Good Guys Win Thread

Monte Smith · August-13th-2003, 12:39 PM

Two Arrested in Missile Smuggling Plot

NEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) - Two men captured in an international sting operation that broke up a plot to smuggle a missile capable of shooting down a commercial jetliner into the United States appeared Wednesday in federal court where authorities spelled out charges against them.

Hemant Lakhani, identified as a British arms dealer, is accused of providing material support to terrorists and illegal weapons dealing, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said at the hearing in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey.

The second man, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, faces charges of money-laundering in connection with the plot, he said.

Lakhani was arrested in Newark Tuesday after trying to sell a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile to FBI informants posing as extremists claiming they wanted to shoot down a large commercial airliner, officials said. Hameed was arrested in New York, as was a third man, Yehuda Abraham, who was slated to appear in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

August-13th-2003, 01:23 PM

I'm sure that these guys civil liberties were somehow violated through all of this.

We had no right to arrest these guys!!!!

Damn those republicans!!

Jimmy Cantiello · August-13th-2003, 02:00 PM

I believe the real story is that, in actuality, there never was a missle for sale. It was a sting operation that included the American, British, and Russian intelligence communities. The sting's purpose was to flush out potential illegal arms dealers of which Lahkani was one. They were hoping to draw more principals out into the open. Lahkani's Russian "contacts" were, in fact, part of the sting.......................

Uli · August-13th-2003, 02:04 PM

I think the FBI-NYPD JTTF could be something out of a Goodie thread.

Monte Smith · August-13th-2003, 02:05 PM

Quite possibly, Jimmy. This is good proactive--one might even say pre-emptive!--police work. I hope this gets big publicity because it should be that no terrorist anywhere in the world can be confident that the buyer/seller he is dealing with isn't one of Ashcroft's men. Or Putin's. Or MI5's.

Uli · August-13th-2003, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Monte Smith
I hope this gets big publicity because it should be that no terrorist anywhere in the world can be confident that the buyer/seller he is dealing with isn't one of Ashcroft's men. Or Putin's. Or MI5's.

Oh it sure does get publicity. Yesterday nite every damn channel had this "success story" on.

Monte Smith · August-13th-2003, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Uli
Oh it sure does get publicity. Yesterday nite every damn channel had this "success story" on.

Why the quotation marks, Uli?

August-13th-2003, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Why the quotation marks, Uli?

My question exactly. Once again Uli is proving beyond question his hardcore partisanship. And his principled refusal to say anything that could be confused for praise of anything loosely related to the Bush admin is quite telling and disturbing at the same time.

Uli · August-13th-2003, 02:25 PM

Oh, just because I believe it may be a bit out of proportion. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good thing to catch weapon dealers. How successful the sting was is maybe debatable.

And yesterday nite I watched an "expert" saying that it is believed that Al Kaida has hundreds of them already, most of them supplied by the US during the Afghan war against the Soviet Union.

ps for Scott. I don't see what my assessment of Bush's war on terror (with Iraq included in this equasion not by me but by the Bushies) as a major failure so far has to do with partisanship.

August-13th-2003, 02:45 PM

In the overall war on terror, there have been both wins and losses. To deem it a complete and total failure is truly incorrect. Therefore, to me it looks as though you just blindly criticize.

Monte Smith · August-14th-2003, 03:51 PM

'Nother victory for the good guys:

U.S. Says 'Hambali' Suspected in Bali Bombing Caught

(Reuters) - An Indonesian man known as "Hambali," suspected mastermind of the Bali bombings and the more recent JW Marriott blast in Jakarta, has been captured, a White House spokesman aboard Air Force One said on Thursday.

Reuters Photo

"His capture is another important victory in the global war on terrorism and a significant blow to the enemy," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan aboard Air Force One.

Hambali, who is also known as Riduan Isamuddin, "facilitated" a January 2000 meeting in Malaysia attended by two men who later became hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on America, a senior administration official said.

The official called Hambali "one of the world's most lethal terrorists," saying his group, Jemaah Islamiah, was also linked to a series of church bombings in the Philippines.

He was the most wanted man in Southeast Asia and was seen as the bridge between Jemaah Islamiah and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

Jazzzoline · August-14th-2003, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Monte Smith
[B]'Nother victory for the good guys:

Reuters Photo

This beard is fake!

BTW, From my experience: Good guys are BORING!

Monte Smith · August-14th-2003, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jazzzoline

BTW, From my experience: Good guys are BORING! [/B]

Haha. I'll agree with that attitude in a great many matters, but directed toward the war on terror that attitude is dumb in the extreme.

Jazzzoline · August-14th-2003, 05:36 PM

I'm dumb... blind and deaf

stonemonkts · August-14th-2003, 05:56 PM

Maybe I'm missing something, but why is the operation viewed as either Dem or Rep in nature in the first place? Are the agencies front loaded with right wingers?

Keeerist!

Dr Dave · August-15th-2003, 09:58 AM

Well, the Attorney General of the United States certainly makes no secret of his political leanings.

I'm glad these guys got caught. I hope the arms dealer is put on trial and gets a clean conviction and they lock him up and throw away the key.

The Indonesian guy--where will he be tried? In the U.S.?

As far as "sending a message," I doubt seriously whether any terrorist organizations read these stories and decided to give up the game because it was now too risky. Did you see the guy convicted in Djakarta? When his death sentence was announced, he gave a big grin and a thumbs-up sign. We can talk tough and act tough all we want, and none of it will stop guys like that. I submit that the "War on Terror" needs to tackle root causes if it ever is to be won. I don't see the current Administration showing any interest in such an approach. It just isn't their style.

Meanwhile, the recent happytalk report notwithstanding, Iraq remains in chaos, except where Islamic extremists are keeping law and order. The steady drip of U.S. casualties continues. And I read now (in that damned Liberal media, of course) that Afghanistan has fallen back into Rule-By-Warlord everywhere but Kabul.

This is not the result I was hoping for.

Monte Smith · November-25th-2003, 05:10 PM

Yemeni 'al-Qaeda chief' captured
BBC.com

A Yemeni man suspected of being a local leader for al-Qaeda has been arrested, the official news agency Saba says.

Mohammad Hamdi al-Ahdal tops Yemen's most wanted list - and was named by the authorities as one of two top suspects belonging to Osama Bin Laden's network.

He reportedly surrendered on Tuesday after police surrounded a house in the capital Sanaa where he had been hiding.

Yemen has been working closely with the US to crackdown on suspected militants following attacks in the country.

"Security officials were able to arrest this morning Mohammad Hamdi al-Ahdal, alias Abu Issam al-Maki, one of the top al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen," an interior ministry statement said.

Security officials had been watching him for several months before surrounding his house, the statement added.

There have been a number of attacks on Western targets in Yemen.

The warship USS Cole was bombed in Yemeni waters in 2000, killing 17 US sailors, and last year a French tanker was attacked off the coast of Yemen.

According to Yemeni security reports published in the local media last year, Ahdal played a key role in planning both attacks.

He reportedly ranked second to Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, who was among six suspects killed last November by a rocket fired from an unmanned CIA-operated Predator drone.

GoodSpeak · November-25th-2003, 10:04 PM

Still at large:

Monte Smith · November-26th-2003, 10:19 AM

Speaking of good guys, we have word today that 125 Fort Lewis soldiers are coming home from the 47th CASH (combat support hospital) at Camp Wolf in Kuwait. That's Carm's former unit. Of course, people have come and went to the 47th during the course of Enduring Freedom, but it looks like everyone that I know personally from Fort Lewis will be coming home soon. That includes Lt. Col. Pigfucker, who's been doling out books and care packages for me over there.

So hail to the true good guys.