Of Lone Wolves and Terrorists

There were two high-profile murders that were motivated by religious extremism in the past two weeks. The murder of abortion doctor George Tiller in a Kansas church seems to have generated much more media attention than the shooting death of an Army private outside a Little Rock recruiting center.

In a thoughtful essay, Simon Wiesenthal Center Associate Dean Abraham Cooper and historian Harold Brackman ponder "what is the threshold that transforms a politically or religiously motivated violent deed into an act of terrorism?" It's easy in the case of Tim McVeigh, or the white supremacist who went on a shooting spree in Los Angeles in 1999. He tried to breach the Wiesenthal Center, then a Jewish day care center before killing a postal worker.

But there seems to be a hesitancy to label the two shootings acts of terror. It's easy, the authors say, to dismiss these two as crazed loners, but that would not tell the whole story:

"Democratic dissent doesn't spawn terrorism — hatred does. But Muslim leaders should also decry foursquare those religious extremists responsible for helping to brainwash an American young man into a self-declared jihadist whose only reported regret was not being able to gun down more American soldiers.

The bottom line is that Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad has no more — but no less — in common with religious Muslims than Scott Roeder has with anti-abortion Christians who would never commit or condone murderous violence in the name of their beliefs. So why the double standard on the part of some important media outlets that seem almost eager to describe Roeder as a Christian fundamentalist and a terrorist — but are loathe to apply similar labels to Muhammad?"

Failure to speak clearly, they say, leaves Americans with "their eyes wide shut" on the threat of terrorism. Read the essay here.

Omeish's Secret Political Machine

There is growing circumstantial evidence that former Muslim American Society (MAS) President Esam Omeish is waging a stealth campaign in his bid to win Tuesday's Democratic primary for Virginia's House of Delegates District 35.

As we've noted, the Omeish campaign has been silent on his past leadership at MAS, an organization founded by the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States. And he has done all he can to ignore his incendiary 2000 speech praising Palestinians who choose "the jihad way" to liberation.

In 2007, media attention on that speech prompted Omeish to resign from a state immigration panel to which Gov. Tim Kaine had appointed him. But it didn't stop Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from including Omeish in a conference call Thursday featuring Muslim Americans reacting to President Obama's speech to Muslims from Cairo.

On Friday, MAS issued a call for Election Day volunteers. Although the solicitation does not mention Omeish, it was distributed through Omeish's Falls Church mosque, the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center. According to a May 9 story on the swine flu outbreak, Omeish was still an imam at Dar al-Hijra just weeks ago. He remains listed as a member of the mosque's board of directors.

The email appealed for 100 "Muslim Activists" to volunteer to work the election. "If you would like to volunteer to learn direct on hands grassroots political organizing, be a volunteer in the Virginia Primary," it said. It gave the telephone number for MAS-Freedom, the Society's political arm.

In addition, a glowing article on Omeish was issued by MAS-Freedom May 28. It emphasizes that, if elected, Omeish is the only physician in the field and that he would be the first Muslim to serve in the Virginia State House.

The article was written by Aishah Schwartz, whose biography notes her work with MAS-Freedom. It contains a disclaimer saying the article, which makes a passing reference to the other three Democrats in Tuesday's primary, "should in no way be interpreted as a political endorsement" and notes MAS' non-profit status as a 501(c)(3) charity.

Meanwhile, our story Thursday cited campaign finance reports showing Omeish led the field in donations for the last reporting period. Upon closer inspection, his $75,000 haul was fueled by a $7,000 donation from the candidate himself and at least $10,000 from organizations housed at a Herndon office building that was the subject of a federal raid in 2002 as part of an investigation into terror financing. The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), which remains under investigation, gave Omeish $3,500 on April 24, records show.

FBI investigative records from the 1980s show the IIIT leadership long has been suspected of being Muslim Brotherhood members. In addition, the records indicate Brotherhood officials have claimed success in infiltrating the United States Government with sympathetic of (sic) compromised individuals."

In the article, Schwartz quotes Omeish saying, "Truly this is a peoples, grassroots campaign and I welcome everyone's support in whatever way they can contribute."

Especially if they keep it quiet.

It's Not Exactly Oprah

The folks at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) have showcased clips from a Palestinian women's program from May 14 that shows the depth of anti-Semitism Hamas funnels into the culture.

The program airs on Al Aqsa television, which is run by Hamas. The clip features three excerpts from the show, the first involving an Egyptian psychologist named Wafa Musa, who says the Holocaust was brought on by "their love of money. The only god or religion of the Jews is money – not the Jewish religion or the dream of the so-called Greater Israel."

Extremists often claim that they distinguish between Jews and Zionists, but Musa – again, she's a psychologist – doesn't:

"I always ask myself: Why did Hitler annihilate the Zionists or the Jews? By character, they definitely deserve this."

In the same program, a Gaza University professor tells the audience that Jews kill Palestinians because "it is their ideology, which is taught to their children in their curricula."

Finally, there's the Palestinian version of the OctoMom, who proudly shows how off her quintuplets, all of whom are named after Hamas leaders. The video shows cozy videos of the babies in their nursery while soothing music plays. The mother's message doesn't seem quite as nurturing:

"No matter how many martyrs we lose, we will continue to give birth to Palestinian heroes, who will grow to be fighters, Allah willing."

It's certainly a far cry from this.

Little Rock Shooting Update

The lawyer for the man accused of killing an Army private and wounding another outside a Little Rock recruiting center says his client was radicalized during a 2007 trip to Yemen.

In an interview with CNN, attorney Jim Hensley said Abdulhakim Muhammad returned a changed and possibly mentally disturbed man:

"My client is a young man, I think, brainwashed. What else could be explained for a young man who's a true American, plays football, helps his grandmother and mows the lawns of his neighbors? Comes back and then finds himself in this situation? That is not a normal situation in my book."

Hensley's interview confirmed a report Tuesday by the Investigative Project on Terrorism that Muhammad married a Yemeni woman and was jailed for visa violations.

Hensley claims his client was mistreated while in custody, including beatings on the back of his legs.

A Yemeni embassy official disputed Hensley's theory, saying "radicalization can take a number of years, not a couple of weeks."

Muhammad was named Carlos Bledsoe before converting to Islam. He was encouraged to travel to Yemen to study under a radical cleric named Yahya Hajuri. It is unclear whether he ever got to Hajuri's madrassa in Dammaj, a remote tribal area.

Hensley also told CNN an FBI agent visited Muhammad in the Yemeni jail and interrogated him. The agent, Hensley said, "believed that Carlos was some kind of hardened terrorist hellbent on doing violence to America," Hensley said.

Muhammad is charged with capital murder and 16 counts of committing terrorist acts by shooting into the Little Rock Army recruiting office.

Little Rock Shooter Eyed Bigger Targets

Details continue to emerge about Abdulhakim Muhammad, the man arrested for killing an Army recruiter and wounding a second man in Little Rock on Monday.

As Fox News reported, investigators found evidence on Muhammad's computer indicating he may have studied other possible targets to attack. They included Jewish organizations, a Baptist church and a child care center. That prompted an alert from the Department of Homeland Security to state and local police officials.

"Although the June 1 shooting was limited to Little Rock ... [we] notified specific cities, and out of an abundance of caution, issued the alert because additional subjects, targets or the potential for inspired copycats could not be ruled out," a government official told Fox. "This remains an open and ongoing FBI investigation."

The searches, which included possible targets in several states, raised the specter that Muhammad was working with other people.

The IPT reported that Muhammad, 23, traveled to Yemen hoping to study under a radical Islamic cleric there. He is accused of killing Private William Long and wounding Private Quinton I. Ezeagwula. Muhammad gave a statement to police indicating he shot the men because he saw them outside a Little Rock Army recruiting office. He would have shot more people if he saw them, he reportedly told police.

An SKS assault rifle, believed to be the murder weapon, was found in Muhammad's truck, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. It wasn't the first time authorities found him with an SKS, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. He was arrested in 2004, before his conversion to Islam and when his name was Corey Bledsoe, after police found the rifle and two shotguns in a car in which he was traveling as a passenger during a routine traffic stop.

Bledsoe said the guns were his and that he planned to sell them. The charge against him was later dismissed.

Al Caponing Youssef Megahed

The immigration case against former University of South Florida student Youssef Megahed was front page news in today's New York Times. Megahed was detained by federal immigration officials days after his April acquittal on federal explosives charges.

Megahed and fellow student Ahmed Mohammed were arrested by police in South Carolina following a traffic stop in August 2007. In their trunk was a low-grade explosive mixture, and Megahed was seen putting away a laptop computer that recently had viewed jihadi Internet videos.

He faces an immigration hearing related to the arrest in August which could lead to his deportation. The Times describes Megahed's plight as "a test case of the president's pledge to break with some of the Bush administration's most unpopular policies."

The article quotes IPT consultant and retired INS Supervisory Special Agent Bill West saying the notion dates back to gangland Chicago and Al Capone – "get the bad guys any way you can, on any violation you can."

That doesn't stop the Times from casting this as a targeted government action against a Muslim. As West pointed out here in April, however, the continuum doesn't start with Capone and leap to post-9/11 terror cases.

"Removal charges can be based on criminal activity, activity contrary to national security and public safety, and some of those legal sections do not require conviction.

This approach began in earnest by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in Miami in 1996 against a Cuban spy named Jorge Luis Rodriguez. Rodriguez was never charged criminally but was ultimately deported for having engaged in espionage related activities in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act."

Beyond immigration, this concept of pursuing civil court prosecution against a suspect acquitted in criminal proceedings has another high profile example. O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder by a Los Angeles jury, yet found culpable for the deaths of his ex-wife and her friend in a civil trial that relied on much the same evidence used in the criminal murder case. The double jeopardy argument, rightfully, went nowhere in Simpson's case.

Megahed won his freedom with his April acquittal. But the jury's verdict did not forfeit the nation's right to assess whether someone like Megahed should be welcome in the United States. He clearly associated with someone who wanted to teach jihadists how to kill Americans and live to fight another day. And, while he professes ignorance to Mohamed's jihadi leanings, the evidence shows the two immediately tried to get their stories straight while sitting in the back of a police cruiser following their arrests.

"Did you tell them about the gasoline?" Megahed asks.

"No," Mohamed answers. "I didn't know. I told them it's not yours and that you have nothing to do with it and I was the one who made these fireworks … Correct? I mean, [unintelligible] and the will of Almighty God, [unintelligible] and God willing, there is nothing on you."

Finally, the article cites a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) criticizing the case against Megahed for "sending the wrong message to American Muslims and the Muslim world." Ramzy Kilic, who runs CAIR's Tampa chapter, said "If Obama really wants to make a new way forward with mutual respect, he has to start here at home."

No mention is made of CAIR's consistent defense of accused terrorists and terror financiers, or its roots in a Hamas-support network that finally prompted the FBI to cut off communication with CAIR last year. If readers are to hear CAIR's opinion of a case, they are entitled to know more about the organization's perspective.

Jasser: Obama Speech Must Address Human Rights and Radicalism

There's plenty of anticipation of what President Barack Obama will say tomorrow in his highly promoted speech to the Muslim world from Cairo. A leading American Muslim voice is challenging the President to take on the region's warts.

M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, issued a statement Wednesday in which he urged Obama to stand up for human rights in authoritarian states - including his host country of Egypt - and for reformers who challenge radical Islamists. Failure to do so, the statement said, would be irresponsible:

"We must marginalize and defeat the ideas of political Islam which ultimately drive the dreams of militant Islamists. Egypt is the birthplace of the Muslim Brotherhood and thus modern day political Islam which gave rise to hundreds of splinter groups of radical Islam throughout the world. Egypt is one of the primary frontlines in this global contest of ideas. To speak in Egypt and avoid the topics of political Islam, radical Islamism, and the Muslim Brotherhood, will be like visiting Moscow in the height of the Cold War and avoiding any mention of the inhumanities of communism and its incompatibility with liberty."

If Obama chooses to challenge the Brotherhood, the message will be heard. Brotherhood officials have been invited to attend the talk. Jasser's statement also called on the President to demand freedom for dissidents in Egypt and other Muslim nations, to advocate equality for women and religious minorities.

In January, Jasser drafted the speech he would like to see President Obama delivered. It can be read here. The AIFD's home page is here.

Al Qaeda Goal: "Anthrax on the White House Lawn"

U.S. counterterrorism officials say they believe video of an Al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States from Mexico using underground tunnels is legitimate.

The video, which first aired on Al Jazeera in February, shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah Al-Nafisi telling a room full of supporters in Bahrain that Al Qaeda is surveying the U.S.-Mexico to figure out how to smuggle terrorists and weapons into the United States, the Washington Times reports.

In the video, which was obtained and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Al-Nafisi also suggests that Al Qaeda might want to cooperate with members of U.S. white supremacist militias that hate the federal government:

"Four pounds of anthrax – in a suitcase this big – carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if It is properly spread in population centers there. …What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry four pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this 'confetti' all over them, and then we'll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration."

Government officials told the Times they had no credible information that Al Qaeda has the means to accomplish this goal yet, but that they believe it is something the terrorist group seeks.

The video can be seen here.

Atlanta Terror Prosecution Emphasizes Communication

The prosecution of a man investigators believe was a budding homegrown terrorist began Monday in Atlanta. Syed Harris Ahmed is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists

In opening arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBurney said Ahmed met with members of an accused Canadian terrorist cell in 2005. The group discussed possible targets for a U.S. terrorist attack, including military bases and oil storage facilities and refineries. Ahmed later shot crude surveillance video of possible targets in Washington, D.C.

It was his interaction with members of the "Toronto 18" that led to U.S. law enforcement's interest in Ahmed. He gave a lengthy confession to FBI agents, but his attorney is dismissing Ahmed's statements and actions as "childish" and unlikely to result in any real harm.

Ahmed didn't have to carry out an attack to create harm, McBurney said. Ahmed's communication with other plotters advanced their cause.

"This case is one step removed from the bomb throwers, the shooters. ... It's about people who've entered into an agreement to support terrorists."

Ahmed opted to waive a jury trial. His fate is in the hands of U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey, Jr. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison. An alleged co-conspirator, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, is scheduled to stand trial later this summer.

Radical British Islamist Group Pledges Return

One of the most radical Islamist groups in England may try to re-establish after shutting down operations in the face of a possible government ban in 2005. Al-Muhajiroun has praised terrorist groups from Hamas to Al Qaeda and advocated Islamic rule over the West, calling for the flag of Islam to fly over 10 Downing Street and the White House. A statement claiming to speak for the group said:

"However, we would like to declare that after almost 15 years since the establishment of Al-Muhajiroun, and 5 years since its disbandment, Al-Muhajiroun is to be re-launched in the United Kingdom and to resume its activities as normal.

We would also like to stress particularly to the British public that Al-Muhajiroun is a completely legal organisation and hence the recommencement of its structure, activities and projects should be seen in this light." [Emphasis original]

British officials contemplating banning the group following the 7/7 bombings that targeted London transit, but it shut itself down first. A Labour Party official called for "swift, tough and decisive action" should Al-Muhajiroun re-form.

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