Target Centermass

Category: War on Terror

  • U.S. Military Recruiting Woes Continue

    On a day when new survey results show that 57 percent of adult Americans do not believe our efforts in Iraq are worth the cost, the Army has released detailed data showing that its recruiting continues to hemorrhage, falling short of its April goal by a heart-breaking 42 percent.

    The U.S. Army missed its April recruiting goal by a whopping 42 percent and the Army Reserve fell short by 37 percent, officials said on Tuesday, showing the depth of the military’s wartime recruiting woes.

    With the Iraq war straining the U.S. military, the active-duty Army has now missed its recruiting goals in three straight months, with April being by far the worst of the three, and officials are forecasting that it will fall short again in May.

    The all-volunteer Army is providing the majority of the ground forces for an Iraq war in which nearly 1,600 U.S. troops have died.

    The active-duty Army signed up 3,821 recruits last month, falling short of its goal of 6,600 for April, Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith said. That left the Army 16 percent behind its year-to-date goal, officials said.

    The Army is striving to attract 80,000 recruits in fiscal 2005, which ends Sept. 30. The Army has not missed an annual goal for signing up new soldiers since 1999, and had not missed a monthly goal since May 2000.

    […]

    The Army Reserve, a force of part-time soldiers who train regularly and can be called to active duty in times of need, signed up 849 recruits in April, short of the monthly goal of 1,355, Smith said. That left the Army Reserve 21 percent behind its year-to-date goal.

    A senior Army official, who asked not to be named, said the Army Reserve will “probably not” achieve its annual goal of 22,175 recruits.

    The Army National Guard said it did not yet have its April numbers, but has missed its recruiting goal in every month of the current fiscal year through March and was 23 percent behind its year-to-date goal at that time. It missed its fiscal 2004 annual goal.

    Military recruiters have said potential recruits and their parents were expressing wariness about enlisting during the Iraq war. They said improving civilian job opportunities also were affecting recruiting.

    Has the war gone that poorly? Has the situation turned that dire? Or is the public being sold a negative bill of goods by the media? The networks and most papers wail with bad news while paying only passing attention to any progress, except when the situation absolutely demands it (the only recent moment that comes to mind is the success of the January elections). Barring such demand, the old saying in sensationalist journalism is that a building that does not burn is not news.

    As evidence that the situation on the ground is not as bad as the public is being led to believe, let’s check with the people on the ground.

    Col. Joe Curtin, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said the Army was ahead of its targets for reenlisting current soldiers. “At the same time, we have a challenge of bringing new members into our ranks, but we’re optimistic we’ll meet that goal by the end of the summer,” Curtin said.

    People involved in a disaster don’t stick around in better-than-expected numbers.

    ‘Tis a shame that, on a day when history is being made by the swearing in of the first-ever Iraqi government resulting from popular elections and reflecting the diversity and will of the Iraqi people, America is being coaxed methodically towards a repeat of an earlier historical moment, an event when the American media betrayed the country’s military and truth with their poor, slanted selling of an alternate reality. Ah, Tet — a repeat is not in the best interest of our nation or, indeed, the future of western civilization, but that doesn’t stop some from pushing for it.

  • Letter Reveals Problems in Iraq Insurgency

    Perhaps my post last night portrayed a tad too negative view of the war against Islamist terror, although it looks like I may have been dead on about the trouble the murderers are having recruiting martyrs. A captured letter released today shows that the fodder shortage may just be the tip of the terrorists’ troubled iceberg.

    U.S. forces in Iraq have captured what they say is a letter from a key supporter to insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, indicating that there is a split in the insurgency, which the letter blames on poor leadership.

    The U.S. command in Iraq says troops found the letter during a raid in Baghdad last Friday. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says experts have confirmed its authenticity as message from senior aide Abu Asim Yemeni to the insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi.

    “The letter is important because it highlights the fact that Zarqawi’s influence and effectiveness may be deteriorating. It describes low morale and weak and incompetent leadership, and goes on to allege to Zarqawi that he has abandoned his followers because he is now a fugitive himself,” he said.

    According to a translation of the letter provided by U.S. forces in Iraq, it describes some trouble between groups of insurgents that the apparent writer, Mr. Yemeni, says “cannot be forgiven.” He reports to his old friend Mr. Zarqawi that “morale has weakened” and “lines have become separated due to some leaders’ actions.” The letter says, “We have leaders that are not capable of being good leaders” It also expresses suspicion about some envoys who claim to speak for Mr. Zarqawi, and warns him not to believe everything his closest aides tell him.

    The full text of the letter can be found here.

    Let’s throw this story around the horn, blogosphere-style

  • War on Terror Update for Y’all

    First, our allies.

    Italy has chosen to dispute the U.S. report on the checkpoint incident that cost the life of Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari. The Italians have apparently been heavily influenced by popular support for the “hostage” rescued, communist and anti-American journalist Giuliana Sgrena, she of the ever–changing story.

    Still, in retrospect, Italy looks brave compared to the Philippines and Spain.

    Despite these poor examples of supposed allies, let’s take a look at what’s going on in those nations cold-chillin’ on the sidelines. Chad at In the Bullpen brings truly ugly news: countries are paying tribute to al-Quida for temporary local peace.

    I’m not sure which is more disturbing; information that Qatar is paying off Al Qaida to prevent attacks or that a Qatari official says this is happening in other countries as well.

    No good news on any of these fronts today. No, not really.

    Meanwhile, in Iraq, the terrorists continue trying for another Tet, the model for a military failure and media succuss that I said repeatedly was their new goal. Now, they are threatening to get the media play that would enable them to achieve it. Check out these headlines currently on Google News:

    Iraq Violence Unabated as 23 More Die
    Iraqi Leaders Seek Deal Amid Bloodshed
    New Iraq leaders face violent surge
    2nd Day of Deadly New Iraq Mayhem
    Death toll rises as Iraq insurgents strike at will

    This is certainly bad. However, this ain’t 1968 and, hopefully, the true state of affairs can get past leftist and leftist-leaning media manipulation.

    Along with this, while the U.S. may have recruiting issues of its own, apparently so do the terrorists in Iraq. Dr. Rusty Shackleford at the Jawa Report blogs on the heinous motivation that may be driving some of these suicide bombers — terrorist blackmail based on kidnapping of wives and children.

    So, let me get this straight. Zarqawi is now capturing women and children, and then telling the fathers that if they don’t blow themselves and a few infidels up then he’s going to chop their heads off?

    Well, that certainly makes the American recruiting issue seem like a small matter. The Islamist bastards seem to be running short of volunteering explosive cannon fodder, so they’ll use foul terror to generate their own martyrs. Somehow, I doubt this is within the teachings of the so-called religion of peace.

    See if that little sick tidbit gets any ink anytime soon. If any news like this takes hold among the Arab people, all the previous bad news means nothing. The terrorists’ desperation for Tet may just prevent their own Tet as the ways of the evil operations come to light.

  • U.S. Military Loses Contact With Two Jets

    Never let it be forgotten that flying military fighters, be it training maneuvers or war-time missions, is an extremely dangerous job. A search is currently underway for the pilots of two Hornets lost in the Iraqi theater.

    Two U.S. Marine jets from the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier were reported missing while flying in support of operations in
    Iraq, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

    The status of the two U.S. Marine F/A-18 Hornet aircraft and their crew was not immediately known, the military said in a statement.

    Contact was lost with the aircraft at 10:10 p.m. Monday (2:10 p.m. EDT), the statement said. There were no initial indications of hostile fire in the area at the time.

    Search efforts were underway, the military said. No further information was released.

    Navy officials at the Pentagon did not release any information beyond the military statement.

    My best wishes to the pilots and their families, but I don’t feel that this is a case of no news is good news. That’s a good chunk of time in an area we can easily cover.

    Should these planes be confirmed down, the question is this: how long until the lunatic terrorists pretend, I mean claim, that they caused it? I’m sure al-Jazeera is standing by for the press release.

  • Experts Claim Akbar May Never Be Executed

    Every day that convicted murderer Sergeant Hasan Akbar continues to live is a day too many. Now, some supposedly say he may not meet the justice to which he has been sentenced.

    Some experts think Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar may never actually face execution, despite being sentenced to death for attacking his fellow troops.

    The military has not executed one of its own since 1961.

    Akbar was sentenced to die this week for killing two officers in March of 2003 in a grenade attack in Kuwait.

    Currently, there are five people on military death row; three whose cases are in appeals and two are awaiting action from the president.

    Akbar’s trial goes to automatic appeal.

    Hours after giving a brief, barely audible apology, Akbar was sentenced to death by a military jury for attacking comrades with a rifle and grenades early in the Iraq invasion.

    He could have been sentenced Thursday to life in prison with or without parole for the March 2003 attack on members of the elite 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Two officers were killed and 14 other soldiers were wounded.

    […]

    Jurors took about seven hours to reach their decision Thursday. Last week, the same 15-person military jury took just two and a half hours last week to convict Akbar of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder.

    The sentence will be reviewed by a commanding officer and automatically appealed. If Akbar is executed, it would be by lethal injection.

    Although the defense contends Akbar was too mentally ill to plan the attack, they have never disputed that he threw grenades into troop tents in the early morning darkness and then fired on soldiers in the ensuing chaos. Army Capt. Chris Seifert, 27, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, were killed.

    Prosecutors say Akbar launched the attack at his camp — days before the soldiers were to move into Iraq — because he was concerned about U.S. troops killing fellow Muslims in the Iraq war.

    “He is a hate-filled, ideologically driven murderer,” chief prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan said. He added that Akbar wrote in his diary in 1997, “My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed.”

    Akbar is the first American since the Vietnam era to be prosecuted on charges of murdering a fellow soldier during wartime.

    “Hasan Akbar has robbed me of so many things,” said Tammie Eslinger, Stone’s fiancee, after the sentencing. “He stole my love, my family, my dreams and my future. But he could never steal my spirit.”

    Seifert’s widow, Theresa, said she was satisfied with the military justice system. She called Akbar “a nonentity to me.”

    Defense attorney Maj. David Coombs told jurors that a sentence of life without parole would allow Akbar to be treated for mental illness and possibly rehabilitated.

    “Death is an absolute punishment, a punishment of last resort,” Coombs said.

    Yes, death is an absolute punishment. Tell that little whine to the victims, his fellow soldiers that he killed in a cold, premeditated manner. Death is an absolute punishment that won’t come too quickly or too painfully for this creature.

    Funny thing about this story, though, is there are no statements from experts doubting his possible execution. Just a headline and an opening paragraph that make claim of those so-called experts.

  • Death Sentence for Murderous Traitor

    One huge step closer to justice.

    A United States soldier has been sentenced to death by a military court for killing two comrades and wounding 14 more in a “hate-filled, ideologically-driven” attack launched on the eve of the Iraq war.

    Hasan Akbar, a Muslim, confessed in his diary that “destroying America is my greatest goal”. He is the first soldier since the Vietnam era to be convicted of murdering a comrade during wartime.

    The sentence, which will be automatically appealed, makes him only the sixth person on military death row. The last military execution carried out by the US was in 1961.

    Relatives of his victims wept as Akbar was shackled and led from the courtroom at Fort Bragg, an army base in North Carolina.

    “Hasan Akbar has robbed me of so many things,” said Tammie Eslinger, the fianceé of Major Gregory Stone, who died as a result of the attack at a military camp in Kuwait two years ago. “He stole my love, my family, my dreams and my future.”

    Akbar, 34, from Los Angeles, was among members of the army’s elite 101st Airborne Division preparing for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

    After rolling two live grenades into troops’ tents as they slept, he raised his rifle and shot at those who tried to flee the attack.

    Maj Stone, 40, was hit by 83 pieces of shrapnel. The other victim, Captain Christopher Seifert, 27, was shot in the back.

    In a computer diary dating back 13 years, Akbar documented his hatred for the military and US government, a dislike of white people and conflicting loyalties over the pending invasion of Iraq, which began two days after the incident. “I will have to decide to kill my Muslim brothers fighting for Saddam Hussein, or my battle buddies,” he wrote.

    This is the sentence that is deserved and that I’d hoped for, though I did say that I would not be surprised if he managed to dodge axe (or noose or firing squad or whatever is currently proscribed by the military for offing swine). Justice will truly be done when Akbar draws his last, hopefully painful breath.

  • A Look at the Day’s Stories

    Army Funding Running Low, Rumsfeld Warns

    Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has sent letters to congressional leaders urging them to pass the final 2005 budget supplemental bill before the Army runs out of operating funds.

    The Army has slowed its spending, so it can continue operations in Afghanistan and Iraq through early May when the funds are due to run out, Rumsfeld said.

    He sent the letters Wednesday, along with handwritten notes that read, “Our folks out there need these funds.”

    Rummy goes on to denounce draft ideas and to discuss armored leggings being evaluated.


    British Suspect Convicted in Attempted Missile Sale in U.S.

    A British businessman has been convicted in the United States of trying to sell anti-aircraft missiles to terrorists.

    The verdict against Hemant Lakhani was announced Wednesday in a New Jersey federal court. Lakhani now faces up to 25 years in prison at his sentencing hearing, scheduled for August 8.

    Hard to believe the moronic clown defense didn’t work. Lock up, lose key.

    Analysis: Victory is up to Iraqis

    Is the United States winning in Iraq? Yes, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says.

    “I think we’re definitely winning. I think we’ve been winning for some time,” said Gen. Richard Myers.

    His civilian boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, took a more circumspect view of the situation. The outcome of the war is up to the Iraqis.

    “Winning or losing is not the issue for ‘we,’ in my view, in the traditional conventional context of using the word winning and losing and of war,” Rumsfeld said Tuesday at a news conference. “The people that are going to defeat that insurgency are going to be the Iraqis.”

    The story seems to give up hope of Iraq becoming the bright, shining city on the Arab hill that could serve to shake up the Arab world by offering an alternative to the environment that has allowed the radical Islamist view to fester. I still hold out that hope, as it is already starting to bear fruit in the region.

    Reagan Presidency Diaries to be Published

    “Each day during his eight years in the White House, Ronald Reagan recorded his innermost thoughts and observations in his personal diary,” adds Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. “Although they were not initially intended for publication, we feel that these volumes offer an unprecedented insight into the Reagan Presidency.”

    This will be a must-freakin’-own. And I mean hardback. ‘Tis a shame an copy autographed by the author is out of the question. The world would be a better place were that still possible.

    Moussaoui Seeks Muslim Land Grave

    Moussaoui said that he wanted assistance in ensuring his burial in a Muslim land, otherwise “I will be buried in Arkansas or they don’t give a damn where”.

    Arkansas sounds just fine, pig.

    New Lebanese Government Calls Elections from May 29

    Lebanon’s new government won a confidence vote in parliament Wednesday and immediately called elections, the first without a Syrian military presence for 33 years, to start on May 29.

    The announcement, a day after Syria pulled its last soldiers and spies out of Lebanon after 29 years, means parliamentary polls will be held on time as demanded by the international community and Lebanon’s anti-Syrian opposition.

    The new cabinet, led by wealthy businessman Najib Mikati, won a ringing 109-1 endorsement from MPs in the 128-member chamber, with three abstentions.

    Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa then signed a decree for elections to begin on May 29, officials said. Parliament also extended by three weeks its own term, which expires on May 31.

    Some sources said there would be three rounds of voting — on May 29, June 5 and June 12. Others said there would be a fourth on June 19. Lebanon usually holds parliamentary polls staggered over several weekends as regions vote in turn.

    The Cedar Revolution came to a head. Now it’s come to a vote. Also, feel free to check out the Lebanese Freedom Babes, courtesy of Publius Pundit.

    Jaafari Includes Shia, Sunni Arabs and Kurds on Iraqi Cabinet List

    After weeks of damaging delays and political wrangling, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraqi’s prime minister-designate, yesterday confirmed that he had completed his cabinet list, which includes Shia, Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians.

    He declined to give details about who would head the 32 ministries, other than to confirm that a Sunni Arab would get the key post of defence. He said delays were due to efforts to include all parties in the government.

    “This government could have been concluded within a week by the two major coalitions [Shia and Kurd] but it is our commitment and desire to see that we have a conclusive government that will reach out to the one main [Sunni Arab] community that was not fairly represented in the elections,” Mr Jaafari said.

    Better late than never, especially if there’s any payoff for reaching out to the Sunnis, but better never late. Not when lives may depend on it and delay feeds the hopes of the terrorists.

  • Courts Take on Terrorists

    Moussaoui Pleads Guilty, Says bin Laden Chose Him for Attacks

    Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty today to conspiring with the September Eleventh hijackers to kill Americans and declared that he was personally chosen by Osama bin Laden to fly a plane into the White House during a later attack.
    Moussaoui admitted guilt in front of a packed courtroom only a few miles from where one of the four hijacked planes crashed into the Pentagon in 2001.

    He pleaded to six counts, four of which could bring the death penalty, and said he had not been promised a lighter sentence for his pleas and expected no leniency.

    The judge accepted the plea, making the French citizen the lone person convicted in a U.S. court in connection with the attacks that killed nearly three thousand.

    Moussaoui will have his sentence determined at a later date.

    Chad at In the Bullpen notes that Moussaoui expects no leniency in his sentencing. Chad then goes on to take the court to task.

    In my view this trial took completely too long […] Moussaoui should have served as a lesson to terrorists around the world that the American justice system will react harshly when this country is attacked, but it did not.

    You may also find the case’s Statement of Facts an interesting read.

    13 Years for Shoe Bomb Plotter

    A British Muslim who took part in a “shoe bomb” plot to blow up two transatlantic airliners was jailed for 13 years yesterday.

    Saajid Badat, 25, an Islamic scholar whose anger at the treatment of Muslims led him to become a potential “courier of death” after attending Taliban training camps in Afghanistan, would have faced a 50-year sentence had he not backed out of the conspiracy.

    His fellow potential shoe bomber, Richard Reid, a former Brixton street criminal who converted to Islam and became a follower of the al-Qa’eda leader Osama bin Laden, tried and failed to detonate his footwear on a Paris-Miami flight just months after the September 11 attacks on New York. Reid has been jailed for life in the US.

    Badat, however, threw away his shoe and hid an amount of explosive at his family home in Gloucester in December 2001. Like Reid’s device it would have been capable of blowing a hole in the fuselage of an aircraft, almost certainly bringing it down.

    At the Old Bailey yesterday Mr Justice Fulford told Badat, who had admitted conspiring to blow up an airliner at a hearing in February, “that the plot was truly appalling”.

    ”Your joint objective was the murder of hundreds of unsuspecting men, women and children who happened by chance and bad luck to be travelling on the airliner selected by the conspiracy.”

    Badat had remained in the plot, which involved him and Reid blowing themselves up on flights from Europe to America, shortly before Christmas 2001, until “very late in its evolution”, the court heard. His continued participation may have encouraged Reid. However, in the end Badat turned his back on the plan and tried to return to a normal life and hoped the affair would “go away”.

    […]

    [Michael Mansfield, QC, defending,] said: “It was his faith which in a sense took him to the brink of disaster and at the same time it was his faith in the end which pulled him back.” Badat, he added, wanted to send a message to those minded to use force, that “they should have the courage to turn away”.

    Was it faith that stopped him? Not the faith of a man who would would travel to Afghanistan for terrorist training under bin Laden. No, I’d say it was more likely cowardice. Badat and Reid, coward and incompetent. Talk about your pair of jokers.

    Missile Accused a Clown, Says Lawyer

    A Briton charged with selling a shoulder-launched missile to terrorists for use in the US was described by his lawyer today as “a joke, a clown”, who was strung along by undercover agents in a case of entrapment.

    Defence lawyer Henry Klingeman portrayed Hemant Lakhani, 69, a British citizen born in India, as a failed businessman who “couldn’t finish a deal if his life depended on it”.

    Mr Lakhani, arrested in August 2003 after a two-year international sting operation, was charged with trying to provide material support to terrorists, unlawful arms sales, smuggling and money laundering. He could face 25 years in prison.

    US District Judge Katharine Hayden scheduled the New Jersey jury to begin deliberations on Tuesday.

    […]

    While the prosecution depicted him as an enthusiastic broker eager to supply a terrorist group, the defence said he was a victim of the Government’s overzealous law enforcement in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

    “He may be a fool, a charlatan, but he’s no arms dealer,” said Mr Klingeman, who said there was nothing in Lakhani’s background to suggest involvement with terrorists and no criminal record of that sort.

    The defence lawyer said Mr Lakhani was a failed businessman who had declared bankruptcy, owed taxes on his house, was evicted from the office where he ran his clothing business, and owed money on bounced cheques.

    Prosecutor Stuart Rabner countered that Mr Lakhani had freely offered to arrange the sale of 50 more missiles.

    “There was no coercion. No threats, no guns to the defendant’s head,” said Mr Rabner. “You don’t have to be sophisticated to be a criminal. You can be a dumb criminal.”

    The prosecution produced hours of videotapes and taped telephone conversations of Mr Lakhani allegedly making the deal with an undercover FBI informant posing as an Islamic militant, and evidence of negotiations with Russian law enforcement officers posing as Ukrainian arms suppliers.

    An interesting strategy there by the defense. It might have been effective had Lakhani been charged with being a genius. Unfortunately, willfully trying to aid terrorists is a bit more serious matter. It’s also something idiots are quite capable of doing. Since we can’t kill him, I hope the jury locks him away for the max. Maybe others behind bars can complete the justice Lakhani deserves.

    As an aside, isn’t that just a craptastic headline?

  • U.S. Soldier Convicted of Killing Comrades

    Sergeant Hasan Akbar — guilty as charged of premeditated murder.

    The U.S. army sergeant who rolled a grenade into a tent full of his own colleagues and fired at them as they ran outside has been convicted of murder and attempted murder.

    A military jury in Fort Bragg, N.C., ruled Hasan Akbar, a member of the famed 101st Airborne Division, was guilty in the 2003 attack on his comrades in Kuwait.

    Two officers were killed in the attack, which came just days before the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq.

    Akbar’s lawyers argued he has been suffering from a mental illness for years.

    Because the jury returned a unanimous verdict, the crime is punishable by death.

    A sentencing hearing will begin next Monday.

    As before, I’m hoping for a death sentence to be dealt to Akbar but wouldn’t be surprised if justice falls short.

  • Muslims Detained at U.S. Border File Suit

    Yikes, it looks like the United States may have been caught trying to find its enemies among a rich pool of potential enemies … err .. law-abiding citizens that dance on the edge of the terror pool.

    American Muslims detained at the border as they returned from a religious conference in Toronto sued the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday alleging they were targets of ethnic and religious profiling.

    The five Muslims, all U.S. citizens, say customs officials detained dozens of others from their conference in December, subjecting them to interrogations, fingerprinting and photographing. Four carried U.S.-issued passports; the other had a New York state driver’s license, which is an acceptable form of identification at the Canadian border.

    The plaintiffs traveled separately and arrived at the checkpoint throughout the afternoon and night. Travelers who told agents they had attended the conference titled “Reviving the Islamic Spirit” were held for questioning, and women wearing hijab were asked whether they had attended the conference, according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Council for American-Islamic Relations.

    “They were the victims once again of our government’s overzealous and counterproductive ethnic and religious profiling in the name of national security,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU.

    Well, I only hope that Ms. Lieberman is correct that is was a case of profiling based on the most likely profile of terrorists and terrorist supporters. Yes, profiling, yes! That would be a serious step in the right direction towards stopping people who would be just as happy lopping off Ms. Lieberman’s head with a knife as they would be offing you and me in a Chick-Fil-A suicide bombing.

    The lawsuit seeks to prevent government agencies from detaining, interrogating or photographing Muslims returning to the United States from religious conferences. The five Muslims want their fingerprints and photographs taken at the border destroyed or expunged.

    Provide a reason why anyone crossing the border shouldn’t be identified and remembered. Transportation within the states is a right for those who abide by the law; travel outside is a privelege that may be monitored.

    Homeland security officials said that 34 people were selected for the secondary questioning at Queenston Lewiston Bridge and four others at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. None was charged with a crime.

    “In this instance, we had credible intelligence that conferences similar to the one from which these individuals were leaving were being used by terrorist organizations to fundraise and to hide the travel of terrorists themselves,” said Kristi Clemens, spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

    Sounds like reasonable measures, in light of the current state of affairs. You know, 9/11 and war and all that.

    Clemens declined to elaborate on the sort of conferences that draw heightened scrutiny or whether people were held at other border crossings. She said U.S. citizens have the right to refuse fingerprinting and that the department has not received complaints about agents forcing citizens to submit fingerprints.

    Sawsan Tabbaa, 43, an orthodontist in Buffalo, took her four children in the family van for their third trip to the conference, which featured imam Hamza Yusuf. Yusuf is a prominent scholar who visited the White House in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to pray with President Bush and endorse his plans for military action.

    Tabbaa, who wears hijab, said that at 2 a.m. Dec. 27 she arrived at the border checkpoint where agents asked her about the conference and instructed her to wait inside the customs building. Inside, she said, “I saw all the people from my Islamic community.”

    Tabbaa, a Syrian-born naturalized citizen, said agents refused to let her leave unless she submitted to fingerprinting. After several hours, she said, a female agent escorted her to a room to demonstrate the procedure.

    “She just grabbed my hand and [began] fingerprinting it,” Tabbaa said. “I was just forced to do it. She grabbed my hand.”

    My guess is that her story would be contradicted by the female agent, a little she-said,she-said.

    If the courts feel this crap has any merit, then we are severely hampered in our war against radical Islamists. I feel no need to remind you that radical Islamists started the war and we have conducted our responses with incredible restraint.

    So far.