Islamists Dominate DOJ's List of Terror Prosecutions

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

More than 80 percent of all convictions tied to international terrorist groups and homegrown terrorism since 9/11 involve defendants driven by a radical Islamist agenda, a review of Department of Justice statistics shows. Though Muslims represent about 1 percent of the American population, they constitute defendants in 186 of the 228 cases DOJ lists.

On Thursday, the House Homeland Security Committee holds its first hearing into radicalization among Muslim Americans. Critics have taken issue with the focus on one religious minority, but the DOJ list shows that radical Islamists are disproportionately involved in terror-related crimes. Al-Qaida is involved in the largest number of prosecutions, representing 30 percent of the 228 terror cases involving an identified group. Hizballah-affiliated defendants are involved in 10.5 percent of the cases and Hamas is part of 9 percent. Pakistani-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba was involved in 6.5 percent of the cases.

The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the Colombian FARC lead the non-Islamist terrorist groups, combining for 14 percent of the total. The Investigative Project on Terrorism analysis involved reviewing the Justice Department's list of more than 400 successful terrorism-related prosecutions from Sept. 11, 2001, through March 18, 2010. Those cases that demonstrated defendants with a clear Islamist agenda were placed in that category, while those without a clear tie to radical Islam were excluded. In some cases, defendants with Arabic-sounding names were excluded from the Islamist category, because no definitive tie could be made.

To see the individual case listings, and those which were considered Islamist in nature, click here. To see a separate rundown of more than 30 terror-related prosecution activity in 2010 alone, click here. The cases listed by DOJ are divided between those involving direct support for terrorist plots or organizations, and those where investigations "involved an identified link to international terrorism" but the resulting indictments and complaints involved charges such as fraud, immigration violations, firearms, drugs, false statements and obstruction of justice.

Among all cases, an Islamist connection was found in at least 46 percent. An almost equal percentage, however, involved cases listed by the DOJ as terror-related, but in which there was insufficient information to determine whether a person was tied to an Islamist cause. In many, it was unclear why the case was included on a list of terror-related prosecutions. The list emphasizes international terror, so domestic extremist groups like the Hutaree militia and eco-terrorists are not included. Thirty of the terror cases listed, or about 13 percent, involve homegrown Islamist terrorists.

As the DOJ statistics cover cases prosecuted through March 2010, a series of homegrown Islamist terrorist plots thwarted in the last year are not included. For example, Jordanian Hossam Smadi pleaded guilty in May 2010 to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction to blow up Fountain Place, a well-recognized skyscraper in downtown Dallas. In September of 2009, Smadi parked a vehicle loaded with what he thought was a live bomb underneath the building. After moving several blocks away from the building, he used a cell phone to detonate the explosive device. Smadi was unaware that the device, provided by the FBI, was inert. The FBI gained interest in Smadi while monitoring a radical group online.

According to the government, Smadi's "vehement intention" to carry out terrorist attacks on U.S. soil separated him from others in the group. Smadi's statements exhibited his Islamist beliefs. "To sacrifice in person is the best type of jihad," "Oh how I love, my brothers, to perform jihad with you in the same rank, in the same field against the same enemy" and statements of support for al-Qaida leaders like Osama bin Laden are just some examples given in a criminal complaint. Similarly, the FBI arrested several men last fall in separate incidents who had attracted scrutiny due to their expressed desire to participate in violent jihad. Upon sending in agents to investigate further, the FBI discovered the men were all ready to take their rhetoric to the operational level. Farooque Ahmed plotted to attack the Washington, D.C. Metro system, Antonio Martinez targeted a military recruitment center in Maryland and Mohamed Osman Mohamud, tried to bomb a Portland, Ore. Christmas tree-lighting ceremony. Prosecutors say Ahmed had been "inquiring about making contact with a terrorist organization in order to participate in jihad" overseas. He told someone he thought was a terrorist operative that he wanted to kill Americans in Afghanistan.

He replied "of course" when the operative asked whether he wanted to become a martyr. In a posting on his Facebook page, Martinez exclaimed that "The sword is cumin the reign of oppression is about 2 cease inshallah ta'ala YA mulismeen! Don't except the free world we are slaves of the Most High and never forget it!" Mohamud attempted to contact an associate in Pakistan to make plans to travel abroad to prepare for violent jihad and wrote pieces for "Jihad Recollections," an online publication which condones violent jihad. Nor does the DOJ list include pending cases, like the prosecution of seven North Carolina men who tried to wage jihad abroad and then talked of shifting to domestic targets when that didn't work, and most of the prosecutions of more than 20 people charged with providing material support for the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab.

Examples of cases included in the DOJ list with direct ties to international terrorism include failed airplane bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba operative David Headley, who scouted targets for the 2009 Mumbai attacks. Cases not directly tied to terrorism but that indirectly helped aid terrorist activity, include Sabri Benkahla, who was convicted in February 2007 on charges of lying to a grand jury, obstruction of justice and making a false statement. Benkahla was part of the "Virginia jihad network" of young Muslim men who played paintball to train for jihad against nations hostile to Islam, including the United States. The group's spiritual leader Ali Al-Timimi is serving a life sentence for inciting terrorist activity by urging followers to wage jihad against American forces in Afghanistan. In another case, Fawaz Damra, former imam of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, was convicted by a federal jury in 2004 of lying on his naturalization application about his involvement with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a designated terrorist organization.

Evidence presented at his trial included a 1991 speech in which Damra called Jews "the sons of monkeys and pigs" and openly raised money for the PIJ. Damra was subsequently stripped off his U.S. citizenship and deported to the Palestinian territories. The DOJ list does not demonstrate that vast segments of the Muslim community constitute a threat to carry out terrorist attacks or support groups which do. Assuming a Muslim American population of about 5 million people, the DOJ cases amount to .000004 percent of the community.

However, it is clear that Islamist terrorist movements have been successful in getting support from extremists in the United States. As other recent hearings have shown, more sophisticated online recruitment has helped lure more people to seek jihad.

Unless that trend changes, the DOJ data likely will grow even more disproportionate.

http://www.familysec.../pub_detail.asp

Edited March 14, 2011 by John Galt

[peejay 327]

But we shouldn't profile.

[mawilson 2,133]

That can't be right. What about Timothy McVeigh?

[peejay 327]

That can't be right. What about Timothy McVeigh?

He is the reason why we need to frisk 90 year old Scandinavian ladies. 'Cuz you never know.

[Ban Hammer 12,835]

That can't be right. What about Timothy McVeigh?

must fall into the other 20%?

[peejay 327]

must fall into the other 20%?

I though he was dead? His ghost still lives in the minds of those that want to divert from the real threat.

[^_^ 5,021]

If Islamists were 99.95%, I'd say yeah let's focus on Islamists almost exclusively and not waste time looking at anyone else.

But at 81.5%, it's clear that focus have to be on the 81.5% but the 18.5% that remains is still very large and can not be ignored or even neglected.

[Danno 1,228]

That 80 sumthin percent number seems high... and when you consider all of those come,

from a very small fraction of our populace, it is even more stark.

Lets suppose Instead of being Islamists,these folks were instead were men who happen to be 6'6" and above.

Nearly everyone one of these bombers or their supporters were found to be tall men 6 foot 6 and over..... could you imagine we would have a policy of not considering a mans height when processing them through the airport?

(not suggesting we should "only" check tall men)

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

If Islamists were 99.95%, I'd say yeah let's focus on Islamists almost exclusively and not waste time looking at anyone else.

But at 81.5%, it's clear that focus have to be on the 81.5% but the 18.5% that remains is still very large and can not be ignored or even neglected.

I agree. But some people claim there is no such thing as Islamic terrorism at all.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

There is no such thing as Islamic terrorism. Terrorism isn't Islamic. Stupid terms like Islamist and Islamic terrorism is what you get when ignorant non-Muslims talk to each other and exclude knowledgable Muslims from the discourse, which is par for the course in the US, and certainly so among Fox News affectionados.

But, hey, what do I know? I'm just a Muslim, so I must be biased, unlike how objective you are . . .

[웃 910]

There is no such thing as Islamic terrorism. Terrorism isn't Islamic. Stupid terms like Islamist and Islamic terrorism is what you get when ignorant non-Muslims talk to each other and exclude knowledgable Muslims from the discourse, which is par for the course in the US, and certainly so among Fox News affectionados.

But, hey, what do I know? I'm just a Muslim, so I must be biased, unlike how objective you are . . .

If the Qur'an didn't exist then you wouldn't have Islamic Terrorism.

But because the Islamic Holy Book (Qur'an) does exist you have Islamic Terrorism.

The question is did Allah know that this prized book would be so misinterpreted by idiots when He gave Mohammed the ability to write it that hundreds of thousands of people would be killed by idiots/terrorists who misunderstand the book?

Edited March 15, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[peejay 327]

If Islamists were 99.95%, I'd say yeah let's focus on Islamists almost exclusively and not waste time looking at anyone else.

But at 81.5%, it's clear that focus have to be on the 81.5% but the 18.5% that remains is still very large and can not be ignored or even neglected.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would advocate ignoring the other 18.5%. However, wasting time, money, and resources by treating the 81.5% threat equally to the 18.5% threat so as not to hurt anyone's feelings is rather stupid. Hurt feelings don't compare to unnecessary deaths and destruction because someone wants to believe all people are an equal threat.

[mawilson 2,133]

The 81.5% group wants to see America destroyed and its citizens - dead.

The other 18.5% do not want to see America destroyed. They are misguided

and dangerous individuals, but they love this country and consider themselves

patriots.

See the difference yet?

Edited March 15, 2011 by mawilson

[^_^ 5,021]

I don't think anyone in their right mind would advocate ignoring the other 18.5%. However, wasting time, money, and resources by treating the 81.5% threat equally to the 18.5% threat so as not to hurt anyone's feelings is rather stupid. Hurt feelings don't compare to unnecessary deaths and destruction because someone wants to believe all people are an equal threat.

I think of it this way - any one terror attack of significant magnitude will kill a lot of people, whether it's carried out by a group within the 81.5% (Islamists) or the 18.5% (non-Islamists). We shouldn't assume those proportions will hold steady over time. Nor should we assume that an Islamist attack will do 4.4 times (81.5/18.5) the damage a non-Islamist attack would.

We simply need to be spending more money overall on this intelligence stuff. And I'm ok with profiling, as long as it's intelligent and not knee-jerk (i.e. the policies are designed by the intelligence community and not by politicians).

[^_^ 5,021]

The other 18.5% do not want to see America destroyed. They are misguided and dangerous individuals, but they love this country and consider themselves patriots.

From the article:

The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the Colombian FARC lead the non-Islamist terrorist groups, combining for 14 percent of the total.

That leaves 4.5%. And I would offer my opinion that loving America whilst holding many Americans in utter contempt is not a form of patriotism.