- More than ever today, Muslims are public enemy number
one. Post-9/11, they've been ruthlessly vilified and persecuted for their
faith, ethnicity, prominence and activism. As a result, innocent men and
women have been spuriously called terrorists, or charged with conspiracy
to provide them material support.
-
- No wonder as an earlier article explained. They've been
unfairly portrayed as culturally inferior, dirty, lecherous, untrustworthy,
religiously fanatical, violent, gun-toting terrorists. As a result, hundreds
have been wrongfully arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned, guilty
only of being Muslims in America at the wrong time. Their treatment represents
a clear indictment of US injustice, targeting innocent victims for political
advantage.
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- A September 20 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report
titled, "American Jihadist Terrorism: Combating a Complex Threat"
explains more about America's scheme, naming names, "plots,"
and dates to highlight the "threat." It begins saying:
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- "Between May 2009 and August 2010 (alone), arrests
were made for 19 'homegrown,' jihadist-inspired terrorist plots by American
citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States." They
were Muslims "susceptible to ideologies supporting a violent form
of jihad, a term willfully misused. CRS suggests that jihad = violence,
"jihadists,"....illegally supporting, plotting, or directly engaging
in violent terrorist activity."
-
- Post-9/11, CRS cited 40 homegrown "jihadist"
plots, including attacks on America, likely reflecting Al Qaeda directed
schemes, it said.
-
- During America's "war on terror," terms like
Al Qaeda, outside enemies, jihadists, and Islamic terrorists are interchangeably
used to incite fear. Recruited by the CIA and Pakistan's ISI, Al Qaeda
or Mujahideen were defenders of Muslim lands against the 1980s Soviet Afghan
occupation. At the time, Reagan officials called them a "necessary
response" against imperial communism.
-
- In 1998, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter's National Security
Advisor, confirmed it in an interview, saying:
-
- "....CIA aid to the Mujahideen began during 1980,
that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan" in late
December 1979. President Carter then "signed the first directive for
secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that
very day, I wrote a note to the President in which I explained to him that
in my opinion, this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention."
-
- He explained further that America had "the opportunity
of giving to the USSR its Vietnam War. Indeed for almost 10 years, Moscow
had to carry on a war unsupportable by the government, a conflict that
brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet
empire."
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- Key is that Al Qaeda was Washington's invention. Reagan
called them freedom fighters. Today, under any name, they're "terrorists,"
innocent Americans wrongfully charged with supporting them, mostly through
entrapment stings producing no evidence besides what paid FBI informants
say. It's their word against suspects, as well as illegally taped conversations,
innocent comments from them made to sound incriminating.
-
- "How Do People Become Violent Jihadists," CRS
asked? Charismatic "(i)ntermediaries, social networks, the Internet,
and prisons" play key roles...."
-
- Plots enumerated include:
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- (1) "Endgames," involving individuals wanting
to become foreign fighters in conflict zones;
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- (2) Suicide or Martyrdom" by violent jihad;
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- (3) "Success of Lone Wolves," unconnected to
others; and
-
- (4) "Divergent Capabilities," their experience
ranging from little to considerable.
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- CRS also explained how to combat homegrown "jihad"
through counterterrorism, laws like the USA Patriot Act, domestic intelligence,
illegal surveillance not called that, and working jointly with state and
local authorities, among other ways. It concluded with a national strategy
called a "Whole of Government Approach," coordinating across
departments and agencies at all levels of government. An appendix then
named names, dates, and "plots."
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- What the report omits says more than it offered. It explained
nothing about US imperial wars, state terrorism on a global scale, its
toll in the many millions, besides targeted homeland victims - innocent
men and women, wrongfully targeted and imprisoned, reports like CRS' suggesting
otherwise.
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- New Justice Department (DOJ) Targeted Victims
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- On November 2, a DOJ press release headlined "Three
California Men Charged with Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to al
Shabaab," saying:
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- "San Diego residents Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Mohamed
Mohamed Mahamud, aka Mohamed Khadar, and Issa Doreh were charged today
with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to
provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy
to kill in a foreign country, and related offenses...."
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- An unsealed October 22 indictment called Al-Shabaab "a
violent and brutal militia group in Somalia." More on them below,
a group the State Department falsely designated a foreign terrorist organization
(FTO) in February 2008.
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- Charges alleged that Moalin "was in direct telephone
contact with Aden Hashi Ayrow," a so-called "prominent (Al-Shabaab)
military leader....Ayrow requested money from Moalin, who then coordinated
the fundraising efforts and money transfers with Mohamud and Doreh."
-
- The indictment also alleged that Moalin provided a house
in Somalia, "knowing (it) would be used in preparation for, and to
carry out, a conspiracy to kill persons in a foreign country."
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- He was arrested on October 31, Mohamud and Doreh on November
1. All pleaded not guilty. They're being held without bail. Moalin's lawyer,
Marc Geller, said he's seen no evidence that his client, a local cab driver
with no prior record, had any involvement whatever.
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- About 50 local community members appeared in federal
court to show support, believing the three men are innocent. One man, Ali
Mohamed, said Moalin taught weekend classes on Islam at a local mosque
and is considered a leader of the local Somali community. Apparently it
led to his indictment.
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- "He would tell youngsters to stay away from drugs
and gangs," he said. "It's shocking to hear this case against
him (and the others). I don't understand why there are people in the street
who commit violence while the people who stay in the mosques and pray are
being attacked."
-
- Edgar Hopida, of San Diego's Council on American-Islamic
Relations, said the arrests put the local Somali community on edge. His
organization informs them of their rights, ones very much in jeopardy.
-
- "The Somali community is very fearful that their
community is under attack," Hopida explained. "The Somalis who
have come here are refugees from a war-torn country and the vast majority"
oppose terrorism. In fact, a US-sponsored resettlement program arranged
for most to come here, nearly all from the 87,000 community.
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- Last August, 14 Minnesota, California and Alabama Muslims
were also indicted for allegedly supporting a "deadly pipeline,"
sending money and fighters to Al- Shabaab. Seven from Minnesota were previously
charged.
-
- On November 3, another DOJ press release headlined, "Two
Indicted in Missouri on Charges of Providing Material Support to a Terrorist
Organization. A Third Defendant is Charged with Structuring Violations,"
saying:
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- "St. Louis resident Mohamud Abdi Yusuf has been
indicted and arrested on four charges of providing material support to
a designated terrorist organization and one charge of conspiracy to structure
financial transactions....Minneapolis resident Abdi Mahdi Hussein was also
indicted and arrested on a charge of conspiracy to structure financial
transactions."
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- The unsealed October 21 indictment alleged that "from
February 2009 through at least July 2009, Yusuf and a third defendant,
Duwayne Mohamed Diriye, a resident of Kenya and Somalia, were involved
in a conspiracy to provide funds to al Shabaab...."
-
- Other allegations cited "using fictitious names
and telephone numbers to conceal the nature of their activities. Yusuf
is also charged with conspiring with Abdi Mahdi Hussein, an employee of
a licensed money remitting business (Qaran Financial Express), to structure
financial transactions to avoid record keeping requirements."
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- Yusuf was arrested on November 1 in St. Louis, Hussein
on November 2 in Minneapolis. Still at large, Diiriye is thought either
to be in Kenya or Somalia. He's charged with one felony count each of "conspiracy
to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization
and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization."
These charges are commonly used when no evidence of any crime exists, likely
the case this time, as well as for the San Diego suspects.
-
- Charges against Yusuf and Hussein say they solicited
funds within and outside the Eastern District of Missouri, then arranged
for transfer to Al-Shabaab. Diriye is then alleged to have arranged their
delivery.
-
- Reporting on the case on November 3, AP writers Jim Suhr
and Amy Forliti cited Kulane Darman, president of Qaran Financial Express
(QFE), saying he doesn't know Hussein, and the DOJ information is incorrect.
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- QFE is a remittance company for immigrants or migrants
who wish to send money home to family members. It transmits funds mainly
to Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda through offices in seven
states, including Minnesota, home to America's largest Somali immigrant
population, numbering over 32,000.
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- A Profile of Al-Shabaab
-
- An earlier article explained that on the Horn of Africa,
Somalia is strategically adjacent to the Red Sea, Suez Canal, and vital
commercial waterways. In the north, it also abuts Sudan, a country rich
in oil and gas reserves, coveted by America, China, India and other nations.
-
- In December 2006, Washington-backed Ethiopian forces
unseated the governing Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), installing a Transitional
Federal Government (TFG) in its place. Thousands were killed. Over a million
became refugees. Ever since, conflict continued, Al- Shabaab wanting it
freed from foreign invaders, much like the Taliban struggle in Afghanistan.
-
- In January 2009, Ethiopian forces withdrew, following
an agreement between the TFG and Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia
(ARS) - a UIC coalition with other opposition forces. Fighting, however,
continued, America backing the TRG/African Union Blue Helmets to keep Islamists
from regaining power.
-
- UIC members aren't terrorists connected to Al Qaeda.
They're freedom fighters, struggling to liberate their country after years
of US-instigated conflict, divisions and instability. Their ranks include
moderate and radical Islamists as well as politicians and militants, united
for a common cause.
-
- Mogadishu traders initially established a UIC coalition
with opposition elements to end clan divisions and bring order to the city's
instability. Years of civil war left no stable government in most parts
of the country. Al- Shabaab and other opposition forces continue the struggle
against the US-installed government, Ethiopian backers, and African Union
force. They also call themselves the Mjuahideen Youth Movement (MYM).
-
- According to the US National Counterterrorism Center:
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- "Since the end of 2006, (Al-Shabaab) led a violent
insurgency, using guerrilla warfare and terror tactics against the continued
Ethiopian presence in Somalia, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia,
and (NGOs)."
-
- As a result, on February 29, 2008, the US State Department
designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended) and as a Specially
Designated Global Terrorist under Section 1(b) of George Bush's September
23, 2001 Executive Order 13224 (as amended). It authorized ways to disrupt
financial support for FTOs by blocking assets of individuals or groups
alleged to commit, or pose risks to commit, terrorist acts.
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- Like US-funded and backed Afghan Mujaheddin in the 1980s,
Al-Shabaab wants Somalia freed from the US-backed TFG government and African
Union paramilitaries (AMISOM Blue Helmets). Washington calls them terrorists,
Somali US refugees thus victimized.
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- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached atlendmanstephen@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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