The Groundtruth from a combat veteran, backed up by independent research and historical study. Information beneficial to the Troops. And a touch of objective politics, as it relates to the subjects at hand.
This site is unabashedly Pro-American and Pro-Military however none of the views expressed here are to be considered as endorsed, proposed, or supported by the Department of Defense or any other Agency, government, public, or private. http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/
SSgt Workman is featured in the Hall of Heroes and a book review on this from Marine Till Death that read it as it was written: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2008/12/shadow-of-the-sword-by-jeremiah-workman-w-john-bruning.html
http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2008/12/ssgt-jeremiah-workman-navy-cross-usmc-iraq-marion-oh.html and links to prior articles.
Much has happened in the lives of Americans since September 11, 2001, when we were attacked on our own soil.
There are many memorial sites and videos out there, each offering a fitting tribute to those people who died that day, to their families, to the survivors and to the brave men and women who turned towards the destruction to help, many of whom lost their lives also. i.e. 911 digital archive and this special page from my good friend Steve aka "Snakecharmer .
I would ask that people take time to stop and reflect on where this country would be today if not for those who ran into the buildings, towards the flames, towards the airplane cockpits, who deployed overseas seeking those who attacked us.
Remember also that we still have men and women who were there helping that day and for days afterwards that are still serving in our Armed Forces right this very minute.
The worst thing (in my mind) would be to forget those sacrifices that were made, those lives that were unexpectedly taken that day.
Please take a moment today to stop and honor those who gave their all, their families, members of our Armed Forces, our firefighters, EMT's, police officers and citizens who stepped up that day. Whether you choose to spend a moment in silence, offer a pray, hoist a drink to them, it matters not, just REMEMBER!!!!!
Evidently, when it is not politically expedient to admit terrorism exists. Tsarnaev, a Chechen Islamist Terrorist who killed 4 people in Boston, wounded hundreds, in two shootouts and three bombings, who had more bombs and had planned more attacks, who ran over his own dying brother and fellow terrorist, is not being charged with terrorism. He is being charged with using a "weapon of mass destruction" and "malicious destruction of property resulting in death." Not only has he not been charged with terrorism, but has not been charged with murder, or attempted murder.
There are at least two counts of terrorism (two bombs), at least four counts of murder, a count of carjacking, and at least 185 counts of attempted murder (injured), that should be charged against him. These are low-hanging fruit, with sufficient evidence, in the public eye, with which the Obama Administration and Eric Holder's "Justice" Department have chosen to not charge the Islamist Terrorist. The White House was slow to admit that the Boston Bombing was an act of terrorism, but to not charge the Islamist Terrorist with terrorism is a slap in the face to every American, not just those that were victims of the attack.
Tsarnaev attained his US citizenship on 9/11/2012, so I can accept the argument to try him in a civilian court. In addition to the clearcut and obvious charges that should be made against him, due to his US citizenship, additional charges of treason, perjury (swearing an oath to the United States and US Constitution while acting as an agent of the enemy) should be levied and his citizenship should be revoked.
In other news, the Canadians announced today that they have arrested terrorists involved in a plot to attack trains in that country. They were far more forthright, clearly stating that this was a plot by AL-QAEDA, In IRAN. Given that currently, investigators are saying they don't know what connections to other terrorists the Tsarnaev brothers had, it is very interesting that the White House was so quick to say that there was no connection between the Boston Bombing, and the Iranian Al-Qaeda plot on the Northern Border.
The terrorists have not "ended" their war, no matter how badly the politicians want to claim the war is over. There is only one way that one side of a war can end it, of their own accord; surrender. There is only one basic goal that must be recognized to win a war; War must take the necessary steps to remove the enemy's will to fight. It appears that the enemy is closer to that goal, despite their heavier losses, than are we.
"There is only way you can be guaranteed peace, and you can have it in a second. That is to surrender." Ronald Reagan, decades before he became President, during the era that politicians were purporting that cutting Our Defenses, and talking the enemy to death was the "right path." Negotiations in weakness did not end the Cold War, and it has not ended the Terrorists' War on Us. Reagan's buildup of Military Strength did bring the Cold War to an end.
While politicians and police slap each other on the back for their "successes" in Boston, they also continue with their calls to cut defense, and to militarize the police. One resident in the search area described the situation as a "police state." And indeed, one of the goals of terrorism is to induce the government to tighten its grip on civilians, while simultaneously demonstrating the lack of effectiveness of the "security blanket" of the government, until the civilians are fed up. The police cannot protect you. That is not their job. Their job is to arrest criminals that have already committed the crimes.
While the first 7 seven years of the War on Terrorism saw a few modest intrusions on our lives, the last 5 of "Overseas Contingency Operations" have seen (TSA) state sponsored sexual assaults and pornographic xrays at the airports, a government which deems your 3 month old email as theirs to read without a warrant, and require new cell phones to update their location to within a few yards.
"Mr Obama and his intelligence community know the threat from al-Qaeda affiliates, but have chosen to downplay it to the US public." Peter Foster, UK Telegraph
The Administration's policies are not one of ignorance, not anymore. They are policies of stubborn partisanship, and party platform to change the very nature of the US Military, from one prepared for war, to one that is utilized only as part of a coalition in peace-keeping operations. Bill Clinton and Eric Shinseki openly espoused that fundamental shift in the 90's, when the world believed we had entered a new era of peace, but the fact of Islamist Terrorism has hampered this Administration from being as straightforward about its goals. It couches the shift in saying that we will pin our defenses on allies given our best equipment, while stripping our own ranks of its Troops and latest equipment.
Islamist terrorists are not just Al-Qaeda. Indeed, islamism is not just terrorism. Islamist terrorists include Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Quds Force (Iran), Boko Haram, al-Shabab, and many, many others. Yet, partisan supporters of the politician in chief would have us believe that various regional commands of Al-Qaeda aren't even part of Al-Qaeda. While at times they proclaim the core element of the former headquarters of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been defeated, they deny that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, or Al-Qaeda in the Islamic West (Maghreb) are the same organization. And yet, reports continue to point out that Al-Qaeda is still active in Afghanistan, and still strong in Pakistan.
Josef Biden has stated both that the Taliban have always been the enemy, and that they are not the enemy, but the Taliban are some of the most fundamental of Islamists, and some of the most atrocious of terrorists, superceded perhaps by the Chechens, in the department of atrociousness.
Islamism is stronger now than it has ever been. It has grown and spread and taken over governments in the last 3 years, through "Arab Spring." The battle lines which had shrunk in 2008, have expanded greatly since 2010. Mubarrak had "contained" Islamists in Egypt for decades. Bashir had pulled back from open support of Islamist terrorists in the Sudan, when he saw the 2001 results in Afghanistan. His final efforts in Darfur were finally ended. Saudi Arabia had quieted and Yemen was slowed. The tide in Iraq had shifted.
Today, Islamism rules Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, and is fighting for Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, Mali, and Libya. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Turkey are trending towards, not away from Islamism. And while political Islamism espouses the use of tyranny, rather than openly supporting terrorism, to achieve its goal of establishing the caliphate, of conversion of ALL to Islam, it remains diametrically opposed to Freedom, and the Rights of Citizenship, of Human Rights themselves.
The brutality of Islamists towards religious freedom can be seen in the imprisonment (and death penalties in many cases) of ex-Muslims converted to Christianity in Iran, in Egypt, and in Pakistan. Riots have been seen in Kabul, Afghanistan, over the existence of Bibles written in Dari. All Islamism is political, though it does not all use terrorism as its means. It prefers tyranny. In fact, the goal of Islamist terrorism is to attain the reins of government, so that its tyranny can be more complete. The great migration of religiously oppressed from Tunisia, Egypt, and Somalia are testament to this. And many of those religiously oppressed, like the Bahai of Iran, are Muslims.
For the Coptic Christians in Egypt, the distinction between the fire bombs and explosives of Islamist terrorists during the Mubarrak era and the attacks of Islamist tyrannical government forces under Mosri, is the distinction of lost hope. It is the distinction of being opposed by the government to supported and enforced by the government. While Mubarrak never took the measures Bashir Assad did in wiping off the map, and face of the earth, an entire town for supporting the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, he did keep illegal, though ineffectively suppressed, the organization which called for the brutal oppression of Human Rights.
The Boston attack should serve as a reminder that Islamist Terrorists have not "ended" the war, but so should have the Little Rock, and Fort Hood attacks. In each of these, the terrorists succeeded in killing unarmed Americans, but these are not the only reminders that the terrorists have not lost their will to fight. The panty bomber, the Times Square bomber, the Wrigley Field bomber, the Christmas Tree bomber in Seattle, and many, many more attempted attacks have been downplayed as "lone wolves" or forgotten due to the failures of the enemy to execute the attacks.
Like so many of these others, the Chechen Islamist brothers will likely be played off as "self-islamized, home grown, lone wolves," but the Islamization of those with US passports or greencards is not a new factor in this war. It has long been known that Islamists were trying (and succeeding) to convert violent criminals in our jails. Adam Gadahn, of California, was already a ranking member of Al-Qaeda on 9/11, and the "American Taliban" was captured on the battlefield in the early days of the War in Afghanistan in 2001. It was only a few years ago, that 7 gang-bangers went on a rampage in Oakland, CA in the name of Islamism, after their conversions. The government has known for a decade that the strategy of the enemy was that the first wave of terrorists would be Saudi, the second wave others, and the third stage of attacks carried out by those with US passports and green cards.
A stereo-typical terrorist cell has 4-6 members. It is purposely de-centralized. Tamleran was known to the FBI. He was reported to them by a foreign country, probably Russia, as a potential terrorist. He likely had religious leaders, and terrorist directors, at the Mosque partially paid for by governments in Massachusetts. His Islamization did not occur in a vacuum, and his Uncle has clearly stated that the attack was a dishonor to the family and to all Chechens. But the Chechens were in Afghanistan in 2001, and they are still there in 2013, in lesser numbers, but more often across the border in Pakistan.
While I will agree with Jonn, at This Aint Hell, that Obama was not directly responsible for the Boston Attacks, I must also recognize some of the points made by the UK Telegraph, that the Administration's attempts to claim the War on Terrorism is over, that Al-Qaeda is defeated, has led, partially, to the complacency of the people.
And while "Blame Bush" is overplayed, he didn't quite get it right when he only told the American people to go about their lives. In no way, should he have espoused that the people live their lives in fear, but he should have found a way to give the people a meaningful purpose in the War against Terrorists. He had the foresight to know that this war would not be over quickly, that it would take decades to win, and the humility to recognize that he must change his party platform on "nation building," but in some way, the American People needed to be engaged in the efforts, as were the People, in WWII. That doesn't mean recycling metal, and food rations, or even higher taxes, but it should mean a heightened sense of Situational Awareness.
Neither Bush nor Obama can be blamed for idiots walking around with eyes glued to their iPods, but both should have told the American People to be aware of those around them, to recognize terrorists and criminals. Instead of demonizing Warriors as PTSD afflicted for their heightened sense of awareness after having seen the evil in this world, they should have sponsored people having an awareness of what's around them. They should have reminded the Nation that being aware was not the same as being afraid, that instead that knowing their environs was an innoculation to fear.
The Office of the President, has a mandate to preside over the government, and to lead the Nation, to explain to the People "why" a war is in their interests, and how they can help win it. It is not enough for him to say I'll do what I want, what I believe, because I won the election, particularly not in these times, where we choose from the less bad choice, rather than those we truly believe prepared for the Office. It is not enough for the President to understand the importance of fighting terrorists there, so we don't see American Civilians murdered here. It is his duty to explain that "why" to the American People, so they understand it, particularly when his partisan opponents see the lack of explaination as the means to undermine him, and the Nation, for political purposes of attaining power. And not giving that "why" was Bush's failure.
Three were killed and more than 100 were injured. Two explosive devices (at least) were used. The target was not the military, or even government officials that could be characterized as having a legitimate role in military affairs. That makes it terrorism. Terrorism has a goal of inflicting terror in an otherwise unafflicted population. It does so by making a population feel as if the terrorists can strike at will against whomever they desire. It does so by making security and government officials appear incapable of protecting the populace from the terrorists. It has a goal of convincing the population to force the government to bow to its desires. It does so, for a profit.
It does not matter if the terrorists are white, arab, asian, black, or hispanic. An act of terrorism is terrorism, period. Terrorism is not just a prank, like setting a trashcan on fire, and not just a crime conducted by organized crime.
It is not just a crime, but also an act of war. It is not just an act of war, but a war crime. As an act of war, the Geneva Convention affords that those involved can be held, without trial, until the cessation of hostilities. As war criminals, the Geneva Conventions hold that they can be tried, and if convicted, held beyond the end of hostilities. In particular circumstances, the Geneva Conventions afford a death penalty to war criminals, including those who use terrorism as a tactic or strategy.
While there is no substantial proof in public that this was an act of international terrorism, there is less evidence that it was a case of domestic terrorism. While the media pontificated yesterday that it could have been an innocent natural gas explosion, and when they finally abandoned that theory turned to suggesting it was domestic, their reasoning for both suggestions was flawed.
One of their "explanations" was that the devices were too crude and too small. Everyday, more crude and smaller bombs, aka IED's, are used in places like India, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Mali, and Pakistan. In fact, the documented cases of using a pressure cooker bomb have ties to the Taliban, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and even in New York City's Times Square.
Another of their suggestions was that it was "tax day." The McVeigh types have less connection to 4/15 than they do to 4/19. The 19th of April is the anniversary of Waco, of Ruby Ridge, and of the Murrah Building attack in Oklahoma City, and events deeper in History. One would hope that the backlash from OKC would be enough to force the McVeigh types re-think such a tactic. In the aftermath, American recoiled against such groups, and McVeigh's hopes that it would turn into a Revolution fell flat on the reality that we don't like people killing kids, or attacking unarmed civilians. The terrorist attack in OKC hurt his "cause" far more than anything the government has ever done.
Moreover, the McVeigh types have a beef with the government, not those running the Boston streets. Their target is far more likely to be a federal government installation than a sporting event.
Some have suggested that the Boston Marathon was "not international" or "not global enough" to be a viable target for Islamist terrorists. First, Islamists don't need a target to be international, but this was by far international. More than 90 countries were represented by the runners. Nearly half the nations in the world were represented. That's international! Al-Qaeda in particular does not need an international flavor to an attack. The Times Square attack was less international than this. They gain financial support by attacking Americans. They have a stated position that ALL Americans are considered to be militants, regardless of whether they are running the streets of Boston, or defending a base in Eastern Afghanistan.
Some whackos have suggested that US Government agents conducted the attack on orders of top US politicians. Simply idiotic. Politicians will use any event that pops up to make themselves sound more compassionate, stronger, and get their pet legislation passed, but they have no need to create the events. There are enough psychos out there that will create the events for them.
But the question of the common man is "What can or should I do?!?!" The answer is to reach down inside, and find your resolve, your resolve to not be afraid. There were more people killed and injured on the streets of Massachusetts by traffic accidents, than by explosives, last week. Of 310 Million Americans, this act of terrorism only killed 3 people. We don't fear cars, nor phones on which text messaging has become the number one factor in accident fatalities.
That does not mean that you should pretend terrorism does not exist. You should have a plan for what you would do if someone entered your building or office or shopping mall with a bomb, or even a firearm. You should think about this NOW. You should decide NOW, under what circumstances you would KILL the attacker, and consider the means you would use. You should decide NOW how you would assist the injured, learn how to help the injured, and when your duties would require instead that you protect your child or others.
And you should come to grips with the fact that following an explosive event, your pure intentions to help, could mean that you're just a person in the way. You should come to grips with the fact that an explosion occurs in a split second. You need not fear it. An explosion will kill some, injure others, and leave others unscathed. It is over in an instant. There is little anyone can do about it, and most victims of it have no idea it is coming. You can keep your eye out for suspicious behavior, for suspicious packages, and avoid them, or report them.
What else can you do? You can give to Pro-Troop and Catastrophic events Non-Profits. The American Red Cross not only runs blood banks, but assists with victims, in these types of events, as well as natural catastrophies. If you give in the name of this event, they may use your money for the next one. Our Troops are on the front lines, risking their lives on a daily basis for your safety.
You can pressure your politicians, your Congressman, your Senator, to call terrorism what it is, and to continue to take the fight to the enemy, rather than to bow to pressure to prematurely "end" a war the enemy has no intention of ending.
You can educate yourself on the enemy. You don't have to know the differences in theology of Sunni, Shia, Bahai, Salafi, and Sufi, but you should have a concept of the atrocities of Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Weather Underground, and the Animal Liberation Foundation. You should understand the difference between Islamsists and Muslims.
You must come to grips with the fact that evil does exist in the world, that there are a minority of psychotic people who will kill, maim, injure, or steal from you, for nothing more than their own personal entertainment, but possibly by justifying their actions as "part of the greater good," or even to "teach you a lesson." What stands between you and evil, are the Sheepdogs, Military and Law Enforcement, but when the Wolf knocks on your door, it is YOU that is your first defense, no matter how willing the Sheepdog is to deal death to the Wolf that would do you harm.
"Situational Awareness" or being observant and alert to the world around you, to the possibility of evil knocking on your door, is your most potent defense. Paranoia is your enemy, as is anger and blissful ignorance, but recognizing when someone is behaving abnormally can save your life. If the hair on the back of your neck stands up, don't ignore it. Explore why your subconscious is warning you.
Having a plan, preconceived, of what you would do, if you were confronted with any variety of bad situations will help you, if you face any of them. The fewer responses you can identify for the greatest number of incidents is the best. People "freeze" because their mind is overwhelmed, and cannot decide between responses. Decide, and consider, ahead of time, for as many events as you can imagine.
But don't stick your head back in the sand, and don't allow fear to stop you from doing the things you must do. Live your life, but be aware of your surroundings. Support Our Troops, and their mission to keep you safe, but be ready if the enemy slips in, to your door. The Israelis have done it for decades. Our Troops volunteered to fight the enemy in their backyard, so you could be safe in yours.
Laughing Wolf has additional tips for planning for and acting in an emergency situation (natural disaster or terrorist attack) and Assoluta Tranquillita has more common sense to add to the discussion.
00:38: SEN Menendez (D-NJ) welcoming Hillary Clinton and heaping praise on her.
[WOTN note: Some of the following is paraphrased and some is quotes. Some of the quotes are not in quotation marks. Effort was made to capture the essence of the words, in order to allow readers to find the specific portions of most signifcant interest to them. Some key phrases are emphasized, as Hillary acknowledges that Al-Qaeda is still and will be a threat for a long time.
In this testimony, Hillary avoids stating why no action was taken in the 7 hour attack and at times refuses responsibility for inaction, while at other times proclaiming that she takes full responsibility. She does indicate that Rice was using Admin approved talking points, but feebly attempts to defend it.]
10:46: SEN Corker (R-TN) welcoming Hillary, the "aftermath" of "Benghazi represents the worst of Washington," "there was spin from the White House," "it represented of the denial of the world as it really is," "it also represents an awakening," "the spiking of the ball" and the thinking that al-Qaeda was defeated when we killed bin Laden, that the world is a much more dangerous place today.
16:46: SecState Clinton (D) pointing out past attacks, that she immediately began talking to people about talking, began investigation the next day. The attack "was a part of broader strategic challenge" to the United States. "I was there on the night of 9/11/2012." I was talking to everyone, and the military did not deny support. I was already there dealing with the attack on the US Embassy in Cairo. Everyone has been talking about things ever since, and when people stopped talking and finished writing about the talking, I told people to start writing some more about making changes. "The Arab revolutions have shattered" the stability of the Middle East. We're working with the Algerians to prevent this from happening again. I talked to a bunch of Arab leaders after the 9/11/2012 attacks. Then I talked to them some more. "We cannot afford to retreat now." "It is our responsibility to make sure they have the resources they need." The State Department has 70,000 people working in 275 locations around the world.
29:34 Menendez: 5 minutes per Senator to discuss Benghazi. Menendez goes first. Why was the location chosen.
31:03 Hillary: There were attacks in the parking lot of the Hotel where they previously were, as well as many other locations. There were ongoing efforts to find the best place. "There were inadequacies in the response." "During most of the day, prior to getting notification on the attack in Benghazi, I was focused on the attack on our Embassy in Cairo" "I was notified of the attack shortly after 4pm." I immediately started talking to people. I ordered people to get the Libyan government to do something. I talked to Petraeus since he had people in the same area. We were going over every possible option and talking to everybody that we could talk to. It was constant talking and I talked to Obama later in the evening. While we were trying to understand we were faced with protests all over the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
37:03 Corker: "There were systemic deficiencies and I know you know that." "No one has been held accountable." "Could you mention one reform" that could have made it known to you that there were problems there.
38:14 Clinton: "I didn't see the requests."
Corker: "They did come into folks. Someone did turn them down."
Clinton: We're on the path to fix it. We want to re-allocate funds. We need more money for construction and for Marines. "Noone wants to sit where I am."
Corker: "None of the ARB's have been fully implemented."
Clinton: "The vast majority have been implemented."
Corker: "We were woefully unprepared for what happened in North Africa." Benghazi symbolizes that.
Clinton: 4 years ago, "no one" thought that Mubarrak, Qaddaffi, and others would be gone. None of us predicted this. "This is a serious threat to our country." "They don't have any real experience in running countries." "We face a serious jihadist threat."
The leader of the Islamist Palestinian terrorist group Hamas arrived on Gaza Strip soil Friday, ending 45 years of exile from the Palestinian territories.
Khaled Meshaal had not visited the Palestinian territories since leaving the Israeli-occupied West Bank after the 1967 Six-Day War. He kissed the ground shortly after his arrival and hugged friends and Hamas leaders.
Officials say Meshaal will celebrate the Hamas movement's 25th anniversary on Saturday during his trip to the Palestinian enclave.
The trip comes after a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas ended eight days of conflict. The violence killed more than 170 Palestinians and six Israelis.
Hamas won a parliamentary majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and ousted Fatah forces in pitched gunbattles from Gaza a year later. Since then, the two sides have led rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza. VoA.
A court in Bosnia-Herzegovina has sentenced an Islamist terrorist to 18 years in prison for last year's gun attack on the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo.
The state court in Sarajevo Thursday found Mevlid Jasarevic guilty of a terrorist attack by shooting at the U.S. embassy from an automatic weapon in October 2011. Jasarevic's alleged accomplices were acquitted.
Judge Branko Peric, who presided over the panel of judges, said the harsh sentence should serve as a warning to others. He said Jasarevic told the court, “You can punish me but the attacks won't stop.” The 24-year-old cited the U.S. presence in Afghanistan as the motive for his attack.
U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia Patrick Moon welcomed the ruling.
The United States also indicted Jasarevic after Bosnia did. Moon said the two nations have had close co-operation on the case and will continue to do so.
Jasarevic fired more than 100 bullets during the 50-minute shooting. One policeman was wounded before security forces shot Jasarevic in the leg and arrested him.
He is a citizen of neighboring Serbia who had joined an Islamist group in northeastern Bosnia. But the court rejected charges that he organized a terrorist group.
His lawyer said the prison sentence was too long and that his client will appeal. VoA.
Islamist cleric Abu Qatada has won his appeal against deportation from Britain to Jordan to face terror charges.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission on Monday blocked the extradition order, saying it could not be guaranteed that Qatada would get a fair trial. He is expected to be released from prison on bail on Tuesday but under tight restrictions.
In a statement, Britain's Home Office says it strongly disagrees with the ruling and is planning to appeal.
Qatada was convicted in Jordan in 1998 in absentia of terrorism charges related to two bomb plots.
Home Secretary Theresa May had ordered his extradition after being given assurances by Jordan that no information obtained through torture would be used against him.
British officials have described Qatada, who arrived in Britain in the 1990s, as Osama bin Laden's top European deputy for al-Qaeda terrorism. He has been detained in Britain for most of the past decade under the country's anti-terrorism laws.
Britain has been trying to deport Qatada since 2001, but its efforts have repeatedly been blocked by the courts. In January, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against the deportation because evidence used against him in Jordan may have been obtained using torture.
On this date in 1979, Iranian Islamists invaded the US Embassy in Tehran taking hostage 66 US Diplomats. 52 of those would be held hostage for 444 days, until Iran became concerned that the new US President would do more than talk.
Left: Iranian militants, including Mahmood Ahdiminijihadist, current Iranian President, circled, escort a blindfolded U.S. hostage to the media.Iran-U.S. Hostage Crisis(1979-1981)
While the Embassy Invasion marked the end of diplomatic relations with a once strong ally that had hosted Allied Leaders in World War II, it was the culmination of bad US policies that sent Iran (from Aryan), formerly Persia, from a respected Nation into a tyranical islamist exporter of terrorism.
A U.S. judge has sentenced a Massachusetts man to 17 years in prison for plotting to fly remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol.
Rezwan Ferdaus read a statement to the court in Boston on Thursday. Ferdaus did not apologize for his actions, but said he accepts his fate and looks forward to a better future.
Federal agents arrested him Ferdaus last year after he exposed his plans to undercover agents posing as al-Qaida members.
Prosecutors say Ferdaus wanted to start a holy war against the United States. VoA.
Ferdaus was arrested on 28 September 2011 and pled guilty on 11 July 2012. He was born in Massachusetts of Bangladeshi parents. He graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Physics. Prosecutors agreed to reduce his sentence to 17 years in return for a guilty plea.
The court in Seattle, Washington imposed the sentence Wednesday, after prosecutors appealed an earlier 22-year sentence as too lenient.
Prosecutors pushed for stiffer penalties, arguing Ressam continues to pose a threat for reneging on an agreement to provide evidence against other suspects in the bombing plot. After Ressam withdrew his cooperation, federal prosecutors were forced to drop charges against two suspected co-conspirators.
Ressam was arrested in December 1999 as he tried to enter the United States from British Columbia, after customs inspectors noted suspicious behavior at a ferry landing in Port Angeles, Washington.
After Ressam tried to flee, authorities found his rental car packed with enough explosives to produce a blast 40 times greater than a typical car bomb.
A jury convicted him in 2001 on nine felony counts and sentenced him to 22 year in prison in 2005. Prosecutors appealed that sentence after Ressam stopped cooperating in the U.S. probe.
Before reneging on the deal, Ressam was interviewed repeatedly by terrorism investigators in the United States and Europe. He was credited in a classified FBI report with linking Osama bin Laden lieutenant Abu Zubaydah to the airport bombing plot. Zubaydah, captured in Pakistan in 2002, remains in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. VoA.
Jordanian officials say state security forces have arrested 11 people in connection with what they call an al-Qaida-linked plot to bomb shopping centers and attack Western diplomatic posts in the capital, Amman.
Government spokesman Sameeh Maaytah told reporters Sunday that the group had been working since June, and planned to carry out the attacks with weapons smuggled from Syria, where they had spent time.
He also said they had consulted with al-Qaida in Iraq explosives experts.
Jordan has been the target of al-Qaida attacks, including triple hotel bombings in November 2005 that killed more than 50 people. VoA.
By Donna Miles, AFPS, FORT MEADE, Md., Oct. 19, 2012 - All five suspects charged with planning and orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks skipped court today, the Muslim weekly holy day, as the first week of pre-trial hearings to continue through spring concluded at Naval Air Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, continued the hearing in their absence, once again taking up the issues of how open the proceedings should be and to what extent classified information can be used as the case goes to trial.
The defendants in the case are Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-described mastermind behind the attacks; his nephew, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali; Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash, charged with selecting and training some of the hijackers; and Ramzi Binalshibh and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, accused with helping finance the attacks.
They are charged with terrorism, conspiracy, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, murder in violation of the law of war, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, hijacking or hazarding a vessel or aircraft. If found guilty, they could receive the death penalty.
The commission devoted the first five days of pretrial hearings dealing with administrative and legal issues before the case goes to trial sometime next year.
The prosecution and defense teams spent the bulk of the week exchanging views on how to provide the accused a fair trial without compromising classified information that the government says could jeopardize national security.
They debated for hours on issues ranging from whether the proceedings are covered by the U.S. constitution and should be televised to what information will be included in the court record and whether the defense should have to reveal what its witnesses will say to justify the government flying them to Guantanamo Bay.
Ultimately, the judged ruled on four issues over the course of the week:
-- The defendants have the right to skip court proceedings regarding their case. Based on Pohl's ruling, they would have the right to submit a waiver request each morning that court convenes, and waivers would cover only that single day. Defendants who change their minds during the day could notify the guard force and attend court if it's possible to get them to the court facility after they make their request.
-- The defendants can wear pretty much what they want to their court proceedings, including camouflage clothing that both Mohammed and bin Attash have requested. Pohl stipulated, however, that the clothes must not be legitimate U.S. military uniform items, and, if prison garb, must not be in a color that misrepresents the detainee's security status.
-- Transcripts from so-called "802 conferences," during which the judge discusses issues with attorneys, will be made public, "as practicable," Pohl ruled. "This is not a blanket rule," he said. "It is not a 100 percent firm rule in every case."
-- A confidential consultant will be assigned to Hawsawi's defense team to assess his English proficiency. His counsel, Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz, requested a translator to help him better defend his client.
That leaves a broad range of major issues yet to be decided when the hearings resume Dec. 3 to 7.
Ruiz told reporters after a news conference following today's proceedings that Pohl had essentially "kicked the can down the road" on the most significant issues confronting the commission. The judge "greased the skids" by entertaining motions that enable the process to move forward without addressing those related to the fundamental issue of the commission's legitimacy, Ruiz said.
Today, the defense urged the judge to open the proceedings wider than what's available through closed-circuit TV beamed to viewing areas at Fort Meade and at Fort Hamilton, N.Y.; Fort Dix, N.J.; and Fort Devens, Mass.
While not ruling on the motion, Pohl challenged the defense's argument that broadcasting the proceedings by closed-circuit TV to only limited sites jeopardizes the outcome. "Are you telling me that if we don't go on the public airways, that the accused won't get a fair trial?" he asked.
Pohl also did not rule on the prosecution's request for a protective order addressing classified information. The prosecution has asked for "presumptive classification," which essentially means that anything the defendants say is treated as classified unless it's proven not to be.
James Connell, learned counsel for Aziz Ali, told reporters following today's proceedings that he believes that presumptive classification, if granted, could become "a major issue on appeal."
Pohl also has not ruled on issues of constitutionality. The prosecution says the burden should be on the defense to prove what issues are constitutionally protected. The defense has asked that the judge address any congressional challenges one by one, as they arise during the proceedings.
Army Maj. Robert McGovern, representing the United States, said the government is ready to turn over documents once a protective order is in place. He argued, however, that the defense's request is overly broad, warning of "fishing expeditions" with no need to prove the relevance of what the defense requests.
Cheryl Bormann, learned counsel for bin Attash, emphasized the importance of open proceedings as she addressed the court for the first time this week in western-style clothing rather than a traditional Muslim hijab.
"This is one of the most important cases to be handled ... in a very, very long time," Bormann told Pohl. "This is a situation where transparency is paramount," she said, saying that other closed commission proceedings she has observed appear to be "not transparent, not fair and not just."
Army Brig. Gen. Mark S. Martins, the chief prosecutor, recognized that some people are impatient with the pace of the proceedings. But a deliberate approach is needed so that justice is served, he said. "We are a government of the rule of law," he told reporters.
No one is more interested in seeing the case move forward than the victims' families, some who attended this week's sessions, Martins said. "Our hearts go out to the victims and family members," he told reporters, calling their strength an inspiration.
Bormann told reporters she empathizes with the victims' families.
"I feel for them, very much so," she said. However, she defended accommodations the court is making to respect the defendants' religious beliefs, saying they are the same kind of accommodations the United States makes for all its own citizens.
By Donna Miles, AFPS, FORT MEADE, Md., Oct. 16, 2012 - Three of the five defendants charged with planning and conducting the 9/11 terrorist attacks took advantage of yesterday's military court ruling and sat out of their pre-trial hearing today as the judge granted them broad latitude regarding what they can wear when they do choose to appear in court.
On the second of what is expected to be a five-day hearing at Naval Air Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, also took up what is considered a main issue: how to proceed with the trial without compromising classified information.
Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi waived their right to attend the second day of pre-trial hearings. Based on Pohl's ruling, the waivers apply to one day only, and the defendants must repeat the process the morning of any court session they wish to skip.
Today, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash and Ramzi Binalshibh were the only defendants to sit in the courtroom with their defense attorneys.
Pohl opened today's hearing by ruling that the accused can wear pretty much what they want to their court proceedings, including camouflage clothing that both Mohammed and bin Attash have requested. Pohl stipulated, however, that the clothes must not be legitimate U.S. military uniform items and, if prison garb, must not be in a color that misrepresents the detainee's security status. The judge said he would issue the ruling in writing to spell out details.
Mohammed's military defense attorney, Army Capt. Jason Wright, argued that the accused should be able to dress to reflect their affiliations. He noted, for example, that Mohammed wore a uniform as a member of the mujahedeen during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and during operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Army Maj. Joshua Kirk, representing the Defense Department, argued that no legal precedent gives prisoners "the unfettered right to wear clothing of their own choosing." He noted that a former Joint Task Force Guantanamo commander had issued specific dress guidelines both as a force-protection measure and to ensure detainees don't use their attire to make an inflammatory statement.
Pohl affirmed the JTF Guantanamo commander's authority to designate what detainees can wear in detention and when transported to court proceedings, but not inside the courtroom.
Much of today's hearing focused on how to proceed with the military tribunal without divulging classified information. The prosecution has asked for a protective order that includes "presumptive classification," which essentially means that anything the defendants say is treated as classified unless it is proven otherwise.
Justice Department Attorney Joanna Baltes said the presumptive classification measure helps ensure the government can prosecute the case without disclosing classified information that threatens U.S. national security.
However, Navy Lt. Cdr. Kevin Bogucki, Binalshibh's military defense attorney, called it "a scheme" that prevents detainees from testifying about everything that has happened to them since they were taken into U.S. custody, particularly in the hands of the CIA.
"It puts up barriers" and "makes this job impossible," agreed Cheryl Bormann, bin Attash's learned counsel, an attorney appointed by the Defense Department who has specialized training and experience in capital cases.
Baltes said a court security officer or other official could operate as a middleman, serving as a neutral party to smooth issues between the defense teams and intelligence agencies.
James Connell, learned counsel for Abdul Aziz Ali, argued that the defense team needs a security official to help them identify what information might be classified. "We need a mechanism for privileged classification review and we don't have it," he said. "I don't care what you call it or how you organize it. We need it."
David Schulz, a media lawyer representing 14 news organizations, argued that the draft protective order would violate the public's constitutional right to information. The issue, he said, boils down to whether the public's constitutional right to observe and attend court proceedings extends to the military tribunals. [WOTN Editor note: There is no such "right to information" enumerated in the US Constitution or any Amendment to it. The 1st Amendment provides the Right to Free Speech (to Americans) to The People, including the Right to exercise that in a Free Press. It does not give the press a right to commit crimes to obtain information to publish, nor does it give the press a right to any and all information it wants to publish.]
"We don't have secret trials in this country," Schulz told Pohl. "We, as a country, take the guarantee of open trials very seriously."
Schulz said closed sessions are appropriate when necessary to protect information that, if released, could substantially impact national security. However, he pressed for a narrow definition of what issues are important enough to override the public's constitutional rights and warrant closed sessions.
Hina Shamsi, representing the American Civil Liberties Union, also argued against what she called a thinly veiled effort to censor the defendants' testimony about their torture and detention while in U.S. custody.
The ACLU filed a motion in May asking the commission to bar a delayed audio feed of the proceedings or promptly release an uncensored transcript.
"There is an ongoing public debate about the fairness and transparency of the Guantánamo military commissions," Shamsi said of the motion. "And if the government succeeds in imposing its desired censorship regime, the commissions will certainly not be seen as legitimate."
Pre-trial sessions are expected to continue through Oct. 19. Pohl said he plans to schedule one week of pre-trial hearings in December, January, February and March to iron out administrative and legal issues before the actual trial begins later next year.
All five of the dependents were captured in Pakistan between 2002 and 2003 and have been confined at Guantanamo Bay since 2006.
They were charged during their arraignment in May with terrorism, conspiracy, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, murder in violation of the law of war, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, hijacking or hazarding a vessel or aircraft. If found guilty, they could receive the death penalty.
The proceedings are being broadcast via closed-circuit television to a media center at Fort Meade and at several other military bases around the country.
On October 12, 2000, at 11:18 Yemeni time a boat believed by Sailors to be a garbage service boat pulled alongside the USS Cole, those aboard waving to members of the crew of the Cole, as it was being refueled in Aden.
The Al-Qaeda of Yemen terrorists aboard detonated a shape charge which killed 17 and injured 39 Sailors who had lined up for lunch inside.
Dangerous Rules of Engagement:
Petty Officer John Washak stated, in accordance with ROE, he was ordered by Senior Personnel, to point his machine gun away from a Second approaching boat. "With blood still on my face," he related: "That's the rules of engagement: no shooting unless we're shot at." He added, "In the military, it's like we're trained to hesitate now. If somebody had seen something wrong and shot, he probably would have been court-martialed." The Rules of Engagement under the Commander in Chief at the time did indeed make the US Military targets rather than allow self-preservation and self-defense.
Bill Clinton vowed: "We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable." But he did nothing more than send in an FBI team whose plane was held at gunpoint by Yemeni Special Forces and under constant threat from local islamists as well as Yemeni Forces, including using an SA-7 anti-aircraft missile system to lock onto the helicopter they were on.
Hundreds of survivors and relatives of the dead gathered on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of bombings that killed 202 people.
Security was tight, with more than 2,000 police and military guarding the service after police earlier this week reported a threat of an attack on dignitaries at the event.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard led a list of dignitaries in attendance. She gave a defiant speech, saying the attack, which killed 88 Australians, did not defeat the resolve of the Australian people.
“We will never forget all that we lost. We will hold fast to that which remains: To our determination as a free people to explore the world unbowed by fear; to our resolve to defeat terrorism; and to our duty to care for each other.”
The October 2002 attacks on two Bali nightclubs were carried out by suicide bombers with the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group. It was followed by a wave of terror attacks across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, a former police chief who led the investigation, said the attack has given Indonesian authorities the “strength to fight terrorism and all other extremist activities.”
All of the leading perpetrators of the attack are thought to have been executed, killed by police, or jailed during a crackdown on Islamist militant groups in the decade following the attack.
Though the country has since seen an increase in domestic terrorism, most recent attacks have been on a smaller scale and aimed at police or government officials.
On Wednesday, police said they had uncovered “credible evidence” of a planned terror attack on dignitaries attending the Friday ceremony. The country's security was raised to its highest level ahead of the event.
Memorials were also held across Australia to mark the anniversary.VoA.
The U.S. House of Representatives has started hearing testimony on the situation in Benghazi prior to the September 11 attack in which U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were murdered by Islamist Terrorists.
The hearing Wednesday, which is being held by the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, includes testimony by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood, the former head of the U.S. military team in Libya, and Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy.
White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan was in Libya Wednesday to discuss investigations into the attack with Libyan leaders.
Senior State Department officials told reporters Tuesday ahead of the hearing that they never concluded the assault was part of protests against an anti-Islam video. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials also said there was “nothing unusual” at the consulate site before the attack. [The record shows this was not the case.]
The Obama administration initially linked the attack to the protests, but administration officials recently admitted it was a planned terrorist attack. The State Department is conducting its own investigation into the incident.
A memo detailing earlier testimony to a congressional investigator says Eric Nordstrom, the former chief security officer for U.S. diplomats in Libya, sent cables to Washington in March and July asking for more security officers in Benghazi, but got no response.
He said Charlene Lamb, a State Department official who is scheduled to testify Wednesday, believed the post did not need more security because it was equipped with a residential safe haven that could be used in case of emergency. [I guess the Admin believes its diplomats should retreat rather than be protected from terrorists.]
In the account given late Tuesday, the State Department officials said Ambassador Stevens, embassy officer Sean Smith and a security agent retreated to the safe haven after a large group of armed men entered the compound. [An unusually small protection team for the Senior Ambassador in an unstable country.]
The attackers set fire to furniture inside the building, filling it with smoke that later forced the three men to flee. They became separated, and security forces who arrived to assist them found only the security agent on the roof and Smith's body.
The security forces were unable to find the ambassador, and retreated with the remaining people at the compound to an annex that also came under fire before they were able to evacuate. VoA.
Islamist terrorist Abu Hamza al-Masri and four other terrorists who fought for years to avoid facing charges in the United States appeared in U.S. courts Saturday, hours after being extradited from Britain.
Hamza faces charges that include conspiring to set up a terrorist training camp in the state of Oregon and facilitating violent jihad in Afghanistan. The Egyptian-born former imam also is accused of helping abduct 16 Western tourists in Yemen in 1998 — an incident that saw four of the hostages killed.
Hamza was informed of the charges against him in federal court in New York Saturday, but will not be formally arraigned until Tuesday. Also appearing in the New York court Saturday were Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz, who pleaded not guilty to charges they were involved in the deadly 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Two more defendants, Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, pleaded not guilty Saturday in a federal court in Connecticut to charges they supported terrorists through websites they ran. They are accused of providing terrorists with cash, recruits and equipment.
U.S. attorney Preet Bharara called the extraditions “a watershed moment” in the nation's efforts to eradicate terrorism.
All five of the British citizens arrived in the United States early Saturday. The men were flown to the United States after the British High Court rejected their last-minute appeals. They had raised legal questions about human rights and prison conditions they expected to face in the United States. In rejecting the appeals, the British court cited an “overwhelming public interest” in seeing the extraditions carried out. VoA.
Two U.S. planes carrying radical Muslim preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri and four other suspected terrorists have left Britain for the United States, hours after Britain's High Court cleared the way for their extradition.
The planes departed a Royal Air Force base late Friday, after the British High Court rejected last-minute appeals by Hamza and the others. The five had raised legal questions about human rights and prison conditions they expected to face in the United States. In rejecting the appeals, the British court cited an “overwhelming public interest” in seeing the extraditions carried out.
Hamza is wanted on U.S. charges that include conspiring to set up a terrorist training camp in the state of Oregon. He also is accused of helping abduct 16 hostages, including two Americans, in Yemen in 1998. Four people died in the hostage taking incident.
Two other suspects aboard the flights, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz, are wanted for their roles in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa in 1998. Al-Fawwaz faces more than 260 counts of murder.
Both British and European courts had earlier ruled in favor of the extraditions, triggering the appeals that were rejected Friday.
Outside the courthouse, Ahmad's father, Ashfaq Ahmad, decried the ruling, saying it would be “forever remembered as a shameful chapter in the history of Britain.”
“The system has let me down in a manner more befitting of a third world country than one of the world's oldest democracies.”
Ashfaq Ahmad also told reporters that while he now fears for his son's well-being, the final ruling came as no surprise.
U.S. officials have charged two others aboard the flights, Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, in connection with a website used to provide support to terrorists. VoA.
Accused terrorist Abu Hamza will be sent from Britain to the United States to face charges.
Britain's high court Friday rejected Abu Hamza's final appeal and ruled that he and four other terror suspects are fit to travel to the U.S. to stand trial.
Lawyers for Abu Hamza argued he should not be extradited from Britain until he gets an MRI scan after suffering several years of poor health. Attorney Alun Jones told the court earlier this week it would be “oppressive” to send him to the U.S. to face terrorism charges if Abu Hamza is unfit to plead.
Last week a British court delayed the extradition after Abu Hamza lodged a fresh appeal. He has been detained in Britain for inciting hate by encouraging young Muslims to launch a holy war against non-believers.
He faces U.S. charges that he tried to set up a terrorist training camp in the state of Oregon, and helping al-Qaida seize hostages in Yemen.
The Egyptian-born Abu Hamza lost an eye and both hands fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Following Friday's ruling, the British Home Office said it intends to turn Abu Hamza and the other suspects over to U.S. custody as soon as possible. VoA.
A lawyer for accused terrorist Abu Hamza says his client should not be extradited from Britain to the United States before he gets an MRI scan, after suffering several years of poor health.
Lawyer Alun Jones told a London court Tuesday that Abu Hamza's health is deteriorating and said it would be “oppressive” to send him to the U.S. to face terrorism charges if Abu Hamza is unfit to plead.
Last week a British court delayed Abu Hamza's extradition after he lodged a fresh appeal. He is in detention in Britain for inciting hate by encouraging young Muslims to launch a holy war against non-believers.
U.S. authorities have charged Abu Hamza with trying to set up a terrorist training camp in the northwestern U.S. state of Oregon, and helping al-Qaida seize hostages in Yemen.
The Egyptian-born Abu Hamza lost an eye and both hands fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. VoA.
A British court has delayed the extradition of terrorist Abu Hamza to the United States after he lodged a fresh appeal.
The court plans to hold a full hearing next Tuesday. It did not say on what grounds Abu Hamza and another terrorist, Khaled Al-Fawwaz, are appealing the extradition orders.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled Monday that Abu Hamza and four others could be sent to the United States. The British Home Office says it intends to turn them over to the U.S. as soon as possible.
U.S. authorities have charged Abu Hamza with trying to set up a terrorist-training camp in the northwestern U.S. state of Oregon, and helping al-Qaida seize hostages in Yemen.
The Egyptian-born Abu Hamza lost an eye and both hands fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He also headed a London mosque and was jailed in Britain for encouraging young Muslims to launch a holy war against non-believers.
Earlier this week, the BBC apologized to Buckingham Palace after a journalist reported that Queen Elizabeth had at one time complained that Abu Hamza was out of jail and making hate speeches. VoA.
The European Court of Human Rights has given its final approval to allow the extradition of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza and four other terrorists to the United States.
On Monday, the court ruled against the defendants' appeal that they would face inhumane treatment if transferred to the United States.
The British government welcomed the ruling and said it would work to ensure the extraditions would happen “as quickly as possible.”
The Egyptian-born Hamza has been serving a seven-year sentence in Britain for inciting his followers to attack non-Muslims.
He is wanted in the United States on a group of charges, including establishing an al-Qaida-style training camp in the northwestern state of Oregon. A federal grand jury also charged him with providing support to terrorists, taking hostages in Yemen and conspiracy to supply goods and services to the Taliban.
Hamza is the former imam of the Finsbury Park mosque which he transformed in the 1990s into the heart of Islamic radicalization in Britain. VoA.
One year ago on this day, I stood on the New York Presbyterian Hospital
deck looking down at the East River. In the weeks prior to the 10th
anniversary of that terrible day when evil struck at the heart of
America, I had listened to Jack Delaney - who was Director of Emergency
Services at New York Presbyterian Hospital on 9/11 - as he shared his
experiences of that day and the aftermath. If you missed it the first
time, go here and read his first-hand account.
Now looking down at the river I felt so small as I watched the boat
traffic gently riding the waves on this Sunday morning. I thought back
to the Tuesday morning ten years earlier; one of America's darkest
days, but also a day where the heart of America shone so brightly.
As
I stood quietly watching the ebb and flow of this river, I was so
incredibly humbled. I had come to this place on this day at the
invitation of some very special Americans. I had come to remember and
honour. A few years earlier I had been privileged to interview the mom
and dad of Keith Fairben, a Paramedic who died on 9/11, along with his
partner Mario Santoro, as they were focused on saving others' lives.
First Diane, Keith's mom, and then Ken,
Keith's dad, had honoured me by sharing their hearts, the heart of
their son with me, and allowing me to tell the world the story of his
life.
Through
Ken and Diane, and then Jack, I came to see 9/11 through the hearts of
Americans, that the mainstream media will never understand.. Yes, last
year the msm was in a frenzy because it was the 10-year anniversary,
but I had been shown the still-beating hearts of those most directly
impacted, and I came to New York to see, and to hold, those hearts.
Standing next to Jack Delaney on the deck, I thought of all the broken
hearts - hearts that were stopped, and hearts that still beat, but will
forever be wrapped in sorrow because evil struck the heart of America on
that bright day in September 2001.
On September 11, 2001, I sat
in front of my television 3,000 miles away from Ground Zero as the msm
talking heads tried to make some sense of the horrific images they kept
repeating, over and over. I cried a lot that day and in the ensuing
weeks even though, on the surface of the matter, I was far removed from
the horrors of that day.
By Cheryl Pellerin, AFPS, WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2012 - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen discussed progress in Afghanistan, the brutal civil war in Syria and tomorrow's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks during his monthly news conference.
Rasmussen called the 11th anniversary of the attacks "a moment to remember the citizens of 25 NATO and partner countries who died that day, and all the victims of terrorist atrocities around the alliance and around the world, from Madrid and London to Istanbul, Bali and beyond."
Speaking from NATO headquarters in Brussels, Rasmussen said terrorism never can be justified or tolerated, and that NATO is determined to play its full role in the fight against it. "It is vital to our own security, and it is vital for the values and principles of international law that we uphold," he added.
Allies and partners work tirelessly to detect and prevent terrorist acts, the secretary general said, "and that is why we have more than 120,000 soldiers in Afghanistan -- to ensure that country can never again serve as a sanctuary [from which] terrorists can plan and launch attacks against our countries."
On the months-long civil war being waged between the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Syrian rebels, Rasmussen said NATO has no intention of intervening militarily in the conflict.
"We do believe the right way forward is to find a political solution," he said, "and we urge the international community to send a strong and unified message to the Syrian leadership to accommodate the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. So our position remains unchanged."
Regarding Afghanistan, Rasmussen said the alliance views insider attacks on the coalition by Afghan security forces with great concern.
"We are looking very carefully into each one, and we are doing everything we can, together with our Afghan partners, to reduce the risks as much as we can," the secretary general said, outlining some of the steps being taken.
"The vetting and screening of recruits is getting stronger. We are seeing better counterintelligence efforts. [International Security Assistance Force] and Afghan forces are getting more training to understand cultural differences. And we are constantly adapting the measures to protect our forces to the situation on the ground," he explained.
Last week, Rasmussen said, he discussed the attacks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and they agreed to do everything they can to tackle the problem.
"We will simply not allow the enemies of Afghanistan to change our strategy," Rasmussen said, "and we will not allow them to drive a wedge between us and our Afghan partners."
Pakistani police say they have arrested the Sunni Muslim founder of one of the country's most virulent anti-Shi'ite organizations, on charges of making a speech aimed at stirring sectarian hatred.
Police say Malik Ishaq, leader of the al-Qaida-linked Lakshar-e-Jhangvi terrorist group, was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore after returning from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Authorities say the charges stem from an address delivered to a religious gathering in Lahore earlier this month.
The terrorist organization was banned more than a decade ago after being linked to the deaths of hundreds of minority Shi'ites.
Meanwhile, senior Pakistani intelligence officials, who did not give their names, confirmed to the Associated Press Thursday that a top commander of the terrorist Haqqani network, Badruddin Haqqani, was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike in the North Waziristan tribal agency.
The al-Qaida- and Taliban-linked group is blamed for a number of attacks on U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
Also Thursday, the United States announced it has placed sanctions on eight members of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. The group is blamed for the 2008 terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people.
The U.S. Treasury froze any assets of the Lashkar members, including Sajjid Mir, who allegedly helped plan the assaults.
Separately, government authorities say at least eight terrorists have been killed in northwest Pakistan's Bajaur tribal agency, as security forces continue to target militant hideouts. Three soldiers and six terrorists were reported killed there on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, gunmen killed 22 Shi'ites after ordering them off buses in Baluchistan. VoA.
The Department of Defense announced today that the Office of the Chief Prosecutor for Military Commissions has sworn charges against Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi, a Saudi Arabian national.
The charges sworn today allege that the accused committed offenses triable under the Military Commissions Act of 2009, 10 U.S.C. §§ 948a, et seq, including: (1) Conspiracy to Commit Multiple Offenses Triable by Military Commission; (2) Aiding and Abetting the Offense of Attacking Civilian Objects; (3) Aiding and Abetting the Offense of Hazarding a Vessel; (4) Aiding and Abetting the Offense of Terrorism; (5) Multiple Specifications of Attempt; and (6) Aiding the Enemy. The charges are merely accusations, and the accused is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The maximum sentence for these charges is confinement for life.
These sworn charges allege that al Darbi joined a terrorist conspiracy with al Qaeda by the year 1997. In furtherance of this conspiracy, al Darbi is alleged to have attended the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan, to have received personal permission from Usama bin Laden to train at al Qaeda's Jihad Wahl training camp, and to have worked as a weapons instructor at al Qaeda's al Farouq training camp, both in Afghanistan. From approximately 2000 through 2002, al Darbi is also alleged to have committed multiple overt acts in support of a plot to bomb civilian oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and off the coast of Yemen. These alleged acts included: receiving large amounts of money from al Qaeda; purchasing GPS devices and other equipment; purchasing a boat intended to be the attack vessel; registering this boat under the name of an unwitting participant; applying for travel documents that allowed potential attack operatives to travel from Yemen to the UAE; training these potential attack operatives; and sailing the boat he purchased towards Yemen in order to meet with these attack operatives.
In addition to the conspiracy charge, al Darbi is alleged to have aided and abetted the completed terrorist attack against the French oil tanker, the MV Limburg, which severely injured multiple civilians and caused a large oil spill in the Gulf of Aden in 2002.
The Regulation for Trial by Military Commission requires that the chief prosecutor notify the legal advisor to the Convening Authority and the chief defense counsel for Military Commissions within 24 hours of swearing charges. The accused must also be notified of the charges sworn against him as soon as practicable. The chief prosecutor will not immediately forward the charges to the Convening Authority for action in this case. Once the chief prosecutor does so, the Convening Authority makes an independent determination as to whether to refer some, all, or none of the charges for trial by military commission. If the Convening Authority decides to refer the case to trial, he will designate commission panel members (jurors). The chief trial judge of the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary then assigns a military judge to the case.
The Chief Prosecutor, Brigadier General Mark Martins, said upon the swearing of charges, "Mr. al Darbi's alleged crimes are serious violations of the law of war that were committed to terrorize and wreak havoc on the world economy. We will be prepared to proceed toward his trial by reformed military commission if the Convening Authority refers charges."
Charges were previously initiated in
Download Charge alDarbi 2007 in December 2007. On November 25, 2009 those charges wwere dismissed without prejudice based on decisions made by Attorney General Eric Holder and other members of the Obama Administration on 13 November 2009.
The name of the anonymous U.S. Navy SEAL who penned a book about the special U.S. military team that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Ladin last year has been revealed.
U.S. media report the author is Matt Bisssonette, who retired from the Navy shortly after the operation in Pakistan that killed bin Laden.
U.S. publisher Dutton had asked news organization to withhold his identity.
The U.S. Department of Defense has said if a member of the special U.S. military team that killed bin Ladin has disclosed classified information in the book, the matter could be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The CIA has also said it had not reviewed the book to ensure no classified material is revealed. Former military and intelligence personnel are required to submit any writings to their agencies before the work is published.
Dutton says the book was reviewed by a former special-operations attorney.
The book's release comes as the Obama administration is being criticized for leaking classified details about the bin Laden raid for what some say are political reasons. VoA.
Manhattan Federal Magistrate Frank Maas issued a largely symbolic ruling Tuesday.
The compensations are payable to 110 survivors and estates of 47 victims who died in the attack on the New York Trade center. Among them was the pilot of the United Airlines flight 175 which hit the south tower of the twin buildings.
It is unlikely that the damages can be collected. But one of the plaintiffs, Ellen Saracini, said she was happy about the recommendation. Her husband Victor was the pilot of one of the two planes that struck the World Trade Center.
Last year, Judge George Daniels signed a judgement on the lawsuit brought by family members of the 47 victims. He found that Iran, as well as al-Qaida and the Taliban, was liable and asked the magistrate to determine damages.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on landmark New York's buildings.
Iran has denied having any links to the attack. VoA.
FORT HOOD, Texas, July 26, 2012 - A military judge here ruled that an Army psychiatrist accused in a November 2009 shooting rampage here is in contempt for his failure to comply with an order to appear in court clean-shaven and within Army grooming standards.
In an Article 39A hearing, Army Col. Gregory Gross fined Maj. Nidal Hasan $1,000, the maximum fine the court could impose under the court-martial contempt statute.
Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder during a shooting spree at a deployment processing center here.
After the contempt hearing, Hasan refused to voluntarily shave and watched the remainder of the hearing outside the courtroom via a close-circuit television feed. Gross informed him that if he did not voluntarily shave, he likely would compel a shaving so Hasan could attend forthcoming court-martial hearings in person.
The remainder of yesterday's hearing focused on discovery and expert matters. Gross said he would review for relevancy an unredacted copy of a recently released report to the FBI's director on the shooting incident. The judge also requested an update on whether the Senate maintained any notes or summaries of interviews the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs may have taken or made in support of its report on the shooting.
Gross also deferred ruling on whether the defense should have access to military investigations taught in a class at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., and he took under advisement and deferred ruling on defense-requested experts in religious conversion and social science methodology.
The judge also authorized further government funding for already appointed defense experts in jury selection and mitigation and found that federal district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over matters raised under 50 U.S. Code Section 1806. He also said he would sign an order transferring any such matter to the federal district court in Waco, Texas. VoA.
Norway on Sunday marked the first anniversary of a bomb and gun massacre that left 77 people dead, with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg saying the nation responded to the tragedy by reaffirming its democratic and tolerant values.
During a wreath-laying ceremony at the bomb site, Mr. Stoltenberg said the bomb and the bullets were meant to change Norway, but that the perpetrator failed, as the Norwegian people responded by embracing their values.
On July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik detonated a bomb near an Oslo government building, killing eight people. Then he shot dead 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a youth camp on Utoeya Island.
Breivik, who was 32 at the time of the attacks, readily admitted responsibility for the massacre, saying he was justified because the victims had facilitated the “Islamization of Norway.”
Breivik's trial ended last month. The court is expected to issue a verdict in August.
While there is no doubt he carried out the attacks, the court must decide if Breivik should be considered criminally sane and sentenced to prison, as requested by his defense, or instead follow the prosecution's request to send him to a psychiatric ward. VoA.
A Pakistani court has rejected the findings of a commission that traveled to India to investigate the 2008 terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai.
India had allowed an eight-member group made up of Pakistani prosecutors and defense attorneys to visit and gather information related to the cases of seven Pakistanis currently on trial for involvement in the attacks.
On Tuesday, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court said the commission's report could not be used as evidence against the suspects because commission members were not allowed to cross-examine Indian officials. The panel took statements from two Indian doctors, a police official and a judge.
Lawyers for the Pakistani suspects had filed a court petition, saying the commission's report has no legal value.
In New Delhi, India's Home Secretary Raj Kumar Singh told reporters that India would ask for a copy of the Pakistani court's judgement. “And then we will discuss with Pakistan as (to) what are the next steps,” he said. “We believe the material which is there, is admissible as evidence because statements were taken by a magistrate.”
Ten gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a train station and a Jewish center in Mumbai, India's financial hub, in November of 2008, killing 166 people. The lone surviving gunman has been sentenced to death.
India blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the three-day siege. It claims the attacks were carried out with state support from Pakistan — a charge denied by Islamabad. VoA.
A U.S. federal jury in Texas has convicted a Saudi student on charges of planning a terrorist bombing.
The Justice Department says Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari's list of possible targets included dams in California and Colorado, nightclubs, and the Dallas address for former President George W. Bush.
Prosecutors say Aldawsari bought bomb-making chemicals and equipment and wrote in a journal of his desires for Jihad.
One of the company's from which he tried to buy chemicals alerted police.
Aldawsari faces life in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in October. VoA.
FORT HOOD, Texas -- Military Judge Col. Gregory A. Gross announced his ruling on when the parties will reconvene in United States v. Maj. Nidal M. Hasan. Gross announced the parties will be back in court at 10 a.m. June 19 to argue various motions, including whether the case should be delayed until Dec. 3, 2012, and various discovery issues.
The accused, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, is presumed innocentuntil proven guilty in a court of law.
On the date for the event, satellite trucks should report to the Fort Hood Clarke Road Gate on West Highway 190 at 6:15 a.m. Truck registration ends at 6:45 a.m. All others should check in to the Fort Hood visitor's center, from 8-9 a.m. for final registration. All media should be prepared to show a U.S. driver's license with photo and an accredited press badge with photo.
A court in Bosnia-Herzegovina has ordered three Muslims accused of attacking the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo last year to leave the courtroom for refusing to stand after the judges entered.
Mevlid Jasarevic, Emrah Fojnica and Munib Ahmespahic, all three in their early 20s, said they only respect God's law as their trial opened Friday in Bosnia'a state court in Sarajevo.
The prime suspect Jasarevic is accused of opening fire on the embassy with an automatic weapon. One police officer was injured in the October 28 attack. Fojnica and Ahmetspahic are charged with helping him prepare the attack and later covering up evidence including weapons.
Jasarevic told the judges that their court defends laws invented by humans, and that Muslims are forbidden to respect such tribunals. A judge (Branko Petric) ordered that the defendants be removed from the courtroom and the indictment was read out in their absence.
Some would have us believe that there can never be a reason to go to war. Others portend that only a war in which we have no National Interest is one in which we should engage. And still others say we should only fight when we have an unparalled National Interest.
Some say we should never be involved in a civil war. Some say we should only be involved in peacekeeping, particularly in civil wars. Some say we should only fight after we've been attacked. And some say that attack must occur on our own soil before we should fight. And then there's the age old philosophical question: If we knew then what we know now, should we have assassinated Hitler, preventing World War II, before he took power?
Is it really war, if we only send flying robots to bomb specific mud huts? Or if only the enemy calls it war and we pretend it's just a common crime? Is it war if the enemy has a flag, and are still only fighting to get a nation, or an empire?
The decision to go to war should not be made lightly. It is a decision to have humans kill other humans, but that is sometimes the only way to save the lives of more humans. The ability to win a war rests on one fundamental principal: breaking the enemy's will to fight. There are many ways that may be accomplished, but to win a war, one must cause the enemy to choose to end the fight.
By Cheryl Pellerin, AFPS, WASHINGTON, June 1, 2012 - The convergence of crime, terrorism and insurgency and its threat to U.S. national security is a growing concern for the Defense Department, whose role in the fight began in the 1980s and continues to evolve, a senior defense official said today.
William F. Wechsler, deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, spoke during an irregular warfare summit sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement.
"The Department of Defense's role in this effort goes back ... to the 1980s," Wechsler said, when America was flooded with vast amounts of cocaine coming from Colombia and across the Caribbean into Florida [as well as Communist and Islamist terrorist attacks in Europe, the Middle East, and Mediterranean].
The leader of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami has been charged with war crimes by a special tribunal.
Matiur Rahman Nizami was indicted Monday on 16 charges, including genocide and murder allegedly carried out during the country's 1971 independence struggle against Pakistan.
Another tribunal indicted Abdul Quader Molla, a deputy of Nizami, for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity.
Bangladesh, formerly known as East Pakistan, achieved independence in 1971 after a nine-month war with Pakistan. Three million people were killed and hundreds of thousands of women were raped. Rights groups have also alleged “ethnic cleansing” that targeted East Pakistan's Hindu minority.
Jamaat-e-Islami and its ally, the country's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have said the ruling Awami League party set up the special war crimes tribunal in order to target political opponents.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said legal procedures used by the tribunal fall short of international standards. VoA.
U.S. officials say they have stopped an al-Qaida bomb plot intended to destroy an airliner heading for the United States.
Authorities in Washington say the al-Qaida branch in Yemen, aka Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, intended to put a suicide bomber aboard a U.S.-bound jet with explosives concealed in the attacker's underwear.
They say the plot was detected and the bomb was seized before any plane was at risk.
The White House National Security Council said in a statement Monday that President Barack Obama was first informed about the plot in April.
Addressing reporters Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declined to comment on specific classified operations. However, he said the incident makes clear the United States must remain vigilant against possible attacks.
The Associated Press says the would-be attacker is based in Yemen and the plot was to be carried out around the one-year anniversary of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. It also says the would-be attacker had not picked a target or bought a plane ticket.
Officials say the bomb was a redesign of an explosive that was used to try to blow up an airplane bound for Detroit from Amsterdam in 2009. A Nigerian man tried to detonate the bomb hidden in his underwear on the Christmas Day flight. VoA.
An Islamist terrorist accused of making the bombs used in the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks has apologized to victims and their families.
During emotional testimony at his trial Monday, Umar Patek said he played only a small role in the attacks that killed 202 people, and did not know nightclubs were the target.
Patek faces a maximum penalty of death if convicted of charges that include premeditated murder, bomb-making and illegal firearms possession. He faces similar charges for his role in deadly attacks on Christian churches in Jakarta on Christmas Eve of 2000.
Patek was captured in January of last year in Abbottabad, the same Pakistani town where U.S. forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
The Bali attacks and a string of others aimed at foreigners in Indonesia over the past decade were conducted by Jemaah Islamiyah – an Islamist terrorist group that has advocated creating an Islamic state spanning much of Southeast Asia. VoA
For a few bucks more you can get a signed copy from the author himself! http://www.deltabravosierra.us/2011/02/10/a-word-about-the-new-book/comment-page-1/#comment-3383
Get your copy of this legendary cartoon now (or wait a few days for the signed copy!)
Go to War against the Nazis with SSG Smith of the 94th Infantry Division. Review: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2010/04/everymans-war-vet.html.html
Ace Of Spades: Why Language Matters In this article, Ace of Spades demonstrates how the writing style of "journalists" and other writers is purposely used to influence the electorate. He explains this far better than I have been able to do, but this is the foundation of why I could no longer be silent.
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