Feb 21 2006
Did NSA Help Indict Terrorists In Ohio?
Three terrorists were indicted in Ohio today for trying to wage war on America:
A federal grand jury has indicted three Toledo-area men for terrorist activities. Prosecutors say the three conspired to wage a “holy war” against the United States and coalition forces in the middle east.
According to the indictment from the US Attorney’s office, the suspects are Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, and Wassim Mazloum. The indictment says all three are citizens of the United States, and have been living in the Toledo area.
I wonder if the government tripped over these people because these terrorists were in contact with overseas terrorist leaders. Oh, I see I have my answer
In count 1 of the indictment, prosecutors say the three met together many times, going back as far as November 2005. The three reportedly conspired to recruit and train others for a violent jihad against United States forces and US allies in Iraq. They also reportedly put together the funding needed for the operation, and collected the equipment needed.
Prosecutors also say the three communicated by computer with an individual in the Middle East, passing information about potential attacks and terrorist training materials back and forth, as well as communication about potential weapons and targets.
So the NSA detected the communications and passed the lead to the FBI. I wonder if the FISA judges balked at this lead? Is this one of the leads the judges were upset about because it came from the NSA?
More importantly – is this the kind of terrorist prevention the liberal fringe is ready to campaign against this fall? I mean, their communications were intercepted because they were in deliberate contact with terrorists overseas? These people were considering some serious attacks:
In count 2, the grand jury found that the three had similar plans to kill US citizens abroad in addition to service members.
The last two counts in the indictment dealt specifically with Mohammad Zaki Amawi. One count said Amawi distributed information on bomb-making, which in itself is a federal crime. Prosecutors also said he verbally threatened President George W. Bush. Those crimes are separate from the conspiracy.
We need to find out how the FISA court responded to this lead. It will tell us how well the coordination between NSA, the FBI and the FISA Court is working.
UPDATE:
Hat Tip to Flopping Aces for the indictment link.
Michelle picks up the news (sadly elsewhere!), the round up will start here of course.
Counterterrorism Blog has some details – but apparenly not the NSA angle.
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Suspected Terrorists Arrested In Ohio
From Breitbart/AP:
A federal grand jury indicted three Ohio men on terrorism charges alleging they planned attacks to kill …
Are you quoting directly from the linked article? Because the article does not say,”The indictment says all three are citizens of the United States, and have been living in the Toledo area.” as you quoted above. Two of them are citizens and one is a legal permanent resident.
Also, the article says nothing about the NSA or eavesdropping. It simply says they communicated with someone in the middle east using a computer. In fact it says nothing at all about what led law enforcement officials to these three idiots. It’s possible that, after their arrest, their computers were searched and the overseas communications were found.
I can see you salivating for some proof that the judges on the FISA court are a bunch of liberal idiots. But if you want your readers to take you seriously, slow down a bit, quit misquoting articles, and see what actually happens.
Colini,
I copied those sections from the article – they must have updated it with a correction.
Too bad that thought never occurred to you before you commented. Did you mean to demonstrate my point about liberals?
I did consider that the article might have changed. I also considered that you might have changed it. That’s why I asked the question.
What point were you making about liberals? That we can read a news article and understand what it says and doesn’t say?
You said:
I mean, their communications were intercepted because they were in deliberate contact with terrorists overseas?
The article does not say their communications were intercepted. You seem to want very badly to know if/how FISA was involved. If it is later reported that FISA approved a warrant for an interception, will you retract any of your previous, lengthy postings regarding the comptency of the FISA court judges? Or will WTOL-TV be added to your list of lying liberal media?
Colini,
You are too funny. Keep fantasizing strawmen to knock down. No need to involve me in your little fun!
Which strawman argument did I make?
You quoted from the article then immediately said:
“So the NSA detected the communications and passed the lead to the FBI.”
But the article says nothing of the sort. It doesn’t say anything about the NSA or the FISA court. It doesn’t even say their communications were intercepted.
You are right, tho, I was here looking for a “little fun” on your blog, but unfortunately I have not found it. Keep up the good work demonizing the FISA court! I sincerely hope the Toledo terrorism indictments support your strongly held beliefs re: the FISA judges.
Colini,
All my comments about the FISA judges come from their words. You will have to take it up with them. All my posts link to their words.
Deal with it and stop complaining about how you don’t like to hear what they said.
Ohio Men Charged With Plotting Attacks On U.S. Troops
The Associated Press reports a federal grand jury indicted three Ohio men on charges they planned attacks on U.S. military personnel in Iraq. The men were arrested over the weekend. According to Toledo’s WTOL TV, the suspects are Mohammad Zaki Amawi, …
Jihad in Ohio
Three Charged in Plan to Attack U.S. Military in Iraq CLEVELAND — A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted three naturalized U.S. citizens in Ohio for their role in assisting terrorism on U.S. targets overseas, specifically American military personne…
I just came in from work and saw a bit of TV news. Some undercover guy took over their cell. He looked Arab but was working for the US.
They are toast. They were infiltrated. Maybe the FBI, but I don’t know.
An Arab-American called “the Trainer” nailed them:
“The indictment also notes that a fourth person, referred to as “the trainer,” was a U.S. citizen but was not named as a conspirator. One official told FOX News that law enforcement was tipped to the activities of these three men by this informant, who is an ex-U.S. military man who fought overseas and was living in Toledo. He is described as “a respected member of the Muslim community” who came forward and gave information to the authorities.
The Justice Department said “the trainer” was working on behalf of the government and was cooperating from the beginning of the investigation.” http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,185551,00.html
Here is what they said about warrants:
SNIP
One interesting aspect of the case is that officials seem to have intercepted e-mail communications from the suspects to their jihadist brethren in the Middle East. The indictment shows the nature of the e-mails, including a concern the men needed to use code words to conceal what they were talking about.
One official told FOX News that this investigation used all the tools, including FISA warrants.
“A lot of FISAs,” one source said, referring to the warrants obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Law enforcement officials also told FOX News that if it were not for the Patriot Act, authorities would not have been able to bring the charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,185551,00.html
Excellent work Snapple!
This is really interesting news.
Three Ohio Men Indicted For Plotting Attacks On Troops, Bush
Left to Right: Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, and Wassim Mazloum Three Toledo men were indicted for planning attacks on US troops. Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, and Wassim Mazloum were arrested for planning attacks on Ameri…