Posted on 10/23/2007 2:44:10 PM PDT by NorthernRight
Edited on 10/23/2007 5:40:31 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
October 22, 2007
Fire officials are now stating that the Orange County Santiago fire was purposely set and there is speculation that other fires may have also been deliberate. See Interactive Map
Fire officials found three separate “points of origin,” all near the intersection of Silverado Canyon Road and Santiago Canyon Road. Two were on one side of the road, and the third was on the other. “Whoever did this knew what they were doing,” said Kris Concepcion, a fire authority battalion chief. Also, the fire traveled 3 miles in its first 20 minutes when it was ignited about 6 p.m. Sunday, he said.
We are NOT implying that the California fires are an act of terrorism however; the threat of pyro-terrorist attacks pose a significant risk to the U.S. and the fires in California and in Greece earlier this year should be a wake-up call.
In 2003 an FBI memo alerted law enforcement agencies that an al-Qaeda terrorist being held in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States.
It was reported that the detainee, who was not identified, said the plan involved three or four people setting wildfires using timed devices in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that would detonate in forests and grasslands after the operatives had left the country.
“The detainee believed that significant damage to the U.S. economy would result and once it was realized that the fires were terrorist acts, U.S. citizens would put pressure on the U.S. government to change its policies,” the memo said.
How Can So Many Fires Be By Natural Causes ?
A Local News Radio talk show host in San Diego asked, “how can so many fires, in so many places, in such a short period of time, all be caused by natural causes”.
From USA Today in July of 2003
USA Today/Gannett publication article removed.
al-Qaeda Detainee Spoke of Fire Plot
As we have stated before. If you see anything suspicious, report it to law enforcement immediately.
UPDATE: Video - Officials say arson now suspected in Orange County Fire
UPDATE: From Los Angeles Fox News
“I’m sad to report this is an arson fire,” OCFA Chief Chip Prather announced at an early morning briefing. “There were three separate starts: two on one side of the road and one on the other, and obviously we are actively investigating that.”
Links - A number of blogs and websites have sprung up to report on the fires. We will provide links to a couple we’ve found.
National Interagency Fire Center
Live Local News Coverage Channel 10 San Diego
Written by News Admin · Filed Under Incident Reports
And I was about to become famous...sniff sniff sniff
If intentionally set, I’m sure it was either an environmental hippie or firefighter. Could never be a terrorist.
You are soooo wrong.....it's Santa Ana winds....and it's always been Santa Ana winds.
I lived those winds for years.....Great off-shore winds...with a swell they were awesome.
The Navy has put my neice in a shelter. I can’t get in touch with my DIL.
I so agree with you...and I like the way you think.
It’s not a discussion of potential-terrorism until Strategerist shows up to discount the possibility altogether and piss on any Freepers who dares to suggest otherwise in one fell swoop.
The fact is, this could be tweaker firebugs or deranged volunteer firemen. It could also be Muslim terrorists. Given the incredible and unprecedented scale of these fires, only a blind man would discount the latter as a possibility.
And let’s face it... as much as the biggest “Islamophobe” on this board “wants” this to be an act of jihad, that’s exactly how badly you want to prove it isn’t, whether it really is or not. That’s been your agenda for as long as you’ve been posting here.
Muslims of the Americas (MOA) is a virulently anti-Semitic, Islamic extremist group with ties to Al-Fuqra, a terrorist organization that has carried out firebombings and murders in the United States. MOA claims to have offices in six U.S. cities and Toronto and maintains secluded residential communities in New York, Virginia and California. The group's Web site and e-mails have featured writings by notorious anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers, including Michael Hoffman and former Klansman David Duke.
MOA was founded and is led by the radical Pakistani cleric El Sheikh Sayyid Mubarik Ali Jilani (commonly known as Sheikh Jilani or Sheikh Gilani). Based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jilani established MOA in 1980, after arriving in the United States for the first time. In the 1980s, Jilani, who claims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, actively recruited American Muslims to fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. MOA claims to have offices in six U.S. cities and Toronto, and it maintains secluded residential communities in New York, Virginia, California, and possibly other states. The group also runs a Web site and an e-mail mailing list.
The available evidence strongly suggests that MOA has served as a corporate front for another group founded by Sheik Jilani, the terrorist organization Al-Fuqra, which has committed firebombings and murders on U.S. soil. Both Sheikh Jilani and MOA officials deny that Al-Fuqra even exists, and MOA claims to be a "peaceful" group. Though relatively few members of MOA have been arrested for criminal activity, two residents of the MOA community in Virginia were recently arrested for firearms violations, and a resident of the MOA community in California was recently arrested for the murder of a Sheriff's Deputy. Muslims of the Americas: In Their Own Words Here are examples of anti-Semitic, anti-Christian,anti-American, and homophobic statements made by MOA, as well as comments that promote violence:
...see more at link.
---------------------------
From: Patterns of Global Terrorism, 1999. United States Department of State, April 2000.
Comments on the content of the material should be sent to the U.S. Department of State
Description
Islamic sect that seeks to purify Islam through violence. Led by Pakistani cleric Shaykh Mubarik Ali Gilani, who established the organization in the early 1980s. Gilani now resides in Pakistan, but most cells are located in North America and the Caribbean. Members have purchased isolated rural compounds in North America to live communally, practice their faith, and insulate themselves from Western culture.
Activities
Fuqra members have attacked a variety of targets that they view as enemies of Islam, including Muslims they regard as heretics and Hindus. Attacks during the 1980s included assassinations and firebombings across the United States. Fuqra members in the United States have been convicted of crimes, including murder and fraud.
Strength
Unknown.
Location/Area of Operation
North America, Pakistan.
External Aid
None.
____________________
***Newer link about Fuqra, and connections of Virginia Fuqra member Vincente Pierre to fradu and potential terrorism in Colorado (linkage between Colorado and Virgina stories)
***A Junior Al Qaeda Right Here At Home - Meet Al Fuqra (Nat. Review)
“...Al Fuqra —— which means "the impoverished" in Arabic —— was founded in 1980 when Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani traveled from Pakistan to an African-American mosque in Brooklyn. On this and subsequent trips, the charismatic sheikh helped create al Fuqra, which is said to have between 1,000 and 3,000 members nationwide. It is not aligned with a more prominent and homegrown black Muslim group, the Nation of Islam, and in fact it has serious theological differences with Louis Farrakhan's flock. And it may pose a much greater threat to civil society. About two dozen families live at the 44-acre compound near Red House, but al Fuqra is headquartered in Hancock, N.Y., and maintains extensive ties to Gilani in Lahore. Members of the sect occasionally travel abroad for what Gallagher calls "paramilitary and survivalist training" under Gilani's supervision. Although Pierre has testified that he has not visited Pakistan, the BATF says at least one of the other Red House residents did go there, and Gallagher claims there is evidence of training in Afghanistan as well. Gilani recruited Americans to fight with the mujaheddin against the Soviets during the 1980s.
Al Fuqra demonstrated its violent streak and national reach early on. A study written by Yehudit Barsky and published by the Anti-Defamation League catalogues the group's activities. From its first days more than two decades ago, members have attacked a virtual rainbow coalition of targets, including Hare Krishnas in San Diego, Hindus in Toronto, Sikhs in Seattle, and Buddhists in Illinois. Many of their favorite victims have links to India; Gilani is obsessed with the Kashmir conflict and views India as a mortal enemy. In 1983, al Fuqra firebombed a Portland, Ore., hotel owned by the late Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. But al Fuqra's hatred also extends to Muslims with whom they have doctrinal differences. A month after the Portland attack, for instance, two members murdered a rival Muslim leader in Michigan, and then were themselves killed when they set fire to an Islamic center in Detroit.
An incident in 1989 demonstrated the group's calculated ruthlessness and also introduced Pierre to federal agents. Police on a search warrant raided a Colorado Springs storage locker registered to Pierre's father-in-law, who is also an al Fuqra member. Inside they found information on a scam Pierre and others were running against Colorado's workers' compensation fund; they had defrauded the state of some $355,000 over several years. The locker's other contents were more alarming: ten handguns and silencers, 30 pounds of explosives, and target-practice silhouettes pierced with bullet holes and labeled "FBI Antiterrorist Team" and "Zionist Pig" (in Pierre's handwriting, according to Gallagher). Police also found information on local military installations and electrical power lines, plus "attack plans" against various targets. One of the targets, a moderate imam, was stabbed to death four months later.
_____________
Other links for review:
INFORMATION REGARDING COLORADO'S INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF MEMBERS OF JAMAAT UL FUQRA
Terror Probe Leads To Rural Virginia Hamlet
Why is there an Islamic Village in the foothills near Fresno?
-----------Baladullah, Part Two (Nov. ( - Fresno School scam)
'Fear of Unknown' Leads to Culture Clash (Canada Jan. 28)
Cleric's Upstate Followers Seen as Threat (New York Jan. 30)
Key arrest made in WSJ reporter kidnapping (Gilani Arrested in Pakistan Jan. 30)
Suspect in newsman's kidnapping found dead (Pak. News, Jan. 31)
Cleric's followers have hopscotched around California (Feb. 4)
Ahhnold had better start rounding up and taxing the illegals that have taken over the state. Not do-able? It's amazing what's doable when you have to fix your own problems.
No, treehuggers. This guy is gunning for taxpayer dollars to fix his problems.
May be, but I don’t think it’s something that should be ignored. Arson for profit is not a new concept.
How about Terry Barton, who is still in prison for Colorado’s Hayman fire. Oh, and the wildland firefighter who told me that because their contractor bosses live on summer overtime.
First of all, an "environmental hippie" who starts wildfires causing billions in property damage and countless injuries and possible deaths is a terrorist.
Second, why on earth would a radical leftist be capable of such a thing but not a radical islamist?
Again, the idiocy of defining away terrorism to the point that the word no longer means anything.
Well, according to Sen Reid...it was global warming...
there were those fires in Greece which were set just before the elections. over 70 seperate starting points.
What made it worse were the air heads in the Forest Service and BLM teams...the "incident commanders" who were more worried about insuring their continued budget than they were about quickly putting out the fires.
Who, in some cases, were wholly unwilling to use bulldozers to cut a 40+ ft fire line because it, "would damage the environment for 9-12 years", and their regs wouldn;t allow it (due to the air headed environmental lobbies that have gotten such attitudes, rules, regulations, and laws passed)and instead used hand trenching and literally cut 3-6 ft fire lines through the forest which the fires simply topped...and so tens and hundreds of thousands of acres burned which will take life times to come back.
When confronted with these arguements...these people would just stare at you.
Sickening...disgusting...and so wholly unnecessary.
You’re right. There is a history of the Japanese balloon attacks posted in this thread.
Santana is just a contraction of Santa Ana; it has nothing to do with Satan.
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