Patterico's Pontifications

11/28/2010

Portland Saved From Islamofascist Terrorism In Spite of Itself (Update: More Details on the Terrorist and Arson Attack on his Mosque)

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 10:39 am



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.]

This is a juicy catch from Byron York:

In 2005, leaders in Portland, Oregon, angry at the Bush administration’s conduct of the war on terror, voted not to allow city law enforcement officers to participate in a key anti-terror initiative, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.  On Friday, that task force helped prevent what could have been a horrific terrorist attack in Portland.  Now city officials say they might re-think their participation in the task force — because Barack Obama is in the White House.

Mmm, yeah, they are motivated by the fact we have a new president.  Never mind that he has been president for nearly two years now.  Nah, I am calling B.S. on that one.

And of course these paragraphs contain a little schadenfreude,too:

What is ironic is that the operation that found and stopped Mohamud is precisely the kind of law enforcement work that Portland’s leaders, working with the American Civil Liberties Union, rejected during the Bush years.  In April 2005, the Portland city council voted 4 to 1 to withdraw Portland city police officers from participating in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. Mayor Tom Potter said the FBI refused to give him a top-secret security clearance so he could make sure the officers weren’t violating state anti-discrimination laws that bar law enforcement from targeting suspects on the basis of their religious or political beliefs.

Other city leaders agreed.  “Here in Portland, we are not willing to give up individual liberties in order to have a perception of safety,” said city commissioner Randy Leonard.  “It’s important for cities to know how their police officers are being used.”

(Emphasis added, for extra irony.)  Of course I am very glad that we are talking about Portland being ironically saved from itself, instead of being ironically allowing a man to murder a few hundred of its citizens.  But I am reminded of John Stewart Mill speaking of the miserable creature that “has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”  In this episode, the FBI and (credit where credit is due) the Obama administration is the better people.

Anyway, as they say, read the whole thing.

Update: More details about the plotter, here, including this:

Authorities have not explained how a young Muslim man described by friends as an average university student who drank an occasional beer and hung out with fraternity friends became so radicalized.

Actually indulging in stuff like drinking a beer can be a bad sign.  The 9-11 terrorists engaged in a lot of conduct that was sinful in the eyes of radical Islam (drinking, going to strip clubs, etc.), because they believed that the act of carrying out 9-11 would save their souls.  More:

Prosecutors say after the trip to the backcountry, Mohamud made a video in the presence of one of the undercover agents, putting on clothes he described as “Sheik Osama style:” a white robe, red and white headdress, and camouflage jacket. He read a statement speaking of his dream of bringing “a dark day” on Americans and blaming his family for getting in the way.

“To my parents who held me back from Jihad in the cause of Allah. I say to them … if you — if you make allies with the enemy, then Allah’s power … will ask you about that on the day of judgment, and nothing that you do can hold me back,” he said.

It’s interesting that his parents were opposed to this.

Update (II): And in other news, there has been an arson attack on the mosque that the bomber occasionally attended.  To his credit, the Imam didn’t take this as a chance to condemn the community at large:

Islamic Center leader Imaam Yosof Wanly said he doesn’t believe the fire is a reflection on the community of Corvallis where he has lived for 24 years.

“I know people here know the true reality of the Muslim community here,” he said. “It’s a sad situation.”

Wanly condemned the alleged plot by the 19-year-old, stating he “denounced the actions of Mohamed Mohamud.”

Hat tip, The Blaze.

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

27 Responses to “Portland Saved From Islamofascist Terrorism In Spite of Itself (Update: More Details on the Terrorist and Arson Attack on his Mosque)”

  1. The FBI should reject any overtures by the Portland Establishment,
    as to include them would lower the collective intelligence, and therefore the effectiveness, of the Task Force.

    AD-RtR/OS! (e2c6d2)

  2. I will give themcrdit for being open and honest in regards to the fact that their “concerns” were so serious that they could be resolved by simply changing the party of the President.

    JD (eb5afc)

  3. I have never seen a better exampled of alphabetism: it’s bad with GWB does it, but okay when BHO does it.

    And they look in the mirror every day when they shave (or whatever) and think that they are good and honest people. They need to own their hypocrisy. Lives are at stake, and their partisanship could have cost a number of innocent lives.

    Eric Blair (a27ac1)

  4. Eric

    No, no, clearly it is racism. 🙂

    Aaron Worthing (b8e056)

  5. “I have never seen a better exampled of alphabetism: it’s bad with GWB does it, but okay when BHO does it.”

    Eric – Exactly. The porno scanners would have been terrible for progressives, just like the Patriot Act, under Bush, but under The One, they are sound and necessary, especially after the Fort Hood shooter, the Fruit of the Boom bomber, the Times Square bomber, the Fed Ex bombs, etc.

    It has been wonderful to see Barky restore our reputation on the world’s stage!

    daleyrocks (df87cd)

  6. Aaron, your thinking isn’t agile enough. Here’s a couple of loon spins that you should see within the day:

    1. This whole thing was a creation of the FBI task force, and Portland was right to avoid co-operation. This guy would still be a productive member of society were it not for the relentless entrapment of the evil FBI agents.

    2. #1 plus … This is just the model for how the government plotted 9/11. Only then it got out of hand and the FBI involvement was covered up.

    Kevin M (298030)

  7. I am reminded of a time long past when the USSR shot down Korean Flight 007. A leftie co-worker recovered from his momentary shock and said “The were probably spying” as if that excused the shoot-down. And the next day, that was the leftist party line.

    Kevin M (298030)

  8. Yeah, Kevin, it was such a bitch when the tapes of the conversations between the ground-controllers and the intercepter pilots were released…

    “Oops, never mind – nothing to see here, move along now.”

    AD-RtR/OS! (e2c6d2)

  9. Kevin

    Well certainly Patterico’s and my dueling posts from yesterday show that there is never much point in trying to answer to conspiracy minded types.

    Aaron Worthing (b8e056)

  10. The Portland City Council should be asked if they intend to file a brief on the behalf of the fellow to get him released.

    MD in Philly (cac12c)

  11. _____________________________________

    and said “The were probably spying” as if that excused the shoot-down.

    And on other occasions, he’d say about the suspect in some murder case or some crime in general: “He probably grew up without enough healthcare, welfare, good public schools, free school meals, good subsidized housing, etc, etc. And he grew up in a racist, cruel society, too!!”

    I don’t even mind such idiocy if its adherent at least doesn’t fall for the notion that his or her ideology is rooted in love, humaneness and compassion.

    Mark (3e3a7c)

  12. ________________________________________

    Authorities have not explained how a young Muslim man described by friends as an average university student who drank an occasional beer and hung out with fraternity friends became so radicalized.

    I still believe that an acceptance of Islam, given the history and background of its ruthless founder, is sort of like a person getting close to and cozy with, say, Nazism or Communism. IOW, the very act of embracing something that at its core is so extreme or radical is, in itself, rather extreme and radical.

    Beyond that, the willingness of someone so seemingly innocuous, and surrounded by stereotypical American life, to lash out at this country, or Western culture in general, not only may be another example of the canary in the coal mine, but it may be like the migraine headache that keeps hanging on, year after year, if not decade after decade.

    Mark (3e3a7c)

  13. 7) that was a Sy hersh and R.W, Johnson spin, the last who has become much more sensible, in the intervening 20 some years. The Cobra Ball, as I recall, followed a similar path over the Kurile
    islands

    narciso (9d0688)

  14. From PowerlineBlog….

    “…Mohamud is 19 years old. He is a native of Mogadishu, Somalia. He is a naturalized American citizen. He is a Muslim. When apprehended by law enforcement authorities he declared, ‘Allahu Akhbar.‘ The motivation for Mohamud’s act of attempted mass murder was ‘violent jihad.’…”

    How much simpler it would be if hearing “Allahu Akhbar” was intrepreted as “Open Fire”!

    AD-RtR/OS! (e2c6d2)

  15. Comment by narciso — 11/28/2010 @ 12:16 pm

    But, as close as the intercepter pilots were – they were required by GC to visually identify the aircraft – there was no way to mistake a commercial 747 (with illuminated KAL tail markings) for a USAF C-135, that has no windows, and whose only tail markings are a U.S.Flag, a number, and “USAF” – without illumination.

    The Soviets, just as their East German clients in shooting wire/wall crossers, committed First-Degree Homicide against civilians – which is defined as a Crime Against Humanity!

    AD-RtR/OS! (e2c6d2)

  16. I also think that the mosque arson business was wrong. The imam sounded (at least in the report) the right response: it’s wrong to burn or blow up people with whom you disagree.

    Eric Blair (a27ac1)

  17. Comment by Eric Blair — 11/28/2010 @ 12:49 pm

    I wouldn’t want to be that Imam’s life-insurer.

    AD-RtR/OS! (e2c6d2)

  18. Sad but true. At the same time, we do need some Muslims other than those CAIR types to sing out about this kind of thing.

    Then there is this guy:

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0771047835/

    You should listen to the interview Dennis Miller had with him…

    Eric Blair (a27ac1)

  19. Speaking of CAIR…
    Powerline has a followup on the Circuit Courts’ affirmation of CAIR (and others) as unindicted co-conspirators in the HLF matter.
    Why we should be according these people any more respect than a Deportion Order is beyond me.

    AD-RtR/OS! (e2c6d2)

  20. A broken clock is right more often than Glenn Greenwald.

    daleyrocks (df87cd)

  21. Time for the Somalians to be sent home to Somalia?

    I find it interesting that his parents knew about this nutjob and didn’t warn the police that he was on his way to some jihad.

    Wondering (0cb8c4)

  22. Isn’t it redundant to H/T the Blaze for a tip regarding arson?

    SteveG (cc5dc9)

  23. And here I was discussing with my wife a possible move to Corvallis at some point in the next few years – just great. Something about university towns, perhaps – or something about idiotic lefty’s refusal to acknowledge reality.

    Can’t wait to see the MSM spin about Tea Partier’s acts of vengeance – err, but Corvallis is not exactly a hotbead of conservatism.

    Dmac (498ece)

  24. Dmac, you know the famous sign from up the road in Portland?

    http://ontiverosco.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/KeepPortlandWeird.JPG

    Enough said.

    That sign is across the street from the famous Voodoo Donuts shop.

    Eric Blair (c8876d)

  25. The story everyone seems to be missing: I want to know what in the world Portland was doing allowing a Christ-mas Tree Lighting Ceremony in the first place!

    What in the world?! Are those Christians allowed public space in Portland? That by itself explains the justifiable outrage of Muhamud.

    Gesundheit (aab7c6)

  26. What to do with Mohamud? Grind up the little twink, feed him to dogs, then shoot the dogs.

    gp (72be5d)

  27. Hey, gp, what do you have against our canine friends?

    Besides, the dogs will simply regurgitate the foul matter, so there’s no need to kill the dogs.

    Pigs, however, will eat anything!

    The SPCA Dana (3e4784)


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