From Jihad Watch:
Video released of failed Dallas bomber expressing his devotion to jihad, bin Laden
No link parameter has been supplied for this player
As this story notes, he stated in his perfunctory apology that "Osama bin Laden is a bad man. I hate terrorism and will have nothing to do with this again."
That is what he said to try and get a reduced sentence (which, unfortunately, he did), after trying to kill -- and fully believing at the time that he was in the process of killing -- up to 2000 people inside a 60-story glass skyscraper, not to mention everyone in the path of the blast and shrapnel. And of course, that statement came after he got caught. That tends to make people really, really sorry.
"Dallas bomber's message to 'beloved' bin Laden," by Rebecca Lopez for WFAA, October 20:
DALLAS -- Hosam Smadi, who was convicted of attempting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper, said during his trial that Osama bin Laden is a "bad man."
But a video released on Wednesday -- after his sentencing -- tells a different story.
Smadi taped a message in Arabic to Osama bin Laden in which he praises the the world's best-known terrorist and proclaims his loyalty. At one point, he glorifies the September 11 attacks.
The video was made with the help of undercover FBI agents.
A translation of the tape was provided by the U.S. Attorney's office. Smadi says:
"May peace, Allah's mercy and blessing be upon you."
The 20-year-old Smadi was praising Bin Laden and eagerly trying to please him.
"Allah has facilitated it for me to join your organization from inside the enemy's midst."
Smadi was living in Ellis County and working at a restaurant when he came to the attention of FBI agents through an Islamic extremist forum. In the tape, Smadi tells bin Laden:
"You are more beloved to me than my father and mother."
On Tuesday, Smadi was sentenced to 24 years in prison for trying to blow up the Fountain Place office tower last year, hoping to become infamous -- like the 9/11 terrorists.
"The date of the blessed strikes, September 11, was a celebration for us. So let us make another date become a celebration for us that history will mark for us."
On the tape, Smadi goes on to bless bin Laden for what he calls "good deeds in the name of Allah."
The U.S. Attorney's office also released e-mails and hundreds of other documents related to this case. Some of those e-mails were sent to undercover agents as Smadi planned his attack.Posted by Marisol on October 20, 2010 7:24 PM
And, related:
Failed Dallas bomber is latest in a long line of jihadists claiming mental illness while on trial
Often, such claims reach a willing audience: those who want to believe with all their might that the case at hand has nothing to do with Islam. Fixating on mental illness as a possible cause allows courts and the media to sidestep Islamic texts' open exhortations to despise, attack, and kill unbelievers. And undoubtedly, at least some jihadists realize that their mindset is so incomprehensible to uninitiated Western readers and listeners that it may well be worth a try to offer what might seem like a plausible excuse to them. Indeed, many sympathizers end up doing just that: making excuses for acts of jihad, as also seen in the international cases mentioned below.
Here are several cases where the "mental illness" card has been played:
Naveed Haq, who went on a shooting rampage at the Jewish Federation in Seattle, saying he was a "soldier of Islam," and telling the 911 dispatcher he was tired of the Muslim point of view being ignored.
Aafia Siddiqui, though she later made a U-turn, perhaps when it appeared not to be working to her advantage.
Nidal Malik Hasan, who was said early on to be possibly suffering from a hitherto-undiscovered form of second-hand Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Another mental evaluation is pending.
Internationally, there is Murat Altun, whom Turkish authorities immediately insisted was mentally unstable after he stabbed and decapitated Bishop Luigi Padovese, the Catholic apostolic vicar for Anatolia, while shouting "Allahu Akbar!" and "I killed the great Satan!"
And in Yemen, there was the case of Abdul Aziz Yahya al-Abdi, who was let off with a fine as "mentally ill" after murdering a Jewish man and explaining: "I killed the Jew ... I have told them in a letter that they should either convert to Islam or leave Yemen, or I would kill them," and that he had killed "for the sake of Allah."
Now, Hossam Smadi joins these ranks of dubious distinction. More on this story. "Dallas bombing plotter Hosam Smadi sentenced to 24 years in prison," by Jason Trahan for the Dallas Morning News, October 19:
A federal judge today sentenced a Jordanian national who tried to blow up a downtown Dallas skyscraper to 24 years in prison, mostly rejecting defense claims that he was mentally ill and unduly influenced by law enforcement agents.
Hosam "Sam" Smadi faced up to 30 years in prison under a plea agreement accepted by U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn. He will be deported to Jordan once he serves his time.
"I can't for the life of me figure out what moved you in this direction," the judge said in delivering the sentence.
"You got some encouragement along the way," she added, referring to FBI agents' interactions with Smadi, "but your actions were yours."
Before the sentence was delivered, Smadi was apologetic, addressing the judge in halting English.
"I'm very sorry for my actions." said Smadi, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit with his hair grown out to shoulder length. "I could not live with myself if I hurt anybody."
The ruling came on the second day of Smadi's sentencing hearing in federal district court. He was arrested on Sept. 24, 2009, by FBI agents who said he dialed a cellphone that he thought would trigger a bomb in the parking garage under the 60-story Fountain Place on Ross Avenue. [...]
"I want you to think about those people in that building whose lives you were prepared to end," she said, referring to the approximately 2,000 people working at Fountain Place on the day he was arrested.
Lynn heard testimony from experts on both sides, including a psychiatrist who reiterated his belief that Smadi was faking symptoms of mental illness, but she ultimately rejected defense claims that he was inapproriately influenced by FBI agents and suffered from schizophrenia.
"I do believe you were vulnerable to influence," she said. "That is not a criticism of law enforcement. I deeply appreciate what law enforcement did."
Defense attorney Peter Fleury said he was disappointed by the sentence but believed the process was fair. He voiced doubts about Smadi's ability to carry out a terror attack.
"I don't think real terrorists would have bonded with him like these agents were able to bond with him," he said.
Fleury said his client has renounced terrorism and is remorseful for his actions.
The psychiatrist who testified today, Raymond Patterson, said Smadi admitted using a prescription drug to get high while in federal custody and claimed to be haunted by auditory hallucinations - including one in which a donkey spoke to him.
But the doctor said he believes that Smadi is not schizophrenic and is faking his symptoms.
"People who have legitimate psychotic symptoms, they hurt," Patterson said. "When he's talking about these things, he's not in distress about it."
As for the donkey, Patterson said he didn't know Smadi could identify an animal by species just from the sound of its voice.
"I don't know how he knows it's a donkey if he can't see it's a donkey," the psychiatrist said.
Patterson, who examined Smadi in behalf of the government, was testifying for the second day. On Monday, he said Smadi functioned well socially, was able to make friends and even married - although authorities say his marriage was just to preserve his immigration status.
He said Smadi's claims of hallucinations were malarkey - that Smadi "makes them up so they will influence examiners that he's mentally ill."
This morning, Patterson told of an appointment he had with Smadi just last month.
He said Smadi was laughing inappropriately and appeared to be intoxicated. When the doctor asked him if he was high, Smadi acknowledged that he was, according to Patterson.
He said Smadi told him that he had persuaded prison doctors to give him 60 doses of buspirone, a drug used to treat anxiety - and that he'd crushed up some of the pills and snorted them.
"This is unusual for anyone in a prison setting to be given a supply of drugs that you can abuse," Patterson testified. He said he alerted prison officials, who immediately discontinued Smadi's access to the prescription drugs.
Why did Smadi get such potentially dangerous special treatment?
A defense psychiatrist, Dr. Xavier Amador, testified Monday that Smadi was schizophrenic. He said Smadi had out-of-body experiences and visions of "jinns", or Arabic spirits, as well as bouts of amnesia, which were made worse by his heavy drug use while living in Italy, Texas, before his arrest in the bombing plot.Posted by Marisol on October 20, 2010 4:48 PM
And, also related:
Judge to failed Dallas jihadist: "I can't for the life of me figure out what moved you in this direction"
Last fall, Hossam Smadi drove away from a gleaming skyscraper in the heart of Dallas believing he was going to kill thousands of people in it. The bomb was inert, and authorities caught him red-handed. He had been under surveillance for months for an expressed desire to "commit violent jihad."
Indeed, this is what he said:
"I truly say it that my dream is to be among God's soldiers, first for the support of Islam and my beloved Sheik Usama, may God give him long life. I don't know what is in me, but I love him as I love my father. I don't want to add to this.
Now, my brother, the point is that thousands of Muslims have been killed at the hand of Jews -- the dogs -- and the silent disloyal backsliders. Those are the Arab kings and, God willing, their end will be the hanging rope and hell. [...]
In the name of God ["bismillah..." - ed], the Gracious and Merciful, this is my vow to you, my brother, that I am ready. And if you were a lover of Jihad as I am, then, by God, I am ready for the Jihadi life. What you will see of me will please you and your commander.
The reign is only for the living and powerful God. I ask Him that he would be our Caliph and Ruler."
"My brother in God, God and His angels are with us. With the permission of the Almighty Lord of the Worlds, we will have victory and allies from God Almighty. He is the powerful and helpful. Victory is coming, is coming to defeat the Romans [i.e., Christians] and for the destruction of the Jews. God is Most Great. We shall attack them in their very homes. Brother, by God, we shall attack them in a manner that hurts, an attack that shakes the world. Oh Brother, let the backsliders know that the time for their destruction has come."
But the judge, not unlike our potty-mouthed friend at the New York Times, can't put two and two together. "Would-be Dallas skyscraper bomber gets 24 years," by Craig Civale for WFAA, October 19:
DALLAS -- Hosam Smadi said he was "ashamed" and "sorry" for trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper.
Those words may have helped him get a reduced sentence -- 24 years in prison for the crime.
The judge cut him a break, according to a plea agreement reached by both sides. Smadi could have been sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Imagine downtown Dallas, had this plan gone through. And he got a break.
There was no response and no reaction from the 20-year-old Jordanian as he learned his fate on Tuesday.
The courtroom drama ended the more than year-long investigation into a plot to blow up the Fountain Place office tower in downtown Dallas.
"He pled guilty; he's remorseful for his conduct; he knows he did something wrong. That he'll have to live with," said defense attorney Peter Fleury.
The remorse was seen in Smadi's own brief statement to the judge in which he renounced terrorism.
"I am ashamed for what I did; I am sorry for my actions," Smadi said, adding: "Osama bin Laden is a bad man. I hate terrorism and will have nothing to do with this again."
But prosecutors argued that Smadi's after-the-fact apologies were a stark contrast to the countless number of e-mail messages and other communications made to undercover FBI agents, including a video investigators say Smadi made for bin Laden prior to the bomb being placed that celebrated the massacre of thousands of innocent people.
"We caught a person who was going to commit the criminal act of murder to advance an ideology," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Casey. "He was given several chances to withdraw from this plan, and he chose not to."
Both sides argued about Smadi's mental health. The defendant's lawyers said he was addicted to drugs and delusional.
While Judge Barbara Lynn sympathized with Smadi's tough upbringing, she summed up her feelings this way: "I can't for the life of me figure out what moved you in this direction."
Once Smadi serves his time, he will be deported back to Jordan. Prosecutors said he was not in the United States legally.
Smadi can get up to 56 days a year credited as time served for good behavior. He also gets to count the year he has already served.
That means Hosam Smadi could potentially be freed in 19 years.Posted by Marisol on October 20, 2010 6:17 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment