Fighting the War on Terror Here at Home
[Guest post by DRJ]
The war on terror is a multi-front war and this California case illustrates the importance of law enforcement in identifying home-grown threats:
“One of four men accused of plotting attacks on Southern California military sites and Jewish targets pleaded guilty Friday to terrorism conspiracy charges.
Levar Haley Washington, 28, admitted committing seditious conspiracy and using a firearm to further that conspiracy. He faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in April. Another man, Kevin James, was expected to plead guilty to a terrorism charge later Friday. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
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Washington faces a sentence of five years to life in prison, and James could be sentenced to as much as 20 years, according to their plea agreements. Also indicted in the case were Gregory Vernon Patterson and Hammad Riaz Samana. Samana is a Pakistani national, while the others are U.S.-born Muslim converts.
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All four were charged with conspiracy to levy war against the U.S. government through terrorism and conspiracy to possess and discharge firearms in a violent crime. Washington, Patterson and Samana each face a count of conspiracy to kill members of the U.S. government uniformed services and a count of conspiracy to kill foreign officials. Washington and Patterson are charged with robbery and using a firearm in a violent crime.”
This case also illustrates how our prison systems are being used by terrorists and how they use crime to fund their plots:
“Authorities claimed that the plot was hatched in prison and that James, Washington and two others were a cell of radical Muslims planning attacks on military facilities, synagogues and other sites in the Los Angeles area.
Prosecutors assert that James even prepared a press release that the men planned to send out after an attack. “This incident is the first in a series of incidents to come in a plight to defend and propagate traditional Islam in its purity,” James allegedly wrote. “We are not extremists, radicals or terrorists. We are only servants of Allah.”
Police uncovered the plot in July 2005 while investigating gas station robberies that authorities say were committed to finance the attacks.
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The plot was orchestrated by Washington, Patterson and Samana at the behest of James, a California State Prison, Sacramento, inmate who founded the radical group Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS, authorities said. Washington converted to Islam while imprisoned with James, then looked to recruit other members for the group, authorities said.”
The group targeted US government and Jewish people and facilities and was based on Shariah law:
“Washington, Patterson and Samana—who attended the same Inglewood mosque—allegedly conducted surveillance of military sites, synagogues, the Israeli Consulate and El Al airline facilities in the region as well as Internet research on Jewish holidays, prosecutors said in 2005.
James preached that JIS members should target for violent attack any enemies of Islam or “infidels,” including the U.S. government and any supporters of Israel, according to court documents. He also created a document he called the “JIS Protocol,” which advocated the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in the U.S. that followed Shariah law, or Islamic law. “Sit back, build and attack!” prosecutors say James wrote in his document. “Our obvious targets being the Western forces of the U.S. and their … society.”
James spelled out in a separate document that JIS members must learn Arabic, acquire two pistols with silencers, learn bomb-making and become “legitimate.” “Acquire identification, drivers license … keep regular contact with your parole agent,” prosecutors say James wrote. “Your dress code must not bring attention. … We have work to do.”
Our enemies are serious about their work and Americans should be serious about this war, too. In fact, Americans should be very reasonably afraid.
— DRJ
Sounds like the prosecutors can build a better case against these guys than the one against the Liberty City Seven.
JayHub (5ecce3) — 12/14/2007 @ 1:32 pmOne problem is that the earlier in the plot that the authorities discover it, the harder it is to prosecute.
SPQR (26be8b) — 12/14/2007 @ 1:48 pmOur enemies are serious about their work and Americans should be serious about this war, too. In fact, Americans should be very reasonably afraid.
There’s something odd about the fact that our own administration (and certain adherents thereof) seem as invested in persuading us to be afraid as any terrorists.
Whatever happened to “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”? Americans used to have a lot more confidence in their own strength.
Now, it seems like the primary goal is to convince us of how vulnerable we are, how afraid we should be, and most importantly, how much we need more government investigation/power.
Phil (6d9f2f) — 12/14/2007 @ 2:07 pmPhil,
Ron Silver discusses your point at this “very reasonably afraid” link (the same link in the original post).
DRJ (09f144) — 12/14/2007 @ 2:10 pmIf the authorities are doing their job, as they quite obviously are in thsi case, there’s no reason to “be reasonably afraid.”
Unless of course you believe the populace must be kept in a state of fear (and therefore obedience to the Republican party) at all times.
David Ehrenstein (5f9866) — 12/14/2007 @ 2:20 pmWell, there’s fear and then there’s fear. There’s the fear of the rattlesnake which bites when threatened and then there’s the fear of the ostrich which hides its head in the sand.
nk (6061ba) — 12/14/2007 @ 2:25 pmAnd then there are those cases where the authorities are NOT doing their job.
David Ehrenstein (5f9866) — 12/14/2007 @ 2:25 pmI wonder why they were adjudicated in Santa Ana…
I guess they can now spread the jihad in prison, if the authorities continue to allow this folly.
Patricia (aaa977) — 12/14/2007 @ 3:20 pmIt would seem that the only way to stop this virus while in a prison environment, would be more Pelican Bay’s. The cost would be horrendous, but no one would want to come back.
Another Drew (a28ef4) — 12/14/2007 @ 5:54 pmWE don’t have to be afraid. Simply intern all citizen Muslims and deport the rest to a Muslim country, say Saudi Arabia. I’m not suggesting it. But it would certainly WORK to preclude any Muslim terror. Since there would be no Muslims in America (or any allowed in either) to do the terror.
If we had a Muslim exclusion rule in place in 2000, Atta and company would not have entered the country, or had they snuck in would have been pulled over at some point (they got traffic citations in Florida) and thrown out of the country. No Atta and friends in the US, no 9/11.
Failing Muslim exclusion/internment, the only solution is enhanced government operations to find and stop terror attacks before they happen.
Let’s imagine what happens if they don’t. Say a football or baseball stadium is wiped out by a co-ordinated attack by privately chartered jets hijacked in flight. By say, “White” or Anglo appearing Muslims. What then? With say, 30-40 thousand dead?
Politically there would be no other choice but to intern all Muslims, deport the rest, and summarily imprison all Muslims trying to sneak into the country into a true gulag. Perhaps one in the Aleutians or something (truly awful places).
It would seem to me that if you personally want to avoid a Manzanar repeat you MUST do whatever it takes, and I mean whatever, to prevent further attacks. Asking people to simply be slaughtered wherever en-masse is stupidity times ten, politically. So too is any “negotiation” with Osama (even if you could come to some sort of bargain, which you couldn’t, no one would agree to it and you’d be dead politically at best, and Osama can’t/won’t control many other groups planning jihad).
I suppose you could try the Mongol Solution but who wants that? It’s appalling and better to do almost anything else.
As for Liberty City, the defendants and much of the jury are Black. No surprise there. Black juries just won’t (for the most part) convict black criminals. They didn’t in the OJ case, and won’t even in New Orleans (pre and post Katrina) which is a major problem in combatting the out-of-control crime that exists there. There were more than 12,000 phone calls recorded detailing the plot and audio of them swearing obedience and loyalty to Osama.
In the Holy Land Foundation trial, Juror misconduct (a “tragically hip” twenty-something graphic artist ignored the evidence and “introduced” his own views on the Israel-Hamas war) ala Robert Blake, or that nutty music producer murders meant a farce.
The justice system is not able to handle terrorism. But government efforts to foil plots is essential. We probably need a special tribunal for those accused of terrorism akin to the Italian tribunal to combat the Mafia in Sicily. With convicted terrorists spending the rest of their lives freezing to death in the Aleutians. [Deterrent effect.] Right now there is little deterrence to terrorism. Get caught, spend a bit in jail, write a book and go on Oprah or the View.
Jim Rockford (e09923) — 12/14/2007 @ 6:26 pmBut, but, but, how can you declare war against a verb? Doh!
daleyrocks (906622) — 12/14/2007 @ 6:31 pmKnowing nothing about the details of the case these guys sound like hyped up criminals to me who are using Islam as an excuse, a la many sociopaths, to commit crime. Off to prison with them for their armed robbery but as “terrorists”? meh……
Fighting the idea of “jihad” against America as the universal bad guy is so insanely difficult (much less finding the actual terrorist and their supporters) that it must be very tempting to call any kind of win a big win.
I am more afraid of governmental mission creep that eventually starts charging all sorts of people as “terrorists” (like the govt. started seizing every Tom Dick and Harrys grandma’s dogs property during the drug wars) than I am of some wave of homegrown terrorists overpowering the citizenry. I say pay attention, to potential “terrorists” and to the government prosecuting them. (yep feeling anti-government-nutty just like Phil tonight)
EdWood (275649) — 12/14/2007 @ 11:53 pm