The big news yesterday was the disruption of an apparent network of California al-Qaeda supporters centered around Lodi, some 35 miles south of Sacramento. What is particularly interesting to me is the nature of the training that Hamid Hayat confessed to taking part in, and for what purpose - according to both MSNBC and the Los Angeles Times:
According to prosecutors, Hamid Hayat trained with explosives and other weapons, using photographs of President Bush and other political leaders as targets.
... Umer Hayat was charged in the complaint with lying about his son’s involvement and his own financing of the terror camp, which an affidavit released by the FBI said was run by a close friend of Umer Hayat's father.
... According to the affidavit, he told agents that after attending Al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan in 2003 and 2004, he was given his pick of where to carry out his terrorist mission.
"Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihadi mission," the affidavit says. "Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores."
After the test indicated some deception in his answers, Hayat acknowledged that he had attended a training camp in Pakistan for six months in 2003 and 2004, according to the affidavit.
Hayat described the camp as providing training in weapons, explosives, hand-to-hand combat and other paramilitary exercises, the affidavit says.
During his weapons training, he said, photos of various high-ranking U.S. political figures including President Bush were pasted onto the targets and he and others were trained on "how to kill Americans," according to the agent's statement.
Hayat also said he observed hundreds of people from various parts of the world attending the camps.
His father, according to the affidavit, also told FBI agents at first that there were no terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
But after being shown a videotape of his son's statement, the affidavit says, Umer Hayat told agents he had supported his son's time in Pakistan by, among other things, providing him a $100 monthly allowance, knowing that his intention was to attend a terrorist camp.
The elder Hayat also allegedly told authorities that he observed training in weapons and urban warfare at several camps, the affidavit says.
Umer Hayat told the agents that his son became interested in attending a terrorist training camp as a teenager, influenced by a classmate in Pakistan and an uncle who had fought with the mujahedin in Afghanistan, the affidavit says.
Several other family members and friends of the Hayats also were involved in a religious school that sent students to the training camps, the affidavit says.
While authorities would not comment on whether others have been arrested, local Muslim leaders reported the detentions of two other individuals: an imam at the Lodi mosque and another religious leader affiliated with an Islamic center in Sacramento.
What is so troubling about this for me is not only that the confessed American al-Qaeda trainee volunteered to return to the US after less than 3 years worth of indoctrination for the express purpose of killing his own countrymen in such mundane locations as hospitals and stores.
Also, is there something in particular about California that seems to make it such an attractive grounds for al-Qaeda recruiting? From John Walker-Lindh to Adam Pearlman and now Hamid Hadayat, there seem to be far too many cases of al-Qaeda recruiting in California in particular and the West Coast in general to just be an isolated incident. One thing that might be worth looking into is whether or not there isn't some kind of jihadi support network down there, as I recall a number of the 9/11 hijackers being active in southern California prior to the attacks.
One final note is that this case once again highlights the al-Qaeda recruiting strategy of utilizing close family or social circles when setting up its networks, a strategy that conciously or not is modeled after that of the Greek terrorist organization November 17.
This type of organization is very difficult for law enforcement or intelligence agencies to infiltrate, which is one of the reasons why November 17 was able to stay in operation for so long in Greece. So kudos to the feds for making this catch today as well as for any upcoming arrests that press reports have stated may well be in the works.
These people seem to have lost the plot,emigrate to America the land of opportunity."What do you want to be my son, a doctor,a lawyer?" " No father I wnt to go back to the old country and train as a terrorist,come back and kill sick people in hospital." "Allah be priased my son,your mother alway said you'd turn out bad."
It is the poverty of ideas that is the most stunning aspect of this.
And how is it that these camps are still being run in Pakistan nearly 4 years after 9/11?
Ever heard of the Lashkar-e-Taiba?
>>Also, is there something in particular about California that seems to make it such an attractive grounds for al-Qaeda recruiting?
I'd blame statistics. California has the largest population of any state, therefore the largest possibility of extremists. See also: cells and sympathizers found in New York and Illinois.
Yeah, that's probably true, but there seem to be some kind of convergence in southern California as with other areas of the country (as with South Florida and some parts of New Jersey and Oregon) that is worth keeping an eye on.
Dan,
Remember the Al-Qaeda big wig captured recently with a lap top computer?
Care to take bets as to whether it had flight schedule for operatives that let the Feds run these people down?