Tag Archives: Muslim

Another dry-run of a terrorist attack

Story from ABC News. (H/T Foxfier Sailorette)

Excerpt:

Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands have been charged by Dutch police with “preparation of a terrorist attack,” U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News.

U.S. officials said the two appeared to be travelling with what were termed “mock bombs” in their luggage. “This was almost certainly a dry run, a test,” said one senior law enforcement official.

A spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor, Ernst Koelman, confirmed the two men were arrested this morning and said “the investigation is ongoing.” He said the arrests were made “at the request of American authorities.”

The two were allowed to board the flight at O’Hare airport last night despite security concerns surrounding one of them, the officials said.

The men were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, of Detroit, MI, and Hezem al Murisi, the officials said. A neighbor of al Soofi told ABC News he is from Yemen.

Airport security screeners in Birmingham, Alabama first stopped al Soofi and referred him to additional screening because of what officials said was his “bulky clothing.”

In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O’Hare.

Once in Chicago, officials say they learned al Soofi checked his luggage on a flight to Washington’s Dulles airport for connections on flights to Dubai and then Yemen, even though he did not board the flight himself.

Instead, officials say, al Soofi was joined by the second man, Al Murisi, and boarded the United flight from Chicago to Amsterdam.

The thing about this, we can’t be playing defense all the time. The best thing to do is to specify the terms of what will happen if a terrorist attack occurs. Tell them in advance. For the first terrorist attack, this will happen. For the second terrorist attack, this will happen. You can start nicely, by revoking all student visas, foreign aid, etc. And then military targets. That’s how deterrence works. They have to know that we mean business. Weakness and appeasement just embolden bullies.

UPDATE:

Commenter James reports that PJM has more on the story.

Gallup poll shows that Obama has 78% approval rating among Muslims

From CNS News.

Excerpt:

While President Barack Obama’s overall approval rating averaged 48 percent for the first seven months of 2010, it was 78 percent among Muslim Americans, according to the Gallup Poll. That gave the president a higher approval rating among Muslims than among any other religious category reported by the poll.

Members of other non-Christian religions (not including Judaism) gave Obama his second highest approval rating at 64 percent, according to Gallup, and people who described themselves as having no religion, or being agnostics, or atheists gave Obama a 63 percent approval rating.

Mormons gave Obama his lowest approval rating among the religious groups reported by Gallup. In the first seven months of 2010, only 24 percent said they approved of the job Obama was doing. He ranked next lowest among Protestant Americans, who gave him a 43 percent approval rating, then Catholic Americans, who gave him a 50 percent approval rating, and then Jewish Americans, who gave him a 61 percent approval rating.

The article also notes that this poll was completed prior to Obama’s endorsement of the Ground Zero mosque, which may be funded by taxpayer money, according to Reuters.

Obama administration halts prosecution of alleged USS Cole bomber

Story from the ultra-left-wing Washington Post.

Excerpt:

The Obama administration has shelved the planned prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged coordinator of the Oct. 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to a court filing.

The decision at least temporarily scuttles what was supposed to be the signature trial of a major al-Qaeda figure under a reformed system of military commissions. And it comes practically on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attack, which killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens when a boat packed with explosives ripped a hole in the side of the warship in the port of Aden.

In a filing this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said that “no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future.”

The statement, tucked into a motion to dismiss a petition by Nashiri’s attorneys, suggests that the prospect of further military trials for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has all but ground to a halt, much as the administration’s plan to try the accused plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in federal court has stalled.

This comes as interesting news, in comparison to the latest news on the arrest of suspected terrorists in Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are now looking for eight suspects who are linked to their seizure of explosives and other nasty things from a gang of Muslim terrorists. A fourth man was arrested by the RCMP on Friday morning.