Lest we forget the Terror threat at Home

It couldn't have been more of a surprise if the alleged terror cell had been discovered in Peoria.

But the FBI says the father-and-son team lived in Lodi, California. (Wasn't there once a popular song about that lonely little town? Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi, again… .)

There are many more such wanted criminals lurking inside the USA. when are we going to apprehend them?

Hamid Hayat, 22, and his father Umer Hayat, 47, were arrested there last weekend. The feds say the younger Hayat visited an al-Qaida summer camp for terrorists. (We can imagine the scavenger hunts and canoeing between target practicing and bomb making.) Hamid Hayat admitted going to the training — after first failing a lie detector test.

Photo credits: Danz Family

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According to an affidavit, "Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihadi mission. Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores."

The elder Hayat is being held without bail, too. Why? A judge ruled him a flight risk and a danger to the community: "He just returned from Pakistan where he built a new home and contributed financial assistance to an al-Qaida sponsored program training his son and others to kill Americans whenever and wherever they can be found." And that's the judge talking, not the prosecutor.

The father's occupation here in the states?

Ice cream truck driver.

Be vigilant.

As for Umer Hayat, his attorney is shocked — shocked! — at the charges. He says his client "is charged with nothing more than lying to a (federal) agent."

The Muslim community to which these people belong is predominantly from Pakistan . It is said there are about 2,500 Pakistanis or American nationals of Pakistani origin in Lodi 's 60,000-strong population.

The FBI has already filed an affidavit before a court to justify its request for the continued detention of the arrested persons. The charge as levelled aginst them so far is not participating or planning to participate in a terrorist act or belonging to a terrorist organisation, but telling a lie in order to cover up the fact of Hamid having undergone training in an Al Qaeda training camp. It is alleged that Hamid initially denied it, but only subsequently admitted it when put through a lie detector test.

It is not clear how the FBI zeroed in on Hamid. Some Pakistani sources allege that their community at Lodi is a divided one with a lot of politics and that some sections opposed to those arrested had planted false information on the FBI against the arrested persons.

There are some loose links in the case as so far put up by the FBI.Among questions inadequately or unsatisfactorily answered are:

(a). Would it have been possible for the Al Qaeda to run such a training camp at or near Rawalpindi , considering the fact that the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan Army are located there?

(b). Who was responsible for running the camp---Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the leader of the Deobandi-Wahabi organisation called the Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam (JUI) Pakistan or Maulana Fazlur Rahman Khalil, the former Amir of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM)? It is said that the FBI had initially mentioned the name of Maulana Fazlur Rahman, but subsequently withdrew it?

(c). It is also said that some of the arrested/suspected persons had condemned the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US and had been members of inter-religious groups, which were campaigning against terrorism. How can they be so deceptive---seemingly working overtly against terrorism and covertly assisting the Al Qaeda and other jihadi terrorist organisations?

(d). How come Gen.Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani President, who projects himself as a stalwart ally of the US, allows such anti-US activities to go on in Pakistani territory?

(e). How does the US continue to trust and pamper him despite such instances?

Question which the FBI needs to address itself to and take up with the government of our MNNA (Major Non-NATO Ally) Pakistan. Pakistan has been known for double dealing on the issue of terrorism, as India has painfully realized, but not necessarily become any wiser. We Americans need to be.

The Terrorists in Kashmir are not India's problem alone. It is our problem too. The Islamofascists of Kashmir don't give a rat's ass about Kashmir but want India to be a nice piece of the global caliphate. It takes an American to realise this, but its a pity that Indians, especially their Government does not. Not to say that all Americans realize the enemey we are up against. The griping at the tratement of the thugs at Guantanomo is one example.

The prisoners at Guantanomo are considered enemy combatants, lawful and unlawful. By all the laws of war, they may be held to the end of hostilities. And if this war on terror lasts half a century or more, surely the government of the United States can arrange a suitable burial, with all religious rites duly observed, for any jihadists who do not see this war's end. What else would Messrs. Carter and Clinton have us do — set them free so they can attack us again? Give them a two-week, fully paid vacation in Las Vegas? Ship them home to Egypt or Saudi Arabia or Jordan or some equally enlightened spot? Would that be acting humanely or just outsourcing torture?

Story Credits: Free Republic

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