1,500 in Minneapolis protest ouster of Sharia government in Somalia

What are 1,500 supporters of Islamic jihad and Sharia law doing in Minneapolis? What are the implications of this for our own national security? Why is no one with any power or influence even asking these questions?

"Area Somalis want peace for homeland: Many of the 1,500 protesters in Minneapolis were angered that the U.S. gave tacit support for ousting of Islamists," by Liz Fedor in the Star Tribune, with thanks to CGW:

More than a thousand Somalis gathered in Minneapolis on Saturday to call for Ethiopian troops to withdraw immediately from Somalia.

Their protest capped a week in which transitional government troops retook Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, with the backing of Ethiopian infantrymen.

The U.S. government "gave the green light" to Ethiopia to work in concert with the transitional federal government in Somalia, and that action was "totally wrong," said Hassan Mohamud.

He is the president of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice in Minneapolis, which organized Saturday's rally.

"We ask the president of the United States, Mr. Bush, and his administration to stop supporting the terrorists. Ethiopian troops are terrorists," Mohamud said to a cheering crowd.

Somali men, women and children gathered Saturday morning in Peavey Park in Minneapolis, and they carried an array of signs. Some said "No more war" and "Islam is the solution."

Lt. Rick Thomas of the Minneapolis Police Department estimated the crowd at about 1,500 people for a rally that ran for more than two hours.

Mohamud said he and other Somalis want the United States to support talks that can yield "peace and reconciliation."

Somalia has not had a stable government in 15 years, but many attendees at the rally said that the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) had brought some peace to the country during the past six months.

When that Islamic group took over the capital in June, many people were optimistic about the future, said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis.

"They brought back security," Jamal said in a telephone interview. "We were all hoping that the moderates would be able to take the lead in the organization of the UIC. But unfortunately, the radicals hijacked the process."

Jamal said the large Somali community in Minnesota "is divided," adding that many local Somalis supported the overthrow of the Islamists over the past few days.

Sadia Egal, 23, said she had been planning to visit her parents in Somalia in January. But the recent military actions prompted her to postpone the trip. She is fearful that her teenage brothers in Somalia could be killed in revenge slayings. "My dad asked them to stop going to school," she said, so they could stay home and avoid being targets for violence.

Egal, who lives in north Minneapolis, has not returned to Somalia since she left the country with her aunt when she was 12 years old. She works as a parking attendant and interpreter and has been saving her money for six months to pay for her plane ticket.

Abdullahi Hassan, a small-business owner from Eden Prairie, said, "What brought me here [to the rally] is our country is under occupation by foreign forces." He said the United States should support a process that would allow highly educated Somalis to find solutions to stabilize the country and build hospitals and schools that will serve the people.

A member of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice, Abdul Mohamed of Minneapolis, said the military advances last week by Ethiopian troops created "one of the worst moments in Somali history."

Mohamed disagrees with U.S. policy in Somalia, which he said is driven by "Islamophobia."

If anyone in the American government had any courage, they would tackle this head-on, explaining that they opposed the Somali jihadists not only because they had ties to Al-Qaeda, but because Sharia government institutionalizes discrimination against women and religious minorities and denies freedom of conscience, and is in general an outrage to the dignity of the human person. In other words, they would engage the ideological challenge posed by the global jihad by asserting the superiority of the values of the modern West, and of the civilization built on Judeo-Christian values. But they don't dare.

http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2005/205/11.shtml

US National Security Concerns Cited Somali immigrants

Columbus, Ohio, December 22, 2005 (Union Tribune) – US authorities have charged a Somali immigrant with conspiring to help Al-Qaeda blow up a shopping center in the Midwestern United States, US Attorney General John Ashcroft said last year.

"The American heartland was targeted for death and destruction by an al-Qaeda cell, which allegedly included a Somali immigrant, who will now face justice," Ashcroft said last year ( Jun. 15, 2004 ).

Nuradin Abdi, 32, allegedly plotted to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio, with a convicted Al-Qaeda operative, but was arrested before he could finalize a plan or select a specific target.

"This plot was foiled while it was still in the planning (stages)," said Bill Hunt, first assistant US attorney for the southern district of Ohio. The sources said Abdi traveled to a Al-itihad/ONLF militia camps in the Ogaden region of Somali National Regional State in Ethiopia, where he was trained in firearms use, guerrilla warfare and bomb making.

"Abdi's training was to ready himself to participate in violent jihad," Ashcroft said.

Another Somali Immigrants news: Today A federal judge took the unusual step yesterday of tripling the suggested sentence for a Somali community leader convicted of immigration crimes, saying the harsher sentence was justified because of national security concerns.

After Omar Abdi Mohamed declined to make a statement to the court, U.S. District Judge John Houston sentenced the self-described Muslim missionary to 18 months in prison. Mohamed has already served two years while awaiting the outcome of his case.

Houston said he was departing from the sentencing guidelines because he was troubled by a combination of facts – in particular that a charity founded by Mohamed in San Diego received more than $300,000 from "specially designated global terrorist organizations." Houston noted that the money was then channeled by Mohamed to an unknown overseas location.

Houston also said he was concerned about Mohamed's conduct – from his work for the Saudi government to his extensive travel on just a $20,000 annual salary.

"The court cannot turn a blind eye to those factors," the judge said. "Certainly this is an immigration case, but when you look at those factors this is an extraordinary case that would support an upward enhancement."

Mohamed, a Somali war refugee and father of eight who moved to the United States in 1995 from Canada, will be transferred from the federal jail downtown to the custody of immigration officials in Otay Mesa. His lawyer, Mahir Sherif, said he planned to appeal the convictions and sentence and would fight deportation.

"I think (the judge) is legally wrong to enhance (the sentence) on the basis that he did," Sherif said.

Mohamed, 45, was never charged with terrorism. He was convicted in two trials of six felony charges that he lied on visa and naturalization applications. He was acquitted of more serious charges, particularly that he lied during a citizenship interview about his association with the two charities in question, Global Relief Foundation and the Al-Haramain, which the U.S. government has linked to terrorist fundraising.

In explaining his departure from the sentencing guidelines, which suggest a six-month sentence, Houston said he was not focusing on whether Mohamed lied, but on the undisputed facts of the case. He said he found sufficient evidence that Mohamed received $300,000 from those terror-linked charities, regardless of whether he lied about it.

"He was acquitted of lying about the receipt of money, but the evidence was clear that he received the money," Houston said. "In my mind, I can consider the receipt of money as affecting national security."

Mohamed's immigration case was unusual because of the terrorism and national security overtones. In pretrial motions, prosecutors and the defense clashed on the disclosure of classified information and whether the word "terrorism" could be mentioned in front of a jury. Ultimately, the judge ruled that the classified information would remain secret and prosecutors could say "terrorism." Foremen from both juries later said they were not prejudiced by the terrorism aspect of the case.

Mohamed was investigated by members of the region's Joint Terrorism Task Force and prosecuted by members of the U.S. attorney's counterterrorism unit as part of the Bush administration's practice of using immigration laws to "neutralize" and deport people who are considered potential threats to national security.

Jurors found that Mohamed lied to immigration officials about the number of children he has; that he failed to disclose that the Saudi government was one of his employers; and that he never worked for the mosque that sponsored his religious-worker visa.

At yesterday's hearing, Houston dismissed Mohamed's claim that the Saudi government was merely paying him a stipend as a Muslim missionary. The judge noted that the Saudi government gave Mohamed other tasks, such as reporting about demographics and cultural matters in the community, which went "beyond pure propagation."

Houston seemed suspicious of Mohamed's actions, saying it is a "mystery" that Mohamed, a Somali national living in Canada, was recruited "out of the blue" to come and teach Islam in San Diego . And he questioned Mohamed's ability to travel to Australia and elsewhere. (snip)

San Diego has a huge moslem population. In certain areas of the city women (and little girls) walk in veils and have become the "norm." Men in their long shirts and skull caps - have become the norm.

They live on my street. Veiled women bag my groceries and run the cash register at the local Macy's. Two of them flew a plane into the Pentagon on a lovely Tuesday morning in 2001. I didn't see any of them in the neighborhood protesting that. In fact a couple of them who were students at San Diego State University were overheard applauding the "martyrs" of 9-11.

Go to the local public school and look at the kids....a goodly portion are sitting in veils. After a day in public school (where they are certainly not taught American values and history) they go to their own "cultural center" schools - where they are taught a counter history and a counter loyalty - to Islam, sharia law and how they are superior to the infidels around them.

Minneapolis is merely one of many problem places. Look at your own town or city, and I bet that as small as it might be - now - it is there and growing.

That map posted in above is both instructive and frightening.

There is a Grover G.Norquist who sits on the Board of Directors of the NRA.Are they the same or a different Norquist?

One in the same. http://www.nraleaders.com/grover-norquist.html

He also sits on the board of the Chamber of Commerce and founded the Islamic Institute and was as tight as you could get with Jack Abramoff. Just because our "conservative" institutions used to be conservative, doesn't mean they are any longer.

November 14, 2006 I Did Know Jack: The Abramoff Scandal and Jihad Grover (norquist)

By Debbie Schlussel

As I've written before, I knew Jack Abramoff--not well--but never liked or trusted the guy and always warned people to stay away from this phony blowhard. I told anyone and everyone about my suspicions of Jack's involvement with the mob. They didn't want to believe me, and as with many things, I turned out to be right.

As soon as I knew that Sen. John McCain and his committee were investigating Casino Jack, I told them everything I knew about his nefarious dealings with the casino gambling company, the mysterious murder, and the extremist Muslims with which he and his money-laundering bud, Grover Norquist, were cavorting and doing biz. Jack and Grover were Islamofascist Sleazebag-a-Palooza, Inc.(snip)

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