PraxMan
05-24-2009, 05:23 PM
Robert Dreyfuss has a follow up to that NYC terror plot that was posted a few days ago...apologies in advance if this is a dupe.
Yet Another Bogus 'Terror' Plot
By Robert Dreyfuss
May 22, 2009 "The Nation" -- By the now, it's maddeningly familiar. A scary terrorist plot is announced. Then it's revealed that the suspects are a hapless bunch of ne'er-do-wells or run-of-the-mill thugs without the slightest connection to any terrorists at all, never mind to Al Qaeda. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle: the entire plot is revealed to have been cooked up by a scummy government agent-provocateur.
I've seen this movie before.
In this case, the alleged perps -- Onta Williams, James Cromitie, David Williams, and Laguerre Payen -- were losers, ex-cons, drug addicts. Al Qaeda they're not. Without the assistance of the agent who entrapped them, they would never have dreamed of committing political violence, nor would they have had the slightest idea about where to acquire plastic explosives or a Stinger missile. That didn't stop prosecutors from acting as if they'd captured Osama bin Laden himself. Noted the Los Angeles Times:
Prosecutors called it the latest in a string of homegrown terrorism plots hatched after Sept. 11.
"It's hard to envision a more chilling plot," Assistant U.S. Atty. Eric Snyder said in court Thursday. He described all four suspects as "eager to bring death to Jews."
Actually, it's hard to imagine a stupider, less competent, and less important plot. The four losers were ensnared by a creepy FBI agent who hung around the mosque in upstate New York until he found what he was looking for. Here's the New York Times account:
Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad, the imam at the mosque where the authorities say the confidential informant first encountered the men, said none of the men were active in the mosque. ...
Mr. Cromitie was there last June, and he met a stranger.
He had no way of knowing that the stranger's path to the mosque began in 2002, when he was arrested on federal charges of identity theft. He was sentenced to five years' probation, and became a confidential informant for the F.B.I. He began showing up at the mosque in Newburgh around 2007, Mr. Muhammad said.
The stranger's behavior aroused the imam's suspicions. He invited other worshipers to meals, and spoke of violence and jihad, so the imam said he steered clear of him.
"There was just something fishy about him," Mr. Muhammad said. Members "believed he was a government agent."
Mr. Muhammad said members of his congregation told him the man he believed was the informant offered at least one of them a substantial amount of money to join his "team."
So a creepy thug buttonholes people at a mosque, foaming at the mouth about violence and jihad? This is law enforcement? Just imagine if someone did this at a local church, or some synagogue. And the imam says the people "believed he was a government agent."
Preying on these losers, none of whom were apparently actual Muslims, the "confidential informant" orchestrated the acquisition of a disabled Stinger missile to shoot down military planes and cooked up a wild scheme about attacking a Jewish center in the Bronx.
It gets even more pathetic:
The only one of the four suspects who appears to have aroused any suspicion was Payen, a Haitian native who attended the Newburgh mosque. Assistant imam Hamid Rashada said his dishevelment and odd behavior disturbed some members, said the assistant imam, Hamid Rashada.
When Payen appeared in court, defense attorney Marilyn Reader described him as "intellectually challenged" and on medication for schizophrenia. The Associated Press said that when he was asked if he understood the proceedings, Payen replied: "Sort of."
Despite the pompous statements from Mayor Bloomberg of New York and other politicians, including Representative Peter King, the whole story is bogus. The four losers may have been inclined to violence, and they may have harbored a virulent strain of anti-Semitism. But it seems that the informant whipped up their violent tendencies and their hatred of Jews, cooked up the plot, incited them, arranged their purchase of weapons, and then had them busted. To ensure that it made headlines, the creepy informant claimed to be representing a Pakistani extremist group, Jaish-e Muhammad, a bona fide terrorist organization. He wasn't, of course.
It is disgusting and outrageous that the FBI is sending provocateurs into mosques.
The headlines reinforce the very fear that Dick Cheney is trying to stir up. The story strengthens the narrative that the "homeland" is under attack. It's not. As I've written repeatedly, since 9/11 not a single American has even been punched in the nose by an angry Muslim, as far as I can tell. Plot after plot -- the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge! bombing the New York Subways! taking down the Sears Tower! bombing the Prudential building in Newark! -- proved to be utter nonsense.
[link:www.informationclearinghouse.info/article22695.htm|ICH]
schizophrenia?
Now why does that ring a bell...oh ya
Moussaoui's Childhood Is Presented as Mitigating Factor
Lawyers trying to persuade a jury to spare the life of Zacarias Moussaoui began presenting testimony about his childhood on Monday, to show that he grew up in a neglectful household in France where his father beat his mother regularly and that he spent much of his youth in orphanages.
Witnesses also said Mr. Moussaoui was unprepared to deal with the racist anti-Islamic taunts of schoolmates and the hostility of the parents of a French girlfriend.
Jan Vogelsang, a clinical social worker from South Carolina, led off with a psychological survey of the Moussaoui family and their continuing mental health problems. The day concluded with the testimony of Dr. Xavier Amador, a psychologist who has interviewed the defendant several times and told the jury that Mr. Moussaoui suffered from schizophrenia of the paranoid variety.
Between the testimony of those two mental health professionals, the jury heard from friends of Mr. Moussaoui in France during his teenage years and early 20's. The man they described was nearly unrecognizable from the angry defendant the jury saw last week expressing regret that more people had not been killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
...
Ms. Vogelsang testified that Mr. Moussaoui's father was in a mental institution in France and was incoherent during her interview because he was heavily medicated. Mr. Moussaoui's two sisters, who testified via videotaped depositions, are also under care and living in government housing for the mentally ill. Jamilla Moussaoui described her little brother as ''the sweetheart of the family.'
[link:query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E4DA173FF93BA25757C0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|NYTimes]
Yet Another Bogus 'Terror' Plot
By Robert Dreyfuss
May 22, 2009 "The Nation" -- By the now, it's maddeningly familiar. A scary terrorist plot is announced. Then it's revealed that the suspects are a hapless bunch of ne'er-do-wells or run-of-the-mill thugs without the slightest connection to any terrorists at all, never mind to Al Qaeda. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle: the entire plot is revealed to have been cooked up by a scummy government agent-provocateur.
I've seen this movie before.
In this case, the alleged perps -- Onta Williams, James Cromitie, David Williams, and Laguerre Payen -- were losers, ex-cons, drug addicts. Al Qaeda they're not. Without the assistance of the agent who entrapped them, they would never have dreamed of committing political violence, nor would they have had the slightest idea about where to acquire plastic explosives or a Stinger missile. That didn't stop prosecutors from acting as if they'd captured Osama bin Laden himself. Noted the Los Angeles Times:
Prosecutors called it the latest in a string of homegrown terrorism plots hatched after Sept. 11.
"It's hard to envision a more chilling plot," Assistant U.S. Atty. Eric Snyder said in court Thursday. He described all four suspects as "eager to bring death to Jews."
Actually, it's hard to imagine a stupider, less competent, and less important plot. The four losers were ensnared by a creepy FBI agent who hung around the mosque in upstate New York until he found what he was looking for. Here's the New York Times account:
Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad, the imam at the mosque where the authorities say the confidential informant first encountered the men, said none of the men were active in the mosque. ...
Mr. Cromitie was there last June, and he met a stranger.
He had no way of knowing that the stranger's path to the mosque began in 2002, when he was arrested on federal charges of identity theft. He was sentenced to five years' probation, and became a confidential informant for the F.B.I. He began showing up at the mosque in Newburgh around 2007, Mr. Muhammad said.
The stranger's behavior aroused the imam's suspicions. He invited other worshipers to meals, and spoke of violence and jihad, so the imam said he steered clear of him.
"There was just something fishy about him," Mr. Muhammad said. Members "believed he was a government agent."
Mr. Muhammad said members of his congregation told him the man he believed was the informant offered at least one of them a substantial amount of money to join his "team."
So a creepy thug buttonholes people at a mosque, foaming at the mouth about violence and jihad? This is law enforcement? Just imagine if someone did this at a local church, or some synagogue. And the imam says the people "believed he was a government agent."
Preying on these losers, none of whom were apparently actual Muslims, the "confidential informant" orchestrated the acquisition of a disabled Stinger missile to shoot down military planes and cooked up a wild scheme about attacking a Jewish center in the Bronx.
It gets even more pathetic:
The only one of the four suspects who appears to have aroused any suspicion was Payen, a Haitian native who attended the Newburgh mosque. Assistant imam Hamid Rashada said his dishevelment and odd behavior disturbed some members, said the assistant imam, Hamid Rashada.
When Payen appeared in court, defense attorney Marilyn Reader described him as "intellectually challenged" and on medication for schizophrenia. The Associated Press said that when he was asked if he understood the proceedings, Payen replied: "Sort of."
Despite the pompous statements from Mayor Bloomberg of New York and other politicians, including Representative Peter King, the whole story is bogus. The four losers may have been inclined to violence, and they may have harbored a virulent strain of anti-Semitism. But it seems that the informant whipped up their violent tendencies and their hatred of Jews, cooked up the plot, incited them, arranged their purchase of weapons, and then had them busted. To ensure that it made headlines, the creepy informant claimed to be representing a Pakistani extremist group, Jaish-e Muhammad, a bona fide terrorist organization. He wasn't, of course.
It is disgusting and outrageous that the FBI is sending provocateurs into mosques.
The headlines reinforce the very fear that Dick Cheney is trying to stir up. The story strengthens the narrative that the "homeland" is under attack. It's not. As I've written repeatedly, since 9/11 not a single American has even been punched in the nose by an angry Muslim, as far as I can tell. Plot after plot -- the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge! bombing the New York Subways! taking down the Sears Tower! bombing the Prudential building in Newark! -- proved to be utter nonsense.
[link:www.informationclearinghouse.info/article22695.htm|ICH]
schizophrenia?
Now why does that ring a bell...oh ya
Moussaoui's Childhood Is Presented as Mitigating Factor
Lawyers trying to persuade a jury to spare the life of Zacarias Moussaoui began presenting testimony about his childhood on Monday, to show that he grew up in a neglectful household in France where his father beat his mother regularly and that he spent much of his youth in orphanages.
Witnesses also said Mr. Moussaoui was unprepared to deal with the racist anti-Islamic taunts of schoolmates and the hostility of the parents of a French girlfriend.
Jan Vogelsang, a clinical social worker from South Carolina, led off with a psychological survey of the Moussaoui family and their continuing mental health problems. The day concluded with the testimony of Dr. Xavier Amador, a psychologist who has interviewed the defendant several times and told the jury that Mr. Moussaoui suffered from schizophrenia of the paranoid variety.
Between the testimony of those two mental health professionals, the jury heard from friends of Mr. Moussaoui in France during his teenage years and early 20's. The man they described was nearly unrecognizable from the angry defendant the jury saw last week expressing regret that more people had not been killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
...
Ms. Vogelsang testified that Mr. Moussaoui's father was in a mental institution in France and was incoherent during her interview because he was heavily medicated. Mr. Moussaoui's two sisters, who testified via videotaped depositions, are also under care and living in government housing for the mentally ill. Jamilla Moussaoui described her little brother as ''the sweetheart of the family.'
[link:query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E4DA173FF93BA25757C0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|NYTimes]