Terrorist Bomb Plot: Three Men Convicted

What? This is foolish! I have read somewhere in what the media labels as 'al-quaida' preacher sheikh anwar al-awlaki(Ra). that they listened to him. First of all, sheikh anwar al-awlaki didnt provoke violence neither belonged he to 'al-quaida'.

May Allah hasten the release of these brothers and sisters. Ameen.

Remember that they also made us believe that aafia siddique, or shaker Aamer trained in 'terrorist' camps.

Abu Loren, you are posting a UK propaganda source. All these men have denied these charges and accusations.

format_quote Originally Posted by Independent

Besides other evidence, these men were recorded directly talking about their plot. They expressed criticism of the July 7 bombers because they hadn't killed enough people, and they hoped to do better this time.

Their defence in court was not to deny that they had been plotting, but to claim it was all a 'joke'. Even though as far as they knew, no one was actually listening.

Do you have any specific information yourself to contradict their convction or is this one of your generic rejections of anything that doesn't suit your world view?

We will see if they are 'guilty' on this part.

Two people whom the three allegedly tried to recruit to theirplan, Ashik Ali's older brother, Bahader Ali, 29, and Mohammed Rizwan, 34, denythe charges they face and are due to stand trial later.

Why are you only reading what this article is presenting? The UK and the US are famous for arresting muslims without evidence or charges, shaker Aamer, aafia siddique? Guantamo bay is full with prisoners who are not found guilty.

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If it really was a 'terrorist' he would've admitted, but this is a young boy, desperately crying.

I want to SEE evidence if they are guilty, and not just an paper article.

format_quote Originally Posted by Independent

These three have already been convicted based on the evidence presented in court. If you have specific information to contradict that evidence, please post it here.

What evidence? You only have read an article which says 'evidence' and then you automatically claim thats evidence for their life long imprisonment?

As i said i have no info yet that they're not guilty, but you havent got anything to say that they are guilty. I look at history and compare it to now, and i say that they arent guilty. They're most likely 'set-up' by the government agencies.

You only quote something from the article to strenghten your point, however i am atleast using my brain to think. I want evidence and not a written article.

format_quote Originally Posted by Abu Loren

Are you speaking emotionally?

I admit that the US and the Europeans incarcerate innocent Muslim men and woman, however, we must speak out agains the real terrorists who claim they are Muslims. A true Muslim would never plan genocide against innocent people.

No i am not, you only present an article and derive your opinion from it, and you know VERY well that the UK and US are waging a war on our religion. They have imprisonned innocent muslims in the past, without charges and based on lies. This is equally baseless as that aafia siddique supposedly shot at US marines. Yet the weapon was never found, and no bullets. They lie, lie, lie only to imprison muslims. And the articles are very much bogus, i have read another article in which the media claims that they listened to sheikh anwar al-awlaki(Ra) a famous ''al-quaida'' preacher. Wait a minute? Sheikh Anwar al-awlaki condemned the US policies and spoke openly out that the 9/11 attacks were engineered by the US and israel.

How could they've aquired this hardware in the firt place? Ak-47's, TNT for IED's, why did the police track their phone calls for 6 months? Things sound fishy, are they set-up?

format_quote Originally Posted by Abu Loren

Why do these animals say they are Muslims? A Muslim would never ever think of killing innocent men, woman and children. They must have twisted minds.

Because they dress like ''proper'' Muslims complete with Beard and Jubbah. On a purely visual level, they dress in a very Islamic fashion so it's kind of hard for the average person not to equate them as Muslims or practicers of Islam.

These three (I refuse to call them Muslims or even Human Beings for that matter) only have their self to blame. The Media and Governments behaviour are one thing, but acting or talking in a provacative (and not to mention Un-islamic) manner by citing death threats or similar words to the effect and even going as far as to draw up blue prints for their bomb making material does you no favours. That kind of stuff is going to get you arrested regardless of your creed, colour or religious affiliation.

Again, it comes down to primarily their dress code and also their names. They are clearly Muslims (not neccessarily a good example) but that's how they are viewed by the large majority of people (how many times have we positively judged a brother or sister who wears full islamic dress code...yet we know full well piety and imaan have nothing to do with either of those aspects...you can't blame non-muslims for thinking the same)

You know what really got under me skin? The fact that these three in question raised money for charity and behind closed doors spent in on destruction. Astaghfirullah. They lied to their fellow muslims, turned halal money into haram, comitted fraud, incited hatred/violence (causing a disturbance in the land) and they even wanted to go as far as to cause harm to people. And then when in court they try and act like it was all a joke? I'm sorry but that's complete and utter BS.

Look...I will be the first to make 70 if not more excuses for any Muslim - man, woman or child. But these three pathetic excuses for individuals in question have, whichever way you look at it, broken God's law and as such they have to be punished.

Ok i will stand corrected on this regard, but nor do i want to call them out or support them. As i fear for my soul, what if they really are innocent?

I cant derive my opinion from an media article, i am not that stupid.

format_quote Originally Posted by Independent

So you're telling me that the police managed to find a bunch of guys who sit around talking about bomb plots because they think it's funny, and then planted weapons on them?

FBI and American police have been guilty of this in the past.

TAREK’S SENTENCING STATEMENT
APRIL 12, 2012
Read to Judge O’Toole during his sentencing, April 12th 2012.

In the name of God the most gracious the most merciful Exactly four years ago this month I was finishing my work shift at a
local hospital. As I was walking to my car I was approached by two federal agents. They said that I had a choice to make: I could do things the easy way, or I could do them the hard way. The “easy ” way, as they explained, was that I would become an informant for the government, and if I did so I would never see the inside of a courtroom or a prison cell. As for the hard way, this is it. Here I
am, having spent the majority of the four years since then in a solitary cell the size of a small closet, in which I am locked down
for 23 hours each day. The FBI and these prosecutors worked very hard-and the government spent millions of tax dollars – to put me in that cell, keep me there, put me on trial, and finally to have me stand here before you today to be sentenced to even more time in a cell.

In the weeks leading up to this moment, many people have offered suggestions as to what I should say to you. Some said I should plead for mercy in hopes of a light sentence, while others suggested I would be hit hard either way. But what I want to do is just talk about myself for a few minutes.

When I refused to become an informant, the government responded by charging me with the “crime” of supporting the mujahideen fighting the occupation of Muslim countries around the world. Or as they like to call them, “terrorists.” I wasn’t born in a Muslim country, though. I was born and raised right here in America and this angers many people: how is it that I can be an American and believe the things I believe, take the positions I take? Everything a man is exposed to in his environment becomes an ingredient that shapes his outlook, and I’m no different. So, in more ways than one, it’s because of America that I am who I am.

When I was six, I began putting together a massive collection of comic books. Batman implanted a concept in my mind, introduced me to a paradigm as to how the world is set up: that there are oppressors, there are the oppressed, and there are those who step up to defend the oppressed. This resonated with me so much that throughout the rest of my childhood, I gravitated towards any book that reflected that paradigm – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and I even saw an ehical dimension to The Catcher in the Rye.
By the time I began high school and took a real history class, I was learning just how real that paradigm is in the world. I learned about the Native Americans and what befell them at the hands of European settlers. I learned about how the descendents of those European settlers were in turn oppressed under the tyranny of King George III.

I read about Paul Revere, Tom Paine, and how Americans began an armed insurgency against British forces – an insurgency we now celebrate as the American revolutionary war. As a kid I even went on school field trips just blocks away from where we sit now. I learned about Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, John Brown, and the fight against slavery in this country. I learned about Emma Goldman, Eugene Debs, and the struggles of the labor unions, working class, and poor. I learned about Anne Frank, the Nazis, and how they persecuted minorities and imprisoned dissidents. I learned about Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King,
and the civil rights struggle.
I learned about Ho Chi Minh, and how the Vietnamese fought for decades to liberate themselves from one invader after another. I learned about Nelson Mandela and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Everything I learned in those years confirmed what I was beginning to learn when I was six: that throughout history, there has been a constant struggle between the oppressed and their oppressors. With each struggle I learned about, I found myself consistently siding with the oppressed, and consistently respecting those who stepped up to defend them -regardless of nationality, regardless of religion. And I never threw my class notes away. As I stand here speaking, they are in a neat pile in my bedroom closet at home.

From all the historical figures I learned about, one stood out above the rest. I was impressed be many things about Malcolm X, but above all, I was fascinated by the idea of transformation, his transformation. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie “X” by Spike Lee, it’s over three and a half hours long, and the Malcolm at the beginning is different from the Malcolm at the end. He starts off as an illiterate criminal, but ends up a husband, a father, a protective and eloquent leader for his people, a disciplined Muslim performing the Hajj in Makkah, and finally, a martyr. Malcolm’s life taught me that Islam is not something inherited; it’s not a culture or ethnicity. It’s a way of life, a state of mind anyone can choose no matter where they come from or how they were raised.
This led me to look deeper into Islam, and I was hooked. I was just a teenager, but Islam answered the question that the greatest scientific minds were clueless about, the question that drives the rich & famous to depression and suicide from being unable to answer: what is the purpose of life? Why do we exist in this Universe? But it also answered the question of how we’re supposed to exist. And since there’s no hierarchy or priesthood, I could directly and immediately begin digging into the texts of the Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, to begin the journey of understanding what this was all about, the implications of Islam for me as a human being, as an individual, for the people around me, for the world; and the more I learned, the more I valued Islam like a piece of gold. This was when I was a teen, but even today, despite the pressures of the last few years, I stand here before you, and everyone else in this courtroom, as a very proud Muslim.

With that, my attention turned to what was happening to other Muslims in different parts of the world. And everywhere I looked, I saw the powers that be trying to destroy what I loved. I learned what the Soviets had done to the Muslims of Afghanistan. I learned what the Serbs had done to the Muslims of Bosnia. I learned what the Russians were doing to the Muslims of Chechnya. I learned what Israel had done in Lebanon – and what it continues to do in Palestine – with the full backing of the United States. And I learned what America itself was doing to Muslims. I learned about the Gulf War, and the depleted uranium bombs that killed thousands and caused cancer rates to skyrocket across Iraq.
I learned about the American-led sanctions that prevented food, medicine, and medical equipment from entering Iraq, and how – according to the United Nations – over half a million children perished as a result. I remember a clip from a ’60 Minutes‘ interview of Madeline Albright where she expressed her view that these dead children were “worth it.” I watched on September 11th as a group of people felt driven to hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings from their outrage at the deaths of these children. I watched as America then attacked and invaded Iraq directly. I saw the effects of ’Shock & Awe’ in the opening day of the invasion – the children in hospital wards with shrapnel from American missiles sticking but of their foreheads (of course, none of this was shown on CNN).

I learned about the town of Haditha, where 24 Muslims – including a 76-year old man in a wheelchair, women, and even toddlers – were shot up and blown up in their bedclothes as the slept by US Marines. I learned about Abeer al-Janabi, a fourteen-year old Iraqi girl gang-raped by five American soldiers, who then shot her and her family in the head, then set fire to their corpses. I just want to point out, as you can see, Muslim women don’t even show their hair to unrelated men. So try to imagine this young girl from a conservative village with her dress torn off, being sexually assaulted by not one, not two, not three, not four, but five soldiers. Even today, as I sit in my jail cell, I read about the drone strikes which continue to kill Muslims daily in places like Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. Just last month, we all heard about the seventeen Afghan Muslims – mostly mothers and their kids – shot to death by an American soldier, who also set fire to their corpses.
These are just the stories that make it to the headlines, but one of the first concepts I learned in Islam is that of loyalty, of
brotherhood – that each Muslim woman is my sister, each man is my brother, and together, we are one large body who must protect each other. In other words, I couldn’t see these things beings done to my brothers & sisters – including by America – and remain neutral. My sympathy for the oppressed continued, but was now more personal, as was my respect for those defending them.

I mentioned Paul Revere – when he went on his midnight ride, it was for the purpose of warning the people that the British were marching to Lexington to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock, then on to Concord to confiscate the weapons stored there by the Minuteman. By the time they got to Concord, they found the Minuteman waiting for them, weapons in hand. They fired at the British, fought them, and beat them. From that battle came the American Revolution. There’s an Arabic word to describe what those Minutemen did that day. That word is: JIHAD, and this is what my trial was about.
All those videos and translations and childish bickering over ‘Oh, he translated this paragraph’ and ‘Oh, he edited that sentence,’ and all those exhibits revolved around a single issue: Muslims who were defending themselves against American soldiers doing to them exactly what the British did to America. It was made crystal clear at trial that I never, ever plotted to “kill Americans” at shopping malls or whatever the story was. The government’s own witnesses contradicted this claim, and we put expert after expert up on that stand, who spent hours dissecting my every written word, who explained my beliefs. Further, when I was free, the government sent an undercover agent to prod me into one of their little “terror plots,” but I refused to participate. Mysteriously, however, the jury never heard this.

So, this trial was not about my position on Muslims killing American civilians. It was about my position on Americans killing Muslim civilians, which is that Muslims should defend their lands from foreign invaders – Soviets, Americans, or Martians. This is what I believe. It’s what I’ve always believed, and what I will always believe. This is not terrorism, and it’s not extremism. It’s what the arrows on that seal above your head represent: defense of the homeland. So, I disagree with my lawyers when they say that you don’t have to agree with my beliefs – no. Anyone with commonsense and humanity has no choice but to agree with me. If someone breaks into your home to rob you and harm your family, logic dictates that you do whatever it takes to expel that invader from your home.
But when that home is a Muslim land, and that invader is the US military, for some reason the standards suddenly change. Common sense is renamed ”terrorism” and the people defending themselves against those who come to kill them from across the ocean become “the terrorists” who are ”killing Americans.” The mentality that America was victimized with when British soldiers walked these streets 2 ½ centuries ago is the same mentality Muslims are victimized by as American soldiers walk their streets today. It’s the mentality of colonialism.

When Sgt. Bales shot those Afghans to death last month, all of the focus in the media was on him-his life, his stress, his PTSD, the mortgage on his home-as if he was the victim. Very little sympathy was expressed for the people he actually killed, as if they’re not real, they’re not humans. Unfortunately, this mentality trickles down to everyone in society, whether or not they realize it. Even with my lawyers, it took nearly two years of discussing, explaining, and clarifying before they were finally able to think outside the box and at least ostensibly accept the logic in what I was saying. Two years! If it took that long for people so intelligent, whose job it is to defend me, to de-program themselves, then to throw me in front of a randomly selected jury under the premise that they’re my “impartial peers,” I mean, come on. I wasn’t tried before a jury of my peers because with the mentality gripping America today, I have no peers. Counting on this fact, the government prosecuted me – not because they needed to, but simply because they could.

I learned one more thing in history class: America has historically supported the most unjust policies against its minorities – practices that were even protected by the law – only to look back later and ask: ’what were we thinking?’ Slavery, Jim Crow, the internment of the Japanese during World War II – each was widely accepted by American society, each was defended by the Supreme Court. But as time passed and America changed, both people and courts looked back and asked ’What were we thinking?’ Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the South African government, and given a life sentence. But time passed, the world changed, they realized how oppressive their policies were, that it was not he who was the terrorist, and they released him from prison. He even became president. So, everything is subjective - even this whole business of “terrorism” and who is a “terrorist.” It all depends on the time and place and who the superpower happens to be at the moment.

In your eyes, I’m a terrorist, and it’s perfectly reasonable that I be standing here in an orange jumpsuit. But one day, America will change and people will recognize this day for what it is. They will look at how hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed and maimed by the US military in foreign countries, yet somehow I’m the one going to prison for “conspiring to kill and maim” in those countries – because I support the Mujahidin defending those people. They will look back on how the government spent millions of dollars to imprison me as a ”terrorist,” yet if we were to somehow bring Abeer al-Janabi back to life in the moment she was being gang-raped by your soldiers, to put her on that witness stand and ask her who the “terrorists” are, she sure wouldn’t be pointing at me.

The government says that I was obsessed with violence, obsessed with ”killing Americans.” But, as a Muslim living in these times, I can think of a lie no more ironic.

-Tarek Mehanna
4/12/12

format_quote Originally Posted by Abu Loren

I almost forgot, just look at the comments made by racists on that web page. This gives them plenty of ammonition to slander Islam.

Btw Mr. Jedi I think you have a fan.

Weak argument, the ones who like my posts just agree with me. I dont let myself be brainwashed by the enemies of Allah subhana wa'a ta'ala, the media, The UK government et cetera.

Its your choice to believe this article, but remember you are accountable for the things you say. I dont want to call them animals nor do i support them, the media has guilty of this been in the past. Remember Sheikh Anwar Al-awlaki, Shaker Aamer, Abu qatada, Aafia siddique, tarek Mehanna?

The UK and the media potrayed them as terrorists without charge and evidence. Ofcourse there are fools between us, but they themselves are armed by intelligence agencies, i dont think they could get this hardware without the help of Mi6.

See from your heart, not from your eyes. As your eyes will decieve you.

format_quote Originally Posted by cOsMiCiNtUiTiOn

@Abu Loren, it's called support, not fanaticism.


... Don't be so quick as to follow and believe what the media says, they are the ones who control the wars we have going on by fueling sides and creating more division and confusion. It's quite disturbing to see Muslims falling for it.

And it is equally disturbing to see Muslims blaming other people instead of accepting accountability and responsibility for their actions. We can concoct all kinds of elaborate stories and consipracy theories to help us avoid blame and place it on someone else as many times and for as many days as we like. And sometimes yes, there is grounds for that as brother Jedi Mindset has shown in his examples. But not all the time.

Sometimes, a Muslim is actually guilty of a crime (in this case, they are 100% in question guilty as charged - they even admitted it!) - and we have to allow justice to take place.

70 excuses, innocent until proven guilty and erring on the side of caution are all part of Islamic teachings, but as Muslims we also believe in justice in the law and justice in the land. If certain Muslims (or non-muslims for that matter) are conspiring to kill non-combatant/innocent people and cause destruction in their lands of residence, then I am sorry I cannot forgive nor excuse that - justice must be done.

format_quote Originally Posted by aamirsaab

Sometimes, a Muslim is actually guilty of a crime (in this case, they are 100% in question guilty as charged - they even admitted it!) - and we have to allow justice to take place.

They also claimed aafia siddique admitted it.

format_quote Originally Posted by Jedi_Mindset

They also claimed aafia siddique admitted it.

1:43 in the video linked in first post.
"Their defense said really this plot was nothing more than bluster. That they were trying to act big and never would follow through on their threats."

This is their own defence saying that. Not the bbc, itv, governemnt or military. Their own lawyers admitted they did this (training camps, bomb making material etc) and when it got to crunch time, they tried to pass it off as a joke. In a court of law, they passed it off as a joke.

These three have already made a mockery out of the justice system (it was just a joke to them) and our religion by defrauding their own community and turning charity money into haram (naudhubilah - these are heinous crimes for a Muslim to even think about let alone commit). Don't let them make a mockery out of you.