Tag: Syria

Minneapolis Somali leader: al-Shabaab recruitment efforts present 24/7

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

FBI ramps up investigation of Jihadist recruitment among Somali refugee youths—this time for Syria.

Farah is executive director of Ka Joog which he says attempts to keep young Somalis from joining Jihadists.

Here we go again!  Give them the good life—food, shelter, medical care, education—and they use it to grow warriors for Allah.

From Minnesota Daily:

Agents from the Minneapolis office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are collecting information from Cedar-Riverside residents as part of an ongoing investigation spurred by recent allegations of American citizens joining Syrian rebels overseas.

Rumors that neighborhood residents are illegally fighting in conflict overseas prompted agents from the FBI to ramp up their already-existing presence in the neighborhood earlier this month, said Minneapolis FBI spokesman Kyle Loven.

He said agents are actively interviewing residents and informing them about the allegations, while also trying to figure out if anyone in the community is involved.

“We’re looking for information that would indicate that someone intends to travel to a country where there’s armed conflict,” Loven said.

[….]

Citizens are allegedly joining rebel forces in going against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

[….]

Mohamed Farah, executive director of Ka Joog, a Minnesota Somali youth group, said al-Shabaab’s recruitment efforts are present in the Somali community “24/7.”

See our huge archive going back to 2008 on the ‘Somali missing youths’ by clicking here.

Why so many Somalis in Minnesota?  Go here for one of our most-read posts of all time (it is almost daily among our Top Posts in right hand sidebar).  Thank the US State Department and its contractors for recognizing and tapping into Minnesota’s generous welfare programs.

Minneapolis: More Somali refugees leaving to join jihad (in Syria this time)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It began back in 2008 and we followed the story for years—Somali youths traded the good life in America (generously supplied by your tax dollars) to go join Al-Shabaab in Somalia.   Some died, some came back and were prosecuted, others are still unaccounted for.    Now comes news that more Somali youths, motivated by ideology, are believed to be joining the “rebels” in Syria this time.

From MyFox9  (Hat tip: Deb):

Minneapolis Somali activist, Abdi Bihi: If our people had more jobs and more programs, and didn’t feel like outsiders, this wouldn’t happen! Photo: http://www.ogadentoday.com/news.php?readmore=5932

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) –

The FBI says more Somali travelers have left Minnesota, possibly to fight against the regime of President Bashar Assad in Syria. Investigators believe those who left Minnesota were motivated by radical ideology, not nationalism.

SOURCE: 12 MINNESOTA SOMALIS HAVE LEFT FOR SYRIA

The FBI has not specified how many people are believed to involved, but a leader in the Minnesota Somali community told Fox 9 News a dozen men have left. The FBI confirmed they have “indications” that some recently traveled overseas. Now, they are reaching out to the large Somali population in Minnesota to learn more.

One young man — a 20-year-old Somali college student — left the Twin Cities as recently as last Thursday. He sent a text message to his family from Istanbul, Turkey, to say he was heading to Syria to fight in the holy war.

[…..]

RECENT SUICIDE BOMBING LINKED TO FLORIDA MAN

The request for tips comes about a week after an American from Florida died in a suicide bombing attack on Syrian government troops in the city of Iblib.

Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, 22, is believed to be the first U.S. citizen involved in a suicide bombing in the civil war’s three-year history. His family thought he was in Jordan when he died.

It is America’s fault!

Oh, those poor “vulnerable” babies in Minneapolis!

MINNESOTA SOMALI COMMUNITY ‘VULNERABLE’

Since 2007, at least 22 young men have left Minnesota to join al-Shabaab in Somalia. Some have died there, and some were even praised as “Minnesota Martyrs” in an elaborate video released last year.

[….]

Some of the so-called travelers were prosecuted for their role in what the FBI has described as one of the largest efforts to recruit U.S. fighters to a foreign terrorist organization, and community activist Abdi Bihi says his community is particularly vulnerable to such efforts due to a lack of jobs, programs and feeling like outsiders.

Yeh, spend more money on “programs” that will solve the problem!   These ungrateful punks would not be in a position (alive and healthy) to become “fighters” if it weren’t for all the money Americans spent on their upbringing. 

Now the next question is, will they be back?

Be sure to read one of our most-read posts over the years—Why so many Somalis in Minnesota—and thank the US State Department, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services and World Relief Minnesota for their good works in bringing this mess to Minnesota!

HHS Office of Inspector General website hosts immigrant fraudsters most-wanted list

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is cool!  Have fun perusing the Department of Health and Human Services OIG website for immigrants who ripped-off the US taxpayer and fled.  Hat tip:  Creeping Sharia.  Many of the cases involve health care fraud which is surely going to get worse under Obamacare.

Here is a portion of just one of the profiles:

In January 2012, Yousef Kurdy was indicted on charges of health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, receipt of kickbacks for patient referrals, income tax evasion, aiding and abetting, and criminal forfeiture. Investigators believe that Kurdy fraudulently billed Medicare and Medi-Cal over $150,000.

[….]

In January 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for Kurdy, who indicated that he would self-surrender, but failed to show up for his initial court appearance. Consequently, he is considered a fugitive at large. Investigators believe that he may be residing in Syria.

LOL!  Watch the crook return with a new name as a Syrian refugee!

Immigrant-perpetrated fraud is a side interest here at RRW and with the help of a reader from Kentucky, you can now help spread the news about scams and frauds run by those we “welcomed” to America at a new facebook page:  Diversity’s Dark Side. ‘Like’ it here!

Catholic Patriarch: Don’t move all Christians out of Syria to the West!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham
http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2013/09/melkite-leader-says-attacks-on-syria.html

Expressed misgivings about refugee resettlement of Christians from throughout the Middle East to the West.

From Catholic Culture:

Syria’s leading Catholic prelate has voiced misgivings about refugee programs that are helping Christian families from Syria resettle in the West, saying that it is better if they remain in the Middle East.

Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham, who doubles as president of the Syrian bishops’ conference, said that the flight of Syrian refugees threatens to aggravate the overall exodus of Christians from the Middle East. “The danger is that if they leave the Middle East, they will never go back,” he said.

The Melkite Patriarch said that he could readily sympathize with the Christians who choose to leave the region. “Of course, we cannot decide for ourselves what response our people should make,” he acknowledged, adding that “the suffering is great.”

However, Patriarch Gregory suggested that aid programs should concentrate on helping people to remain near their homes. “It is better to help the people within the country or the region, and not invite them to go outside,” he said. “There is more that can be done locally,” he said.

Agreed!  But, unfortunately then the US refugee resettlement contractors who are being paid by the head and doing the UN’s business will be happy to bring more Muslims to America and that includes among them the US Conference of Catholic Bishops!

Addendum: Check out this useful world map of countries where Christians are being persecuted.

New FBI Director worried about Syria as “ungoverned space” and expresses concern about refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

More “worrisome” than Afghanistan!

FBI Director James Comey says intelligence agencies know little about the refugees moving into Europe.

Basically he says we don’t know who these refugees are “moving up into Europe or elsewhere in the Middle East.”  No kidding!

Partway into this Politico piece on Obama’s State of the Union speech and Afghanistan comes this telling section of the article:

The danger from Syria, for example, seems likely to linger for a long time. And it’s exactly the kind of danger that, in the wake of Sept. 11, was deemed by Republicans and Democrats to be unacceptable.

“As long as that conflict is going on, as long as people are learning how to kill other people and meeting really bad people, it’s going to be a big worry,” FBI Director James Comey told reporters recently.

“The conflict in Syria has attracted so many people from so many places, of so many motivations, including Americans, that it is an enormous challenge for all intelligence services, including the FBI, to identify the ones of bad intent,” he said. “To figure out where they’re going, why they’re going and to keep track of them. It’s something we’re spending a lot of time on.”

The new FBI director told reporters at his office that the FBI has a relatively good handle on Americans who’ve traveled back and forth to Syria, or made the attempt, but knows much less about the many others involved with or displaced by the conflict, including refugees moving up into Europe or elsewhere in the Middle East.

People inside the counterterrorism world have compared it to Afghanistan in the 1980s, Comey said, “but in some ways it’s more worrisome.” Syria is easier to reach, more people are involved, and the population is much more diverse, he said.