Time Magazine paints Ft.Dix Six as sympathetic characters

Time Magazine this week ran its “investigation” of the Ft. Dix terrorism case and at every turn attempts to show the alleged perpetrators of a plot to kill US soldiers as misquided youths who could not possibly pull off such a brazen attack.   We have followed this case here because one of those charged is a former refugee (three others were illegal aliens) who had actually been initially resettled at this Army base in the wake of Bill Clinton’s Bosnian War.   And,  because it interests me having grown up on the edge of the N.J. Pine Barrens where Ft. Dix is located.  See our earlier stories here and this one about Albanian blood feuds.

What you won’t see in this on-line version of Time’s story is a large photo of one defendants 26 year old wife, an American convert to Islam,  whom he married in a religious ceremony when she was 16 and their five cute kids.  It’s really quite sickening to see the blatant attempt to play on public sympathy. 

At one point the reporter tells us this:

It’s worth mentioning, of course, that it’s not at all clear that the alleged plot would have succeeded. The base, which trains soldiers before they are deployed to Iraq, is heavily protected. Delivery vehicles are thoroughly searched before entry.

Just this little comment sealed my opinion of this so-called “investigation.”  I was at Ft. Dix not long after the arrests of the six suspected terror plotters and was stunned at the easy access my brother and I had to the base.   The guard house contained 2 guards, one just lounging in a chair.  The other came to our car took a quick look at our drivers licenses and signalled us to proceed into the base.   We had at least expected they would want us to open the trunk and have a look inside, but I guess white middle aged types aren’t dangerous.  We also learned that even after the scare, food vendors and pizza delivery guys had easy access to soldiers’ barracks and roamed about freely.