The Sting
I coulda been a contender
--On the Waterfront (1954)
____________________
Amine el Khalifi is the latest in a string of pathetic, untrained, unfocused individuals pulled into sting operations euphemistically called "Counterterrorism". If wannabes like Khalifi are the threat, then why are we spending so much money in the Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©)?
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Mr. Khalifi is a Moroccan national living illegally in the U.S. since shortly after he entered on a tourist visa in 1999, the FBI said in an affidavit filed in U.S. district court in Alexandria, Va" (Suspected Terrorist Arrested Near Capitol). Why wasn't Khalifi simply deported as an illegal? Put a sombrero on him and send him to Mexico.
Since Mr. Khalifi is not a U.S. citizen, why not just kill him extra-judiciously as we did with al Awlaki? If you can drop a bomb on them, why not bust a cap on their ass while they are watching NCIS? Why spend millions setting up an ineffectual loser?
"Amine el Khalifi was arrested as he walked from a parking garage near the Capitol building carrying what the Federal Bureau of Investigation said was a MAC-10 automatic pistol and a bomb vest, both rendered inoperable by agents." [per WSJ]
* * *
"Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Va., was taken into custody with a gun that didn't work and inert explosives, according to a counterterrorism official. He arrived near the Capitol in a van with the two undercover operatives, and walked toward the building, according to court papers. He was arrested before he left the parking garage."
"During the investigation, El Khalifi went with undercover operatives in January to a quarry in West Virginia to practice detonating explosives, according to court documents" (Terror Suspect Arrested Near Capitol in FBI Sting).
What a clown this dupe happened to be, so clueless he didn't even test fire his MAC-10. Who but an idiot would not familiarize himself with a new weapon?" (Terror Suspect Arrested Near Capitol in FBI Sting).
This sting netted a suspect in an alleged bombing plan which Federal authorities said "never posed a danger to the public." Yet if El Khalifi is convicted, he faces life in prison.
We wonder at the phantasmagorical nature of U.S. thinking. We are more than a couple of Trillion dollars into the PWOT © and the best threat we can scare up is a miserable defective like El Khalafi -- do you feel safer?
Why didn't they just blast him into oblivion out there in a West Virginia quarry? If he is such a threat, we would all applaud.
Ranger's not clapping.
Labels: bomber manque, capitol would-be bomber, khalid el khalifi, PWOT, war on terror
posted by rangeragainstwar at 9:11 PM
3 Comments:
If that little bit of public kabooky thriller entertainment from our brave law enforcement is getting a bit stale already, howbout catching that movie that has real Seals in it?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591479/
Here's a comment, that can tell you what the hoi polloi back home really thinks of the US of A military.
What Act of Valor has instead are real-life SEALS pretending to be actors. You can tell who the non-actors are because all their lines are delivered as if every sentence is a declarative statement: flat and without emotion.
As long as the SEALS don't talk, the scenes are brilliant. Military fans won't be disappointed with many sequences showing what SEALs do best: raids, room clearing, firefights, insertion by SDV, and HALO jumps. Act of Valor also marks the first time that I've seen SWCCs and MEATS (Maritime External Air Transport System; underslung boat delivery by CH-47) represented in any movie. In fact, the scene where the SWCCs come in with mini-guns blazing is one of the highlights of the movie.
The movie plays like a 101-minute long first-person-shooter video game. The SEAL team is largely reactive: being dispatched globally from one skirmish to another, where accomplishing one mission just means earning the opportunity to move on to the next mission level. When you really come down to it, the plot doesn't much matter for this movie, serving largely as a vehicle to showcase military hardware and delivery of tactical missions.
Go watch this movie for the action, for SEALS serving their quiet and brutal profession. Everything else in the movie, from the storyline to the acting, unfortunately don't quite do justice for these elite warriors.
A nation ( should ) weep.
bb
Ranger;
This is the SOP for these "terrorist" busts. Note the presence of government operatives in all the scenarios. My take is the "government operatives" find a loser(s) who is sufficiently dimwitted and lead him along until the bust. Remember the Florida "gang" who were going to blow up Chicago, except they had no money, no explosives, and no plan until the "government operative" rounded them up and semi-organized them until the time was right to publicize another "success" in the PWOT, to name just one. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Blake,
there is no indication that this loser had any previous weapons or explosive training. i'd hypothesize, that's the polite word for GUESS,that the aGENTS PROVACATUER TRAINED HIM UP.
any idiot knows to check the firing pin with an erasured pencil. you put it in the bore touching the bolt face and dry fire the piece. the firing pin then launches the pencil across the room.
who'se the losers in this scenario?
how much did we spend on this sting?
what a ball of wax.
jim
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