Plot Posed A Real, Immediate Threat, Experts Say(Terrorist attacks CA)

Los Angeles Times ^ | December 14, 2007 | Greg Krikorian

[kellynla]

It was not the most spectacular domestic terrorism plot since the Sept. 11 attacks, and certainly not the best-known.

But no other case posed such a real and immediate threat as the audacious scheme to attack more than a dozen military centers, synagogues and other sites in Southern California, experts said Thursday.

"If you look at the roster of defendants in terrorism cases, it often seems like a casting call. They all have aspirations, but most lack real talent and helpful connections," said Brian Levin, an attorney and director of Cal State San Bernardino's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

"But here you actually had a case where defendants had a radicalized ideology, a list of targets and they had already gone from planning to operations," Levin said. "This was beyond merely a threat. In this instance, they were operational."

The guilty pleas announced Friday in what is known as the JIS case represented an important win for the Justice Department, after a string of high-profile courtroom defeats in terrorism-related prosecutions. Just Thursday, a jury in Miami acquitted one man charged with plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and deadlocked on charges against his six alleged accomplices.

The courtroom ending mirrored a mistrial declared earlier this year in a Dallas prosecution against five Islamic men accused in the largest terrorism-financing case brought by the U.S. government.

"The bottom line is that when you look at a lot of these prosecutions, many people are accused of lying to investigators or [other crimes] rather than terrorist acts or threats to national security," said Levin. "And that is why you have seen a bit of prosecutorial fatigue set in with the public. . . .

[kellynla]

"I think this case shows you cannot racially or religiously profile an ideology. It is fanaticism, not faith, that drives this extremism," said Levin. "And disenfranchised people will craft their hatred into an ideology of their choice. That is why religious converts are so good for this radicalization . . . because those who have been raised in a faith know better."

[Jeff Chandler]

because those who have been raised in a faith know better.

Depends on the faith.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933472/posts?page=666#666
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933472/posts?page=669#669

[freema]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933472/posts?page=671#671

[ThePythonicCow]

because those who have been raised in a faith know better

Those raised in a faith might know that faith better.

But if that faith teaches the fanatical hatred and radical destruction of others, this is more dangerous, not less.