Gadahn Indicted for Treason (with Indictment) & NYC Airplane Crash Raises Readiness Questions (updated 10/12)

By Andrew Cochran

Two items of news with last update at 5:45 pm ET: Adam Gadahn, a.k.a. "Azzam the American," was indicted for treason in California, the first such indictment in 50 years in the U.S., for giving aid and comfort to Al Qaeda. Gadahn has emerged as a leading spokeman for Al Qaeda.

HERE is the indictment (Acrobat file), thanks to Steven Emerson. There are two counts, one for treason and the other for providing material support and resources to Al Qaeda. Individual statements by Gadahn in Al Qaeda videos form the basis of the treason count: "Fighting and defeating America is our first priority..."

Previous CT Blog posts on Gadahn:

Commentary on “Azzam the American’s” Diatribe
The "Azzam-Zawahiri" tape: a longer reading..
The "Azzam" Threat: A prelude to Future Jihad in America
New Al Qaeda Video Seeks Americans to Convert to Islam
New Video Coming From Ayman al-Zawahiri and American Al Qaeda (updated)
MSNBC: "American greases al-Qaida media machine"
American Al-Qaida Operative Surfaces Again in Bin Laden Video Release

And a small fixed-wing plane crashed into a 50-story condominium building at 524 East 72d Street, near York Avenue, in New York City this afternoon. Early concerns of a terrorist attack were not warranted; N.Y. Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle owned the plane and was killed in the crash.

Sad to say, this was a test of the capability to spot and stop, if possible, a terrorist attack using a small plane in a major urban area. One question will be whether any radar picked this plane up, or whether it flew too small, too low, and/or not in the air long enough to be tracked. None of the 3 NYC-area airports saw the plane on radar, and it took off from an airport in Teterboro, NJ. Recall that small planes flying into Washington airspace caused mass evacuations of the U.S. Capitol area in May 2005 and again in June 2005, but those planes were followed in DC airspace, which isn't blocked by any high-rise buildings. Another question will be whether the pilot was talking with flight controllers and, if so, whether those controllers were able to report the plane's status to any other officials before it crashed. An investigation into the June 2005 event found insufficient communication between FAA traffic controllers and Washington-area officials at DOD and DHS.

UPDATE 10/12: Rep. Anthony Weiner, who represents Brooklyn and Queens, has called on the FAA "to restrict small planes from flying in low airspace around New York City until a complete safety and security assessment of New York City airspace is completed" and "to prohibit helicopters from flying over Manhattan." I'm sure that Congress will take a long look at this issue in the next session. Thanks to James Gordon Meek of the "NY Daily News" for pointing out Rep. Weiner's press release. And DOD has issued a press release with an account of the NORTHCOM mobilization of fighter jets over US cities yesterday.

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