Are these guys for real or just decoys ? I suspect that Al-Qaeda sent more than one team, just like in old spy/comedy movie "Spies Like Us". I am not kidding here.
These guys all look as if they've been peeled from underneath a rock (e.g., Atta, Moussouai, Reed).
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"Padilla is a former gang member from Chicago who was raised Catholic but converted to Islam…Spook, is this one of the bin Laden's "deep cover and sleepers agents…already tasked for future missions"? Is this how they blend into American society, able to bypass background checks? ;-}
Undersecretary of State John Bolton indicated the man was carrying plans for the attack when he was picked up in Chicago…
Attorney General John Ashcroft said Al Qaeda apparently believed Padilla would be permitted to travel freely within the United States because of his citizenship and his U.S. passport…
Padilla "trained with the enemy," studying how to wire explosives and researching radiological weapons. Ashcroft said Padilla met several times in 2001 with senior Al Qaeda officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he traveled after he served one year's probation on state weapons and assault charges in Sunrise, Fla…
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 Qaeda officials and discuss bombings of U.S. gas stations and hotels, officials said…
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…
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…
Excuse me, he was planning to kill Americans? Hello?
I also heard about the shoe bombers new defence: " He was medicated at the time."
Who are these reporters and lawyers, and what are they doing in our country?
....after being interrorgated extensively by the Pakastinis, Mohammed ratted out Padilla?
Why in the world of "three-strikes and you are out" is this guy out in the world with a US passport traveling to foreign countries. It is a federal offense for a convicted felon to be in possession of a firearm! I know, I know, the Clinton years....., the guy is probably a registered Democrat and votes two to three times in each election.....he comes from Chicago.
Eeeesh...he looks like Satan incarnate.
Uh huh. Yep. Gotta watch thos tainted candy drops and those leather belts. Also, we should apologize for nuking all those Arabs without telling anybody.
The worst part is that the general population believes this stuff.
The sewers in which these people live can't be responsible for all their diseases....NOOOOO, first it was the Joooooos and now it's the Americans.
I'm growing to hate ignorant peasants.
Can we then safely assume that Pedilla was recruited in Florida?
Quirky fact:
The rev. Ben Chavis of various fames changed his name to Benjamin Mohammed/Muhammed when he joined Nation of Islam.
Yes, I have checked for a "Ahmed" middle name, but can't find any.
Officials have not said Muhajir was working with others inside the U.S. to carry out the "dirty bomb" attack, possibly in Washington, D.C., but reports earlier this week confirmed that another man suspected of plotting with Muhajir has also been arrested.
Authorities arrested Muhajir May 8 as he returned to the U.S. from Pakistan. Officials say Muhajir, 31, had the plans on him when he was detained.
Officials also said an accomplice had been arrested in Pakistan as well, but they added that suspect would not be extradited to the U.S.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that federal officials say they are concerned Muhajir may have had help inside the United States because they believe he was coming back to conduct target-scouting reconnaissance for the terror group al-Qaeda.
Attorney General John Ashcroft, speaking to reporters in the Swiss capital of Berne, said al-Qaeda did not train thousands of assailants only to send 19 or 20 to the U.S.
"We believe there is a serious threat," he said. "It is an international threat fragmented around the world."
Nevertheless, the U.S. will "run down every lead," President Bush vowed Tuesday. "This guy Padilla is a bad guy. He's where he needs to be, detained."
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said yesterday that Muhajir, who is being held in solitary confinement, has so far refused to cooperate with officials.
Wolfowitz also said Muhajir met several times with al-Qaeda leaders in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, to plot more assaults against the U.S.