A Norwegian man has received terrorist training from al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen and is awaiting orders to carry out an attack on the West, officials from three European security agencies told The Associated Press on Monday.Next step: curtailment of the civil liberties of persons with white skin; this will complement the profiling currently underway on persons of color, and pretty much complete the dermatologic spectrum.
Western intelligence officials have long feared such a scenario — a convert to Islam who is trained in terrorist methods and can blend in easily in Europe and the United States, traveling without visa restrictions.
Officials from three European security agencies confirmed Monday the man is "operational," meaning he has completed his training and is about to receive a target...
And the reason they release this broadly vague information to the public at large? So that all of us will not only now become suspicioius of all white people, but we will also understand why we are being asked to submit quietly to authority.
It never ends...
Norway already had a religious terrorist successfully complete a devastating attack that killed scores.
ReplyDeleteMaybe their cauculation is that we will never fear a christian as much as they trained us to fear a muslim.
Delete"Norway already had a religious terrorist"
DeleteIsn't that convenient. If we had been told there is a Danish terrorist, people would say "how unlikely," but for a "Norwegian terrorist" the response will be "oh sure, we know those exist, so this story must be true."
Yep, "Oops, wrong religion!"
DeleteIf this is what it takes to maintain our way of life then so be it. We can't let the acts of terrorists affect our liberties...
ReplyDeleteOh, dear God, the sweet irony...
DeleteI think the point, John, is that "anti-terror" policies are not "maintaining our way of life." They are profoundly changing it. And we're letting it happen.
DeleteHow would you not let it happen?
DeleteI'm sure John is being ironic. Aren't you John?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I get it... they seem to know exactly who this man is (if he exists), so why would they start checking other people?
ReplyDeleteI mean, in previous bulls**t stories there were suspected terrorists with conveniently vague descriptions, which sort of justified discrimination by the authorities. But if you're just watching one man, why the hell even tell anyone about it?
Seems likely to me that the leak to AP was designed to let the guy and his superiors know he's in the authorities' sights, perhaps to make him nervous so he makes a mistake, perhaps to keep him from being given a target, lots of other possibilities. Why folks here are freaking out that this portends the curtailment of the civil liberties of white people, etc., etc., mystifies me. Unless M'Stan's comments are ironic, mocking this kind of paranoia. I'm no more a fan of the evil effects of antiterror policies than anybody else, but aren't we indulging in a rather extreme and unwarranted reaction to this particular news story?
DeleteSecurity Theater at it's best. Now they're advertising for it: "Coming Soon to a Theater Near You - Actual Terrorism, as in Someone Will Blow Up Your Theater! Thrills! Chills! Suspicion! Intrigue! Nobody Will Guess Who the Real Terrorist Is!!!"
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, when will the American populace (and the world, for that matter) stop believing that the government can stop this nonsense? If it is to be stopped, it will be done by the people, not by their civil masters, er servants.
Always knew those Norwegians were up to something. But seriously, aside from the (likely enough) theory that a vague threat keeps the "War on Terror" premise fresh and useable — more SWAT-style police units, continued drone attacks abroad, shutting down "A Prairie Home Companion" — it's a weird bit of information to make public. Is it meant to be like "America's Most Wanted" where we finally drop a dime on neighbor Knute, who according to a congregant at the Lutheran church "hadn't been attending as often as he used to?"
ReplyDeleteVarious US intelligence agencies including local police depts have stopped imminent terrorist attacks in the past, but in those cases they never let on in advance. If the announcement is to meant to put al-Qaida on notice as Swift Loris suggested, it also betrays that Euro intelligence doesn't know very much. Throw in the possibility of a statement calculated to deflect from what they really know and who knows? But I think I'm with Minnesotastan on this one.
Stories about convert terrorists are not new
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2010/December/Recent-Muslim-Convert-Arrested-for-Bomb-Plot/
http://ibloga.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/four-homegrown-converts-to-islam.html
If you were being cynical, you'd plot how first the converts were not-quite-white and now that they got used to the idea, they bring out the white bogeyman.