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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (72606)	9/25/2009 2:37:20 AM
From: FJB	Respond to of 224748

Man arrested in alleged attempt to bomb Dallas skyscraper 12:52 AM CDT on Friday, September 25, 2009 By JASON TRAHAN, TODD J. GILLMAN and SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News A 19-year-old Jordanian citizen was arrested Thursday in a dramatic FBI sting operation after he parked a vehicle laden with government-supplied fake explosives at an iconic downtown Dallas skyscraper and attempted to detonate it, authorities said. An undercover FBI agent monitoring an online extremist Web site discovered Hosam Maher Husein Smadi espousing jihad against the U.S. more than six months ago. Hosam Maher Husein Smadi As more undercover Arabic-speaking agents engaged him, Smadi, living illegally in the U.S. in the small town of Italy, about 45 miles south of Dallas, pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and expressed a desire to kill Americans, authorities said. In conversations with agents posing as members of an al-Qaeda sleeper cell, Smadi said he came to the U.S. to wage jihad, or holy war. He told agents he wanted to target military recruitment centers, but eventually settled on financial institutions.

To: lorne who wrote (72606)	9/25/2009 2:37:45 AM
From: FJB	Respond to of 224748

UPDATE 1-Illinois man charged in plot to bomb federal offices Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:41pm EDT (Updates with court hearing) WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - An Illinois man was ordered held on Thursday on charges he tried to blow up a federal building in the state capital, a case unrelated to the New York terrorism plot. Michael Finton, also known as Talib Islam, was arrested in Springfield, Illinois, and charged with attempted murder of federal officers or employees and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction, charges that carry a life sentence. "Fortunately, a coordinated undercover law enforcement effort was able to thwart his efforts and ensure no one was harmed," David Kris, assistant Attorney General for National Security, said in a statement. Finton was arrested on Wednesday in Springfield as he used a cell phone to try to detonate the bomb he believed was inside a van he had just parked outside the federal building. Appearing in a courtroom on Thursday in the same building he is accused of targeting, Finton waived his right to a detention hearing. U.S. Magistrate Judge Byron Cudmore appointed a public defender to represent Finton and ordered him held pending an indictment by a grand jury. Finton said he worked part-time as a restaurant cook, according to the State Journal-Register newspaper. The criminal complaint said Finton, 29, converted to Islam while in prison on other charges. It said he idolized an American who allied with the Taliban, John Walker Lindh, drawing the attention of law enforcement authorities. After returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2008, Finton told an individual, who turned out to be a law enforcement source, that he wanted to fight against Israelis in the Gaza Strip, according to the complaint. In early 2009, "it appeared that Finton was on the verge of taking action, so it was decided to proactively provide him with an opportunity for action that we controlled, rather than merely hoping to be able to find out and stop him," according to a government affidavit. He was introduced to an undercover FBI agent who began working with him to plot an attack, but Finton was repeatedly told he could walk away at any time, according to the Justice Department. Eventually, Finton picked the federal building in Springfield as the target and on Wednesday he parked a van he believed carried one ton of explosives at the location, the complaint said. The Justice Department said the case was unrelated to another suspected terrorism plot in New York, where an Afghan-born man was charged with conspiring to launch a bombing attack in the United States using chemicals that form triacetone triperoxide. (Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington and Andy Kravetz in Illinois, editing by Doina Chiacu)

To: lorne who wrote (72606)	9/25/2009 2:38:06 AM
From: FJB	Respond to of 224748

Inoperative Cameras Hinder SEPTA 'Photo' Probe Reporting Walt Hunter PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ? Click to enlarge1 of 1 CBS Sep 24, 2009 11:38 pm US/Eastern Twice in the past two days, SEPTA officials have alerted police to men taking pictures on the Broad Street subway line in South Philadelphia. On Wednesday, a SEPTA cashier told officers about a man taking pictures at the Lombard-South station, but the man, after being questioned by the cashier about his activities, left before officers arrived. "We are attempting to identify that male to determine what the nature or the reason for taking the photographs was," Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said. On Tuesday, officers received a report of a male taking pictures in the track area at the Snyder Avenue station. So far, neither male has been identified, although Philadelphia Police officials say the two separate incidents have no link to any terrorist activities. While police have video of the man who they are hoping to interview from the Snyder Avenue Station incident, there is no video of the second man because cameras at the Lombard-South station, and at three of six SEPTA subway stations in South Philadelphia, are covered and not yet working. SEPTA officials say the security system, which the transit authority describes as "state of the art," is still being installed and they don't yet know exactly when the cameras will be uncovered and begin working.

To: lorne who wrote (72606)	9/25/2009 2:38:28 AM
From: FJB	Respond to of 224748

U.S. terror suspects accused of targeting Marine base Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:48pm EDT RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Two men charged in North Carolina last month with plotting terrorist attacks overseas also planned to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, authorities said on Thursday. The two were among seven suspects arrested in August for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and for conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure people overseas. A new indictment unveiled on Thursday charged Daniel Patrick Boyd, the group's alleged ringleader, and Hysen Sherifi "with conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel" in connection with the planned assault on the Marine Corps base, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh said in a statement. It offered no details, except to say that Boyd had undertaken reconnaissance of Quantico and obtained maps of the base in order to plan the attack. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Boyd also possessed armor piercing ammunition, and had stated that it was "to attack the Americans." "These additional charges hammer home the grim reality that today's home-grown terrorists are not limiting their violent plans to locations overseas, but instead are willing to set their sights on American citizens and American targets, right here at home," U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said. All seven suspects in the North Carolina case were denied bail after a hearing in Raleigh last month at which prosecutors played FBI recordings as evidence that they had discussed waging "jihad" as part of a conspiracy to conduct attacks in foreign nations. The United States has been on heightened security alert since the September 11 attacks in 2001 and authorities have publicized efforts to crush domestic terrorist cells before they have a chance to act. Prosecutors have said Boyd trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992, and fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Boyd is a U.S. citizen and Sherifi is a native of Kosovo and a legal permanent resident of the United States.