Terrorism in the USA:threat & response

[davidbfpo]

In my initial post I said:

It will be interesting to see if there was any community or public involvement in alerting the authorities - parallel to email interception.

Thanks to LWOT:

According to the indictment filed against Mohamud, the suspect came to the attention of the FBI after someone (possibly his father) alerted them to his suspected radicalization.

Possible downside:

Friends and neighbors expressed surprise at the arrest, with community leaders condemning the planned attack but also raising questions about the FBI's tactics in the investigation.The New York Times looks at the recent rash of sting operations against alleged terrorist plots, which some have suggested toe the line between investigation and entrapment. The arrest also prompted fears of radicalization and retribution in Somali and other Muslim communities in Oregon and elsewhere, and a mosque where Mohamud worshipped was targeted by a suspected arsonist this past weekend.

The link has the links to cited reports e.g. NYT:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...ks_reveals_inf

[davidbfpo]

A classic tale of how an informant is used and exposed:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...T2010120404317

Near the start:

In the Irvine case, Monteilh's mission as an informant backfired. Muslims were so alarmed by his talk of violent jihad that they obtained a restraining order against him.

Ends with:

As worshipers milled around outside, they said they support the FBI's role in fighting terrorism but feel betrayed by the infiltration of their sacred place.

"The FBI wants to treat the Muslim community as a partner while investigating us behind our backs,'' said Kurdi, the Loyola student. "They can't have it both ways."

[davidbfpo]

Appearing in The Guardian last week was this commentary by Raffaello Pantucci, with a sub-title:

Is entrapping low-level wannabe jihadists with elaborate FBI sting operations the best way of handling domestic radicals?

Link:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...hamud-portland

[AdamG]

The full-sized version is here.

This has the Columbine Massacre listed as "Christian Fundamentalists".
Harris or Klebold were just psychotic malcontents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Ha..._Dylan_Klebold

Nice to see journalistic integrity in action.

[jmm99]

From the DoJ press release, in full at Lawfare, Another FBI Sting Nets Another Would-Be-Bomber:

BALTIMORE – Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, age 21, of Baltimore, a U.S. citizen, was charged by criminal complaint today with attempting to murder federal officers and employees and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property, in connection with a scheme to attack an Armed Forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland. Martinez was arrested this morning after he attempted to remotely detonate what he believed to be explosives in a vehicle parked in the Armed Forces recruiting station parking lot.
…
U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated, “First, there was no actual danger because the people Mr. Martinez asked to help carry out his attack actually were working with the FBI. Second, every person Mr. Martinez asked to join in his scheme either declined to participate, tried to talk him out of it or reported him to the FBI, and there is no evidence that Mr. Martinez received direction or support from any other person. Third, undercover investigations are pursued only when supervisory law enforcement agents and prosecutors conclude that there is a serious risk that cannot be ignored. I am grateful to the FBI for the care it takes to evaluate all credible allegations of terrorist threats and to investigate people who threaten violence.”
...
Martinez faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for attempting to murder federal officers and employees, and life in prison for attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property. ... (more at link)

The criminal complaint is here.

This is the second recruiting station incident (the other one in Arkansas was a shooting). Our local station (four services) is located in a building I own, so this and the prior incident got my attention - especially today when I happpened to go over there. I would be an unsympathetic juror vice entrapment claims.

Regards

Mike

[davidbfpo]

The US Attorney-General in a speech to a Muslim advocacy group, note the comments on his reception; opens with:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has defended the use of sting operations orchestrated by government informers, telling advocates for the civil rights of American Muslims on Friday night that the tactic is an “essential law enforcement tool in uncovering and preventing terror attacks.”

Link thanks to LWT mailing:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/us...ml?_r=2&src=me

[AdamG]

Related, catalyst -

(AP) Iraqi authorities have obtained confessions from captured insurgents who claim al Qaeda is planning suicide attacks in the United States and Europe during the Christmas season, two senior officials said Wednesday.

Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani told The Associated Press that the botched bombing in central Stockholm last weekend was among the alleged plots the insurgents revealed. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in a telephone interview from New York, called the claims "a critical threat."

Both al-Bolani and Zebari said Iraq has informed Interpol of the alleged plots, and alerted authorities in the U.S. and European countries of the possible danger. Neither official specified which country or countries in Europe are alleged targets.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n7152700.shtml

[AdamG]

This is almost as good as the old Jane Curtin/ Chevy Chase Point/Counterpoint skits.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity so they could discuss security matters, said there was specific intelligence about attacks being planned against Europe during the holiday season.

U.S. intelligence officials say they have not uncovered specific details of threats aimed at the United States,

But two British officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of their work said that although security officials are on higher alert during the holidays, there was no new specific plot. Britain's terror level has also remained unchanged.

"There has been a general threat to the U.K., Germany and France," one British official said. "There have been no new developments."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_europe...tnZXJtYW5vZmZp

[AdamG]

A Department of Homeland Security bulletin sent to law enforcement nationwide Thursday says that federal authorities worry terrorists will try to rattle Americans by attacking during the holidays, and lists concerns including car bombs, trucks ramming crowds and a Mumbai-style small arms attack.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/holida...ry?id=12417968

[davidbfpo]

From the NYT:

The Republican who will head the House committee that oversees domestic security is planning to open a Congressional inquiry into what he calls “the radicalization” of the Muslim community when his party takes over the House next year....he was responding to what he has described as frequent concerns raised by law enforcement officials that Muslim leaders have been uncooperative in terror investigations.

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/ny...ml?_r=2&ref=us

I expect some expected this. Too much is expected of the so-called 'Muslim leaders' and in the UK, if not other places, there are very few genuine leaders. The important people are those further down who actually see something and for a host of reasons do nothing.

I do commend this report on the issue, which was posted earlier:http://www.worde.org/articles/WORDE_...port_Final.pdf

[davidbfpo]

Some months ago the Washington Post published a series on 'The Secrets Next Door' (see links below) and today added a new report 'Monitoring America', a good part revolving around Memphis:http://projects.washingtonpost.com/t...oring-america/

I have merged the SWJ post (x5) to this:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=10956

[AdamG]

Holder warns about more attacks by American AQ sympathizers
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/attor...kw=&tqshow=GMA

+

According to CBS News , the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports a possible credible terrorism plot that targets food products in the restaurant and hotel industry, though the threat is non-specific about time and location for the plot. CBS reports that the poisons at the focus of the threats are Ricin and Cyanide .

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Local/20.../11-7669975e79

[davidbfpo]

A title guaranteed to get attention, well it is in Time magazine and on an initial read interesting. Last paragraph:

And yet al-Qaeda is weaker and less capable today than it was before Sept. 11; its appeal to mainstream Muslims around the world is shrinking, rather than increasing. The fact that Osama bin Laden wannabes like al-Awlaki have risen to such prominence is testament to the evisceration of al-Qaeda's leadership. The U.S. faces far bigger and immediate challenges to the welfare and security of its citizens, not least from the ease with which unstable individuals can legally obtain and use deadly firearms. Addressing that danger will do more to protect Americans than obsessing about the phantom threat of homegrown terrorism ever will.

Link:http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...#ixzz1BzYV0eWT

[AdamG]

Terrorism or Performance Art?
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...tory?track=rss
Floor cleaner or dessert topping?

[davidbfpo]

I recall spotting a report on an IED in Spokane recently and then nothing was spotted. So thanks to FP Blog for a short article:

Nearly a month after a cleanup crew found the live bomb along the planned route of a large downtown march honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the F.B.I. is investigating the incident as an act of domestic terrorism.

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/us...ne.html?ref=us

Clearly the focus appears to be on a 'lone wolf' and from the extreme nationalist fringe.

[jmm99]

David, what evidence do you see (if any) that points to "the extreme nationalist fringe" - whatever "the extreme nationalist fringe" is ?

Apparently, they investigated the local "neo-nazis" without any success. This incident was the darling of our more "progressive" media when the IED was first discovered.

Based on this statement from the police chief:

This time, Chief Kirkpatrick said, “It’s scary the level of the calculation that was involved.”

one would suppose (for one to say that) that one must know the facts concerning what was calculated. If one knows that much about the calculations, I might think that one would know enough to have probable cause to ID the calculator.

If this leads to an arrest, it will be interesting to see who is arrested.

Regards

Mike

[Bill Moore]

Homegrown terrorism is nothing new in the U.S., whether from left wing or right wing extremists and of course now from those religiously motivated whether it is Muslims attempting mass slaughter or those claiming to be Christians bombing abortion clinics. Everything pales in comparison to 9/11, but not too many years prior to the 9/11 attacks we had the Okalahoma City Federal City bombing, and you can pull down the stats for the large number of leftist attacks in the U.S. during the 60s and 70s. It will be interesting to see who was behind this, but I doubt it will be the beginning of a new trend.

[jmm99]

The 1920 Wall Street Bombing, centered on Morgan's 23 Wall, was never solved - speculation pointed to an "anarchist" group. It was the worst "man-made disaster" () in US history up to that time.

It was soon (7 years later) eclipsed by a Michigan bombing I'd never heard of (until I read the Wall Street Bombing Wiki), the Bath School Disaster (Bath is just North of Lansing, the state capital):

The Bath School disaster is the name given to three bombings in Bath Township, Michigan, USA, on May 18, 1927, which killed 38 primary school children and 7 adults, and injured at least 58 people. Most of the victims were children in the second to sixth grades (7–12 years of age) attending the Bath Consolidated School. Their deaths constitute the deadliest act of mass murder in a school in U.S. history. The perpetrator was school board member Andrew Kehoe, who was upset by a property tax that had been levied to fund the construction of the school building. He blamed the additional tax for financial hardships which led to foreclosure proceedings against his farm. These events apparently provoked Kehoe to plan his attack.

On the morning of May 18, Kehoe first killed his wife, then set his farm buildings afire. As fire fighters arrived at the farm, an explosion devastated the north wing of the school building, killing many of the people inside. Kehoe used a detonator to ignite dynamite and hundreds of pounds of pyrotol which he had secretly planted inside the school over the course of many months. As rescuers started gathering at the school, Kehoe drove up, stopped, and detonated a bomb inside his shrapnel-filled vehicle, killing himself and the school superintendent, and killing and injuring several others. During rescue efforts searchers discovered an additional 500 pounds (230 kg) of unexploded dynamite and pyrotol planted throughout the basement of the school's south wing. .. (long Wiki article with links)

What is interesting about this "lone wolf" incident is that Kehoe set the scene at the school with one explosion - and then, acting as a suicide bomber, attacked the rescuers and bystanders who had responded.

Regards

Mike

[davidbfpo]

JMM asked:

David, what evidence do you see (if any) that points to "the extreme nationalist fringe" - whatever "the extreme nationalist fringe" is ?

No evidence, just from reading two reports, mainly the cited article. Ah, the "extreme nationalist fringe" was a poor phrase; I should have used the extreme right, notably those who oppose Martin Luther King being commemorated and I exclude the extreme left / Islamist fringe.

I prefer the "lone wolf" option; the individual who tells no-one else of their intentions and has some skill in making an IED.

[jmm99]

Kehoe of the 1927 Bath School Disaster (with a stictly personal grudge) proves how calculating (and seemingly "professional") a "lone wolf" can be.

So, when someone says an IED has all the markings of an AQ or Aryan Nation operation, my BS meter tends to respond negatively until some real linking evidence appears.

To the extent that right and left have any real materiality, I'd class the "Islamist fringe" as extreme right - even reactionary.

Regards

Mike