Terrorists in California?

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, October 28, 2003 | Joseph Farah

[JohnHuang2]

People thought I was crazy when I suggested the D.C. snipers were probably Islamic terrorists.

My staff knows I went so far as to name one of the shooters in advance – Mohammad.

I looked at the evidence – including the evidence that was being ignored by law enforcement because of political correctness and an irrational phobia about "racial profiling" – and concluded that the shooters were most likely acting in solidarity with al-Qaida.

I turned out to be right.

I'm not going quite that far today.

But I am suggesting it would be a mistake to overlook the distinct possibility that Islamic terrorists have contributed to the California wildfires.

Here's what we know:

• arson is suspected in at least some of the blazes;

• al-Qaida was planning, according to one captive and an FBI memo last June, to torch forest land in the western United States as late as last summer;

• al-Qaida is believed to have practiced for such a mission in the Australian bush country;

• al-Qaida has taken inspiration before from Palestinian terrorists, who have torched hundreds of thousands of acres of Israeli forest; and

• the fires plaguing California are, in many ways, the worst ever to hit the state.

To me that adds up to a strong circumstantial case. To me it would be crazy to dismiss the possibility without thorough investigation. To me it is always better to go where the facts lead you, to be suspicious of coincidences and to follow your gut instincts as a journalist.

That's why I am shocked no one is asking the obvious questions about the wildfires in Southern California.

I saw this happen last year in the Washington area. I saw policemen discount eyewitnesses because they didn't like the information they got. I saw government agencies bend over backward to say there was no reason to believe the shootings were connected with terrorism.

Yes there was.

The shootings were terrorism. There was no other apparent motive for them. The timing and the location were other clues.

Am I suggesting we attribute every bad thing that happens in the United States to terrorism or al-Qaida? Absolutely not. That, too, would be a mistake. Al-Qaida is not omnipresent, nor omniscient. Al-Qaida is, in fact, on the run – and probably weaker than at any time since 2001.

And that is precisely why a desperate act like this would be up its alley. It's easy to start forest fires. It's easy to start brushfires in parched Southern California when the Santa Ana winds are blowing. It's easy to create mayhem and cause massive property damage and kill Americans when those kinds of blazes are already burning.

Could the arsonists be individuals unconnected to terrorism or al-Qaida? Absolutely. But no one has the motivation to resort to this kind of terror like Osama bin Laden's agents.

What difference does it make who the arsonists are?

It makes a difference to me. I don't think we're doing all we can to defend our homeland. I don't think we're doing enough to patrol our borders and enforce our immigration laws. I don't think we're doing enough to monitor groups and individuals whose loyalty to the United States is questionable at best. I don't think we're doing enough to protect Americans, even while we are battling the terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I could be wrong about my suspicions this time. I hope I am. But I think it's better to be safe than sorry. I think it's better to investigate with an open mind rather than by the dictates of political correctness.

We've missed clues before. We don't want to miss any more.

[JohnHuang2]

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Quote of the Day by PMCarey

[Yaelle]

Someone on L.A. radio (someone from L.E. but I don't recall name or title; I listen while living my life) today said that the Simi fire arsonist(s) may have gang affiliation, but the person said that it was early on in the investigation and couldn't be sure at this time.

[Mo1]

I think it's terrorists .. the question is whether it is domestic or foreign?

[Mr. Mojo]

What difference does it make who the arsonists are? It makes a difference to me. I don't think we're doing all we can to defend our homeland. I don't think we're doing enough to patrol our borders and enforce our immigration laws. I don't think we're doing enough to monitor groups and individuals whose loyalty to the United States is questionable at best.

Amen

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...and a Marine who helped rescue Pvt. LYNCH in Iraq was shot by a random hooded gang member while on leave in Long Beach two weeks ago..? Random..?

[sourcery]

Terrorism is politically motivated. It seeks to use violence, or the threat of violence, to achieve political ends. Like extortion, it is pointless unless the victim knows and understands what the extortionist/terrorist wants to coerce the victim to do, and unless the victim recognizes that he is being extorted.

The fires don't fit that profile, unless a terrorist organization plausibly takes credit for them. The idea makes as much sense as an extortionist who causes all sorts of bad things to happen to someone, but never lets the victim know that the events aren't just bad luck or 'acts of God.'

[ex-Texan]

Gang members in Long Beach do not wear hoods. I lived in LB for nearly five years. There were gang shootings all the time -- but they never wore hoods. Hoods are part of the Islamic culture. 'Nuff said.

[Unknowing]

Meanwhile, FEMA is training Community Emergency Response Teams in the techniques of firefighting: training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/cert/

If these fires are in fact terrorism, then the "victim" knows and understands, because the government is actively training civilians in firefighting through the CERT program. The authorities recognize fire as a terrorist threat, that's all I am saying.

[sourcery]

The authorities recognize fire as a terrorist threat, that's all I am saying.

And it's a plausible threat. The fires, or some of them, may in fact have been set by terrorists. But a wildfire is not like a bomb going off in a nightclub, or a hijacked jetliner crashing into a skyscraper. It's far more likely to simply be a natural disaster.

If someone keeps shooting out your car windows, and your tires, and your pets start turning up missing or obviously killed on purpose, you would start to suspect that someone really doesn't like you. But when a wildfire burns down your house, you have car accident, your wife gets cancer, and your cat gets leukemia, it's certainly possible that someone doesn't like you, but there are other, more likely, explanations. Unless, of course, you receive a letter that makes demands, and offers proof of culpability...

[Unknowing]

Indeed, based on the preponderance of the evidence that we have now, these fires are a terrible disaster.

And I'd like to think that we have the terrorists at bay -- Guantanamo Bay.

[cardinal4]

I think it's terrorists .. the question is whether it is domestic or foreign?

Who knows? California is no stranger to eco-terrorists, they have one in the cooler right now. I heard on the radio coming home tonight about the FBI memo. Thats pretty interesting..

[backtothestreets]

If it's not Islamtic terrotists, don't think they haven't gotten the idea now that it's been suggested.

Such a scenerio has been known for over 50 years, not just since 9/11. Why would anyone want to point out our weak spots? I could tell you something even scarier if it couldn't fall into the wrong hands.

Damn I hate the press sometimes. With "friends" like these, we don't need enemies! Doesn't matter if it's conservative or liberal, if it's foolish. Sometimes it's just better to keep thought like this to ones self, or report it to Homeland Security.

[hotpotato]

Do you suppose Allah invented Santa Ana winds for use by the terrorists to make such devastation possible? I mean, they usually *do* come around Ramadan (October). And that's the history of big fires in California... October of different years.

[Simmy2.5]

I'm a little hesitant to place the arsonist as a Islamist terrorist (though I can see the possiblity of it being an ecoterrorist). Like the author, it is wrong to blame everything on Al Queda, and so far...with no fan fare or press releases saying how great their evil is here, I doubt this is Islamist at play here.

Still, it is rather coincidental that it started around the time of Ramadan. But that, is probably just that, coincidence.

[hotpotato]

The fires don't fit that profile, unless a terrorist organization plausibly takes credit for them.

That's ok. Farah along with his anti-muslim-agenda buddies will do it for them. It should make them real proud.

[Savage Beast]

"it is always better to go where the facts lead you, to be suspicious of coincidences and to follow your gut instincts..."

Of course it is, Joe, but don't expect such clarity from confused "PC" "Liberals", the morons who follow them, or their Useful Idiots. If they were capable of such elementary wisdom, they wouldn't be "PC" in the first place.

"I saw policemen discount eyewitnesses because they didn't like the information they got."

It is "PC" to ignore the obvious. These policemen were merely following their oh-so-"Liberal" leaders and staying comfortably in "PC" Groupthink.

"I saw government agencies bend over backward to say there was no reason to believe..."___________.

Just fill in the blank.

"There is no reason to believe _______" and "There is no scientific evidence that ____________" are canned "Liberal" "PC" comments, particularly useful in ignoring--and encouraging others to ignore--the obvious.

[tkathy]

Just because there is no evidence means nothing. Terrorists are not going to leave evidence if they can help it. They are trying to destroy our economy one way or another. I still think the anthrax murders may be muslim terrorists.

[eno_]

Let's deport every Moslem with a whiff of radicalism on them. Then let's see how many fired like this we get in the future.