25 Islamic Extremists Enter U.S. as Stowaways, Feds Say

FOX via AP ^ | May 13, 2002 | AP via FOX

[snippy_about_it]

WASHINGTON

[snippy_about_it]

I searched for the headline, no hits. Sorry if this is a repeat.

[Miss Marple]

I posted based on what I heard on the Fox News channel, but the headlines aren't the same.

Coast Guard Announces 25 Terrorist Stowaways Loose in US

That's ok. I would like to see this get repeated exposure, as his is a very important story.

[RightWhale]

It's a repeat of sorts, but are there mug shots of these criminals? You know, in case they are spotted driving through the subdivision.

[Asclepius]

... The Coast Guard document says the "25 Islamic extremists" entered through the ports of Miami; Savannah, Ga.; and Long Beach, Calif ...

25? Why only 25? As porous and as poorly defended as our coasts and borders are, you would think the number would be more like 2,500.

[Warren]

No cause for alarm here. I have been assured that Muslim is a peaceful religion.

[snippy_about_it]

I figured it couldn't have slipped by!

[cardinal4]

No cause for alarm here. I have been assured that Muslim is a peaceful religion.

Me,too. Osama Bin-Laden said so.

[apackof2]

Why only 25? As porous and as poorly defended as our
coasts and borders are,
you would think the number would be more like 2,500.

Unfortuntely you are correct and it has been a long term problem.
And perhaps it is a lot more than 25

[SolitaryMan]

Ping!

[blackdog]

Something is fishy here. Why 25? Why extremists? How many non-extremists? Do they fill out arrival forms or something, you know, for like an Islamic gift registry? How does one confirm 25, 250, 2500? This is like Clinton's 100,000 cops program. Quantifying is impossible. Announcing it as such only makes them look stupid.

[mafree]

And Bush accepted a Koran from someone after 9/11 so Islam must be cool (/sarcasm).

[MarMema]

The U.S. Coast Guard has notified federal, state, and local officials that it has received intelligence information that the extremists have entered the U.S. on "prominent commercial cargo vessels

Well here ya go, strike #2 is in the works.

[TheLurkerX]

My father said he heard something on the news about a Mexican Kenworth hauling cyanide that was hijacked. He also said they found some truck in Washington with residue of TNT on the wheel and C4 on the gear shift. Anybody else heard it?

[jaso]

The Coast Guard has a intelligence gathering department? Must be feeling left out of the booga-booga!

[Amerigomag]

Guess the members of various state militias will be spending their 4th of July holiday near public reactors.

Gray Davis is probably going to have to ask Bush for help since he probably can't pay his California National Guard troops.

[Salman]

25? Why only 25? As porous and as poorly defended as our coasts and borders are, you would think the number would be more like 2,500.

The number 25 may be bogus, but I'm guessing the 25 represents a single group that they have some specific information about.

[Grut]

Something is fishy here. Why 25? Why extremists? How many non-extremists?

Good points. This may just be the Coast Guard jumping up and down, waving its hands and shouting "Here we are! Here we are!" at Congressional budgeters.

[Mixer]

Why only 25? As porous and as poorly defended as our coasts and borders are, you would think the number would be more like 2,500.

Unfortuntely you are correct and it has been a long term problem. And perhaps it is a lot more than 25

Yes I would say that this is the number that they KNOW of. Not the total number.

[goldstategop]

Must have sailed from Karachi. Where these Osama's boys?

[John H K]

Why only 25? As porous and as poorly defended as our coasts and borders are, you would think the number would be more like 2,500.

The best guess from reliable people who aren't hype-mongers (strategypage.com) is that, WORLDWIDE, there are only about 100 total Al Qaeda international terror operatives (as opposed to Al Quaeda footsoldiers in Afghanistan, who didn't get nearly as much training) that are still at large.

As we've seen, just 20 of them are extremely dangerous. But despite what people seem to (hope?!?!?) is true, every other Muslim or Arab isn't an actual Al Qaeda operative, and there certainly are not THOUSANDS of Muslim terrorists in the US...if there were, they're remarkably lazy and unmotivated, considering how incredibly rare Arab/Muslim terrorist attacks in the US are and have been.

And there's something a little fishy about this story...I have a strange feeling it grew in the telling, from originally being 25 people that are on a watch list because they might be associated with someone who knows a guy who is a friend of a family that harbored a guy who knew a guy that was Al Qaeda, to 25 hard-core Islamic radicals.