NEW JERSEY JIHADIS NAILED!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Dr. Noel Gibeson Corbell

Three illegal aliens and three others were arrested this week for conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the recent plot to kill as many American soldiers as possible at the Fort Dix army base in New Jersey. Four of them were from Albania, one from Jordon and one from Turkey.

This points out to but one of the many problems that illegal aliens pose to U.S. society: that they are never screened for acceptability for entry into the U.S. This has resulted in criminals entering the country to operate at will. Terrorists can enter just as easily to wait, plan or carryout their attacks. 

Presently, there is no system to track all illegal aliens down, round them up and deport them, as there should be. It does not matter why they came to the U.S. illegally - economic or otherwise - they committed a criminal act by illegally entering the country and falsifying documentation, the end-result should be the same; finding them and deporting them. If they committed other crimes while in the U.S., then let them serve their sentence and then deport them. In the case of the three Duka brothers who have been in this country illegally for more than 10 years, attended public schools and benefited from the freedom of the United States, it is clear from their intended actions that they were not fully integrated into American culture; that their jihadi mindset was predominate. 

In the immigration debate we oftentimes hear from the Left that illegal aliens "take jobs no American wants." Besides being a fallacious and superficial statement by illegal alien proponents, it is wrong in fact. The six men involved in this case all worked in the U.S. economy in traditional jobs: three were roofers, one a pizza delivery man, one worked in a 7-11 convenience store, and one was a taxi driver. The three illegal aliens were all roofers.

'Profiling' helps authorities to identify prospective terrorists. In this case all defendants are Muslim men in their 20s; a typical demographic for terrorists. Of course Muslims are not all Arabs; in fact, most Muslims are not Arabs because the majority of Muslims come from other geographic locations such as Asia, Africa, Iran and parts of the former Soviet Union. But the typical demographic is where TSA screeners and others need to focus their efforts and they need to leave the rest of us alone. An 89 year-old grandma in a wheelchair from Kansas does not need the same - read "equal" or politically-correct - screening that target profiles do, such as Muslim men in their 20s, to name one demographic.

These terrorists conspired and planned for their attack for a long time. For only the last 16 months were they under intense scrutiny from the FBI. With the help of two confidential witnesses evidence, to include recorded conversations and surveillance photos and videos, were collected against these jihadis. The jihadis looked at several attack locations and discussed obtaining automatic weapons, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), C-4 plastic explosives and nitroglycerin explosives, as the charging documents indicate. They were arrested after they purchased AK-47 Kalashnikov automatic and M-16 assault rifles to carry out the plot from an FBI confidential witness. Unbeknownst to the jihadis, these weapons had been rendered inoperative.

Had this group not been thwarted perhaps scores of U.S. soldiers would have been murdered at Fort Dix.

The investigation started when the terrorists asked a store clerk from Circuit City's Mount Laurel store to copy a videotape for them. This alert, courageous and patriot individual realized what was on the video recording and called his local police department who then contacted the FBI. That is when surveillance began. Parts of the Patriot Act were used to obtain information as part of this investigation.

While the Patriot Act remains abhorrent to many because of the civil liberty issues involved against innocent Americans, this is another instance where it has helped prevent a terrorist attack. Most terrorist attacks that are prevented are never publicized, but the few events that are publicized show how easily jihadis can blend into society, lay in wait and prepare for their attack. How many more are out there, waiting?

There is lots of good news and kudos to go around in this case. Hats off to the Circuit City store clerk, the confidential witnesses, the local police and the FBI; well-done by all concerned.

 

Dr. Noel Gibeson Corbell. As president of the Mount Vernon Institute, Dr. Corbell provides research and consulting services into contemporary issues involving the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence, international affairs, human rights, the economy, terrorism, intelligence, homeland security, including counter-terrorism, and government responsibility and accountability. At Georgetown University, he taught courses as they relate to technology, intelligence, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism and space issues. One course called Intelligence and American Foreign Policy, examined unclassified, open-source documents and the steps in the intelligence cycle up to and including preparation of the National Intelligence Estimate. As an organizational management consultant and a radio broadcaster with WALE Radio 990, he produced and hosted a live, radio talk show broadcast over New England and New York called Tomorrow, Today. Earlier, Noel Gibeson Corbell was a career U.S. Marine Corps force recon and infantry officer. In that regard he served in operational positions worldwide in jungles, deserts, mountains and oceans. Later, he was a strategic planner at Headquarters Marine Corps and for the Secretary of the Navy. His commentaries have appeared in newspapers like the Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, the Army Times, the Air Force Times, and on the Free Market News Network, as well as in The National Interest.