Thursday, March 19, 2009

Where have the jihadis gone? Return to Islamberg

Islamberg resembles a ghost town.

The Muslim settlement captured national attention two years ago when a story entitled “Springtime in Islamberg” appeared in Atlas Shrugs, Canada Free Press, and other news pages. Since the publication of this expose, Islamberg became an item of interest for ABC News, Fox News, CNN, and other national news outlets; a subject of attention by such best-selling authors as Robert Spencer and Brigitte Gabriel; and the centerpiece of a documentary by Christian Action Network.

But much has changed within this 70 acre Islamic settlement that is located in the dense forest between the small rural villages of Deposit and Hancock in upper New York State.

The sentry post is gone and no guards are in sight.

A handful of children play in the mud and muck before rows of rusty old trailers and a few women in full burqas saunter along the rutty dirt road that leads to the heart of the squalid Muslim compound.

Young men in Islamic garb no longer congregate before the makeshift mosque, and no students are in attendance at the one room shack that serves as Sheikh Gilani's “International Quranic Open University”.

The few residents who remain, clearly are not environmentalists. Sewage seeps from septic tanks and outhouses into the creek that flows at the base of the settlement. Bags of rotting garbage remain stacked between the trailers. And the once pristine countryside is now littered with junk cars, moldy mattresses, empty tanks of propane, and old appliances.

Gunfire no longer can be heard from the firing ranges along the eastern parameter of the 70 acre property - - and no grunts come from new recruits at the obstacle course.A new sign at the entranceway reads, “Welcome to Holy Islamberg: The International Quranic Open University.” Next to this sign, which features the image of a mosque emerging from the mountains, is a pot of plastic carnations. Another sign proclaims that the community is home to the “United Muslim – Christian Forum.”

Such statements of welcome are offset by the “No Trespassing” signs that have been nailed to trees throughout the compound.

On the opposite side of the road leading into the community is a rack of metal mailboxes bearing such names as Abdul-Haqq, Abdul Jalil, Mumim Roberts, Abdullah Simonds, and Salam Insan.

What has happened to this once bustling complex of radical Islamists - - a place where the cries of muezzins were accompanied by the incessant rat-tat-tat of machine gunfire? Where are the Arab dignitaries that used to visit this remote community in chauffeur-driven limousines?

Where are the armed sentries who warded away all intruders?

“The place was scary,” a barfly at Cuzin’s Tavern in Deposit, says. “The last time I went there, I was surrounded by twenty-five Muslims with shotguns and Uzis. I haven’t heard much about it lately.”

The real question now is where did the sickos go? Where are they playing or planning jihad now? Did they move to a new compound? A new country? A different state? This is why these places need to be thoroughly investigated.

Read it all:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/025303.php#more



Ready to welcome your friendly, neighborhood Gitmo terrorist?

Democrats spent the years after 9/11 insisting that they could keep America just as safe as Republicans, given the chance. Maybe they had a different set of Democrats in mind than Barack Obama and Eric Holder. The Attorney General briefed reporters yesterday on the plans for releasing Gitmo detainees, which apparently include releasing the terrorists inside the US:

Attorney General Eric Holder said some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may end up being released in the U.S. as the Obama administration works with foreign allies to resettle some of the prisoners.

Mr. Holder, in a briefing with reporters, said administration officials are still reviewing individual cases of the approximately 250 detainees to determine which will be put on trial and which may be released to comply with plans to close the detention facility by next year.

Why will Holder consider releasing them in the US? The Obama administration found out that talk is cheap among our European allies. Most of the detainees can’t return to their home countries, because their home countries will either kill them (Saudi Arabia, China), torture them and then kill them (Egypt), or send them straight back to al-Qaeda with lovely parting gifts (Yemen). Obama wants Europe to take them, since most of Europe spent the last seven years criticizing Gitmo and demanding their release. Now that Obama actually called their bluff, Europe suddenly discovers that they don’t want dangerous terrorists in their back yards, either.

For “people who can be released there are a variety of options that we have and among them is the possibility is that we would release them into this country,” Mr. Holder said.

So which community would like to volunteer first? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

I find myself growing nostalgic for the days when American government kept Americans safe, instead of the terrorists. If they would like to locate them here in Phoenix, AZ and make sure that their residence is going to be made public, sure send them here. We will keep an eye on them.