which was in support of a 2002 search warrant and was unsealed last week.

It was unclear how long Hamdi has been out of the country, but the grand jury charged him in a sealed indictment in May. A call to his former employer, the International Institute for Islamic Thought in Herndon, was not returned yesterday.

ABC News did not respond to a request for more information about its relationship with Hamdi.

[ABC News has come in for a drubbing lately. Russia revoked ABC News's press credentials for interviewing Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev - read Dymphna's excellent post ABC Drops Its Moral Compass in the Swamp on this issue the Gates of Vienna blog. Also, ABC News broadcast images of unexploded bombs from the July 21 bombing attempt in London, despite an appeal from Metropolitan Police not to run them. This interview with Bin Laden was no doubt another effort at sensationalism. - NV]

Hamdi has not been charged for delivering the battery. A friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hamdi had carried it to Afghanistan as a favor for an acquaintance. Still, the act apparently attracted scrutiny from U.S. anti-terrorism agents, who searched Hamdi's home in March 2002 as part of a blitz of raids on Muslim charities in Northern Virginia. None of those charities has been accused of a crime.

The charges against Hamdi focus on a series of alleged omissions in Hamdi's naturalization papers, as well as information he submitted on mortgage-loan applications.

According to the indictment in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Hamdi did not state on his naturalization form that in 1994 he had been the U.S. representative for the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia, a London-based organization that has embraced many of bin Laden's views.

In addition, Hamdi did not acknowledge that he had tried to qualify for immigration amnesty by claiming to have worked on a Texas farm in the mid-1980s, the papers say. His application was denied after officials determined the farmer who vouched for him was a phony, according to the indictment.

Hamdi emigrated from Iraq in 1983 on a student visa and eventually married a U.S. citizen, who sponsored him for permanent residency, the court papers say.

U.S. officials have increasingly used immigration charges to lock up or deport people who have come to their attention in terrorism investigations. Officials say they must take every legal measure to preempt further attacks, including using lesser charges when a terrorism case is difficult to build.

Islamic and civil-liberties groups have said the charges can amount to selective prosecution of Muslims and Arabs.

Hamdi was also accused of committing wire fraud by receiving mortgage loans by inflating his income on the applications. If found guilty of all the charges, he could face up to 20 years in jail, court officials said.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

The Counterterrorism Blog: Jeffrey Imm Joins Us as Research Editor

The Counterterrorism Blog: Jeffrey Imm Joins Us as Research Editor

Those of you who follow Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch know that Jeffrey Imm frequently provides news items for that site. Jeffrey also serves as moderator of Yahoo! Groups : dc-terror, which covers DC news concerning terror and emergency preparedness. Now he is joining The Counterterrorism Blog as a Research Editor.

Northern Virginiastan would like to congratulate Jeffrey Imm and offer our best wishes on his new assignment.

How Many Terrorists Are Among Us?

According to an article in the August 9, 2005 edition of the Washington Post:

Man Arrested in Md. May Have Terror Ties
Police Say Suspect Is on Watch List

"A Pakistani man who police said appears on a terrorist watch list was arrested late Sunday on criminal charges after a traffic stop in Baltimore County.

"Muhammad Asif Haider, 27, of New York was detained in connection with an indictment issued against him last week in the Southern District of New York, federal officials said. The indictment accuses Haider, who it says is also known as Asif Iqbal, and others of trafficking in fraudulent immigration documents....

"Sgt. Vickie Warehime of the Baltimore County police department said Haider was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped on Reisterstown Road shortly before 10:45 p.m. The driver could not produce a driver's license, Warehime said, and a check of the two passengers matched Haider to the watch list.

"Warehime said the check showed more than Haider being wanted in connection with the indictment in New York. 'It's above and beyond that,' she said. "It's a special category that alerts law enforcement to potential terrorist involvement.'...

"Barry Maddox, an FBI spokesman in Baltimore, said no information links Haider to Mahmud Faruq Brent, a Baltimore resident charged last week with conspiring to support a terrorist organization. [See here and here.]

"The indictment says Haider and others sold fraudulent green cards or Social Security cards to an undercover New York police officer and at least one confidential informant.

"Haider was in the country illegally, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. The agency lodged a detainer with authorities in Baltimore County to ensure that he is not released."

Jive Turki

Prince Bandar has been ambassador from Saudi Arabia to the U.S. for so many years, that it's hard to believe he's leaving. Robert Spencer profiles his replacement, Prince Turki al-Faisal, in Jihad Watch, where he notes that Prince Turki headed Saudi Arabia's intelligence services and was an early mentor of Osama Bin Laden. According to reports, Turki participated in the multimillion dollar payoff to Al-Qaeda so that Al-Qaeda would not attack the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia itself.

Maryland Man arrested for links to foreign terrorist organization

From The Counterrorism Blog:

Mahmud Faruq Brent of Gwynn Oak (near Baltimore) was arrested for conspiring to support to support a foreign terrorist organization by attending a terrorist training camp the group ran in Pakistan. The article notes that "Brent's phone records apparently include a phone number at an address known to have been used by Seifullah Chapman, one of the convicted paintballers. Also recall that Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the young wannabe jihadist arrested in northern Virginia in February, knew members of the paintball gang."

Did You Know?

Since 9/11, I have been sending web information about Islam to one of my dear friends (No, I am not referring to Mustang this time). My friend has compiled those many forwards numbering in the hundreds, has done independents research, and has written the following e-letter. Please notice the last paragraph. How many Americans are feeling this way? Here is my friend's e-letter, posted here without links or further commentary from me.

Everyone should read the following and remember. We have a serious problem in this country (actually, more than a few problems) - all continued to allow to "fester" because of political correctness and freedoms allowed to those who do not earn freedoms, to those who abuse freedoms, to those who do not deserve our freedoms; and they are the same ones who WILL cut our throats and take our freedoms away.

"They" - the leaders of Muslim organizations who have brazenly stated that they want to see the Qu'ran the highest authority in America - have stated that they want to see America become an Islamic State. AND, they have also stated that they will see all this come to pass - without violence - but through our educational system and our political system, and they are using our own laws - which allow them to state grievances and win sympathy with such complaints as, "I'm being profiled," etc.

Did you know that a Muslim organization called CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations) placed 8000 packets in our public libraries - info about ISLAM from the viewpoint they decided. Did you know that Muslims regularly take groups into our public schools to demonstrate and teach about Ramadan. Does Ramadan sound familiar? It is a Muslim religious celebration. Try to go into a public school and teach about Christmas, the birth of Christ, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Try merely to lead in prayer - the best you can do is hold a moment of silence. Try to sing a Christmas carol. We now attend Winter Concerts - no Christmas carols, not one song that hints of anything other than snow, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, etc.

And, did you know that your tax dollars support the hundreds of Islamic organizations? That is right - they are non-profit - they are Islamic religious organizations. We allow these organizations to take away our freedoms with our own money. We allow these organizations to exist in our midst, planning our demise, and we allow them to do so without paying any taxes.

Did you know that Muslim schools in this country, of which there are more than 300, teach hatred for Americans and teach violence against Americans? Did you know that most of the Muslim schools are financially supported by the Government of Saudi Arabia? You know, that wonderful kingdom who pretends to be our friend. The Government of Saudi Arabia adopted Wahhabism, the most violent sect of ISLAM, established many years ago as the only permitted religion of Saudi Arabia. The Government of Saudi Arabia even selects the teachers and pays them to teach in schools right here in the United States. The Government of Saudi Arabia selects Imams (the priests of Mosques) to serve as head of Mosques, thereby getting their message of hate and violence out. Mosques provide sanctuary, homes, money, etc., to terrorists. Not just the 9/11 terrorists. Mosques provide ongoing support to terrorists.

Did you know that there are more than 1500 mosques in this country? Our hands are tied - they enjoy complete immunity to the law of the land. Most of these mosques are financially supported by Saudi Arabia and thereby are on "Saudi soil" (all embassies of other nations - here in America enjoy the same immunity - that is why a foreign national connected to an embassy can kill someone and flee the country and cannot be touched by our laws). Which, of course, means we have a little Saudi Arabia in our midst. We have no legal jurisdiction, can take no police action against, and cannot not even raid or investigate - no matter what they teach against us. They can conduct any business they want in the walls of a mosque. And most of the business conducted is how to conquer and rule America.

Did you know that once a Muslim is buried in the ground - in a cemetery- that Muslims believe that they own that land? Did you know that Muslims are buried without being embalmed? Do you realize the dangers of that practice? Don't believe me? Read about Muslims suing for ownership of the Taj Mahal. That is right. There are Muslims buried in the basement of the Taj Mahal and, therefore, Islamists believe they own a part of it and are suing for ownership and to collect a large percentage of the total of millions of dollars collected annually from tourists. The Taj Mahal represents goodness and love to most. Islam does not. How can Islamists be allowed own a portion of the beautiful Taj Mahal? Do you see the irony?

Did you know that Susan Douglass, an American convert to Islam, was a teacher in one of the largest Muslim schools in the nation, which happens to be in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol (her husband is the head of another Muslim school here)? She now consults with three of the largest public school textbook publishers in America to change American and world history in our textbooks. It is now being taught that there were Muslims who arrived with Christopher Columbus! Susan Douglass decides what the children of America will learn about ISLAM - and the information is stated positively.

Here's the truth: there is nothing positive about ISLAM. However, if you log onto some of the Islamic websites and you read information printed by Islamists, you will find yourself thinking - "This sounds good." That is the snake trying to rope you in.

DC Mayor Williams appoints 9-11 Mosque imam to Interfaith Board of Advsiors

Imam Johari Abdul Malik is at right

Those who follow Northern Virginiastan should know by now that the "9-11 Mosque" is Dar Al Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church. No, the imam appointed by Mayor Williams is not our old buddy Shaker Elsayyed, a frequent subject on this blog. The imam is Johari Abdul Malik, the director of outreach and PR for Dar Al Hijrah. I had not heard of this guy until I had read the article on Islam's expansion into the outer suburbs. He's the guy looking forward to hearing the adnan, or call to prayer, broadcast in our neighborhoods. The article DC Mayor Appoints Muslim to Interfaith Board from The Muslim Link community newspaper's web site indicates that Muslims in prison are his top priority.

Prisons are a fertile place for Islam to recruit and indoctrinate the alienated elements of society. No wonder prisoners are Malik's concern. Why I am glad to see the likes of Ali Al-Timimi put away for a very long time, they should be isolated from the rest of the prison population so that they cannot propagate their ideology and create people who become even more dangerous on account of their indoctrination.

The Word Search of Incitement

Northern Virginiastan has previously posted on the Muslim Link, a newspaper serving the Muslim community in the DC metro area. Now from Joe Grossberg, via Little Green Footballs: The Word Search of Incitement

Judge Brinkema reduces sentences for convicted Virginia "paintball" jihadists

From Yahoo! Groups: dc-terror, 2005-0729: Judge cuts sentences in 'Virginia Jihad' cases:

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema reduces the sentences of Masoud Khan of
Gaithersburg, Md., Seifullah Chapman of Alexandria and Hammad Abdur-Raheem of Falls Church, who were sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy to join the Taliban and fight U.S troops.

Islam expands into the outer suburbs

From Yahoo! Groups: dc-terror: 2005-0801: Muslims Find Room to Grow in D.C.'s Outer Suburbs

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, director of outreach programs at the 9-11 Mosque (AKA Dar al Hijrah), laughs as he awaits the day when the adnan, or call to prayer, will be heard as church bells are heard today. Hello! Will somebody come forward to explain why the adnan is different from church bells?

Urge your U.S. Representative to support the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act

King Saud died today, but don't expect major changes in government policy towards Saudi Arabia.

Via Mike's America: Defunding Terror Recruitment in The U.S. (Thanks, Mike, for your comments):

The purpose of the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act is to "halt Saudi support for institutions that fund, train, incite, encourage, or in any other way aid and abet terrorism, and to secure full Saudi cooperation in the investigation of terrorist incidents, and for other purposes." Most recently, this action has been referred to the Subcommittee on Middle East and Central Asia, House Committee on International Relations.

None of the U.S. Representatives serving districts witihin the DC Metro Area is listed as a sponsor. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is a co-sponsor of the related Senate bill S. 1171.

To find out how to contact your U.S. representative, visit http://www.house.gov/.