FBI Stops Terror Plot in Fort Dix

[83-Steelers-43]

6 Foreign-Born Men Arrested in Alleged Fort Dix Murder Plot
Tuesday, May 08, 2007

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. ? Six foreign-born Muslims were arrested and accused Tuesday of plotting to attack the Army's Fort Dix and massacre scores of U.S. soldiers ? a plot investigators say was foiled when the men took a video of themselves firing assault weapons to a store to have the footage put onto a DVD.

The defendants, all men in their 20s from the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East, include a pizza deliveryman suspected of using his job to scout out the military base.

Authorities said there was no direct evidence connecting them to any international terror organizations such as Al Qaeda. But several of the men said they were ready to kill and die "in the name of Allah," according to court records.

Their goal was "to kill as many soldiers as possible" in attacks with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and guns, prosecutors said.

They also allegedly spoke of attacking a Navy installation in Philadelphia during the annual Army-Navy football game, when the place would be full of sailors, and conducted surveillance at other military installations in the region.

"This was a serious plot put together by people who were intent on harming Americans," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said. "We're very gratified federal law enforcement was able to catch these people before they acted and took innocent life."

Investigators said they infiltrated the group with an informant well over a year ago and bided their time while they secretly recorded the defendants, five of whom lived in Cherry Hill, a Philadelphia suburb about 20 miles from Fort Dix.

One defendant, Eljvir Duka, was recorded as saying: "In the end, when it comes to defending your religion, when someone is trying attacks your religion, your way of life, then you go jihad."

The six were arrested Monday night trying to buy AK-47 assault weapons, M-16s and other weapons from an FBI informant, authorities said. They were scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Camden on Tuesday afternoon to face charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. servicemen.

Four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one was born in Jordan and one came from Turkey, authorities said. All had lived in the United States for years. Three were in the United States illegally; two had green cards allowing them to stay in this country permanently; and the sixth is a U.S. citizen.

One suspect spoke of using rocket-propelled grenades to kill at least 100 soldiers, according to court documents.

"If you want to do anything here, there is Fort Dix and I don't want to exaggerate, and I assure you that you can hit an American base very easily," Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer was recorded as saying last August.

"It doesn't matter to me whether I get locked up, arrested or get taken away," Serdar Tatar was quoted as saying. "Or I die, it doesn't matter. I'm doing it in the name of Allah."

The men trained by playing paintball in the woods in New Jersey and taking target practice at a firing range in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, whnere they had rented a hosue, authorities said.

They often watchedterror training videos, clips featuring Usama bin Laden, a tape containing the last will and testament of some of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and tapes of armed attacks on U.S. military personnel, erupting in laughter when one plotter noted that a Marine's arm was blown off in an ambush, authorities said.

Asked if those arrested had any links to Al Qaeda, White House spokesman Tony Snow said it appears "there is no direct evidence of a foreign terrorist tie."

In court documents, prosecutors said the suspects came to the attention of authorities in January 2006 when a shopkeeper alerted the FBI about a "disturbing" video he had been asked to copy onto a DVD.

The video showed 10 young men in their early 20s "shooting assault weapons at a firing range ... while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic 'Allah Akbar' (God is great)," the complaint said. The 10 included six of those arrested, authorities said.

By March 2006, the group had been infiltrated by an informant who developed a relationship with Shnewer, and the informant secretly recorded meetings last August, according to court documents.

Christie said one of the suspects worked at Super Mario's Pizza in nearby Cookstown and delivered pizzas to the base, using that opportunity to scout out Fort Dix for an attack.

"Clearly, one of the guys had an intimate knowledge of the base from having been there delivering pizzas," Christie said.

The men also allegedly conducted surveillance at other area military installations, including Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, and a Philadelphia Coast Guard station.

Besides Shnewer, Tatar and Duka, the other three men were identified in court papers as Dritan Duka, Shain Duka and Agron Abdullahu.

Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. It also housed refugees from Kosovo in 1999.

The description of the suspects as "Islamic militants" caused renewed worry among New Jersey's Muslim community. Hundreds of Muslim men from New Jersey were rounded up and detained in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks, but none were connected to that plot.

"If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who represented scores of detainees after the 2001 attacks. "But when the government says `Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous."

"Don't equate actions with religion," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270601,00.html

[fansince'76]

RPGs? How the hell would they get those? Ft Dix, NJ is a little more secure in that regard than "Ali Baba Avenue" in Baghdad.

[83-Steelers-43]

Originally Posted by fansince'76

RPGs? How the hell would they get those?

Unfortunately, if there is a will there is a way. If these pieces of scum can get their rat claws on M-16's and AK-47's, I'm sure they can pick up an RPG. Especially if they are in fact connected to some type of Islamic militant terrorist group.

As for Fort Dix, I'm not exactly sure what they had in mind or how they would have gone about the operation, but I couldn't see it succeeding.

On that note, thankfully they were not killed or we would have the ACLU and Muslim groups from Fort Dix to San Diego lining up with lawsuits. Also, I'm sure they will not get the praise they deserve from certain "circles", but hats off to the FBI and homeland security for stopping these animals before it was too late.

[tony hipchest]

ive worked on a military base since 96. i have access to all areas and a fleet of 11 vans. it is scary to say that in the time between the murrah bldg. in oklahoma city and 9-11, anything i wanted to do on that base could be done. i spent alot of time thinking of counter terrorism topics, cause the base put pretty much no restrictions on who i hired, and i saw plenty of cracks in security. my office used to actually be on base and our vans only left it to fuel up, so anything that needed to be assembled couldve been done piece by piece out of the trunk of ones car. 11 years and i still havent had the trunk of my personal vehicle searched. my office and the vans were located in BFE away from the main base, between the monkey farm, equestrian facility, and dog training compound, so any extra curricular activities would go undetected.

the good thing is that since 9-11 it is now impossible to drive a van up to the command center in the headquarters building, where all the video surveillance of the stealths takes place. the telecommunications and networking building is now secure, and the MP's bldg, (especially the rear entrance where the armory is kept is barricaded) where no vehicles can just drive up. also landscaping with giant boulders, and closing off streets, has made it impossible to get a vehicle to the side of any of the barracks.

but after tim mcveigh there was a 6 year gap where any of this could happen and i could get just about anyone on base. now all employees are atleast ran through the fbi data base and since my office and fleet is off base, all vehicles are searched every morning. we still have access to active flightlines where we must yeild to stealth fighters as they taxi to and from the hangars, and we still have access to the classrooms where the pilots are trained.

having gone through 300 employees i am proud to say, i did my own screening, even though i was never asked or required (or even advised to do so).

things are much safer, just not perfect (then again, ive tried to figure out every possible way chaos could be created). for those who work in an office building, im sure youve seen the person come through with the vaccuum that has a hole in the bag that seems to spit out more dust than it actually picks up. just hope that person didnt drop an envelope of anthrax in that bag. nothing would be more terrifying than that in a school or day care.

i know its cliche, but "it takes a village" and it helps if EVERYBODY is constantly aware of your surroundings.

[tony hipchest]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070510/.../fort_dix_plot

NEWARK, N.J. - One of the six Muslim men suspected of plotting to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix had bomb recipes in his car and referred to Osama bin Laden as "Uncle Benny," a former co-worker said Thursday.

"He also, at times, would say things that you would think that, 'This guy can't be all there,' but I dismissed them as jokes," the former co-worker, Bob Watts, told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Watts said he and Agron Abdullahu worked together at bakery for more than two years and were "like brothers."

"He was an easygoing guy, made you laugh all the time, he was somebody you really enjoyed working with," Watts said.

Abdullahu sometime made jokes about how the United States couldn't find bin Laden, saying, "U.S., no matter what they do, cannot catch my Uncle Benny," Watts said. He said Abdullahu also showed him bomb recipes that he had in his car.

He said he warned Abdullahu, "you have to watch yourself this day and age, with 9/11, you're going to get yourself into a lot trouble." But Watts said he never saw anything to indicate that his friend hated the country.

"That's what's puzzling me and making my stomach turn knots right now," he said.

Federal authorities said they detained Abdullahu and the other five men because they feared the group was on the verge of carrying out an attack on Fort Dix. The men were arrested Monday night as they tried to buy AK-47 assault weapons, M-16s and other weapons from an FBI informant, authorities said.

"They had training, they had maps, and I think they were very close to moving on this," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said Wednesday. "Our view was they had pretty much gotten to concluding the planning phase of this and were looking to obtain heavy weaponry — and if not from us, they were going to try to obtain it elsewhere."

The men — four born in the former Yugoslavia, one from Jordan and one from Turkey — lived in Philadelphia and its suburbs with their immediate and extended families. Three were roofers, one drove a cab, and the two others worked at food stores.

One of the six used his pizza delivery job to gain access to the Army base and scout it out, exposing what may be a security vulnerability, a congressman said Wednesday.

Serdar Tatar was on the fort's approved list of delivery people and given access to the base as part of his job with a nearby pizzeria run by his father, according to a Fort Dix spokeswoman.

Tatar's father, Muslim Tatar, 54, denied that his son had made deliveries to Fort Dix. However, Christie said the younger Tatar spoke of delivering pizzas on tapes made by informants.

Abdullahu was familiar with the base because it was the first place he landed when arriving in the United States as a refugee from Kosovo, according to a law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The United States allowed thousands of refugees into the United States after it intervened in the 1998-99 Kosovo war. Abdullahu arrived at Fort Dix as a teenager in 1999 as part of a group of about 4,400 refugees from Kosovo, officials said.

the 4400 refugees were offered a trip back home or given the option of staying and enjoying the fruits of living in america. i hope were not still in the business of importing terrorists, however these young men really dont seem much different from the 2 in columbine or the one at virginia tech. they just seem much more organized with a greater sense of purpose. the wiring in their brain is all the same.

[83-Steelers-43]

and referred to Osama bin Laden as "Uncle Benny," a former co-worker said Thursday.

I never did trust Uncle Ben.

[lamberts-lost-tooth]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070510/.../fort_dix_plot

the 4400 refugees were offered a trip back home or given the option of staying and enjoying the fruits of living in america. i hope were not still in the business of importing terrorists, however these young men really dont seem much different from the 2 in columbine or the one at virginia tech. they just seem much more organized with a greater sense of purpose. the wiring in their brain is all the same.

..Just not very smart...if you are planning a Jihad at an American base....here is a tip for all you wannabe terrorist....psssst *dont take a videocopy of you and your nutjob friends practicing an assault while screaming "allah is great"...to the local piggly wiggly, to have it transferred to DVD*