Posted on 07/23/2007 7:16:44 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
PEORIA, Ill. -- The 37-year-old computer science student was racing against a deadline. Just one day after picking up his visa from the U.S. Embassy in Qatar, he boarded a plane with his wife and five small children. The family flew to Chicago, caught a night's sleep at an airport hotel, then squeezed into a taxi for a 200-mile ride through farm country to Peoria. That morning in New York, the twin towers were comin g down.
Within weeks, a string of tips would lead FBI agents to the doorstep of the student, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri. They eventually came to believe that he was al-Qaeda's senior operative in the United States, a sleeper agent who made an unexplained one-day trip to New York City in the summer of 2000 and who was planning a second wave of attacks...
The president said the intelligence community believes that among Marri's potential targets were "water reservoirs, the New York Stock Exchange and United States military academies such as this one."
...He remains at a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C...
What was behind his travels between Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and the United States? What was the purpose of his computer research on hacking, and on how to buy and mix large quantities of chemicals into deadly hydrogen cyanide gas? Why did he possess more than 1,000 stolen credit card numbers? Does he have a connection to Dhiren Barot, the now-jailed British al-Qaeda leader who plotted to blow up buildings in the United States and England, and who may have inspired last month's attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow?
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
history researchers in years to come after sealed files become available, will be amazed at how many terrorist plots have been neutralized by the FBI.
The agents today may not be up to the caliber of those who have gone before, but they have and are doing a terrific job. One day we will see, or at least our kids will see.
This year another 15,000 Saudi “students” were admitted to U.S. colleges and universities in spite of the common histories of these infiltrators doing the same in the ‘90s. Are we suicidal?
Hmmm...I guess Mr. Savage expects all people accused of terrorism to always tell the truth, even when they have a smoking gun in their hand.
Did you read the part about the computer that he managed to get rid of? The “teacher” who helped him, portrayed by the Post as an innocent pawn, should be arrested too.
My guess is that the FBI is watching him fairly closely.
I read this a few days ago but if I recall correctly, the “teacher” was turned over to the Saudis who would not let us be present for his questioning; and the guy is now in Scotland studying for a Ph.D. We, including the Brits, are all nuts.
How long do they keep them sealed? I’m hoping to be alive when they are unsealed!
The FBI and Scotland Yard have been able to “turn” some of these characters. Things are not always as they seem.
- and sometimes they are!!!
- well after the War on Terror is over - maybe 10 to 20 years from now.
To do otherwise gives the enemy too much info. One of the bigtime problems with fighting the war now is the constant, traitorous leaks to the media, including internet. Who needs to spy on US targets anymore, all they need is a subscription to the New York Times and Google access - and you can be assured they do.
Right. But you are more likely to go broke betting that our governments have their acts together than that they don’t.
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