Afia Siddiqui wants prospective jurors to be subjected to genetic testing in order to ensure that no one with "a Zionist or Israeli background" is on her jury. She asked this of Federal Judge Richard Berman...

After a second outburst, during which she blamed Israel for the 9-11 attacks while simultaneously claiming that she's not an anti-semite, Judge Berman had her removed from the courtroom.

It's not often that I wish I still lived in Manhattan...

Link 1
Link 2

...goes to John Brennan who said regarding Abdulmutallab:

"There is no smoking gun. There was no single piece of intelligence that said, 'this guy is going to get on a plane.'"

Yep.

That's why we have centers where multiple streams of intelligence are to be analyzed - or fused - by analysts representing all the various agencies in the intelligence community. No one is saying there was a single piece of intelligence that would have revealed al-Qaida's plans. There were, however, multiple pieces of intelligence which taken together might have at least resulted in Abdulmutallab being subject to secondary screening, and/or would have resulted in his visa being cancelled.

I'd like to be able to say with confidence that if this had happened in the USA, if Abdul's dad had walked into his local FBI office and told an agent that his kid was radicalized and was last known to be Yemen and had cut off all contact with the family, that this case would have been handled differently. In reality it probably depends on the particular office, and whether the analyst the matter was referred to understands that Yemen truly is the Waziristan of Arabia. In any event, whatever can be uncovered about Abdul after he tried to bring down NW Flight 253 could likely have been uncovered prior to his boarding the flight. If the current rules don't allow such an investigation to occur, they need to change. And to the extent current leadership in the various agencies discourage the pursuit of such leads, those people need to leave - preferably on a commercial airline flight.

My preliminary bibliography is here... [Updated 31 December 2009]

Being a rather chatty fellow, he'll either say something soon or he might really be dead.

Yemen Says Warplanes Raided al-Qaida Meeting, Killing 30

The meeting wasn't at just any home...

Yemeni air strike kills 30, targets home of cleric linked to Ft. Hood attack

FoxNews waxes optimistic...

Imam Linked to Ft. Hood Rampage Believed to Be Among 30 Al Qaeda Killed in Airstrike

As yet, however, no carcass has been put on display.

The attack came shortly after al-Jazeera conducted and then published a "final" interview with Awlaki...

http://www.aljazeera.net

Jane has posted the MEMRI translation of the interview here...

Air Strike in Yemen Targets Al Qaeda Meeting at Home of Anwar Awlaki

And finally, Bill Roggio's sources aren't talking...

Yemeni airstrike targets top al Qaeda leaders

What B. Raman said...

Perhaps this is just a case of bad reporting, but note in the following that Hizb ut-Tahrir official Maher Al-Jibari is also described as a Palestinian Islamic Jihad press officer. Also note that he worked out of the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron, meaning he had academic cover to use internationally.

From Ma'an:

Hebron – Ma’an – Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces opened fire on a car driven by an official in the pacifist Islamist movement Hizb Ut-Tahrir on Monday night, officials said.

Shots were fired at Maher Al-Jabari, one of Islamic Jihad's press officers, moments before he was arrested by PA security services near his office at the Palestine Polytechnic University in the West Bank city of Hebron.

In a statement about the incident, Hizb Ut-Tahrir said Al-Jabari was also assaulted during the arrest. He is now being held at an unknown location.

A PA security official told Ma’an that Al-Jabari failed to obey a police order to stop his car, and while trying to escape crashed his vehicle into three other cars.

The source, who insisted on anonymity, said PA officers fired in the air to force Al-Jabari to stop, he was then arrested and taken to a detention center. The official also noted that there was a standing order to arrest Al-Jabari on sight.

Last Thursday Hizb Ut-Tahrir reported that the PA surrounded Al-Jabari’s house in Hebron in a bid to arrest him, but then left the area without doing so.

In Bosnia simple possession of "anti-tank mines, laser sights, various electronic equipment, topographic maps and bomb-making manuals, explosives and munitions" will not result in criminal charges (though I get the impression the authorities *will* seize the offending items).

If at first you don't succeed try and charge again...

HT: Marisa Urgo, who had a "snow day" and went out on the Internet to play.

Fox News aids and abets.

One expects headlines like this from Workers World, following recent events in Detroit where an Imam lost a gun fight with the FBI:

FBI agents assassinate Michigan Islamic leader

The AP, however, offered up a similarly fact-free headline (found at FoxNews.com):

See also: FBI 'murdered' radical Detroit imam, according to AP

From: FBI Detroit

FBI K-9 Killed in the Line of Duty

On October 28, 2009, Federal Bureau of Investigation K-9 Freddy lost his life in the line of duty. Freddy will be returned home to Quantico, Virginia. A memorial will be held at Quantico and Freddy's name will be added to a memorial wall.

Freddy was a Belgian Malinois. Freddy was born on February 17, 2007 and entered on duty with the FBI on September 8, 2008. In the line of duty, Freddy gave his life for his team. He will be missed by his FBI family.

Anyone who wishes to send a card to Freddy's team members, please send them to the address below and they will be forwarded to the team:

Freddy's Team
c/o FBI
477 Michigan Avenue, 26th Floor
Detroit, Michigan 48226

Anyone wishing to donate money to a K-9 Law Enforcement Memorial in the memory of Freddy:

FBI Agents Association
Attn: K9 Fund-Freddy
PO Box 12650
Arlington, VA 22219

 
K-9 Freddy, killed in action in a raid targetting the "Ummah" organization in Detroit

Lugman Ameen Abdullah, the magic money-laundering Imam

From United States of America v. Luqman Ameen Abdullah et al (Criminal Complaint)

See also: Ummah Detroit investigation bibliography