Category: Africa

FBI keeping an eye on Somalis in Boston

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Meanwhile Minneapolis Somalis claim that the recruiting of young Somalis to go to Somalia to join the Jihad is over.

Here is the story from Boston, not the first we have seen from that city.  Hat tip: Susan

BOSTON (AP) — The FBI is reaching out to Somali communities in New England after young men in Minnesota were recruited to travel to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants.

Warren Bamford, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the FBI is staying in close touch with Somali leaders in Boston and Lewiston, Maine, where there are large Somali populations.

Bamford said Tuesday there is no evidence of recruitment going on in the Northeast.

But he said the FBI is concerned about young men in Minneapolis being sought out to travel to Somalia.

“We are concerned about them receiving training, and then of course coming back over here and then utilizing that training in some terrorist attack here,” Bamford said.

Somalis say, don’t you dare profile!  Guess they learned that lesson well from a certain Harvard professor just recently.

Somali leaders in Boston say they are cooperating but stress there is no reason to believe local men are participating. They also say they are concerned about racial profiling.

Jumping over to Minneapolis, here is a story I meant to post about ten days ago about how Somali leaders say the recruiting pipeline has dried up in that city.  So, maybe its not so farfetched to keep an eye on other Somali centers in the US.

A prominent Minneapolis Somali community leader said Tuesday that he believes the recruitment of young Somali-Americans from the Twin Cities to fight jihad in their homeland has slowed or stopped.

Speaking at a workshop to address the issue, Saeed Fahia, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Communities of Minnesota, said the radicalization of Somali youth here is “over.” The combination of worldwide media and law enforcement scrutiny, coupled with greater vigilance by parents, has caused the recruiting pipeline here to dry up, he said.

Hillary brings aid money to Africa and gives it to the IRC

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is probably the richest* of the Top Ten Volags resettling refugees in the US.  That’s the outfit whose CEO (former President of Columbia University, Charles Rupp) makes a cool $412,540 in salary and benefits ( See the 2006 Form 990 here, but heck where are the more recent Form 990’s, it is probably much higher now). So, the rich NGO’s get richer and nothing changes for Africa.

An aside on the health care debate!   The IRC and other non-profits resettling refugees demonstrate why the idea of Health Cooperatives that would supposedly be non-profit would not be a good alternative to government health care from the viewpoint of those of us who do not want the government further involved in our lives.  The NGO’s, like IRC, are really just arms of the federal government but without any accountability to the taxpayers who largely fund them.  The same would be the case for the Coops which would be run by cronyism and insider deals hidden beneath a patina of squeaky clean do-gooder intentions.

Back to my story about Hillary ticking off an African charitable initiative by giving most of the aid money to the IRC.  This is from a blog called VDAY which writes about violence against women and girls in DR Congo.   I guess this is the stuff you won’t hear repeated in the Obama/Clinton-loving mainstream media.

….. everything seemed to be centered on her announcement of a 17 $ aid package that will be administered through USAID. Much needed and appreciated funds – but wait a minute. HEAL Africa, the local organization that was hosting the event, has a hospital with 7 years of experience in treating survivors of sexual violence. However, we learned only through the speech of our honored visitor that USAID is planning to construct a hospital to do the same work, in the same city. And even though Clinton claimed that funds would be distributed to local NGOs, we found out shortly afterwards that the lion’s share would go to the International Rescue Committee.

[…..] 

In the end, it was the roundtable that rocked the house. Activists like Esther Ntoto, Christine Schuler-Deschryver and Chouchou Namegabe made passionate claims for freedom of speech, education for all and the need to get the Congolese army under control. They were applauded for their criticism of an international community that comes here in great numbers and drives up the cost of living with their abundant aid money (yes I am a part of those), yet fails to protect and often leaves local NGOs with only as much as a business card.

As I said, the rich insiders get richer.

I found this posting at VDAY through a blog which titled its post “change in which I don’t believe” here.

*The US Conference of Catholic Bishops probably gets more of your tax dollars than does the IRC but it’s dispersed so widely through so many Catholic organizations it’s impossible to track.

Note to Una:    I am not speaking with sarcasm now!  This is where you should put your youthful energy, a place like DR Congo.  Don’t go to a Muslim country, but go here and really help these women.  You are wasting your idealism on defending the indefensible bureaucracies that the volags have become (or always have been).

More Somalis to Malta: 115 rescued from sinking vessel trying to reach Malta

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Thank former US Ambassador Tea Party Molly!   That’s right, a former Bush Administration Ambassador to Malta began a new policy that I believe has now encouraged more Somalis to try to reach Malta in hopes of winning the ultimate lottery—a ticket to the US as a refugee.   It is so obvious that when Molly gave a tea party send-off for Somalis (illegal aliens to Malta!) a year ago tomorrow she only encouraged the flood.   Those tea party recipients went to Colorado!  Where will this group end up, in your town?

Here is the story yesterday from Reuters.

Type ‘Malta’ into our search function for more information.

Ladies! No bras under Shariah law!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update October 16th:  Make those boobies shake or be whipped!

Although this Voice of America article contains deadly serious news from Somalia, you gotta have a laugh once in ahwile.   It seems that Al-Shabaab, the Jihadists who have recruited American Somali former refugees to come and fight in Somalia, are laying down the (Shariah) law for parts of the country under their control.

Apparently Somali women are accustomed to covering up with colorful fabric, but Al-Shabaab is demanding they wear only the black head-to-toe covering (the abaya) that is common in Arab countries.   But the nutty Islamists have gone one step further by dictating the undergarments of women under their control.

Al-Shabab militants control vast areas of southern Somalia, including several major districts in the capital Mogadishu, and have imposed laws based on the ultra-conservative Wahabist version of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia. Al-Shabab has stoned women accused of adultery and amputated limbs of suspected thieves.

But Somalis say the militants have begun interpreting Islamic laws to levels that even many Saudis may consider harsh.

Somali women in Mogadishu say al-Shabab has warned them that they would face punishment if they wore bras under their abayas because the group considers bras to be Western garments and un-Islamic. And in the port town of Marka, just south of Mogadishu, young al-Shabab fighters are reportedly rounding up men and women who have silver or gold teeth [such teeth are forbidden adornments].

Don’t you just wonder who gets the job of doing the bra check!   Hey, Somali ‘youths’ considering leaving the good life for Jihad in Africa, is this what you are fighting for?

Language problems confuse investigation into Liberian boys rape case

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is an update on the story from Phoenix, AZ last month where 4 young Liberian refugee boys are charged with raping an 8 year old girl.   When I saw the headline for this Arizona Republic story, “Side issue emerges in Liberian rape case,”  I thought there was something new and earth-shattering, but the article only discusses some problems with nuances in how Liberians use the English language.

The article is however worth reading as an update and to note that they have linked a bunch of previous articles on the case so interested readers can catch up.

The Liberian 8-year-old refugee speaks English. The four Liberian boys accused of brutally raping her speak English. And the victim’s father speaks English.

Yet since the July 16 incident at a Phoenix apartment complex, the interaction among police officers, child-welfare officers and the refugee community has shown how complex language can be, even when everyone speaks the same tongue.

The police inquiry into the assault, which drew international attention, suggests that not everyone tied to the case may have clearly understood what was being said during the investigation, linguists and Liberian leaders say.

It sounds like this language issue will be used to take the tarnish off the reputation of the  family of the little girl (and Liberians in general) because they supposedly claimed initially that they didn’t want their daughter back because she shamed them.   We are now heading to a language confusion defense for all involved.