MARYLAND MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO ACT AS AN IRAQI AGENT

Courtesy of the FBI

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

http://www.usdoj.gov   

Defendant Shredded Documents and Lied to FBI Agents

WASHINGTON—Saubhe Jassim Al-Dellemy, age 67, an Iraqi national living in Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, specifically, as an agent of Iraq, announced Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security and U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

“Since coalition forces invaded Iraq in 2003, the Justice Department has charged at least a dozen people who served in the United States as illegal agents for the former Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein or its feared intelligence service, the Mukhabbarat. The number of these cases underscores the reach of Saddam's intelligence service in America and the extent to which the former Iraqi regime was concerned with defectors and expatriate groups here," said Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

“Documents recovered in Iraq by the United States Military led to Saubhe Jassim Al-Dellemy’s confession that he secretly worked as an agent of the Iraqi Intelligence Service under Saddam Hussein, using his restaurant as a meeting place and passing information to Iraqi agents,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Mr. Al-Dellemy lied about his work for Saddam Hussein regime when he was questioned by FBI agents in 2008, long after he became a lawful permanent resident of the United States.”

“The FBI is committed to rooting out and prosecuting those individuals who enjoy the benefits of residing in this country but who are acting on behalf of hostile foreign Intelligence services,” said Amy Jo Lyons, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Field Office.

According to the plea agreement, under the regime of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) routinely recruited individuals, either currently in the United States or to be placed into the United States, to support the IIS and the Government of Iraq. Saubhe Jassim Al-Dellemy, who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2000, was one of these individuals. He was born in Iraq and was a member of the Ba’ath Party. He came to the United States as a student in the 1980s. His education in the United States was paid for by the Ba’ath Party. In exchange, Al-Dellemy was expected to provide information to the Government of Iraq on matters of interest to the government and the IIS.

Following the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces in March 2003, the U.S. military obtained confidential IIS documents establishing that beginning in 1989, and continuing through the Saddam Hussein regime, Al-Dellemy, referred to in many instances by the code name “Adam,” had been providing information to officials of the Government of Iraq and intelligence officers with the IIS. This information included reporting on the identities and activities of individuals and organizations in the United States that were opposed to Saddam Hussein and his regime, and specifics regarding U.S. policy and actions towards the Iraqi government. The seized documents also established that Al-Dellemy periodically received payments from the IIS and the Iraqi government as compensation for his assistance and information.

Specifically, according the plea agreement, throughout the conspiracy Al-Dellemy performed tasks at the Iraqi Embassy and at the Iraqi Interests Section (ISEC), formed in 1991 within the Algerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., after the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Iraq for invading Kuwait. For example, in 1990, around the time of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Al-Dellemy assisted in the shredding of Ba’ath Party and other diplomatic documents maintained at the Iraqi Embassy that could compromise the Saddam Hussein regime and identify those individuals in the United States who had been acting as agents of the IIS. Al-Dellemy also attended and organized social gatherings at the Iraqi Embassy and the ISEC, which were used to recruit individuals to work for the IIS; to interact with individuals who were already working with the IIS and Saddam Hussein’s regime; and to maintain the loyalties of the participants to the Ba’ath Party and Saddam Hussein’s regime. Throughout the conspiracy Al-Dellemy made a restaurant he operated in Maryland available as a meeting place for IIS officers and Iraqi government officials, and utilized his restaurant as a means to gather information pertaining to U.S. government agencies near the restaurant, such as the National Security Agency and Fort George G. Meade.

Throughout the conspiracy, Al-Dellemy relied on fellow Ba’ath Party members and/or sympathizers to provide him with information about the Iraqi opposition in the United States, including members of the Iraqi community in Detroit, Michigan. Al-Dellemy also gathered information in Maryland regarding U.S. military training and travel concerning U.S. actions in Iraq.

Al-Dellemy, at the request of Iraqi government officials, sought out individuals for employment at the ISEC and in 2000, arranged for a coconspirator to be employed full-time at the ISEC as an accountant and a driver. This coconspirator continued his employment at the ISEC through March 2003, then resumed his employment at the Iraqi Embassy when it reopened in Washington, D.C., in December 2003. The coconspirator continued to work at the Iraqi embassy until March or April 2004. The coconspirator acted as a conduit between Al-Dellemy, Ba’ath Party members and loyalists in Detroit, and IIS and ISEC officials to transmit information of interest to the IIS, the Saddam Hussein regime, and the Ba’ath Party. Al-Dellemy was never recognized by the Department of State or the Attorney General of the United States as a diplomatic or consular officer of the Government of Iraq, or officially or publicly acknowledged and sponsored as an official, representative, or employee of Iraq.

According to the plea, Al-Dellemy never revealed his affiliation with the Ba’ath Party in applications to the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (now U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) for residency status in the United States, in an effort to conceal his activities as an agent for the Iraqi government. In addition, at the end of March 2003, Al-Dellemy and others destroyed numerous Ba’ath Party documents and related literature in his possession that would have compromised the activities of Al-Dellemy and his coconspirators as agents of the Iraqi government in the United States. On Oct. 13, 2008, during an interview with FBI agents, Al-Dellemy falsely denied passing information to the IIS and the Iraqi government, denied receiving payment from the IIS, and denied collecting information on the Iraqi opposition movement and reporting that information to the IIS.

Al-Dellemy faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy to act as an agent for a foreign government. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for March 5, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security and U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Manuelian, who is prosecuting the case, as well as Senior Trial Attorneys Robert E. Wallace and Clifford I. Rones, from the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, who provided assistance in the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey E. Eisenberg, Chief of National Security, who supervised this case.

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Technorati tags: al dellemy, baath party, ins, saddam hussein, Saubhe Jassim Al-Dellemy, foreign agents, iraq, conconspirator, Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS), Mukhabbarat

MEMRI: Rising Inter-Arab Tensions: Saudi Arabia and Egypt versus Syria and Iran

Courtesy of MEMRI

Tensions have recently increased between the pro-Western, moderate Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and the Iranian-Syrian axis, which supports Hizbullah, Hamas and the resistance in Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Egypt accused Iran and Syria of attempting to destabilize the region by interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries and nurturing the resistance movements in Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories. They also accused Syria of dividing the Arab ranks and helping the non-Arab Iran to take over the Middle East, to the detriment of Arab interests.

Syria and Iran, for their part, accused Saudi Arabia and Egypt of being pro-American and pro-Israeli and of pursuing a conciliatory policy aimed at undermining the activity of the resistance movements. Recent political initiatives by Saudi Arabia – namely, the November 2008 Interfaith Dialogue Conference in New York, and the efforts to promote the Saudi peace initiative – were portrayed as attempts to achieve normalization with Israel and to deny the Palestinians' right of return. Saudi King 'Abdallah was branded by Syria as an "infidel" and "collaborator with the Imperialist Satan," while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was called a "traitor" and a "tyrant" who should be assassinated like the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

The prevailing tensions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, on the one hand, and Syria and Iran, on the other, have intensified further following the recent terrorist attacks in Lebanon and Syria, with Syria accusing Saudi Arabia and the Lebanese March 14 Forces of supporting fundamentalist organizations in Lebanon, such as Fath Al-Islam, which, they claimed, was responsible for the September 2008 terrorist attack in Damascus. In response, Saudi Arabia and the March 14 Forces stated that it was Syria that had created and nurtured Fath Al-Islam, with the goal of undermining Lebanon's stability and regaining control over it. They contended that the Damascus attack had been aimed at creating a false impression that the Syrian regime was also suffering from terrorism. 

Conflict also arose between Egypt and Hamas, after Egypt opened its border to Gaza pilgrims en route to Mecca but Hamas subsequently prevented them from reaching the border. This crisis, too, developed into a wide-scale conflict between Egypt and Saudi Arabia vs. Syria and Iran. Egypt accused Hamas of harming the Palestinians even more than Israel is, thereby promoting the interests of Syria and Iran, who are anxious to perpetuate the Palestinian problem rather than resolve it. Syria, Iran, and Hamas accused Egypt of being responsible for the siege of Gaza and of not acting as a neutral mediator between the Palestinian factions. In Iran, there have even been calls to topple the Saudi and Egyptian regimes.

The following are three reports on the recent inter-Arab tension:

• Rising Inter-Arab Tensions, Part I – Deepening Crisis in Saudi-Syrian Relations By: C. Jacob *
• Rising Inter-Arab Tensions, Part II – Egypt Trades Accusations with Hamas, Syria, Iran By: L. Azuri
• Rising Inter-Arab Tensions, Part III – Syria, Saudi Arabia Clash over Fath Al-Islam By: H. Varulkar *

 

BRIDGING THE LANGUAGE GAP BETWEEN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE WEST

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may ONLY be cited with proper attribution.

Technorati tags: saudi arabia, egypt, hamas, gaza, iran, syria, islam, muslim, inter arab tensions, shia, sunni, fath al islam, damacus, imperialist satan, mubarak, sadat, abdullah, interfaith dialogue conference, middle east, arabian penisula, hizbullah, moderate arab countries, pro western

Five Radical Islamists Convicted of Conspiring to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix

Courtesy of the FBI:

Five Radical Islamists Convicted of Conspiring to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix

Department of Justice Press Release

For Immediate Release
Dec 22, 2008

CAMDEN – A jury today convicted five men on charges they plotted to kill members of the U.S. military, Acting United States Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. announced.

After 5½ days of deliberations, which began Dec. 17, the jury convicted Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, brothers Dritan Duka, Shain Duka and Eljvir Duka and Serdar Tatar on Count One of the seven-count Superseding Indictment that charged them with conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military. The jury acquitted each of defendants of Count Two, which charged attempt to murder members of the U.S. military.

For the conspiracy conviction only, each of the defendants faces a sentence of any number of years up to life in prison.

The case was tried by Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Hammer, Jr., Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Terrorism Unit. U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler, who presided over the 12-week trial, scheduled sentencing of the three Duka brothers for April 22. Judge Kugler scheduled sentencing of Shnewer and Tartar on April 23.

The remaining counts of the Superseding Indictment, which was returned in January, charged the three Duka brothers, who are illegal immigrants, and Shnewer with firearm offenses; including possession of machine guns. See below for conviction details on each of the defendants.

The defendants’ arrests occurred on May 7, 2007, in Cherry Hill as Dritan and Shain Duka were meeting a confidential government witness to purchase four automatic M-16 rifles and three semi-automatic AK-47 rifles to be used in a future attack on military personnel. The other defendants were arrested at various locations at about the same time.

“These men planned, trained and ceaselessly talked unambiguously about their intention to ambush and kill U.S. soldiers,” said Marra. “The word should go out to any other would-be terrorists of the homegrown variety that the United States will find you, infiltrate your group, prosecute you and send you to a federal prison for a very long time.”

“Vigilance was the key to disrupting the dangerous terrorists convicted today and we are glad they are off the street,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI. “We appreciate the tip from an alert citizen who reported this suspicious activity to law enforcement. Without tips from concerned citizens or cooperation from our law enforcement partners, it is much more difficult to safeguard our nation and protect the
United States from terrorist attack.”

“Today's verdicts underscore the need for continued vigilance against homegrown terror threats,” said Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “While these defendants were not members of an international terrorist organization, their involvement in weapons training, their surveillance of domestic targets and their discussions of killing U.S. military personnel posed a serious threat that required the law enforcement disruption and the prosecutions upheld by the jury today.”

In convicting the defendants, the jury found that one member of the group conducted surveillance at Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia. The co-conspirator obtained a detailed map of Fort Dix, where they hoped to use assault rifles to kill as many soldiers as possible,
according to trial testimony and evidence.

During the trial, the jury viewed secretly recorded videotapes of the defendants preforming small-arms training at a shooting range in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and watching training videos amongst themselves that included depictions of American soldiers being killed and of known foreign Islamic radicals urging jihad against the United States.

The defendants and the charges on which each was convicted are as follows:
• Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 23, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the members of the U.S. military, and the attempted possession of AK-47 semi-automatic assault weapons to be used in the attack.
• Dritan Duka, 30 of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military; possession of machine guns; possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence; and two counts of possession of firearms by an illegal alien.
• Shain Duka, 27, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military; possession of machine guns; possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence; and two counts of possession of firearms by an illegal alien.
• Eljvir Duka, 25, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military, and possession of firearms by illegal aliens. The jury acquitted on one count of possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence.
• Serdar Tatar, 25, of Philadelphia: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military.
A sixth co-defendant, Agron Abdullahu, 26, of Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County, pleaded guilty before Judge Kugler on Oct. 31, 2007, to aiding and abetting the Duka brothers’ illegal possession of weapons. Abdullahu was arrested on May 7, 2007, along with the defendants convicted today. On March 31, 2008, Judge Kugler sentenced Abdullahu to 420 months in federal prison.

The charge of conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military carries a sentence of any number of years up to life in prison. The charge of possession of a machine gun in furtherance of a crime of violence carries a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years imprisonment. The charge of attempted possession of AK-47 semi-automatic assault weapons to be used in the attack carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. Each count of unlawful possession of machine guns carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison. Each count of being an illegal alien in possession of firearms carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison.

Marra credited the Special Agents of the FBI's Philadelphia Division and the FBI South Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Fedarcyk, in Philadelphia, for investigation of the case.
Marra and Fedarcyk also thanked investigators with member agencies of the FBI South Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, which comprises ICE’s Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John P. Kelleghan, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of the Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk, NJ State Police, under the direction of Col. Joseph "Rick" Fuentes, Superintendent, and the Delaware River Port Authority Police, under the direction of Chief Dave McClintock, for their tireless efforts on the investigation.

Additionally, Marra and Fedarcyk would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance and support: the U.S. military services at Fort Dix, Fort Monmouth, Dover Air Force Base, and the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia, along with the Cherry Hill Police Department, Mt. Laurel Police Department, Cherry Hill Fire Department, Camden County Sheriff's Department, Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, and N.J. Homeland Security.

Press Releases | Philadelphia Home

Technorati tags: american jihad, fort dix, joint, us military, war on terror, radical islamists, terrorists among us, conspiracy to kill us soldiers

Iran using Venezuela ties to duck UN sanctions: report

According to AFP and Iran Focus: Iran is using its warm relations with Venezuela to dodge UN sanctions and use Venezuelan aircraft to ship missile parts to Syria, an Italian newspaper reported Sunday.

Citing US and other Western intelligence agencies, La Stampa said Iran is using aircraft from Venezuelan airline Conviasa to transport computers and engine components to Syria for use in missiles.

The material comes from Iranian industrial group Shahid Bagheri, listed in the annex of UN Security Council Resolution 1737, adopted in December 2006, for involvement in Iran's ballistic missile programme.

For the rest of the story, please visit my friends over at Iran Focus: Iran using Venezuela ties to duck UN sanctions: report

Fitna

Here is Fitna. Caution Graphic Content

Courtesy of Robert Spencer and Jihad Watch.

This video is posted in the interest of freedom of speech. The video, Fitna, in no way constitutes an endorsement by or reflects the opinions or beliefs of The Bosun, Rumors of War, the Bosun Locker, or anyone affiliated.

Also posting this topic:

EU Bans Screening of Fitna

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: “Fitna” now online; Update ...

Geert Wilders': Fitna the Movie

Technorati tags: fitna, robert spencer, jihad watch, islam in action, freedom of speech

Report: Obama to Offer Israel 'Nuclear Umbrella' Against Iran

Courtesy of Fox News , as reported from Haaetz:

U.S. president-elect will offer Israel a strategic pact designed to fend off any nuclear attack on the Jewish state by Iran, an Israeli newspaper reports.

President-elect Barack Obama will offer Israel a strategic pact designed to fend off any nuclear attack on the Jewish state by Iran, an Israeli newspaper reported on Thursday.

Haaretz, quoting an unnamed source, said the Obama administration would pledge under the proposed "nuclear umbrella" to respond to any Iranian strike on Israel with a "devastating U.S. nuclear response."

Granting Israel a nuclear guarantee would essentially suggest the U.S. is willing to come to terms with a nuclear Iran, the paper reported.

According to the paper's source, Obama's nuclear guarantee would be backed by a new and improved Israeli anti-ballistic missile system. The Bush administration took the first step by deploying an early-warning radar system, which enhances the ability to detect Iranian ballistic missiles.

Secretary of state-designate Hillary Clinton had raised the idea of a nuclear guarantee to Israel during her campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency. During a debate with Obama in April, Clinton said that Israel and Arab countries must be given "deterrent backing." She added, "Iran must know that an attack on Israel will draw a massive response."

Clinton also proposed that the American nuclear umbrella be extended to other countries in the region, like Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, if they agree to relinquish their own nuclear ambitions.

Obama said this week that he would negotiate with Iran and would offer economic incentives for Tehran to relinquish its nuclear program. He warned that if Iran refused the deal, he would act to intensify sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Granting Israel a nuclear guarantee essentially suggests the U.S. is willing to come to terms with a nuclear Iran. For its part, Israel opposes any such development and similar opposition was voiced by officials in the outgoing Bush administration.

"What is the significance of such guarantee when it comes from those who hesitated to deal with a non-nuclear Iran?" asked a senior Israeli security source.

"What kind of credibility would this [guarantee have] when Iran is nuclear-capable?"
The same source noted that the fact that there is talk about the possibility of a nuclear Iran undermines efforts to prevent Tehran from acquiring such arms.

A senior Bush administration source said that the proposal for an American nuclear umbrella for Israel was ridiculous and lacked credibility. "Who will convince the citizen in Kansas that the U.S. needs to get mixed up in a nuclear war because Haifa was bombed? And what is the point of an American response, after Israel's cities are destroyed in an Iranian nuclear strike?"

The current debate is taking place in light of the Military Intelligence assessment that Iran has passed beyond the point of no return, and has mastered the technology of uranium enrichment. The decision to proceed toward the development of nuclear arms is now purely a matter for Iran's leaders to decide. Intelligence assessments, however, suggest that the Iranians are trying to first accumulate larger quantities of fissile material, and this offers a window of opportunity for a last-ditch diplomatic effort to prevent an Iranian bomb.

Source: Obama's atomic umbrella: U.S. nuclear strike if Iran nukes Israel

By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent

Related articles:

Israel worried by report Iran has tripled its missile arsenal

Zbigniew Brzezinski: Israel's push for Iran strike may hurt U.S. ties

Iran rejects Barack Obama's 'failed' carrot and stick policy

 

Technorati tags: israeli, Iran, nuclear Iran, Obama, strategic pact, nuclear umbrella, haaetz, anti-ballistic missile system, early warning system, iranian ballistic missles, tel aviv, middle east, pre-emptive strike

Is the Saudi Peace Plan 100 years of Dhimmitude?

The republished Saudi peace plan - or ultimatum - offers 100 years of dhimmitude, the term for the protected but inferior and vulnerable status of non-Moslem religious and ethnic groupings in Islamic society. It purports to offer normal diplomatic and political relations between Israel and the entire Islamic world if Israel goes back to its 1948 borders and accepts the principle of repatriation of the Palestinian refugees. If Israel does not accept these terms, the subtext is quite clear: The Islamic world retains the option of remaining hostile to our existence.

This subtext rejects a self-evident principle: that Israel's existence and security are, as Barack Obama has declared, sacrosanct. That principle derives from the UN resolutions of 1948 and 1967, and not any decision by our neighbors. Israel is the national home of a first nation returning to its native land. Its existence and security are not negotiable. 

.......

ISRAELIS HAVE good reason to be skeptical about peace plans. While there is a cold peace with Egypt and Jordan, more Israelis have died in the 15 years following the Oslo Accords than in the two previous decades of undeclared wars. Therefore the burden of proof is on those who deny that the Saudi plan offers something between dhimmitude at best and a staged dismantling of Israel as the Jewish national home.

....... 

THE APPALLING treatment of religious minorities by many Arab regimes is another reason for skepticism concerning the Saudi plan. Coptic and Assyrian Christians, Baha'is, Armenians, Yazdis and other minority religious group have experienced persecution, expulsions and genocidal mass atrocities in many of the 29 countries, notably Egypt, Iraq, Sudan and Iran. In the PA itself, since the Oslo Accords, the Christian population is rapidly diminishing.

For the rest of the commentary in the Jerusalem post: The Saudi plan: 100 years of dhimmitude?

Technorati tags: Arab, Persian, Dhimmitude, Israel, Right to exist, Obama, Muslim, Islam, Hebrew people, Islamic World, United Nations, Western World

Trooper subdues gunman

Cop who Stopped Islamic Shooting Honored in Oklahoma

Courtesy of Islam In Action: 09 Dec 2008 02:12 PM CST

Recently many of us have stated that sooner or later a Mumbai style attack will take place here in America. Thankfully a smaller version of one was stopped back in September by a trooper from Oklahoma who was walking into a local Burger King. As he walked in he noticed a man sitting at a table with a Glock 40 and a box of ammunition laid out in front of him. The courageous trooper then snuck up on the man and wrestled him to the ground to stop the attack. Oh....did I mention that the gunman was praying to Allah at the time?

Trooper honored for subduing man with a gun .  Link to Islam in Action

Technorati tags: islam in action, oklahoma, burger king, allah, muhammedan, glock 40

Are Minnesotans being recruited for Jihad in Somalia?

So now, are some Somali youth in Minnesotastan, USA, joining the JIHAD in Somalia?
Link: Jihad Recruiting Effort May Explain Missing Somalis in Minneapolis Area

Dozens of young Somali men in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have disappeared in recent months, causing community members and U.S. intelligence officials to fear that they are joining jihadist groups in Somalia.

Officials are especially concerned that some of the men may be destined to return to the U.S. after they have received terrorist training.

(Bosun's comment: Hmmmmmmmm, wonder if this is a Trojan horse technique to introduce jihad in the United States at a later date?)

The missing young men have been the focus of some attention since late October, when Shirwa Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen, died in a suicide bombing in northern Somalia. Ahmed was a 1999 graduate of Minneapolis's Roosevelt High School.

Immigrating to the United States from another country and wanting to return home to visit friends or family should not be a red flag or cause any concern.

What causes peaceful a Muhammadan to turn into a lunatic fanatic, as the case of Shirwa Ahmed, a graduate of Minneapolis' Roosevelt High School?

Now he is a dead homicide bomber.

How about Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the 1999 valedictorian at the Islamic Saudi Academy, Northern Virginia, who was convicted of joining Al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush? Jihadi Ali was a United States Citizen, born in Houston, Texas, and raised mostly in the U.S. His father worked for the Saudi embassy and the family moved to to Jordan for four years.  They returned to Falls Church, Virginia, when Abu Ali was 14 or 15. Jihadi Ali's father worked at the Saudi Embassy in Washington. Now he (Jihadi Ali not his father) is a convicted terrorist.

Let us not forget John Phillip Walker Lindh and Adam Gahdan, two Californians who converted to Islam. What caused them to turn into lunatics?  We should be studying and exploring as to what caused peaceful Muhammadans to metamorphose into radical Muhammadans.  Do they and potentially thousands of others pose a threat to the stability of the United States of America or are these simply isolated incidents not worthy of serious concern?

What causes a peaceful Muhammadan to become a raving Islamist lunatic?

Technorati tags: ahmed omar abu ali, john phillip walker lindh, adam gahdan, muhammadan, jihadist, jihad, muslim, shirwa ahmed, somalia, minneapolis, minnesota, Islamic Saudi Academy, Northern Virginia, falls church