Posted on 06/15/2007 8:24:22 AM PDT by Stoat
Seven members of a terror cell run by Al Qaeda "general" Dhiren Barot have been jailed for a total of 136 years.
The group were vital to Barot's deadly plans to attack the UK and the US, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
Barot was jailed for life last year for plotting to kill "hundreds if not thousands" of people using explosives-packed limousines and a "dirty" radiation bomb.
Jailed (left-right): Abdul Aziz Jalil, Qaisar Shaffi, Omar Abdur Rehman
Sentencing the men at Woolwich Crown Court, Mr Justice Butterfield said: "Barot was the instigator of this terrorist planning, he was by some considerable distance the principal participant in the conspiracy.
"Each one of you was recruited by Barot and assisted him at his request."
"Anyone who chooses to participate in such a plan ... will receive little sympathy from the courts."
Jailed: (left-right): Nadeem Tarmohamed, Junade Feroze, Zia Ul Haq, Mohammed Naveed Bhatti
The judge told the defendants the suffering their families would experience "is but a tiny fraction of the suffering that would have been experienced had your plans been translated into reality".
Abdul Aziz Jalil, 34, from Luton, Bedfordshire, was jailed for 26 years, Junade Feroze, 31, from Blackburn, Lancashire, for 22 years.
Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 27, from Harrow, north London and Nadeem Tarmohamed, 29, from Willesden, north west London, were caged for 20 years each.
Zia Ul Haq, 28, from Paddington, west London, was given 18 years and Omar Abdur Rehman, 23, from Bushey, Hertfordshire, along with Qaisar Shaffi, 28, from Willesden, north west London, were handed 15 year sentences.
Shaffi was convicted of conspiracy to murder after a month-long trial which ended earlier this week.
The other six pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.
Muslim convert Barot planned co-ordinated attacks on symbolic buildings in three different cities on the eastern seaboard of the US, including the New York Stock Exchange and the World Bank, the south east London court was told.
Blueprints for these attacks were then refined and developed into plans for a series of attacks on buildings in London and the capital's transport systems.
Possible targets were the Heathrow Express or an explosion on a Tube train whilst in a tunnel under the Thames, it was said.
In spring 2004, the UK plans were completed and Barot went to Pakistan.
The timing suggests the purpose of the trip was to present his proposals to the al Qaeda leadership for support and funding, said Johnathan Laidlaw, for the Crown.
But in the summer of that year, the four-year conspiracy came to an end with the men's arrests.
Barot's team gave him the help he needed to make it possible for him to operate in this country and produce the terrorist plans.
"They were amongst his trusted few. They were his support team," Mr Laidlaw said.
"We do not suggest it was just these seven men - there may have been others - but these men were the most prominent amongst that team."
While Barot "lived in the shadows", planning the attacks, he needed the help "of those who could provide him with accommodation, false identities, access to false bank accounts, who could provide a place of storage for his plans and research material and access to computers etc", the barrister said.
He also needed minders and drivers - roles Jalil, Bhatti and Feroze fulfilled at various points - and people who could look after him as he carried out reconnaissance, as well as those who were prepared to run errands for him, the court was told.
The seven defendants did not produce the plans for the attacks and nor were they the instigators of them.
They were, it was said, "substantially subordinate" to Barot - who was at "General rank" - with Feroze, Jalil and Tarmohamed the next rank down as "Lieutenants", and the others holding more junior positions.
Mr Justice Butterfield said he had "suspicions" that some of the men may have recruited others to the terror cell.
But he pointed out that it was "certainly a possibility that the plans would not have been executed at all".
Dirty bomb plotters jailed for 136 years Uk News News Telegraph
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Profiles The Harrow gang Uk News News Telegraph
Profiles: The Harrow gangBy Duncan Gardham Last Updated: 12:32pm BST 15/06/2007
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What a total waste of jail space. Seven bullets would save the British taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds.
So, John Edwards, the War On Terror is "just a bumper-sticker phrase" ?
Your idiocy is not only breathtaking but is a danger to the entire planet.
So has the Political Left gone into their usual denial of uncomfortable reality mode and claim it is all a govt plot yet?
Agreed, but there doesn't appear to be the political will (on either side of the pond) to invoke such commonsense and practical solutions. We are still not taking this war seriously.
This will undoubtedly happen soon. The "usual suspects" will manufacture conspiracies using all manner of nonexistent or twisted data to put the blame on President Bush, somehow.
Yes, and if we weren't in Iraq, we would be told that it's because we're "isolationists" and "not engaging with the international community" and "not leading with positive international policy initiatives".
We are still not taking this war seriously.Sometimes, when trying to work up a charitable feeling towards our President, I wonder if he isn't totally caving to the RATS on everything involving our security merely in order to set us up for the big one, the final terrorist attack that will finally unify us.
But of course, that would be a) giving Bush too much credit, and b) accusing him of being willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands or millions of Americans.
And I don't want to do either of those things.
Look at these faces. They are coming to a neighborhood near you. Soon. And for the rest of your life.
Hasidim or Amish again?
I have trouble seeing such malice in President Bush. My feeling is that his collaboration with the Socialists is borne out of an honest but misguided and naive desire to 'work together', but he clearly doesn't appreciate the evil foundations of the Left, and of their desire to win at all costs. He wants to accentuate the positive whenever possible and try to find the good in others, as is Judeo / Christian tradition, but he obviously doesn't appreciate the tenacity, inherent evil and thinly-disguised ill will on the American Left. He should have 'cleaned house' completely upon attaining the Presidency rather than trying to extend a Christian hand of kindness, which as been bitten by the Left at every opportunity. He doesn't understand that the Left isn't interested in working together or in being friends; they are only interested in gaining power, and however many people die as a result is just part of the necessary process as far as they are concerned.
And our Republican Congressmen have been equally naive.
That being said, his naiveté and misplaced kindness may indeed produce the same end result as your hypothetical suggestion, which I know you don't subscribe to.
Look at these faces. They are coming to a neighborhood near you. Soon. And for the rest of your life.
Any weird activity perpetrated by jihadists in the USA will be revisited upon them a thousand fold. Muslims had better police their own communities, or better yet drop the notion that they are a separate 'community' and embrace America and American values, and do it fast.
Yes, those pesky Amish are always causing trouble! Everybody knows that their horse-drawn carriages are all packed with explosives and poised for terror attacks at any moment!
An essential component to the equation that many ignore or minimize in terms of it's importance.
I didn’t mean to imply that we will be as helpless a the disarmed Brits and Eurotrash. But rather, with nearly all hour elected leaders so hell-bent on opening the border to everyone, from everywhere, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of these faces around town as time goes on.
That’s all I’m saying.
You’re right. I was just thinking out loud. I don’t think Bush is really doing things on purpose, to purposely set up the next terror attack, so that then America will finally unite and fight back.
You are right. He’s just acting like the typical simple tool who wants to be great friends with everybody, including all the traitors in our midst that hate his guts anyway, have always hated his guts, and will continue to hate his guts no matter how much he panders to them.
It’s just when I see him react to that hatred by increasing his pander to every higher levels, I can’t help thinking he’s trying to lose on purpose. I know it’s an errant thought. But I can’t help it. Sometimes, seeing the unbelievably counter-productive way he and his whole team behaves, makes me wonder about the motivation sometimes.
But again, I’m sure you’re right.
I understand; and I apologize if I conveyed an alternate impression. No offense, unkindness or accusation was intended :-)
It’s just when I see him react to that hatred by increasing his pander to every higher levels,
I have known quite a few devout Christians (oftentimes Evangelicals) as well as some Mormons who place an EXTREMELY high emphasis on "turning the other cheek" and reacting to rude behavior, unkindness and sometimes pure evil put forth by others by increasing their kindness and working toward leading bad people through their own good examples of tolerance, forgiveness and a strong appreciation of redemption. I am assuming that many Quakers might be similarly inclined, but I'm embarrassed to say that I have knowingly met only three Quakers on any more than superficial circumstances and so my experience there is woefully inadequate.
There's quite a range of opinion on this sort of thing within Christianity, as evidenced by some of our greatest and most formidable military leaders such as Generals Washington, Patton and many others who were very devoutly Christian yet quite effective and relentless in using force against an enemy. President Bush is resolute in pursuing the War on Terror but, as we all have seen, slow to slap down America's enemies here at home.
I believe that much of this rests on the weight given to The Golden Rule, but unfortunately my knowledge of other Scriptural relationships to these issues and how they might be guiding President Bush in his actions are inadequate.
Pinging NYer and Salvation to this thread because I believe that you (or another poster...all are welcome of course) will probably be able to provide a much more coherent insight into these sorts of issues as they relate to Scripture and President Bush's motivations than this scruffy, fleabitten stoat is able to :-)
Look a lot like the old women TSA routinely pats down at airports.
/s
/s
LMAO!
Yes, the glaring disconnect between policy (as driven by politics and political-correctness) and reality is really something isn't it?
My 80 year old mother will be flying to Atlanta to visit her sister in a few days, and she will need to arrive hours early for the rude patdown just like everyone else.
It's not only offensive but a huge waste of tax dollars when one considers how much more effective the preflight screenings would be if they were more targeted.
That would be highly non PC, but you are right. DOWN with PC.
Turning the other cheek when you are slapped is one thing. Forcing an entire nation to turn its other cheek, when it is slapped, is quite another.
And coming down hard on the face of your supporters with your boot-heel is another thing yet again.
Please do not sully the Christian faith by looking there for the motives of what this President has done in recent years in defending and coddling the worst of our adversaries here at home while betraying, at least twice, those who have been his most ardent and zealous supporters.
Bush has made a political calculation. I have read many theories here on this site regarding what that calculation might be. I personally have no idea what the real calculation is. It remains a complete mystery to me. But one thing I am sure of, it does not involve the Christian faith.
Take the case of Libby, just for one small example, to show you how far down Bush has gone and how the reason can’t be Christianity. Here is a man who is being railroaded into prison for making “mistatements” in a case in which the underlying crime isn’t solved, is never going to be solved, and appears, if it were to be solved, to have absolutely nothing to do with the person going to prison. This is a witch-hunt, pure and simple. This case isn’t jurisprudence, it’s a case of Left-Wing Pagan Idolatry.
The Left has created a Pagan god out of the office-worker Valerie Plame and they need a human sacrifice, someone to throw into the mouth of the volcano.
Now, it’s possible that Bush may eventually pardon Libby. But I do not look for him to make a speech condemning the tactics of the Left in this case. And I will not be surprised if there’s no pardon at all.
The fact is, there should be a pardon right now. This is not “turn the other cheek”. This is the Romans throwing a Christian to the lions and Bush obediently opening the lion-cage-door to let the beasts out.
There’s no explaining this. Not by any of us here. Because we are not insiders, we don’t know what all the inside deals are and who he’s cut them with and what’s really going on, in this, the most disappointing administration in the history of the American Republic.
It’s been said that the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
There’s a ring of truth with that regarding Bush, and his dealings with the RATs, but in his case it might be more like this:
Bush never misses an opportunity to pull his enemies back from the edge of the abyss, while deceiving his friends and telling them he’ll save them next.
What a terribly unkind thing to say. OF COURSE I wasn't "sullying the Christian faith", only exploring possible explanations within Scripture for some of President Bush's perspectives for an internet poster who had expressed some confusion in previous posts....not the strident tone that you now project.
The fact is, there should be a pardon right now. This is not “turn the other cheek”.
Of course he should pardon him, and of course the concept of turning the other cheek doesn't even remotely apply here because it's a matter of overturning a bad, politically motivated court decision, not demonstrating the moral superiority of your own position by accepting abuse from others.
There’s no explaining this. Not by any of us here.
If that's how you feel, then I don't see the point in pursuing this any further and I'm not sure why you engaged in the conversation to begin with. In fact, if one can only know the truth about such things by being an "insider" then I fail to see the value of coming to Free Republic or any other political forum at all, because under your definition, public discourse seems to all be irrelevant if someone isn't an "insider".
I wasn’t really arguing with you as much as just trying to make a point about how inexplicable Bush’s actions are. I’m sorry you took my post as a personal criticism of you. I sincerely did not mean it to be.
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