Category: Africa

Motive for Minneapolis Somali terror recruitment: create Islamic holy warriors

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Way back in March of 2009, I went to a Senate Homeland Security hearing in Washington to hear testimony before Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins about the investigation into the Somali Al-Shabab recruitment on-going in Minneapolis (then and now!).

Federal investigators told the Senators, to their obvious relief, that this was all about nationalism (fighting Ethiopians!) on the part of the Somali jihad recruits and that Al-Qaeda was not involved.  Now we know that both of those assessments were wrong, but at the time I wondered how the feds could have been so misguided because even to casual observers it was apparent that they were on the wrong track (but why? political correctness run amok?).

Here is a story from last week (yet another story) about the terrorist recruitment trial that just wrapped up in Minnesota.  This is what the FBI now says:

Most of the young men who left Minnesota to become holy warriors hadn’t seen Somalia since they were toddlers, when their families fled at the outset of the 1991 civil war. For that reason, investigators believe that the young men needed indoctrination to get them to go, and help to get there.

“We know now that we were dealing with an organized effort,” Wilson said. “To leave the relative comforts of a place like this, you’ve got to have some external influence, absolutely.” [Readers, in my view, this is one of the most egregious errors we make in trying to assess danger involving Islamists—they aren’t like us!  Those following Mohammad’s teaching (Koran and Hadiths) don’t need comfort and the good things in life.—ed]

[….]

At first, these recruiters appealed to the men’s sense of nationalism, calling on them to help rout Ethiopian soldiers — a traditional enemy — from Somalia. But Wilson said the long-term goal was to radicalize the men as Islamist holy warriors with an agenda of spreading their extremist views across the Horn of Africa. 

I hope someone went back to Lieberman and Collins and made sure they now understand that!

It is not over! More Minneapolis Somali former refugees joining Al-Shabab!

Minnesota Public Radio reports that at least two more ‘youths’ left this summer to join the Jihadists.  Don’t you just love it, you, with your tax dollars, raised them, fed them, housed them and educated them so that now they can be strong and healthy Islamic warriors!

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Four years after federal authorities in the Twin Cities began investigating homegrown recruitment for the terrorist group al-Shabab, at least two additional men slipped away to Somalia as recently as July.

Federal authorities believe the Minneapolis men joined the group and are still in the East African nation.

The FBI’s confirmation this week that a terrorist conduit continues to flow from Minnesota to Somalia perplexes members of Minnesota’s Somali community, who have watched with dismay as young men have disappeared.

It’s ALWAYS been about religion and not nationalism (FBI now re-writing the story line):

So religion appears to be al-Shabab’s predominant battle cry. Al-Shabab’s end game has always been to to radicalize its troops through its extreme interpretation of Islam, Wilson said.

For new readers:  We have resettled another 14,757 Somalis into the US during Fiscal years 2008 through 2011 (Obama years!)   Check out the numbers yourself here at the Cultural Orientation Resource Center data base.  In 2008, the US State Department suspended family reunification for Somalis (and some others from Africa) when they discovered widespread fraud—gee, they weren’t family they were bringing over after all!   Estimates are that as many as 36,000 Somalis may have entered the US fraudulently from 2003-2008, here. (Bush years!)

Oh, and family reunification is now up and running for Somalis!

Immigrants bringing ‘female genital mutilation’ practice with them to the US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is one of those beautiful things that multiculturalism brings to America!  Right?

From the Huffington Post:

BOSTON (RNS) The one thing that Afrah Farah will tell you about her genital cutting experience is that it happened. She doesn’t want to say how old she was, where it happened, or who was or wasn’t with her.

Yet, despite the painful memories that the experience evokes and her concerns about people’s reactions, Farah, said she knows she has to speak out.

“It’s basically a traumatizing experience. It’s traumatizing for every young girl that goes through that. It’s something that sticks in your memory, and physically,” said Farah, a Somali immigrant who came to the Boston area by way of Kuwait and Germany in 2007, and now works as a drug developer in a Massachusetts laboratory.

“There are millions of people who are affiliated with this procedure — parents, grandparents, people in the community — and to label them all as bad people or barbaric, that’s wrong. You will push them away. To solve a problem like this, you need to approach people with respect.”

Because of its severity and prevalence, female genital mutilation (FGM, or “cutting”) is arguably one of the most important human rights issues in the world. It’s also become increasingly important in the U.S. as the number of immigrants from countries where it is practiced grows.

The African Women’s Health Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston estimated in 2000 that almost 228,000 females in the U.S. had either undergone or could undergo the procedure, although some anti-FGM activists dispute that figure.

[…..]

The WHO estimates that nearly 140 million women in the world have undergone the procedure, while another 2 million women undergo the procedure annually — about 6,000 per day.

[…..]

Activists also worry that some girls in America have the procedure done here or are sent back home, usually over summer vacations so they have time to heal. To stop this, activists are organizing behind the Girls Protection Act, which would make it illegal to send girls abroad for genital cutting. Penalties would include a five-year prison term and fine.

Good, send them to jail!

There is lots more, read it all.

More refugees being created in Libya

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Not everything happening in the Libyan hell hole we (Obama and his Vulcans) helped create is happening in Benghazi (see my post yesterday at PTPR about the theory that Ambassador Stevens was involved in gun-running to Syrian rebels).  Now comes news that Gaddafi forces are alive and well, creating more refugees and challenging the government (whatever that is!).

Where is Ms. Responsibility to Protect Samantha Power these days?  Hiding out in the White House!

From Hamseyeh.net:

Bani Walid was supposed to be safe. The last of Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists were supposed to have been purged from this Libyan desert town, after an eight-day offensive by the army. Instead, there was mayhem here on Thursday, as it became clear the Gaddafi loyalists are far from beaten.

A mile into what has become a ghost town after weeks of fighting and siege, a checkpoint of tense young pro-government militiamen barred entry, saying fighting was continuing. The staccatto boom of an anti-aircraft gun mingled with the heavy thumps of rocket-propelled grenades from somewhere inside the town.

Told to turn back, the Guardian found the road into town jammed with cars bringing several hundred refugees back home.

[…..]

“Our government says we can come home, it was on TV, and the militia says no,” said Mohammed Hamzen, wearing a long golden robe. “I am here with my children. What can I do with them?”

With thousands of angry refugees stranded on the desert highway, and pro-Gaddafi gunmen still resisting inside the town, Libya’s government has been left flat-footed by a crisis fast turning into its worst nightmare.

[…..]

…. the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, called for restraint ….  [LOL! I bet that has them shaking in their boots!—ed]

Minnesota terror recruitment trial ends in guilty verdict for former mosque janitor

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is the gist of the story from the Star Tribune:

A one-time janitor at a Minneapolis mosque was found guilty Thursday of conspiring to help a terrorist group recruit young Minnesota men for a holy war in their native Somalia.

A federal jury in Minneapolis deliberated about 8 1/2 hours before convicting Mahamud Said Omar, 46, in a case that provided the clearest picture to date of a worldwide investigation into the recruiting of at least 20 young men to fight in Somalia with Al-Shabab, a U.S.-designated terror group.

Omar, of Minneapolis, rocked gently in his seat and studied the jurors dispassionately as the verdict was read.

Guilty on count one: conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Guilty on count two: providing material support to terrorists. Guilty on count three: conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, namely, the Islamist group Al-Shabab. Guilty on count four: providing material support to Al-Shabab.

Each of those charges carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Omar swallowed hard in advance of the last verdict, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison: guilty of conspiring to kill or maim people.

Read the whole story about how the US prosecutors think this was a huge breakthrough, however, I am left wondering if the kingpins are still free as birds.  And, I want to know what involvement mosque leaders had with this recruitment?  Are we to believe a janitor held meetings with jihad recruits in the mosque and no Imam knew?

Something humorous in this serious reporting!

The Star Tribune is back to using their go-to guy on anything relating to Somalis anywhere in America—Omar Jamal is back!  I haven’t heard or seen much of the Somali mouthpiece, the Jesse Jackson of Minneapolis, in awhile.   Last we heard he was off in NYC as the representative of Somalia at the UN.    Longtime readers know Jamal was convicted of immigration fraud years ago in Tennessee and somehow got off the hook.  I’ve wondered if we let him off the hook so that he could become a media megaphone in defense of Somalis gone wrong.

Omar Jamal  became a “community activist” and could be counted on to comment on anything Somali anywhere.  One of his early and best spins involved hopping out to Denver four years ago to speak for the Canadian family of a Somali man who killed himself with enough cyanide to kill hundreds in advance of the Democrat National Convention that year.  Jamal told the media to move on, nothing to see here—just a nut!

Here he is yesterday speaking for the family of the man found guilty.  BTW, the families of the “youths,” many of whom lost their lives in Somalia, were happy with the verdict.

Omar’s [Mahamud Said Omar] family members declined to comment, referring questions to community activist Omar Jamal. “They were not expecting this,” he said. “They are a little bit shocked.”

Jamal said the trial revealed many things that were not known to the community about Al-Shabab’s recruiting efforts in Minnesota, but he said many questions remain.

“The most important thing is, this is not the end of the game,” Jamal said. “The people responsible for ruining the lives of these kids are still out there … somewhere.”

On that, he and government prosecutors agreed.

“Some folks are still fugitives … and there are still ongoing investigations,” Jones said. “This isn’t the end.”

I hope not, but let’s see if we ever bring a kingpin to justice.

By the way, every day we bring more Somalis into the US who are just like Mahamud Said Omar—originally a homeless  refugee in Rochester, MN most likely resettled there by Catholic Charities.

For new readers:  Type ‘Minnesota terror trial’ into our search function for previous stories about the case.  Also, see one of our most widely read posts every day at RRW–-Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis?

Minneapolis: Somalis making their mark in local politics

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is a Minneapolis Star Tribune story from earlier this month that might be a companion piece to my previous post about the American Muslim vote in 2012.

Star Tribune:

Sadik Warfa was a wide-eyed teenager from a crowded refugee camp when he came to the United States in 1993, part of a first wave of Somalis fleeing a homeland ravaged by warring clans.

As a group, the refugees lacked money and education. Many barely spoke English. But they had strong clan loyalties, a knack for entrepreneurship and drive.

Now those same Somalis are becoming a political force in Minnesota. They are registering to vote, volunteering for campaigns, running for office and even forming a basic building block in U.S. politics — their own political action committee. Warfa, after graduating from college and opening an accounting business, ran for office in the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2010.

The growing political activism of Minnesota’s roughly 70,000 Somalis — the largest single population of Somalis in the United States — is causing Minnesota DFLers and Republicans to take notice.

Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim Congressman, now the go-to guy for the refugee resettlement contractors reportedly said:

Like other immigrant groups in America, Somalis started at the bottom. But their refugee status may have accelerated their political involvement, said U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress.

“If they came here as an educated class, as doctors and engineers, then you probably would see deferred political engagement because they’d be more about making sure their businesses grew,” Ellison said. “But because they come here with few tools, they use the tools they have, which is a vote.”

And, lest we forget, former Republican Senator Norm Coleman stroked his Somali constituency:

…. Coleman followed suit, enlisting well-known activist Mahamoud Wardere to head his efforts. Wardere had made his own run for Minneapolis mayor* a year earlier.

That Senate election, Samatar said, “was the first key moment or trigger, if you will, for the community to feel that they could actually vote for someone that they cared about.”

Wellstone died 13 days before that election and Coleman won. But even after becoming senator, Coleman nurtured his connections with Somalis, hiring Wardere for his staff.

The insights Wardere gained on that job reinforced how important it was for Somali immigrants to engage in politics. “If you are not at the table, you are missing everything,” he said. “Just being at the table is power.”

Longtime readers may remember that in 2008 the Somali community was furious that the US State Department had suspended family reunification from Somalia after discovering the program was riddled with fraud.  Coleman went to bat for the Somalis with the State Department, here.

There is more in the Star Tribune story, read it all.  And, while you are at it read this 2008 post here at RRW about the Muslim Brotherhood’s stealth jihad in Minnesota.

Top Posts!  See our top posts in the right hand side bar.  Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis? (January 2011) is among the top posts almost every day.

*  I wonder if in 2007 Wardere was listening to a Maryland Imam who said (bragging to a Saudi audience) that by the year 2015 there would be 30 Muslim mayors elected to office in the US.   Obviously they aren’t going to come close, but I doubt they have given up their wish.  As I said at the time, imagine if a Jew, a Catholic, or a Mormon said they were working on getting “their people” in control of US cities, the media would go berserk, but no one said boo! about Yahya Hendi’s comment.