Oh boy, here we go — terrorists in NC! TV news should have a field day. Considering the feds’ past record with supposed “terrorist cells” in America, forgive my skepticism. OK, maybe the feds know what they’re doing this time, and these 7 guys are really who the government says they are. Maybe a drywall installer in Willow Spring, N.C., did lead a group that was dedicated to waging jihad, or at least to “supporting” it, in the Middle East (not in the U.S., according to the indictment). The next few days may bring enough details out into the open to clear things up. But after reading the indictment, my feeling is that this thing looks iffy and, at the very least, very odd.
The indictment says that Daniel Boyd, the drywall guy who allegedly led the group, fought in Afghanistan between 1989 and 1992 against the Soviet occupation of that country. But the Soviets had entirely withdrawn from Afghanistan by February 1989, so that story is likely not true. The CIA, however, ran operations there until 1992, so maybe Boyd was with them — which opens the possibility that Boyd’s “conspiracy” is another example of “blowback.”
The Associated Press reports that Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in Pakistan in 1991, while carrrying I.D. that indicated they belonged to the Afghan guerilla group Hezb-I-Islam. Pakistan’s supreme court overturned their convictions. A quick Google search revealed the probable reason for the court’s ruling, as Pakistani intelligence services at the time supported Hezb-I-Islam’s efforts to dislodge the new post-Soviet government in Afghanistan.
It’s also striking that this is the entire list of evidence so far, as outlined in the indictment: Fund-raising for and travel to Israel and Pakistan; a collection of military-style weapons; and their training in military tactics on private land in Caswell County. Rest assured that this is one weird story we’ll be tracking and reporting on in the future.
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 4, 2009.
More govt entrapment? Probably.
While I am not going to comment on the story, due to lack of information (Obama could take a page from my book), it seems as if John Grooms believes it ridiculous that people living in a two story home with a white fence and pretty yard to be terrorists. Well, Mr. Grooms, what should a terrorist den look like?
dear iamjamieq and Frank Griffin-
Looks like he worked for the CIA in Pakistan from 1989 to 1992 and was rewarded for his work by immigrating to the USA- now the CIA/FEMA has gone thru all old records of possible patsies they can turn into so called criminals. and the whole intention of letting him come here was for them to “use” him someday to blame something on.
Working for the CIA, he used guns and he still likes them and has a hobby. Perfect material to scare the Americans like you who watch untruthful, unjournalistic mainstream TV – whose audience will never know the truth and thinks he planned to kill Americans because now it will die down- and he will be vindicated and it will never be reported but his reputation will be ruined. If that is the best FEMA and DHS can come up with, it just proves there are no “terrorists” in this country.
quakergirl, you are right.This is a game between CIA and FBI,who are bitter rivals(you may want to Google who dominates CIA).FBI busted a group of rabbis for money laundering seven days ago and now this so-called”terrorist” story pops up all over the news.Why? Is it to cover up the real criminal rabbi story in New Jersey and Brooklyn, N.Y. I think so.