Are 'jihadists' infiltrating U.S. military?

HOMELAND INSECURITY Are 'jihadists' infiltrating U.S. military? Low-security positions could be used by potential terrorists

A disturbing pattern of infiltration of lower levels of the U.S. military by would-be Islamist jihad warriors is emerging, cautions one analyst of military affairs and terrorism.

The Defense Department heavily screens all personnel competing for high-security positions involving nuclear weapons and military intelligence. Before applicants are ever allowed inside those small elite circles, they are subjected to rigorous background and criminal checks, as well as comprehensive psychological evaluations.

The reason is obvious: Only the fittest of mind, body and soul can be trusted with such positions of vital importance. The wrong person in the right place at the wrong time could wreak untold levels of havoc on an unsuspecting nation and – in terms of nuclear weapons – the world itself.

But the Pentagon is much less thorough in screening its "average" soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, troops who are slated for the much more numerous and mundane positions that comprise most of the cogs in the world's most powerful military machine – the average trooper, the logistics and supply personnel, the cooks, clerks and typists, the fuel handlers, the mechanics and maintenance personnel.

And yet, many of these troops – while not individually significant, per se – could transform themselves quickly into terrorist assets simply because they have access to important components of the United States military, some professionals believe.

"The threat of enemy operatives within our homeland is not a new challenge to those charged with our security. There exists a long history of hostile governments seeking to take advantage of our open society to turn or plant operatives within the American government and military," writes military analyst and writer Tom Knowlton, for the Nov. 13 issue of Defense Watch, an Internet-based magazine published by Soldiers For the Truth.

"For the most part, these operatives are people who had access to information or technology that would be of value to our enemies during times of war: diplomats, intelligence agents, key military personnel, scientists and federal agents," Knowlton says. But in these times of terrorism, jihadists -- those looking to infiltrate America and turn U.S. citizens into pawns of terrorist warfare – may be looking to penetrate lower echelons within the U.S. military.

Writes Knowlton: "On Nov. 5, 2002 Abdul Raheem Al Arshad Ali, a former Marine and Gulf War veteran, became the third suspected terrorist associated with the Dar-us-Salaam mosque in Seattle (now renamed the Dar ul Islam Masjid mosque) to be arrested for alleged ties to al-Qaida."

Authorities earlier had arrested James Ujaama and Semi Osman, he notes, on charges connected to the scouting of a ranch in Bly, Ore., as a possible terrorist training site in 1999. On an anti-American website, operator James Ujaama said, "My brother and I will join those who fight in the cause of Allah." That brother, authorities learned, is Mustafa Ujaama, who was converted or recruited to radical jihadist Islam while serving in the U.S. military.

Meanwhile, Osman was a drilling Construction Mechanic 3rd Class in the U.S. Naval Reserve at the time of his arrest. Osman "served in the U.S. Navy's Supply Support Battalion 1, Company F, a fueling unit based in Tacoma, Wash., with access to fuel trucks similar to the type used by al-Qaida in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers and the 2002 bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia," Knowlton said. "Such converted fuel truck bombs possess the equivalent energy of 10-15 tons of TNT."

Add to this mix John Allen Muhammad, a former U.S. Army Gulf War veteran and prime suspect in the Washington-area sniper attacks, and there appears to be an emerging pattern that jihadists are eyeing "recruits" in key positions in the U.S. military.

"Ali, Mustafa Ujaama, and former Army sergeant and alleged sniper John Muhammad appear to be indicative of an emerging threat of jihadists attempting to infiltrate or turn members of the U.S. military," Knowlton writes. "However, at this time only Osman, former Green Beret Ali Muhammad (a conspirator in the Tanzania and Kenya embassy bombings), and former Army reservist Jeffrey Leon Battle, indicted in October 2002 of conspiring to levy war against the United States and 'enlisting in the Reserves to receive military training to use against America,' have definitively been proven to participate in jihadist activities concurrent with their military service."

"While all military personnel undergo background screening when entering the service," he writes, "heightened and continuous scrutiny is generally only paid to those in occupations that require enhanced levels of clearance.

"A jihadist operative in a food service or supply unit could potentially contaminate the meals of our troops, similar to the salmonella attacks by Rajneeshee cultists in Oregon in 1984, or the clothing articles of military personnel in a method reminiscent of British colonials giving smallpox-tainted blankets to Indians in 1763 and 1767," Knowlton said.

Referencing former CIA Director Allen Dulles' 1963 comments about why an operative betrays his country – namely, blackmail, money, sympathy for the cause, for "kicks," or for "reasons that defy rational analysis" – Knowlton points out that "all of these reasons apply to potential jihadist operatives."

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Jon E. Dougherty is a staff reporter and columnist for WorldNetDaily, and author of the special report, "Election 2000: How the Military Vote Was Suppressed."

After a decade in the U.S. military, one thing I know for sure...
There are as many whacko's of every stripe in the military as there are in the civilian population.
A lot of supremecy groups recruit directly from the military, and encourage their members to serve, so as to have some training at goverment expense :).
I dont recall too many avowed Muslim's serving, but that was a decade ago...

excerpt from article re US Muslim Soldiers...

Muhammad, an African American who was raised as a Baptist, became the first Muslim chaplain in the U.S. military in 1993. Until then, all the 3,150 U.S. military chaplains were either Jews or Christians. In 1996, a second Muslim chaplain was commissioned by the Navy. Since then the number of Muslim chaplains in the U.S. military has grown to 14.

U.S. Islamic Leaders Issue Fatwa on U.S. Muslim Soldiers Fighting Terrorists

I dont recall too many avowed Muslim's serving, but that was a decade ago...

I think it is a more recent phenomena. Saudi Arabia financed most of the mosques built in the US in the last ten years.

John Mohammed is a good example. He threw a hand grenade at American soldiers in Desert Storm, while they slept. It sounds like they were sure it was him, because of his anti-American statements, but they weren't able to prove it.

My son served a few years ago. It sounds like they had more Moslems just a few years ago than you encountered. They had special diets, so they ate the vegetarian MREs, which my son said tasted much better than the regular MREs.

Religion of peace, no sweat. /sarcasm.

Please don't tell me the solution is like with f@ggots, "don't ask, don't tell."

Islamism is not compatible with military service.

Create a special branch for counterterrorism, but don't mix like it's nothing!

He threw a hand grenade at American soldiers in Desert Storm, while they slept.

While true, that's a bit misleading in detail. When most people think "hand-grenade", they think of a fragmentation grenade. This was a thermite-type grenade. Plenty bad enough if it'd actually landed on anyone.

Thermite is used to destroy heavy equipment..it will melt through and engine block ..melt a cannon or mortar barrel...

I heard it was a WP grenade..even worse ...still the burns sufferend would have been awefull...it was the most blatent disregard for a human life..

I served both as a grunt and a medic in RVN ..Back when I was a combat medic..the severe burns of WP wounds were the worst and most difficult to treat..and the suffering of the wounded was awefull...and I mean really awefull...

Any one who would intentionally throw any kind of incendiary grenade at his own troops..is the lowest of the low..no punishment would be bad enough imo..

When muslims take the oath of loyalty...they are swearing by the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob..do they swear it instead to allah and mohammed?
And if their loyalty is to the false gods...then how can they be trusted to watch the backs of their fellow soldiers..

I will not encourage my kids to serve anymore.. I have a nephew a good Christian kid ..bright..atheletic..who imo will make a perfect Marine..and I have encouraged him in that directions..but I will not encourage him to go to war with muslims watching his back...

I am no longer tolerant...I have had enough..

Now there's the whole problem and solution right there. Eliminate the special diets, make everybody eat SPAM, and that would eliminate the jihadists right there. (Sorry, Jewish friends, I know that impacts you, too, but hopefully you'll understand the price that have to be paid to maintian national security.)

Oh, I DO hope they can dredge up the proof. A quick one-way trip in front of a firing squad would be a good ending to this story.

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