10 December 2010 By
Stephen Lendman
November 27
major media headlines accused him, including New York
Times writers Colin Miner, Liz Robbins and Erik
Eckholm triple-teaming him in their article titled, "FBI
Says
Oregon
Suspect Planned 'Grand' Attack." Their saying so
becomes accepted fact, according to corporate media
reports - guilty by accusation.
It happens repeatedly. It's
usually strategically timed, in this case to defuse
anger over enhanced airport screening. It's also
nearly always against Muslims, America's target of
choice - of course, to justify imperial wars against
Muslim nations. The topic was addressed often in
previous articles, including one accessed through the
link below:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/09/americas-war-on-islam.html
It explained how
America's war on terrorism
exploits and vilifies them. Hollywood and corporate
media reports especially portray them stereotypically
as culturally inferior, dirty, lecherous,
untrustworthy, religiously fanatical, violent,
dangerous gun-toting terrorists, wrongfully against
Western values, high-mindedness, and moral
superiority.
The Times recounted the
latest accusation as follows:
"A Somali-born teenager who
though he was detonating a car bomb at a packed
(Portland, OR)
Christmas
tree-lighting ceremony downtown here was arrested by
the authorities on Friday night after federal agents
said that they had spent nearly six months setting up
a
sting operation" - to entrap him, what
Times writers didn't say, or that it's standard FBI
practice to snare innocent victims.
They're then wrongfully
accused of crimes they either had no intention to
commit or wouldn't consider without FBI provocation.
In this case, an implied attack against Christmas and
Christian values was alleged, or, in
other words, "violent" Islam against "peaceful,
morally superior" Christianity.
A
November Justice Department
press release headlined, "Oregon
Resident Arrested in Plot to Bomb Christmas Tree
Lighting Ceremony in Portland Vehicle Bomb (that) Was
Inert and Posed No Danger to Public," saying:
"Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19,
a naturalized US citizen from
Somalia
and resident of
Corvallis, Ore.,
has been arrested on changes of attempting to use a
weapon of mass destruction (note the
hyperbole) in connection with a plot to detonate a
vehicle bomb at an annual Christmas tree lighting
ceremony earlier this evening in Portland, Ore...."
"The arrest (followed) a
long-term undercover operation, during which Mohamud
had been monitored closely for months (read, set up)
as his alleged bomb plot developed. The device was in
fact inert (given him by FBI operatives); and the
public was never in danger...."
On
November 29,
Mohamud will be arraigned in federal court. If
convicted, he faces a potential
life sentence and $250,000 fine. Dwight
C. Holton, US Attorney for the District or Oregon,
said:
"This defendant's chilling
determination is a stark reminder that there are
people (read Muslims) who are determined to kill
Americans."
Assistant Attorney General
for
National Security,
David Kris added:
"While the public was never
in danger from the (rigged) device, this case serves
as yet another reminder of the need for continued
vigilance both at home and abroad."
Implied, of course, is just
cause for imperial wars against Muslim nations,
wrongfully portrayed as threatening US security.
For Mohamud, at issue is
entrapment. It should automatically raise red flags
when used. According to Law Professor Anthony Barkow:
"A person is entrapped when
he has no previous intention to violate the law and is
persuaded to commit the crime by government agents.
But if he's already willing to commit the crime, it's
not entrapment if government agents convince him to do
it."
However, claiming intent
doesn't prove it. Most often it's prosecutorial
charges against the word of those accused, their side
never getting out or is distorted.
Key unaddressed questions
in Mohamud's case are why would FBI operatives incite
an alleged
terror attack?
Did he really plan one, or did he say so under FBI
provocation? Why would the FBI perhaps choose the time
and/or place? Why would they give anyone a "bomb" to
commit violence, real or otherwise? Why are only
Muslims targeted? Might other motives be involved?
Most important is why
perhaps was another innocent man incited, duped, set
up, and now charged with what he may never have
conceived of doing otherwise. Moreover, did he really
want to detonate a bomb, or are key facts willfully
concealed, especially the truth?
So far, it's unknown what
he had in mind, if anything. Only FBI and corporate
media accounts have explained, not Mohamud, who'll
never be able to speak openly and freely, and if so,
his side will be distorted.
Official accounts are
notoriously falsified and exaggerated to incite fear,
pitting the power of big government and big media
against targeted victims, an intimidating mismatch.
The FBI said he "was in
email contact with an unindicted associate (UA1)
overseas who is believed to be involved in terrorist
activities." In fact, he was an undercover FBI agent.
"In December 2009, while
UA1 was located in the northwest frontier province of
Pakistan, Mohamud and UA1 discussed the
possibility of Mohamud traveling to Pakistan to engage
in violent
jihad. UA1
allegedly referred Mohamud to a second unindicted
associate (UA2, another FBI operative) overseas and
provided Mohamud with a name and email address to
facilitate the process."
The account continued,
saying he unsuccessfully tried to contact UA2. Then an
undercover FBI operative (UA1) contacted him, agreeing
to meet in
Portland in
July. Mohamud said he published an article in "Jihad
Recollections" that also featured poetry, bin Laden
speeches, and a how-to guide to global jihad.
In fact, the April 2009
issue in question carried bizarre images of masked
fighters helping each other exercise. Yet, the entire
magazine, including Mohamud's article, excluded calls
for violence. Nonetheless, the FBI alleged he wanted
to become "operational" but needed help.
At a second August meeting,
he allegedly claimed a desire to commit violent jihad
since age 15. Also that he identified a "potential
target for a bomb: the annual Christmas tree lighting
ceremony in
Portland's Pioneer
Courthouse Square...."
In response, the FBI
alleged its "operatives cautioned Mohamud several
times about the seriousness of this plan (emphasizing
he) could abandon his attack plans at any time with no
shame." If so, why did they give him the "bomb" to
carry it out? Why did they lure him to a remote spot
to detonate a "test" bomb in a backpack?
They also alleged he said
"I want whoever is attending that event to leave
either dead or injured," that he made a video with
"apocalyptic phrases," and planned to leave the
country after the
November 26
incident.
What's true, false or
uncertain isn't known.
Background on Muhamud
In 1991, he was born in
Mogadishu, Somalia. In Portland, he
attended Jackson Middle School and Wilson High School,
then transferred to
Westview High School
in Beaverton. A classmate, Brandon Guffy, called him a
"perfectly normal guy," saying he had Muslim friends
interested in sports and hip-hop culture, and that he
never acted extreme or talked about religion or
politics.
A neighbor, Stephanie
Napier, said his mother was extremely proud of her
son, calling him her high-achiever who did well in
school. She was shocked in disbelief about the
accusations. The family practiced Islam, observed
Muslim holidays and holy days, but didn't discuss
religion at home. Napier called them "good people."
This past year, Muhamud was
enrolled at
Oregon State University
but withdrew on October 6, according to school
officials. No reasons were given.
On November 27, a Talk Left
contributor, identified as Jeralyn, said:
"So there was no terror
plot, except one hatched and incubated by the FBI,
using a would-be surrogate they came across while
intercepting internet chatter."
Firedoglake's Teddy wrote:
"How long are we going to
let the cowboys shoot up our country with false terror
plots and operations that would go nowhere without
their instigation, planning, and coercion? How long
will we allow our own federal constabulary to justify
its own recklessly inflated budget by permitting
actions like this to develop, fester, and grow
operational in our midst?"
"This is terror, pure and
simple. State-sponsored terror. Big splash terror
designed to make people complaint and fearful, and
grateful to their federal government," when, in fact,
its operatives are at fault.
A Final Comment
It's high time an aroused
public understood that terrorists R us, that
inflammatory official
Washington
and major media accounts are either bogus or suspect
to enlist popular support for
state crimes.
They include imperial wars and repressive laws
assuring police state justice against anyone
challenging government policies or, in Mohamud's case,
for political advantage.
They also plan mass
impoverishment once deficit cutters finish
transferring maximum public wealth to rich elites and
corporate favorites. Unless public outrage stops it,
we'll all be as vulnerable as Muhamud, unsure whether
our turn may be next, yet unaware of what we should
already know - that America is on a fast track to
tyranny, no longer a fit place to live in!
Indifference is no longer
an option!
Political prisoner
Lynne Stewart's November 19 letter to supporters
called organized people "boots on the ground for
righteousness. I love you all," she said, quoting an
excerpt from
Seamus Heaney's
"The Cure at Troy," saying:
"Human beings suffer,
They torture one another,
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.
History says, don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a
lifetime
The longed for tidal wave
Of Justice can rise up,
And hope and history
rhyme."
That tidal wave's time is
now!
Stephen Lendman lives in
Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at
sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with
distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News
Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at
10AM US
Central time
and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are
archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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