Today's Stories

December 31, 2008

Pam Martens
Wall Street's Collapse and the Ownership Society

December 30, 2008

Paul Craig Roberts
May We No Longer Be Silent

Tariq Ali
The Gaza Ghetto and Western Cant

Robert Bryce
The $775,000-a-Year GI

Jonathan Cook
Electioneering with Bombs

Gary Leupp
The Fishbarrel War

Dave Lindorff
Tough Guys Don't Walk: Will Cheney Seek a Pardon?

Brian McKenna
Ted Downing and Troublemaker Anthropology

John Walsh
The End of the Green Party

Ramzy Baroud
Gaza and the World

Bob Sommer
The Education of David Frost

Worthy Activist of the Day
Support Marie Mason

December 29, 2008

Jennifer Loewenstein
Israel's Attempted Endgame in Gaza

Neve Gordon
What, Exactly, is Israel's Mission?

Joshua Frank
Obama and the "Special Relationship"

George Salzman /
Manuel Garcia, Jr.
The War Against Palestine: Exception From Humanity

Norman Solomon
A Hundred Eyes for an Eye

Ewa Jasiewicz
Gaza Today: "This is Just the Beginning"

Rob Larson
The Banks Laugh All the Way to the Bank

Kenneth Libby
Arne Duncan's Dark Years in Chicago

Robert Weissman
The 10 Worst Corporations of 2008

Elsa Johnson
High Noon at Black Mesa: Bush's Farewell Gift to Peabody Coal

Nicola Nasser
Resolution 1850: Bush's Parting Gift

Belén Fernández
Hanukkah Games

Worthy Group of the Day
Nuclear Information and Resource Service

December 26-28, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
The Medusa's Head

Dr Eyad Al Serraj
The Boming of Gaza: "An Earthquake on Top of Your Head"

Jeffrey St. Clair
Cancerous Air

Bradley Simpson
Obama's New Intel Chief, Dennis Blair, Ran Interference for Indonesia's Butchers

Ralph Nader
Government Without Laws

Gary Leupp
Obama and the Graveyard of Empires

Ellen Cantarow
Richard Falk, Israel and the NYT

Matt Landon
The Great Coal Ash Flood: a Report From Swan Pond Road

David Macaray
SAG's Terrible Dilemma

Patrick Bond
End of Neoliberalism? Sorry, Not Yet

Norm Kent
Invoking Bigotry: Obama and Rick Warren

Brian T. Ketcham
Fuel Efficiency is Easy--Just Don't Let Detroit Tell You How to Do It

Rannie Amiri
War Clouds Over Gaza

Larry Portis
Changing the Ethnic Vocabulary

Richard Rhames
Welcome to Soup Kitchen America

Stephen Lendman
29 Red Flags: Early Suspicions About Bernard Madoff

James L. Secor
Unheralded Coup

Ramzy Baroud
Iraq, the Plot Thickens

Harold Pinter
Art, Truth and Politics: the Nobel Lecture

Cpt. Paul Watson
Tracking the Cetacean Death Star

Howard Lisnoff
Nixon's Cambodian Shock Treatment

Michael Dee
The Bill of Rights, Killed in Action by the War on Drugs

Steve Conn
Eight Predictions for 2009

Poets' Basement
Valentine, Kaung, Moser and Graham

Worthy Group of the Weekend
United Mountain Defense

December 25, 2008

Judy Gumbo Albert
What Were Those 1960s Terrorists Thinking, Anyway?

Rev. William E. Alberts
The Sole of Christmas

Hannah Mermelstein
Caution: Settlers Ahead

Worthy Group of the Day
Citizens' Coal Council

December 24, 2008

Bill Quigley
Five Bailout Lessons From Katrina

Saul Landau
Then and Now: Venezuela and Cuba, 1960-2008

Sam Smith
Evangelism and Politics

Brian Cloughley
Torture, Slaughter and Lies

John Ross
Where's al-Zaidi's Pulitzer?

Eric Walberg
Cold War Shivers

Norm Kent
What Will Obama Do About Marijuana?

Stephen Martin
Reasons for Cheerfulness

Worthy Group of the Day
Collateral Repair Project

December 23, 2008

Michael Hudson
The Ponzi Paradigm

Michael Yates
The Tombstone Economy

Chuck Spinney
The New York Times Flames Out in Defense Dogfight

Vijay Prashad
India's Reckless Road to Washington, Through Tel Aviv

Brian Horejsi
Interior Decorating: Obama, Salazar and the Future of America's Public Lands

David Macaray
Obama's Best Pick?

Neil Watkins /
Sarah Anderson
Ecuador's Conscientious Default

David Michael Green
Hey, Reagan Democrats! Now Do You Get It?

Worthy Group of the Day
Focus on the Corporation

December 22, 2008

Pam Martens
Madoff's Money Trail Leads to Washington

Gary Leupp
Base Alienation: Obama's Team of Rivals

Mike Whitney
Bail Out the Economy? More Pay is the Only Way

Karl Grossman
Lost in Space: NASA at 50

Niall Meehan
Conor Cruise O'Brien: Historian, Politician, Censor

Steve Conn
Where Would Larry Summers Dump the Guantanamo Mess?

Uri Avnery
Israeli Elections: Spot the Difference

Corey D. B. Walker
The Politics of Freedom

David Swanson
The Purloined Constitution

Worthy Group of the Day
Socialist Worker

December 19 - 21, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
An Ethnic Cleansing in America

Jeffrey St. Clair
Salazar and the Tragedy of the Common Ground

Paul Craig Roberts
Country Without Mercy

Patrick Cockburn
The Baathist "Coup Plot"

Felice Pace
Green Myopia: Obama's Appointments Reveal What's Wrong with the Environmental Movement

Diane Farsetta
The Pentagon's PR Slush Fund

George Ciccariello-Maher
By the Time I Get to Arizona: ICE Raids and Resistance in Flagstaff

Eric Bergoust
Extinct Lifestyles: Redefining Prosperity

Marjorie Cohn
Torture Without Regrets: Cheney's Unrepentent Confession

Stan Cox
Clothes and Commentaries That Don't Fit

Michael Donnelly
Clinton III: Continuity We Can Believe In

Robert Weissman
The Auto Bailout

Ralph Nader
Excluded Democracy: Scholastic and the Two Party System

Alan Farago
Shock and Awe Economics

Sam Smith
Not All Public Work is the Same

Timothy G. Hermach
What Happened on the Way to the Inauguration?

Seth Sandronsky
Who's Not Getting By and Why

Rannie Amiri
All Quiet on the Gazan Shore

David Yearsley
Bach as Jihadi

Martha Rosenberg
Wyeth's Pay-to-Play

Dave Lindorff
White House Lied About Iraqi Yellowcake Buy (But That's Not the Biggest Scandal)

Christopher Brauchli
Weekend at Bernie's: the Confinement of Mr. Madoff

Missy Beattie
President Meathead

Richard Rhames
Corporatizing the Kids

Stephen Martin
Full-Spectrum Dominance of the Big Lie

Paul Krassner
Milk and Twinkies

Lorenzo Wolff
Does Coldplay Give a Shit Anymore?

Poets' Basement
Kathwari, Halling and Payne

Worthy Group of the Weekend
Heartwood

December 18, 2008

Phillip Doe
The Man in the Hat: Salazar and the Status Quo

Ronnie Cummins
Vilsack: Another Shill for Monsanto

Jesse Sharkey
No School Left Unsold: Arne Duncan's Privatization Agenda

Saul Landau
Postcard from Venezuela

Peter Morici
What's Next for the Fed?

Dave Lindorff
Prosecuting Bush and Cheney for Torture

Panos Petrou
Days of Rage in Greece

Jeff Cohen /
Norman Solomon
The 2008 P.U.-litzer Prizes: the Stinkiest Media Performances of the Year

Worthy Group of the Day
Organic Consumer Alliance

December 17, 2008

Peter Lee
Pushing Pakistan Over the Edge

Conn Hallinan
Angels and Demons in Mumbai

Mike Whitney
Bernanke's Fatal Flaw

Jeff Halper
Obama and the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Alan Farago
The Audacity of Parkland

Peter Morici
The Big Hole

Norm Kent
Obama Lights Up

Col. Douglas MacGregor
The Price of Expediency

Margaret Kimberley
Blacks and Gay Rights

Ron Jacobs
The Myth of the Good Guy: Waiting on a President to Do the Right Thing

Worthy Group of the Day
Campaign to End the Death Penalty

December 16, 2008

Vicente Navarro
A Forgotten Genocide: the Case of Spain

Patrick Cockburn
Each Shoe was Worth a Thousand Words

Thomas Michael Power
Back to the Pump: an Economic and Environmental Dead End

Jason Hribal
Orangutans, Resistance and the Zoo: the Story of Ken Allen and Kumang

Farzana Versey
Straw Warriors and the Pantomime of Patriotism

Wajahat Ali /
Ahmed Rashid
Indian Muslims: Defining Their Loyalty

Mats Svensson
The Order to Destroy has been Given

Paul Fitzgerald /
Elizabeth Gould
Mumbai Terror's Afghan Roots

David Macaray
Workplace Violence and Termination Etiquette

Howard Lisnoff
Left Control of Academia? The Case of William Felkner

Worthy Group of the Day
AWR: the Last, Best Hope for Saving the Big Wild

December 15, 2008

Andy Worthington
Hit Me Baby One More Time: a History of Music Torture in War on Terror

Franklin Lamb
Why Hezbollah Stiffed Carter

Karl Grossman
Dr. Chu's Nuclear Prescription

Brian Cloughley
Land of the Free (To Torture and Imprison Without Trial)

Mary Lynn Cramer
Stiglitz's Foolishly Flawed Morality

Steve Early
From Nicky Pockets to Blago: Why Pay-to-Play is Bad for Labor

Thomas Christie
Pentagon Train Wreck Awaits Obama

Ken Paff
Remembering Ron Carey: a Great Labor Leader

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
What is India to Do?

Dave Lindorff
A Hero of Our Time: Muntadar al-Zaidi

Alan Farago
The Artless Dodger

Worthy Group of the Day
Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund

December 12 / 14, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Hail to Chicago, Beacon of American Values

Michael Hudson /
Jeffrey Sommers
The End of the Washington Consensus

David Price
The Leaky Ship of Human Terrain Systems

Jeffrey St. Clair
Nukes Up the Hudson

Frank Barat
An Israeli in Gaza: an Interview with Jeff Halper

John Ross
Writing a Thesis in Blood

Binoy Kampmark
Humanitarian Imperialism: Obama and the Genocide Task Force

David Macaray
Killing the Auto Bailout: a Dagger to the Heart of Organized Labor

Ralph Nader
Antidotes to Plunder: a Holiday Reading List

Eamonn Fingleton
Whatever Happened to Iris Chang?

Lawrence Velvel
Why Blagojevich Might Be Acquitted

Behzad Yaghmaian
The Housing Crisis: a Timebomb China Can't Defuse

Sam Husseini
Putting the Pro in Protest

Tom Barry
Incentives to Detain: How Immigrants Drive Prison Profits

Howard Lisnoff
Why I Went to Jail

Laura Carlsen
Mexico's Immigration Problem

Raj Patel
The WTO and Other Fairy Tales

Ron Jacobs
The Manufacturing of History

Paul Watson
Risky Business Down Under

David Yearsley
They Also Serve Who Only Pull or Tread

Lorenzo Wolff
So You Want Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star...

Kim Nicolini
Finally, a Vampire Movie You Can Sink Your Teeth Into

Susie Day
Proposition 1984: the Problem with Heterosexuals

Poets' Basement
Gibbons, Lerch and Crete

Worthy Group of the Weekend
Energy Justice

December 11, 2008

Patrick Cockburn
Total Defeat for U.S. in Iraq

P. Sainath
After Mumbai

Vicken Cheterian
The Zarqawi Generation

Ray McGovern
Will Obama Buy Torture-Lite?

Dedrick Muhammad
Post-Racial Racism at the Post: the Undying Obsession with Black Family Values

Lee Sustar
Victory at Republic

Peter Morici
The Big Drag

Ayesha Ijaz Khan
Must They Hate Us So?

George Wuerthner
Another Subsidy to Big Timber?

Christopher Brauchli
Mr. Berg's Strange Obsession

Worthy Group of the Day
Animal Balance

December 10, 2008

Ismael Hossein-Zadeh
Whose Interests Will Shape Obama's Change?

Mary Lynn Cramer
The Multi-Trillion Dollar Question

Manuel Garcia, Jr.
Nuclear Weapons Obsolescence

Joshua Frank
Breaking the Stranglehold on Middle East News Coverage

Jack Ely
Stop Sobbing About Free Music Downloads: a Message to the Music Industry from the Lead Singer of the Kingsmen

Steve Conn
An Obama Public Works Program?

Lee Sustar
Republic Workers Target Bank of America

Glen Ford
The Die is Cast

Stephen Lendman
The Persecution of Syed Fahad Hashmi

Nadia Hijab
The Face of America

Dave Lindorff
We All Need a Union

Website of the Day
This One's For You, Senator Dodd

December 9, 2008

Mike Whitney
Card Check

Fawzia Afzal-Khan
Us vs. Them

Ghada Karmi
The UN Resolution That Time Forgot

Dave Lindorff
A Car Dealer Explains Why the Bailout is a Raw Deal

Steve Breyman
Notes on a Green Economy: Managing Stuff in the 21st Century

Lee Sustar /
Nicole Colson
Raising the Stakes at Republic

Rev. William E. Alberts
God of Our Fathers

Martha Rosenberg
Bill Richardson: Secretary of Bloodsports

Sam Husseini
How Holbrooke Lied His Way Into a War

David Macaray
The UAW in Peril

Website of the Day
This Toxic Life

December 8, 2008

Steve Early
Is Obama Backing Off a Crucial Pledge to Labor?

Michael Hudson
Obama's Favoritism: Wall Street, Not the Auto Industry

Patrick Cockburn
Talking to a Lashkar Militant

Diane Farsetta
An Officer and a Conflicted Man: McCaffery, the Pentagon and Fleishman-Hillard

Paul Craig Roberts
Chapters in Imperial Hypocrisy

Daniel Gross
The Chicago Sit-Down Strike

Saul Landau
To Bail or Not to Bail?

Harvey Wasserman
Why John Bryson is Unfit for Energy Secretary

Mike Ferner
The New Generation of "Non-Lethal" Weapons

Norman Solomon
The Silent Winter of Escalation

David Michael Green
The Other Foot

Website of the Day
The Remains of Detroit

December 5 / 7, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Honeymoans From the Left

Brian Cloughley
Shambles in Afghanistan

Paul Craig Roberts
Muslim Revolution: How Washington Arrogance Helped Drive the Mumbai Attacks

Liaquat Ali Khan
Mumbai and the Kashmir Tinderbox

Farzana Versey
Mumbai's Charge of the Lightweight Brigade

Peter Lee
Pakistan Nears the Breaking Point

Peter Morici
Slouching Toward a Depression?

Ralph Nader /
Toby Heaps
Junk Cap-and-Trade

Yinon Cohen /
Neve Gordon
Obama Could End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Will He Meet the Challenge?

Wajahat Ali
Perverse Justice: the Holy Land Foundation Convictions

Johnny Barber
Aswad's Story: Illegal Detention and the Declaration of Human Rights

Alan Farago
Fallout from the Pass-Through Economy

Jeremy Scahill
Obama Doesn't Plan to End Occupation of Iraq

Mike Whitney
Powergrab in Ottawa

Ranjit Hoskote
Jahiliyya Versus Jihad

Carl Finamore
Thank God I'm an Atheist! (Or Boy is Bill O'Reilly in for a Big Surprise)

Marjorie Cohn
Obama and Women's Rights

Norm Kent
Tommy Chong, the Unanticipated Warrior

Missy Beattie
What Lies Ahead

Binoy Kampmark
Committing Suicide On-Line: the Briggs Case

David Macaray
The Best and the Brightest Redux: Too Many Brains, Not Enough Humility

Nancy Stohlman
Relational Activism

Ron Jacobs
Irreverent Politics Then and Now

David Yearsley
Thematics From the Golden Past

Lorenzo Wolff
Troubled Songs of Home and War

Poets' Basement
Orloski: The Door Opener

Website of the Weekend
In Prison My Whole Life

December 4, 2008

Ece Temelkuran
Inside the Ergenekon Case

Ralph Nader
Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Who Will Seize the Moment?

Harry Browne
The Bush-Obama National Security Strategy

Eamonn Fingleton
The American Car Industry: a Riposte to the Knockers

Conn Hallinan
The Syria Attack

Mike Whitney
Fiasco in Somalia: Another CIA Cock-Up

Stewart J. Lawrence
Obama and Latinos: Richardson, Alone, is Not Enough

Paul Fitzgerald /
Elizabeth Gould
Message to Obama: Stop Killing Afghanis

Karyn Strickler
Show Us the Green, Before We Show You the Money

Jennifer Matsui
Obama-Cola: the Great National Temperance Beverage

Website of the Day
"He Ain't Got Laid in a Month of Sundays..."

December 3, 2008

Andrew Cockburn
What's Wrong with the U.S. Military

Sheldon Rampton
Mormon Homophobia: Up Close and Personal

Robert Weissman
Nationalize GM

Yifat Susskind
From Mumbai to Washington

William Blum
The Obama Bummer: Vote First, Ask Questions Later

Alan Singer
The Ghost of the Defunct Economist

David Macaray
Trampled Under Foot at Wal-Mart

Martha Rosenberg
Born With a Statin Deficiency? Line Forms to the Left!

Mats Svensson
The Crimes Have No Period of Limitations

Website of the Day
Why Bill Richardson's Nomination Should be Opposed

December 2, 2008

Jeremy Scahill
Obama's Kettle of Hawks

Paul Craig Roberts
The New Arms Race

Ayesha Ijaz Khan
The Mumbai Terror Attacks: Is Pakistan to Blame?

Sarah Anderson /
John Cavanagh
Skewed Priorities: How the Bailout Dwarfs Spending on Other Global Crises

William Blum
The Mythology of the War on Terrorism

John Ross
Mexico's Drug War Goes Down in Flames

Dave Lindorff
A Tale of Two Terror Attacks

Nicola Nasser
A Peace Process That Makes Peace Impossible

Steve Conn
Operation Redskin Removal

Robert Bryce
Coal Hard Facts

Website of the Day
Country, Funk, Soul

December 1, 2008

Patrick Cockburn
From Baghdad to Mumbai, by Way of Pakistan

Damien Millet /
Eric Toussaint
Obama's Economic Team: Records of Failure

Vijay Prashad
The Fires in South Asia

Deepak Tripathi
Obama's Foreign Crises

Joshua Frank
Madam Secretary Clinton and the Middle East

P. Sainath
The Unlikely Martyrdom of Free Market Jihad

Alan Farago
The Right's War on Regulators

Binoy Kampmark
Sydney's Ball and Chain

Chris Genovali
Silent Fall

David Michael Green
Hope You Die Before You Get Old

Stephen Martin
The Chinese are Coming, the Chinese are Coming!

Website of the Day
Robert Rubin: Coward, Liar or Both?

November 28-30, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
In Time of Trouble

Mike Whitney
The Obama "Dream Team": Rubin Clones and Other Fakers

Ted Honderich
What is the Meaning of Obama's Election?

Tom Kerr
Preserving Filthy Lucre (Or Becoming My Dad)

Mike Ely
The Conquest of New England

David Yearsley
Hymns of the Conquest

Deepak Tripathi
Uproar in Police-State Britain

Sonja Karkar
Gaza's Death Throes

Ramzy Baroud
Salvation in a News Broadcast

Robert Weitzel
Israel's Settlement on Capitol Hill

Robert Roth
Can We Create a Movement for Change?

Carlos Fierro
Obama and the End of Racism?

David Macaray
How to Kill a Union

David Rosen
A New Sexual Agenda

James Cockcroft
Indigenous People Rising

Stan Cox
The Most Disappointing Gift

Steve Conn
Talking Turkey About College Basketball

Stephen Martin
The Electromagnetic Pulse and Economic Warfare

Richard Rhames
Busty Bimbettes, Bombs and Brand Obama

Kim Nicolini
Women as Products and Cannibalistic Achievers

Lorenzo Wolff
A Battle Cry for the Confused and Vulnerable

Poets' Basement
Woods, Harrison and Corseri

December 31, 2008

It's the Wrong Time to be a Muslim in America

The Troubling Case of the Fort Dix Five

By STEPHEN LENDMAN

With world eyes on Gaza, the horrific carnage on the ground, innocent civilians being slaughtered, Israel's grievous crimes of war and against humanity, and its slow-motion genocide gaining speed, it's easy to forget America's war at home on Islam and its growing number of victims. This article highlights five recent ones - innocent young Muslim men called the "Fort Dix Five."

On December 22, The New York Times headlined: "5 Are Convicted of Conspiring to Attack Fort Dix" in reporting that a federal jury "convicted five men of conspiring to kill American soldiers at (the base) last year, but acquitted them of attempted murder."

After an eight-week trial, jurors deliberated for six days before returning a verdict. "The men, all Muslim immigrants (from) South Jersey or Philadelphia, face a maximum term of life in prison."

Sentencing is scheduled for April 22 for three defendants and April 23 for the others. Even The New York Times admitted that the "five defendants seemed (more like) South Jersey than seething jihadists" - based on their backgrounds, employment, normal activities, and trial evidence showing nothing out of the ordinary.

It's the latest example of post-9/11 witch-hunt justice against innocent Muslim victims - targeted for their faith, ethnicity, activism, prominence, benevolent charity, or whatever other motives the administration concocts for political advantage. As a result, growing numbers fill federal prisons for being Muslim at the wrong time in America. The "war on terror" is a jihad against them. Muslims everywhere are at risk. So are we all, and that won't change under Obama.

Charges Against the "Fort Dix Five"

On May 7, 2007, the FBI arrested the five on charges of plotting to kill US soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey. A June 5 DOJ press release stated:

"The five defendants are charged with conspiracy and other charges related to their plans to kill as many soldiers at the Army base as possible. A sixth man was indicted for aiding and abetting the illegal possession of firearms by three members of the group." The original Complaint was unsealed on May 8.

"One count against two of the defendants charges them with unlawful possession of machine guns - the AK-47s and M-16s they purchased and took possession of just before they were arrested by Special Agents of the FBI."

Prosecutors called the men "radical Islamists," and according to US Attorney Christopher J. Christie, "We intend to continue a vigorous prosecution of these defendants. Anyone who would plan such an attack should expect no less."

The six and charges against them are as follows:

Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer (an ethnic Jordanian) on "conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services (maximum statutory penalty of up to life in federal prison);"

Dritan Duka (an ethnic Albanian like his two brothers below) on "conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services; unlawful possession of machine guns (maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison), two counts of being an illegal alien in possession of firearms (maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison);"

-- Shain Duka on "conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services; unlawful possession of machine guns, two counts of being an illegal alien in possession of firearms;"

Eljvir Duka on "conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services, one count of being an illegal alien in possession of firearms;"

Serdar Tatar (an ethnic Turk) on "conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services;" and

Agron Abdullahu (an ethnic Kosovar) on "aiding and abetting the Duka brothers' illegal possession of weapons (maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison)." Abdullahu confessed and was sentenced to 20 months in prison for supplying the guns and ammunition in question. He'd already served 11 months and was released in October, according to his lawyer, Richard Coughlin.

The weapons transaction was "at a residence in Cherry Hill," New Jersey. "After the purchase from a cooperating witness," arrests were made.

In October 2007, Abdullahu pled guilty to weapons possession. A superceding January 15, 2008 indictment charged the other five men with the attempted murder of military personnel and weapons possession. According to US Attorney Christie at the time, "there is abundant evidence that the defendants fully subscribed to al Qaeda's jihadist ideology (and) were ready for martyrdom. We had a group that was forming a platoon to take on an army. They identified their target, they did their reconnaissance. They had maps. And they were in the process of buying weapons. This is a new brand of (homegrown) terrorism where a small cell of people can bring enormous devastation....They wanted to be jihadists."

The DOJ, Dominant Media, and Islamophobes Respond to the Convictions

A December 22 DOJ press release stated: "Five Radical Islamists (were) Convicted of Conspiring to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix....announced Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Acting US Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr....These men planned, trained and ceaselessly talked unambiguously about their intention to ambush and kill US soldiers." Other "would-be terrorists of the homegrown variety (be alerted that we'll spend millions of taxpayer dollars to) find you, infiltrate your group, prosecute you and send you to federal prison for a very long time" - whether or not you're guilty.

The Washington Post highlighted the conviction of "five foreign-born Muslim men conspiring to kill US soldiers at Fort Dix and other military installations (never mentioned in the indictment) as part of what prosecutors charged was a plot to launch an Islamic "holy war" against the United States. Writer William Branigin emphasized their "plot" to use "automatic weapons (and) rocket-propelled grenades (also not mentioned) to kill as many US soldiers as possible.

Other comments included saying the "plot" began in January 2006, Osama bin Laden's "terrorist network" inspired it, the "cell" viewed "terrorist training videos glorifying the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and depicting the beheading of American military personnel..." When arrested in May 2007, "they were in the final stages of preparations....in addition to targeting Fort Dix, the cell discussed attacking other military installations, including Fort Monmouth, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, the US Coast Guard building in Philadelphia, and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Another potential target was the annual Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia...."

Branigin never questioned the legitimacy of clearly bogus charges on their face - that five young men with hand weapons (automatic or otherwise) would declare war on the US Army at any or perhaps all of the above locations. Instead he accepted the official explanation and reported it like in a straight press handout.

David Horowitz is a right wing ideologue, an opponent of the progressive left, and a prominent anti-Muslim hatemonger "spread(ing) fear, bigotry and misinformation," about Islam according to the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). It calls him "the Islamophobia movement's premier promoter....(as editor) via his website, FrontPage Magazine" and activities like his October 22 - 26, 2007 "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" that held "protests, teach-ins and sit-ins on more than 100 college campuses (to highlight) the threat posed by the Islamic crusade against the West."

On December 23, Front Page writer and Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer wrote about the Fort Dix Five, referred to the men as "jihad plotters," and said "They wanted to burst into Fort Dix and murder as many American soldiers as they could...." He commented on how Muslim community leaders "hurl(ed) reckless charges of entrapment (and should instead take) hard steps necessary to clean their own house."

"While Muslim and non-Muslim spokesmen have spilled oceans of ink since 9/11 asserting that Islam condemns 'terrorism' and the killing of 'innocents,' without defining what is meant by either term, no one has ever produced any examples of authoritative and orthodox Islamic religious scholars rejecting, on Islamic grounds, jihad violence against non-Muslims." It's about time they "institute(d) comprehensive and inspectable programs teaching against the jihad ideology and Islamic supremacism."

On December 23, Spencer's Jihad Watch (with no byline) mocked the kangaroo justice victims in its headline: "Muslims on Fort Dix jihadists - They wuz framed....It was all a joke....Oh Shnewer (one of the five about his explanation), you kidder! It then added various demeaning comments to clearly show disrespect for Islam.

Pat Robertson preaches hate and intolerance and his CBNnews.com leaves no doubt where it stands in a December 22 article by its "Terrorism Analyst," Erick Stakelbeck - titled "Fort Dix Jihadis Convicted." He called the convictions "A nice 'stockade stuffer' for the US government, just in time for the holidays," then added Islamophobic comments like this:

"....it doesn't take a brain surgeon to walk into a shopping mall, yell 'Allahu Akhbar,' and start firing a rifle at shoppers. Granted, it obviously helps to have a larger force behind you (for funding, guidance and training) if you are scheming to carry out an attack like the one planned on Fort Dix. But deadly intent, a gun and some explosives can get a motivated, committed jihadist a long way as well." Obviously for Stakelbeck, they're guilty, case closed.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was founded "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. (It) fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all" - or so it says. How does it act under its national director, Abraham Foxman.

Using anti-Semitism and a high moral agenda for cover, Waxman backs racial discrimination and nationalism. While preaching universal equality, he's for Jewish supremacy, the right of Israeli Jews to dominate Arabs, and to maintain a separate and unequal society.

On December 23, ADL "applauded the verdict convicting five would-be terrorists who conspired to kill American soldiers at New Jersey's Fort Dix last summer." ADL's national chair, Glen Lewy and Foxman issued this statement:

"The successful prosecution of the five terrorists for conspiring to kill American soldiers....is a testament to the dedication and hard work of teams of FBI investigators and Justice Department prosecutors who devoted enormous time, energy and passion to making our nation safer....In this case, justice has been served and our national security protected."

Imagine their comments if five Israeli Jews had been convicted on the same charges instead of Muslims.

No Plot, No Crime, So the FBI Invents Guilt with An Entrapment Sting Operation - Its Usual Modus Operandi to Ensnare the Innocent

At a Cherry Hill, NJ Circuit City store in January 2006, Mohamad Shnewer innocently wanted a home video transfered to DVD. It showed men shooting weapons at a Pocono Mountains firing range, playing paintball (an innocent game in which opposing teams try to eliminate opponents by marking them with water-soluble dye shot in capsules from air guns), and repeating Arabic phrases like Allah Akbar (meaning God is Greatest). The store clerk called the police. They notified the FBI. They began investigating and recruited two dubious informants to help.

Each knew nothing about the other. One was Besnik Bakalli, an ethnic Albanian, who falsely told defendants he was a Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veteran - the US/Germany supported terrorist group recruited to destabilize Kosovo/Serbia in the 1990s. At trial, however, he testified that he fought for no group and knew nothing about Islam or extremists calling for jihad.

Mahmoud Omar was the other informant, an Egyptian-born used car salesman/mechanic on probation for bank fraud. He and Bakalli entered the US illegally and faced likely deportation or worse. They were easily recruited, so cooperated, and were well compensated for their efforts - thousands of dollars a month, and according to defense lawyers, Omar (from when recruited in March 2006) will have earned $238,000 for his efforts. NewJersey.com believes more - over $240,000 plus rent and other expenses, and, of course, leniency in handling their charges. Bakalli was used for a shorter period and reportedly was paid about $150,000. The FBI also relocated his parents to America as an added incentive to cooperate.

Its sting was to have both men befriend the defendants, wear a wire, egg them on with tough talk about their commitment to Islam, elicit negative views about the US military and war in Iraq and Afghanistan, incite a need for holy war in response, and suggest how to get weapons to "do something."

Hundreds of conversations were recorded and selectively played back at the eight week trial. In addition, Shnewer's house and car were bugged and rigged with hidden cameras for additional videotape accounts.

One conversation with defendant Tatar has Omar saying: "I want this country to pay the price for something they did to me" and then asked Tatar for help to get information about Fort Dix. He had no idea what he meant, yet Omar persisted and wanted Tatar to get him a map of Fort Dix. At one point, Tatar called the Philadelphia police about being pressured and voiced concern about something terror related.

Omar also organized so-called Fort Dix "reconnaissance missions" around the base's perimeter. In addition, he got two of the Duka brothers to buy firearms but not to commit terrorism or attack the Army base. At that point, they were arrested in Omar's apartment while buying inoperable rifles the FBI supplied for the sting.

What's clear from trial evidence is that no plot existed, no conspiracy, no intended crime, explicit rejections of violence, and without informant provocation no planned weapons purchase for any purpose. All five are innocent, unfairly targeted, entrapped, prosecuted, convicted, and the latest administration "war on terror" trophies from its scheme to incite fear.

The only trial evidence was their freely expressed hostile views about America's wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, sympathies for Islamic causes, and anger over how immigrants are treated in the US. None of this is illegal or incriminating, yet the defendants were convicted and face long incarcerations after sentencing, possibly for life.

Attorney Sam Schmidt represented one of the defendants accused in the 1998 US African embassy bombings. He explained how "The government (goes to extraordinary means) to find people (with) an antipathy to US policies (in the Middle East) and see which ones can get motivated, or angry enough (to be entrapped by the entreaties of an informant). Many of these cases appear to be the informant who is either working off a case to avoid going to jail or be deported or is seeking remuneration...."

They're used to entrap defendants, get them angry, and create the impression that they're willing to commit terrorism. To prove conspiracy, the government need only show that defendants appeared willing to commit a crime and did one thing (usually quite innocent) to use against them and convince a jury. No crime need be committed nor any detailed plans for one. In the Fort Dix case, prosecutors didn't have to prove a planned attack - only that defendants appeared willing or approved of US soldiers being attacked somewhere at some time.

With informants taping hundreds of conversations and training them to egg on targets, prosecutors can selectively use comments to make their case and intimidate juries to convict. In closing arguments, Shnewer's lawyer, Rocco Cipparone, said: "Omar led and led and pushed and pushed Mohamad as far as he could. But at the end of the day, all Mohamad did was talk and talk and talk. His actions - and inactions - speak more volumes than his words."

Transcripts also revealed that conversations included a mixture of English, Arabic, and Albanian, were filled with miscommunications, bravado, ambiguity and at times nonsense. At some points, the defendants seemed too scared to do anything. Clearly their intentions were non-violent.

For example, when they were supposedly shopping for weapons, one defendant worried that if someone is caught with a machine gun, he'll "be in deep s..t." And if anyone gets killed, "As Muslims, if we get caught, we all get sent away to f...ing Guantanamo Bay for 10 years with no court date....they can come to you in the f...ing morning when you are sleeping. And they don't f...ing play."

Despite their convictions, the government's indictment was vague on any intention to commit terrorism or that defendants' comments meant they planned it. The informants did the pushing while they just talked and nothing else. However, under US conspiracy law, if prosecutors can convince juries that defendants words implied actions they can get convictions.

According to former federal prosecutor and now executive director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School of Law, 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 (not applicable to the defendants), it's not entrapment if government agents convince him to do it."

Roger Williams University law professor Peter Margulies explains further that: "A virtue of American conspiracy law is it allows you to show conspiracy with relatively thin evidence. In Britain recently, they couldn't convict people in an airport bombing plot because they had to show that action was imminent. American law is more expansive than most other democracies in that respect."

Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson was the chief US prosecutor at the Nuremberg Nazi war criminal trials. In a subsequent 1949 case, he expressed concern that US conspiracy law "constitutes a serious threat to fairness in our administration of justice." It lets prosecutors "target the people it doesn't like," according to Margulies, do it as deviously as they wish, and unjustly convict the innocent.

That's Jim Sues' view, executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations, on the Fort Dix Five case. "Many people in the Muslim community see this as (another) case of entrapment. The evidence showed no real honest-to-God planning for an attack on Fort Dix (or anywhere else). The defendants were never (even) all in a room at one time with a map of the (base), plotting what they were going to do." They had no violent plans whatever. Nor did other unjustly convicted Muslim victims - persecuted to incite fear and justify America's foreign aggression against Iraq, Afghanistan and all Islam.

Since 9/11, around 150 defendants were convicted through 2007 and many more this year. It shouldn't surprise that perhaps all were innocent, unfairly targeted, unjustly convicted and sentenced to long punitive incarcerations in federal prisons. In some cases, (for the so-called "worst of the worst") to harsh confinement in Supermax ones that crush the human spirit, mind and body through isolation, cruelty, and physical abuse for years or even life.

It's the wrong time to be Muslim in America. Expect little change under the new administration. Foreign wars will continue. So will the "war on terror." Innocent Muslims will be targeted. Others as well, so today we're all as vulnerable as the "Fort Dix Five."

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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