“I just can’t stop; there is no other choice for me.” Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen, was intent on killing the “enemies of Allah.”
It was revealed today that the FBI has foiled a home-grown terrorist plot aimed at the Pentagon and Congress. The following is from the FBI's account:
Ferdaus described his expanded attack as follows:
...with this aerial assault, we can effectively eliminate key locations of the [Pentagon] then we can add to it in order to take out everything else and leave one area only as a squeeze where the individuals will be isolated, they’ll be vulnerable and we can dominate.
According to the affidavit, after each subsequent delivery, Ferdaus was anxious to know how well each of his detonation devices had worked and how many Americans they had killed. During recorded conversations, Ferdaus stated that he devised the idea of attacking the Pentagon long before he met with the government’s cooperating witness (CW) and UC, and that his jihad had, “started last year.”
In recorded conversations with the CW that began in January 2011, Ferdaus stated that he planned to attack the Pentagon using aircraft similar to “small drone airplanes” filled with explosives and guided by GPS equipment. According to the affidavit, in April 2011, Ferdaus expanded his plan to include an attack on the U.S. Capitol. In May and June 2011, Ferdaus delivered two thumb drives to the UCs, which contained detailed attack plans with step-by-step instructions as to how he planned to attack the Pentagon and Capitol. The plans included using three remote controlled aircraft and six people, including himself, whom he described as an “amir,” i.e., an Arabic term meaning leader.
Once the FBI UC delivered "a quantity of C-4 explosives, three grenades, and six fully-automatic AK-47 assault rifles" Rezwan Ferdaus was arrested after taking posession of the weapons and securing them in his lock up storage facility.
COMMENT
In past foiled terrorist plots the FBI has been criticized for entrapping suspects and violating their civil liberties. Case in point - the Portland case. Despite the fact that the suspect parked a van he thought was full of explosives next to a packed public square for a Christmas event, and walked away from the van attempting to detonate it, this was spun by a range of sources as a set up - a cynical manipulation of a "very young, impressionable, disaffected, hapless, aimless, inept loner". MIL INT is not talking about the fringe media (although they piled in with the same story), this was the lead story in the Huffington Post and was featured in Salon - which is the source of the loner quote above. The trial of the alleged Portland bomber, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, has yet to take place.
The FBI has a very hard task. It must protect the public but at the same time it has to meet exacting standards of evidence required by law. This is as it should be - America is still a country governed by laws, not men. The FBI must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a suspect was intent on committing an act of terror. As in the Portland case the Washington bomber was offered multiple opportunities not to follow through with the plan. As in the Portland case, we will have to wait for the trail to know the full outcome of the FBI operation.
While due process takes place, MIL INT wants to thank the FBI for doing a tough job under difficult circumstances. Its has successfully stopped a range of alleged plots - including one focused on Quantico. Many are quick to criticize - but few are ready to give credit where it is due. The threat is very real - more real than arm chair commentators will ever realize - until its too late and then you can rest assured they will heap criticism on the FBI and any other agencies involved for 'bungling', intelligence failures, and failing to stop what in the commentators mind was an obvious plot all along.
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