Wow, this is bad. Tell us about it, New York Times:
Four men were arrested Wednesday night in what the authorities said was a plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y.The men, all of whom live in Newburgh, about 60 miles north of New York City, were arrested around 9 p.m. after planting what they believed to be bombs in cars outside the Riverdale Temple and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center, officials said. But the men did not know the bombs, obtained with the help of an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, were fake.
Domestic terrorism! Why would anyone want to blow up synagogues? What possible motive might there be? Let's read on in the Times account:
The arrests capped what officials described as a "painstaking investigation" that began in June 2008 involving an F.B.I. agent who had been told by a federal informant of the men's desire to attack targets in America. As part of the plot, the men intended to fire Stinger missiles at military aircraft at the base, which is at Stewart International Airport, officials said.
Oh good grief, it gets even worse. Who are these men, and why might they have wanted to carry out such acts? Come on, Times, give us a clue! You read and you read, and not until after you've plowed through nine paragraphs and 476 words -- longer than most editorials -- do you come to the following sentence:
They are all Muslim, a law enforcement official said.
This is what is called "burying the lede." Some editor in that newsroom found this to be an inconvenient truth, and tried to hide it. You can practically hear the Times cringing when it has to disclose this fact, which most fair-minded readers would find rather pertinent.
Fortunately, the New York Post is not nearly as squeamish and politically correct. Here's the first paragraph of its story:
Four homegrown Muslim terrorists on a mission from hell were arrested last night as they planted what they thought were high-powered plastic explosives at two Bronx synagogues, authorities said.
Trust me on this, if you are depending on the mainstream American media to keep you informed about radical Islam in America, you are going to stay in the dark. Political correctness on this point is a powerful force. Mayor Bloomberg even found himself caught up in it. Here's his remark, as reported by the Times:
"This latest attempt to attack our freedoms shows that the homeland security threats against New York City are sadly all too real and underscores why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent terrorism."
They didn't try to attack "our freedoms." They tried to attack our Jews, because they are Jews. How do we know this? The Post actually reports relevant details from the criminal complaint:
One of the suspects, James Cromitie, a k a Abdul Rahman, bragged that blowing up the synagogues would be a "piece of cake," the feds said."I hate those motherf - - -ers, those f - - -ing Jewish bastards . . . I would like to get a synagogue," Cromitie told an informant, according to a criminal complaint.
The New York Times did not report this significant quote. Why do you suppose that is? If these alleged terrorists were white supremacists, neither the New York Times nor the New York mayor would have trouble speaking plainly and directly about what this is.
UPDATE: That these men were Muslims is not incidental to their alleged crime. Their religion is relevant to the story, given the social and cultural context in which their alleged actions took place. It is relevant to understanding the story. It is not incidental. I do not understand, from a news judgment angle, this idea many of you in the comboxes have that to mention the religion of these people is somehow to invite hatred of them -- and therefore, this relevant fact should be kept from the public, or otherwise suppressed.
Not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists today are Muslims. You can't wish that fact away. We have to deal with it. Stop trying to make up this mythical horde of Christian abortion clinic bombers who in your minds balance out Muslim terrorists. These people barely exist.
The Times perfectly well knew that the religion of the suspects is key to their motive. Here is a relevant passage from the criminal complaint, a PDF of which the Times published with its story:
In June 2008, the CW met JAMES CROMITIE, a/k/a "Abdul Rahman," a/k/a "Abdul Rehman," the defendant, at Masjid al-Ikhlas, a mosque in Newburgh, New York. CROMITIE explained to the CW that his parents lived in Afghanistan prior to his birth and that, because of his connection to Afghanistan, he was upset about the war there. CROMITIE was unhappy that many Muslim people were being killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the United States Military forces. CROMITIE expressed interest in returning to Afghanistan and spoke to the CW about how if he, CROMITIE, were to die a martyr, he would go to "paradise." CROMITIE also expressed an interest in doing "something to America. "
That these alleged terrorists are Muslims is not a strange coincidence. It is key to their motivation. It is relevant to the story, and further up the story than almost 500 words down.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
Rod,
If you were being totally honest here, you would acknowledge that this whole charade was concocted by the feds, who targeted their efforts on the "usual suspects" - dupes, really, and that the fact that these losers found Islam appealing while in prison in order to get a special diet truly is irrelevant. The FBI could have just as easily targeted four white ex-cons who fell for the Aryan Nation crap. That they selected "Black Muslims" suggests a far more sinister agenda reminiscent of the FBI's COINTELPRO project between 1956-1971.
Ideally the level of political correctness would be somewhere between the NYT and the NYP. (but closer to the NYT)
Think of this way: Stressing the muslim ties of these terrorists would be helpful for what? (1) it stress into the public's mind that the terrorists today muslim and possibly makes them safer by telling them to be vigilant of suspicious muslims (2) it would increase prejudice against American Muslims, the vast majority of whom are not terrorists.
I am positive that everyone that has heard '9-11' or 'Afghanistan' or 'terrorist' post 2001 already knows about point no. one. These are not the crucial details you paint them out to be. Not mentioning muslim in the article would be evidence for concern, but not stressing it is evidence of good judgement.
Mayor Bloomberg, of all people, has chosen not to stress it. I doubt it is to win votes. Instead, he knows that muslim prejudice breaking out into street riots in the Bronx and elsewhere is a very real danger. Take it from me, people are prone to prejudice. I'm Indian-American and have gotten mistaken for muslim at least 6 times since 9-11. And some of the confrontations were a bit scary.
Would this chamge you perception of this event Rod (and other "fans" of Islam)?
FBI Blows It: Supposed Terror Plot Against NY Synagogues Is Bogus
By Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation. Posted May 23, 2009.
Turns out it is really the handiwork of a creepy FBI informant. The story strengthens the narrative that the "homeland" is under attack. It's not.
By the 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.
http://www.alternet.org/world/140209/fbi_blows_it%3A_supposed_terror_plot_against_ny_synagogues_is_bogus/
From ALTER NET
FBI Blows It: Supposed Terror Plot Against NY Synagogues Is Bogus
Turns out it is really the handiwork of a creepy FBI informant. The story strengthens the narrative that the "homeland" is under attack. It's not.
By Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation
Posted on May 23, 2009, Printed on May 23, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/140209/
When I heard this story on NPR their religion was not mentioned. Trying to fit this into a rational framework I conjectured that they were either white supremacists or Muslim radicals. When they mentioned the American sounding name of one of the attackers I guessed that it was a white supremacists group.
Later I found out that they were converts to Islam and boy was my guess was wrong. I also learned that at least one of them had chosen an Arabic name which really should have been used or at least mentioned by the reporter.
So I agree with Rod that their religion is crucial to putting a context around this story, and failing to mention it was poor reporting.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.