Man Gets 22 Years In LA-Area Terror Plot

Source Article HERE.

Levar Washington

From 'LA Times': A man who planned attacks on military installations and synagogues in the Los Angeles area for an Islamic terrorist cell was sentenced Monday to 22 years in federal prison for conspiring to wage war against the United States. Levar Haney Washington told a federal judge in Santa Ana that cell members "flirted with the possibility" of attacking targets but no longer believe "a military solution is possible" because "it belies reality."

Washington, a convert to Islam, and three other defendants were members of Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, a radical Islamic organization formed in prison by cell leader Kevin Lamar James. The group is better known as JIS and had no connection to al-Qaeda. Federal authorities said JIS had been formed in 1997 and the cell in 2004. Law enforcement officials did not stumble upon the group until 2005, while investigating a Torrance gas station robbery.

Washington and Gregory Patterson, another cell member, were suspected of robbing about a dozen gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange counties over a month's time. Federal prosecutors said they intended to use money from the robberies to finance terrorism. When Torrance police searched the men's South Los Angeles apartment, they found plans for attacks against military facilities, synagogues and Israeli offices. On Monday, Washington told U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney that the cell acted out of opposition to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and chose gas stations to rob because oil is a political symbol. "Calamities affecting the Muslim world" affected his way of thinking, he said.

Washington, 30, compared his life, punctuated by stints in jail and prison since he was a teenager, to what he said was oppression of Muslims throughout the world. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Staples responded that "Mr. Washington is not on trial because he's a Muslim." Washington said there are still "a lot of questions" about the cell's intentions, but he did not elaborate. Instead, he said that he had rejected radical Islam since his arrest in 2005. "I've been able to have opportunities to expand my mind beyond the parameters of Islam," he said. "I was able to put my fanaticism and radicalism to the side."

In sentencing Washington, Carney said that the terrorist acts Washington had planned were "truly frightening" and that he had intended to kill and injure as many Jews as possible by planning attacks on Jewish holidays. The judge granted Washington's wish and ordered him incarcerated in a prison in California, where he can take advantage of educational and counseling programs and be close to his family. Washington is the first member of the cell to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty in December to the federal charges but still faces robbery charges in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Kevin Lamar James

Patterson has also pleaded guilty to a terrorism conspiracy charge and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9th. James, who organized the cell, is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2009. He recruited Washington while they were both inmates at Folsom State Prison near Sacramento. The fourth defendant, Hammad Riaz Samana, was found unfit to stand trial and is under psychiatric care at a federal prison facility.

Pentagon Reports Improvements in Iraq

Source Article HERE.

From 'Voice Of America': A quarterly report from the Pentagon says violence in Iraq is down significantly, but warns the progress is fragile, in part because of political infighting, meddling from Iran and the continuing ability of insurgent groups to stage large-scale attacks.

The report, required by Congress, says violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level in four years, with some categories down as much as 80 percent. Still, there are dozens of attacks every day, most of them in Baghdad and three northern provinces, with about 40 large-scale attacks in the month of May. The report praises the Iraqi government for progress in developing and using its security forces against both Sunni and Shiite extremists, and for progress on some political issues. But the report also calls the gains "fragile, reversible and uneven." That sentiment was echoed Monday by the top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen.

"Iraq's in a much better place than it was a year ago, across the board - politically, economically and from a security standpoint," said Admiral Mullen. "I see that when I visit there, and clearly just to talk to the brigades who have recently returned, they confirm that. But we're not at the sustainable point yet. We're not at the irreversible point yet."

The Pentagon's quarterly Iraq report says a major factor in the progress has been the willingness of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to reject extremism and begin to work with the government. The trend started among Sunnis in al-Anbar Province, but the report says it has now spread to Shiites in many parts of the country. The report says there are now more than 100,000 men in so-called 'Sons of Iraq' groups, working with the Iraqi police and army to maintain order and keep insurgents and terrorists out of local areas.

Read more HERE.

Iraqi Forces To Take Over Security In Anbar

Source Article HERE.

From 'NY Times & Reuters': The U.S. military will transfer control of security in Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi forces this week, a remarkable turnaround given the vast western region was considered lost to insurgents less than two years ago. Anbar will be the 10th of Iraq's 18 provinces returned to Iraqi security control since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, but it will be the first Sunni Arab region handed back. Mamun Sami Rasheed, Anbar's governor, said the handover ceremony would take place on Saturday. "We have been dreaming of this event since 2003," he said.

The commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq, Marine Major-General John Kelly, said the impending handover showed Iraqi forces were increasingly ready to defend Iraq against threats such as those posed by al Qaeda. "Anbar province is ... an important milestone. It changes the nature of our security relationship here," he told Reuters. "(It) does not mean al Qaeda is defeated. What it represents is the improving capability of Iraqi security forces to deal with the threat."

Roadside Bombs Decline In Iraq

Source Article HERE.

From 'USA Today': Roadside bomb attacks and fatalities in Iraq are down by almost 90% over the last year, according to Pentagon records and interviews with military leaders. In May, 11 U.S. troops were killed by blasts from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) compared with 92 in May 2007, records show. That's an 88% decrease. Military leaders cite several factors for the drop in attacks and deaths. They include:

• New vehicles. Almost 7,000 heavily armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles have been rushed to Iraq in the last year. "They've taken hits, many, many hits that would have killed soldiers and marines in uparmored Humvees," Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a recent interview. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made obtaining at least 15,000 MRAPs his top priority last year.

• Iraqi assistance. Ad hoc local security forces, known as the Sons of Iraq, have provided on-the-ground intelligence to U.S. forces looking for IEDs, said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, who commanded a division in Baghdad from February 2007 until May. Each member of the security forces earns about $8 per day. Lynch has hired about 36,000 of them to man checkpoints and provide intelligence on the insurgency. He said about 60% had been insurgents.

• Improved surveillance. Lynch said his troops used new security cameras that could see bomb builders up to 5 miles away. "If they're out there planting an IED, we can go whack them before they finish," he said. Also, Lynch said, the 14-ton MRAPs have forced insurgents to build bigger bombs to knock out the vehicles. Those bombs take more time to build and hide, which gives U.S. forces a better chance of catching the insurgents in the act and then attacking them.

Among the new U.S. tactics, paying the Sons of Iraq is a particularly good investment, said Dakota Wood, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Whether the money is viewed as "buying off" insurgents is less important than the lull in violence it creates, Wood said. It's almost impossible to rebuild infrastructure, foster commerce and set up elections when streets are unsafe, he said. "Any effort that creates a window of opportunity in which other stabilization actions can take root is a good thing."

Iraqi Forces Conduct Ops To Pacify Amarah

Source Article HERE.

By: Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

From 'Centcom': After successful efforts to restore order in the Sadr City section of Baghdad, as well as Basra and Mosul, Iraqi Security Forces now are focused on conducting anti-insurgent operations in the southeastern city of Amarah, a senior U.S. military officer said on June 22nd. Navy Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll told reports during a Baghdad news conference that Iraq’s Soldiers and police are doing “their job to make sure the citizens of this country are no longer intimidated by terrorists and extremist militias and their work is being followed by other areas of government.”

On June 18th, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched a crack down on illegal militias and criminal weapons smuggling networks that operate in Amarah, the capital of Maysan province that’s located near the border with Iran. The militias are loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Meanwhile, Driscoll said U.S. and Coalition forces also are involved in security operations, while concurrently assisting the Iraqi government as it works to restore essential services, reconstruct businesses and homes, and create jobs and opportunities for Iraqi citizens.

“This has happened as security operations have progressed in Basra, Baghdad and Mosul,” Driscoll pointed out. “It is part of the plan for operations in Amarah.” Operation Bashaer as-Salaam is an Iraqi-led, planned and executed security operation conducted in Amarah to enforce the rule of law, reduce criminal safe havens and disrupt weapons-smuggling networks. Current operations in Amarah are proceeding well, Driscoll said. “So far in Amarah, there has been little resistance to the restoration of the rule of law,” Driscoll reported. “Weapons have been turned in and calm is prevailing.”

The operations in Amarah demonstrate the Iraqi government’s resolve and commitment to extend security to citizens living across the country, the admiral pointed out. “The people of Maysan (province) need to have the same opportunity to live free of fear as the people of Anbar and the people of Basra,” Driscoll said. Anbar province in western Iraq once was a hotbed of insurgent activity, until its citizens united to throw out al-Qaida operatives.

Regarding the situation in Amarah before Iraqi forces moved in, Driscoll observed that “no place can be a haven for weapons smuggling, just as no neighborhood can be left to militias that will impose their own codes.” The government of Iraq “is on the offensive to secure all areas of Iraq,” Driscoll said. Operations in Amarah, he said, demonstrate the Iraqi army’s improving capabilities. The Iraqi army still requires some assistance from coalition forces, Driscoll acknowledged. Nonetheless, he said, Iraqi military leaders are now demonstrating the ability to professionally lead, plan and execute military operations.

Iraq’s military leaders “can maneuver troops to where they are needed,” Driscoll said, noting that the presence of those troops “is inspiring greater confidence from the people.” As security takes hold across Iraq, then hope and opportunity for it citizens increases, Driscoll observed. “We will continue to work with our Iraqi counterparts create the security conditions that will allow hope and opportunity to become the norm,” Driscoll said.

MNFI Press Release - Jun 15

U.S. soldier in Sadr City - June 10.

IA, MND-B SEIZE CACHES THROUGHOUT BAGHDAD
The Iraqi Army (IA) seized a huge weapons cache in West Rashid and, along with MultiNational Division - Baghdad (MND-B) Soldiers seized three additional weapons and munitions caches throughout Baghdad on June 14th. At approximately 3 p.m., IA soldiers from the 25th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, discovered a huge cache in West Rashid. The cache contained (90) 122mm Soviet rockets, (4) 81mm Iranian mortars, (2) 60mm Iranian mortars, (1) RPG-22 launcher, (13) improvised claymores, (8) 40mm Bulgarian grenades, (3) 60mm Yugoslav mortars, (16) rolls of detonation cord, (11) half-pound blocks of TNT, (32) blocks of Iranian C-4 explosive, (5) 12.5-inch explosively formed projectile (EFP) bodies, (5) complete EFPs, (87) 11-inch EFP bodies, (1) 7-inch EFP body, (74) 5-inch EFP bodies, (1) 4-inch EFP body, (39) 3.5-inch EFP bodies, (1) unmanned aerial vehicle, (6) electronic timers, (2) passive infrared switches, 500 pounds of ball bearings, (100) toggle switches, (88) Bulgarian fuses, (9) 12-volt batteries, (10) camera flashes, (8) digital timers with magnets, (200) CDs, (100) flyers, (2) mortar aiming stakes, (12) digital timers, and (1) odometer. The munitions were transported to a nearby Coalition forces combat outpost for disposal.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi Army soldiers with the 44th Brigade, 11th IA Division, confiscated (14) AK-47 assault rifles, (1) Siminov sniper rifle, and (1) heavy machine gun in the Kadhamiyah district of Baghdad at approximately 9 a.m. In the early afternoon hours, an Iraqi civilian turned over a weapons cache to MND-B Soldiers with the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, at approximately 1:15 p.m. The cache consisted of (15) 80mm mortar rounds and (2) 105mm mortar rounds. The ordnance was of Soviet origin and in serviceable condition. The Sons of Iraq turned in (1) complete 82mm mortar system in West Rashid to MND-B Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at approximately 6:50 p.m. on June 14. The system was in operable condition and believed to have been used for indirect fire attacks against Coalition Forces and the Iraqi populace.

Soldiers with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), found four buried improvised explosive devices at approximately 7 a.m. in the Kadamiya district of Baghdad. At approximately 7:30 a.m., in the West Rashid district of Baghdad, Soldiers with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division seized three rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and 30 pounds of homemade explosive. Iraqi Policemen with the 2nd Brigade, 1st National Police Division, seized (27) AK-47s, (3) assault rifles, (1) Mauser rifle and (1) 60 mm tube with bipod north of Baghdad at approximately 7:30 a.m. In the New Baghdad district of Baghdad, at approximately 11 a.m., Soldiers with the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, found a weapons cache consisting of (8) AK-47 magazines, (1) AK-47, a backup battery system, (1) RPG round, (1) grenade, (1) 82 mm mortar (encased in concrete), and body armor.

IA, MULTINATIONAL SOLDIERS SEIZE WEAPONS IN BAGHDAD
Iraqi Army (IA) and Multinational Soldiers seized numerous weapons throughout Baghdad on June 13th. Iraqi Army soldiers with the 22nd Brigade, 6th IA Division, discovered a weapons cache in the Karkh district of Baghdad at approximately 6 a.m. consisting of (470) AK-47s, (25) rifles, (4) 9 mm pistols, (1) 8 mm pistol, (2) radios and a motorcycle. Soldiers with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, acted on a tip from a Sons of Iraq member and seized (58) 60 mm mortar rounds in the Rusafa district of Baghdad at approximately 3 p.m.

SOI TIP LEADS SOLDIERS TO MORTAR CACHE IN RUSAFA
A Sons of Iraq (SOI) tip led Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, to a cache in the Rusafa security district of eastern Baghdad on June 13th. Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, traveled to the suspected cache site in the Sheikh Umar area of northern Rusafa where they found a cache containing (58) 60mm mortar rounds. “A dedicated and loyal Sons of Iraq official shared vital information and most likely saved many of his fellow Iraqi’s lives today,” said Maj. Joey Sullinger, spokesman for 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. “This individual cares about the future of Iraq and its people and stands tall as a representative of what it truly means to be Sons and Daughters of Iraq.”

McCain Must Make Case For Iraq

Source Article HERE.

BY: Charles Krauthammer

From 'NewsDay': McCain must make the case for victory in Iraq. In his St. Paul victory speech, Senator Barack Obama pledged again to pull out of Iraq. Rather than "continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians... It's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future." We know Obama hasn't been to Iraq in more than two years, but does he not read the papers? Does he not know anything about developments on the ground? Here is the "nothing" that Iraqis have been doing in the past few months:

1. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent the Iraqi army into Basra. It achieved in a few weeks what the British had failed to do in four years: take the city, drive out the Mahdi Army and seize the ports from Iranian-backed militias.

2. When Mahdi fighters rose up in support of their Basra brethren, the Iraqi army at Maliki's direction confronted them and prevailed in every town -- Najaf, Karbala, Hilla, Kut, Nasiriyah and Diwaniyah -- from Basra to Baghdad.

3. Without any American ground forces, the Iraqi army entered and occupied Sadr City, the Mahdi Army stronghold.

4. Maliki flew to Mosul, directing a joint Iraqi-U.S. offensive against the last redoubt of al-Qaida, which had already been driven out of Anbar, Baghdad and Diyala provinces.

5. The Iraqi parliament enacted a de-Baathification law, a major Democratic benchmark for political reconciliation.

6. Parliament also passed the other reconciliation benchmarks -- a pension law, an amnesty law, and a provincial elections and powers law. Oil revenues are being distributed to the provinces through the annual budget.

7. With Maliki having demonstrated that he would fight not just Sunni insurgents but Shia militias, the Sunni parliamentary bloc began negotiations to join the Shia-led government. (The final sticking point is a squabble over a sixth Cabinet position.)

The disconnect between what Democrats are saying about Iraq and what is actually happening there has reached grotesque proportions. Democrats won an exhilarating electoral victory in 2006 pledging withdrawal at a time when conditions in Iraq were dire and we were indeed losing the war. Two years later, when everything is changed, they continue to reflexively repeat their "narrative of defeat and retreat" (as Joe Lieberman so memorably called it) as if nothing has changed. It's a position so utterly untenable that Senator John McCain must seize the opportunity and, contrary to conventional wisdom, make the Iraq War the central winning plank of his campaign.

Yes, Americans are war-weary. Yes, most think we should not have engaged in the first place. Yes, Obama will keep pulling out his 2002 speech opposing the war. But McCain's case is simple. Is not Obama's central mantra that this election is about the future not the past? It is about 2009, not 2002. Obama promises that upon his inauguration, he will order the Joint Chiefs to bring him a plan for withdrawal from Iraq within 16 months. McCain says that upon his inauguration, he'll ask the Joint Chiefs for a plan for continued and ultimate success.

The choice could not be more clearly drawn. The Democrats' one objective in Iraq is withdrawal. McCain's one objective is victory. McCain's case is not hard to make. Iraq is a three-front war -- against Sunni al-Qaida, against Shia militias and against Iranian hegemony -- and we are winning on every front. We did not go into Iraq to fight al-Qaida. The war had other purposes. But al-Qaida chose to turn it into the central front in its war against America. That choice turned into an al-Qaida fiasco: Al-Qaida in Iraq is now on the run and in the midst of stunning and humiliating defeat.

As for the Shia extremists, the Mahdi Army is isolated and at its weakest point in years. And its sponsor, Iran, has suffered major setbacks -- not just in Basra, but in Iraqi public opinion, which has rallied to the Maliki government and against Iranian interference. Even the most expansive American objective -- establishing a representative government that is an ally against jihadists, both Sunni and Shia -- is within sight.

Obama and the Democrats would forfeit every one of these successes to a declared policy of fixed and unconditional withdrawal. If McCain cannot take to the American people the case for the folly of that policy, he will not be president. Nor should he be. Give the speech, senator. Give it now.

MNFI Press Release - Jun 13

ISOF CAPTURE SUSPECTED SPECIAL GROUPS CRIMINAL
Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) captured a suspected Special Groups criminal leader in Baghdad on June 12th. The ISOF conducted an operation to capture the suspected criminal allegedly responsible for kidnapping, interrogating, torturing and murdering Iraqi citizens. He is also suspected of conducting fake Iraqi Police checkpoints and ordering improvised explosive device (IED) attacks against Coalition forces. One additional suspect was detained during the operation.

AL-QAEDA 'BATTERED' BUT STILL 'LETHAL'
Although al-Qaida’s operations in Iraq have been battered, the terrorist organization remains a threat to be reckoned with, the U.S. military’s top officer said on June 12th. Al-Qaida is “on the run in Iraq,” Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted at a Government Executive Magazine-hosted breakfast at the National Press Club. The terrorists, he said, are being pressured by U.S. and Iraqi security forces, as well as concerned citizens who want al-Qaida out of their country. However, al-Qaida remains a “lethal foe” of the United States, Mullen cautioned, noting the terrorist group hasn’t given up its intent to attack America again. Al-Qaida, he noted, even is “growing in some parts of the world,” such as the Horn of Africa region.

US Captures 32 Al-Qaeda In Iraq

Source Article HERE.

From 'BBC': The US military says it has captured 32 suspected militants, including 10 on a wanted list, in a wave of arrests across Iraq. The leadership of the al-Qaeda in Iraq group has been degraded, the military said after the arrests in Baghdad, Mosul and the Tigris river valley. One of the 14 arrested in Mosul is believed to have been involved in car bombings and kidnappings.

The US also captured two suspected Shia militiamen near Kut, south of Baghdad. The US military accused the two of being members of Iranian-trained "special groups" - Shia fighters who are not observing a ceasefire called by the Shia cleric and militia leader Moqtada Sadr. The arrest of two suspected Shia militiamen was announced on Thursday, June 12th. Correspondents say US allegations of Iranian support for Shia fighters are expected to be on the agenda when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki visits Tehran on Saturday.

Are We Winning In Iraq?

Source Article HERE.

From 'FoxNews - Special Report w/ Brit Hume': The following is from the show that was aired on June 12, 2008. According to Krauthammer, Kondracke and Barnes, the answer is a resounding YES!...



(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. MARK HERTLING, MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION - NORTH: With our Iraqi brothers in the four Iraqi Army divisions, which are part of the northern provinces, we have seen some significant gains over the last several months in the north.

MAJ. GEN. KEVIN BERGNER, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: Security operations continue to make progress, and the number of overall security incidents remains at levels not seen since 2004. These security improvements are enabling the political, economic, and social activities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUME: And so in the dry language military officers use when briefing, you hear further reports as they continue to come from the field about progress, military and otherwise in Iraq.

So where does this stand? Are we winning, as some are now claiming --- Charles?

KRAUTHAMMER: Yes, we are. I think it is unmistakable. The change in fortunes is remarkable.

We have had the government in Iraq take over Basra with the Iraqi army, which everyone had said was weak and feckless. It marched into Sadr City, the heartland of the Mahdi Army, took it without a shot. It is now engaged in the fight in Mosul, the last urban redoubt of Al Qaeda in the country. It is being routed and humiliated, Al Qaeda.

You have had the passing of all these laws of reconciliation, all of which have passed.

HUME: With the lone exception of the oil sharing Bill.

KRAUTHAMMER: With the exception of the oil sharing, which, in fact, is happening in the budget. It's a different process ---

HUME: There is not a Bill, but there is a program.

KRAUTHAMMER: Exactly. And the revenues are being shared as we speak. So all of this is happening, and Democrats are speaking as if nothing has happened.

I think McCain has an opportunity because of the utter disconnect between the way Democrats are describing the war in Iraq as losing or lost and hopeless and advocating withdrawal, and the reality on the ground for McCain to make a case on Iraq and to fight and win this election on Iraq against all conventional wisdom.

KONDRACKE: Look, Barack Obama sitting in the Illinois State Senate and the beneficiary of no information whatsoever may have been right that we shouldn't have fought this war in the beginning.

But then when he was here in Congress and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as Frederick Kagan of the AEI points out in this week's "Weekly Standard," Barack Obama proposed that we have no surge, that we be out by this March, last month, two months ago or three months ago, all of our combat troops out.

That was Barack Obama's considered judgment versus John McCain's considered judgment, which was to have the surge. What has worked? Who was right? McCain has been absolutely right and Barack Obama's judgment on this issue in which he had information was dead wrong.

Now, it's a good question, who do you want to be the commander in chief on the basis of that?

BARNES: When I hear these Democrats, they make me think of Rip Van Winkle, like they have been asleep for the last year, year-and-a-half. They are still talking about we're sending our troops there to get involved in a civil war. The civil war has been over a long time.

They talk about Maliki, the prime minister there being ---

HUME: Needing a kick in the butt.

BARNES: --- needing a kick in the butt. He didn't need a kick in the butt in Basra or to go into Sadr City, places like that. He has begun to establish himself, importantly, as a national, and not a sectarian leader.

When he sent the troops into Basra, you know what many of them were? They weren't Shiite as he is --- tens of thousands of them were Sunni troops. And the reconciliation has been incredible.

At some point Democrats are going to have to be seen as people who are totally out of touch with reality on Iraq, because what they're saying is the case is there is palpably not the case.

HUME: But are these facts, in your view, penetrating the public on this issue, Fred?

BARNES: I think they have penetrated the public, but they have not changed the public's view about whether the war was worth it or not. And by two to one they still think it wasn't.

KONDRACKE: I just think John McCain needs to pound away at this, whose judgment was right on the surge.

KRAUTHAMMER: These facts have not penetrated because the media have underreported the success of this story, and McCain is the one who has to make the case, give his speech, lay out the facts.

HUME: That is it for the panel.

Britain's Brown Wins Key Terrorism Vote

Source Article HERE.

From 'Reuters': Britain's Gordon Brown won a crucial vote in parliament on Wednesday to extend the time terrorism suspects can be held without charge, bringing relief to a prime minister whose leadership is under fire. Parliament voted 315 to 306 in favor of extending the pre-charge detention time limit to 42 days from 28 days, showing opposition within Brown's party had slashed the government's majority to nine votes.

US Military Arrests Iranian-Trained Bomb Expert

Source Article HERE.

From 'The Canadian Press': The U.S. military says it has captured an Iranian-trained bomb expert southeast of Baghdad. A military statement says the man is believed to have travelled to Iran several times for explosives training. It also says he has numerous Iranian contacts who help him smuggle weapons and bomb-making materials into Iraq. The statement says U.S. troops, acting on intelligence from other criminals already in custody, raided the man's house Wednesday and subdued him without firing any shots. The military says the suspect is a member of a "special group" -- language the U.S. uses to describe Shiite militiamen defying a ceasefire order by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Spanish Police Arrest 8 Algerians

Source Article HERE.

From 'El Khabar': Eight Algerians have been arrested in Barcelona after being suspected of “providing logistic and financial support to groups belonging to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,” Spain’s Interior Ministry said in a communiqué, yesterday. The same communiqué mentioned that 5 other people have been arrested in Valencia, eastern Spain, and another one in Navarra District, in the north of the country. The arrested are likely to be charged with belonging to a terror group, following measures taken by the National Court, in Madrid. The arrest operations were led by the National Court, which is in charge of terrorism cases.

The Interior Ministry communiqué further mentioned that 10 other people have also been arrested, likely to have a link with terror groups, without providing their nationalities or the place of arrest. The same communiqué mentioned that the 8 arrested Algerians are suspected of recruiting jihadists and providing logistic as well as financial support to terror groups belonging to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Spanish Police yesterday morning began searching the houses of the arrested, confiscating €7000, documents, CDs, video records, and telephone cards.

Testimony Of Informant At Canada Terror Trial

Source Article HERE.

From 'International Herald Tribune': The leader of an alleged terrorist plot apparently planned to use a troubled young man to carry out potential suicidal attacks in Canada, such as attacking high-profile government buildings and members of Parliament, a police informant testified on Wednesday. In the second day of testimony by Mubin Shaikh, he told the court about a 12-day military-style training camp north of Toronto in December 2005 that he attended with the accused and other members of the alleged plot, where there was 'discussion of martyrdom'. "Some of them did think in the context of some kind of attack where they get killed," Shaikh said of the trainees. Shaikh said the group's alleged leader later told him privately his plan was to "exploit" the accused youth "in such a way."

The 20-year-old, who cannot be named because he was a youth offender at the time of his arrest, was one of 18 people arrested in 2006 as part of a purported plot to take hostages in Parliament, set off bombs in Toronto and Ottawa, and possibly behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Authorities say he attended a training camp where he participated in military exercises and firearms training. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of participating in and contributing to the activity of a terrorist group. Shaikh described the accused, the first of the defendants to go to trial, as an "enthusiastic" participant at the camp. "He did what he was told to do, and he did it well," Shaikh told Ontario Superior Court Justice John Sproat.

Shaikh said those attending the camp in the dead of winter in December 2005 were expected to maintain spartan, military-like discipline, but would sometimes visit a nearby restaurant for hot chocolate. The court also saw a video that teaches the attendees how to use a gun safely. The video, with music playing in the background, was intended as both a training and propaganda tool, the prosecution alleges. "It's basically a call to arms," Shaikh said of the song. "The melody is sweet. The message is poison."

He said during a car trip a few weeks after the camp, the group's leader discussed "Operation Badr," a proposed mission to attack Parliament buildings, take government officials hostage and behead them. Shaikh testified that the group's leader consistently pushed his ideology. "We're not officially al-Qaida, but we share their principles," Shaikh cited him as saying. Shaikh said the leader was angry at Canada's intervention in Afghanistan and said that by aligning itself with the United States, Canada had become "the enemy." Shaikh said, "Once he determines Canada to be an enemy, anything goes."

Of the initial 18 people arrested by authorities, 11 people still face charges: ten adult suspects and the then-underage defendant currently being tried. Authorities dropped charges against seven of the suspects since their arrests.

Moroccan Court Convicts 29 Of Plotting Terrorism

Source Article HERE.

From 'Associated Press': A Moroccan court convicted 29 people of planning terrorism attacks and supporting combatants in Iraq, the official MAP news agency said on Wednesday, June 11th. The criminal court in Sale, near Rabat, convicted 27 members of an alleged Islamic extremist group late Tuesday and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from two to eight years, MAP said. Two suspects were convicted in absentia and sentenced to a year in prison, it said.

The group, known as the Tetouan cell after the northern Moroccan town where most of the defendants came from, was accused of having ideological, financial and logistical ties to several terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida. The cell, which was rounded up by Moroccan police in January 2007, is one of at least a dozen accused in Morocco of providing money, combatants and support for militants fighting the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Police charge the cells with also plotting attacks in Morocco.

MAP said the 29 convicted Tuesday night were found guilty of forming a criminal group with the goal of preparing and committing terrorist actions, recruiting Moroccans to fight in Iraq holding public gatherings without authorization. The group's purported ringleader, Khaled Ould Ali Tahar, was the only defendant sentenced to eight years, MAP said. This North African nation is viewed in the West as a pillar of Muslim moderation, but it has seen a rise of political and extremist Islam in recent years. Hundreds of suspected militants are behind bars.

MNFI Press Release - June 11

IRAQI CITIZEN RECOVERS EXPLOSIVES FROM AQI
An Iraqi citizen recovered a bag of C4 explosives from two fleeing suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) members near al-Aziziyah, approximately 79 kilometers southwest of Baghdad on June 9th. The Iraqi man, suspicious due to recent thefts in the area, began chasing two men he suspected to be AQI. The two men abandoned a bag as they fled on dirt bikes. The man recovered the dropped bag, which contained a cache of several blocks of C4, Russian PE4 and other explosive making equipment. He then turned the weapons cache over to Special Forces at a base in al-Kut. The suspected AQI members have been hiding in the town and disguising themselves as shepherds in order to ambush and steal from the local population. The cache has been moved and will be destroyed by a Coalition explosive ordnance disposal team.

HIDDEN WEAPONS FOUND NEAR HILLAH
Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers discovered a huge weapons cache in a rural area southeast of Hillah on June 6th. The cache contained (3) assembled explosively-formed projectiles (EFPs), (10) unassembled EFPs, (3) rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, (10) RPGs, (127) blocks of C-4, (15) cameras, (1) magnetic IED and (2) mines. “The discovery of this cache is another example of the IA’s increasing ability to gather intelligence, process the information and plan and execute in a timely manner,” said Lt. Col. Darryl McDowell, commander of 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division. “The Iraqi security forces (ISF) are taking the lead in confiscating illegal weapons before they can do harm to [Coalition forces and ISF]. They take great pride in being out front and they really seem to understand their role in the success of Iraq as a whole.”

Soldiers in 1st Battalion, 31st Brigade, 8th IA Division, received information from a source and found a cache containing both complete and partially-assembled EFPs, RPG launchers and C-4 explosives. “This find is significant for two reasons,” McDowell said. “First, more of the population is coming to the IA in the area with tips and information than ever before. This indicates a level of trust in the IA that is very encouraging. Second, it does serve as a reminder of the level of sophistication and production of (IEDs) that extremist elements have reached.” An explosive ordnance disposal team from Kalsu collected the cache and disposed of it.

MARINES FIND, DESTROY ENEMY WEAPONS
Marines of 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, and Company B, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, have worked together day in and day out, searching for weapon caches and disabling the enemy’s number one threat; IEDs. The two reserve units, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines from Chicago, and Bravo Company, 4th CEB from Roanoke, VA, have together uncovered thousands of pounds of explosive ordinance, ammunition and explosives throughout the first four months of their seven month deployment in Anbar province. “We’re out there every day digging up areas where we have intelligence about a cache,” said Lance Corporal Michael W. Lund, a combat engineer with 4th CEB. “Since we’ve been here, we’ve [together with 2/24] found thousands of pounds of ordinance and it’s important because it takes away weapons that could have been used against Marines.”

Terrorism Charges Filed Against Detained British Resident

Source Article HERE.

From 'AFP': The Pentagon announced war crimes charges against a British resident alleged to have conspired with al-Qaeda to launch bomb attacks on apartment buildings and gas stations in the United States. Binyan Mohammed, an electrical engineer born in Ethiopia, was charged with conspiracy and material support for terrorism on May 28th, according to charge sheets released by the Pentagon. A Pentagon official who oversees the special military commissions set up to try "war on terror" cases in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba must review the charges and decide whether to refer them to trial. The charge sheets allege that Mohammed was given instructions by alleged September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to travel to the United States to blow up apartment buildings and gas stations.

Mohammed and Jose Padilla, an American detainee who was found guilty last year of terrorism charges by a US court, were stopped at the airport in Karachi as they were leaving the country to carry out the plot, the charges allege. Padilla continued on to Chicago, Illinois where he was taken into custody in April 2002, but Mohammed stayed behind. The charges allege that Mohammed was trained in weapons and explosives in Al-Qaeda camps in 2001, served on the Taliban frontlines near Bagram against the Northern Alliance, and was told he would be assigned to a specialized terrorism mission.

Mohammed left Afghanistan for Pakistan after September 2001, meeting Padilla on the way, according to the charges. At a safehouse in Lahore, they read technical information stored on a computer on how to build a "dirty bomb" with radioactive materials "that they could detonate in a public place in the United States," the charges allege. "They also discussed other plans against the United States, such as blowing up gas tankers with piercing bullets and spraying people with cyanide in nightclubs," the charge sheet said. "They determined that one of the purposes for the attacks on the United States was to help 'free the prisoners in Cuba,'" it said. They allegedly met with Saif al Adel, an Al-Qaeda operative, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Karachi, who told Mohammed and Padilla that their mission would involve targeting buildings with natural gas and gas stations in the United States.

"Specifically, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed suggested that Binyam Mohammed and Jose Padilla rent several apartments in large apartment buildings in the United States, fill the apartments with natural gas after sealing the apartments in order to contain the natural gas, and then detonate the natural gas using delayed timing devices," the charge sheet said. "Binyam Mohammed and Padilla agreed to conduct this operation," it said. It said Mohammed received 6,000 dollars and Padilla 10,000 dollars to carry out the mission.

Man Admits To Plotting Bombings In US & Europe

Source Article HERE.

From 'AFP': A US-born man pleaded guilty on Tuesday, June 3rd, to helping to train fellow Al-Qaeda agents to carry out bombings in Europe and the United States, after a five-year global investigation, officials said. The targets included European tourist resorts frequented by Americans, as well as US military bases, embassies and consular offices in Europe. "Today's guilty plea brings an end to the long, dangerous career of Christopher Paul, an Ohio native who joined Al-Qaeda in the early 1990s, fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia and conspired with others to target Americans both at home and abroad," said Acting Assistant US Attorney General Patrick Rowan. "His conviction demonstrates our continuing resolve to protect the American public against terrorism."

Paul, 44, was arrested in April 2007 on charges of providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. He agreed to a sentence of 20 years in prison in exchange for having two of the three charges dropped during a change of plea hearing at an Ohio court on Tuesday. "This guilty plea is a significant step forward in the war on terror," said US Attorney Gregory Lockhart said.

In a statement of facts read during the hearing, Paul admitted that he traveled to Pakistan in the early 1990s to join the mujahedeen (Islamic fighters) and was trained by Al-Qaeda to fight in Afghanistan. Upon his return to Ohio, Paul began recruiting "local individuals with extremist intentions in order to establish a jihadist group in Ohio," the US Justice Department said in a press release. He used various passports and false identities to travel to the Balkans and fought in conflict zones such as Bosnia from 1993 through 1995. While he was there he established further contacts with radical Islamic fundamentalists, and created a master list of Al-Qaeda leaders and other Islamic radicals worldwide, the statement of facts said. That list and bomb-making information was seized at his Columbus, Ohio home, officials said.

Paul continued to work with Al-Qaeda upon his return from the Balkans in 1997 and "conducted training operations in Burr Oak State Park in Ohio with several members of his local group, replicating terrorist training he had received in Afghanistan and Bosnia." He traveled to Germany in 1999 to provide explosives training to an Islamic terror cell "knowing that it was planning to use this training to construct bombs, car bombs, and similar devices to be used against Americans," the justice department said. From March 31, 1999 until January 31, 2000, Paul made 44 calls to an Islamic fundamentalist co-conspirator in Europe, who was arrested in 2003 and later convicted of a terrorist conspiracy, the statement said.

"Today's guilty plea brings an end to the long, dangerous career of Christopher Paul (who) ... conspired with others to target Americans both at home and abroad," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Rowan. "His conviction demonstrates our continuing resolve to protect the American public against terrorism."

U.K. Charges Muslim Convert After Blast

Source Article HERE.

From 'Bloomberg': U.K. police charged a Muslim convert with terrorism offenses following an explosion last month at a restaurant in Exeter, southwestern England. Nicky Reilly, 22, from Plymouth, is charged with engaging in conduct in preparation for committing acts of terrorism and with two counts of possession of explosives, Devon and Cornwall Police said in a statement on its Web site. Reilly, who has a history of mental illness, was the only person injured in the explosion, at the Giraffe restaurant in the city's Princesshay shopping mall. Two more bombs were made safe. Two other men were arrested in connection with the May 22 explosion and are still in police custody.

General Credits Lull In Iraq Violence To Better Security, Citizen Help

By: John J. Kruzel
Armed Forces Press Service

Source Article HERE.

From 'Centcom': Last month marked the fewest attacks in Iraq in four years, a reduction one military official attributed to improved security tactics and personnel and an increase in tips from Iraqi citizens. The number of bombing attacks involving deadly, armor-piercing charges and homemade explosives decreased in May and continues to fall, Army Brigadier General John Campbell, deputy director for regional operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. “Both EFP and IED numbers continue to go down; the trend is looking very well,” Campbell said, referring to armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators and the more conventional roadside bombs known as improvised explosive devices, the two most common weapons used by militants in Iraq. Campbell said Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces are more aggressively seeking weapons caches, which often contain completed bombs or the materials necessary to manufacture them. Seizing these weapons and bomb-making ingredients depletes enemy resources, he added.

Meanwhile, Coalition forces are placing greater emphasis on training police along Iraq’s eastern border with Iran. These border police are the first line of defense against smugglers sneaking EFPs into Iraq, where Iranian-backed “special groups” employ the shaped charges against Coalition and Iraqi forces, Campbell said. Iraqis also are taking seriously the issue of border security, he said, adding that Iraqi officials have held talks about improving checkpoints by fielding more X-ray machines and other sophisticated technology to help stem bomb smuggling.

Campbell acknowledged that enemy fighters tend to lay low or flee sections of the country where Coalition and Iraqi forces increase their presence, as in Sadr City, Mosul and Basra, three areas that have received increased security focus recently. But the general did not concede that such tendencies alone explain last month’s downtick in bombing attacks. “It’s no secret that if they stay and fight, they don’t have a chance,” Campbell said of the militants. “Whether they wait a time and come back and pick up those caches -- I can’t tell. But just the trends right now for the IEDs and EFPs are continuing to go low.”

The general said the ranks of Iraqi security personnel continue to grow, with an overall force of about 559,000 that, alongside Coalition forces, increasingly works among the Iraqi population. “As we’ve flooded the zones, we’ve moved out the joint security stations and combat outposts [and have] a 24/7 presence out there. It’s a lot harder to put these [IEDs and EFPs] out as we continue to patrol,” Campbell said. “I think that combination has helped.”

Another element bolstering security is citizens groups, known as “Sons of Iraq,” that provide Iraqi and Coalition forces with invaluable intelligence about enemy strategy and tactics, the general said. Officials are planning to recruit some 15,000 Sons of Iraq members to join the nation’s security forces. At the same time, they seek to help the roughly 65,000 group members gain technical or other training, or find jobs.

Another key to tamping down violence in Iraq is an empirical understanding of enemy tactics gleaned over the course of deployments, Campbell said. “I think the final thing is just experience,” he said. “The longer you are on the ground, … you'll see the number of caches found and the number of IEDs and EFPs found much, much higher.”