7 Dead, Over 25 Wounded After Terror Attack

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

So much for working towards a 2-State Solution.  There can be no "solution" to the conflict in the region as longs as the Arabs refuse to renounce terrorism against Jewish civilians.

Today the world saw another "fine" example of Arab Military Tactics.

Seven people were reported dead and at least 25 injured in a three-stage terrorist attack along Israel’s border with Egypt on Thursday.

IDF forces were still searching the area around Eilat and the Egyptian border out of concern that there may be terrorists still in the area. Sources said that it is possible that there were as many 20 terrorist in the area, both in Israel and on the Egyptian side of the border.

They added that there may be another terrorist cell hiding in the area. IDF and special police counter-terrorist forces killed seven terrorists during the three coordinated attacks.

The terror attack began at noon Thursday when terrorists opened fire at an Egged bus traveling on Road 12 near Eilat.

Several minutes later, a number of bombs went off next to an IDF patrol traveling along the border with Egypt. There were also reports of mortar fire from Egypt into Israel. The terrorists apparently then moved on to another spot and fired an anti-tank missile at another vehicle, injuring a number of passengers.

Magen David Adom said that terrorists attacked a bus and a private vehicle 20 kilometers north of the site of the first incident. Paramedics said five people there were mortally wounded in that attack.

The casualties were evacuated to Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat. A number of soldiers were among the casualties

IDF soldiers targeted and hit seven terrorists involved in the attacks, according to IDF spokeswoman Avital Leibovich.

“This seems like a coordinated attack,” a senior IDF officer said. There was also speculation that there may have been more than one terror cell coordinating the attacks.

Commander of the IDF’s Edom Division Brig.-Gen. Tamir Yidayi arrived at the scene of the bus attack and set up a command post to coordinate efforts to capture the perpetrators. The IDF suspects that the terrorists infiltrated into Israel after crossing into Egypt possible from the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, the Egyptian Military launched a massive operation to capture terrorist cells operating in the Sinai.

Due to concern that terrorists had infiltrated into Israel from Egypt, security officers in Israeli communities along the border were ordered to raise the level of alert and to tell residents to remain inside their home.

Israel has so far managed to construct a barrier along 45 kilometers of it's southern border with Egypt, which stretches for over 200 km.

The original plan was to complete construction of the fence in 2013 but the Defense Ministry decided several months ago to hire six different contracts in order to speed up the construction and complete the project by the end of 2012.

The Defense Ministry said it would complete construction of an additional 100 km by the end of 2011. Officials said that 700 meters of fence was constructed on a daily basis.

Following the attacks near Eilat on Thursday, Defense Ministry Dir.-Gen. Udi Shani convened a meeting to discuss ways to increase the number of workers who work on the fence in an effort to move up the completion date.

Authorities set up an emergency telephone number for those affected by the attacks near Eilat: 1255175.

Source

Prime Minister Netanyahu and the IDF promises to retaliate for this horror.  That is not an idle threat.  Both Hamas and the UN in Gaza are running for cover.  2 small children were wounded in this attack.

Every protest scheduled for this weekend by the leftists in the "Tent Cities" have been cancelled.  In Israel people unite against terror, not support it.

My prayers go out to the families of the victims.  May the killers be tracked down fast and justice be swift.

Video- Explosions In Norwegian Capital Oslo: Shots Also Fired At Youth Camp

Two explosions today in Oslo at a Norwegian government building, one of which has been confirmed by U.S. sources as being a massive vehicle bomb. Also reports of shots being fired at a youth camp outside Oslo.

Initial reports said there was one dead and at least 8 injured but further reports are claiming their were are more than the one dead, the total will not be known until the building is searched.

NYT:

At the site of the explosion, police evacuated and roped off the area as tension mixed with shaken fascination. People milled around the area, some snapping photos of the destruction. Store windows were blown out for several blocks around.

While Norway has seen little political violence in recent years, the country is a member of NATO alliance and has a small fighting contingent in Afghanistan. It was one of several countries cited by Ayman al-Zawahri, the Al Qaeda leader, as potential targets for attack. In 2006, Norwegian newspapers reprinted Danish cartoons that angered Muslims by lampooning the Prophet Muhammad. Norway has also historically been a frequent participant in peacekeeping missions and a host for diplomatic talks, including the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee of the Norwegian parliament.

More at ABC, BBC, and Reuters.

CBS- RE: Youth Camp shooting:

Norway - Police say they are sending anti-terror police to a youth camp outside Oslo after reports of a shooting there following the bomb blast at the government headquarters.

The news site VG reported that a man dressed in a police uniform opened fire at the camp. It says several people were injured.

Oslo police chief Anstein Gjengdal said anti-terror units were being sent to the camp at Utoya, outside the Norwegian capital.

Reuters reports that the shots at the youth camp came from a man dressed as a policeman and at least five people were injured.

[Update] BBC is reporting seven dead from the bombings and unconfirmed reports claim 2 dead from the shootings.

[Update] Instapundit reports that "A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (the Helpers of the Global Jihad), issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., a research institute that studies terrorism. The message said the attack was a response to Norwegian forces’ presence in Afghanistan and to unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad.” Turds."

[Latest update] 92 dead between bombing and shooting and gunman has been apprehended.

Will continue to update when more comes out

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From Sderot To The Main Stream Media

 

For 10 years the men, women and children of Sderot and the Western Negev have lived with almost daily rocket fire from Gaza.  Yet if you watch or read the Lame Stream Media Main Stream Media you would believe that Israel is an aggressor nation.  Attacking Gaza without provocation, just because they are fundamentally evil.

The truth is the opposite.


Noam Bedein, Director of The Sderot Media Center, has issued a call to mainstream media from the citizens of Sderot.

This is his letter:

Sderot Call on the Mainstream Media:

We ask you respectfully to change the way you report the continued rocket fire on Israel from Gaza.

The latest statistics from Natal, the organization dealing with post-traumatic stress, show that 70% of the children of Sderot suffer from symptoms of post-traumatic stress two and a half years after the Cast Lead Operation and a full third of Sderot’s residents feel constant post-traumatic anxiety.

Seven rockets, missiles and mortars have been launched from Gaza towards the western Negev’s communities over the last few days.

The disproportional coverage of these rocket launchings and explosions is found in a dry, terse report on mainstream media that takes a few seconds of news time. The issue is barely mentioned by the msm, who state (luckily so far) only that there were no injuries and no damage to property. That is not really the case, as anyone who lives in constant dread of the next missile knows well.

We at the Sderot Media Center urge you to emphasize these strikes more emphatically, to describe them as illegitimate and criminal examples of warfare against innocent civilians. Otherwise, what the media are aiding unintentionally is tacit acceptance of Islamic extremist terror against innocent civilians.

We ask that you change your reports to the following:

1.If there are no injuries, it is important to stress that there were no physical injuries reported.There surely are mental injuries, even though we will not let the terrorists change our lives.

2. It is crucial to mention each time how many rockets have been launched against Israel since the last ceasefire of January 18, 2009.

As of today July 15th 2011, there have been 788 rocket launchings from Gaza aimed at the southern residents of Israel. This has to be brought home again and again so the world will know.

We have decided to write this open letter to all the mainstream media and ask for a change in awareness of the significance and after-effects of this constant bombardment of people trying to live normal lives in an area that has never been disputed even by the UN, that is, unless the very existence of the State of Israel is in dispute.

Noam Bedein

This is the terror that the citizens of Sderot live under.



Rockets specifically targeting Israeli civilians.  The world buries its head in the sand while Israeli Children are maimed and die.  They don't care.  They only care, they only scream, they only act when Israel strikes back in retaliation.  The people of Sderot know the world doesn't care.  They know that the Media has a decidedly anti-Israel, anti-Semitic viewpoint.

This has to change.  It is time that we inform the Media of the truth.  When the Media reports on an "unprovoked" Israeli attack, we must put their feet to the fire and demand they report the truth.  It was bloggers who put NBC's feet to the fire when they decided they didn't like G-d in the Pledge of Allegiance.

And although times are tough, if you can find a few extra dollars would you send them to the Sderot Media Center?  The few dollars you send go a long way.  They go to help the children of Sderot with a bombproof, indoor playground, psychiatric counseling, and is the lone voice for the people of Sderot.  It only takes a few minutes, just click here.

Tell the Children of Sderot you care!

Facts Vs Janet Napolitano RE: Muslim Men Under 35

Recently Janet Napolitano answered a reporter's question about screening efforts for Muslim men under 35 were "not good logic"- Video below.



Let's compare the facts to Napolitano's so-called logic, shall we?

On September 11, 2001 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The terrorists the crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one airliner into The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and one plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C.

Nearly 3,000 died that day

Fact: 9-11 hijacker Hani Hasan Hanjour was 26 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar (or Almidhar) was 26 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Nawaf al-Hamzi (or Alhamzi) was 25 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Salem al-Hazmi was 20 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Majed Moqed was 24 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Satam al-Suqami was 25 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Waleed al-Shehri (or Alshehri) was 22 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Wail (or Wael) al-Shehri (or Alshehri) was 28 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Abdulaziz al-Omari (or Alomari) was 22 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi (or Alshehhi) was 23 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Fayez Ahmed Rashid Ahmed al-Qadi Banihammad (aka Fayez Ahmed) was 24 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Ahmed al-Ghamdi (or Alghamdi) was 22 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Hamza Saleh al-Ghamdi (or Alghamdi) was 20 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Mohand al-Shehri (or Alshehri) was 22 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Ziad Samir Jarrah was 26 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Saeed al-Ghamdi (or Alghamdi) was 21 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Ahmed Ibrahim A. al-Haznawi (or Alhaznawi) was 20 years old
Fact: 9-11 hijacker Ahmed Abdullah al-Nami (or Alnami) was 23 years old

In 2006, British and American authorities foiled another plot which owuld have detonated liquid explosives on several airplanes traveling from the United Kingdom to the United States.

25 people were arrested, 19 publicly identified.

Fact: Those suspects arrested were under the age of 35 at the time.

Fact: In a list of foiled Islamic terrorist plots in the Post-9/11, an extremely high majority (almost all) of suspects and charged and/or convicted terrorists were Muslim and under 35.

Janet Napolitano's questionable "logic" does not stand up in light of the actual facts.

For those unaware, Janet Napolitano is Obama's Homeland Security Secretary responsible for countering the threat of terrorism to the United States of America.

Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy now?

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Why Is THIS Acceptable To The World?

WARNING: THESE PHOTOS ARE EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN.

Why is the MURDER of 5 innocent Jews acceptable to the world and the world will scream bloody murder if an Arab develops a hangnail?

Photos of the murder of the Fogel family in the town of Itamar, north of Jerusalem, on March 11, 2011 by Arab terrorists.

These photos were released by the family. They have given full permission for their use in order to report on the horrific reality of murdering children and babies in their sleep, "simply because they are Jewish."

3-year-old Jewish boy

11-year-old son

Father and 3-month-old baby

3-year-old Jewish boy

This is the true face of terror. This is what the creatures who call themselves Palestinians dance, sing and rejoice in.  This is the true face of Islam.  Forget the lies CAIR, the liberal left and the idiot media tell you. Look carefully on this family. This could be your family.  If Muslims don't get their way, they resort to violence like this.

Please remember the 3 remaining children of the Fogel family who buried their parents and siblings today.  One day part of a happy, loving family, the next day ORPHANED!

Terror Hits Rome With Two Embassy Bombing Incidents

The Swiss Embassy and Chilean Embassy in Rome were the sites of two package bomb explosions, both incidents wounding one person each, according to CNN.

Authorities searched for others but so far have found none, although one suspicious package was found at the Ukrainian Embassy, but was later determined not to be dangerous.

Last month 14 parcel bombs originating from Greece were found and destroyed with one woman wounded at the time.

More:

In November, police discovered 14 parcel bombs emanating from Greece, most of which were sent to various embassies in Athens.

Police intercepted and destroyed most of them in controlled explosions, but a woman at a courier office was wounded by one of the devices and another device exploded in the courtyard of the Swiss Embassy.

Other parcel bombs were addressed to European targets including the leaders of Germany and Italy.

Two men accused of participating in the bombings were remanded into custody after they were arrested in Athens in possession of two parcel bombs, Glock pistols, a bulletproof vest, and a wig.

Panagiotis Argyrou, 22, and Gerasimos Tsakalos, 24 were also in possession of a delivery slip for another parcel containing an explosive device which had been delivered to a courier service and was addressed to the Dutch Embassy, police said.

Hellenic Police spokesman Maj. Athanasios Kokkalakis called the two suspects "important members of a terrorist group."

Before the attacks, Argyrou already faced an arrest warrant for his alleged membership in an illegal organization called the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire.

Greek authorities stressed that they believed the wave letter bombs there was the work of a home-grown Greek terrorist group that does not have ties to international organizations like al Qaeda.

Gateway Pundit seems to be updating as new news comes out so head over there for updates.

Related reporting at NYT, Telegraph, Fox News.

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The Idiocy Of Eric Holder- He Just Discovered Home Grown Terrorism

Ever read an article and wonder where have these people been for the last decade? Well that happened to me this morning when I read an ABC News article quoting the Attorney General of the United States of American, Eric Holder, saying that even two years ago, home grown terrorism wasn't concerning.

What was uppermost on his mind, however, is the alarming rise in the number of Americans who are more than willing to attack and kill their fellow citizens.

"It is one of the things that keeps me up at night," Holder said. "You didn't worry about this even two years ago -- about individuals, about Americans, to the extent that we now do. And -- that is of -- of great concern."

"The threat has changed from simply worrying about foreigners coming here, to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens -- raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born," he said.

The search engine, a wonderful tool, shows a variety of violent acts committed by home grown terrorists and also steps our government have tried to take against it.

On October 23, 2007 (that is three years ago Mr. Holder) the House of Representatives passed the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act with a vote of 404-6.

The bill failed to become law during the 110th congress. Point is, the offering of the bill by Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) shows undoubtedly that Democrats and Republicans were concerned, greatly, over home grown terrorism.

In may of 2008, the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs issued a Majority and Minority Staff Report, by Joseph Lieberman, Chairman Susan Collins, Ranking Minority Member, which also listed just a few examples of the problem seen back then.

The United States has not been immune from homegrown threats, as evidenced by the James case and other incidents. For example:

In December 2006, Derrick Shareef, a resident of Genoa, Illinois, who was not alleged to • be part of a terrorist organization but was inspired by violent Islamist ideology, was charged with, and ultimately pleaded guilty to attempting to acquire explosives as part of a plan to attack the Cherry Vale Mall in Rockford, Illinois.

In May 7, 2007, a group of six men were arrested as part of an alleged plot to attack the Fort • Dix military base in New Jersey. The men – three of whom were legally living in the United States – allegedly watched violent Islamist videos, obtained weapons, and planned and trained for the attack in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

In June 2007, federal law enforcement disrupted an ideologically inspired terrorist plot to • allegedly destroy fuel supplies and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

More from that report:

These incidents and others form part of a growing trend that has raised concerns within the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities. The Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller, discussed this dangerous trend before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on February 5, 2008. Director McConnell testified that:

Over the next year, attacks by “homegrown” extremists inspired by militant Islamic ideology but without operational direction from al-Qa’ida will remain a threat to the United States or against U.S. interests overseas. The spread of radical Salafi Internet sites that provide religious justification for attacks, increasingly aggressive and violent anti-Western rhetoric and actions by local groups, and the growing number of radical, self-generating cells in Western countries that identify with violent Salafi objectives, all suggest growth of a radical and violent segment among the West’s Muslim populations.… The al-Qaida-propagated narrative of an “us versus them” struggle serves both as a platform and a potential catalyst for radicalization of Muslims alienated from the mainstream U.S. population.

To date, cells detected in the United States have lacked the level of sophistication, experience, and access to resources of terrorist cells overseas. Their efforts, when disrupted, largely have been in the nascent phase, and authorities often were able to take advantage of poor operational tradecraft. However, the growing use of the Internet to identify and connect with networks throughout the world offers opportunities to build relationships and gain expertise that previously were available only in overseas training camps. It is likely that such independent groups will use information on destructive tactics available on the Internet to boost their own capabilities.

And, according to Director Mueller:

[W]e face the challenges presented by a third group and that is self-radicalized, homegrown extremists in the United States. While not formally affiliated with a foreign terrorist group, they are inspired by those groups’ messages of violence, often through the Internet, and because they lack formal ties, they are often particularly difficult to detect.

The 24 page PDF report itself can be found here.

Then a blockbuster report from early 2009 reveling 35 known terrorist compounds on U.S. soil.

Search engines are wonderful tools and perhaps Eric Holder should learn how to use one or better yet, read the reports he undoubtedly has access to concerning this issue that date back well over two years ago.

Just a thought.

Others providing examples:

The Jawa Report provides a video release, produced in 2008 (Yes Mr. Holder, again that is two years ago!!) showing the explicit threat of homegrown terrorism.

Just One Minute provides examples that Holder, as Attorney General, should be well aware of that date back to a couple years ago when Holder obviously slept through the year.

No, two years ago the only thing we knew about Reid, Padilla, the Lackawanna Six et al was that Bush was shreddding the Constitution and Gitmo needed to be closed. Two years ago the the DHS was fretting about right-wing haters.

Oh, well - I don't know why Holder wants to credit Obama and say that Muslims only became radicalized in the last two years, but there it is.

I don't know what rock Holder was hiding under for the last decade but perhaps he needs to crawl back under it and stop giving interviews if he is going to spout nonsense such as this.

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40 Dead, Dozens Wounded, With A Hint Of Arson Too Boot!

By  Findalis

For most in Israel Chanukah is a time of joy with games, presents, good food and fun.  But for 40 families, there will be no joyful Chanukah this year.

Dozens of security personnel, many from the Israel Prisons Service, perished in the fire that has been raging on the Carmel Mountain since Thursday morning. Twenty two people were confirmed dead by 7:00 PM Thursday and 14 more bodies were reported found shortly after 10:00 PM. The total number of dead is estimated at 40.

36 out of the 40 victims were IPS cadets, most of them Druze, who were in their 20's. They were being transported on a bus after assisting in the evacuation of the Damon Prison. At a certain point the fire began spreading at great speed – covering a mile in five minutes, according to a firefighting officer – and the bus was caught in the flames with no chance of getting out.

The names of seven of the cadets were released early on Friday morning:

* Topaz Even Chen Klein (29) from Rechovot
* Maor Ganon (29) from Gan Yavne
* Kfit Ohana (30) from Ofakim
* Siyum Tzagi (31) from Netivot
* Yakir Swissa (28) from Dimona
* Hagai Jorno (28) from Kiryat Gat
* Oshrat Pinto (26) from Tzfat

Their funerals will take place on Friday.

Two policemen, a volunteer firefighter and another man were killed in the blaze as well. Among the people who were injured in the blaze is Lt.-Col. Ahuva Tomer, Commander of Haifa Police, who is in serious condition in Rambam Hospital after suffering burns.

Early on Friday morning it was confirmed that the process of notifying the families of the victims has been completed. Concurrently, the process of identifying bodies continues at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir.

This is the largest and deadliest fire since Israel's founding in 1948, and possibly also the worst terror attack in its history, if suspicion of arson is confirmed. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening that the fire on the Carmel range is "a disaster of a scope that we are not familiar with."





Conflicting reports
Minister of Public Security Yitzchak Aharonovich said Thursday evening that the fire is under “currently under control,” but Fire Services Spokesman Hezi Levy said the opposite. The fire, he said, is out of control and is raging in three major locations: the Druze village of Usefiya, Beit Oren, and Nir Etzion.

Residents of religious kibbutz Nir Etzion, the Ein Hod artists' village and the nearby Arab village Ein Hud have been instructed to leave their homes, after it was determined that the fire might reach the communities.

The residents of Kibbutz Beit Oren and Usefiyeh were evacuated earlier in the day, as were the students of Haifa University, which is somewhat further away. Several homes in Usefiya have been burnt to the ground. Haifa University has been closed down until further notice.

The Brosh neighborhood in Tirat HaCarmel and a mental health hospital in Tirat HaCarmel were also evacuated. Early on Friday morning, several streets in the Haifa neighborhood of Denia were also evacuated due to concerns that the flames would reach the neighborhood.

A resident of Beit Oren told Channel 2 news that several homes in the kibbutz burned down. Firefighters' spokesman Levy called Beit Oren "the former kibbutz of Beit Oren" in an evening interview, and said most of the homes in the comnmunity had been damaged.

Arson likely
Channel 2 reporter Yossi Mizrachi said that the way in which the fire spread indicated that the blaze erupted from three locations simultaneously -- making arson a likely possibility.

The fire broke out around 10:00 AM this morning in an illegal garbage dump in the Carmel Mountains.

Ongoing rescue and fire-fighting efforts are said to be nearly impossible given the physical conditions of the mountains, smoke, dry conditions and winds.

The trapped bus is said to have departed from the Damon Prison, apparently as part of the attempt to evacuate the prison in the face of the fast-spreading fire.

The Damon jail mostly holds Arabs who were caught illegally entering Israel from the Palestinian Authority. According to IDF Radio, however, the bus was "not a prisoner bus."

If proven to be arson, then this will be the worst terrorist attack in Israel's history.  As I am writting this, 15,000 residents have been evacuated from Haifa, every firefighter in the country is working to fight this fire including members of the IDF, the nations of Britain, France, Romania, Greece, Egypt, Turkey,Jordan,  Cyprus, Spain, Croatia, Azerbaijan and Russia are sending help.   The Mayor of New York City is sending fire retardant chemicals, while President Obama sent his condolences to the families.

Today is a National Day of Mourning for Israel.  Prayers for the Dead, for the Firefighters and for very much needed rain are being said.

Some time during today please say a prayer for Israel and the brave men and women fighter this battle.

Jihadist Jollies- Linkfest

Oregon Live.com's headline pretty much tells the stories, the detail are in the actual article. "FBI thwarts terrorist bombing attempt at Portland holiday tree lighting, authorities say"

The FBI thwarted an attempted terrorist bombing in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square before the city's annual tree-lighting Friday night, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon.

A Corvallis man, thinking he was going to ignite a bomb, drove a van to the corner of the square at Southwest Yamhill Street and Sixth Avenue and attempted to detonate it.

However, the supposed explosive was a dummy that FBI operatives supplied to him, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint signed Friday night by U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta.

Other media outlets reporting are Fox, CNN, Portland Tribune.

Discussion Linkfest:

By far Malkin tops the charts here with previous jihadist activities, arrests, convictions and confessions.

The Gateway Pundit, Keep America Safe, NewsBusters.org blogs, Jihad Watch, Liberty Pundits Blog, Creeping Sharia, Jihad Watch, Right Wing News, Outside the Beltway, HotAirPundit, neo-neocon, Weasel Zippers, JammieWearingFool

Reactions from the living-in-denial-moonbats:

Firedoglake, LewRockwell.com Blog

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Ghailani Verdict: Video Reactions, Family Of The Murdered, Politicians And Pundits

Part #1, found here, of the spectacular failure on the part of the Obama administration in their "test" case of conducting a civilian trial of a terrorist, which resulted in one conviction of conspiracy while acquitting Ahmed Ghailani on 284 other charges, including the murders of 224 innocent people.

This post is video reactions from a family member who is outraged over this miscarriage of justice and other video reactions from politicians and pundits throughout the night and this morning.

Starting with MSNBC who interviewed Edith Blakely who lost a husband and a son in the embassy bombings of 1998. She calls this a travesty.



Representative Burton Addresses the Ghailani Acquittal



Rep. Peter King on Fox News on Ghailani's acquittal:



Obama's Justice Fails: Embassy Bomber Ahmed Ghailani Not Guilty All But 1 Count



Ghailani Verdict a Blow to Department of Justice




YouTube is full of video and reactions.

To top it off, the administration defends this incompetence. I wonder if Obama will have the balls to try to defend this to Mrs. Blakely's face.



Related:

Failure Was Obama's Only Option- 1998 Terrorist Bombing Detainee Found Guilty Of One Out of 285 Charges

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Failure Was Obama's Only Option- 1998 Terrorist Bombing Detainee Found Guilty Of One Out of 285 Charges

Ahmed Ghailani, terrorist bombing detainee, charged with 285 counts of conspiracy and murder in the 1998 terrorist bombings of the United States Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania was convicted of only one charge of conspiracy and acquitted of over 220 murders because of the Obama administration's incompetence.

Barack Obama and Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder decided to have Ghailani tried in a civilian court instead of military, where he was found guilty of just one charge.

That charge was one count of conspiracy to destroy government buildings and property and he was acquitted on four counts of conspiracy, including conspiring to kill Americans and to use weapons of mass destruction, yet the destruction caused by that one count of conspiracy resulted in the deaths of 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injury to thousands of others.


NYT:

The case has been seen as a test of President Obama’s goal of trying detainees in federal court whenever feasible, and the result seems certain to fuel debate over whether civilian courts are appropriate for trying terrorists.

All of which will not see justice because of Barack Obama's failure to understand that civilian courts are not prepared nor capable of convicting terrorists for terrorist acts, the whole reason military tribunals were set up to begin with.

In 2009, when Obama and Holder decided that the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, should be tried in a civilian court and the debated heated up about the preparedness of civilian courts to convict terrorists, Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee that "failure was not an option."

This travesty with Ahmed Ghailani shows that failure was and is the only option when they attempted to conduct a civilian trial against an enemy combatant.

The families of over 200 murder victims will never see true justice now because of Barack Obama's arrogance and incompetence.

That is a very steep price to pay for a lesson that initial reactions show the Obama administration still didn't learn and are touting the one conviction out of 285 charges as some type of accomplishment!!!

For all the smack talk against President George Bush for his assertions that terrorists be treated as terrorists and not as ordinary American citizens that simply broke the law, he cared. He understood that terrorists acts, plots, and the murder of innocent people should be punished, not rewarded by allowing civilian courts who cannot use all the evidence, including a confession, to replace military tribunals of enemy combatants.

Terrorists are enemy combatants, not civilians.



Reactions

Keep America Safe issued a statement regarding the travesty of the Ahmed Ghailani trial:

“Bad ideas have dangerous consequences. The Obama Administration recklessly insisted on a civilian trial for Ahmed Ghailani, and rolled the dice in a time of war. The Department of Justice says it’s pleased by the verdict. Ask the families of the victims if they’re pleased. And this result isn’t just embarrassing. It’s dangerous. It signals weakness in a time of war. The Ghailani trial was supposed to be a test case for future trials of 9/11 terrorists.

We urge the president: End this reckless experiment. Reverse course. Use the military commissions at Guantanamo that Congress has authorized. And, above all–accept the fact that we are at war.”

Representative Peter King, Republican of New York who will become chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee in January after the midterms put the GOP in control of the House of Representatives, also issued a statement.

“I am disgusted at the total miscarriage of justice today in Manhattan’s federal civilian court. In a case where Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was facing 285 criminal counts, including hundreds of murder charges, and where Attorney General Eric Holder assured us that ‘failure is not an option,’ the jury found him guilty on only one count and acquitted him of all other counts including every murder charge.

“This tragic verdict demonstrates the absolute insanity of the Obama Administration’s decision to try al-Qaeda terrorists in civilian courts.

“This case was doomed from the beginning when the judge excluded DOJ’s key witness who admitted selling the explosives to Ghailani. Where is the justice for the more than 200 people killed and 4,000 injured in the terrorist bombings of our U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania?

“This is a tragic wake-up call to the Obama Administration to immediately abandon its ill-advised plan to try Guantanamo terrorists like the admitted 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed in federal civilian courts. We must treat them as wartime enemies and try them in military commissions at Guantanamo.

“As the next Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, I intend to hold hearings and conduct the necessary oversight on this critical homeland security issue in the 112th Congress.”

Representative Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee nails it when he said "This case was supposed to be the easy one, and the Obama administration failed."

Other reactions

American Spectator:

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was involved in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Africa, has been acquitted on all but one of 285 counts against him. He's still going to prison for at least 20 years and maybe for life (sentencing comes in January), but the verdict -- which seems to suggest that Ghailani is guilty of conspiracy to blow up the buildings but somehow not guilty of killing the victims -- is an embarrassment for the Obama justice department, and opponents of trying Guantanamo detainees in civilian court are rightly seizing upon it. Keep America Safe and incoming House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King each issued statements earlier this evening.

Hot Air:

Let’s face it. Barack Obama and Eric Holder gambled their entire national-security credibility on the Ahmed “Foopie” Ghailani trial, arguing that they could get convictions of detainees captured abroad by military and intelligence assets while using federal courts as a venue rather than the military commissions that Congress repeatedly authorized for that purpose. Holder scolded critics who pointed out all of the reasons that such a strategy was much more likely to fail for “politicizing” the process, especially in regard to the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, whose case is more problematic than Ghailani’s, where the FBI did a large part of the investigation before intelligence assets were used to seize and interrogate Ghailani.

The failure of Holder’s DoJ to win anything more than a single conspiracy count against Ghailani as a result of using a process designed for domestic criminals than wartime enemies shows that the critics had it right all along. It also shows that both Obama and Holder have been proven spectacularly wrong, since a man who confessed to the murder of over two hundred people will now face as little as 20 years, with a big chunk of whatever sentence Foopie receives being reduced by time already served.

Patterico's Pontifications:

As I explained last night, the judge who excluded the witness acknowledged that “national security motivated the CIA interrogations” because “[t]he identities and methods of others involved in those bombings, including the source of the explosives, were of critical importance to national security.” But in a civilian court, which devised exclusionary rules designed to address a different situation (typical police interrogation of criminal suspects), the CIA’s motive was not reason enough to admit the evidence. In a military tribunal, I believe the judges would have given greater weight to the CIA’s benevolent motives and admitted the evidence.

This is why Obama’s decision was such an unnecessary disaster.

You can go see the rest of the reactions and discussions over at Memeorandum.

Utter incompetence on behalf of Barack Obama and Eric Holder.

Related:

Part #2, video reaction of a family member of two of the murder victims, politicians and pundits.

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