Something about the reports of the Toronto/NY train terror plot troubles me . . .

[markpkessinger]

. . . Mind you, if they have genuinely disrupted a plot, I'm grateful. But they keep saying the alleged terrorists were operating on instructions from Al Qaeda in Iran. Al Qaeda in Iran??? Al Qaeda is a Sunni organization; Iran is a Shia country. Sunnis and Shiites despise each other almost as much as they despise the U.S. That doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe I'm wrong, but color me skeptical.

[markpkessinger]

1. I dunno, something tells me . . .

. . . this alleged, thwarted 'terror plot' is in the same category as a certain quantity of "yellow cake uranium" from the not-too-distant past.

[markpkessinger]

2. Glad to see . . .

. . . that I'm not the only one who finds this claim to be rather dubious.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. What is says at that link is this:' There is no doubt that al-Qaeda has a presence in Iran –

– but how it relates to the Tehran regime has been murky for years.'

[markpkessinger]

8. Yes, but the balance of the article lays out the case from both sides . . .

. . . and at least in my reading of it, seems to suggest a coordinated plot is unlikely (although it certainly doesn't exclude the possibility).

[Bluenorthwest]

14. But 'coordinated plot' is your language, not that of the Canadian government.

They specifically indicated that AQ IN Iran is not a branch of official Iran, in part due to the whole Sunni/Shia thing. What I just heard from the Canadian officials on the radio is almost exactly what this article is saying. They are not saying 'Iran did this' they are saying 'folks in Iran may have assisted'. The other stuff is I think your inference.

[DevonRex]

3. Yeah

It bothers me, too. Don't know what to think about it yet. Except that probably the people that told on them didn't want to say exactly where the direction was coming from. Maybe didn't want it to reflect badly on their community?

Other than that it makes no sense at all.

[markpkessinger]

9. Here's a scenario I find more plausible . . .

. . . although it is admittedly just speculation on my part. But might it be possible that neocons in this country, itching as they are to go to war with Iran and eager to make a case for doing so, might have engaged in a little behind-the-scenes collusion with the conservative gang now in residence in Ottawa? Again, it's just speculation. But I submit it is more plausible than the idea that Al Qaeda in Iran directed the plot.

[DevonRex]

13. I really didn't want to go there.

All I can say is that I've dealt with the RCMP a couple of times and found them to be really sharp. I hope LE up there wouldn't be fooled so easily. Still, something is so wrong about this that I cannot discount the possibility. I wish I could. And since we still have our own neocons in LE here...

[Skip Intro]

5. Maybe it was real and related to Boston?

Fair to consider that, right?

[Hugabear]

6. Um, no.

It's not fair to assume that.

[Skip Intro]

7. Didn't say assume. Said consider. Fair to consider.

It is fair to consider that the Canada train plot could be real and related to the Boston Bombing, right?

[Comrade Grumpy]

12. Okay, that's possible. Is there any evidence to suggest that?

[Skip Intro]

15. I don't know. But it is a hell of a coincidence if not, isn't it?

We have a terrorist attack that kills and injures hundreds. There is a thwarted terrorist attack on a Canada/US train. Mix in grounded AA flights nationwide, a Saudi male who was classified a person of interest, about to be deported - escorted out of the country on security concerns, ricin letters to politicians, and I have to mention, efforts to further restrict our freedoms in the works, being called for.

Seems fair to me to consider all of that - the whole thing, at a distance.

Maybe it is all just a series of unrelated events.

I don't know. But it is a hell of a coincidence, imho, to have two terrorist events in and around the US, back to back. Seems fair to consider they might be related.

[closeupready]

10. Remember, the military and defense contractors have hands everywhere,

in the media and in cooking up all kinds of crazy ideas in order to push their agenda further in the event they have the opportunity to do so. It happened with Iraq, of course, as we all know.

[markpkessinger]

11. Exactly what I was alluding to (hence the "yellow cake" comment)!

And with the current conservative government in Canada . . . let's just say that nothing along these lines would surprise me!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. The report I read over the weekend (sorry, can't remember source but it was mainstream)

said AQ-Iran was NOT there with the sanction of the Shia state which actually has no love for the Sunni organization. The AQ-Iran operatives are in a very remote part of Iran near its borders with both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The implication I drew was it was so remote Iranian officials wouldn't go to there to chase them out but since it was in Iran the AQ operatives were reasonably safe from NATO strikes.

[eridani]

17. Another article

How Toronto's Muslim Community Uncovered the Would-Be Train Bombers

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/344-208/17115-how-torontos-muslim-community-uncovered-the-would-be-train-bombers-

After last week's deadly bombing in Boston, news that Toronto foiled its own terrorist attack might have come as a relief.

A plot to blow up a rail line between Canada and the U.S. was thwarted on Monday, and Canadian police have arrested two suspects, Chiheb Esseghaier, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, of Toronto.

But the most surprising part of the story might be how the suspects were discovered: They were turned in, reports say, by leaders of their own community.

Muhammed Robert Heft, who runs Toronto's Paradise Forever Islamic Center, says that one of the suspects -- he won't say which -- started expressing extremist beliefs to a member of the city's Muslim leadership a year ago.

"They were espousing some views that were starting to ruffle feathers and make people uncomfortable," Heft said. "They focused on demonizing Western society and suggesting that there has to be some kind of retribution or revenge for the perceived grievances of this individual."

The community leader -- Heft declined to give his name -- became concerned, and suggested to Heft that he monitor the suspect.