Friday, March 16, 2012

Former U.S. Army soldier and Misunderstander of Islam charged with trying to join jihad terror group

From Jihad Watch:


Former U.S. Army soldier and Misunderstander of Islam charged with trying to join jihad terror group
Baxam converted to Islam while in the Army and ended up trying to join a jihad terror group. Here again, the mainstream media would ignore this. Yet if even a half, or a third, or a tenth as many converts to Christianity ended up trying to join violent terror groups in accordance with what they believed to be the dictates of their faith, the New York Times and NBC News and Christiane Amanpour would be running banner-headline, prime time, breathless investigations of what it was about Christianity that caused converts to go mad. But for this? Nothing. "Former U.S. Army Soldier Charged With Trying to Provide Material Support to Terror Group Al-Shabaab," from Fox News, January 9 (thanks to Anne Crockett):

GREENBELT, Md. – A former U.S. Army soldier has been charged with attempting to provide material support to terror group al Shabaab, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
Craig Benedict Baxam was arrested Friday upon return to his home state of Maryland after he was captured in Africa during an alleged attempt to reach Somalia, where the terror group is based.

Baxam, 24, joined the Army in 2007 and served in Baghdad and Korea. During his enlistment, he completed eight months of advanced intelligence and cryptology training, the Justice Department said in a press release.

According to court papers, Baxam secretly converted to Islam days before leaving the Army, one month ahead of completing his deployment in Korea. He returned to Maryland in July 2011 and reportedly sought to move to Somalia to join al Shabaab.

Baxam allegedly flew to Kenya using money from his retirement savings account, and carried several hundred dollars in cash to give al Shabaab as an offering after crossing the border into Somalia, the Justice Department said.

"The complaint alleges that Craig Baxam intended to travel to Somalia and join the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. "Mr. Baxam was caught in Kenya before he reached Somalia, and there is no allegation that anyone assisted him."

He was arrested by Kenyan police for attempting to travel to Somalia to join the terror group as he was traveling on a bus near Mombasa. He was held at the Kenyan Anti-Terrorism Police Unit and questioned by the FBI, officials said....

Posted by Robert on January 9, 2012 12:40 PM

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