Even the authorities admit the alleged suicide bomber apprehended near the U.S. Capitol posed no threat. Mansfield Frazier on how the feds create ‘terrorists’ so they can arrest them:
If federal authorities thought Amine El Khalifi was a clear and present danger to America, they could have easily solved the problem by deporting the 29-year-old Moroccan, who had been living as an illegal immigrant in northern Virginia for years, having overstayed his visitor’s visa by a decade. Instead, he was arrested Friday in a garage outside the U.S. Capitol for allegedly planning to set off a fake suicide vest and shoot people with an inoperable automatic weapon—both provided to him by his government handlers.
As federal authorities so accurately stated after Khalifi’s “capture,” he never posed a danger to the public. In other words, at no time were any Americans in any danger whatsoever from this suspect.
Yet, if convicted, Khalifi will most likely spend the majority of the rest of his life in prison, courtesy of the American taxpayer. The only question is, will we be safer? Or, more pointedly, were we ever in danger to begin with?
This is a significant problem. While the FBI claims to target figures like Khalifi as an attempt to catch these sorts of lone wolf figures before they prove to be truly dangerous, they clearly do this in a way to maximize the public relations coup that comes with their capture. Raise your hand if you’d like to see the FBI pass on getting the PR coup.
(Source: anticapitalist)
I didn’t raise my son in that way. I feel bad about this situation.Carmen Sosa, mother of NYC “lone wolf” bombing suspect Jose Pimentel • Apologizing for her son’s behavior while speaking with reporters outside her Manhattan home this morning. Regarding the NYPD’s actions in this incident, Sosa praised them. “I think they handled it well,” she said. If it helps Ms. Sosa, the FBI didn’t exactly treat this case very seriously, a sign it may not be a strong case. source (via • follow)
“How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.” Yes, the al-Qaeda produced Inspire Magazine had an article with this title, and it was reportedly an inspiration for NYC terror suspect Jose Pimentel.
The FBI also released a similar warning when U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden. In related news, the guy who designed the underwear bomber’s underwear bomb was likely also killed in the strike that killed al-Awlaki.
Also on our radar: Apparently some U-Haul vans were stolen today in Prince George’s County, within shouting distance of DC. “Yes, there is a lookout for two stolen vans in PG,” said DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier. “Yes we are actively looking for them.” U-Hauls are desirable for criminal activity due to their nondescript look and the fact that most of them have Arizona plates, making them hard to trace.
There are specifics — in that sense it was credible — but there’s no certitude. There’s no smoking gun, but we do have talk about using a car bomb.Vice President Joe Biden • Speaking on the credible terror threat this morning while on “Good Morning America.” He was slightly less vague than Michael Bloomberg was last night. NYC and DC have upped their security ahead of the 9/11 anniversary as a result of the threat, which up to this point has proven incredibly vague. Let’s hope that, whatever it is, authorities have their ducks in a row. source (via • follow)
» Some quick thoughts: The U.S. passenger rail system, while not nearly as robust as that in Europe or the rest of the world, nonetheless is widely used along the East Coast in particular. While perhaps not the strongest target of attack, the rail system has nowhere near the level of security that airline system does — making it a much easier target for attack. We wonder what this means for the rail system — an army of TSA agents at Penn Station?
Do these guys have ties to the European terror threats? That’s our question. Generally, when the U.S. has drones go on the attack in Afghanistan or Pakistan, it takes a couple days to figure out exactly who got hit. This time, however, they knew very quickly. The drones nailed a group that included at least four people with German citizenship and reported extremist ties. Americans are keeping tight-lipped about any further details in the case, but the timing obviously leads to a lot of big questions. source
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