"Jihad in the Bluegrass State: Iraqi refugees charged with plotting to send weapons to al-Qaeda." So why I am not surprised.

I have lived in Kentucky for only the last 20 years when I transferred here from my job in New York. I fell in love with the easy life style so much that my wife and I decided to stay here after I retired. There is a joke often heard in Kentucky that says if the world ended Kentucky would be the place to be because it is ten years behind the times. The part about the joke that isn't really funny is that it is ten years behind the times. The state government has a part-time legislature that only meets about 60 days a year and even many of the Democrats here are more conservative than most of the Republicans were in New York. But for all the conservative thinking there seems to be a great lack of sensibility about the serious threats facing America today. I call attention to the threat facing all of us with the global expansion of Islam and the increased number of attacks both planned and accomplished by Islamic militants on our soil. I have been equally concerned with the spread of mosques being built in Kentucky and particularly with one planned for the city of Florence, a few miles away. I have written several post on this subject and have sent several letters and emails to local representatives voicing my concern, all to no avail. The answers I have received show a great lack of willingness to look into the connection between the mosques, the radical clerics,  Islamic terrorism both domestic and world-wide, Saudi Arabian mosque financing promoting Wahhabism and that book called the Qur'an filled with commands of hatred and barbaric justice toward all non-believers in Islam.

I blame this apathy on the disease called political correctness. Our politicians are afraid of embarrassing someone with pertinent questions, they don't want to hurt anyone. They are trying too hard to be polite and not offend people. They want to avoid stereotyping. Well, no one is saying that all Muslims are terrorists but the events of the last ten years does prove that many Muslims are potential terrorists and those who are not very often sympathize with their goals. Some opinion poll takers have shown that 25% of young Muslims in America see nothing wrong with killing in the name of their religion. The great weakness is that most people can't get beyond the thought that Islam is a religion and religions in general have special rights. Even the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that Islam demands the death of anyone who converts to another religion. There are many religions in the United States but none of them espouse killing people who don't believe in what they do - except one - Islam.

So it is not very surprising to read the following story that appeared on Jihad Watch today and in the local news paper about yet another terrorist attack planned by two Muslims against American soldiers. Thank God that the FBI still takes these threats more seriously than our local lawmakers do and has continued to protect America.

Jihad in the Bluegrass State: Iraqi refugees charged with plotting to send weapons to al-Qaeda

"War is deceit," Muhammad said. "Iraqi refugees in Kentucky charged with planning to help arm Al Qaeda," by Warren Richey for the Christian Science Monitor, May 31 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Two Iraqi nationals who came to the US as refugees have been arrested in Kentucky on charges that they conspired to provide money, weapons, and other support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, federal officials announced on Tuesday.

Waad Ramadan Alwan and Muhamad Shareef Hammadi, both of Bowling Green, have entered not guilty pleas and are being held pending a pretrial detention hearing.

They were charged in a 23-count indictment returned last week.

Mr. Alwan is accused of conspiring to kill US nationals abroad, distributing information on the manufacture and use of improvised explosive devices in Iraq, and plotting to transfer Stinger missiles to Iraq.

Mr. Hammadi is charged with attempting to provide material support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, and conspiring to transfer Stinger missiles.

“Over the course of roughly eight years, Waad Ramadan Alwan allegedly supported efforts to kill US troops in Iraq, first by participating in the construction and placement of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq, and, more recently, by attempting to ship money and weapons from the United States to insurgents in Iraq,” said Todd Hinnen, acting assistant attorney general for national security.

Both Alwan and Hammadi came to the US from Iraq in 2009.

The FBI began investigating Alwan five months after he arrived after being granted refugee status. A year later, in August 2010, the FBI began using a confidential human source who engaged in recorded conversations with Alwan.

The investigation of Hammadi began in January.

Alwan admitted in recorded conversations that from 2003 to 2006 he was an insurgent who used IEDs and sniper rifles to target US forces in Iraq, according to court documents.

Based on these representations, the FBI has identified two latent fingerprints belonging to Alwan on a component of an unexploded IED recovered by US forces near Bayji, Iraq, according to officials. Alwan is believed to have worked at the power plant at Bayji and lived nearby before moving to the US.

He reportedly told the FBI source that he worked on the IED with an associate who had lost an eye in a premature explosion. US officials have discovered a latent fingerprint on a recovered unexploded IED that they say belongs to an individual with one eye who was detained by US forces in June 2008.

Federal officials say in September 2010 Alwan expressed interest in helping the FBI’s confidential source provide support to militants in Iraq. They plotted to provide money, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, C-4 plastic explosives, and Stinger missiles to insurgents fighting US troops.

Later, Alwan allegedly recruited Hammadi to help in the effort.

Officials stressed that none of the money or weapons involved in the undercover operation in the US was actually provided to Al Qaeda in Iraq.