The First Time I Saw al-Shabab Mentioned in the News Was the Debunked Threat on the Inauguration

[tekisui]

From 2/26/09---(This feels all too familiar)

(snip)

By Tuesday afternoon, as Obama took the oath of office, the threat of a terrorist plot by the Somalia-based al-Shabab organization had been debunked, but the flurry of activity underscored growing worries about this Islamic militant group.

"I think they are a serious problem, and I don't think that we should be glib and take it lightly," said Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for African Affairs. "Are they the ones that are going to plan the next major terrorist attack in the United States and carry it out? Probably not. But could they provide some of the foot soldiers for it? Yes."

Goal is an Islamic state

The State Department considers al-Shabab a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida, something the group denies. Al-Shabab, which means "The Youth," has been gaining ground as Somalia's Western-backed government crumbles. The group's goal is to establish an Islamic state in Somalia.

U.S. counterterrorism officials say they detect a disturbing pattern, one that mirrors al-Qaida methods and could spawn homegrown insurgents and suicide bombers in the U.S.

Counterterrorism officials suspect that al-Shabab is recruiting young men from Somali communities in Minnesota and other Midwestern states, luring them back to their home country for terrorism training and creating cells of fighters who could travel to other countries, including the United States, to launch attacks.

Four months ago, a young Somali man left Minneapolis to become a suicide bomber. He detonated a bomb he was wearing, one step in a series of coordinated attacks targeting a U.N. compound, the Ethiopian consulate and the presidential palace in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa.

It was the first known time a U.S. citizen was a suicide bomber.

In response, the FBI stepped up efforts to reach out to community leaders in the Minneapolis area, where young Somali-American men have disappeared and are believed to have traveled to Somalia to fight with militants. FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson said that since the disappearances, the bureau has worked to expand relationships with community elders, religious leaders and others active in the local Somali population, which numbers about 80,000.

(snip)

And there already had been several cases that linked individuals, including Somalis, in the United States to terrorist acts in Somalia. Those included:

* Daniel Maldonado, a New Hampshire native, trained at a terrorist camp in Somalia alongside al-Qaida members in efforts to help overthrow the Somali government. He was captured by the Kenyan military while trying to flee Somalia and is serving a 10-year prison sentence in the U.S.
* Rupert Shumpert, who was from Seattle, was indicted on counterfeiting charges in a case that also concluded he spoke often in support for jihad. He fled the country and went to Somalia, where he was killed last year.
* Shirwa Ahmed, a young Somali-American, left his family in Minnesota and blew himself up in one of the coordinated suicide bombings in Somalia last Oct. 29.

Whelan, who has been a senior policy adviser on African issues at the Pentagon for 14 years, said the al-Shabab threat is complex and evolving, potentially becoming more serious as al-Qaida or other Islamic ideologues try to make inroads into the Somali communities in the U.S.

"There has been a lot of movement back and forth (to Somalia) for a long time, and that leaves us open to the potential that weaknesses will be exploited by those that have jihadist aims," she said. "We need to be very careful because we have seen that we are internally vulnerable because of the Somali Diaspora."

(snip)

The al-Shabab threat also has attracted attention in Congress, where the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is planning to hold a hearing on the rise of al-Shabab.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29413670/

The American people no longer feel threatened by al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden has worn out his boogey-man status. A new one is on the way:

Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for mortar attack on U.S. Congressman

MOGADISHU, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab claimed Monday that it was responsible for the mortar attack on visiting U.S. Congressman Donald Payne, according to reports from agencies.

Sheikh Hussein Ali Enditem, spokesman of the group, said that at the Mogadishu airport, they fired several mortars on the U.S. congressman who was about to leave the country after a brief visit during which he held meetings with senior Somali government officials, said reports.

(snip)

Both sides discussed security, political development and humanitarian situation in the war-torn Horn of African country where local people have been through nearly two decades of civil conflict.

Payne is the first American official to visit Mogadishu since the election of the Islamist President Shiekh Sharif Shiekh Ahmed early this year.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/14/content_11181028.htm

The US has conducted missile strikes in Solmalia, at least 4 times since 2006. The previous occupant of the White House, practiced his typical strikes-over-diplomacy style and helped to destabilize Southern Somalia. Ethiopian troops outed one Islamic movement in Somalia. A failed country, with insurgent radical Islamic organizations, terrorist threats, hijackings and attacks on Westerners. Anyone else feel like they are watching a movie they have seen before?

[Democracyinkind]

1. The Minnesota aspect is a canard brought to you by Jana Shakarian

... or better said: By these hacks: http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/research/LCCD/

Now they've got great plans for Somalia, so them pirates better be reclassified as islamic Terrahrists so we can push in some ground troops and give their application of a silly formula a chance to prove itself. Where is the fun in funding a slop shop if you don't get to bomb someone thru their infos?

And I so feel like I'm watching a movie. A very bad one that is. The more I read, the worse I find it.

Why else would the RW bring up the historical canard of Jefferson's empire? Of course, anyone who hasn't studied his history can be convinced of the cute story that Jefferson stomped out piracy. That we actually pulled in our tails and just started to pay them like everyone else, and that that is what ended the domestic debate, is never mentioned. Google for Glenn Beck distorting this story or puke over this hit piece:

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004751

There's an agenda here and those pirates are playing right into the agenda makers hands.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice.. uhm..