Yet Another Bogus 'Terror' Plot

The Nation: Robert Dreyfuss Writes That The Latest Terror Scare Is Just That

(The Nation)  This story was written by Robert Dreyfuss.

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By now, it's maddeningly familiar. A scary terrorist plot is announced. Then it's revealed that the suspects are a hapless bunch of ne'er-do-wells or run-of-the-mill thugs without the slightest connection to any terrorists at all, never mind to Al Qaeda. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle: the entire plot is revealed to have been cooked up by a scummy government agent-provocateur.

I've seen this movie before.

In this case, the alleged perps -- Onta Williams, James Cromitie, David Williams, and Laguerre Payen -- were losers, ex-cons, drug addicts. Al Qaeda they're not. Without the assistance of the agent who entrapped them, they would never have dreamed of committing political violence, nor would they have had the slightest idea about where to acquire plastic explosives or a Stinger missile. That didn't stop prosecutors from acting as if they'd captured Osama bin Laden himself. Noted the Los Angeles Times:

Prosecutors called it the latest in a string of homegrown terrorism plots hatched after Sept. 11.

"It's hard to envision a more chilling plot," Assistant U.S. Atty. Eric Snyder said in court Thursday. He described all four suspects as "eager to bring death to Jews."

Actually, it's hard to imagine a stupider, less competent, and less important plot. The four losers were ensnared by a creepy FBI agent who hung around the mosque in upstate New York until he found what he was looking for. Here's the New York Times account:

Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad, the imam at the mosque where the authorities say the confidential informant first encountered the men, said none of the men were active in the mosque. ...

Mr. Cromitie was there last June, and he met a stranger.

He had no way of knowing that the stranger's path to the mosque began in 2002, when he was arrested on federal charges of identity theft. He was sentenced to five years' probation, and became a confidential informant for the F.B.I. He began showing up at the mosque in Newburgh around 2007, Mr. Muhammad said.

The stranger's behavior aroused the imam's suspicions. He invited other worshipers to meals, and spoke of violence and jihad, so the imam said he steered clear of him.

"There was just something fishy about him," Mr. Muhammad said. Members "believed he was a government agent."

Mr. Muhammad said members of his congregation told him the man he believed was the informant offered at least one of them a substantial amount of money to join his "team."

So a creepy thug buttonholes people at a mosque, foaming at the mouth about violence and jihad? This is law enforcement? Just imagine if someone did this at a local church, or some synagogue. And the imam says the people "believed he was a government agent."

Preying on these losers, none of whom were apparently actual Muslims, the "confidential informant" orchestrated the acquisition of a disabled Stinger missile to shoot down military planes and cooked up a wild scheme about attacking a Jewish center in the Bronx.

It gets even more pathetic.

The only one of the four suspects who appears to have aroused any suspicion was Payen, a Haitian native who attended the Newburgh mosque. Assistant imam Hamid Rashada said his dishevelment and odd behavior disturbed some members, said the assistant imam, Hamid Rashada.

When Payen appeared in court, defense attorney Marilyn Reader described him as "intellectually challenged" and on medication for schizophrenia. The Associated Press said that when he was asked if he understood the proceedings, Payen replied: "Sort of."

Despite the pompous statements from Mayor Bloomberg of New York and other politicians, including Representative Peter King, the whole story is bogus. The four losers may have been inclined to violence, and they may have harbored a virulent strain of anti-Semitism. But it seems that the informant whipped up their violent tendencies and their hatred of Jews, cooked up the plot, incited them, arranged their purchase of weapons, and then had them busted. To ensure that it made headlines, the creepy informant claimed to be representing a Pakistani extremist group, Jaish-e Muhammad, a bona fide terrorist organization. He wasn't, of course.

It is disgusting and outrageous that the FBI is sending provocateurs into mosques.

The headlines reinforce the very fear that Dick Cheney is trying to stir up. The story strengthens the narrative that the "homeland" is under attack. It's not. As I've written repeatedly, since 9/11 not a single American has even been punched in the nose by an angry Muslim, as far as I can tell. Plot after plot -- the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge! bombing the New York Subways! taking down the Sears Tower! bombing the Prudential building in Newark! -- proved to be utter nonsense.

Robert Dreyfuss is a Nation contributing editor.

[berlinfoto-2009]

It is a true shame that more citizens in the United States, do not understand that they are being had, conned. I said some of this before when the article about this incident first came out.
In the interrogation rooms, or in the room above in many police stations, there is a infrared light source that can be beamed at the suspects head or other parts of his body. When he complains about the visible light above the table where he is sitting, is heating his head it is thrust into his hands and he is told that this light is not hot, Your head is hot because you are guilty, you should confess.
Infrared light of the proper wave length can penetrate any building materials and cannot be seen by the human eye. So the source of the heat can be totally hidden, and a simple minded person will be inclined to confess to something he simply had no knowledge of.
Police frequently pick out someone that they do not like and will go to extremes to entrap this person, Microchipping can be accomplished in a covert fashion where it just feels like someone bumped you in the buttocks. Once a person is microchipped then the police can and do continually run entrapment scans on this person.
Like it or not the justice system is being used for political control, the simple entrapment scheme is just a tip of a iceberg.
It is a attempt to create fear, an attempt at more crisis democracy, the Patriot Act was a laundry list that the justice department had made a long time before, waiting for a crisis to make use of to get it passed, now we are all stuck with it.
Enjoy what little freedom you have while you still have a little.

[Jacy99]

setups like this should be illegal. worse than anything though is that the FBI is showing the real terrorists how easy it can be to start a "homegrown" bomb plot of their own. the only thing this proves is that there are people in this country who are desperate enough to do anything if they are promised enough money. that's not terrorism, it's just sad. people like these guys need help. I bet there's a million good things they would've done for the same money. 'bogus' is the right word - good article.

[An-Historian]

Fear is the only tool that the GOP still has, and obviously, they're not about to give it up.