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Writers Articles And Opinions |
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09 November 2010 By Stephen
Lendman
The story is disturbingly
familiar. FBI agents arrest a suspect on terrorism
related charges, nearly always a Muslim, photographed
full bearded to look menacing. Media reports highlight
it, headlining government charges to incite fear.
Announced arrests are strategically timed, this one
days before mid-term elections. The message - Obama
keeps America safe, vote Democrat.
Though too early to conclude
guilt or innocence, what's so far known is worrisome,
involving an FBI sting to entrap. Based on numerous
previous cases, without exception, innocent men and
occasionally women have been targeted, evidence later
showing no plot and no crime. Yet suspects are
arrested, charged, tried, and convicted by
manipulated/intimidated juries, right-wing judges
sentencing them to long prison terms.
Since America declared war on
Islam post-9/11, Muslims have been the target of
choice. As a result, hundreds have been wrongfully
incarcerated, guilty only of practicing Islam in
America at the wrong time. So far, Ahmed's case has
all the earmarks of another man, victimized for
political advantage.
On October 27, a Department of
Justice press release headlined, "Virginia Man
Arrested for Plotting Attacks on DC-Area Metro
Stations with People He Believed to Be al Qaeda
Members," saying:
"Today's case underscores the
need for continued vigilance against terrorist threats
and demonstrates how the government can neutralize
such threats before they come to fruition."
How
reassuring!
The DOJ accused Ahmed "of
plotting with individuals he believed were terrorists
to bomb our transit system, but a coordinated law
enforcement and intelligence effort was able to thwart
his plans....Today's arrest highlights the terrorism
threat that exists in Northern Virginia and our
ability to find those seeking to harm US citizens and
neutralize them before they can act."
On October 27, a United States of
America v. Farooque Ahmed indictment listed three
familiar counts:
(1) Attempting
to provide material support to a designated foreign
terrorist organization (FTO).
It stated that from about April
18 - October 25, 2010, Ahmed plotted with believed Al
Qaeda operatives to cause "mass casualties" in
Washington DC Metrorail stations through "multiple
bombings."
It mentions a visit to a Dulles,
VA hotel to meet with "a courier he believed to be
affiliated with a terrorist organization who provided
Ahmed with a document which provided potential
locations for future meetings."
Subsequent ones at other
locations followed, during which the DOJ alleged that
"he might be ready to travel overseas to conduct jihad
in January 2011 after a Hajj Saudi Arabia pilgrimage
in November."
Other allegations included a
willingness to photograph the Arlington Cemetery
Metrorail station and a DC hotel "to obtain
information about their security and busiest periods."
Other alleged surveillance followed, subsequent
meetings as well, including to get "suggestions as to
where explosives should be placed on trains" for
simultaneous attacks. Email communications were also
mentioned.
(2) Collecting
Information to Assist in Planning a Terrorist Attack
on a Transit Facility
Alleged is that Ahmed "did
knowingly and unlawfully surveil, photograph,
videotape, diagram, and otherwise collect information
with the intent to plan or assist in planning" the
above listed attacks.
(3) Attempting
to Provide Material Support to Terrorists
Alleged is that he "did knowingly
and unlawfully attempt" to do it.
On October 27, a grand jury
indicted him on all counts. Born in Lahore, Pakistan,
Ahmed came to America in 1993 and became a citizen in
2005. He worshipped at the All Dulles Area Muslim
Society, known to be very mainstream. If convicted on
all charges, he faces up to 50 years in prison with
little chance for parole. At age 34, it's perhaps a
life sentence.
Disingenuously, DOJ's press
release ended saying, "Indictments are only charges
and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to
be innocent until and unless proven guilty."
Rest assured, Ahmed's fate is
sealed with or without proof. His indictment, as in
similar cases, provides none, only circumstantial
claims couched in inflammatory rhetoric to be
highlighted at trial and already in major media
reports. In addition, no mention of a sting is
explained - the fact that paid FBI informants arranged
everything, entrapping Ahmed in an alleged plot, one
he might never have planned on his own. Moreover, he
perhaps didn't realize the potential implications of
whatever meetings and discussions he had. No matter.
It's too late, another testimony to US injustice.
On October 27, New York Times
writers Sabrina Tavernise and Eric Schmitt headlined,
"Virginia Man Is Charged in Plot on Capital Subway,"
saying:
Ahmed was "accused of trying to
help men he believed to be militants plot bombings at
Washington-area subway stations, the Justice
Department announced." Cited were unnamed FBI
officials "confirm(ing) that Mr. Ahmed's contacts had
been FBI agents who were part of a sting operation,"
without saying his entrapment perhaps involved an
alleged plot he might otherwise not have planned.
Omitted also is his side of the story, likely very
different from DOJ's.
On October 29, Washington Post
writer Spencer Hsu headlined, "Suspect in Metro plot
aspired to kill troops abroad, FBI says," saying:
Besides allegedly planning Metro
attacks, he "wanted to battle US troops in Afghanistan
and Pakistan, and trained himself to fight,
authorities alleged Thursday." Again no proof, only
what paid FBI informants claimed.
On October 27 Washington Post
writers Caitlin Gibson and Scott Butterworth were more
circumspect headlining, "Farooque Ahmed: Neighbors
describe the Metro plot suspect," saying:
He was "reserved." Living next
door, Barbi Shires "said she was stunned to learn that
he was suspected by federal officials in the alleged
plot." She also called him "a very nice gentleman."
Referring to Ahmed and his wife,
Sahar Mirza-Ahmed, she said: "They were very nice.
Every time we would see them, we sp(oke)."
Another neighbor, Jay Britton,
called him "Definitely not social," but had rarely
encountered him in the past year. According to Shaya
Fitzgerald, "He seemed like a loner."
Ahmed has a BS degree in computer
science from City University of New York. He moved to
Virginia from Staten Island to work for Ericsson, a
telecommunications company. Online with Aspen
University, he was pursuing a masters degree in risk
management and data security.
On October 28, Findlaw said he
asked to be provided an attorney the previous day. "In
cases like this," it explained, "where a sting
operation is in place and the alleged plan has yet to
be carried out, questions of intent and entrapment are
often raised as defenses."
Ahmed's lawyer can and should
question the legitimacy of charges, demanding proof,
not allegations from FBI informants paid to provide
what DOJ prosecutors want to hear. Can real intent be
proved? Did Ahmed buy or make explosives? Did he
actually wish to bomb DC Metro stations and fight
Americans in Afghanistan and Pakistan, or did idle,
egged on, talk alone take place? Was he, in fact,
entrapped in what he never would have planned on his
own?
So far, indications strongly
suggest it. Proving it against skilled prosecutors is
another matter, especially using a court-appointed
attorney with a case load too full to devote enough
time and resources to his client. As a result, Ahmed's
task ahead is all uphill, a very steep one.
Another Fake
Bomb Plot?
Remember past ones, including a
fake shoe bomber, a fake underwear bomber, a fake
Times Square bomber, an earlier fake one there, still
another by a fake Al Qaeda woman, fake 9/11 bombers,
and others in a fake democracy with fake elections and
fake public servants. Some system!
Understand that terror threats
are announced repeatedly, strategically timed, and
entirely bogus, despite alleged confessions gotten by
torture or pressured plea bargains to accept the
lesser of two bad choices. Now the latest on October
29. Again, note the timing, four days before mid-term
elections, delivering a familiar message:
With Democrats preventing terror
attacks, retain them on November 2, Obama appearing on
national television for emphasis saying:
Involved are "two suspicious
packages bound for the United States - specifically,
two places of Jewish worship in Chicago." Found in
Dubai and Britain, "An initial examination of those
packages has determined that they do apparently
contain explosive material."
Assuring viewers of the
Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) readiness, he
stressed that "additional protective measures (will be
pursued) for as long as it takes to ensure the safety
and security of our citizens."
He said packages originated from
Yemen, Al Qaeda operatives based there. They "plan
attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our
friends and allies....The events of the past 24 hours
underscore the necessity of remaining vigilant against
terrorism....As we obtain more information, we will
keep the public fully informed (at strategically timed
moments, of course)....And the American people should
be confident that we will not waver in our resolve to
defeat Al Qaeda and its affiliates and to root out
violent extremism in all its forms."
How reassuring
indeed!!
The major media, of course, are
all over this story, including an October 29 New York
Times Scott Shane report headlined, "US Hunts for More
Suspicious Packages," without suggesting perhaps that
this alleged bomb attack is fake, like all the others.
Instead, in lockstep with Washington, Shane noted
that:
Alleged "explosives" were "packed
in toner cartridges (inside laser printers), based on
a tip from (unnamed) Saudi intelligence officials."
They were clearly tampered with, visible wires
sticking out of them, running to external circuit
boards with white powder dust on top.
"Discovery" triggered a terrorist
alert "that included scrambling fighter jets to
accompany a passenger flight as it landed safely in
New York."
In addition, at Newark and
Philadelphia airports, arriving cargo planes were
moved to secure areas for inspections. A Brooklyn UPS
truck was also stopped and searched. Nothing was
found. Neither perhaps in alleged Yemeni originated
ink cartridges, especially ones so inexpertly
assembled.
Obama's press conference was
brief and uninformative. A longer one followed,
conducted by press secretary Robert Gibbs and Deputy
National Security Advisor for Homeland Security John
Brennan, "rais(ing) more questions than (they)
answered," according to one analyst.
Providing no proof of any plot or
why alleged US-based "terrorists" need crude overseas
shipments for one, they claimed two packages (one from
Fedex, the other from UPS), aboard US-bound cargo
planes, contained trace amounts of explosives, both
originating from Yemen, Muslims again the bad guys.
Whether homegrown or abroad is irrelevant when those
cited are invented, even nameless.
Villains, however, are the same.
So are motives - to incite fear; maintain public
support for imperial wars, outsized military budgets,
repressive laws, harsh domestic crackdowns, and
whatever other initiatives Washington undertakes,
especially if claimed for national security.
No matter that America is now a
police state, waging permanent wars for unattainable
peace because new adversaries replace old ones. The
cycle never ends. Intimidated/distracted people never
catch on. As a result, lawless policies continue, the
public, of course, the loser, mindless of how they're
betrayed, never served. It's truer today than ever
under both major parties, beholden to privilege, not
vital popular interests.
Stephen Lendman lives in
Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished
guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the
Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central
time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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