Note to FBI: Remember Canadian Terror Plot & Beslan School Massacre

By Michael Cutler

The FBI has alerted law enforcement officials across the United States that they have information that aliens under recent investigations, with ties to extremist organizations have been involved with buying school buses and/or obtaining licenses to drive school buses - but they say that there is nothing to be concerned about!

I find a couple of sentences in the article I have attached below to be particularly worrisome. Consider this sentence:

"Asked about the alert notice, the FBI's Rich Kolko said, "There are no threats, no plots and no history leading us to believe there is any reason for concern," although law enforcement agencies around the country were asked to watch out for kids' safety."

I would like to know if Mr. Kolko has been reading newspapers. Last summer a terror ring was taken down by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in Ontario. I included the text of the New York Times account of the arrests of those suspects below. One of the leaders of that suspected terror cell was a school bus driver. By driving a school bus, an individual who is intent on recruiting young people who might be vulnerable to swaying to the terrorist ideology, has easy "legitimate" day to day contact with many young people with whom he comes in contact a regular basis.

School bus drivers also have easy access to the schools as well as the young students. If we are to consider some recent history, consider what occurred in August 2004 Beslan in Russia when terrorists attacked a school and 323 hostages were killed in the effort to end the siege. Among those who died were 156 children who were slaughtered. Hundreds of additional, badly injured hostages were taken to hospitals. Here is the CNN account of that terrorist attack in Russia.

So I wonder to what "history" Mr. Kolko was referring.

Additionally, school buses would make attractive conveyances for terrorists for another reason, these vehicles are relatively large and ubiquitous. They are virtually invisible because they are commonly seen throughout the United States. They can be used for surveillance purposes and can also be used as weapons because of their size which would make them ideal for packing with explosives.

The other sentence in the article that I find to be interesting is:

"But Homeland Security and the FBI "have no information indicating these individuals are involved in a terrorist plot against the homeland," it says. The memo also notes: "Most attempts by foreign nationals in the United States to acquire school bus licenses to drive them are legitimate."

While it may well be true that the FBI was unable to develop information of an immediate terrorist plot, especially one that involved school buses, I am not certain how individuals who are associated with extremist groups are who seek to acquire school buses and school bus drivers' licenses can be then described as "legitimate."

While the organizations that these individuals are associated with are not named and their connections with these organizations have not been described, the fact that the FBI was sufficiently concerned that they issued an alert certainly causes me to be concerned. So the obvious question is what does the term "legitimate" mean? Does it mean that the applications were filled out completely and all of the supporting documents were provided? Does it mean that when these individuals who had come under investigation did not declare that they intended to use school buses in conjunction with a terrorist plot?

Would our officials be this sanguine about the potential exists that known child molesters and sex offenders were driving school buses as they seem to be that individuals associated with extremist groups are driving school buses? The passengers of those school buses are usually children. In virtually every society the children of that society are the most precious as well as the most vulnerable members of that society. Ask any parent about how important their children are to them! In their children's eyes they see a reflection of themselves and their spouses. In their children's mannerisms and faces they may see their parents and other family members. Children represent the future for their families and for their countries. The alert the FBI issued means that parents throughout the country now need to be concerned as to whom they entrust their precious children when their children go through their daily routine of going to school each day.

Meanwhile President Bush says that we are fighting the terrorists overseas so that we will not have to fight them over here. John McCain has stated that the battles being fought in the Middle East by our soldiers are important to keep the terrorists from coming to the United States. They also agree on something else, the need to have a Guest Worker Amnesty Program that, as I have detailed in so many of my previous commentaries as well when I have appeared at Congressional hearings would enable terrorists in our country to change identities and make it easy for them to hide in plain sight and embed themselves in our country. If we are not fighting the terrorists "over here," why are we witnessing all of these alerts and a reduction in our freedoms and expectations of privacy within our country?

The truth is that this War on Terror is a multi-front war and we had better pursue it that way if we are to win. It makes no sense to send the elite elements of the Border Patrol to secure the Iraqi borders while our borders are wide open. It makes no sense that we have sent National Guard troops including those without weapons to help augment the Border Patrol more than 5 years after alien carried out the worst terrorist attack ever committed on American soil. It makes no sense to offer to provide official identity documents to millions of illegal aliens whose true identities are unknown and unknowable. It makes no sense for USCIS to naturalize 30,000 aliens last year even though they "lost" their relating immigration alien files. It makes no sense to have a Visa Waiver Program for aliens from 27 countries including Great Britain, while we have to remove our shoes when we seek to board airliners because Richard Reid, the so-called "Shoe Bomber" was a British citizen who had concealed explosives in his shoes. It makes no sense that we have about 3,000 special agents at ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) enforcing the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States while there are 20 million illegal aliens living and working in our country with many more arriving daily, across our land borders and through our many ports of entry.

As you may know, I have been appearing on many wonderful radio programs around the country and I appreciate the opportunity that these broadcasters have provided me to express my views and provide my insight and concerns based on my having worked at the former INS for 30 years. One of the very first of these broadcasters to share her microphone with me is a wonderful young lady by the name of Vicki McKenna who broadcasts on WIBA in Madison, Wisconsin. I have been on her show for nearly 3 years. When she talks about these many areas of vulnerability she has an expression that I will share with you. She often says that the knowledge of the risks we face enables her to "Sleep the sleep of angels!" I think her expression is appropriate here in considering the assurances from our government officials who while warning police officers around the country about their concerns where foreign nationals who belong to extremist groups are acquiring school buses and licenses to drive school buses, they tell us that everything is just fine! I have a similar expression, "I was born on a Wednesday but not last Wednesday!"
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New York Times
Six of 17 Arrested in Canada's Antiterror Sweep Have Ties to Mosque Near Toronto

June 5, 2006

By ANTHONY DePALMA

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, June 4 — At least 6 of the 17 people arrested by Canadian authorities in a sweeping counterterrorism operation over the weekend regularly attended the same storefront mosque in this middle-class Toronto suburb of modest brick rental townhouses and well-kept lawns, fellow worshipers said Sunday.

Their attendance at the mosque, Al-Rahman Islamic Centre for Islamic Education, is one of the few public pieces of information that clearly link any of the suspects — 12 adults and 5 youths — in one of the biggest antiterrorism arrests in North America since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Members at a mosque prayer meeting on Sunday said the six fellow worshipers who were arrested included the eldest, Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, described by several acquaintances as a school bus driver and an active member of the mosque who frequently led prayers, made fiery speeches and influenced young people who attended the services. (Emphasis mine.)

"He spent a lot of time with youth," said Faheem Bukhari, a director of the Mississauga Muslim Community Center who sometimes attended prayers at the mosque. "He'd take them for soccer or bowling, and talk to them."

Mr. Bukhari said Mr. Jamal never openly embraced violence or talked about Al Qaeda, but was "very vocal and I believe could incite these young kids for jihad."

Anser Farooq, the lawyer representing Mr. Jamal and three other people from the Islamic center, said Mr. Jamal was not a leader of that mosque. "He's one of about a half-dozen people who lead prayers at the mosque," he said. Mr. Jamal was not part of any conspiracy, Mr. Farooq said.

As the authorities in Canada and the United States continued to piece together details from the lengthy investigation, a mosque in Toronto was vandalized overnight. More than a dozen windows in the building were broken, two panels of the glass front door were smashed and several cars parked in the rear of the building were damaged. Islamic leaders who met with the Toronto police chief on Sunday demanded a thorough investigation of the vandalism. They also urged calm and expressed hope that the 17 people arrested Friday night would receive a fair hearing.

The joint counterterrorism action by hundreds of agents of the local police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada's spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has led to little public disclosure about the underground workings of suspected domestic terrorist cells that authorities say were determined to use homemade bombs against targets in southern Ontario. But the lack of detail has started to raise questions about the credibility of the charges and the actions of the police.

While many Canadians expressed relief upon hearing the news that a potentially devastating attack had been averted, some in the Muslim community were skeptical about the lack of specific charges. The 12 adults were charged with offenses under the Criminal Code of Canada. Authorities did not identify the potential targets.

Since Sept. 11, several police investigations against Muslims here have unraveled after arrests were made, which has left a bitter legacy within the Muslim community.

"People are suspicious and there's anger," said Aly Hindy, imam at the Salaheddin Islamic Center in Scarborough, an eastern suburb of Toronto with a sizable Muslim community. "We are being targeted not because of what we've done, but because of who we are and what we believe in."

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Saturday that the group of men "took steps to acquire" three tons of ammonium nitrate and bomb-making electronic components. But they left unclear whether the men had actually taken delivery of the material and had it in their possession when arrested, leading some here to question police tactics.

Mr. Hindy expressed puzzlement over how and where the suspects could have hidden three tons of fertilizer. "These guys are living in townhouses and apartments, in the city," he said. "Maybe the police tried to frame them, I don't know. "

Canadian authorities have refused to provide any details of the suspected plot, but they have said they believe that the group represented "a real and serious threat." The extent to which undercover agents had a role in the arrests is unclear.

The Globe and Mail newspaper reported Sunday on its Web site that the supposed conspiracy dated to March 2005 and that men and youths in the group might have undergone training at sites in Fort Erie, Ont., near the United States border, and in Barrie, north of Toronto.

American officials in Washington and New York said they had been aware of the investigation and were informed of the coordinated law enforcement action. American counterterrorism officials said some of the Canadians arrested might have had limited contact with two men from Georgia arrested earlier this year and charged with supporting terrorism or providing false information.

The 12 adults arrested range in age from 19 to 43. Most live in Toronto or in this suburb of more than 700,000 people just to the northwest of the city. Two who reside in Kingston, about 160 miles east of Toronto, did not appear in court because they have been serving time in a Kingston prison on weapons possession charges, the Toronto Star reported.

Some Islamic community leaders in the Toronto area have raised concerns that the younger men may have been led to participate in a suspected plot by older, more radical Muslims, like Mr. Jamal.

"I do not think of him as an imam," said Tareeq Fatah, the communications director of the Muslim Canadian Congress. "People like him are freelancers. I don't fear imams. I fear freelancers who are creating a Islamacist, supremacist cult."

The Islamic center that Mr. Jamal frequented was quiet Sunday. A class of Koran studies scheduled for midday was canceled. Situated in a small strip mall between the Hasty Market convenience store and the Café de Kahn, a Pakistani and Indian restaurant, the mosque is one of several Islamic centers that have sprung up in Mississauga in recent years. Neighbors said it had grown popular since it was founded about a decade ago. One said that on Friday nights the entrance was clogged with so many shoes that it was hard to walk on the sidewalk.

After midday prayer on Sunday, a group of about 10 men came out of the center and spoke to reporters gathered there. "There's no recruitment happening here," said one man, who gave his name as Sam Lel. He said the men from the mosque who were arrested were professionals and were not involved in terrorism. "This is a completely wrong allegation," he said.

At Mr. Jamal's home, a one-story rental unit in a large townhouse development nearby, a man who came to the door refused to answer questions. "Oh no, sorry," he said. A decal on the front door read "In the name of Allah we enter and in the name of Allah we leave and upon our Lord we place our trust."

Mr. Jamal, with short black hair and a short beard, was described by neighbors as a taciturn man who, in the four years or so he had lived in the townhouse, rarely spoke to anyone. "I have no complaints about him directly, but I can tell you he never fit in," said Jerry Tavares, who lives a few doors down. "But the thing that concerns me most is that he drives one of the school buses that take our kids to school." Heavily armed police raided the house on Friday night and took Mr. Jamal into custody. Neighbors said they saw the police removing computer equipment.

In other neighborhoods of Mississauga and the greater Toronto area, neighbors described the men who were arrested as serious professionals or confused youths who were not very likely to have been involved in a conspiracy. In a middle-class section of Toronto's east end, neighbors described another suspect, Steven Vikash Chand, 25, as a quiet man who, with several other Muslim men, kept odd hours.

"They sleep during the day and their activity is at night," said Jack Lovell, 56, who lives two doors down. "Absolutely no trouble whatsoever."

The arrests that shocked Canadians when they were announced Saturday morning did not appear to create much lingering fear. Roads near the Islamic center in Mississauga were closed Sunday morning for a road race. Downtown Toronto was shut down by a charity bicycle ride.

"Everybody is going about their normal business, which is the best way to combat terrorism," said Mayor David Miller. During the months-long investigation, the city added some security precautions, Mr. Miller said. But it has not beefed up security since the arrests.

In Muslim neighborhoods, news that the International Muslims Organization of Toronto, a mosque in the industrial neighborhood of Etobicoke, had been vandalized set off fears of a backlash. Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair met with Muslim community leaders, who expressed fears that the vandalism was linked to anti-Muslim resentment set off by the arrests.

Ian Austen, Chris Mason and David Staba contributed reporting for this article.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

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