Tag: fatwa

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The Fort Dix Plot

If you are George W. Bush you are delighted: “6 Arrested in Plot to Attack Fort Dix”.

That’s from the relatively sober New York Times.

“We Dodged a Bullet- FBI Says of Foiled Ft. Dix Terror Plot” says USA Today.

That’s as much as many people will read. George W. Bush to the rescue: the Patriot Act is working! We’re safe again.

Maybe.

It might be that these six men were actually, truly, really plotting to attack Fort Dix with RPG’s and automatic rifles and submachine guns.

It might be that once again a paid informant found a bunch of young Islamic loudmouths who could be infiltrated and manipulated, and cajoled into shooting off their mouths and making ridiculous statements that the FBI solemnly believe are genuine threats.

The evidence against the men is truly as magnificent as can be. They acquired guns and practiced with them. Guilty. Seriously, it’s a little odd to read this part of the criminal complaint because… well, isn’t it as American as apple pie to acquire a gun and go shoot it somewhere? The complaint notes that they did so “militia-like style” while shouting “God is great”. I suppose if they had been drinking beer instead, and shouting “Go Bears”, the FBI would have ignored them.

Do I even need to point out that the U.S. is full of “militia-like” groups who wear camouflage and go to shooting ranges?

At least three of the men are illegal aliens. The men are from Albania, Turkey, Kosovo. They are not from Indiana.

Why I don’t believe the indictment. Yet. I might. But I doubt it.

1. Two men, designated as CW-1 and CW-2 are identified as “cooperative witnesses” who willingly infiltrated the group. Doesn’t that sound nice? Good citizens, I bet. The trouble is that in many of these cases, it is eventually revealed that the “cooperating witness” is actually a paid informant, with a clear incentive to provide the FBI with the goods. They are paid some money, then more, and then more, depending on whether they find a hot suspect that can eventually be prosecuted. It is clear that the gravy train stops if he doesn’t get the goods on the suspects. So what happens is, he starts to “encourage” the suspects– always young Islamic men– to make more and more provocative statements.

Consider this: the gang asked CW-1 to lead the attack. Curious, don’t you think? If CW-1 is just dropping in and listening to a group of hard-core jihadists plot a violent assault on Fort Dix— and they just happen to think he would be a fine leader, out of the blue.

2. The conspirators allowed CW-1 to record conversations in which details of the plot are discussed. Okay– that CW-1 is a very convincing infiltrator. Or these young men are exceptionally stupid. Or both.

You are seriously plotting to attack a U.S. army base. A guy you barely know joins your group and asks, “do you mind if I record the plot?” You say, “sure.” Maybe there’s an explanation for this.

3. They chose Fort Dix because one of the men, Serdar, used to deliver pizzas there. That sinister “map of Fort Dix” they acquired to plan the attack? It came from the Pizza Shop. The FBI seemed to get very aroused by this map. They recorded the actual time of the cell-phone call that CW-1 received to tell him that Tartar had acquired the map and delivered it to him. They took the map, copied it, and then returned it. This is the map from the pizza restaurant.

4. One of the FBI informants brought up the idea of getting some firearms and told the gang he knew someone who could supply them. Once again, it is the informant who initiates the first concrete step towards a real act of terrorism.  That is textbook entrapment.

5. According to the criminal complaint, the suspects did not actually pay for the weapons nor acquire them. It would have been more interesting to me if they had handed over $5,000 or so for these weapons, and clearly demanded delivery of them. It would be logical to arrest them when they arrive for the weapons and charge them with…. ta da… trying to buy guns. In America. Okay. They could be charged with something like…. I don’t know. Making threats?

The truth is, they should be charged with the minor offenses that actually stick to them: overstaying their visas. Illegal possession of weapons. (Will the NRA step in here or not? Why are they so silent on the rights of these red-blooded men to own weapons?)

The truth is that if the FBI started investigating those red-blooded all-American white militia groups and their weapons and paintball and camouflage and confederate flags and so on, and decided to make them into something sinister, it would be easily done.  But we know why that will never happen.

The Bush administration would like you to believe that we now live in an era where we can no longer wait for crimes to be committed before arresting the…. what? The what? The person we think might commit a crime in the future?

Bullshit. It will never be right or wise or good to arrest people for crimes they have not actually committed. Never. It only took Western civilization about 5,000 years to learn it. It has taken George Bush and his governing thugs less than six months to unlearn it.

Now we start over. Why is it wise to presume innocence?

“CW-2 [one of the informants] observed that Shnewer seemed to enjoy watching the video and smiled during the viewing.” From the criminal complaint.

When CW-1 asked Shain Duka if he was with them, Shain Duka responded, “God willing, we will see.”

Eljvir Duka stated that they would need a “fatwa” before they could proceed.

Here it is– I was waiting for it: “When CW-1 mentioned that CW-1 might have a source that could supply firearms, Shnewer expressed interest.”

I will believe that a crime is committed when a person freely and willingly commits a crime. When a female undercover cop goes after men for soliciting sex, she never offers sex for money. She just stands there and waits and lets the man talk. If she offers sex for money, and he says yes– it’s called entrapment and usually the charges won’t stick. If he says, without prompting, “I’ll give you $100 for sex”, he is soliciting for sex and can be successfully charged.

“Towards the end of the meeting, Shain Duka suggested they could also join the army and ‘do them, yes we can’. ” That’s pretty amazing to me. They planned to infiltrate the army. That’s long-range planning.

The really odd thing is this: if these men were really intent on committing terrorist acts in America, against Americans, and they really were only prevented from doing so by the chance act of asking a video store owner to copy a VHS tape to DVD for them, where are all the men who were not stupid enough to take a jihadist video to a commercial video store?

What’s with the paintball? One of the supposedly incriminating acts committed by the Canadian Terrorist Conspiracy was a game of paintball– obviously, they were training for jihad.

Is a pattern emerging? Are these groups linked? Or are the authorities linked?

I’ll bet the FBI now monitors paintball games very, very closely.

There is almost nothing in the criminal complaint about what CW-1 or CW-2 said or did. That’s not surprising. If there will be a trial– and there won’t be– I almost guarantee it (there will be a plea bargain on lesser charges so the government can claim they confessed) — but if there was a trial, we would find out just how much “encouragement” they offered to this group.

It doesn’t say they were paid– I will be very, very shocked if we find out they were not. I will guess that each of them got at least $30,000 and maybe more than $100,000, and both of them will claim that the money didn’t matter at all, and both of them will be lying through their teeth when they say that, because if it were true, I would not be so sure of myself when I tell you that you will find out they were paid.

They will have been paid. It is less likely, but also probable, that either or both of them are facing unrelated charges for petty crimes and both of them will have the charges dropped in exchange for their “objective” testimony.

Furthermore, Americans will read about their convictions with satisfaction as they sing their anthems and wave their flag in fervent admiration of the rights and freedoms generations of people fought bitterly for and which they now, with the cavalier disregard of a hunter swatting an insect, discard.

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Yousef Cat

I just watched a documentary on the man formerly known as Cat Stevens, also formerly known as Steven Demetre Georgiou, now known as Yousef Islam, the man who renounced his gift.

Well, he does have musical talent. But at a very raw level, all of his music stopped being interesting the moment he embraced religion in 1977. Quick, name one song Stevens wrote after his “crisis”. Okay– not totally fair. For most of the religious portion of his life, Yousef did not write music, because his God did not care for it very much.

The documentary itself is one of those disagreeable, fawning tributes that almost always is the result of some kind of deal between the subject and the “journalist”. No reporter is identified. No one asks Yousef any questions or follow-up questions. There is no independent critical appraisal of the information presented on the screen. It’s a puff peace. I doubt the makers of it care much if it ultimately damages their cause. It’s possible most people don’t care.

On the most contentious issue, Stevens alleged endorsement of the fatwa imposed on Salmon Rushdie by Ayatollah Khomeini, Stevens claims he was misquoted and that his views were distorted. But then he asserts that the punishment for blaspheme is, indeed, death. “My only crime was, I suppose, in being honest. I stood up and expressed my belief and I am in no way apologizing for it.”

Okay. So you’re sorry you’re right.

Surely his recent pronouncement, in song, that he never wanted to be a star must also be taken as some kind of joke and reflects another attempt to have it both ways. Like St. Augustine in his “Confessions”, Stevens enjoys the luxury of the well-rested virtue that awakes refreshed.

Cat has kittens: 4 girls and 1 boy.

Having it both ways: Cat has renounced his music many times, and even proclaimed that many of his early songs– “Lady D’Arbinville”?– were immoral. But he sells boxed sets out of his own offices in London and helps his record company promote sales of his entire catalog. But… he also has stated that profits from the “immoral” songs go to charities, as if this somehow preserves his personal purity and absolves him of any responsibility for how his songs might affect someone.

Stevens donates considerable time and money to charities that benefit Islamic children and families. He supports four Islamic schools in London. He’s obviously a generous man, to the needy in his community. More recently, it is reported that he donated half the royalties from a boxed set of his music to the families of the victims of 9/11. The U.S. still denied him entry in September 2005 over rather spurious allegations that he had terrorist links. Holy Soviet Union!

The Flaming Lips had to pay Cat some cash, and co-credit, for a song “Fight Test” that appeared to be unduly similar to “Father and Son”. In fact, give it a listen– it’s not just a phrase that’s been “borrowed”.

How peace-loving is Cat today? Some suspect that this Peace Train might be off the rails. But the best comment on his sudden deportation might be this one: “… the theatricality with which the incident was handled should inform us as to the motivation behind it.”

Beard vs Beard: in the latest round of earnest bearded singer-songwriters from the 1960’s and 70’s, current standings:

1. Cat Stevens – best musician.
2. Kris Kristofferson – best imitation of “just folks” by a very shrewd, very market-savvy Rhodes Scholar (yes he is).
3. Donovan – performer most likely to drive you into swallowing an entire furby.

Okay, okay– I know Donovan didn’t have a beard, but he wrote “Catch the Wind”, which is almost as bad and still feels like a hairy face to me.

Cat Stevens actually had a string of some very good albums back there in the early 1970’s, from Mona Bone Jakon to Catch Bull at Four. He could be a tad precious at times, but there more than a few great songs in there, including “18th Avenue” and “Sitting”. Then all of his good taste evaporated and he released several utterly dismal, programmed albums like “Foreigner” and “Buddha and the Chocolate Box”.