Resident Finds Backpack w/Arabic Notebook (short Title)

The Sierra Vista Herald | February 12, 2003 | Bill Hess

[HiJinx]

On his property, resident finds backpack
containing diary with Arabic writing

By Bill Hess
Herald/Review

Hereford, AZ -- It is not unusual to find backpacks near their home, but a local man and his wife were surprised to find one that contained a diary written in Arabic.

Click to see a (much) larger scan of this photo.

Walter Kolbe said he was chasing some javelinas away from his home Thursday when he stumbled upon the backpack. He said he brought it home and didn't think much about the find.

He and his wife, May, went away for the weekend. When they returned Sunday, his wife's curiosity led her to look into the backpack. That's when she discovered the diary.

A path used by illegal immigrants is on their property, which is on the east side of the San Pedro River, Walter said.

"I found it (the backpack) about a hundred yards from the house, near a barbed-wire fence," he said. "I was just going to throw it in the trash."

After his wife went through the backpack, which included dirty clothing, they decided not to discard the material because of the diary.

Most of the writing was in Arabic, though there was some Spanish writing in it as well, May Kolbe said.

Looking through the small book, she noticed two names and telephone numbers -- one listing in Canada and the other Iran -- and confirmed the beginning numbers were the international codes for those two countries.

Walter Kolbe called the FBI on Monday morning and agreed to bring the diary by the local office the next time he was in Sierra Vista. The FBI representative also told him that if the agent with responsibility for terrorism investigation thought the diary was important they would make arrangements to pick it up.

Such turned out to be the case. An agent called Tuesday and said they would show up to pick up the material, which they did that morning.

The Kolbes said they wonder how many Middle Eastern people are coming into the United States illegally.

Rob Daniels, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said he is not allowed to talk about the number of non-Mexicans his agency detains.

"We can't get into specifics about the number," Daniels said.

Mario Villarreal, (sic) a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol headquarters in Washington, D.C., said 99.4 percent of the 955,310 people apprehended by the agency from Oct. 1, 2001, through Sept. 30, 2002, were from the Americas, which includes Canada, Mexico and other Central and South American nations. The remainder comes from 140 countries, he said.

"Because of 9-11 (the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001) there has ben restrictions and guidelines when talking about special interest countries," he said.

The decision not to be specific about how many people come from the Middle East is a directive of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, he said.

However, the Border Patrol continues to seek information about illegal immigrants and individuals are encouraged to call (877) 872-7435.

[Allan]

I used to know a little Farsi (Persian)
but my knowledge of Arabic is minimal.
(The languages are totally different
even though they use the same alphabet).
The document is not Persian
probably is Arabic
judging from a couple prepositions and conjunctions
which I recognize.

[FreedomPoster]

Index bump - will look for your translation later.

[Allan]

The "W" is just the conjunction "AND",
and the "A" on the left is the beginning of the next word:
(iktitousa, or something like that).
The script is very sloppy
looks almost like shorthand
and it is very difficult to make out the individual letters
let alone whole words.
(I have a dictionary,
but the writing is not clear enough
to make out individual words).
I see nothing that looks like a name
not do I see any common religious words
or expressions.
(Allah, Akhbar, etc.)

[Stand_Up]

"It looks like some has been erased and rewritten"
No. It looks like a very damp pen or marker written on thin paper

[Allan]

The document is not in Farsi.

The word "KOUL" is clearly written.

"KOUL" in Arabic means "WHO".

It is not a Farsi (Persian) word.

[HiJinx]

Thank you for the time you've taken to educate many of us.

[Jim Noble]

Here's my Homeland Security Alert plan:

Condition Green: Locate and register all visiting nationals from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Pakistan.

Condition Blue: No new visas from those countries. All permanent residents ("green card" holders) required to register and report any movements.

Condition Yellow: All visas cancelled. No entry into the United States from those countries. All "green cards" previously granted cancelled and re-application required.

Condition Orange: Require male nationals aged 15-55 of these countries to report to detention centers. All local LEOs to cooperate in locating and detaining enemy aliens.

Condition Red: Shoot on sight.

[cavtrooper21]

yea, I know its not farsi - now.... got the email just before logging on here. Thought it might be. Oh well.

[cavtrooper21]

My friend says its not Farsi, but Arabic. She says the script is "well formed" (?) indicating a well educated writer. She also pointed out (her Arabic is limited) that there are "loan words" in the text which make it hard to pin down the country of origin. Best I could do, sorry guys...

[Illbay]

So can anyone interpret the fragment there in the photo? Seems clear enough to be able to do so.

My Arabic's a bit rusty.

[cavtrooper21]

Its not funny. The government does not want to do anything about illegals. They want you to be scared. They want you to demand protection. They then pass more laws giving them more control, sit back and let more illegals in, and the public complains, more laws, more control. Then one fine day they show up at your house, shoot you for "disrespect of a Federal official" drag your wife and kids off to a political "re-education" facility, your youngest gets "adopted" by "loyal citizens" and you are declared an unperson... The government has more power that it could ever need stop the illegals, all the laws to convict or deport them. Any new law or granting of powers is for use against us.

[ChemistCat]

As long as you can say that out loud in a way that is traceable to you, we're not there yet.

[Spiff]

Please note: Walter Kolbe is Congressman Jim Kolbe's (RINO-AZ) brother. He owns land and a bed and breakfast in the Hereford area right near the border.

[cavtrooper21]

as you say, YET....

[ChemistCat]

I do NOT deny we're headed in that general direction, and both parties are doing it.

However, liberty has always diminished in time of war. Our Constitution, so far, has always been able to steer us back on the right course.

[Spiff]

Yes, the US Army Intelligence Center is located at Fort Huachuca. On the installation you will also find the Army Network Operations and Security Center (ANOSC) and the CONUS Theater Network Operations and Security Center (TNOSC) there as well as the United States Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM)/9th Army Signal Command. If you understand the missions of these organizations, you would see how sensitive the area is.

[Spiff]

Could Walter Kolbe be related to our Congressman Kolbe??? Oh that would be just too good!!

See post 76. Walter is RINO scum Jim Kolbe's brother.