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Islamic Terrorism in the West ( Mega thread)

Big news in terrorism prosecutions today: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accomplices have reportedly reached a deal with U.S. authorities to plead guilty for plotting 9/11.

House them in a range with Americans who are criminals but still love America.

I'm joking.....aren't I?
 
Big news in terrorism prosecutions today: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accomplices have reportedly reached a deal with U.S. authorities to plead guilty for plotting 9/11.

That is a big development - one which I think will reopen older, somewhat scabbed-over wounds big time.

NYT says this ....
1722521164693.png
Commission documents page shows some documents submitted Tuesday (30 Jul 2024) ...
... but they're all under security review before releasing.
 
Another twist: Secdef Lloyd Austin has revoked the plea deal and reserved for himself the authority to enter into such an agreement.



IMO this smells political. It would be bad right before the election for Biden’s government to be seen to be entering into a plea deal that spares Mohammed from execution, notwithstanding the absolute mockery the military commissions make of the rule of law. Odds of this succesfully being prosecuted to the extent of a death penalty being held up are slim… The military commissions are a flagrantly abusive legal process, notwithstanding that he’s likely guilty as sin. This always should have been a clean civil criminal prosecution with everything on the up and up.

Anyway- a surprise twist late on a Friday.
 
... Odds of this succesfully being prosecuted to the extent of a death penalty being held up are slim…
Still, the families seem pleased at SecDef's move (not surprisingly.
 
Still, the families seem pleased at SecDef's move (not surprisingly.
Yup, pretty sure the administration of wanting to give the Trump campaign this freebie, knowing that few people would give it any scrutiny and understand why things were going the way they were.
 
Vienna dodged a bullet by the looks of it -


Both suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows(opens in a new tab) in Vienna appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State group and al Qaeda, Austrian authorities said Thursday, and investigators found bomb-making materials at one of their homes. Officials said one of the two confessed to planning to "kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue."
 
Vienna dodged a bullet by the looks of it -


Both suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows(opens in a new tab) in Vienna appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State group and al Qaeda, Austrian authorities said Thursday, and investigators found bomb-making materials at one of their homes. Officials said one of the two confessed to planning to "kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue."
Another one rounded up ....
 
A quick "highlights package" of recent ISIS stuff, from NJ's DHS ....
The arrest of ISIS-affiliated individuals in the U.S., and the group’s resurgence in operational activity and recruitment in west and central Asia, reinforces the threat ISIS poses to its regional neighbors and the U.S. and its western allies. In April 2024, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated how “the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the [ISIS-Khorasan] (ISIS-K) attack we saw at the Russia concert hall” is of increasing concern.


  • In June 2024, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested eight Tajik men with alleged ties to ISIS in Philadelphia, New York City, and Los Angeles. The men entered the U.S. through the southern border, and at least two of them crossed into the U.S. in spring 2023. In April 2024, ICE also arrested Jovokhir Attoev, an Uzbek national living in Baltimore, for his alleged ties to ISIS. Attoev, currently awaiting trial in New Jersey, entered the U.S. through Arizona in February 2022. In May 2023, Uzbekistan released an international notice regarding Attoev’s ISIS ties leading to his arrest.

  • In July 2024, a U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) statement noted that as of that month, ISIS claimed at least 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria alone, surpassing the 121 attacks for all of 2023. According to the statement, “the increase in attacks indicates ISIS is attempting to reconstitute following several years of decreased capability.” USCENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla said USCENTCOM is also focusing on “members of ISIS who are seeking to conduct external operations outside of Iraq and Syria” and those who are trying to help ISIS reconstitute their forces. According to The Center for Strategic and International Studies, the reason for the increase in attacks is believed to be multifaceted, ranging from the group gaining strength and operational freedom to the divergence of U.S.-backed assets toward Iranian groups.

  • In June 2024, a pro-ISIS-K Russian media group attempted to bolster ISIS-K membership by encouraging supporters from the Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to join. ISIS-K remains one of ISIS’s most active affiliates, plotting and conducting successful attacks outside of Afghanistan. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed in 2023 that ISIS-K “almost certainly retains the intent to conduct operations in the West and will continue efforts to attack outside Afghanistan.” In May 2024, French authorities arrested a Chechen man suspected of planning an attack against the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics in the name of ISIS.
 
Russia's not immune, even in the prison system ....
 
Again in Germany :(

Also, some Afghan nationals arrested in Germany earlier this month for planning an attack on Sweden's parliament
Germany charges 'IS' supporters with Sweden attack plot – DW – 08/21/2024

From the German attorney general news release (original in German - Chrome translation below)
Screenshot 2024-08-25 065730.jpg
 
And the backlash begins...


Germany tightens security, asylum policies after deadly festival stabbing​



BERLIN, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The German government on Thursday announced a proposed package of tighter security and asylum measures following a deadly stabbing spree linked to Islamic State that has fuelled far-right opposition and criticism of Berlin's migration policies.

Three people were killed and eight wounded in the attack last Friday which took place during a festival marking Solingen's 650-year anniversary.
The incident has heightened political wrangling over asylum and deportation rules as the suspect was an asylum seeker from Syria whom the government had failed to deport.

The backlash comes a few days before elections in two eastern states where the anti-immigration AfD party is topping polls, putting further pressure on the centre ruling coalition to take a harder stance on the issue.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday welcomed an offer from opposition leader Friedrich Merz to discuss solutions but the government rejected some of his proposals such as declaring a national emergency or banning Syrians and Afghans from entering Germany.

 
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