AL QAIDA IN THE RANKS? Noncitizen (Naval) reservist suspected of ties to terrorist network

Navy Times | July 29, 2002 | Christopher Munsey & Patricia Kime

[aristeides]

The al-Qaida terrorist network may have infiltrated the U.S. Navy – getting access to bases, uniforms, refueling procedures and more.

Federal authorities in the Seattle area are holding a drilling Naval reservist, a non-U.S. citizen, suspected of having ties to Islamic radicals with known connections to al-Qaida.

Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Semi Osman, 32, was arrested May 17 at his home in Tacoma, Wash., on charges of illegally trying to become a U.S. citizen and possession of a handgun whose serial number was “obliterated or altered,” according to court documents.

Osman pleaded not guilty at a June 5 arraignment before Magistrate Judge John Weinberg. He faces a jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Ziley on Aug. 12 in Seattle.

A federal official said Osman could receive a maximum of 10 years in prison on the immigration charge if convicted, and up to 5 years for the weapons charge.

Osman, who also served briefly in the U.S. Army in 1998, apparently first entered the United States in 1988 with a British passport. He has not been formerly (sic) charged as a terrorist, but a search warrant issued May 31 by the U.S. District Court in Seattle asserts that evidence seized from Osman’s apartment constitutes “material support for terrorists or foreign-terrorist organizations.”

If that can be proven, Osman would likely be the first U.S. service member publicly linked to a terrorism group since Sept. 11.

Searches of the apartment turned up Islamic literature, anti-American papers, military instruction manuals, maps, survival gear, handguns, an assault rifle and ammunition – all legal.

But authorities also found and seized a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun with its serial number filed off, documents said. Other items listed include:

1) A Lebanese passport issued in the name of Sami Samir El-Kassem. The date and place of birth are 1970 in Sierra Leone. The photo appears to be that of Semi Osman as a young child.

2) A book entitled “Acquiring New ID” that contained, between its pages, a Washington state birth certificate in the name of Daniel Anthony McClellan.

3) A document that looked like a scanned version of the Daniel McClellan birth certificate with the name altered to read “Michael McClellan.”

4) A visa application for Yemen.

Joining the Navy

Osman enlisted in the Naval Reserve on June 28, 2001, under the Non-Prior Service Accession Course, a Tacoma Reserve Center spokesman said. Until his arrest, Osman participated in monthly drills at the Tacoma drill center as a member of Supply Support Battalion One, Company F, a fueling unit.

“According to his supervisors, he was just like all our new affiliates – eager to learn the job and get qualified in his position,” said Cmdr. John Croce, a spokesman for Navy Supply Support Battalion One.

In early 1988 (sic), Osman reportedly served briefly in the Army, undergoing basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., from February to March 1998, before discharging as an E-2. Army officials contacted at Fort Benning could not locate records pertaining to Osman’s Army service, saying they likely had been transferred to permanent storage.

As a new Reserve member, Osman spent the bulk of his weekend duty training in Tacoma, though he also attended one field training exercise at Fort Lewis, Wash., Croce said.

“He didn’t actually have access to fuel,” Croce said. “It was an exercise in setting up equipment like a field fuel depot.”

But even that kind of observation could have been valuable to a terrorist organization, said Larry C. Johnson, a former deputy director in the State Department’s Office of Counterterrorism. A terrorist sympathizer holding a relatively benign job in the Navy could gather plenty of intelligence useful for a terrorist attack, he said.

The successful October 2000 terrorist attack on the destroyer Cole, in the port of Aden, Yemen, probably was accomplished with information about fueling times and procedures, Johnson said.

Getting a terrorist or sympathizer into the U.S. military is “an intelligence bonanza,” he said. “They’ll know what type of fuel is being used, what the procedures are.”

Such an individual also would have access to official identification and uniforms, Johnson said.

“If the guy has any type of ties whatsoever, it’s very serious. Military ID could be obtained and copied,” he said. “With access to uniforms, someone could appear to be something they’re not.”

Numerous bases nearby

The Tacoma Reserve Center is plum in the center of a host of military installations located in and around Puget Sound. The region is home to about 35,000 sailors and their families, spread out among four major Navy bases: Naval Submarine Base Bangor, Naval Station Bremerton/Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Station Everett and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Other smaller Navy facilities also are in the region, with the Army’s Fort Lewis, which provides small-arms training and other facilities to sailors in the region, and McChord Air Force Base.

Lt. John Filostrat, a Naval Reserve spokesman in New Orleans, said Naval Reserve officials are cooperating with the federal investigation.

“We’re working with them. . . . Anything they need, we’re there to supply,” he said.

Pending the outcome of his arrest, Osman has been transferred to a non-drilling, non-paid status in a Volunteer Training Unit, Filostrat said.

From Sierra Leone via London

Among the court documents is a deposition given by Immigration and Naturalization Service Agent Darrick Smalley, in which he states that Osman appears to have been born Sami Samir El-Kassem in Sierra Leone. He holds a British passport and immigrated to the United States sometime in the late 1980s, entering te country through New York City in December 1988 on a tourist visa and a British passport in the name of Semi Osman. By June 2001, when he joined the Naval Reserve, he was listed as a permanent legal resident of the United States.

The military services allow noncitizens to enlist. The active-duty Navy has 16,248 noncitizen members. Noncitizens are not allowed to hold certain ratings, including those that require security clearances. Statistics on how many noncitizens are in the Naval Reserve were not available.

Grand jury investigation

The Seattle Times reported July 12 that a federal grand jury was investigating several Seattle Muslims – including Osman – for possible connections to terrorist groups.

Grand juries conduct their work in secret, but the paper quoted sources who asserted the jury is examining whether members of the now-defunct Dar-us-Salaam and Taqwa mosques in Seattle have aligned themselves with Sheik Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical London cleric suspected by Western officials of recruiting for al-Qaida.

Osman’s civilian attorney, Robert Leen, said his client is not a terrorist and is not cooperating with federal investigators.

“The grand jury is looking into a lot of things,” he said. But Leen acknowledged Osman’s ties to the mosques pose a challenge to his defense. “It’s true he was a member of a mosque where it’s clear there were some things going on that probably bear investigation,” Leen said.

U.S. officials were tipped off to a possible link between the religious centers by a British-born Taliban member in custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the paper reported.

The Taliban soldier, Geroz Abassi, told investigators earlier this year that he traveled to Afghanistan from London in 2000 with a Muslim convert with ties to Seattle.

The two men reportedly met at the North London Central Mosque, the religious center led by Abu Hamza that was visited by Zacarias Moussaoui, the only suspect charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, and Richard Reid, the man accused of trying to blow up a U.S. jet liner with explosives hidden in his shoe.

Two men from Abu Hamza’s London mosque then traveled from New York in late November 1999 to a remote ranch in Bly, Ore., where Osman lived with a woman and two children.

Klamath County, Ore., Sheriff Tim Evinger told the Associated Press that Abu Hamza, other men “of Middle Eastern descent” and their guests were on the property for about three months.

“There were some folks living there, and they had some guests. They did some shooting on the property, mostly small-arms practice,” said Evinger, who was on the Klamath Falls police force at the time.

[aristeides]

Betty Jo tells us he's related to the Saudi Alamoudi, who was involved in some terrorism (attack on the Cole, if I remember correctly.)

[SkunkPunk]

Who knows how many more are out there indeed. How much damage could one muslim fighter pilot do if he decided to steel a fully loaded F-14? Could start a real war.

[Catspaw]

If that's the case, I'm going to get the willies.

These people ARE NOT our friends. They ain't even close. But they have friends in Washington--and some sitting in the House of Representatives.

Shudder.

[Travis McGee]

Forget the military: at this time any "American" who speaks Arabic is on the ultra high speed career fast track at the CIA and FBI.

The FBI and CIA are even recruiting at the same mosques which have served as terrorism engines. So any Muslim who can pretend to salute the American flag and lie as he takes his oath is practically guaranteed super rapid promotion, both for his language skills and general PC affimative action principles.

In ten or 15 years, we are going to be "shocked" (!!??) to discover that a high % of our Arab Muslim recruits to the FBI and CIA back in the 2000s are traitors and spies.

This country may be too naive to survive.

[aristeides]

Anybody know to what extent the Arabic classes at DLI in Monterey have been expanded?

[rdavis84]

"I still can't figure out how a non citizen can be in our military!!! Why???"

I was in the Artillery back in '65-'68 with some fellas that probably weren't citizens at the time. They were just as good as cannon fodder as we were. Or, as otherwise known, Targets.

None of us asked if they were citizens.

[knighthawk]

Thanks for the article!

[Betty Jo]

aristeides, I think I'm going to have a nervous breakdown!

Yes, this Alamoudi is related to the Cole attack-Bin Laden funder, Al-Amoudi.

I know because back then, I emailed him and asked him, and he said yes,and he was sorry he didn't see him more often.

It must be remembered that this would be American Alamoudi is not only a Clinton friend, but was at the BUSH WHITEHOUSE more than once!

I think we are in so deeply that we may not survive.

When you start adding up the bits and pieces,it is overwhelming.

I truly will not be surprised if people VERY high in our government are exposed as actual TRAITORS right now.

[Betty Jo]

Why are our laws allowing these non-citizens in to our military?

Isn't this Alamoudi the guy that gets to choose what Muslim Clerics get to minister to our troops?

This whole thing is a 75 % off cheap spy military novel!

Deport this Alamoudi now.

PS. he is a trained "BIOCHEMIST"!

[Travis McGee]

BUMP!

[Catspaw]

On this thread, L.N. Smithee and I are having a conversation about Cynthia McKinney & I posted this link--and guess who turns up on McKinney's donor list (from this thread)? 

---

To: L.N. Smithee

Here are the McKinney files. The first link takes you to her donors. Prepare yourself to be shocked.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/669149/posts

22 posted on 7/26/02 4:02 PM Central by Catspaw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

And here he is--note the date of the donations, too.  It looks like someone was working on 9/11.  I haven't scanned the list to see if I recognize any more of the donors, but I'd bet they're in McKinney's list:

Alamoudi, Abdurahman
9/11/01 $2,000.00
Falls Church, VA 22041
American Muslim Foundation/Presiden -[Contribution]
Transaction itemized by: CYNTHIA MCKINNEY FOR CONGRESS
[View Image]

Alamoudi, Abdurahman
9/11/01 $1,000.00
Falls Church, VA 22041
American Muslim Foundation/Presiden -[Contribution]
Transaction itemized by: CYNTHIA MCKINNEY FOR CONGRESS
[View Image]

Alamoudi, Abdurahman
9/11/01 -$1,000.00
Falls Church, VA 22041
American Muslim Foundation/Presiden -[Contribution]
Transaction itemized by: CYNTHIA MCKINNEY FOR CONGRESS
[View Image]

[bvw]

Here's a story I heard in West Trenton NJ today. One of the paki mechanics at the the garage I took my car to skipped the country last month. The FBI had come around and told the paki's in the area that they had six weeks to move along or face the music -- this 61 year old fellow, who supposedly was on the lam from Pakistan when he came here -- a broken partnership in a lumber busness, maybe a related murder or threats of murder -- went and signed up for as many credit cards as he could. He bought about $20,000 worth of stuff -- computers, cell phones, other stuff and then withour any notice fled back to Pakistan. He even had the audacity to take a $600 pay advance from the garage owner the day before he took off.

The garage guy claims that over 100 pakis in the apartments nearby have up and dissappeared since, and left the apartment owner on the hock for what leases and rents due there were.

He says he informed the local police and the FBI, who have a local office down the block or so.

[rdavis84]

"I truly will not be surprised if people VERY high in our government are exposed as actual TRAITORS right now."

Yes, but it's all 'Rationalized' in their minds, therefore to the only ones who matter, it's NOT Treason.

It's more like doing the very best they can to bring about Peace in the Whole World. To take care of the masses and provide security for them under their magnificent umbrella of compassion.

And like they also have rationalized, you've got to break some eggs to make an Omelet (that would be those of us who resist).

But Treason? No. They're Citizens of the World, and our Shepherds, Born to Lead! The Rightful Masters of Mankind!

Just Ask Them. Start with Kissinger, then GHWBush, and then GWBush. They'll 'splain it to you. ;-)

[Chad Fairbanks]

It's interesting... in 1988, I went to boot camp (GLakes)with a guy from Iraq... he wasn't a citizen, either...

This article just reminded me of that... now I'm wondering whether we have "sleepers" in our military... scary thought...

[Betty Jo]

I think some of my replys were taken off from the above links to McKinneys donors. As I remember, I posted little nastys about the relationship of Alamoudi to Bush.
This whole nightmare continually brings up the Bush family connections to the bad guys.It is totally impossible to keep up with all of it.Everyday there are new events.I have never hated every politician as much as I do now.

[Honorary Serb]

Whatever happened to those people who said that the whole idea of muslim fifth columnists in America was just a lie conconcted by "Serb propagandists working out of Belgrade", who were spreading "Serb nationalist disinformation"? </sarcasm off>.

[Betty Jo]

Are you familiar with the Congressmen who resigned from the Republican group that controlled the "Task Force On Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare" that authored a report written by BODANSKY that they toltally freaked out about?

It covered your concerns.

[Our man in washington]

I'm in the Naval Reserves, and about a fourth of my unit are non-citizens. I'm not going into any detail, but suffice it to say that it could be a very bad thing for the country if any traitors are in this particular unit.

After reading this article, I'm keeping my eyes open. They're my buddies, and I hate to be paranoid, but I'm sworn to defend the country against all enemies.

[Sabertooth]

Federal authorities in the Seattle area are holding a drilling Naval reservist, a non-U.S. citizen, suspected of having ties to Islamic radicals with known connections to al-Qaida.

Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Semi Osman, 32, was arrested May 17 at his home in Tacoma, Wash., on charges of illegally trying to become a U.S. citizen and possession of a handgun whose serial number was “obliterated or altered,” according to court documents....

The military services allow noncitizens to enlist. The active-duty Navy has 16,248 noncitizen members. Noncitizens are not allowed to hold certain ratings, including those that require security clearances. Statistics on how many noncitizens are in the Naval Reserve were not available.

This dummy should have waited.

In a July Fourth speech to troops in West Virginia, Bush announced that he had signed an executive order making it immediately possible for 15,000 soldiers to become citizens. All of those who qualify are already legal permanent residents.
LINK

President Bush was about to make him a citizen anyway...

Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Semi Osman could have been a much more effective terrorist had he bided his time.

Hey, if Osman was arrested on suspicion if Al Qaeda involvement on May 17th, shouldn't the President have known about it when he offered immediate citizenship to immigrant service members?

Oops.

Bush speeds citizenship for military

Immigrants Serving Active Duty in Military Will Be Immediately Eligible for Citizenship

[Askel5]

Hey, if Osman was arrested on suspicion if Al Qaeda involvement on May 17th, shouldn't the President have known about it when he offered immediate citizenship to immigrant service members?

You ask way too many questions.