Hearing Highlights Terror Infiltration at Border

A Texas public safety official emphasized the threat of terrorist-supporters entering the U.S. through Texas during a House hearing on border security last week.

"A recent federal investigation in Texas underscores the seriousness of this homeland security threat," Steven C. McCraw, Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, noted in written remarks.

On April 28th, a San Antonio court sentenced Somali national Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to making false statements on an asylum application. Dhakane failed to mention that he operated a human smuggling ring out of Brazil which brought at least seven known members of the al-Qaida-linked Somali terrorist group Al-Ittihad Al-Islami (AIAI) into the United States.

"Obviously, the San Antonio federal case of the Somalian is a significant concern, and underscores that this is not make-believe, that you can't secure your borders from foreign nationals penetrating them undetected and uninterdicted," McCraw testified during the hearing.

"It constitutes a threat. We'll always have to be mindful of that."

Though only seven of Dhakane's clients have been linked to terrorism, he smuggled hundreds of individuals total across the Texas border.

Dhakane's smuggling case is only a snapshot of the entire problem, McCraw said. Nearly three-quarters of "special interest" aliens – those from states tied to terrorist organizations – are arrested in Texas.

Counterterrorism experts are "mortified every time they look at the numbers of foreign nationals from countries with a known al-Qaida presence, or Hizballah or Hamas, that crossed the border, the Texas-Mexico border, that are detected and arrested," said McCraw.

Al Shabaab: Al-Qaida Helped Overthrow Somali Government

A high ranking al-Shabaab official said Wednesday that al-Qaida helped his group overthrow the former Somali government.

"In the 1990s, the martyred al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has sent a number of fighters to Somalia to train some of Somali guerrillas in order to help dispose [of the] Somali military regime," Sheikh Mukhtar Rabow, known as Abu Mansur, said.

Al-Shabaab's ties to al-Qaida are well established. The group has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and vowed to seek revenge for his death after U.S. Navy SEALS shot and killed him in his Abbottabad compound.

Abu Mansur's admission shows the alliance dates back to before al-Shabaab's rise to power.

In 2004, the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was recognized as the first legitimate Somali governing body since the government's collapse in 1991. Islamist groups, unhappy with the new secular government, began to fight the TFG for control of the Somali capital Mogadishu and other key cities.

Amid the fighting, al-Shabaab emerged out of the Islamic Courts Union and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami (AIAI), two groups dedicated to the establishment of pan-Islamic state, from 2003 to 2004. Several AIAI militants who fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan went on to serve as commanders in al-Shabaab.

The TFG continues to fight al-Shabaab, with help from African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces. Al-Shabaab, said Abu Mansur, continually relies on al-Qaida for military and financial support.

Though the face of al-Qaida is gone, bin Laden continues to inspire the Somali militants.

Al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage made this clear while speaking in Mogadishu after bin Laden's death. "We shall never divert from the path of Sheikh Osama and we shall continue the jihad till we taste the death our brother Osama faced, or achieve victory and rule the whole world."

Similarly, American-born al-Shabaab leader Omar Hammami said that bin Laden's death will not stop attacks against U.S. interests.

Peretz: Why Western Elites Get Syria Wrong

New Republic editor-in-chief emeritus Martin Peretz has published a scathing indictment of the Western media and the Obama Administration for failing to understand why President Bashar Assad is losing his grip on Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for example, described Assad as a "reformer." But according to Peretz, Western elites do not grasp that Ba'athist-ruled Syria is a "failed state" – a dictatorship that cannot survive without repression at home and continual conflict with Israel.

Syria is governed by adherents of the Alawite sect of Islam - a group comprising just 10 percent of the population. The Syrian majority - Sunni Muslims and their Muslim Brotherhood vanguard - have been "cowering" since 1982, Peretz writes, when Bashar's father, then-dictator Hafez Assad, massacred tens of thousands of Syrians at Hama.

On Friday, United Nations officials said that as many as 850 people have been killed in the latest regime crackdown. The Syrian military is reported to have deployed tanks in Homs, a city located near the Lebanese border in central Syria; in Talas, in a restive region in Syria's south; and in Baniyas, on the Mediterranean coast. The France24 television network aired this disturbing report featuring a Syrian soldier describing the regime's use of snipers to target its political opponents.

Peretz adds: "Pity the Alawites when the Sunnis will strike for revenge. On the other hand, how much can you pity the Alawites who have been plundering and imprisoning and also murdering for four decades?"

When President Obama tried to jumpstart Israeli-Syrian negotiations, it was part of a larger effort to bring about "Israel's retreat from territories it had captured while they were being used by enemies trying to vitiate Israel itself," according to Peretz. They believe Israel "should withdraw from the West Bank and ancient Jerusalem and East Jerusalem and, yes, the Golan Heights, too, without a shred of evidence that…it could be protected from attack."

The argument is sometimes made that NATO could play a peacekeeping role in the event of Israeli troop withdrawals. But Peretz argues that "Obama has blown that alternative too, by virtually opting out of its venture against Qaddafi and leaving the leadership to Great Britain and France, whose bona fides are suspect."

Read the full article here. Read more about the Syrian government's repressive policies here.

Rallies Support Palestinians Amid Calls for a Third Intifada

Thousands of Egyptians rallied in Cairo, Alexandria and El-Arish Friday to push their rulers to do more to help the Palestinians. Chants of "With our souls, with our blood, we redeem you Palestine," permeated marches towards the Israeli consulate in Alexandria after dawn prayers.

Egyptian authorities have banned a march activists are preparing to the Gaza Strip on Sunday. "We want to prevent large numbers of people from entering Sinai for the day of the Great March," an Egyptian authority said.

Some are trying to use Sunday's planned commemoration of the Nakba, which Palestinians mark as the anniversary of their "catastrophe" following the State of Israel's creation, to launch a third Palestinian intifada.

Approximately 500 Jordanian protestors marched in Amman calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the right of return, and demanding that the Israeli ambassador be sent home. "The people want to liberate Palestine," protestors chanted.

Palestinians living in the West Bank received tens of thousands of text messages on Thursday inviting them to take part in rallies on Friday and Sunday. Israeli Defense Force soldiers and Palestinians clashed on Friday throughout the West Bank and in Jerusalem, with Israeli police arresting 11 protestors.

Israeli security officials are on heightened alert in preparation for events on Sunday, and the IDF has increased its presence in points of potential contention.

Palestinians in Lebanon plan to bus in and stage a march towards the border with Israel on Sunday.

In late March, Facebook removed an intifada page on its social networking site that called for a mass march into Israel from neighboring countries, after it was discovered that the page contained calls for violence. Thereafter, an "official website" of the "Third Palestinian Intifada" was created in Arabic. The website explains the newest intifada is "a group of marches of millions planned by Palestinian, Arab and Muslim youth and Liberals in all the Earth" with the goal of "the liberation of Palestine" "from the sea to the river…and from the river to the sea." The website maintains a schedule of activities to begin on Friday around the world culminating with the commemoration of the Nakba on Sunday with "marches heading toward Zionist embassies and consulates," and "Zionist settlements and checkpoints."

Saudi Arabia's Coming Revolution

A Saudi-born, liberal intellectual claims that while the Saudi regime has bought off and suppressed current dissatisfaction, revolution still is coming. In excerpts of an article translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Mansour al-Hadj argues that disenfranchisement of weak sectors of the society will lead to an inevitable backlash.

Shiites, women, children of immigrants, political prisoners, and liberals are all volatile elements in Saudi society, al-Hadj argues in his article at the liberal Arabic-language website Aafaq.org. The Saudi government uses a carrot-and-stick method to suppress dissent, employing brutal crackdowns and controls on intellectual freedom, while issuing royal decrees to disperse massive amounts of funds.

But such steps "do not even touch the basic problems or offer any solution to the difficulties of those who are oppressed and persecuted," he writes. Those injustices include repression of women's rights and freedom and poor treatment of Shiites and immigrants. Left untreated, and they become fuel for revolutions.

"The sense of injustice and persecution, along with the desire for a proper livelihood, and [the desire to] secure a better future for the coming generations – these are the true [motivations] of the revolutions that will inevitably come wherever there are people suffering injustice and persecution and demanding reform," he says. "Saudi Arabia will not be an exception, because the hidden fear has vanished, and the peoples have realized that they are able to bring about change."

Reconciliation Deal Aids Hamas, Weakens Abbas

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has refused to rule out a role for the terrorist organization Hamas in peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA). But Hamas continues to take radical positions that demonstrate it has nothing to contribute to peace or compromise with Israel.

Despite signing a reconciliation agreement with its archrival Fatah, which has recognized Israel, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said Wednesday that his group would never recognize Israel because such a move would run counter to its effort to "liberate" all of Palestine. Recognizing Israel would "preclude the right of the next generations to liberate the lands," he said, wondering: "What will be the fate of the five million Palestinians in the diaspora?"

Hamas would continue to honor the recent cessation of fighting with Israel, Zahar said, but he emphasized that the truce "is not peace" with Israel. Outgoing Israeli Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin agrees, saying Wednesday that "at most, Hamas may agree to a ceasefire which it will use to build up its power."

Although Fatah, which rules West Bank Palestinians, has permitted Hamas to return to that territory for the first time since the 2007 Palestinian civil war, Hamas is in no hurry to allow Fatah leader and PA President Mahmoud Abbas to come to Gaza.

Zahar said Wednesday that the security situation in Gaza is too fragile to permit Abbas to visit, expressing concern that Israeli agents in Gaza would shoot at Abbas in an attempt to sabotage Palestinian reconciliation efforts.

French philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Levy writes that the Hamas/Fatah agreement is "a catastrophe" for Abbas and a triumph for dark forces like the Muslim Brotherhood. It signals a "prehistoric regression" that is an "insult" to Libyans fighting to overthrow the Qaddafi dictatorship in Libya and "amounts to spitting in the faces of the hundreds of Syrians who, since March, have been massacred by the best friend of Hamas" (Syrian President Bashar Assad), Levy adds.

Turkey's Prime Minister Declares Support for Hamas

Hamas is not a terrorist organization, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared in an interview Wednesday night with PBS's Charlie Rose. Saying it was is to "disrespect" the Palestinian people.

"Let me give you a very clear message, I don't see Hamas as a terror organization. Hamas is a political party -- it emerged as a political party that appeared as a political party," Erdogan told Rose. "It is a resistance movement trying to protect its country under occupation."

The United States and European Union each has designated Hamas as a terrorist group.

The Turkish Prime Minister said he was "very pleased" with the unity agreement Hamas signed with Fatah, and criticized Israel's policies towards the Palestinians. "How can you put all Palestine and Gaza in [something] like an open prison? Of course they will rebel [against this]."

One year after the Mavi Marmara incident in which nine activists were killed while passengers tried to create a violent confrontation with Israel, Erdogan said that he is still waiting for three things from Israel: "Apology, compensation, and lifting of the embargo on Gaza."

Erdogan maintains a close relationship with the Hamas-tied group IHH, the Turkish organization that was behind last year's deadly flotilla raid. Erdogan and his AKP party supported IHH with preparations for last year's flotilla as well as provided the group with political and propaganda support.

He also defended Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, calling Assad "a good friend of mine" and saying it is still too early to call for his ouster. More than 700 protestors against Assad's authoritarian regime have been killed by Syrian government forces in recent weeks. The European Union is considering sanctions against Syria and Assad.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of 36 members of Congress wrote a letter to Erdogan requesting that he prevent Freedom Flotilla II from sailing to Gaza in June, fearing a repeat of last year's violence.

"We write today to express our serious concern over reports that the so-called Free Gaza Movement and the IHH are planning to send another flotilla to Gaza in the coming weeks to provoke a confrontation with Israel. As members of the United States House of Representatives we ask you to help discourage these efforts and work with the Israeli government in a productive way as it continues to allow legitimate aid, but not weapons, to enter Gaza," the letter reads.

Alert: Two Men Arrested in NY Terror Plot

Two men from Queens, N.Y. were arrested Wednesday night on suspicion they were planning an attack on an unspecified Manhattan synagogue. The men were arrested by NYPD intelligence officers in a sting operation in which the targets attempted to buy guns and grenades ahead of their planned attack, according to law enforcement officials.

Officials had been monitoring the men for some time following threatening statements they allegedly made about attacking the city. These statements came prior to the American operation that killed Osama bin Laden May 1, and Wednesday's arrests are not connected to any retaliatory plan, sources quoted by ABC News said.

Officials have not released much information about the suspects but one is said to be a New Yorker of Moroccan descent. One of the suspects reportedly is a Muslim in his 20s who sold drugs in order to purchase weapons and had already acquired some, including pistols and hand grenades. The man has prior arrests for drug possession and said he was selling drugs for jihad, sources told ABC News.

The case is being handled by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the men will be charged under New York State's anti-terror laws rather than federal statutes. Details are expected to be released later Thursday.

The Abudayyeh Freeze: Just Making it Up

Outrage swept through Chicago's Islamist and radical peace movements this week when supporters of activist Hatem Abudayyeh announced that his bank accounts were frozen last Friday – just before Mother's Day.

Abudayyeh and nearly two dozen others are under federal investigation for possible support to terrorist groups including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Houses and offices were raided last September and most of the activists have defied grand jury subpoenas.

Supporters say the investigation is targeting anti-war activists for engaging in protected free speech.

When his ATM card wouldn't work last week, supporters leapt into action. It's the U.S. Attorney, they cried. Call Patrick Fitzgerald and tell him to back off!

Wait, it's the Treasury Department, they said a short time later. Call them and tell them to back off!

Now, it seems, it was a unilateral decision by Abudayyeh's bank, Twin Cities Federal (TCF). The bank returned Abudayyeh's money earlier this week and asked him to take his account elsewhere.

"Victory," a statement from two leftist groups supporting Abudayyeh proclaimed, adding that "TCF is well known for having links to the right-wing think tank the Center for the American Experiment."

Doesn't that explain everything?

Well, no.

Abudayyeh's attorney Michael Deutsch thinks the bank got spooked by a subpoena for the account records and speculated that the move might mean indictments may be near.

At least Deutsch acknowledged it was just a guess. All the statements from Abudayyeh supporters have insisted on facts that they could not establish which all seem to have been wrong. We have shown how this is nothing new.

Law enforcement actions are quickly denounced, despite a dearth of information. The groups targeted have roped members of Congress in to protest the investigation to Attorney General Eric Holder.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), joined in, too. "FBI, U.S. Attorney Attacking Civil Liberties of Anti-War, Palestinian Human Rights Activists," screamed a headline from a CAIR-Chicago Action Alert.

"This unwarranted attack on a leading member of the Palestinian community in Chicago is the latest escalation of civil rights violations of anti-war and Palestinian human rights activists by the FBI, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder."

It was none of those things. Will anyone who claimed otherwise admit it?

Egypt Tilts Towards Rogues

Egypt's new government continues reaching out to Iran and Hamas while distancing itself from Israel and the United States. In a sharp break with the policies of ousted President Hosni Mubarak (who blockaded Gaza to cut off the flow of arms to terror groups there) Foreign Minister Nabil Al-Araby has called the blockade "shameful."

Since Mubarak's ouster in February, Egypt played a leadership role in brokering a reconciliation agreement between Hamas and its arch-rival Fatah. Israeli officials express concern that Cairo's approach will result in a more well-armed terror network on their southern border.

Washington and Jerusalem are also troubled by Egypt's efforts to normalize relations with Iran. They broke diplomatic ties at the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Mubarak began talks with Tehran, but those went nowhere due to Egyptian concerns over Iran's nuclear program and support for terrorism.

Meanwhile, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa - currently favored to win Egypt's upcoming presidential election - continues to question Cairo's ties with Israel and the United States while advocating a softer approach towards Hamas and Tehran.

"Iran is not the natural enemy of the Arabs, and it shouldn't be," Moussa told the Washington Post. "We have a lot to gain by peaceful relations - or less tense relations - with Iran." Moussa questioned whether Hamas was a terrorist organization, saying such concerns are limited "to a minority of countries."

Moussa criticized Mubarak over the Gaza blockade, saying Egypt should have insisted on ending "the siege that caused a lot of suffering to the people of Gaza."

Asked about U.S. concerns over Tehran's nuclear program, Moussa said Israel's atomic weapons are a greater worry: "The nuclear issue in the Middle East means Israel and then Iran."

Moussa was evasive when asked would keep the peace treaty with Israel, saying the question of whether to continue with it depended "also on the other side."

Newer Postings   |   Older Postings