Now This Was Interesting
Listening to Hugh Hewitt today, he brought up a story about the FBI. They are still behind on transcribing and listening to the numerous wire-taps they’ve racked up since 11 Sept., but they’re prioritizing the important ones. The FBI’s translators have increased over 60% since 11 Sept. So, they are working through it all.
But Hugh Hewitt also brought up a glaringly obvious point. It’s not that the FBI isn’t doing what it can to get through these taps, but they are not openly recruiting. That is, they aren’t just taking every Joe Six-pack that can speak an Arabic language. The one thing that we should be wary of is who is doing the translating. It is not uncommon to have an enemy try to infiltrate our intelligence agencies. It was done during the Cold War, and there are recorded cases from World War II where when we debriefed people arriving from Europe, many lied to our military people.
So, the FBI is doing it’s job, and we’re working through those taps, and tracking down the cowardly barbarians. But, this took a striking turn, as I just read in Richard Miniter’s book "Shadow War." Below is an excerpt, from pages 118 & 119, where he relays what he learned through thorough research into the GWOT, and how we’re winning. (Emphasis below is mine.)
London--Babar Ahmad is a thirty-year-old British subject who ran websites and other businesses that American and British investigators believe were used to fund and recruit for Taliban and Chechen terrorists. On 6 August 2004, he appeared in a London court to hear charges read against him. Of course, he denied them.
However, a look at his computer's hard drive told a different story. E-mail records revealed he had received communications from a sailor aboard the USS Benfold, an American guided-missile destroyer. The writer said he was a "US naval enlistee" who was "sympathetic to the jihad movement." The sailor (who authrorities do not want to name) praised the Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya. This might not have been the sailor's first e-mail.
Ahmad's computer revealed that he had received sensitive US naval documents on 29 April 2001, showing the precise future movements of the Constellation battle group--of which Benfold was a member. The mysterious e-mailer noted: "They have nothing to stop a small craft with rocket-propelled grenades etc., except their SEALs Stinger missiles." US Navy SEAL teams, usually composed of four men, operate in small boats near naval vessels and are equipped with shoulder-launched Stinger missiles.
Documents found on Ahmad's computer detailed the specific assignment of each ship, the battle group's planned movements, and a drawing of the battle group's formation.
Investigators won't say if Ahmad passed these documents to the Taliban or al-Qaeda. If he is extradited to the United States, Ahmad faces a thirty-one-page indictment in a federal court in Connecticut. Only then will we know why the terrorists failed to strike and who the traitorous mole aboard the USS Benfold was.
So, the assessment made by Mr. Hewitt today seems to have some semblance to it. We saw what happened on the night prior to the invasion where a soldier in the US Army, sympathetic to the jihad, decided to roll live grenades into the tents of his commanding officer and other officers. This man was a Muslim, definitely on the side of the United States, and he was serving in Uncle Sugar’s Army.
This is a reality that we must also come to grips with. Our enemy sneaks into this nation, and lies dormant until the time is right to strike us. They’re in a lot of different jobs and a lot of different industries. Not only do our intelligence agencies have to watch out for the terrorists in America, but they also have to watch their doors to make sure one of the dormant ones doesn’t come walking through them, and helping his fellow jihadists.
Publius II
Listening to Hugh Hewitt today, he brought up a story about the FBI. They are still behind on transcribing and listening to the numerous wire-taps they’ve racked up since 11 Sept., but they’re prioritizing the important ones. The FBI’s translators have increased over 60% since 11 Sept. So, they are working through it all.
But Hugh Hewitt also brought up a glaringly obvious point. It’s not that the FBI isn’t doing what it can to get through these taps, but they are not openly recruiting. That is, they aren’t just taking every Joe Six-pack that can speak an Arabic language. The one thing that we should be wary of is who is doing the translating. It is not uncommon to have an enemy try to infiltrate our intelligence agencies. It was done during the Cold War, and there are recorded cases from World War II where when we debriefed people arriving from Europe, many lied to our military people.
So, the FBI is doing it’s job, and we’re working through those taps, and tracking down the cowardly barbarians. But, this took a striking turn, as I just read in Richard Miniter’s book "Shadow War." Below is an excerpt, from pages 118 & 119, where he relays what he learned through thorough research into the GWOT, and how we’re winning. (Emphasis below is mine.)
London--Babar Ahmad is a thirty-year-old British subject who ran websites and other businesses that American and British investigators believe were used to fund and recruit for Taliban and Chechen terrorists. On 6 August 2004, he appeared in a London court to hear charges read against him. Of course, he denied them.
However, a look at his computer's hard drive told a different story. E-mail records revealed he had received communications from a sailor aboard the USS Benfold, an American guided-missile destroyer. The writer said he was a "US naval enlistee" who was "sympathetic to the jihad movement." The sailor (who authrorities do not want to name) praised the Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya. This might not have been the sailor's first e-mail.
Ahmad's computer revealed that he had received sensitive US naval documents on 29 April 2001, showing the precise future movements of the Constellation battle group--of which Benfold was a member. The mysterious e-mailer noted: "They have nothing to stop a small craft with rocket-propelled grenades etc., except their SEALs Stinger missiles." US Navy SEAL teams, usually composed of four men, operate in small boats near naval vessels and are equipped with shoulder-launched Stinger missiles.
Documents found on Ahmad's computer detailed the specific assignment of each ship, the battle group's planned movements, and a drawing of the battle group's formation.
Investigators won't say if Ahmad passed these documents to the Taliban or al-Qaeda. If he is extradited to the United States, Ahmad faces a thirty-one-page indictment in a federal court in Connecticut. Only then will we know why the terrorists failed to strike and who the traitorous mole aboard the USS Benfold was.
So, the assessment made by Mr. Hewitt today seems to have some semblance to it. We saw what happened on the night prior to the invasion where a soldier in the US Army, sympathetic to the jihad, decided to roll live grenades into the tents of his commanding officer and other officers. This man was a Muslim, definitely on the side of the United States, and he was serving in Uncle Sugar’s Army.
This is a reality that we must also come to grips with. Our enemy sneaks into this nation, and lies dormant until the time is right to strike us. They’re in a lot of different jobs and a lot of different industries. Not only do our intelligence agencies have to watch out for the terrorists in America, but they also have to watch their doors to make sure one of the dormant ones doesn’t come walking through them, and helping his fellow jihadists.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 4:34 PM
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