Speeches from anti-jihad conference in Washington, DC:
FREEDOM DEFENSE INITIATIVE INAUGURAL EVENT at CPAC on Feb. 19, 2010.
- Part 1 of 6 is Wafa Sultan: Author, A God who Hates
- Part 2 of 6 is Robert Spencer and Steve Coughlin: Former Pentagon Islam specialist
- Part 3 of 6 is Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff who is facing “hate speech” charges in Austria
- Part 4 of 6 is Anders Gravers from Stop the Islamization of Denmark
- Part 5 of 6 is Simon Deng: Ex-slave, leading human rights activist against jihad in Sudan
- Part 6 of 6 is Lt Colonel Allen West: War hero, Congressional candidate (FL 22nd district) and future national leader
BBC Peter Taylor investigates the terrorist threat from young Muslim extremists radicalised on the internet. Following the attempt to bomb an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, this landmark series looks at the angry young men of Generation Jihad who have turned their backs on the country where they were born. (See also Episode 1)
YNET, 22 Feb 10: Indictments which were filed over the weekend in Miami against three businessmen offer a glimpse into Hezbollah’s funding methods in South America. Following an investigation spanning three years, the three suspects were charged with supplying electronic equipment to a shopping center in Paraguay. Documents filed with the court by the US Treasury Department also provide details regarding the terror organizations’ funding tactics.
The three suspects are Khaled Safadi, 56, and 43-year-old Emilio Gonzalez, both of Miami; and 46-year-old Ulises Talavera-Campos, a citizen of Paraguay. They are accused of supplying thousands of playstation devices and cameras to the Galeria Page shopping center in Ciudad del Este in the Tri-Border Region which connects Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.
The shopping center was defined by the US Treasury Department as Hezbollah’s financial headquarters and is situated in a region which local law authorities have little control over. A fourth suspect not yet apprehended is Samer Mehdi, 37, a citizen of both Paraguay and Brazil who is the owner of the Galeria Page shopping center.
According to the indictment, Safadi used to provide the equipment to the two other defendants and they in turn transferred it to Paraguay. The three would use fake addresses in export documents in order to conceal the real destination of the goods.
John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security, said the shopping center in Ciudad del Este has been under surveillance for several years. Its manager, Muhammad Yusif Abdallah, is suspected of regularly transferring a share of the center’s profits to Hezbollah.
A US Treasury document dated four years ago suggests that the shopping center is part of a South American network run by Assad Ahmad Barakat who has been on the US terrorist blacklist since 2004. . . . .
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 267–An Introduction to Hezbollah: A Worldwide Terrorist Organization
Bloomberg, 22 Feb 10: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the threat of “homegrown” terrorism increased during the past year and more U.S. citizens or legal residents are “becoming radicalized to the point of violence.” Napolitano, speaking yesterday during a panel discussion at a meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington, said the U.S. doesn’t have a co-ordinated plan for stopping the spread of militancy. “We really don’t have a very good handle on how you prevent someone from becoming a violent extremist,” she said. . . . .
GET A CLUE:
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 361–The Global Jihadist Threat Doctrine
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 362–Informant Development for Law Enforcement to Fight Terrorism
♦ CI CENTRE BRIEFING: Inside Jihad: Recruited and Radicalized Into Terrorism
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 163–Dying to Kill Us: Understanding the Mindset of Suicide Operations
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 165–Psychopathology of Hate/Terrorism
CNN, 22 Feb 10: Terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States. In an appearance before a federal judge, Zazi, a native of Afghanistan who lived in Colorado, admitted his role in the conspiracy, saying, “In spring 2008, I conspired with others to join the Taliban, to fight along with the Taliban against the United States. We were recruited to al Qaeda instead,” he said. He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to a terrorist organization. . . .
. . . . While at a terrorist training camp in northwest Pakistan’s Waziristan region along the Afghan border, he “had discussions with al Qaeda about targets including the New York City subway system,” Zazi said in court Monday. He said he learned how to make explosives at the camp and e-mailed himself bomb-making instructions to use once he returned to the United States. . . .
The Justice Department announced that Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of New York to a three-count superseding information charging him with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction (explosive bombs) against persons or property in the United States, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material support to al Qaeda. Among other things, Zazi admitted that he brought TATP [Triacetone Triperoxide] explosives to New York on Sept. 10, 2009, as part of plan to attack the New York subway system.
Zazi, 25, a resident of Aurora, Colo., and legal permanent resident of the United States from Afghanistan, entered his guilty plea today before Chief U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie. Zazi faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison for the first two counts of the superseding information and an additional 15 years in prison for the third count of the superseding information.
FBI agents in Colorado first arrested Zazi on Sept. 19, 2009, on a criminal complaint charging him with knowingly and willfully making false statements to the FBI in a matter involving international and domestic terrorism. On Sept. 23, 2009, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a one-count indictment alleging that Zazi knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to use one or more weapons of mass destruction, specifically explosive bombs and other similar explosive devices, against persons or property within the United States.
As Zazi admitted during today’s guilty plea allocution and as reflected in previous government filings, he and others agreed to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and fight against United States and allied forces. In furtherance of their plans, they flew from Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., to Peshawar, Pakistan at the end of August 2008. Although Zazi and others initially intended to fight on behalf of the Taliban, they were recruited by al-Qaeda shortly after arriving in Peshawar. Al Qaeda personnel transported Zazi and others to the Waziristan region of Pakistan and trained them on several different kinds of weapons. During the training, al Qaeda leaders asked Zazi and others to return to the United States and conduct suicide operations. They agreed.
Zazi later received additional training from al Qaeda on constructing the explosives for the planned attacks in the United States. Zazi had discussions with al Qaeda leaders about target locations, including subway trains in New York City. Zazi took detailed notes during the training, and later e-mailed a summary of the notes to himself so that he could access them when he returned to the United States. Zazi also provided money and computers to al Qaeda before he left Pakistan.
Zazi returned to the United States in January 2009 and moved to Denver. Beginning in June 2009, he began reviewing the bomb-making notes from his training and conducting research on where to buy the ingredients for the explosives. Zazi then traveled to New York and met with others to discuss the plan, including the timing of the attack and where to make the explosives.
Zazi returned to Denver and used the bomb-making notes to construct the explosives for the detonator components of the bombs. As set forth in the government’s detention memorandum filed earlier in the case, in July and August 2009, Zazi purchased large quantities of components necessary to produce TATP and twice checked into a hotel room near Denver, where bomb making residue was later found.
On Sept. 8, 2009, Zazi rented a car and drove from Denver to New York, taking with him the explosives and other materials necessary to build the bombs. Zazi arrived in New York City on Thursday, Sept.10, 2009. Zazi and others intended to obtain and assemble the remaining components of the bombs over the weekend and conduct the attack on Manhattan subway lines on Sept. 14, Sept. 15, or Sept. 16, 2009. However, shortly after arriving in New York, Zazi realized that law enforcement was investigating his activities. Zazi and others discarded the explosives and other bomb-making materials, and Zazi traveled back to Denver. He was arrested on Sept. 19, 2009.
“This was one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation since September 11, 2001, and were it not for the combined efforts of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, it could have been devastating,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “This attempted attack on our homeland was real, it was in motion, and it would have been deadly. We were able to thwart this plot because of careful analysis by our intelligence agents and prompt actions by law enforcement. They deserve our thanks and praise.”
“Today’s plea is an important development in this complex and ongoing criminal investigation and intelligence operation that in many ways illustrates the evolving nature of the terrorist threat today,” said FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole. “The plea is the result of the dedication and hard work by agents and officers assigned to Joint Terrorism Task Forces in both New York and Colorado working closely with federal prosecutors.”
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The investigation is being conducted by the New York and Denver FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which combined have investigators from more than fifty federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
