Posted on 03/29/2013 12:58:58 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
A former American soldier who admitted to fighting for al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria has been arrested and charged with "conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside of the United States." Harroun's arrest and the account of his short time fighting for the Al Nusrah Front highlight some of the terror group's close links to the Free Syrian Army, the so-called secular fighting force that is being backed by the US.
Harroun, a Muslim convert known in Syria as "the American," fought for both the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda in Iraq's affiliate in Syria, and the Free Syrian Army. He appeared in a videotape that was released earlier this month showing him at the scene of a downed Syrian helicopter.
The FBI arrested Harroun two days ago at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. after he cleared customs. He "conducted a voluntary interview of Harroun in a non-custodial setting" after entering the US, according to an affidavit that was released yesterday. Harroun was also interviewed three times in March at the US Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. In the interviews, Harroun admitted to fighting for the Al Nusrah Front.
The affidavit stated that "while he was fighting with the al Nusrah Front in Syria, he knew that the al Nusrah Front had been designated by the United States as a terrorist organization." He claimed that members of the Nusrah Front were perplexed about the US's designation of the group, as it "was primarily made of non-Syrians."
Harroun noted that he "could identify al-Nusrah Front members because they had black flags sewn onto their clothing and drove in vehicles bearing black flags."
(Excerpt) Read more at longwarjournal.org ...
Lets just hope he wasn’t following orders in doing so.
As I recall, the black flag is or is also the flag of Al Queda. Two groups with the same flag ...
There is some weirdness about this story. Apparently he has not been charged with anything directly terrorism related, but because of a YouTube video of him in Syria, firing a rocket propelled grenade, aka an RPG.
So he has been charged with the equivalent of: “Using a weapon of mass destruction.”
Importantly, statements by both him and his father are confused, to the effect of: “But I/we thought I/he was working for the CIA!”
Comments elsewhere are to the effect of that somebody in the CIA thought up this plan and executed it without clearance, then someone higher up pulled the plug on it.
And this guy is an embarrassment because he was on YouTube, which sort of negates the “plausible deniability” thing.
Probably the only confirmation of this would be if his case suddenly drops off the radar.
This is a really goofy story. Is the guy mentally disabled?
I remember reading something on Drudge a few weeks back where this punk was receiving disability bennies for his prior U.S. military service.
Here's a quote from the link: "His father, Darryl Harroun, told FoxNews.com that his son was discharged from the Army after he was seriously injured while riding in a pickup truck that hit a tree. He was left with full disability pay and a steel plate in his head, according to his father.
"Now he has mood swings and what-not," said Darryl Harroun, who lives in Arizona and talks to his son by phone frequently. "He was already suffering from depression before that, and the accident just kind of multiplied it."
No, he just adopted a wicked ideology.
Has a metal plate in his head due to an accident in the military. His father said he was battling with depression before the accident, and it has only gotten worse since they put a metal plate in his head.
So he’s another mentally disabled person caught up in jihad? That seems to be the pattern here in all these “terrorism” busts.
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