Fort Dix Plot Called "New" Form Of Terror

(CBS/AP)  One drove a cab, three were roofers. Another worked at a 7-Eleven and a sixth at a supermarket. Their alleged plot to attack Fort Dix was foiled by another blue-collar worker: a video store clerk.

Six foreign-born Muslims were accused Tuesday of planning to assault the Army base and slaughter scores of U.S. soldiers with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.

The unidentified clerk is being credited with tipping off authorities in January 2006 after one of the suspects asked him to transfer a video to DVD that showed 10 men shooting weapons at a firing range and calling for jihad, prosecutors said.

"If we didn't get that tip," said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, "I couldn't be sure what would happen." FBI agent J.P. Weis called the clerk the "unsung hero" of the case.

Authorities said there was no direct evidence connecting the men to any international terror organizations such as al Qaeda. But several of them said they were ready to kill and die "in the name of Allah," prosecutors said in court papers.

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Read the federal criminal complaint (.pdf)

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Weis said the U.S. is seeing a "brand-new form of terrorism," involving smaller, more loosely defined groups that may not be connected to al Qaeda but are inspired by its ideology.

"These homegrown terrorists can prove to be as dangerous as any known group, if not more so. They operate under the radar," Weis said.

In the wake of 9/11, more than 400,000 names have come under one form of government surveillance or another, from watch lists to wiretaps, reports CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

Four of the arrested men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one was born in Jordan and one came from Turkey, authorities said. Three were in the United States illegally; two had green cards allowing them to stay in this country permanently; and the sixth is a U.S. citizen.

The six — Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 22; Dritan Duka, 28; Shain Duka, 26; Eljvir Duka, 23; Serdar Tatar, 23; and Agron Abdullahu, 24 — were ordered held without bail for a hearing Friday.

Five were charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. military personnel; the sixth, Abdullahu, was charged with aiding and abetting illegal immigrants in obtaining weapons.

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[inventagod2]

Funny how 30-plus pages of comments disappeared overnight, C-BS
Your true colors are showing, and the Bu$h ratings are in the single-digits.
We will never forget the attempted whitewash...

[frankinaz]

The last thing this country needs to do is to make things easier for potential terrorists: But that's exactly what happens when illegal immigrants sneak into this country, without any kind of background checks, and are allowed to stay here-illegally. They have no problem finding jobs, either, although there are laws against hiring these people as well. Although the Fort Dix terrorist plot was foiled, as long as people with terrorist intentions are allowed to trespass into this country and illegally remain here,another 9/11 or similar disaster is not a matter of if, but when.

[frankinaz]

The last thing this country needs to do is to make things easier for potential terrorists: But that's exactly what happens when illegal immigrants sneak into this country, without any kind of background checks, and are allowed to stay here-illegally. They have no problem finding jobs, either, although there are laws against hiring these people as well. Although the Fort Dix terrorist plot was foiled, as long as people with terrorist intentions are allowed to trespass into this country and illegally remain here,another 9/11 or similar disaster is not a matter of if, but when.

[tasmhs]

This is as clear an example as one can find about our insane immigration policies. These jihadists came here illegally, stayed for 25 years, and then when called upon to kill in the name of Allah, they were ready to carry out their plan. Wake up America!!!! We are at war with Islamic Fundamentalism!!! It is a global War on Terror, one that will take decades to win. Is anyone naive enough to think this is the only sleeper cell ready to act, or plotting attacks within our borders? Don't kid yourself.

[inventagod2]

20 pages of comments unkind to Bu$h, wiped clean by C-B.S. editors overnight?

Shame on you...

[toldyouso21]

Our government has told so many lies in this so called war on terror--who knows if this plot was real or just another made up piece of Bush propaganda to prove the terror scare and all the wasted money is worth it? Face it, the boy has cried wolf and flashed color codes and claimed foiled plots and litanized Bin Laden's name too many times--now--most just think that either it is true and we are relieved--or it is just another Bush lie--and we are relieved--that he and his cronies stopped at the lie and did not resort to bogus, framed attacks on America to make their case.

[inventagod2]

You have all been NeoConned!
This fear piece was written to control the mindless...

The Iraq oil invasion was planned before Bu$hCo cic 9/11. Big Bucks was the reason.

"British defense contractor BAE Systems Plc (BA.L) moved to expand its share of the lucrative U.S. military market on Monday with a $4.1 billion deal to buy body armor and Army truck maker Armor Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AH - news).
The deal is the second multibillion-dollar U.S. purchase in two years for BAE, which is now the No. 8 supplier in the world's biggest military market. Two years ago, BAE bought United Defense Industries, maker of Bradley fighting vehicles, for $4.2 billion."

It ain't ending soon, either...
Resistance is futile.

[hillaryin08]

Were These Terrorists Among the Albanians Clinton Brought to Fort Dix?

My God, folks, could it be that the Clinton administration set up the communications network for this? Brought them to our shores, set up the communications network? Just asking. The story doesn't say this. These stories are almost eight years old, folks, but may I read this to you again? Just this one passage: "Mrs. Clinton also announced the establishment of an Internet-based information resource to help the Kosovo refugees find loved ones. The computer system will be based at Fort Dix, New Jersey, military base now serving as a processing center for Kosovars coming to the United States." That is Fort Dix, New Jersey.

[hillaryin08]

Were These Terrorists Among the Albanians Clinton Brought to Fort Dix?

[giovanni1964-2009]

I tend to disagree with you Sohail Mohammed. You stated:
Sohail Mohammed, "But when the government says `Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous." Sorry, Mohammad, but until Americans see otherwise, Islam and militancy are synonymous. I have yet to see any Islamic leader speak out against those tarnishing the Islam religion. I don't believe the majority muslims are radical militaints. However, it's hard not to believe that if a muslim had to prove their devotion to Allah by killing westerners, they would have to problem killing westerners to prove their devotion. Islamic leaders need to do a better job promoting the good things about Islam to offset the negitive publicty it gets every day in the news.