May 4, 2010 1:05 pm
ABC News, “Times Square Bomb Suspect Faisal Shahzad Nabbed Trying to Flee U.S.”
by Richard Esposito, Brian Ross, and Pierre Thomas
The FBI has arrested a 30-year-old Bridgeport, Conn., man in connection with the failed attempt to set off a car bomb in New York’s Times Square, federal authorities told ABCNews.com late Monday night.
The man was identified as Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen, who had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan and the city of Peshawar, a known jumping off point for al Qaeda and Taliban recruits.
Shahzad was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City where FBI agents said he was attempting to leave the country to go to Dubai.
At a press conference early Monday morning, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “It’s clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans.” He urged America to “remain vigilant.”
ABC News article continues here.
May 4, 2010 1:04 pm
New York Post, “Sniper kills Qaeda-from 1½ mi. away”
by Lukas I. Alpert
It was silent but deadly.
A British sniper set a world sharpshooting record by taking out two Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan from more than a mile and a half away — a distance so great, experts say the terrorists wouldn’t have even heard the shots.
Craig Harrison killed the two insurgents from an astounding distance of 8,120 feet — or 1.54 miles — in Helmand Province last November firing an Accuracy International L11583 long-range rifle.
“The first round hit a machine-gunner in the stomach and killed him outright,” said Harrison, a corporal of horse in the British Army’s Household Cavalry, the equivalent of a sergeant in the American military.
“The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot hit him in the side. He went down, too,” Harrison told the Sunday Times of London.
New York Post article continues here.
May 2, 2010 9:45 pm
My Fox New York, “Pakistani Taliban Claims Responsibility, Reports Claim”
by Adrian Carrasquillo
New York City’s police commissioner says there’s no evidence of a Taliban link to a failed bomb found in an SUV parked in Times Square but said he couldn’t rule them out.
On Sunday, Fox 5 reported on a Reuters story that the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bomb plot.
According to Fox News, in a 1 minute video allegedly released by the Pakistani Taliban, the group says the attack is revenge for the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and the recent killings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq.
Images of the slain militants are shown as an unidentified voice recites the message. English subtitles are at the bottom of the screen.
According to the AP, an unidentified speaker on the tape also says the attack comes in response to American “interference and terrorism in Muslim Countries, especially in Pakistan.”
My Fox New York article continues here.
May 2, 2010 1:40 pm
NY Daily News, “3 cops, street vendor stop Times Square car bomb from detonating; Gas, clock found inside car”
by Alison Gendar, Rocco Parascandola, Kevin Deutsch, and Samuel Goldsmith
Three heroic cops and a quick-thinking street vendor stopped a madman from detonating a car bomb in the heart of Times Square Saturday night, law enforcement officials told the Daily News.
The T-shirt vendor – a Vietnam vet – told Officer Wayne Rhatigan there was smoke coming from a Nissan SUV on the southwest corner of 45th St. and Broadway about 7 p.m., sources said.
Rhatigan approached the car, saw the smoke, and sprang into action.
He grabbed two rookie female cops patrolling the area. Together, they pushed hundreds of people away from the scene as they called for backup, he said.
The Fire Department and bomb squad rushed to the scene.
What they found was stunning: a running SUV packed with three propane tanks, two red 5-gallon plastic jugs of gasoline, a clock, electrical components and a canister of gunpowder, police sources said.
NY Daily News article continues here.
April 28, 2010 3:51 pm
The Hill, “Administration only partially complies with Ft. Hood subpoenas”
by Roxana Tiron
The Obama administration has only partially complied with congressional subpoenas for information on the deadly November shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.
The failure by the Defense and Justice departments to turn over all the requested documentation — which they say they do not intend to do — is not likely to ease the growing tension between some key senators and the Obama administration over the incident at the Army base on Nov. 5, 2009.
In a joint statement, Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said that the administration’s “failure to comply with the subpoenas” is an “affront to Congress’s constitutional obligation to conduct independent oversight of the executive branch.”
The Hill article continues here.
April 22, 2010 5:31 pm
Reuters, “‘South Park’ airs ‘censored’ episode after threat”
by Alex Dobuzinskis
In the 14 years we’ve been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn’t some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle’s customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn’t mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We’ll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we’ll see what happens to it.
- Matt Stone and Trey Parker
Satirical animated TV show “South Park” beeped out the words Prophet Muhammad and plastered its Wednesday episode with the word “CENSORED” after being issued a grim warning by a U.S. Muslim group.
The irreverent comedy show on Comedy Central also substituted a controversial image seen last week of the Prophet Muhammad in a bear outfit with one of Santa Claus in the same costume.
It was not immediately clear if the move was a bid to tread carefully following the warning against the “South Park” creators, or if they were poking fun at the fuss.
The little-known group RevolutionMuslim.com posted a message on its website earlier this week warning creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker “that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show.”
Reuters article continues here.
April 22, 2010 5:30 pm
Breitbart (AP), “US Navy SEAL cleared in Iraq abuse case”
by Lara Jakes
A U.S. Navy SEAL was cleared Thursday of charges he covered up the alleged beating of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding the grisly 2004 killings of four American security contractors.
A six-man Navy jury found Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas not guilty of dereliction of duty and attempting to influence the testimony of another service member. The jury heard too many differences between the testimony of a sailor who claimed he witnessed the Sept. 1 assault at a U.S. base outside Fallujah, Iraq, and statements from a half-dozen others who denied his account.
Smiling and composed as he left the courthouse at the U.S. military’s Camp Victory on Baghdad’s western outskirts, Huertas said he felt vindicated.
Breitbart (AP) article continues here.
April 19, 2010 9:28 pm
Fox News, “2 Most Wanted Al Qaeda Leaders in Iraq Killed by U.S., Iraqi Forces”
Vice President Joe Biden called the killing of two top Al Qaeda leaders in Iraq a “potentially devastating” blow to the terrorist network and said the operation signals a significant improvement in Iraq’s security and intelligence gathering.
The U.S. military confirmed Monday that Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Umar al-Baghdadi were killed early Sunday morning in a raid led by U.S. and Iraqi forces, after a week of operations led them to a safehouse where the terror chiefs were hiding.
“This action demonstrates the improved security, strength and capacity of Iraqi security forces,” Biden said during a press conference Monday. “The Iraqis led this operation, and it was based on intelligence the Iraqi security forces themselves developed.”
Fox News article continues here.
April 19, 2010 9:26 pm
Fox News, “Senate Committee Subpoenas Administration for Fort Hood Documents”
Two top senators served the Obama administration Monday with subpoenas for information on the mass shooting at Fort Hood last November, claiming the administration’s stonewalling left them with no other choice.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine — respectively, the chairman and the ranking Republican on the Senate homeland security committee — notified Attorney General Eric Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates of the decision in a letter Monday.
They said the committee had sent four formal requests for information to the Pentagon and two to the Justice Department, and received little response.
Fox News article continues here.
April 14, 2010 9:31 pm
The New York Times, “Israel Says Syria Gave Missiles to Hezbollah”
by Ethan Bronner
Israeli officials say that Syria has delivered accurate long-distance Scud missiles to the Lebanese group Hezbollah, placing cities deep in Israel’s heartland, including Tel Aviv, within range.
The officials added that the delivery of the missiles — strongly denied by Syria and yet to be confirmed by sources outside of Israel — would change the strategic balance in the area and increase the risk of war.
The issue was raised by President Shimon Peres, who during a visit to Paris told journalists earlier this week, “Syria claims that it wants peace, while simultaneously delivering Scud missiles to Hezbollah, which is constantly threatening the security of the State of Israel.” He added, after meeting with the French prime minister, François Fillon, that Syria was playing “a double game.” Mr. Fillon, who was recently in the Syrian capital, Damascus, had told Mr. Peres that the government of President Bashar al-Assad wanted peace with Israel.
The New York Times article continues here.
April 12, 2010 10:33 pm
Fox News, “Radical Muslim Cleric Lied to Qualify for U.S.-Funded College Scholarship”
by Catherine Herridge
The American Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, considered by some to be one of the most wanted terrorists behind Usama bin Laden, was educated in the United States with taxpayers money, an ongoing Fox News investigation has found.
Awlaki, now believed to be recruiting for Al Qaeda from hiding in Yemen, is connected to at least two recent suspected terrorism cases – the Fort Hood attack and the attempted Christmas Day jet bombing.
A former diplomatic security agent who was tasked with investigating Awlaki immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks told Fox News that the Yemeni-American national apparently lied on his visa application to attend Colorado State University, where he studied engineering. Rather than tell U.S. immigration officials that he was born in Las Cruces, N.M., in 1971, Awlaki stated that the was foreign born, the security agent, Ray Fournier, said.
Fox News article continues here.
April 12, 2010 10:33 pm
Fox News, “Details Emerge in Al Qaeda Plot on NYC Subway System”
A fourth suspect in the alleged plot to blow up New York City subways has reportedly revealed shocking details about the plan involving Najibullah Zazi, MyFoxNY.com reported.
The Queens native and two high school friends were planning to detonate explosives attached to their bodies at Grand Central and Times Square stations during rush hour, according to the Associated Press.
The AP reports that the fourth suspect was arrested in Pakistan and is likely to be extradited to Brooklyn.
Fox News article continues here.
April 7, 2010 1:59 pm
Fox News (AP), “Obama Bans Islam, Jihad From National Security Strategy Document”
President Barack Obama’s advisers will remove religious terms such as “Islamic extremism” from the central document outlining the U.S. national security strategy and will use the rewritten document to emphasize that the United States does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terror, counterterrorism officials said.
The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war and currently states: “The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century.”
The officials described the changes on condition of anonymity because the document still was being written, and the White House would not discuss it. But rewriting the strategy document will be the latest example of Obama putting his stamp on U.S. foreign policy, like his promises to dismantle nuclear weapons and limit the situations in which they can be used.
Fox News (AP) article continues here.
April 7, 2010 1:51 pm
The Washington Post, “Muslim cleric Aulaqi is 1st U.S. citizen on list of those CIA is allowed to kill”
by Greg Miller
A Muslim cleric tied to the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner has become the first U.S. citizen added to a list of suspected terrorists the CIA is authorized to kill, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
Anwar al-Aulaqi, who resides in Yemen, was previously placed on a target list maintained by the U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations Command and has survived at least one strike carried out by Yemeni forces with U.S. assistance against a gathering of suspected al-Qaeda operatives.
Because he is a U.S. citizen, adding Aulaqi to the CIA list required special approval from the White House, officials said. The move means that Aulaqi would be considered a legitimate target not only for a military strike carried out by U.S. and Yemeni forces, but also for lethal CIA operations.
The Washington Post article continues here.
April 4, 2010 6:44 pm
Yahoo! News (AP), “Suicide bombers target embassies in Iraq, kill 42”
by Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Suicide attackers detonated three car bombs in quick succession near foreign embassies in Baghdad on Sunday, killing more than 40 people in coordinated strikes that Iraqi officials said were intended to disrupt efforts to form a new government.
The bombings followed the execution-style killings of 24 villagers in a Sunni area two days earlier, a spike in violence that suggests insurgents are seizing on the political uncertainty after the recent election to try to destabilize the country as U.S. troops prepare to leave. No clear winner emerged from the March 7 vote.
Sunday’s explosions went off within minutes of each other, starting shortly after 11 a.m. One struck near the Iranian Embassy and two others hit an area that houses several diplomatic missions, including the Egyptian Consulate and the German and Spanish embassies. It was not immediately known whether diplomatic staff were among the victims.
Yahoo! News (AP) article continues here.
