Sunday, May 24, 2009

THE "TERROR PLOT" THAT WASN'T

Remember those four guys that got busted for plotting to shoot down an airliner and blow up a Jewish Temple? Well it turns out that they were just four "losers" who a creepy Federal informant claiming to represent a Pakistani extremist group used in the same way others have been used since 9/11 to "prove" we are still under a terrorist threat. Just more lies and bullshit to make Cheney look like he's right....which the lying son of a bitch isn't.

From The Nation:

Yet Another Bogus 'Terror' Plot

by Robert Dreyfuss


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.

14 comments:

Riot Kitty said...

Did you see that the first NY Times story said they were all "of Arab descent" and it was later corrected - oops, none of them? What really gets me is that domestic terrorists - the abortion clinic bombers who claim lives left and right - hardly get any ink. You remember, I'm sure, when the Oklahoma City bombing happened, everyone said right away, "ooooh, it must be Middle Eastern guys!" And it turned out to be white guys from right around there.

Reverend Manny and the Twilight Empire said...

one of my friends reports in the neighborhood... she did this great in depth story... dig it

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009905220341

Anonymous said...

They have to come up with "plots" and "threats" to protect you from to justify their budgets. Same as the DEA and their "war on drugs" that has wrecked more lives than the drugs themselves. A good gig if you can get one of these jobs I suppose. Like the East German Stasi.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Riot Kitty - No, I hadn't seen the very first story, but I had heard someone on TV news say that they "may be of Arab decent". I do remember the stir right after the OK City bombing though. What a shock for the racists to find out they were white.

Reverend Manny - Thank you so very much for that link.

Haven't heard from you for a while. How have you been?

Anonymous - The "plots and threats" aren't so much for the justification of budgets as it is for scare tactics and control of the populace.

The war on drugs was different. That started out as a tool to make white people afraid of blacks and Hispanics. It was used as a mechanism for racism

Anonymous said...

Wow, can we spell Entrapment?

If there are any real homegrown terrorists out there, we will miss them because we are too busy chasing this sort of bullshit.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to double post--but did you all notice they never go after people who bomb abortion clinics and call them *home grown terrorists. Or the snipers.

Why not?

Grandpa Eddie said...

Seeing Eye Chick - They will never call abortion clinic bombers (and those who shoot abortion Drs.) "home grown terrorists" because that would mean that the radical wing of christianity in America would be labeled "terrorists" and they won't do that.

But they are terrorists and it's about time the American Taliban (radical right-wing christian fascists and racists) were called what they are. People need to know and realize that these people are no different than those who attacked us on 9/11, just different religious beliefs.

Woody (Tokin Librul/Rogue Scholar/ Helluvafella!) said...

DHS has a huge budget.

It needs to justify it.

Propaganda...

pure and simple...

Gordon said...

Ed - I think you were the first to call this one as a bogus deal in 'comments' over at the Brain.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Gordon - I'm sure this is bogus. Kinda like what Woody said....propaganda, pure and simple.


Woody - I'm not so sure it's to justify a huge DHS budget. More like Cheney's people on the inside trying to help their "boss."

themom said...

PROPOGANDA of major proportions.

khaskoo said...

The perps had a collective IQ of
(2) carrot sticks.
More reason to continue rendition, and consider torture of US citizens.

Grandpa Eddie said...

themom - Definitely propaganda...with a little aid for Cheney's cause.

Pretty goddamn fucking sad that we taxpayers are paying for this bullshit!

Grandpa Eddie said...

khaskoo - Their questionable IQ along with their backgrounds made them the perfect patsies for the Feds.