Foiled Terrorist Plot? Not So Much...
By Nicole Belle Saturday May 23, 2009 11:00amRobert Dreyfuss in The Nation:
By the now, it's maddeningly familiar. A scary terrorist plot is announced. Then it's revealed that the suspects are a hapless bunch of ne'er-do-wells or run-of-the-mill thugs without the slightest connection to any terrorists at all, never mind to Al Qaeda. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle: the entire plot is revealed to have been cooked up by a scummy government agent-provocateur.
I've seen this movie before. In this case, the alleged perps -- Onta Williams, James Cromitie, David Williams, and Laguerre Payen -- were losers, ex-cons, drug addicts. Al Qaeda they're not. Without the assistance of the agent who entrapped them, they would never have dreamed of committing political violence, nor would they have had the slightest idea about where to acquire plastic explosives or a Stinger missile. That didn't stop prosecutors from acting as if they'd captured Osama bin Laden himself.
Of course, as has been pointed out, we know that--irrespective of facts--this case will be held up as some great triumph in the War on Terror™, a frighteningly close call thwarted by those (implicitly, in the previous administration) who understood the nature of the threat. Mmmm'kay....
Preying on these losers, none of whom were apparently actual Muslims, the "confidential informant" orchestrated the acquisition of a disabled Stinger missile to shoot down military planes and cooked up a wild scheme about attacking a Jewish center in the Bronx.
The only one of the four suspects who appears to have aroused any suspicion was Payen, a Haitian native who attended the Newburgh mosque. Assistant imam Hamid Rashada said his dishevelment and odd behavior disturbed some members, said the assistant imam, Hamid Rashada.
When Payen appeared in court, defense attorney Marilyn Reader described him as "intellectually challenged" and on medication for schizophrenia. The Associated Press said that when he was asked if he understood the proceedings, Payen replied: "Sort of."
Despite the pompous statements from Mayor Bloomberg of New York and other politicians, including Representative Peter King, the whole story is bogus. The four losers may have been inclined to violence, and they may have harbored a virulent strain of anti-Semitism. But it seems that the informant whipped up their violent tendencies and their hatred of Jews, cooked up the plot, incited them, arranged their purchase of weapons, and then had them busted. To ensure that it made headlines, the creepy informant claimed to be representing a Pakistani extremist group, Jaish-e Muhammad, a bona fide terrorist organization. He wasn't, of course.
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"Here's some weed if you will blow some shit up for 'the cause'." - Agent
'Free weed? Sure.' - Entrapped Civilian
'I'm gonna go. Glory be to Allah!' - Agent
'Dude, the stinger missile would make a great bong eh?' - entrapped Civilian
They all met in a bar.
Indeed.
So a crack-head, a schizophrenic, and an indigent walk into a bar.
The bar-tender says, “Hey you guys look like terrorists, want a beer!”
Then all say “YES!”
ANOTHER PLOT FOILED!
Ballet?
No, that would be a "barre". Pay attention.
... for our
sillyinanepointlessgoofynoble War on Terror. Be afraid, folks. Be very afraid.A group of bored kids + an undercover police agent = a terrorist plot.
CBC News: “Man sentenced, then freed for participating in Toronto bomb plot”
“The first person convicted under Canada's terrorism laws was sentenced Friday to 2½ years in prison for his involvement in the group dubbed the Toronto 18, which authorities accuse of plotting to blow up targets in the city's downtown.
The judge in Brampton, Ont., who sentenced the 21-year-old declared that, with credit for his time already spent in custody, the man had served his time. He walked free hours later and was back home Friday.
"He's very happy that it's over," his lawyer, Mitchell Chernovsky said. "He's relieved to be out of jail."
The man was found guilty in September 2008 of participating in a plot to blow up buildings in downtown Toronto in 2006.
He was not a ringleader, and his involvement included attending two terrorist training camps, shoplifting items from a Canadian Tire store and removing a surveillance camera.”
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/0...
Of course, as has been pointed out, we know that--irrespective of facts--this case will be held up as some great triumph in the War on Terror™, a frighteningly close call thwarted by those (implicitly, in the previous administration) who understood the nature of the threat. Mmmm'kay....
___________________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csHczoRembY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-AfOhyn_S4&fe...
And before they foil the terrorists do they put on a pat of butter, and afterwards bake them for an hour at 375 degrees?
No, just a half hour. They're all half-baked already.
Is Taarak the sound boosh made when he choked on the pretzel
And his father on broccoli
And on Japanese officials?
Silly goppers,
Everyone knows you need beer to wash down pretzels.
http://invertedsoapbox.com/2009/02/04/poor-po...
Wow. I feel safer already.
I prefer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fKSlRJT5dw
create shock and awe among the population with unprovoked bombings with religious overtones.
So far they've all posed less of a threat than the average street gang.
I cannot help but notice that all these "stories" about the capture of terrorists take on the flavor of "fish stories" -- you know, when somebody catches a half-ounce minnow and tells everybody it was a 90 foot, 6-ton whale. I think it's a sick machismo thing, myself. It is absolutely not a serious attempt to deal with terrorism, and the entrapment aspects make the hullabaloo ludicrous. Somebody's looking like FOOLs, and the only valid response is contempt.
Seems MI5 and the brainiacs at Scotland Yard relied on the words of a rather stupid person with an IQ of literally 69 for their information, then they tailed the two school friends of the jailed informant, undercover officers sat in cars being invisible with kids knocking on their windows asking them who they were watching.
Then they raided the brothers house and shot one, then arrested them, then released them a week later to no charge.
Their only crime, visiting their dumb vengeful ex school friend in prison.
250 of London's finest were involved in that raid with god knows how many higher ups sat in a control center, and nobody bothered to wonder why they were relying on the word of a jailed moron.
This is the reality of the domestic GWOT and its accompanying media circus for the mouth breathers of Faux/Sky/BBC.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/...
It was a police grown terrorist organization, and now they are trying to harvest the political points.
You, my friend, are a poet.
..is the msm so hard up they have to "make news" out of bull shit? Are we still living in the same world that bush and cheney transformed a once great nation into?
This is just sad. Just sad.
Oh, so now the Cia and FBI want to stop the planting of explosives in public areas, what a relief.
and that taped phone conversation between the FBI handler and the inside informer/bomb-maker, that ex Egyptian colonel who threatened to 'lose' the built bomb if he didn't get his million dollar pay check.
Amazing what official documents the FOIA releases into the public domain.
Let's see now, these men thought they purchased real bomb material, filled up a car with it, and parked it in front of a Temple with the intent to blow the joint up. They also purchased a surface to air missiles (fake) with the intent to blow up planes. What a shame they didn't get the real thing, done the deed - then we could take them seriously. Interesting that the author thinks this is nothing - guess we need dead bodies to be serious.
It’s not that these men were innocent of any crimes, only innocent of trumped up terrorist charges used to justify some politician’s self-importance. There’s no way in hell these three idiots could have ever purchased a Stinger Missile or bomb-making materials by themselves, let alone know what to do with them.
This type of “infiltration” can serve a purpose. It’s the type of preventative measure that needs to be done in order to stop possible terrorism. But when comical plots and entrapment enter the picture, it becomes pointless and ridiculous. This is no victory in the “war on terror”.
That no one give a flying f**k what think.
Roadkill has better cognitive dissonance than you do.
What a total dumbass you are.... What's the purpose of a sting operation but to trap the potential wrongdoer. I suppose you would squeal like a baby rabbit if a cop stung you while trolling on Montrose at Westheimer too...
but we call 'em sumpin else: collateral damage, aka "innocent women and children," and "wedding parties."
These guys were a buncha tyros. Inepts. Chumps. Tools.
You won't know about the guys you REALLY gotta worry about til after.
They don't need to find weapons, and they know what they do need and where to get it without exposing themselves to intermediaries...
you really ARE a simple child, aren't ya?
All they would have done is put a brick through a window, and prob the wrong buildings window at that. Assuming they were sober enough at any one time to do it.
I believe this is the RighrtWing Wackos working with there two and three times removed pals from possible contact. Why such a outrageous statement what (Rcist Nazi Committee) Hate Mongers and Bigots keep beating the drums of security and within two to three days bam there is the Idiot squad.
Look the Rnc and its fringe fanatics must be checked these people are the ones that WOULD sell out this ccountry just to prove their point, remember they gave us the Social Capitalist System.
I live in NYC and as I dressed for work the morning this story broke, I was listening to the preliminary reporting on the tv news, and when they mentioned the men had conspired to buy a Stinger missle to launch at aircraft, my "that's bullshit" antennae went up immediately. While I didn't discount out of hand that this might actually have been a plot by real aspiring terrorists do actual harm, I just didn't see how one would be able launch a Stinger missle even if one had one, or how one would direct it to hit an aircraft in motion. That's like accusing someone of plotting to assassinate a public figure based on the suspect's having acquired (or intended to acquire) 50 caliber bullets. Does he have the weapon necessary to fire the bullets? Is he a sure enough marksman to hit a moving or otherwise difficult target? Does he have real access to his intended target?
In short, this plot smelled phony from the start, like so many other of the so-called terrorist plots we have "successfully detected and terminated" before harm was done.
As it develops, my instincts were correct. I don't claim to be particularly astute; to the contrary, I think the tactics and goals of the authorities are so plain, so crude, so alike from one operation to the next, that attentive citizens should immediately suspect hype and contrivance when such stories are reported.
This is not to say there may not be actual terrorists out there with serious intent and purpose, and with the means and smarts to actually plan and carry out an attack plan that may be workable. However, we have to be exceedingly skeptical of any plots we hear about until firm evidence can support the grandiose claims of the authorities. After all, grandiose claims are their currency, but a currency that is too often counterfeit.
File:FIM-92 Stinger USMC.JPG
"The 'fire-and-forget' Stinger missile employs a passive infrared seeker to home in on its airborne target."
is this a box cover for a gay porn flick?
Did they really need a team of 70 people to entrap a bunch of halfwits?
Probably not, but now these 70 people have a new addendum for their resumes. They saved America!
Now they will parade around and tell everyone, "See, we weren't just wasting our time!"
I wonder which one gets the Medal of Freedom?
we need to point an laugh loudly.
Treat ridiculousness with ridicule.
how did they get 70 people into one little clown car?
To shoot and arrest two innocent people on the word of a moron 'informer' with an IQ of 69.
Moral of the day, this is what happens when morons watch Faux/Sky/BBC and get all scared at the propaganda BS.
they could have seemed so much more terroristical and I wouldn't have come out from under the bed for a year.
And ain't it funny that our Dudley Do-Rights foiled this plot just when Darth Cheney was on the teevee telling us how unsafe Obama had made America? The timing is perfect. Just like the timing that the feds had when they got Eliot Spitzer. Remarkable! Almost like they'd had it on the shelf just ready for the right moment.
And can I say that Mike Bloomberg is a runty corporatist? The little POS would do anything that makes Mike Bloomberg look a little less like a wee sufferer from a napoleon complex.
Lead water pipes or something, same thing happened with rabid anti ferret boy Guliani.
could you just imagine the shameless grandstanding 9ui11iani would be doing over this if he were the mayor now?
just like those guys who wanted to dress like pizza delivery men and shoot up an army base...filled with armed soldiers
want to know the reason obama isnt releasing the memos attached to the torture sessions? because the intel gathered is fucking embarrasing
we become the laughing stock of the world
Its one scary fcuked up world we live in.
"we become the laughing stock of the world"
They've been laughing for 8 years.
we are going to become comedy central. the laughs keep coming....
this administration has as much respect as a street whore...
This one stank from the get-go.
*
the terrorist Dick Cheney who's successfully carried out attack has left 4600 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead still remains at large.
They'll confess.
I'm old enough to remember when Americans weren't afraid of anything. Now all they do is buy guns and talk tough while they cack their little Huggies full to overflowing.
The only thing worse than a coward is a gullible coward. America seems to have plenty of those these days.
I do not know what c4 and a stinger missle cost but I am very sure these fourpatsies couldn't afford them. So who was paying? Also how the hell did they get around with no transportation.
..if the government agent who set them up that easily with phony crap, he had to realize that maybe these guys weren't playing with a full deck. If he didn't, what does that say about the guy? I mean, wouldn't you have checked to see if the c4 really worked or the Stinger really fired? Okay, so why didn't he stay with the group and see who out there had weapons to sell to these guys and then bust the whole lot? Was it because nobody would sell weapons to these guys?
I am glad there were no explosions and no planes shot down. I also think that had they not set these four guys up, they might've developed better intel on weapons suppliers. And, if not, what then did they really do except put a bunch of hapless idiots in jail.
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