Posted on 06/10/2002 2:34:13 PM PDT by RedBloodedAmerican
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government on Monday announced the arrest of an American accused of plotting with al-Qaida terrorists to detonate a "dirty bomb" to spread radioactive material, possibly targeting Washington.
Authorities said the alleged scheme, involving a former gang member from Chicago who was raised Catholic but converted to Islam, went only as far as the planning stages. Undersecretary of State John Bolton indicated the man was carrying plans for the attack when he was picked up in Chicago.
Jose Padilla, 31, also known as Abdullah al Muhajir, was arrested on May 8 as he flew from Pakistan via Zurich, Switzerland, to O'Hare International Airport. Officials said the CIA and FBI had helped foil the alleged plan, and FBI agents were waiting for Padilla as his plane arrived at the gate. Authorities said they believed he had returned to conduct reconnaissance for al-Qaida.
President Bush said, "We have a man detained who is a threat to the country and that thanks to the vigilance of our intelligence gathering and law enforcement he is now off the streets, where he should be."
A government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Padilla and at least two others who may have been involved in the alleged plot were detained in Pakistan on immigration violations before May 8. But Padilla was allowed to board his international flight and tricked into believing he had escaped - with U.S. agents sitting on the plane quietly watching his every move.
A "dirty bomb" - traditional explosives combined with radioactive material - would not result in a nuclear explosion, but a powerful device could release small amounts of radioactive material over dozens of city blocks. Experts believe the most devastating effect would be the panic caused and the difficulty sending rescue workers into the contaminated area. For that reason, it has been called an ideal terrorist weapon.
In an unusual legal twist, the Justice Department handed the Brooklyn-born Padilla to the Pentagon for indefinite imprisonment as an "enemy combatant." Government lawyers cited a 1942 Supreme Court ruling permitting such a transfer. Padilla had been held for weeks in New York, then was flown Monday aboard a military C-130 plane to a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said the al-Qaida apparently believed Padilla would be permitted to travel freely within the United States because of his citizenship and his U.S. passport.
"We have acted with legal authority both under the laws of war and clear Supreme Court precedent, which establish that the military may detain a United States citizen who has joined the enemy and has entered our country to carry out hostile acts," Ashcroft said.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the apparent target was Washington. Speaking at a news conference, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the scheme was "still in the initial planning stage," and that Padilla "had indicated some knowledge of the Washington, D.C., area."
Another U.S. official said Washington was believed one possible target because of its prominence as the seat of government, not because of any firm evidence from al-Qaida.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said investigators do not believe al-Qaida has acquired enough radioactive material to build such a weapon.
In a statement attributed to al-Qaida spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the group said: "We have the right to fight (Americans) by chemical and biological weapons so that they catch the fatal and unusual diseases that Muslims have caught due to their chemical and biological weapons."
Ashcroft, who first disclosed the arrest in a television announcement from Moscow, said Padilla "trained with the enemy," studying how to wire explosive and researching radiological weapons. Ashcroft said Padilla met several times in 2001 with senior al-Qaida officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he traveled after he served one year's probation on state weapons and assault charges in Sunrise, Fla.
Information leading to Padilla's arrest came in part from U.S. questioning of captured al-Qaida leader Abu Zubaydah, one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants, said two U.S. officials. Ashcroft said information about the plot came from "multiple independent and corroborating sources."
Padilla first met Zubaydah in Afghanistan in late 2001 after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, then went to Lahore, Pakistan, to research dirty bomb techniques with an unidentified associate, officials said. At Abu Zubaydah's request, Padilla traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, in March to meet several senior al-Qaida officials and discuss bombings of U.S. gas stations and hotels, officials said.
Bolton, the State Department undersecretary, referred to "the arrest of the terrorist and the plans that he was captured carrying." Bolton declined to elaborate on his remarks.
Padilla's criminal history in the United States dates to growing up in Chicago, where his family moved when he was 4. He was convicted at 15 as a juvenile of aggravated battery, armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. A law enforcement official said Padilla was in custody there between November 1985 and May 1988.
In Florida, he was convicted in 1991 in Sunrise on charges of aggravated assault and discharging a firearm, court records show. Padilla, who identified himself as Catholic when he was booked on those charges, served one year of supervised release, until Aug. 4, 1993. A Justice official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Padilla converted to Islam after his 1993 release.
Police said Padilla - who has "Jose" tattooed on his right arm - brandished a .38 revolver at another driver during a traffic encounter. When the other driver followed him to a gas station, Padilla fired one shot from his vehicle at the other car. No one was hurt. Police traced his license tag and arrested Padilla at home, where they found him with the handgun in his waistband.
While in the Broward County jail, Padilla was accused of battery on a jail officer and resisting without violence in January 1992. He pleaded guilty and spent 10 months behind bars.
Court records also show Padilla with speeding convictions in 1993 and 1997, and his driver's license was suspended in 1996. Padilla also completed a traffic law substance-abuse course in 1992, but it was unclear whether that stemmed from an arrest.
Padilla was assigned a lawyer in New York immediately after his May 8 arrest, but his access to his lawyer probably will be severely restricted now that he is in military custody, said Lt. Col. Rivers Johnson, a Pentagon spokesman. Officials said there were no plans to organize a military tribunal or otherwise pursue criminal charges against Padilla, in part because tribunals are reserved for accused terrorists who are not U.S. citizens.
Any body hear anything about his gang affiliation.
Sure, he's a gang-banger and a catholic/islamic terrorist wannabe, so we can treat him as if he's not a US citizen and hold him without any 4th or 5th or 14th amendment rights.
Slippery slope time folks. First this loser loses his rights, then we lose ours.
We cannot beat Authoritarian Islamic dictatorships by becoming an Authoritarian dictatorship.
Hey, good question. Where is the separation of church and state there? It appears that the church is good (even though in this case it may have been bad) for something at state run institutuions, why the double standard?
I'm no Christian by any stretch of the imagination but it sure does seem silly to kick God out of the public schools only to force God on those that fail (generally speaking of course) in the public school system.
Darn good question there Scannell!
EBUCK
Welcome to FreeRepublic.
FYI, profiling and random searches are two completely different things. We've been doing random searches, not profiling.
Right. This needs to be looked into. We have a radical "religion" advocating mayhem, destruction, and murder, and they are allowed to recruit in US prisons? Simply outrageous.
He was very scarry. His response to the question "Do we feel safer or more secure since Padilla was captured?" was that Americans was still sleeping. That there were thousands more in the U.S. waiting for the time to destroy and rebuild America. He also said that he was taking a chance calling into the station, but wanted Americans to know that the time is now. He said if Americans were paying attention, that you could hear it in the words of wrap music. He was all excited that they would destroy America and soon.
Does he have a bigger surprise in store for the American public?
You're right, I hadn't noticed--probably because I don't care; it doesn't make any difference. We need to be profiling.
That's all I need. Beat all the info possible out of him, then give him the firing squad.
Here we have it--an American convert to islam, and he's already waging terrorist jihad against his own country!!! And he doesn't look Middle Eastern, so would fly underneath the "racial profiling" radar.
After Sept. 11th, when a large proportion of the country felt the need to learn about islam, tens of thousands of Americans had the wrong reaction to what they learned---they CONVERTED to islam!!!! (This is all thanks to the local mosques who ran those "understanding islam" sessions.) Without a good spiritual grounding, that's likely to happen. How many of those new converts are also candidates for Al Qaeda membership? Who knows. That's besides the great number of people who convert to islam in prison, like both the former Jose Padilla and shoe-bomber Richard Reid (whatever his islamic name is).
We need a lot more "understanding Christianity" sessions. For the masses of people who think that they know Christianity because its so "familiar" (but know next to nothing), perhaps they need to get these sessions in a less familiar setting--an Orthodox Christian church. That may prevent at least a few people from being seduced by the agents of da'wa (islamic "evangelism"), and lead them to Christ instead!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.