Ontd_political: Tension grows between Calif. Muslims, FBI after informant infiltrates mosque. IRVINE, CALIF. - Before the sun rose, the informant donned a white Islamic robe.
A tiny camera was sewn into a button, and a microphone was buried in a device attached to his keys. "This is Farouk al-Aziz, code name Oracle," he said into the keys as he sat in his parked car in this quiet community south of Los Angeles. "It's November 13th, 4:30 a.m. And we're hot. " The undercover FBI informant - a convicted forger named Craig Monteilh - then drove off for 5 a.m. prayers at the Islamic Center of Irvine, where he says he spied on dozens of worshipers in a quest for potential terrorists. Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the FBI has used informants successfully as one of many tactics to prevent another strike in the United States. But the FBI's approach has come under fire from some Muslims, criticism that surfaced again late last month after agents arrested an Oregon man they said tried to detonate a bomb at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.
The 'chameleon' Entrapment or Foiling Terror? FBI's Reliance on Paid Informants Raises Questions about Validity of Terrorism Cases. This is a rush transcript.
Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: Prosecutors and defense attorneys made their final arguments this week in the trial of the Newburgh Four, a high-profile case that has made national headlines as a potent example of so-called homegrown terror. The four men from Newburgh, New York, are charged with plotting to bomb a synagogue and a Jewish community center in the Bronx. US Assistant Attorney David Raskin says the four are, quote, "criminally minded" people who, quote, "wanted to do something to America. " But the defense argued they were entrapped by government agents and not predisposed to commit a terrorist crime. Well, Democracy Now! ' KRISTINE JOHNSON: Motivated by hate and bent on killing their neighbors.
REPORTER: According to the FBI, this was a plot to blow up two synagogues and a community center, all in the Bronx. REPORTER: Prosecutors describe the suspects as extremely violent men who embraced every opportunity for terrorism. GOV. [break] The FBI successfully thwarts its own Terrorist plot - Glenn Greenwald. The FBI is obviously quite pleased with itself over its arrest of a 19-year-old Somali-American, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who — with months of encouragement, support and money from the FBI’s own undercover agents — allegedly attempted to detonate a bomb at a crowded Christmas event in Portland, Oregon.
Media accounts are almost uniformly trumpeting this event exactly as the FBI describes it. Loyalists of both parties are doing the same, with Democratic Party commentators proclaiming that this proves how great and effective Democrats are at stopping The Evil Terrorists, while right-wing polemicists point to this arrest as yet more proof that those menacing Muslims sure are violent and dangerous. What’s missing from all of these celebrations is an iota of questioning or skepticism.
All of the information about this episode — all of it — comes exclusively from an FBI affidavit filed in connection with a Criminal Complaint against Mohamud. Ontd_political: 5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam. If You're a Muslim Woman, You Have to Wear the Veil For millions of people in the West, when you say "Islam," the first mental image that pops into mind is this: A two-person Scotch-garded version would sell like hotcakes.
A woman covered head to toe in a burqa. The truth is, if you could suddenly gather all of the Muslim women on the planet into one giant room and had to throw a football to someone wearing a burqa, it'd be next to impossible to complete that pass. But the whole whole hide-them-under-a-veil thing must be pretty big among Muslim communities, otherwise Europe wouldn't be all in in a dither over the things, pushing for bans and whatnot. Look at them there, plotting new ways to drive super-slow in the HOV lane. ...is like thinking that all Christian women have to dress like this: That photo is from one of several small Christian sects that require women to dress like it's Little House on the Prairie.
Then again, these were French police. Much like hot pants. But actually...